DAVID LEISNER
DAVID LEISNER
Fanfare magazine described the music of David Leisner as “rich in invention and melody, emotionally direct, and beautiful”. Guitar Review wrote, “not many composers manage to be equally satisfying to the hands, the ear and the mind as Leisner has.”
His music has been performed worldwide by such eminent artists as Sanford Sylvan, Paul Sperry, Juliana Gondek, Susan Narucki, D’Anna Fortunato, Eugenia Zukerman, Benjamin Verdery, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Cavatina Duo, Arc Duo, Pearl and Gray Duo, Saturday Brass Quintet, and orchestras such as the Fresno Philharmonic and the Springfield (MA and MO) and Amarillo Symphonies. Dances in the Madhouse, in its original version for violin/flute and guitar and as an arrangement for orchestra, has received hundreds of performances. Leisner’s complete works for flute and guitar have been recorded by the Cavatina Duo on the much acclaimed Acrobats album for the Cedille label, and he himself recorded his complete solo guitar works on Self-Portrait for Azica. Other works currently available on CD are on the SonyClassical, Dorian, Centaur, Town Hall, Signum, Acoustic Music, ABC, Athena, Fleur de Son and Barking Dog labels.
Works and commissions include Das Wundebare Wesen for baritone Wolfgang Holzmair and cello, West Wind for tenor William Ferguson and guitar, A Timeless Procession for baritone Holzmair and string quartet, Away for the Arc Duo, Of Darkness and Light for the Stones River Chamber Players, Vision of Orpheus for the St. Lawrence Quartet and Leisner (20th Century Unlimited series), Embrace of Peace for the Fairfield Orchestra, The Cat that Walked by Himself for the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Battlefield Requiem for solo cellist Laurence Lesser and the New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble, Fidelity for tenor Bruce Fowler, baritone Robert Osborne and pianist Warren Jones, and Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam for the Saturday Brass Quintet.
He has received composition grants from the American Music Center, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, the New England Foundation for the Arts and Meet the Composer. His works are published by Theodore Presser Co., G. Schirmer, Doberman-Yppan and Columbia Music.
David Leisner also maintains a busy career as a concert guitarist, performing in recital and as a soloist with orchestras around the world. Winner of top prizes in international guitar competitions at Geneva and Toronto, he is a featured solo artist with Azica Records, and has recorded chamber music on the Telarc, Koch and Etcetera labels, and concertos for Naxos and Opus One. Leisner is currently the co-chair of the guitar department at the Manhattan School of Music and also taught at the New England Conservatory for 22 years. A regular composition juror for the BMI Student Composer Awards, he has also been a juror for the New York Youth Symphony’s First Works commissions. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he studied composition with Richard Winslow, Virgil Thomson, Charles Turner and David Del Tredici.
For more information, please visit www.davidleisner.com |
Elegy (Johann Kaspar Mertz)
Guitar Solo
Published: #144-40109
Kindermaerchen (Johann Kaspar Mertz)
Guitar Solo
Published: #114-40262
Liebeslied (Johann Kaspar Mertz)
Guitar Solo
Published: #114-40275
Partita in A Minor, BWV 1013 (J.S. Bach)
Arranged for Guitar Solo
Published: #144-40188
Polacca (Johann Kaspar Mertz)
Guitar Solo
Published: #114-40259
Romanze (Johann Kaspar Mertz)
Guitar Solo
Published: #114-40261
Suite No. 3, BWV 1009 (J.S. Bach)
Arranged for Guitar Solo
Published: #144-40306
Tarantelle (Johann Kaspar Mertz)
Guitar Solo
Published: #144-40267
What is it? (Virgil Thomson)
Published: #111-40091
Acrobats for Flute and Guitar (2002) -- 13'
Available From Les Editions Doberman/Yppan
Ad majorem Dei gloriam for Brass Quintet (1992) -- 12'
Available From Composer
Battlefield Requiem for Solo Cello and Percussion Quartet (1995) -- 15'
Available From Composer
Candles in Mecca for Violin, Cello and Piano (1988) -- 23'
Available From Composer
Dances in the Madhouse for Violin or Flute and Guitar (1982) -- 12'
Published: #144-40143
Additional Information: Orchestral version available on rental from Theodore Presser Company.
