Stephen Harrison Paulus (1949-2014) American composer

[Scion7]

Heard on NPR today that he died.  News site says October 19th from a heart attack.  He had a stroke in July of 2013.

the Grove:

Paulus, Stephen (Harrison)
(b Summit, NJ, 24 Aug 1949)-[October 19, 2014]. American composer. He studied composition with Paul Fetler and Dominick Argento at the University of Minnesota (BA 1971, MA 1974, PhD 1978). From 1973 to 1984 he was one of the managing composers of the Minnesota Composers Forum, an organization which he co-founded. He has served as composer-in-residence with the Minnesota Orchestra (1983–) and the Atlanta SO (1988–), and has completed commissions for Thomas Hampson, Evelyn Lear, Håken Hagegård and many others. His awards include Guggenheim Fellowships and a Kennedy Center Friedheim prize (1988).
A prolific composer, most of Paulus's works show the influence of Romanticism......


Chamber Music
===============================
Colors, brass qnt, 1974;
Duo, cl, pf, 1974;
Exploration, ens, 1974;
Landmark Fanfare, brass qnt, 1978;
Music for Contrasts, str qt, 1980;
Dance, pf, 1986;
Partita, vn, pf, 1986;
Str Qt no.2, 1987;
American Vignettes, vc, pf, 1988;
Fantasy in 3 Parts, fl, gui, 1989;
7 Miniatures, str trio, 1990;
Quartessence, str qt, 1990;
Conc., brass qnt, 1991;
Music of the Night, pf trio, 1992;
Preludes, pf, 1994;
Meditations on the Spirit, org, 1995;
Toccata, org, 1996

Orchestral
=============================
Spectra, small orch, 1980;
Translucent Landscapes, 1982;
Conc. for Orch, 1983;
7 Short Pieces, 1984;
Ordway Ov., 1985;
Sym. in 3 Movts 'Soliloquy', 1986;
Vn Conc., 1987;
Concertante, 1989;
Ice Fields, gui, orch, 1990;
Sinfonietta, 1991;
Tpt Conc., 1991;
Voices from the Gallery, 1991;
Org. Conc., 1992;
Vn Conc. no.2, 1992;
Conc. 'The Veil of Illusion', vn, vc, orch, 1994;
Conc. 'Three Places of Enlightenment', str qt, orch, 1995

He was mostly known for his large output of vocal compostitions - 4 operas, many choral works ....

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2014/10/19/twin-cities-composer-stephen-paulus-dies-at-65

I know nothing about his music, didn't know he existed until I heard
the news report, but I'm interested in following up on it, now.
He was commissioned by two U.S. presidents for works, I believe they said on NPR?

[snyprrr]

Do I recall a NewWorld disc?

65's pretty young

[Karl Henning]

Quite young, and yet . . . the photo I've seen posted with the notices, he must be in his 30s.

[Cato]

A picture from 8 years ago:

[CRCulver]

American composer I had never heard of, who studied with other composers I had never heard of, and whose music is said to be Romantic. "Well," I thought, "sounds like the sort of composer one finds in Naxos' American Classics series", and indeed there is a new Naxos disc featuring his music released only a few days ago.

[Old San Antone]

Stephen Paulus was 65 at the time of his death, and he wrote 11 operas, not 4 - alas none have been recorded.  His most famous opera is The Postman Always Rings Twice: a 1982 opera with a libretto written by Colin Graham based on the 1934 novel by James M. Cain.

The opera was the first of four commissioned from Paulus by the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. It opened to generally strong reviews, and prompted the critic from the New York Times, in an otherwise mixed notice, to call Paulus "a young man on the road to big things".

The opera has since been performed numerous times around the world, and Paulus composed eight more operas before his death in 2014.

His style is very accessable, his works displayed a finely honed craft. 

Paulus's output was eclectic and varied, incorporating works for chorus, orchestra, solo singer, and various combinations thereof. His choral music represented his most diverse body of work, ranging from elaborate multi-part works like Visions from Hildegard to brief anthems and a cappella motets.

With nearly 60 orchestral works to his credit, Paulus was distinguished by his tenures as a Composer in Residence with the orchestras of Atlanta, Minnesota, Tucson and Annapolis. Conductors who have premièred his works include Rollo Dilworth, Christoph von Dohnányi, C. William Harwood, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, and Osmo Vänskä. He has been commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and many others. In 2011 he also co-wrote a Concerto "Timepiece" with his son, Greg Paulus, for the Minnesota Orchestra. (Wikipedia)

[Karl Henning]

Interesting, thanks!

[amw]

I've always quite liked his violin concerto, although the fact that the soloist has since been revealed to be a sexual predator may put some people off buying the disc (new, at least). Style is somewhere between Samuel Barber & William Schuman—sounds like it was written a half-century earlier than it was, but still very listenable.