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Composers Bureau
Ellis B. Kohs
Biography
Ellis B. Kohs, a member of the USC Theory-Composition Department,
and for many years Chair, now Professor Emeritus, had his early
musical training at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Institute
of Musical Art and the Juilliard Graduate School in New York, University
of Chicago (M.A. 1938), and Harvard University where he studied
with Walter Piston (composition) and Hugo Leichtentritt and Willi
Apel (musicology). He has been on the faculties of the University
of Wisconsin (summer only), Stanford (summer only), Kansas City
Conservatory (summers only), Wesleyan University Connecticut (1946-48),
College of the Pacific (1948-50), and at USC from 1950.
His three textbooks, which grew out of his teaching, Music Theory (Oxford University Press), Musical Form (Houghton Mifflin), and Musical Composition (Scarecrow Press), have been widely adopted. Musical Form has recently been reprinted by Scarecrow Press. Some of his major
works were written in response to commissions from, inter alia,
Pierre Monteux, E. Power Biggs, the Fromm Foundation, and USC (for
whose centennial Kohs' Violin concerto was composed and performed
by the USC Symphony under Daniel Lewis, with Eudice Shapiro, soloist).
Major biographical data are included in Baker's Biographical
Dictionary of Musicians, (Nicolas Slonimsky, ed., Schirmer Books,
1986) and in American Composers, by David Ewen (Putnam, 1982).
Selected Compositions
A recently compiled catalog of works from early to late may be
viewed at the American
Music Center, American Composers
Alliance, the Lincoln Center American Music Section of the New
York Public Library, and at the Music
Library, Washington University,
St. Louis, Missouri.
- Concerto for Orchestra (1941) - ISCM World Music Festival,
Berkeley, California, 1942. The only work by an American in uniform,
WW II.
- Passacaglia for Organ and Strings (1946) - Commissioned
for E. Power Biggs and Fiedler Sinfonietta CBS broadcast, 1946.
- Legend for Oboe and Strings (1946) - BMI/Associated Music
Publishers, publication award, 1946.
- Macbeth, incidental music to play (1947) - Commissioned
by Drama Department, Wesleyan University (Connecticut). Subsequently
televised (first US telecast of a Shakespeare play), Schenectady,
NY, 1947
- Sonatina for violin and piano (1948) - Comissioned by
Samuel Dushkin (Stravinsky associate), premiered in Carnegie Hall,
NY, 1948
- A Short Concert for String Quartet (String Quartet No.2,
1948) - premiered by the Paganini Quartet
- Chamber Concerto for viola and string nonet (1949) -
chosen by Columbia Records, Modern American Music Series, 1953.
- Symphony No.1 (1950) - Commissioned by Pierre Monteux,
premiered by San Francisco
Symphony under his direction, 1952.
- Three Chorale Variations on Hebrew Hymns (1952) - Commissioned
by Ludwig Altman for premiere at American Guild of Organists National
Convention, San Francisco, 1952.
- Lord of the Ascendant (1955) - for dancers, solo voices,
chorus and orchestra. Based on Gilgamesh legend, commissioned
by Thor Johnson, director of Cincinnati Symphony and Ojai Festival,
California. Libretto by Dexter Allen.
- Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1980) - Commissioned
for and performed at the centennial observances, University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, 1980.
- Amerika - opera after the
Franz Kafka novel
- Men for narrator and three percussionists (1982). Text
by Gertrude Stein.
- Lohiau and Hiiaka for narrator, flute, cello and percussion
(1987). Based on an ancient Hawaiian legend.
Recordings
Quattro Corde Productions has released a CD with several Kohs compositions
as performed on his 80th Birthday Celebration concert, including
Macbeth Suite for Piano (Stewart Gordon, pianist), Passacaglia
for Organ and Strings (Maija Lehtonen, organ and Manfred Grasbeck,
conductor), and Sonatina for Violin and Piano, (Amy Sims,
violin and Kevin Fitz-Gerald, piano). Available at Judy Green Music,
1616 No. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028 for $12 plus $5 tax,
shipping and handling.
CRI has announced
plans to release a CD of the following performances:
- Chamber Concerto for Viola and String Nonet, K.31, performed
by Ferenc Molnar, viola and Nonet led by Robert Mann of the Juilliard
Quartet. From Columbia LP, 1953.
- Toccata for Harpsichord, K.25, performed by Lionel Salter
over the BBC London.
- String Quartet No.2, "A Short Concert for String Quartet",
from CRI LP, performed by a USC Faculty Quartet headed by Eudice
Shapiro.
- Sonatina for Violin and Piano, K.26, performed by Eudice
Shapiro, violin and Albert Dominguez, piano.
- Passacaglia for Organ and Strings, K.11, performed by
Maija Lehtonen, organ and Manfred Grasbeck, violinist and conductor
of the anonymous string ensemble.
Pubishers and Affiliations
- Theodore Presser
Co., Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
- American Composer's Alliance,
170 W. 74th St., New York, NY 10023
- American Music Center,
30 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10010
- Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), 320
W. 57th St., New York, 10019
Further Information
Contact Information
8025 Highland Trail
Los Angeles, CA 90046
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