Role

:

Composer

Country

:

United States of America

Birth

:

January 22, 1923 in Hanford, CA

Death

:

February 4, 2016 in Flowery Branch, GA

Period

:

Contemporary

Genre

:

Band

 

 

Chamber

 

 

Keyboard

 

Leslie Bassett was an American composer of classical music who was born on January 22, 1923, in Hanford, California. He grew up in a musical family, with his father being a violinist and his mother a pianist. Bassett began playing the piano at a young age and later learned to play the violin and viola. He attended Fresno State College, where he studied music theory and composition with composer Ernest Kanitz. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Bassett continued his music studies at the University of Michigan, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in 1948 and his Master of Music degree in 1949. He studied composition with Ross Lee Finney and received guidance from the renowned composer and teacher Nadia Boulanger during a summer in Paris. Bassett's early compositions were influenced by the neoclassical style of Stravinsky and Hindemith, but he later developed his own unique style that incorporated elements of serialism, aleatory techniques, and non-Western music. He was particularly interested in the music of Japan and studied Japanese music and culture during a Fulbright Fellowship in 1961-62. Bassett's compositions include works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, and voice. Some of his most notable works include "Variations for Orchestra" (1955), "Echoes from an Invisible World" for orchestra and tape (1965), "Music for Chamber Orchestra" (1970), "Variations for Piano" (1974), and "Concerto for Orchestra" (1981). He also wrote several works for percussion, including "Variations for Four Drums and Viola" (1965) and "Music for Six" (1974). Bassett received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1966 for his composition "Variations for Orchestra." He was also a recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Music Award, the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, and the Guggenheim Fellowship. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Bassett was a respected teacher of composition and taught at several universities, including the University of Michigan, Indiana University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was known for his dedication to his students and his ability to inspire them to find their own unique voices as composers. Leslie Bassett passed away on February 4, 2016, at the age of 93. He left behind a legacy of innovative and influential compositions that continue to be performed and studied by musicians and music lovers around the world.

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