Davidovsky, Mario

Davidovsky, Mario , Argentine composer and teacher; b. Buenos Aires, March 4, 1934. He studied composition and theory with Guillermo Graetzer in Buenos Aires and also took courses with Teodor Fuchs, Erwin Leuchter, and Ernesto Epstein; then continued his training with Babbitt at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood (summer, 1958). He worked at the Columbia- Princeton Electronic Music Center (from 1960) and taught at the Univ. of Mich. (1964), the Di Telia Inst. of Buenos Aires (1965), the Manhattan School of Music in N.Y. (1968–69), Yale Univ. (1969–70), City Coll. of the City Univ. of N.Y. (1968–80), Columbia Univ. (1981–94), where he served as director of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, and Harvard Univ. (from 1994). He held 2 Guggenheim fellowships (1960, 1971) and in 1971 received the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Synchronisms No. 6 for Piano and Electronics. In 1982 he was elected a member of the Inst. of the American Academy and Inst. of Arts and Letters. Davidovsky’s method of composition tends toward mathematical parameters; his series of 8 compositions en-titled Synchronisms derives from the numerical coordinates of acoustical elements; electronic sound is integral to most of his work.

Works

ORCH Concertino for Percussion and Strings (1954); Suite sinfonica para “El payaso” (1955); Serie sinfonica (1959); Contrastes No. 1 for Strings and Electronics (1960); Pianos (1961); Transientes (1972); Synchronisms No. 7 for Orch. and Electronics (1973); Consorts for Symphonic Band (1980); Divertimento for Cello and Orch. (1984); Concertante for String

Quartet and Orch. (Philadelphia, March 8, 1990). CHAMBER : 4 string quartets (1954, 1958, 1976, 1980); Quintet for Clarinet and Strings (1955); 3Pieces for Woodwind Quintet (1956); Noneto for 9 Instruments (1956); Trio for Clarinet, Trumpet, and Viola (1962); Synchronisms No. 1 for Flute and Electronics (1963), No. 2 for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Electronics (1964), No. 5 for Percussion Ensemble and Electronics (1969), No. 6 for Piano and Electronics (1970), and No. 8 for Woodwind Quintet and Electronics (1974); Inflexions for Chamber Ensemble (1965); Junctures for Flute, Clarinet, and Violin (1966); Music for Violin (1968); Chacona for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1971); Pennplay for 16 Players (1978); String Trio (1982); Capriccio for 2 Pianos (1985). VOCAL:Synchronisms No. 4 for Men’s Voices or Mixed Chorus and Electronics (1967); Scenes from Shir-ha-shirim for Soprano, 2 Tenors, Baritone, and Chamber Orch. (1975); Romancero for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, and Cello (1983). TAPE: 3 studies (1961, 1962, 1965).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire