RICHARD WERNICK
RICHARD WERNICK
Born 1934 in Boston, Massachusetts, Richard
Wernick’s many awards include the 1977 Pulitzer
Prize in Music, and three Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards
(First Prizes in 1986 and 1991, Second Prize in 1992)
— the only two-time First Prize recipient. He
received the Alfred I. Dupont Award from the Delaware
Symphony Orchestra in 2000, and has been honored by awards
from the Ford Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, National
Institute of Arts and Letters, and the National Endowment
for the Arts. In 2006, he received the Composer of the Year
Award from the Classical Recording Foundation, resulting in
the funding for an all-Wernick CD on the Bridge label to be
released in 2008, and featuring performances by David
Starobin, William Purvis, the Juilliard String Quartet and
the Colorado Quartet.
Mr. Wernick became renowned as a teacher during his
tenure at the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught
from 1968 until his retirement in 1996, and was Magnin
Professor of Humanities. He has composed numerous solo,
chamber, and orchestral works, vocal, choral and band
compositions, as well as a large body of music for theater,
films, ballet and television. He has been commissioned by
some of the world’s leading performers and ensembles,
including the Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony
Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the Juilliard
String Quartet and the Emerson String Quartet. From 1983 to
1989, he served as the Philadelphia Orchestra's Consultant
for Contemporary Music, and from 1989 to 1993, served as
Special Consultant to Music Director Riccardo Muti.
Most of the manuscripts of works below are available
from the Special Collections of the Van Pelt Library at the
University of Pennsylvania
Current as of March 2008
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2006: Composer of the Year Award (Classical Recording Foundation)
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2000: Alfred I Dupont
Award
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1992: Kennedy Center Friedheim
Award, 2nd Place
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1991: Kennedy Center Friedheim
Award, 1st Place
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1986: Kennedy Center Friedheim
Award, 1st Place
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1982: National Endowment for
the Arts Composition Grant
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1979: National Endowment for
the Arts Composition Grant
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1977: Pulitzer Prize in
Music
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1976: Guggenheim
Fellowship
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1976: National Institute of
Arts and Letters Music Award
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1976: Naumberg Recording
Award
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1975: National Endowment for
the Arts Composition Grant
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1962-64: Ford Foundation
Composition Grants
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...and a
Time for Peace ("...ve'eyt shalom") for Mezzo-soprano
and Orchestra (1995) -- 15'
Mezzo-sop.; 2(Picc.)-2(E.Hn.)-2(B.Cl.)-3(Cbsn.); 4-3-4-0;
Pno./Cel., Hp., Timp., 3Perc., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Ravenna Festival for its 1995 season
Premiere Information: Filarmonica della Scala, Riccardo Muti,
conductor, Freda Herseth, mezzo-soprano; June 18, 1995
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Full Score - Study
(#416-41148)
Aevia for Orchestra (1966) -- 12'
4 2 3 2 - 4 3 3 1; Timp., 4 Perc., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: University of Chicago for its 75th
anniversary, 1966
Premiere Information: University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
December 1966
Concerto for
Piano and Orchestra (1990) -- 30'30"
3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 4 1; Timp., 4 Perc., Hp.,
Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Hechinger Foundation, for Lambert Orkis
and the National Symphony Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich,
Music Director
Premiere Information: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts, Washington, DC; February 7, 1991
Additional Information: Friedheim Award Winner, 1992
Movements:
• Fantasia "Tintinnabula Academicae Musicae"
• "... the dream they smile and the kiss they
whisper..."
• Rejouissance
• Recordings
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Full Score - Large
(#416-41155)
Full Score - Study (#416-41214S)
Concerto for
Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra (1992) -- 25'
4 Sax soli.; 3 3 3 3 - 4 3 3 1; Timp., 3 Perc., Pno./Cel., Hp.,
Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: American Composers Orchestra, with
support from Francis Goelet
Premiere Information: Rascher Quartet and the American Composers
Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies, conductor; November 8, 1992
• Reviews
Concerto for
Viola: Do Not Go Gentle (1986) -- 20'
Solo Vla.; String Quintet; 1-1-1-1; 2-2-1-1; Timp., Perc., Hp.,
Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: ANL Foundation, for Leon Botstein, Walter
Trampler and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic
Premiere Information: Walter Trampler and the Hudson Valley
Philharmonic, Leon Botstein; conductor; May 8, 1987
Movements:
• "Do not go gentle..."
• "...into that good night..."
• Recordings
• Reviews
Concerto for
Violin and Orchestra (1984) -- 24'30"
4(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 4(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp., 4 Perc.,
Hp., Cel., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: the National Endowment for the Arts,
1981-82
Premiere Information: Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti,
conductor, Gregory Fulkerson, violin; January 17, 1986
Additional Information: First Prize, Kennedy Center Friedheim
Awards
• Recordings
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Solo Part with Piano
Reduction (#114-40481)
Full Score - Study (#416-41114)
Full Score - Large (#416-41215S)
Concerto No.
2 for Cello and Orchestra (1992) -- 25'
3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp., 3 Perc.,
Hp., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Mstislav Rostropovich
Premiere Information: Juilliard Orchestra, Robert Mann, cond.,
Joel Krosnick, cello; October 4, 1999
• Reviews
Hexagrams for Chamber Orchestra
(1962) -- 20'
2 2 2 2 - 2 0 0 0; Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Composed in conjunction with the Ford
Foundation National Music Council Youth Composers Project,
1962-64
Premiere Information: Bay Shore High School Orchestra, Annual
Directors' Conference of the New York State School Music
Association, Kiamesha Lake, New York; December 4, 1962
Movements:
• Configurations
• Contours
Musica da
Camerata (1999) -- 20'
Fl., 2Ob., 2Bsn., 2Hn., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Israel Camerata
Premiere Information: Wiezmann Institute, Rehovot; Israel
Camerata, Avner Biron, conductor; February 17, 2000
Movements:
• Da'ase III (Wedding Dance)
• Ciaccona
• Scherzo
Symphony No.
1 (1988) -- 21'
4(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 4(E-flat Cl. B.Cl.) 4(2Cbsn.) - 6 3 3 2; 2
Timp., 3 Perc., Pno., Synthesizer, Hp., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic,
Hugh Keelan, conductor, with a grant from the Pennsylvania
Council of the Arts
Premiere Information: Masonic Temple, Scranton, PA; January 20,
1989
• Reviews
Symphony No.
2 for Solo Soprano and Orchestra (1993) -- 21'
3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp., 3 Perc.,
Pno.(Cel.), Hp., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra in memory of Stephen Sell
Premiere Information: Philadelphia Orchestra, Hans Vonk,
conductor, Sylvia McNair, soprano; January 19, 1995
Movements:
• Scherzo
• Verses for Steve
• Reviews
Visions of
Terror and Wonder for Mezzo-soprano and Orchestra
(1976) -- 30'
4-4-4-4; 4-3-3-1; 2 Timp., 5 Perc., Cel., Hp., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Aspen Music Festival, with assistance
from National Endowment of the Arts
Premiere Information: Aspen Festival Conference on Contemporary
Music, Richard Dufallo, conductor, Jan DeGaetani, soprano; July
1976
Additional Information: Pulitzer Prize winner, 1977
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Piano/Vocal Score
(#111-40106)
Full Score - Large (#416-41097)
Cadenzas and
Variations I for Viola and Piano -- 8’
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Fromm Music Foundation, 1967
Cadenzas and Variations II for
Violin Solo (1970) -- 8’
Published: #114-40190
Commission Information: Paul Zukofsky
Premiere Information: Jerome Wigler; University of Pennsylvania;
October 1971
• Recordings
• Reviews
Cadenzas and Variations III for
Cello Solo (1972) -- 15’
Published: #114-40202
Commission Information: Barbara Haffner
Premiere Information: Barbara Haffner; University of
Pennsylvania; Spring 1973
Additional Information: Winner of Naumburg Recording Award,
1976
• Recordings
Cassation: Music Tom Jefferson
Knew for Horn, Oboe and Piano (1995) -- 15’
Published: #114-40844
Commission Information: Hancock Chamber Players, with assistance
from Thomas Jefferson University
Premiere Information: Hancock Chamber Players (Martin Webster,
horn; Lisa Kozenko, oboe; Dana Burnett, piano); Thomas Jefferson
University, Philadelphia, PA; April, 1995
Movements:
• from Mr. Arnold's Air
• from Mr. Moller's Sonata
• from Mr. Reinagle's Sonata
• Inauguration Day, 1801
Available
Separately:
Full Score - Large
(#114-40844S)
Cello Sonata No. 1: Portraits of
Antiquity for Cello and Piano (1982) -- 16’
Published: #114-40375
Commission Information: Naumberg Foundation
Premiere Information: Colin Carr; Tully Hall, New York; December
5, 1983
Movements:
• 1. Incantation
• 2. Canticum Sacrum
• 3. Celebration and Ritual
Duo for Cello and Piano (2002)
-- 21'
Published: #114-41191
Commission Information: Scott Kluksdahl
Premiere Information: Scott Kluksdahl and Noreen Cassidy-Polera; Phillips
Collection, Washington, DC; January 19, 2003
Additional Information: Originally titled Cello Sonata No. 2
• Reviews
• Recordings
Concerto No. 1 for
Cello and Ten Players (1980) -- 26’
Ob., B.Cl., Cbsn./Bsn., Hn., Tpt., Tbn., Vln., Cb., Hp.,
Perc.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Twentieth Century Consort, with
assistance from National Endowment for the Arts, 1980
Premiere Information: Twentieth Century Consort, Christopher
Kendall, conductor, Barbara Haffner, cello; Hirshhorn Museum,
Washington DC; February 1, 1981
• Reviews
Da'ase for Guitar (1996) --
3’
Published: #114-40921
Commission Information: David Starobin
Premiere Information: David Starobin
• Recordings
Duettino for Oboe and Violin
(1998) -- 6’
Published: #114-41010
Premiere Information: Philip West, oboe, Carole Cowan, violin;
Aspen Music Festival; August 8, 1998
Movements:
• Quis est super?
• Romanza
• Wedding Dance (Da-ase II)
Double Duo for 2 Celli and 2 Pianos (2004)
-- 15'
Published: #114-41301
Premiere Information: Joel Krosnick, Darrett Adkins/Cellos; Gilbert
Kalish, Christina Dahl/Pianos, Juilliard School, New York, NY. 13th November, 2007.
Fanfare for a Festive Occasion
for Antiphonal Brass Choirs with Percussion (1981) --
5’
Published: #414-41148
Commission Information: University of Pennsylvania, for the
inauguration of Sheldon Hackney, President, October 23,
1981
Available
Separately:
Set of parts
(#414-41148P)
In
Praise of Zephyrus for Oboe and String Trio (1981) --
15’
Published: #114-40575
Commission Information: Philip West, 1980
Premiere Information: Eastman School of Music; Philip West, oboe,
with Eastman faculty
Movements:
• "... the Lord turned a marvelous strong West Wynde":
Maestoso
• "... the Weste wynde arysyth..."
• Vent galerne: slow, plaintive
Available
Separately:
Set of parts
(#114-40575P)
Full Score - Large (#114-40575S)
Introïts and Canons for Nine
Players (1977; rev. 1981) -- 20’
Fl., Cl., Bsn., Hn., Perc., Vln., Vla., Vcl., Cb.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Premiere Information: Juilliard School of Music, Richard Dufallo,
conductor; January 13, 1978
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Full Score - Large
(#416-41154)
Music for Viola d'amore (1964) -- 5’
Commission Information: Walter Trampler
Premiere Information: Walter Trampler, State University of New York at Buffalo, April 1965
Musica Ptolemica for Brass
Quintet (1987) -- 15’
Published: #114-40467
Commission Information: Chestnut Brass Company, the Nashville
Contemporary Brass Quintet, and the New Mexico Brass Quintet;
with a grant from National Endowment for the Arts
Premiere Information: Chestnut Brass Company, Philadelphia;
October 13, 1987
Movements:
• Epicycle I
• Epicycle II
• Epicycle III
• Recordings
The Name
of the Game for Guitar and Eleven Players (2001)
-- 20’
Guitar; Fl./A. Fl., Cl./B. Cl., Bsn., Hp., 2Perc., Vln.,
Vla., Vcl., Cb.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Network for New Music
Premiere Information: Network for New Music, David Starobin,
guitar, Jan Krzywicki, conductor; Philadelphia, PA; October 21,
2001
Additional Information: Recording due out Winter 2008.
Partita for Violin Alone (1978)
-- 20’
Published: #114-40238
Commission Information: Helen Armstrong
Premiere Information: Helen Armstrong; Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln
Center; September 1978
Piano Sonata No. 1: Reflections of a Dark
Light (1982) -- 42’
Published: #410-41249
Commission Information: Lambert Orkis
Premiere Information: Lambert Orkis, piano; Hirshhorn Museum,
Washington DC; January 15, 1983
Movements:
• "... in the forehead of the morning sky"
• Fragments of Things Remembered
• Reflections of a Dark Light
• Recordings
Piano Sonata No. 2 (2000) --
35'05"
Published: #110-40748
Commission Information: Lambert Orkis
Premiere Information: Lambert Orkis, piano; Curtis Hall, Curtis
Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA; April 14, 2002
Movements:
• Part I: i. Intrada (in the form of a march) ii. Arioso triste (in the form of a canon) iii. Toccata (in the form of an etude)
• Part II: Fantasy Variations
• Part III: i. Tempo della Toccata ii. Tempo del'Arioso iii. Tempo della Marcia
• Recordings
• Reviews
Quintet for Horn and String
Quartet (2003) -- 19'49"
Published: #114-41312
Commission Information: The Verna and Irving Fine Fund in the
Library of Congress.
Premiere Information: The Juilliard String Quartet and William
Purvis, horn.
Additional Information: To commemorate the 40th anniversary season of the Juilliard String Quartet residency at the Library of Congress. Recording due out Winter 2008.
Sextet for String
Quartet, Double Bass and Piano (2004) -- 14'01"
Commission Information: State University of New York at Stony
Brook.
Premiere Information: November 14, 2004, Stony Brook Contemporary
Chamber Players, State University of New York at Stony Brook,
NY
Available
Separately:
Score and parts
(#114-41263)
Set of parts (#114-41263P)
Full Score - Large (#114-41263S)
A Song for Phil for Mezzo-soprano and Violin (2005) -- 5'
Published: #111-40213
Premiere Information: June 23, 2008, Sarah Mesko, mezzo, Carole Cowan, violin, Aspen Music Festival
Text by Bernard Jacobson
String Quartet No. 1 (1963) --
12’
Published: #114-40686
Commission Information: Composed in conjunction with the Ford
Foundation National Music Council Youth Composers Project,
1962-64
Premiere Information: Bay Shore High School String Quartet at the
Annual Directors' Conference of the New York State School Music
Association, Rochester, NY, December 5, 1963
Available
Separately:
Set of parts
(#114-40686P)
Full Score - Large (#114-40686S)
String Quartet No. 2 (1972-73)
-- 35’
Published: #114-40602
Commission Information: Philarte String Quartet
Premiere Information: University of Pennsylvania, February 8,
1974
Movements:
• Elegy
• Scherzo (Devil's Dance)
• In memoriam: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Set of parts
(#114-40602P)
Full Score - Large (#114-40602S)
String Quartet No. 3 (1988) --
22’
Published: #114-40533
Commission Information: Elizabeth Sprigue Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress, for the Juilliard String Quartet
Premiere Information: Juilliard String Quartet; New York; January
22, 1990
Movements:
• Media – Spring
• Wolcott – Summer
• Media – Autumn
Available
Separately:
Set of parts
(#114-40533P)
Full Score - Large (#114-40533S)
String Quartet No. 4 (1990) --
20'30"
Published: #114-40576
Commission Information: Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, for
the Emerson String Quartet
Premiere Information: Port of History Museum, Philadelphia, PA;
April 20, 1991
• Recordings
• Reviews
String Quartet No. 5 for Soprano
and String Quartet (1995) -- 21'
Published: #111-40152
Commission Information: Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, with
support from The Pew Charitable Trust and the William Penn
Foundation, for Benita Valente and the Juilliard Quartet
Premiere Information: Juilliard String Quartet and Benita
Valente, soprano; January 1996
Additional Information: Texts by Hanna Senesh.
• Reviews
String Quartet No. 6 (1998) --
15’
Published: #114-41026
Commission Information: Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance,
Jerusalem.
Premiere Information: Jerusalem Quartet; Jerusalem Academy of
Music and Dance, Jerusalem; May 26, 1999
Additional Information: Recording due out Winter 2008.
String Quartet No. 7 (2007) --
14’
Published: #114-41323
Premiere Information: Jerusalem Quartet; Jerusalem Academy of
Music and Dance, Jerusalem; May 26, 1999
Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied
Cello (2003) -- 10'
Published: #114-41215
Premiere Information: Fall 2003, Gwendolyn Krosnick, cello,
Juilliard School of Music
Suite No.
2 for Unaccompanied Cello -- 15'
Premiere Information: Gwendolyn Krosnick, Feb. 9, 2008, Fairchild
Chapel, Conservatory of Music, Oberlin College, Ohio
Telino's Acrobats for Bass
Clarinet Solo (1999) -- 7’
Published: #114-41136
Premiere Information: February 21, 2004, John Friedrichs, bass
clarinet, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Tintinnabula Academiae Musicae (Bells of the
Academy of Music) for Carillon (1988) -- 3’
Published: #114-40614
Commission Information: Written for the Academy of Music,
Philadelphia, PA
Premiere Information: September 1989
Additional Information: Written to be used as a concert hall bell
signal.
Trio for Violin, Clarinet,
and Cello (1962) -- 10'’
Commission Information: Department of Music, Brandeis University,
1961
Premiere Information: Brandeis Players (Robert Koff, violin;
Felix Viscuglia, clarinet; Madeline Foley, cello); Brandeis
University; December 7, 1962
Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1996) -- 20'’
Published: #114-40884
Premiere Information: July 26th, 27th, 1996. Joel Smirnoff/Vln., Joel Krosnick/Vcl., Gilbert Kalish/Pno., Mohawk Trail Concerts, Federated Church, Charlemont, Massachusetts.
Movements:
• Mazurka
• Passamezza
• Tarantella
Trochaic Trot for Guitar (2000)
-- 3’
Published: #114-41102
Commission Information: David Starobin
Premiere Information: David Starobin; Festival of New American
Music, California State University-Sacramento; November 7, 2000
Violin Sonata for Violin and
Piano (1997) -- 21’
Published: #114-41025
Commission Information: Gregory Fulkerson
Premiere Information: Gregory Fulkerson, violin, Charles
Abramovic, piano; Cleveland Museum of Art; March 14,
1999
Movements:
• "... in the grand manner"
• "... in the manner of a chaconne"
• "... in the manner of a dance of death"
...and a
Time for Peace ("...ve'eyt shalom") for Mezzo-soprano
and Orchestra (1995) -- 15'
Mezzo-sop.; 2(Picc.)-2(E.Hn.)-2(B.Cl.)-3(Cbsn.); 4-3-4-0;
Pno./Cel., Hp., Timp., 3Perc., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Ravenna Festival for its 1995 season
Premiere Information: Filarmonica della Scala, Riccardo Muti,
conductor, Freda Herseth, mezzo-soprano; June 18, 1995
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Full Score - Study
(#416-41148)
A Poison
Tree for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, and
Soprano (1979) -- 12'
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Syracuse Society for New Music
Premiere Information: Syracuse Society for New Music, Neva
Pilgrim, soprano; January 1980
Additional Information: Text by William Blake.
Movements:
• Fantasia with Variations and Cadenza
• A Poison Tree (Valse Macabre)
• Fantasia Ricapitolata
• Recordings
Available
Separately:
Score and parts
(#416-41112)
A
Prayer for Jerusalem for Mezzo-Soprano and Percussion
(1971) -- 12’
Published: #111-40083
Premiere Information: Jan DeGaetani and Matthew Hopkins;
University of Pennsylvania; Spring 1972
Additional Information: Winner of Naumburg Recording Award,
1976
• Recordings
• Reviews
Ball of Sun for Voice and Piano
(1989) -- 3’
Published: #111-40112
Commission Information: Written for Jan DeGaetani, mezzo-soprano,
and Gilbert Kalish, piano
Additional Information: Text by Bernard Jacobson.
