Will Ogdon

Will Ogdon holds a Ph.D. from the University of Indiana and has served on the faculties of the University of Texas, College of St. Cath-erine, Illinois Wesleyan University, and the University of California at San Diego where he is Professor Emeritus. From 1962-64, he was Music Director of the Pacifica Foundation’s FM radio station in Berkeley CA; he established a studio in San Francisco from which he initiated a radio series of live performances of contemporary music. Ogdon has written extensively on the compositional techniquesand pedagogy of 20th c. music; notably articles on the unpublished writings of Rene’ Leibowitz, with whom he had studied as a Fulbrightscholar, the music of Krenek, Webern, and Schoenberg, and commentaries on his own music. Among Ogdon’s works, a highly variedarray of vocal works reflect an abiding interest in issues of text-setting.

BY THE ISAR, a setting of D.H.Lawrence’s “River Roses” for soprano, alto flute, and double bass was written for my colleague, BertramTuretsky who had asked me to write something for bass and flute for him and his wife, Nancy. The song explores the upper register of the bass as well as the high voice of my wife, Beverly. There are several imitative responses to the poems such as the words “and sin-ging” with its leap to the soprano’s high ‘B’; “swinging in the trees” with its rocking rhythm and “let it be as the snake disposes” witha sexually suggestive rhythm in the accompaniment.

My VARIATIONS SUITE FOR VIOLIN AND VIOLA was composed for UCSD colleagues Paivikki Nykter and Janos Negyesy. Its four move-ments combine two or three rather brief pieces in the following order: 1) Prelude 2) Theme 3) Scherzo 4) Adagio 5) Scherzo #2 6) Tango7) & 8) Quasi marcia and Trio 9) Theme 10) Postlude, Remembering Bartok. The Bartok reference is to the 44 Duos for two violins re-corded by Nykter and Negyesy, along with my analytical notes.