Hugo Weisgall Explained

Hugo David Weisgall (October 13, 1912 – March 11, 1997) was an American composer and conductor,^[1] known chiefly for his opera and vocal music compositions.

Life and career

Hugo Weisgall was born in Ivančice, Moravia (then part of Austria-Hungary, later in his childhood Czechoslovakia) and moved to the United States with his parents in 1920 at the age of eight.^[2]

Weisgall studied at the Peabody Institute, privately with Roger Sessions, and at the Curtis Institute of Music with conductor Fritz Reiner and composer Rosario Scalero. He later earned a Ph.D. in German literature at Johns Hopkins University. During World War II he was an aide-de-camp to General George S. Patton. After the war he became a professor, and taught at Queens College, the Juilliard School, and the Jewish Theological Seminary, all in New York City. His notable students include composers Dominick Argento, Bruce Saylor and the accordionist/composer William Schimmel.

Weisgall came from a family of several generations of cantors, and maintained a lifelong interest in both sacred and secular Jewish music. In 1992 he was commissioned by the Friends of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary to write a song cycle, Psalm of the Distant Dove, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Other major works include his most ambitious opera, Athaliah (libretto: Richard Frank Goldman, after Jean Racine), and his often-performed Six Characters in Search of an Author (libretto: Denis Johnston, after Luigi Pirandello).

Hugo Weisgall died at the age of 84 on Long Island, New York.^[2]

Major works

Operas

• Night (1932, not performed). Opera in 1 act. Libretto: after the play by Sholem Asch
• Lilith (1934, not performed). Opera in 1 act. Libretto: after the play by L. Elman
• The Tenor (1948–1950). Opera in 1 act. Libretto: Karl Shapiro and Ernst Lert (after the play by Frank Wedekind). World Premiere: February 11, 1952 Baltimore (Peabody Opera Company; conductor: Hugo Weisgall)
• The Stronger (1952). Opera in 1 act. Libretto: Richard Henry Hart (after the play Den Starkare by August Strindberg). WP (piano version): August 9, 1952 Westport, Connecticut (White Barn Theatre; Hilltop Opera Company). WP (orchestral version): 1955 New York (Columbia University)
• Six Characters in Search of an Author (1953–1956). Opera in 3 acts. Libretto: Denis Johnston (after the play by Luigi Pirandello). WP: April 26, 1959 New York (New York City Opera; with Beverly Sills [Coloratura])
• Purgatory (1958). Opera in 1 act. Libretto: after the play by William Butler Yeats. WP: February 17, 1961 Washington (Library of Congress)
• The Gardens of Adonis (1959, revised 1977–1981). Opera in 3 scenes. Libretto: John Olon-Scrymgeour (after the play Venus and Adonis by André Obey, based on the eponymous poem by William Shakespeare). WP: September 12, 1992 Omaha, Nebraska (Witherspoon Concert Hall)
• Athaliah (1960–1963). Opera in 2 parts. Libretto: Richard Frank Goldman (after the play Athalie [1691] by Jean Racine). WP: February 17, 1964 New York (concert performance)
• Nine Rivers from Jordan (1964–1968). Opera in a prologue and 3 acts. Libretto: Denis Johnston. WP: October 9, 1968 New York (New York City Opera)
• Jenny, or The Hundred Nights (1975/76). Opera in 1 act. Libretto: John Hollander (after a [Noh] play by Yukio Mishima). WP: April 22, 1976 (Juilliard School, American Opera Center)
• Will You Marry Me? (1989). Opera in 1 act. Libretto: Charles Kondek (after the play A Marriage Has Been Arranged by Alfred Sutro). WP: March 8, 1989 New York (Opera Ensemble of New York)
• Esther (1990–1993). Opera in 3 acts. Libretto: Charles Kondek (after the Bible). WP: October 8, 1993 New York (New York City Opera)

Vocal music

• A Garden Eastward Cantata for soprano and orchestra
• A Song of Celebration for tenor, soprano, chorus and orchestra
• Evening Prayer for Peace (Ki el shomrenu) for chorus a cappella
• Fancies and Inventions for baritone and 5 instruments
• Fortress, Rock of Our Salvation (Moos tzur) for chorus a cappella
• Lyrical Interval song-cycle for low voice and piano
• Psalm of the Distant Dove Canticle for mezzo-soprano and piano
• So Spake Rabbi Akiba (Omar Rabbi Akiba) for chorus a cappella
• "Liebeslieder" for Soprano and Piano

External links

• Hugo Weisgall's page at Theodore Presser Company
• Hugo Weisgall Papers in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
• Composer information from Theodore Presser, Weisgall's publisher.
• Artist page from the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music.
• American and Israeli Jews Performing Together in a conference entitled Counter-Harmonies: Jewish Experience in 20th-Century Music.
• Interview with Hugo Weisgall by Bruce Duffie, June 6, 1986.

Notes and References

1. Web site: DRAM: Hugo Weisgall: Two Operas and Two Song Cycles. www.dramonline.org. 1960 . November 13, 2018.
2. News: Hugo Weisgall, Opera Composer, Dies at 84. Paul Griffiths. The New York Times . March 12, 1997.