Movements:
• Ballad for the Lonely
• Samba!
• Tango Solitaire
• Waltz for the Old Folks
• Recordings
El Coco for Flute and Guitar (1999) -- 3'
Commission Information: part of Red Cedar Chamber Music's commission of 7
composers for their "Artistic Celebration for the 21st Century" project
• Recordings
Extremes for Flute, Clarinet and Guitar (1987) -- 13'
Available From Les Editions Doberman/Yppan
Mirage for Guitar Duo (1987) -- 6'
Published: #144-40169
• Recordings
Nostalgia for Violin or Flute and Guitar (1985) -- 5'
Published: #144-40307
• Recordings
On Jazz Terrain for Flute, B-flat Clarinet, Alto Saxophone and Piano (1990) -- 13'
Available From Composer
Available Separately:Set of parts (#144-40452P)
Full Score - Large (#144-40452S)
Three Moons for Cello and Guitar (1984) -- 16'
Published: #444-41017
• Recordings
Trittico for Flute, Cello and Guitar (1985) -- 12'
Available From Les Editions Doberman/Yppan
Vision of Orpheus for Guitar and String Quartet (2000) -- 18'
Additional Information: Published: #144-40540
Four Pieces for Guitar (1979, 1986) -- 15'
Additional Information: Published: #144-40551
Movements:
• I. Prelude
• II. Episode
• III. Ritual
• IV. Dance
Freedom Fantasies for Guitar
Available From Les Editions Doberman/Yppan
Labyrinths for Solo Guitar (2007) -- 16'
Additional Information: Published: #144-40539
Movements:
• I. Shimmer
• II. Shadow
• III. Shiver
• IV. Shatter
• V. Shelter
• Reviews
Nel Mezzo Sonata for Guitar (1998) -- 20'
Published: #144-40413
• Recordings
Roaming for Guitar Trio (1994) -- 8'
Available From Les Editions Doberman/Yppan
Dances in the Madhouse for Orchestra (1989) -- 13'
2(Picc.) 2 2 2 - 2 2 0 0; Perc., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental Library
Additional Information: Original version for Violin/Flute and Guitar (1982) also available.
Movements:
• Ballad for the Lonely
• Samba!
• Tango Solitaire
• Waltz for the Old Folks
• Reviews
Embrace of Peace for Orchestra (1991) -- 14'
2 2 2 2 - 4 2 2 1; Perc. Str.
Available From Composer
"O Love is the Crooked Thing" for Medium Voice and Piano -- 15'
Additional Information: Published: #141-40081
Movements:
• I. Down by the Salley Gardens
• II. The Two Trees
• III. A Drinking Song
• IV. The Wild Swans at Coole
• V. Brown Penny
Clouds and Waves for Children’s Chorus and Children’s String Orchestra (1993) -- 6'
Available From Composer
Confiding for High (or Medium) Voice and Piano (1985-86) -- 30'
Additional Information: Published: #141-40077 (high voice)
#141-40078 (medium voice)
Confiding for High Voice and Guitar (1985-86) -- 30'
Additional Information: Published: #141-40079
Fidelity for Tenor (or Soprano), Baritone and Piano (1996) -- 25'
Additional Information: Published: #141-40080
Movements:
• I. Our Forward Shadows
• II. Are you the new person drawn toward me?
• III. Moon, Sun, Sleep, Birds, Live
• IV. O My Love the Pretty Towns
• V. Tree Marriage
• VI. Sometimes he contemplates adultery
• VII. Anniversary Song
• VIII. Lullaby
Five Songs of Devotion for Medium Voice and Guitar (1989) -- 16'
Published: #491-00418
Commission Information: Written for Hazel Ketchum.
