Stanley Glasser

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Stanley Glasser (born February 28, 1926 in Johannesburg ; † August 5, 2018 ) was a South African composer and ethnomusicologist .

Live and act

Glasser first studied economics in South Africa , then from 1950 onwards to study music in Cambridge and with Mátyás Seiber . From 1953 to 1955 he was employed as a lecturer in Cambridge and then returned to South Africa, where he conducted field research with the Xhosa and the Pedi . After three years as a lecturer at the University of Cape Town , he returned to England in 1963 to teach at Goldsmiths, University of London , where he had been head of the music department since 1969 and was appointed professor in 1989. He has been retired since 1991 .

Some of his compositions are strongly influenced by his scholarly study of traditional African music . He was also the musical director and arranger of Todd Matshikiza's musical King Kong . In 1962 he wrote a musical with Mr. Paljas himself. With The Square (1961, for orchestra and jazz ensemble) he wrote the first ballet music in South Africa. One of his main works is the cantata Zonkizwe .

Glasser was interested in all facets of contemporary music and himself wrote incidental music for Emperor Jones in 1959 , which made use of the achievements of electronic music . At Goldsmiths he also opened up such opportunities in research. For example, his music studio bought one of the first sample-capable Fairlight CMI synthesizers. The studio there is named after him today.

He also authored The A – Z of Classical Music (London 1994). The harmonica virtuoso Adam Glasser is his son.

Awards

In 1952 he received the composition prize of the Royal Philharmonic Society .

Works (selection)

  • The Square (1961)
  • The Chameleon and the Lizard (1970)
  • Lalela zulu , for vocal ensemble (1977, text by Lewis Nkosi ).
  • Zonkizizwe (1991)
  • A Greenwich Symphony (1999)

Discographic notes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary by Stephanus Muller on theconversation.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018 .
  2. ↑ D. Burnand, H. Davies and B. Sarnaker: Electronic Music Studio, Goldsmiths' College University of London ( Memento of the original from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 4.2 MB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gold.ac.uk
personal data
SURNAME Glasser, Stanley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African composer and ethnomusicologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Johannesburg
DATE OF DEATH 5th August 2018