Vincent McDermott
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Joseph) Vincent McDermott (b. Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, September 5, 1933) is a classically trained American composer and ethnomusicologist. His works show particular influence from the musics of South and Southeast Asia, particularly the gamelan music of Java. He is among the first American composers to create and promote new compositions for gamelan.
Contents |
[edit] Education
He received a B.F.A. in music composition from the University of Pennsylvania (1959), an M.A. in music history from the University of California, Berkeley (1961), and a Ph.D. in music history, theory, and composition from the University of Pennsylvania (1966). His composition instructors included Constant Vauclain, George Rochberg, Darius Milhaud, and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
In the 1970s (beginning in 1973) he made an intensive study of Hindustani classical music, studying at the Ali Akbar College of Music with sitarist Ira Das Gupta and renowned tabla player Zakir Hussain. He first encountered gamelan c. 1965 in Amsterdam. He studied Javanese gamelan at the Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia (now Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia) in Surakarta, Central Java (1971, 1978, and 1984).
[edit] Compositions
Many of McDermott's works are written for conventional Western ensembles (e.g. chamber, orchestral, choral, solo, and electronic) but in the 1970s, he befriended the composer Lou Harrison, who encouraged him to begin composing for gamelan. He has composed a number of works for gamelan (some in combination with Western instruments), and has presented gamelan workshops in several Asian nations (including Malaysia and Japan), focusing primarily on encouraging new compositions for gamelan. He has received several Fulbright grants and National Endowment for the Arts commissions.
McDermott's compositions have been performed in North America, Europe, and Asia. Many of his works are written in a conventional 20th century mode, but he has increasingly been drawn toward cross-cultural works, multimedia, and theatrical music. Two of his operas, The King of Bali and Mata Hari, juxtapose gamelan and Western ensembles. Both were written with English texts in the 1990s and have since been translated into Indonesian and performed in Indonesia.
[edit] Teaching
McDermott has taught at the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Virginia (1966-67) and at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he served as dean and director (1967-1977). In 1977 he began teaching at Lewis & Clark College in Oregon; he retired in December 1997 and is now a professor emeritus. While there he began the world music program and in 1980 founded that college's first gamelan, Venerable Showers of Beauty, which was purchased in Java with the help of Rahayu Supanggah and Nyonya Nora. He directed the gamelan and later brought in Javanese musicians to teach (including Midiyanto, Supardi, and Darsono). He also instituted classes in Indian and African music performance with Obo Addy. He has since helped to establish gamelan programs at the College of William and Mary and the University of Puget Sound.
[edit] Writings
He has also written articles on various subjects for various music journals.
[edit] Current activities
He presently divides his time between Yogyakarta, Java and the United States. In Yogyakarta, he directs an ensemble called Musica Teatrica Nova.
[edit] Works
- 1967 - Five Bagatelles, piano
- 1972 - Komal Usha-Rudra Nisha, sitar, flute, guitar, and double bass
- 1973 - Time Let Me Plan and Be Golden in the Mercy of His Means, guitar and harpsichord
- 1975 - Magic Grounds, piano
- 1975 - Orpheus, tape and video
- 1976 - Siftings Upon Siftings, orchestra
- 1981 - Tagore Songs, soprano and guitar
- 1984 - The King of Bali (opera), singers, puppets, and gamelan
- Mata Hari (opera)
[edit] Gamelan
- 1980 - A Stately Salute, in honor of Lou Harrison, pelog gamelan
- 1981 - Kagoklaras (A Different Song), gamelan and prepared piano (18 minutes)
- 1982 - Sweet-Breathed Minstrel I, a mystic poem of Rumi, slendro gamelan, two solo voices, and viola (9 minutes)
- 1984 - The Bells of Tajilor, gamelan slendro/pelog (15 minutes)
- 1997 - Sweet-Breathed Minstrel II, pelog gamelan, two solo voices, and male chorus (3-4 voices), text by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (8 minutes)
- 2002 - The Spirit Takes Wings and Soars (or Dragons in the Grachten), 12-tone gamelan and saxophone quartet (6 minutes)
- A Little Concerto, gamelan slendro/pelog (10 minutes)
- 2005 - The Blue Forest, gamelan, chorus, dancers, and shadow puppetry (65 minutes)
[edit] Published writings
- McDermott, Vincent (1966). "The Articulation of Musical Space in the 20th Century." Ph.D. dissertation. University of Pennsylvania.
- McDermott, Vincent. "A Conceptual Musical Space." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, v. 30, no. 4 (Summer 1972), pp. 489-94.
- McDermott, Vincent, with Sumarsam. "Central Javanese Music: The Patet of Laras Slendro and the Gender Barung." Ethnomusicology 19:2 (1975).
- McDermott, Vincent. "Gamelans and New Music." Musical Quarterly, v. 72, no. 1 (1986), pp. 16-27.
[edit] External links
Categories: 1933 births | People from Atlantic City, New Jersey | Living people | University of California, Berkeley alumni | University of Pennsylvania alumni | 20th century classical composers | 21st century classical composers | American composers | Gamelan musicians | Tabla players | People from Yogyakarta
