Middleton, Robert (Earl)
Middleton, Robert (Earl)
Middleton, Robert (Earl), American composer and teacher; b. Diamond, Ohio, Nov. 18, 1920. He was educated at Harvard Univ. (B.A., 1948; M.A., 1954), and also studied composition with Boulanger at the Longy School of Music (1941–42), piano with Beveridge Webster at the New England Cons, of Music in Boston (1941–42), and with K.U. Schnabel (1946–49). While holding the John Knowles Paine Traveling Fellowship from Harvard Univ. (1948–50), he pursued his composition studies with Boulanger in Paris. In 1965–66 he held a Guggenheim fellowship. After teaching at Harvard Univ. (1950–53), he joined the faculty of Vassar Coll. in 1953, where he was a prof, from 1966 to 1985 and chairman of the music dept. from 1973 to 1976. He publ. Harmony in Modern Counterpoint (Boston, 1967). He displayed a deft handling of genres and forms throughout his basically conservative course as a composer.
Works
dramatic:Life Goes to a Party, opera (1947; Tanglewood, Aug. 12, 1948); The Nightingale is Guilty, opera (1953; Boston, March 1954); Command Performance, opera-concerto (1958–60; rev. 1987–88). orch.:Andante (1948); Violin Concerto (1949; rev. 1984); Concerto di Quattro Duetti for Solo Winds and String Orch. (1962; rev. 1986); Variations for Piano and Orch. (1965; rev. 1984–85); Sinfonia Filofonica (Pough-keepsie, N.Y., May 4, 1969); Gardens 12 345 (1972); Overture to The Charterhouse of Parma (1981). chamber: 3 violin sonatas (n.d., 1941, 1948); 3 string quartes (1950, 1989, 1990); Ritratti della Notte {Portraits of the Night) for Flute and Piano (1966); Approximations for Viola and Piano (1967); Vier Trio-Sätze in romantischer Manier for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1970); 2 Duologues for Violin and Piano (1973); 4 Nocturnes for Clarinet and Piano (1979). keyboard piano:Passacaglia and Fugue for Piano, 4-Hands (1940); Sonata (1957); 12 Inventions (1960–61); Notebooks of Designs (book 1, 1968; book 2, 1968, rev. 1978); vARIAzioni—variAZIONI (1970). o r g a n :4 Preludes (1956). VOCAL: Choral pieces; songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire