Roy, Klaus George

Roy, Klaus George , Austrian-born American composer, writer, and program annotator; b. Vienna, Jan. 24, 1924. He went to the U.S. in 1940 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. He studied at Boston Univ. with Geiringer (B.Mus., 1947) and at Harvard Univ. with Davison, Kinkeldey, Merritt, and Piston (M.A., 1949). In 1945–46 he served as an officer in education and information with U.S. Army General Headquarters in Tokyo. From 1948 to 1957 he was employed as a librarian and instructor at Boston Univ. He also wrote music criticism for the Christian Science Monitor (1950–57). From 1958 to 1988 he was program annotator and ed. of the Cleveland Orch. He also taught at the Cleveland Inst. of Art (1975–87) and served as adjunct prof. at the Cleveland Inst. of Music (1986–94), which bestowed upon him an honorary doctorate in music (1987). A perspicacious collection of his writings appeared as Not Responsible for Lost Articles: Thoughts and Second Thoughts from Severance Hall 1958–1988 (Cleveland, 1993). He writes compositions in a variety of genres, all extremely pleasing to the ear.

Works

DRAMATIC: Sterlingtnan, chamber opera (WGBH-TV, Boston, April 18, 1957); Zoopera: The Enchanted Garden (Cleveland, Sept. 2, 1983). ORCH.: Chorale-Variants on an Appalachian Ballad (1965; Cleveland, April 3, 1966). CHAMBER: Duo for Flute and Clarinet (1947); Trombone Sonata (1950–51); Christopher- Suite for Piano or Harpsichord (1953); Nostalgicon, 9 retrospective pieces for Piano (1964–65); Inaugural Fantasia for Organ (1965); Serenade for Cello (Cleveland, May 15, 1968); Retrospective ′15- ′50 for Violin and Piano (1974; rev. 1983); Cheaper by the Dozen, 12 flute duets (1985). VOCAL: St. Francis’ Canticle of the Sun for Chorus and Viola (Boston, Nov. 5, 1951); The Clean Dispatch of Dying, song cycle for Soprano and Piano (1951); Lie Still, Sleep Becalmed for Chorus (1954); Lunar Modulations for Children’s Chorus and Percussion (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, July 19, 1969); 7 Brief Sermons on Love for Soprano and Organ (1972); A New Song for Chorus, Speaking Chorus, and Organ (1973); Winter Death Songs, 7 haiku for Low Voice and Piano (1982); Songs of Alexias for Low Voice and Piano (1982); Miracles Are Not Ceased, scena for Soprano and Oboe (1985); The Illuminated Fountain for Soprano and Oboe (1993); To Seek a Newer World for Men’s Chorus, Brass, and Percussion (1993).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire