David Del Tredici

2.1. Childhood and piano training

David Walter Del Tredici was born on March 16, 1937, in Cloverdale, California. Despite coming from a non-musical family, he developed an early and intense interest in music, beginning his journey as an aspiring concert pianist at the age of twelve. He received piano lessons from the German concert pianist Bernhard Abramovitch. Del Tredici later credited Abramovitch's encouragement to be "very creative" in his playing as a crucial preparation for his future in composing. He recalled being primarily interested in performing "great sprawling things like the Schumann Fantasy, that the performer had to mold and shape," which taught him how to "sustain a musical thread so that it was never broken." At the age of 16, Del Tredici made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony and subsequently performed Liszt and Tchaikovsky concertos under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. He once remarked that if he had not pursued a career as a pianist, he would have become a florist.

2.2. University studies and transition to composition

Del Tredici continued his musical education at the University of California, Berkeley, where he primarily focused on Romantic piano works but also developed an appreciation for the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg. While enrolled at Berkeley, he attended the Aspen Music Festival and School. A pivotal moment occurred when a negative experience with a piano teacher prompted him to try composing instead. He wrote his first piece, Opus 1, which he was invited to perform for the renowned composer Darius Milhaud, who complimented his work. This experience solidified Del Tredici's decision to concentrate on composition. His earliest compositions were characterized by his "own version of German expressionism." He completed his studies at Berkeley under Seymour Shifrin, graduating in 1959.

Following his graduation, Del Tredici pursued further studies in composition at Princeton University for one year, supported by a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. At the time, Princeton was considered by music critic Tim Page to be "the center for the American atonal avant-garde." Del Tredici noted that he was there "at the height of the serial movement," but he felt like an outsider, perceiving that the prevailing approach "seemed to be trying to take the expressionist element out of German expressionism." After leaving Princeton to work with Robert Helps in New York, whom he found to be a supportive mentor, he eventually returned to Princeton and earned his MFA in 1963.

3.1. Musical stylistic evolution

Del Tredici's compositional style underwent a notable transformation throughout his career. His earliest works, developed during his university studies, reflected his "own version of German expressionism." While at Princeton, he was exposed to serialism, the dominant avant-garde movement, but he felt a sense of alienation from its principles, particularly its perceived suppression of emotional expression. This early exposure to atonality and serialism ultimately led him to a decisive shift back towards tonality. He found that a tonal framework was more appropriate for his larger, more narrative works, such as Final Alice and Adventures Underground. This embrace of tonality positioned him as a leading figure and pioneer of the neo-romantic movement. He remained a persistent supporter of neo-romantic music, actively seeking to revive tonality in contemporary classical composition. In 1964, Del Tredici met Aaron Copland at Tanglewood, and they remained friends throughout Copland's life, with Copland's musical style continuing to influence Del Tredici. Although he taught at Harvard University alongside Leon Kirchner and was associated with the modernist movement during that period, he humorously stated that "anything bad appeals to any young composer," including himself, indicating a playful yet critical engagement with prevailing trends.

3.2. Literary and thematic inspirations

Literature served as a profound and consistent source of inspiration for much of Del Tredici's work. Early in his career, he was drawn to the writings of James Joyce, particularly Joyce's struggles with his Catholic past and "tortured life." Del Tredici found that these themes resonated with his own "dissonant and nearly atonal" style at the time. A major turning point in his thematic focus came with his discovery of Martin Gardner's The Annotated Alice, which provided extensive commentary on the works of Lewis Carroll. This led to his acclaimed "Alice" series, a cycle of compositions deeply inspired by Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Towards the end of his life, Del Tredici continued to draw from literature for his song cycles, expanding his inspirations to include contemporary American poets, as well as poets from the Victorian era and beyond, both Eastern and Western. He composed music based on, or as tribute to, the works of poets such as Chana Bloch, Colette Inez, Allen Ginsberg, Thom Gunn, Paul Monette, and Alfred Corn. Beyond literary themes, Del Tredici also created works that celebrated "gayness," acknowledging that many great composers were gay and asserting that "it's something to be celebrated." Reviewers noted that his works often explored themes of "tormented relationships, personal transformations, and the joys and sorrows of gay life."

