Hannay, Roger D (urham)

Hannay, Roger D (urham), esteemed American composer and teacher; b. Plattsburg, N.Y, Sept. 22, 1930. He studied composition with Ernst Bacon and Franklin Morris at Syracuse Univ. (1948–52), Gardner Read and Hugo Norden at Boston Univ. (1952–53), Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. (1954-56; Ph.D., 1956), and Lukas Foss and Aaron Copland at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood (summer, 1959). He then worked with Roger Sessions, Milton Babbitt, and Elliott Carter at the Princeton Seminar for Advanced Studies (summer, 1960). In 1966 he joined the music faculty of the Univ. of N.C., where he taught composition, lectured in theory and contemporary music, formed and directed the UNC New Music Ensemble, the Electronic Music Studio, and the Composer-Concerts Series, and was chairman of the Division of Fine Arts (1979–82), subsequently serving as prof. emeritus from 1995. He received grants from the NEA (1976) and the Kenan (1976) and Pogue (1992) foundations. In 1982 he held a residency at the Mac-Dowell Colony and, successively, at the Va. Center for the Creative Arts, the Centrum Arts Center, and Yaddo (1992). In 1993 he was nominated for candidacy to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the author of an unpublished monograph of autobiographical essays, My Book of Life (1997).

Works

dramatic: Opera: Two Tickets to Omaha, comic opera (1960); The Fortune of St. Macabre (1964); The Journey of Edith Wharton (1982); Scenes from a Literary Life (1990); Dates and Names, after Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1991). theater and multimedia:Marshall’s Medium Message for Improvisational Percussion Quartet and Mod-Girl Announcer (1967); Live and in Colori for Improvisational Percussion Quartet, Female Reader, Action Painter, Films, and Slide Projections (1967); The Nightingale and the Rose for Soprano, Flute, Guitar, and Double Bass, after Oscar Wilde (1986). ORCH.: 7 syms.: No. 1 (1953; rev. 1973), No. 2 (1956), No. 3, The Great American Novel, for Chorus and Orch. (1976–77), No. 4, American Classic, for Vocal Soloists and Orch. (1977), No. 5 (1987–88), No. 6 for Strings (1992), and No. 7 (1994–95); Music for Strings (1954; rev. 1994); Dramatic Overture (1955; rev. 1981); Summer Festival Overture (1958); Prelude and Dance (1959; rev. 1974); Sonorous Image (1968); Listen (1974); Celebration, overture (1975; rev. 1993); The Age of Innocence (1983); Rhapsody (Serenade) for Piano and Orch. (1991); Arribal (1992); Vikingrwest (1993); Consortium (1994). band: Sym. (1961). CHAMBER: Rhapsody for Flute and Piano (1952); 2 Sketches for Clarinet and Piano (1956); Sinfoniette for Piano and Strings (1958; rev. 1995); Divertimento for Woodwind Quintet (1958); 4 string quartets (1962; Lyric, 1963; Designs, 1963; Quartet of Solos, 1974); Fantôme for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano (1967); The Fruit of Love for Chamber Ensemble, after Millay (1969); O Solo Viola (1974); Suite for Flute, Clarinet, Cello, and Piano (1981); Trio-Rhapsody for Flute, Cello, and Piano (1984); Pavane for Flute, Oboe, and Guitar (1986); A Farewell to Leonard Bernstein for Chamber Ensemble (1990). piano:Abstractions (1962); Sonata (1964); Sonorities (1966; rev. 1991); Piano Episodes (1971; rev. 1991); Luminere (1988). VOCAL: Doth Not Wisdom Cry, cantata for Chorus and Orch. (1952; rev. 1994); Carol for Men’s Chorus and Piano (1956; also for Chorus, 1964); Christmas Tide for Men’s Chorus (1956); Requiem for Chorus and Orch., after Walt Whitman (1961); Sayings for Our Time for Chorus and Orch., after texts adapted from the popular media (1968); Choral Fantasias I and II (1970; rev. 1984); Hold the Fort for Chorus and Piano (1989); Prologue to the Tales of Canterbury for Chorus and Piano, after Chaucer (1989); Songs from Waiden for Soprano and Piano, after Thoreau (1990); Make We Joy for Chorus and Organ (1991).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire