Gaburo, Kenneth (Louis)

Gaburo, Kenneth (Louis), American composer and teacher; b. Somerville, N.J., July 5, 1926; d. Iowa City, Jan. 26, 1993. He studied composition, piano, and theory at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. (B.M., 1944; M.M., 1949), composition and conducting at the Cons, di Santa Cecilia in Rome (1954–55), and composition, theater, and linguistics at the Univ. of 111., Urbana (D.M.A., 1962); he also studied composition at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood (summer, 1956), and attended the Princeton Seminar in Advanced Musical Studies (summer, 1959). After teaching at Kent State Univ. (1950), he was assoc. prof, at McNeese State Univ. (1950–54). He then was a prof, at the Univ. of 111. (1955–67) and at the Univ. of Calif, at San Diego (1967–75), founder-director of the Studio for Cognitive Studies in San Diego (1975–83), and a prof, at the Univ. of Iowa (from 1983). He was the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship (1954), ASCAP awards (from 1960), a Guggenheim fellowship (1967), and an NEA award (1975); in 1985 he received the Milhaud Chair fellowship at Mills Coll. in Oakland, Calif. His music was quaquaversal.

Works

DRAMATIC Opera : The Snow Queen (Lake Charles, La., May 5, 1952); Blur (Urbana, 111., Nov. 7, 1956); The Widow (Urbana, 111., Feb. 26, 1961). ORCH.: 3 Interludes for Strings (Rochester, N.Y., May 27, 1948); Concertante for Piano and Orch. (Rochester, N.Y, April 29, 1949); On a Quiet Theme (1950; N.Y., Feb. 26, 1955); Elegy for Small Orch. (1956; N.Y, April 3, 1959); Shapes and Sounds (1960); Antiphony IX (—a dot is no mere thing—) for Orch., Children, and Tape (1984–85; Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 13, 1985). CHAMBER: Music for 5 Instruments for Flute, Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, and Piano (1954); Ideas and Transformations No. 1 for Violin and Viola, No. 2 for Violin and Cello, No. 3 for Viola and Cello, and No. 4 for Violin, Viola, and Cello (all 1955); String Quartet (1956); Line Studies for Flute, Clarinet, Viola, and Trombone (N.Y, Dec. 15, 1957). ELECTRONI C AND TAPE: Antiphony I (Voices) for 3 String Groups and Tape (1958), 71 (Variations on a Poem of Cavafy) for Soprano, Chorus, and Tape (1962), III (Pearl-White Moments) for Chamber Chorus and Tape (1963), IV (Poised) for Piccolo, Trombone, Double Bass, and Tape (1967), V for Piano and Tape (1968–89), VI (Cogito) for String Quartet, Slides, and 2- and 4-channel Tape (1971), VII (—And) for 4 Video Systems and 4-channel Tape (1974–89), VIII (Revolution) for Percussionist and Tape (1983–84), and X (Winded) for Organ and Tape (1985–89); numerous other works involving tape, actors, slides, film, lighting, and various acoustic instruments. OTHER: Vocal pieces.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire