Wykes, Robert (Arthur)
Wykes, Robert (Arthur)
Wykes, Robert (Arthur), American flutist, teacher, and composer; b. Aliquippa, Pa., May 19,1926. He studied composition with Phillips and Barlow at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. (B.M. and M.M., 1949). He played flute in the Toledo Sym. Orch. while teaching at Bowling Green State Univ. (1950-52), and then taught at the Univ. of 111. (1952-55). In 1955 he joined the faculty of Washington Univ. in St. Louis, where he was a prof. (1965-88). He also was a flutist with the St. Louis Sym. Orch. (1963-67) and the Studio for New Music in St. Louis (1966-69). In 1950 and 1951 he held MacDowell Colony fellowships. He was composer-in-residence with the Djerassi Resident Artist Program in 1989. In 1990-91 he was a visiting scholar at Stanford Univ. His Lyric Symphony received honorable mention for the Friedheim Award in 1980 and his 3 Facets of Friendship for Flute and Clarinet won the National Flute Assn. Newly Published Music Award in 1992.
Works
dramatic: Chamber Opera: The Prankster (1951; Bowling Green, Ohio, Jan. 12, 1952). Other: Scores for documentary films, including Robert Kennedy Remembered (Academy Award, 1969), Monument to the Dream, John F. Kennedy 1917-1963, and The Eye of Jefferson. ORCH.: Divertimento for Small Orch. (1949); Density III (1959; St. Louis, Jan. 8, 1960); Concertino for Flute, Oboe, Piano, and Strings (1963); Wave Forms and Pulses (University City, Mo., May 2, 1964); Horizons (1964); The Shape of Time (St. Louis, April 1, 1965); Toward Time’s Receding (St. Louis, April 7, 1972); A Shadow of Silence I (1972); Western Wyndes for Symphonic Band (Bar-rington, III, May 21,1974); A Lyric Symphony (St. Louis, May 10, 1980); Paris: 2nd Symphony (St. Louis, Sept. 27, 1981). Concert Band : A Summer Day (St. Louis, April 9, 1988). CHAMBER: Flute Sonata (1955); String Sextet (1958); Piano Quintet (1959); Points and Excursions for Brass Quintet (1962); Cheirality for String Quartet (1970); Duo for Violin and Harp (St. Louis, March 1982); 3 Concert Etudes for Flute (1989); For Cello (1989); 3 Facets of Friendship for Flute and Clarinet (1990); In Memoriam Oliver Nelson for Flute and Piano (1990); 9 Miniatures: 3 Sets of 3 for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1993); piano and organ pieces. VOCAL: Letter to an Alto Man for Chorus, Harp, Piano, Percussion, Soloist, and Orch. (1966-67; St. Louis, May 19, 1967); Adequate Earth for 2 Male Narrators, Baritone, 3 Choruses, and Orch., after Donald Finkel (1975-76; St. Louis, Feb. 5, 1976); For You Shall Go Out With Joy, anthem for Chorus, 2 Trumpets, Harp, and Organ (1992).
— Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn /Dennis McIntire