Role

:

Composer  

Country

:

United States of America

Birth

:

December 28, 1896 in Brooklyn, NY

Death

:

March 16, 1985 in Princeton, NJ

Period

:

Contemporary

 

 

Modern

Genre

:

Chamber

 

 

Keyboard

 

 

Symphony

 

Roger Sessions was an American composer who was born on December 28, 1896, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the youngest of three children born to a wealthy family. His father was a successful businessman, and his mother was a talented pianist who encouraged her children to pursue music. Sessions began studying music at a young age, and by the time he was a teenager, he was already composing his own music. He attended Harvard University, where he studied with the composer Ernest Bloch. After graduating from Harvard in 1917, Sessions went to Europe to study music with some of the leading composers of the time, including Max Reger and Ferruccio Busoni. In 1925, Sessions returned to the United States and began teaching at Smith College in Massachusetts. He also began composing music in earnest, and his works quickly gained recognition for their complexity and originality. In 1935, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Symphony No. 1. Throughout his career, Sessions was known for his uncompromising approach to music. He believed that music should be challenging and intellectually stimulating, and he was not afraid to push the boundaries of traditional tonality and harmony. His music was often characterized by its dissonance and complexity, and he was known for his use of serialism, a technique that involves organizing musical elements based on a predetermined series of pitches. Some of Sessions' most notable works include his Symphony No. 2, which was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1947, and his Piano Sonata No. 1, which was premiered by the pianist Rudolf Serkin in 1936. He also wrote a number of chamber works, including his String Quartet No. 1, which was premiered by the Juilliard String Quartet in 1952. In addition to his work as a composer, Sessions was also a respected music educator. He taught at a number of institutions throughout his career, including Princeton University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Juilliard School. He was known for his rigorous teaching style and his commitment to helping his students develop their own unique voices as composers. Sessions continued to compose music well into his later years, and he remained an important figure in the world of classical music until his death in 1985. His legacy as a composer and educator continues to inspire musicians and music lovers around the world.

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