Daniel Felsenfeld Explained

Daniel Felsenfeld (born January 5, 1970) is a composer of contemporary classical music and a writer.

Biography

Felsenfeld was born in Washington, D.C., raised primarily in Southern California and currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife, writer Elizabeth Isadora Gold, and child August.^[1] He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he got his undergraduate degree in composition.^[2] He did his Masters and Doctoral work at the New England Conservatory where he studied with Arthur Berger and Lee Hyla. He is a composer^[3] and is also an author, having written three books published by Amadeus Press as well as hundreds of articles. In 2007 a "Talk of the Town" piece in The New Yorker magazine noted several writers whom Felsenfeld met at the MacDowell Colony who used his last name in their novels.^[4]

Music

Orchestral music

• The Dresden Soul Symphony (2008, with Larry Gold) for orchestra, chorus, rock band, and four soul singers
• Insomnia Redux; 4am (2005) for orchestra
• Thursday Night Overture (1999) for chamber orchestra
• The Bridge (2003) for soprano and chamber orchestra
• Summer and All it Brings (2002) solo cantata for soprano, narrator and chamber orchestra
• Busmeat: A Parable (1998) for orchestra
• Nicotine Sinfonietta (1997 for chamber orchestra
• Bad Coffee Serenade (1994) concerto for violin and chamber orchestra

Opera

• Exposure (2020) for two sopranos, bass clarinet and marimba, libretto by Bea Goodwin
• The Last of Manhattan (2004) for singers and chamber ensemble, libretto by Ernest Hilbert
• Summer and All it Brings (2002) for soprano, narrator, harpsichord and cello, libretto by Ernest Hilbert
• Thursday Night: Suite from an Abandoned Opera (1999) for singers and chamber orchestra

Chamber music

• "You.Have.No.Idea" (2009–10) for string quartet
• All Work and No Play (2007) for piccolo and piano
• Life Shrinks (2007) for piano, cello and percussion - music for dance
• Living Room Suite (2006) for string trio
• For Stephanie (2006) for string quartet
• First Scenes from Red Room (2006) for violin and piano
• From Maldoror (2003) for flute, oboe, piano and narrator
• I Conquered Egypt (2000) for piano trio
• Let Me Out (1999) for timpani, cello and bass clarinet
• Live ‘Til Twilight (1999) for cello and piano
• Fast Living (1999) for cello and percussion
• Cultivating Cool (1999) for flute, clarinet, trumpet, piano, percussion and double bass
• Smoking My Diploma (1998) for oboe, cello and piano
• Looking for Funny Dog (1998) for flute and organ
• O I LIKE the LIFE that I’m LEADING (1997) for flute and piano
• Something Very Serious (1995) for violin and piano
• Don’t Call me Sir (1994) for clarinet and piano
• Bad Coffee Serenade (1994) for violin and piano

Solo music

• Down to You Is Up, Three Movements for solo piano (1999)
• Air That Kills for solo violin (2000)
• A Dirty Little Secret for solo piano (2003)
• Insomnia Redux; 4am for solo piano (2003)
• Obsession No. 1: Toscanini’s Glasses for solo piano (2008)
• The Cohen Variations for solo piano (2009)
• Hooked to the Silver Screen for solo viola (2011)

Vocal music

• "From Sleepless Nights" (2009) for mezzo-soprano and cello
• In My Craft and Sullen Art (2008) for soprano and piano
• The Poet's Dream of Herself as a Young Girl (2008) for mezzo-soprano and piano trio
• Fall, Leaves, Fall (2007) for soprano and piano
• “Aria” from Magnificat (2007) for soprano and piano
• To a Cabaret Dancer (2007) for mezzo-soprano and piano
• Dry Sandwiches (2007) for soprano and piano
• Lines for Winter (2007) for tenor and piano
• You Want a Social Life, With Friends (2007) for baritone and piano
• Annus Mirabilis (2007) for bass and piano
• True Love (2007) for soprano and organ
• The Bridge (2003) cycle of five songs for soprano and piano; inspired by the poetry of W. H. Auden and Ernest Hilbert, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
• New Forms of Control (2000) for female voices, two synthesizers, and percussion
• I May Never Get Home (1999) cycle of seven songs for baritone and piano
• Thank You, Goodnight (1999) cycle of five songs for soprano and piano
• L’Envoi (1999) for soprano and piano
• Sunday Night (1999) for soprano and piano
• Elizabeth Among the Rains (1997) cycle of five songs for mezzo-soprano and piano
• From the Letters of Heloise (1996) for soprano, clarinet, bass clarinet, percussion and strings
• I Am Saturn (1997) cycle of three songs for soprano and piano
• Equals (1996) for soprano and string quartet
• Five Songs for Five Friends (1995) cycle of five songs for soprano and piano

Choral music

• Revolutions of Ruin (2008) for SATB chorus with soprano and baritone soloists and chamber orchestra
• Manhattan Choruses (2004) for SATB chorus and organ

Books

• Antonio Vivaldi and the Baroque Tradition, with Donna Getzinger
• Benjamin Britten and Samuel Barber: Their Lives and Music
• Johannes Brahms and the Twilight of Romanticism, with Donna Getzinger
• Richard Wagner and German Opera
• George Frideric Handel and Music for Voices, with Donna Getzinger
• Tchaikovsky

A Listener's Guide Book

• Johann Sebastian Bach and the Art of Baroque Music with Donna Getzinger
• Charles Ives and Aaron Copland - A Listener's Guide

Notes and References

1. Web site: Felsenfeld, Daniel The Juilliard School . 2024-06-18 . www.juilliard.edu.
2. Web site: Daniel Felsenfeld Five College New Music Festival 2024 . 2024-06-18 . www.5cnmf.org.
3. Book: Compton, Shanna. Gamers: writers, artists & programmers on the pleasures of pixels. 23 September 2011. 2004-11-01. Soft Skull Press. 978-1-932360-57-8. 57–.
4. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2007/07/30/070730ta_talk_gallagher New Yorker article about the Felsenfeld meme