Movements:
• I. The Lord is My Shepherd
• II. Song of the Sky Loom
• III. Breath of Nature
• IV. Saint Clare
• V. Silent Steps
Heaven's River for Soprano and Guitar (1991) -- 10'
Available From Les Editions Doberman/YppanMovements:
• I. The Boat
• II. Light
• III. To the Stream
Ode for Solo Voice and Hand-Clapping
Available From Composer
Outdoor Shadows for High Voice and Guitar (1985) -- 12'
Published: #141-40018
Additional Information: Published: #141-40018
Movements:
• I. Slow
• II. Homeward
• III. Yes, what?
• IV. Seagulls
• V. Sing a Song of Juniper
Simple Songs for Medium Voice and Guitar
Available From Associated Music Publishers (G. Schirmer)
Three James Tate Songs for Medium Voice and Guitar (2007) -- 11'
Additional Information: Published: #141-40074
Movements:
• I. I Can't Speak for the Wind
• II. Never Again the Same
• III. From an Island
To Sleep for Medium (or Low) Voice and Piano (1994) -- 10'
Additional Information: Published: #141-40076
Movements:
• I. Sleeping on the Ceiling
• II. The Unbeliever
• III. Sonnet
Yiddish Songs for Medium or High Voice and Guitar
Available From Les Editions Doberman/Yppan
Centaur Records CRC 2061:
Clayton Haslop, violin, and Jack Sanders, guitar.
Signum Records SIG X70-00: Bad Boy
Folkwang Guitar Duo (Volker Niehusmann and Carsten Linck, guitars)
"Leisner's songs have proved popular with the younger generation of American singers, and with reason. He has good literary judgment and shows imagination and taste in taking poems from disparate sources and putting them into cycles that trace emotional progress and develop dramatic shape. His prosody is excellent, and he sets words with an ear for sound, rhythm and sense… Best of all, Leisner has a gift for eloquently shaping a vocal line that is also grateful to sing… a gift for bringing a song around right at the very end, particularly in quiet closes that are at once surprising and inevitable."-Boston Globe"Leisner is a thoughtful composer who uses the orchestra with insight."-The Stamford Advocate, CT"… brilliant intellect in combination with brilliant sensitivity"-Westport News (Westport, CT)
"These pieces [Passacaglia and Toccata] are far superior to almost anything else being written for guitar today. Not many composers manage to be equally satisfying to the hands, the ear and the mind as Leisner has."-Guitar Review
"Leisner’s music was consumer-friendly, his forthright style simultaneously accessible and uncompromising. Spare texture, haunting colors, and fine solo efforts from first violin, oboe, trumpet and flute ignited the Tango Solitaire. Waltz for the Old Folks and Ballad for the Lonely invoked a soothing confluence of innocence and worldly wisdom, and Samba! made for an energetic close. Leisner applauded the orchestra and received a warm ovation."-Springfield Union-News (MA)"It is refreshing to find a work of such imagination and ingenuity that could be enjoyed by all types of listeners. In fact, virtually every aspect of Dances in the Madhouse supports the contention that a composer needn’t sacrifice originality and quality for accessibility...a work of exquisite beauty."-Guitar Review"We heard what may be one of the most spellbinding new compositions I have listened to in many a moon – David Leisner’s Dances in the Madhouse… It is one of those small but delightful pieces which we all go to concerts hoping to hear: something new which pleases on its first hearing yet promises to yield further treasures the next time… a contemporary gem."-The Easthampton Star (NY)"David Leisner’s four Dances in the Madhouse are a potent addition to the repertory – giddy, attractive reinterpretations of traditional forms."-Los Angeles Times
"…an ingenious and arresting compositional voice.
…reveling in its coloristic and textural complexities. Labyrinths is a fine addition to the classical guitar repertoire."-Lawrence Budmen, South Florida Classical Review
Page last updated November 10, 2011
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