Role

:

Composer  

Birth

:

September 28, 1913 in Chicago, IL

Death

:

March 20, 2000 in Bennington, VT

Period

:

Modern

Genre

:

Avant-Garde

 

 

Ballet

 

 

Chamber

 

 

Concerto

 

 

Keyboard

 

Vivian Fine was an American composer who was born on September 28, 1913, in Chicago, Illinois. She was the youngest of three children born to Russian-Jewish immigrants. Her father was a tailor, and her mother was a homemaker. Fine showed an early interest in music and began playing the piano at the age of four. She also showed an interest in writing and poetry, which would later influence her musical compositions. Fine's family moved to New York City when she was six years old. She continued her musical studies and began composing at the age of 12. She studied composition with Ruth Crawford Seeger, a prominent American composer and musicologist. Seeger was a member of the ultra-modernist group of composers known as the "New York School," which included John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Earle Brown. Seeger's influence on Fine's music can be seen in her use of dissonance and unconventional harmonies. Fine attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where she studied composition with Bernard Wagenaar and Frederick Jacobi. She also studied piano with Olga Samaroff and Rosalyn Tureck. Fine graduated from Juilliard in 1936 with a Bachelor of Music degree. Fine's early compositions were influenced by the neoclassical style of Stravinsky and the Second Viennese School of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. Her music was characterized by its rhythmic vitality, clarity of form, and use of dissonance. Her first major work, "Sonata for Violin and Piano," was premiered in 1937 and received critical acclaim. In the 1940s, Fine's music began to show a greater interest in folk music and jazz. She was particularly interested in the music of African Americans and Native Americans. Her compositions from this period include "The Women of the Clouds," a ballet based on Native American mythology, and "The Race of Life," a cantata based on African American spirituals. Fine's music from the 1950s and 1960s was characterized by its use of serialism and other modernist techniques. She was particularly interested in the music of Anton Webern and used his twelve-tone technique in many of her compositions. Her works from this period include "String Quartet No. 2," "Fantasia for String Orchestra," and "Partita for Wind Quintet." Fine was also a prolific composer of vocal music. She wrote many art songs, choral works, and operas. Her most famous opera, "The Women in the Garden," was premiered in 1957 and received critical acclaim. The opera is based on a play by Gertrude Stein and explores the relationships between women. Fine was also a respected teacher of composition. She taught at Bennington College in Vermont, the University of Chicago, and the University of California, Berkeley. Her students included John Adams, Pauline Oliveros, and Laurie Anderson. Fine received many awards and honors during her lifetime. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1946 and a Fulbright Fellowship in 1952. She was also a recipient of the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award in Music and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Music. In 1993, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Fine died on March 20, 2000, in Bennington, Vermont, at the age of 86. She left behind a legacy of over 140 compositions, including orchestral works, chamber music, vocal music, and operas. Her music continues to be performed and recorded by musicians around the world.

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