Ernst Levy
Ernst Levy (18 November 1895 – 19 April 1981) was a Swiss musicologist, composer, pianist and conductor.
Life
[edit]Born in Basel, Switzerland, Levy studied with Hans Huber, Egon Petri and Raoul Pugno.[1]
David Dubal describes him as an "unusual and powerful pianist" who made "grandly conceived" recordings of the late Beethoven sonatas and captured "the very essence of the Faustian Liszt".[1] His work as a musicologist and teacher brought him to the United States, where he taught at colleges including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago and the New England Conservatory; he also became a United States citizen.[2] His students included composer Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs.[3] In 1966, he retired from academia and returned to his native Switzerland where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in Morges.
Levy's book A Theory of Harmony was published in 1985 and, among other modern compositional concepts, describes the composer's concept of harmonic "undertones".
Levy's son was composer and cellist Frank Ezra Levy (1930–2017).[4]
Selected compositions
[edit]- Orchestral
- Symphony No. 2 in D major (1922)
- Symphony No. 3 (1922)
- Symphony No. 7 (1937)
- Symphony No. 8 (1937)
- Symphony No. 10 "France" (1944)
- Symphony No. 11 (1949)
- Symphony No. 12 (1951)
- Symphony No. 13 (1955)
- Third Suite for orchestra (1957)
- Fourth Suite for orchestra (1959)
- Symphony No. 14 (1962)
- Symphony No. 15 (1968)
- Concertante
- Concerto for cello and orchestra (1947)
- Chamber music
- String Quartet No. 1 (1919)
- Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano (1932)
- Divertimento for clarinet (or oboe) and piano (1952)
- Theme and Transformations for clarinet and piano (1952)
- String Trio No. 1 (1953)
- Sonata for cello and piano (1953)
- Sonata for horn and Piano (1953)
- Fifteen Little Pieces for cello solo (1955)
- Piano Quartet (1956)
- Suite for viola or cello solo (1956)
- Suite for violin solo (1960)
- String Trio No. 2 (1960)
- Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano (1961)
- Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano (1963)
- Sonatina No. 1 for violin and piano (1962)
- Sonatina No. 2 for violin and piano (1962)
- Suite for 2 violas (1963)
- Trio for clarinet, cello and piano (1963)
- Sonata for three violin parts (1965)
- String Trio No. 3 (1966)
- Trio for clarinet, viola and piano (1968)
- Trio No. 2 for clarinet, violin and piano (1970)
- Suite No. 2 for viola solo (1971)
- Soliloquy for clarinet solo (1971)
- Concerto sur "Auprès de ma blonde" for trumpet and piano (1975)
- Threnodie for viola, cello and organ (1975)
- Sonata for 2 violins and piano (1977)
- Intermezzo idilliaco for clarinet and piano (1978)
- String Trio No. 4 (1978)
- String Quartet No. 4 (1978)
- String Quartet No. 5 (1978)
- Sonata for viola and piano (1979)
- Trio for violin, cello and piano (1979)
- Sonata Accompagnata for bassoon and piano or orchestra (1980)
- Keyboard
- Fantaisie symphonique for harpsichord (1939)
- Ricercar for harpsichord (1960)
- Meditation on a Hebrew Raga for organ (1961)
- Study on the Whole-Tone Scales for piano (1971)
- Piano Sonata No. 1 (1973)
- Piano Sonata No. 2 (1974)
- Piano Sonata No. 3 (1975)
- Piano Sonata No. 4 (1976)
- Piano Sonata No. 5 (1977)
- Piano Sonata No. 6 (1979)
- Piano Sonata No. 7 (1981)
- Hommage romantique for piano (1977)
- Fantaisie dialoguée for organ and piano (1980)
- Vocal
- Gaudeamus, Cantata for mixed chorus, wind orchestra and timpani (1964)
- Li T'ai Po's Answer for tenor, string orchestra and flute (1979)
- Eins und Alles for baritone and string orchestra (1980); words by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Levy, Ernst (1946). Four folk songs from Switzerland: for 4 mixed voices, SATB. New York: Music Press. OCLC 78196587.
- Levy, Ernst (1952). Divertimento for clarinet (or oboe) and piano. New York: Seesaw Music Corp. OCLC 869234.
- Levy, Ernst (1953). Sonata, for violoncello & piano. New York: Seesaw Music Corp. OCLC 222539336.
- Levy, Ernst (1954). 7 piano pieces. New York: Boosey & Hawkes. OCLC 83544484.
- Levy, Ernst; Paul Boepple (1957). Hear, ye children: Proverbs 4:1,7,8 (part-songs). Bennington, VT: Bennington College. OCLC 77291468.
- Levy, Ernst (1968). Trio, for clarinet, viola, and piano. New York: Seesaw Music Corp. OCLC 221789930.
- Levy, Ernst (1969). Sonata for horn and piano. New York: Seesaw Music Corp. OCLC 869439.
Academic works
[edit]- Levy, Ernst (1956). On the proportions of the south tower of Chartres Cathedral. Cambridge, MA: Dept. of Humanities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. OCLC 11508947.
- Levy, Ernst; Siegmund Levarie (1968). Tone, a Study in Musical Acoustics. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. OCLC 60510.
- Levy, Ernst; Siegmund Levarie (1983). Musical Morphology: A Discourse and a Dictionary (illustrated ed.). Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. ISBN 0-87338-286-2.
- Levy, Ernst; Siegmund Levarie (1985). A Theory of Harmony. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-87395-993-0.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Dubal, David (2004). The Art of the Piano: Its Performers, Literature, and Recordings (3rd rev. and expanded ed.). Pompton Plains, NJ: Amadeus Press. pp. 215. ISBN 1-57467-088-3.. Entry: "Ernst Levy".
- ^ Levy (1985), end matter
- ^ Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Books & Music (USA). ISBN 978-0-9617485-2-4.
- ^ "Frank Ezra Levy". The Herald-News. Joliet, Illinois. April 25, 2017. p. L5. Retrieved June 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
[edit]- Ernst Levy's official website (created under support of his son, Frank Ezra Levy)
- Guide to the Ernst Levy Papers 1919-2004 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
- Sound recordings of works of the composer from the archives of Swiss Radio SRG SSR on Neo.Mx3
Categories:
- 1895 births
- 1981 deaths
- 20th-century classical composers
- 20th-century classical pianists
- 20th-century conductors (music)
- 20th-century male musicians
- 20th-century musicologists
- Jewish classical pianists
- Swiss male classical pianists
- Swiss male conductors (music)
- Musicians from Basel-Stadt
- Pupils of Egon Petri
- Swiss classical composers
- Swiss classical pianists
- Swiss conductors (music)
- Swiss male classical composers
- Swiss musicologists
- 20th-century Swiss composers