3.3. Teaching and professional appointments

Throughout his career, Del Tredici held numerous prestigious teaching and professional appointments. He served as Composer-In-Residence at the New York Philharmonic from 1988 to 1990. His academic tenure included faculty positions at Harvard University, Yale University (1999-2000), Boston University, the Juilliard School, and the University at Buffalo. As of 2013, he was a faculty member at the City College of New York. Del Tredici was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and held residencies at notable artistic communities such as Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the MacDowell Colony. He received numerous commissions from major national and international orchestras, and his work garnered support from renowned conductors like Georg Solti and Leonard Slatkin.

4.1. The "Alice" Cycle

Del Tredici's most acclaimed works are his series of compositions inspired by Lewis Carroll's "Alice" books, collectively known as the "Alice" Cycle. These works are characterized by their clear tonality and the incorporation of rhythms influenced by popular music. Notable pieces within this cycle include:

• An Alice Symphony (1969)
• Final Alice (1976), a one-act opera presented in concert form.
• Child Alice (1980-1981), a substantial work for soprano and orchestra, divided into four parts:
  • In Memory of a Summer Day (Part 1), which earned Del Tredici the Pulitzer Prize for Music. This piece was later adapted into a ballet and performed by institutions such as the National Ballet of Canada and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.
  • Happy Voices (Part 2)
  • In the Golden Afternoon (Part 3)
  • Quaint Events (Part 4)

  Another work drawing from Carroll's world is Adventures Underground, which was specifically inspired by the poem The Mouse's Tail from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

4.2. Other notable compositions

Beyond the "Alice" cycle, Del Tredici composed a wide range of other significant works, often drawing inspiration from literature, specific poets, and broader thematic explorations. His early works include the piano-accompanied song cycle Six Songs on Poems by James Joyce (1959). He also composed The Spider and The Fly (1998) for soprano, baritone, and orchestra. Del Tredici wrote pieces for prominent ensembles and soloists, including the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, the San Francisco Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic. His diverse influences extended to rock music and folk music, which also found their way into his compositions. He composed an opera and numerous other song cycles, often setting the words of contemporary poets.

Key premieres and commissions include:

• Tattoo (1988), commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra, which premiered with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic.
• Steps (1990), premiered by the New York Philharmonic.
• Chana's Story (1998), premiered by the San Francisco Contemporary Players.
• Dracula (1999), premiered by the Eos Orchestra.
• In Wartime (2003), premiered by the University of Texas at Austin Wind Ensemble.
• Gotham Glory (2004), a piano piece that premiered on March 15, 2005, performed by Anthony de Mare.
• Syzygy (2004), premiered by the Asko Ensemble.
• Bullycide (2013), a work commissioned by the La Jolla Music Society, which was inspired by the issue of gay bullying.

5.1. Gay identity and artistic expression

Del Tredici was publicly open about his homosexuality, a facet of his identity that he actively embraced and celebrated throughout his career. He acknowledged that many great composers were gay and asserted that "it's something to be celebrated," challenging historical silence and societal stigma. This conviction led him to create works that explicitly celebrated "gayness," contributing to a growing body of art that reflected and affirmed LGBTQ+ experiences. Themes in his compositions often explored "tormented relationships, personal transformations, and the joys and sorrows of gay life," providing a voice to experiences that were historically marginalized in classical music. For instance, his 2013 work Bullycide was directly inspired by the issue of gay bullying, demonstrating his commitment to addressing social issues through his art. His willingness to integrate his personal identity so openly into his artistic output aligned with social liberal values, advocating for greater inclusivity and representation in the arts.