Poné, Gundaris
Poné, Gundaris
Poné, Gundaris , Latvian-born American conductor and composer; b. Riga, Oct. 17, 1932; d. Kingston, N.Y., March 15, 1994. In 1944 his family went to Germany, where he studied violin. In 1950 he emigrated to the U.S., becoming a naturalized American citizen in 1956. He studied violin and composition at the Univ. of Minn. (B.A., 1954; M.A., 1956; Ph.D., 1962). In 1966 he made his conducting debut in N.Y., and subsequently appeared as a guest conductor in the U.S. and in Europe; served as music director of the Music in the Mountains Festivals (from 1981). His compositions captured 1st prizes in the Concorso Internazionale “Citta di Trieste” (1981), the Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards Competition (1982), the International Louisville Orch. Competition (1984), the International Hambach Prize Competition (1982), and the International LouisvilleOrch. Enesco Competition (1988). His concern as a composer was to develop a musical language capable of communicating with the general audience while maintaining the high intellectual standards of contemporary composition.
Works
DRAMATIC: Opera: Rosa Luxemburg (1968). ORCH .: Violin Concerto (1959); Composizione per quattro orchestre (1967–69); Vivos voco, Mortuos piango (1972); Avanti! (1975); Horn Concerto (1976); La Serenissima, 7 Venetian portraits (1979–81; Trieste, Sept. 25, 1982); American Portraits (1982–84); Titzarin (1984–86); La bella veneziana, overture (1987). CHAMBER : Hetaera Esmeraldo, string quartet (1963); Serie-Alea for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Piano (1965); Sonata for Solo Cello (1966); San Michele della Laguna for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano (1969); De Mundo Magistri loanni for Chamber Ensemble (1972); Diletti dialettici, concerto for 9 Virtuosos (1973); Eisleriana, concerto for 11 Players (1978); Woodland Elegies, 5 pieces for 5 Instruments (1980); Propositions for Opus 32, 6 pieces for Woodwind Quartet and Piano (1982); Cyprian Sketches, 4 pieces for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano (1983); Gran duo funebre for Viola and Cello (1987); Pezzi del tramonto for Violin and Piano (1989); piano pieces, including Oltre questa porta geme la terra for 3 Pianos (1969) and 3 Farewell Pieces (1984); works for solo instruments. VOCAL : Quattro temperamenti d’amore for Baritone and Orch. or Piano (1960); Daniel Propheta for 3 Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1962); Junius Broschure for 4 Speakers, 18 Women’s Voices, and Instrumental Ensemble (1970); 5 American Songs for Medium Voice and Small Orch. (1975).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire