Short bio George Rochberg
Full biography George Rochberg
George Rochberg was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was born on July 5, 1918, and died on May 29, 2005. Rochberg was known for breaking away from the avant-garde musical style of his time and returning to more traditional tonal composition. He was once a serial composer but abandoned the style in the late 1960s, claiming that it was "arbitrary, mechanical, and ultimately meaningless."
Rochberg attended the Mannes College of Music and then went on to earn his master's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. Some of his most notable compositions include his String Quartet No. 3, Symphony No. 2, and his opera, The Confidence Man.
Throughout his life, Rochberg also worked as a publisher and a music teacher. His memoir, Five Lines, Four Spaces, was published shortly before his death and offers a detailed account of his life and career.
While Rochberg's music was controversial during his lifetime, he is now considered to be an influential composer who helped revive tonality in contemporary classical music.
Compositions featuring George Rochberg
| # | Name | Duration | Genre | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonata Seria, for piano | 19:10 min | Keyboard | 1998 |
| 2 | Eden: Out of Time & Out of Space, chamber concerto for guitar & ensemble | 17:44 min | Concerto | 1998 |
| 3 | Circles of Fire, for 2 pianos | 70:10 min | Keyboard | 1996 |
| 4 | Muse of Fire, for flute & guitar | 18:10 min | Chamber Music | 1991 |
| 5 | Summer, 1990, piano trio No. 3 | 21:10 min | Chamber Music | 1990 |
| 6 | Ora Pro Nobis (Nach Bach II), for flute & guitar | 11:07 min | Chamber Music | 1989 |
| 7 | Rhapsody and Prayer, for violin & piano | 10:09 min | Chamber Music | 1989 |
| 8 | Sonata for violin & piano | 26:15 min | Chamber Music | 1988 |
| 9 | Piano Trio No. 2 | 18:37 min | Chamber Music | 1985 |
| 10 | To the Dark Wood, for woodwind quintet | 14:21 min | Chamber Music | 1985 |
| 11 | Short sonatas (4), for piano | 12:05 min | Keyboard | 1984 |
| 12 | Symphony No. 5 | 28:58 min | Symphony | 1984 |
| 13 | Oboe Concerto | 18:32 min | Concerto | 1983 |
| 14 | Quartet for piano & strings | Chamber Music | 1983 | |
| 15 | Between Two Worlds, 5 images for flute & piano (Ukiyo-e III) | 13:24 min | Chamber Music | 1982 |
| 16 | Trio for clarinet, horn & piano | 19:31 min | Chamber Music | 1980 |
| 17 | Octet: A Grand Fantasia | 21:51 min | Chamber Music | 1980 |
| 18 | String Quartet No. 7, for baritone & string quartet | Chamber Music | 1979 | |
| 19 | Sonata for viola & piano | 18:35 min | Chamber Music | 1979 |
| 20 | String Quartet No. 6 | 34:45 min | Chamber Music | 1978 |
| 21 | String Quartet No. 5 | 26:24 min | Chamber Music | 1978 |
| 22 | Slow Fires of Autumn for flute & harp | 17:59 min | Chamber Music | 1978 |
| 23 | String Quartet No. 4 | 27:39 min | Chamber Music | 1977 |
| 24 | Partita variations (12), for piano | 31:50 min | Keyboard | 1976 |
| 25 | Transcendental Variations, for Orchestra | 17:29 min | Orchestral | 1975 |
| 26 | Violin Concerto | 37:53 min | Concerto | 1975 |
| 27 | Violin Concerto (rev. 2001 by Lyndon-Gee with composer) | 51:39 min | Concerto | 1974 |
| 28 | Phaedra: a monodrama in seven scenes, for voice & orchestra | 42:16 min | Vocal Music | 1973 |
| 29 | Imago Mundi, for orchestra | 24:00 min | Orchestral | 1973 |
| 30 | String Quartet No. 3 | 45:24 min | Chamber Music | 1972 |
| 31 | Ricordanza Soliloquy for cello & piano | 11:24 min | Chamber Music | 1972 |
| 32 | Electrikaleidoscope, for flute, clarinet, vioiln, cello & piano/electric piano | 22:43 min | Chamber Music | 1972 |
| 33 | Fantasies for voice & piano | 6:39 min | Vocal Music | 1971 |
| 34 | Caprice Variations (50) for violin solo | 68:48 min | Chamber Music | 1970 |
| 35 | Songs in Praise of Krishna (14) for soprano & piano | 33:52 min | Vocal Music | 1970 |
| 36 | Tableaux, Sound Pictures from The Silver Talons of Piero Kostrov for soprano, actors, small chorus & 11 Players | 21:38 min | Choral | 1968 |
| 37 | Nach Bach, fantasy for harpsichord or piano | 8:13 min | Keyboard | 1966 |
| 38 | Music For The Magic Theater | 26:44 min | Chamber Music | 1965 |
| 39 | Black Sounds, for 17 wind instruments (music for the ballet The Act) | 15:57 min | Ballet | 1965 |
| 40 | Contra Mortem et Tempus for chamber orchestra | 11:37 min | Orchestral | 1965 |
| 41 | Piano Trio No. 1 | 19:27 min | Chamber Music | 1963 |
| 42 | String Quartet No. 2, for soprano & string quartet | 27:39 min | Vocal Music | 1959 |
| 43 | Dialogues for clarinet & piano | 13:59 min | Chamber Music | 1957 |
| 44 | Sonata-Fantasia for piano | 23:36 min | Keyboard | 1956 |
| 45 | Symphony No. 2 | 30:30 min | Symphony | 1956 |
| 46 | Duo Concertante for violin & cello | 13:44 min | Chamber Music | 1955 |
| 47 | Serenata d'estate, for flute, harp, guitar & string trio | 11:19 min | Chamber Music | 1955 |
| 48 | Three Psalms, for mixed chorus a cappella | Choral | 1954 | |
| 49 | Cantio Sacra "Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz", transcription for smal orchestra (after Scheidt) | 14:06 min | Orchestral | 1953 |
| 50 | Bagatelles (12), for piano | 13:25 min | Keyboard | 1952 |
| 51 | String Quartet No. 1 | 24:13 min | Chamber Music | 1952 |
| 52 | Symphony No. 1 | 64:12 min | Symphony | 1948 |
| 53 | Elegiac Pieces (3), for piano | 22:23 min | Keyboard | 1945 |
| 54 | Variations on an Original Theme for piano | 28:27 min | Keyboard | 1941 |
| 55 | Behold, My Servant, for chorus | 8:09 min | Choral | - |
| 56 | String Quartets | Chamber Music | - | |
| 57 | Ukiyo-e (Pictures of the Floating World) | 13:06 min | Chamber Music | - |
| 58 | Carnival Music for piano | 25:11 min | Keyboard | - |
| 59 | American Bouquet, Tin Pan Alley melodies for solo guitar | 25:39 min | Chamber Music | - |
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