John J. Becker
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Becker studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory and also received a doctorate in composition from Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in 1923. The "militant crusader" of the American Five, a group consisting of Ives, Ruggles, Cowell and Riegger, as well as Becker, he worked to establish a musical tradition based upon the American experience rather than that of Europe. He had a long career as an administrator and teacher in addition to his compositional activities. His early works were influenced by German Romanticism and to some extent French Impressionism. He adopted a highly dissonant style in the late '20s, resulting in the Symphonia brevis (1929). His most important works were large-scale productions that included dance, mime, color, stage design, and music to form "mixed-media" theater. An example of this type of work is his Stagework No. 3 : A Marriage with Space (1935), a work he considered to be his masterpiece. Becker frequently used polytonal forms and dissonant atonal counterpoint. During an era when neo-Classicism and the return to the use of folk music was popular in compositional circles, Becker strove to "add new resources, evolve new techniques, develop new sound patterns." <<~ Lynn Vought, All Music Guide>>
[edit] Archival Materials
John J. Becker papers, the personal papers and compositions of the composer, in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