Contemplations of the Tenth
Muse for Soprano and Piano (1977-79) -- 20'30"
Commission Information: Book I commissioned by the Fromm Music
Foundation. Book II commissioned by WFMT-FM, Chicago.
Premiere Information: Elsa Charlston, at Carnegie Recital Hall,
1977, and University of Chicago, 1979
Additional Information: Poems by Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672).
• Reviews
Fragments of Prophecy for SATB,
a cappella (boys’ voices preferred for soprano and alto
parts) (1990) -- 8’
Published: #312-41627
Commission Information: Philadelphia Boys' Choir and Chorale,
Robert Hamilton, Music director
Premiere Information: 31st March, 2006. University Singers
(Indiana University School of Music), conducted by Jan
Harrington. First United Church, Bloomington, IN.
Haiku of
Basho for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Violin,
Contrabass, Two Percussion, Piano and Tape (1967) --
12-15’
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Premiere Information: Contemporary Chamber Players of the
University of Chicago, composer conducting; Chicago; March 1,
1968
• Recordings
Available
Separately:
Full Score - Large
(#416-41180)
I
Too for Voice and Piano (1984) -- 4’
Published: #111-40123
Premiere Information: December 20, 1984, Jan DeGaetani and
Gilbert Kalish; Carnegie Hall
Additional Information: Text by Charles Lee.
Kaddish-Requiem A secular service for
the victims of Indo-China (1971) -- 18’
Mezzo-sop., Fl./Picc., Cl./B.Cl., Vln., Vcl., Sitar, 2 Perc.,
Pno., Tape
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Philadelphia Composers Forum, 1971
Premiere Information: Philadelphia Composers Forum; Fall
1971
Movements:
• "...alles Fleisch..."
• Kaddish
• Requiem aeternam
• Recordings
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Full Score - Large
(#416-41179)
Lyrics from
1 X 1 for Soprano, Vibraphone-marimba, and Contrabass
(1965) -- 10’
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Ars Nova Consort at the Center for the
Performing Arts in New York State University at Buffalo, 1965
Premiere Information: Contemporary Chamber Players, University of
Chicago; December, 1966
Additional Information: Text by e.e. cummings.
Moonsongs
from the Japanese for Soprano and Two Pre-recorded
tracks of Soprano Voice, or Three Solo Sopranos (1968) --
5’
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Neva Pilgrim, 1964
Premiere Information: Neva Pilgrim; University of Pennsylvania;
Spring 1969
Additional Information: Texts from Issa (1762-1826), Sokan
(1465-1553), Hokushi (1665 ? -1718) and Shiki (1867-1902)
• Recordings
The Oracle of Shimon Bar Yochai
for Cello, Piano and Soprano (1983) -- 14'30"
Published: #111-40102
Commission Information: André Emilianoff
Premiere Information: Margaret Chalker, soprano, André
Emelianoff, cello, and John van Buskirk, piano; 92nd Street "Y";
December 8, 1983
Additional Information: text from Shimon bar Yochai (fl. 135 AD - 170 AD)
Oracle II for Soprano, Oboe and
Piano (1985) -- 12’
Published: #111-40107
Commission Information: Chamber Music Society of Baltimore
Premiere Information: Elsa Charlston, James Ostryniec, and
Lambert Orkis; Baltimore, MD; January 18, 1987
Additional Information: Text from the Rebbe of Kotzk.
• Reviews
Songs of Remembrance Four songs
for Shawm, English Horn, Oboe and Mezzo-soprano (1973) --
20’
Published: #111-40126
Commission Information: Jan DeGaetani, 1973
Premiere Information: Jan DeGaetani and Philip West; Harold
Prince Theater, University of Pennsylvania; 1974
• Recordings
• Reviews
String
Quartet No. 5 for Soprano and String Quartet (1995)
-- 21'
Commission Information: Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, with
support from The Pew Charitable Trust and the William Penn
Foundation, for Benita Valente and the Juilliard Quartet
Premiere Information: Juilliard String Quartet and Benita
Valente, soprano; January 1996
Additional Information: Texts by Hanna Senesh.
Symphony
No. 2 for Solo Soprano and Orchestra (1993) --
21'
3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp., 3 Perc.,
Pno.(Cel.), Hp., Str.
Premiere Information: Philadelphia Orchestra, Hans Vonk,
conductor, Sylvia McNair, soprano; January 19, 1995
The Eleventh Commandment: "No, thou shalt
not Xerox® music" for SATB chorus with Piano or
Organ (1987) -- 3'30"
Published: #312-41535
Commission Information: Ithaca College School of Music
Premiere Information: November 14, 1987
Two for Jan for Soprano,
Mezzo-soprano, Oboe/English Horn, Bass Clarinet and Cello (1991)
-- 7’
Published: #111-40132
Premiere Information: Karen Holvik, soprano; Freda Herseth,
mezzo-soprano, Philip West, english horn; Allen Blustine, bass
clarinet; Christopher Finckel, cello; March 12, 1992
Additional Information: Words by Bernard Jacobson
Available
Separately:
Set of parts
(#111-40132P)
Full Score - Large (#111-40132S)
Visions of
Terror and Wonder for Mezzo-soprano and Orchestra
(1976) -- 30'
4-4-4-4; 4-3-3-1; 2 Timp., 5 Perc., Cel., Hp., Str.
Available from the Presser Rental
Library
Commission Information: Aspen Music Festival, with assistance
from National Endowment of the Arts
Premiere Information: Aspen Festival Conference on Contemporary
Music, Richard Dufallo, conductor, Jan DeGaetani, soprano; July
1976
Additional Information: Pulitzer Prize winner, 1977
• Reviews
Available
Separately:
Piano/Vocal Score
(#111-40106)
Full Score - Large (#416-41097)
V'shamru for Cantor and
Unspecified Single Instrument (1985/95) -- 3’
Published: #111-40137
New Directions for Strings
Published: #114-40169
Commission Information: Margaret Farrish
Movements:
• A Musical Game of Tag for 2 Violins
• Peter's March for 2 Violins
• You Can't Catch Me for 3 Violins
"Midsummer Night's
Dream" Incidental Music (1954)
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
"Oedipus
Rex" Incidental Music (Sophocles)
Withdrawn
"The
Geranium Hat" Incidental Music (Bernard Evslin)
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
"The
Saintliness of Margery Kempe" Incidental Music (John
Wulp)
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
"The
Thracian Horses" Incidental Music (Maurice
Valency)
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
"The
Trojan Women" Incidental Music (Euripedes)
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
"Thieves'
Carnival" Incidental Music (Jean Anouilh)
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
"Thieves'
Carnival" Revised Incidental Music (Jean Anouilh)
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
A Bowl of
Cherries Film Score
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Agamemnon Incidental
Music (Aeschylus)
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Beginnings for SATB
Chorus
Available From American Conference of Cantors
Chanukah
Festival Overture for Band or Orchestra and
Chorus
Available From Mills Music, Inc. (EMI Music Publishing,
distributed by G. Schirmer)
Concert
Overture for Band
Available From Mills Music, Inc. (EMI Music Publishing,
distributed by G. Schirmer)
Dance
Piece for Flute, Cello, Piano and Percussion
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Divertimento for
Viola, Cello, Clarinet and Bassoon
Withdrawn
Duo
Concertante for Cello and Piano
Available From Mills Music, Inc. (EMI Music Publishing,
distributed by G. Schirmer)
Family
Worship Film Score
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Fete
Brilliante a Ballet from the music of Mozart
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Four from
"Tulips and Chimneys" for Baritone and Orchestra
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Four from
"Tulips and Chimneys" Reduction for Baritone and
Piano
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Four
Pieces for String Quartet
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Full
Fadom Five for Mixed Chorus and Chamber Ensemble
Available From CMP Library Edition
Harlequinade
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Kee El
Asher Verses from the Book of Ruth
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Maggie an Opera based
on a fragment from Stephen Crane's "Maggie: A Girl in the
Streets"
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Mute
Wife
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Snap
Shots for Band
Available From Mills Music, Inc. (EMI Music Publishing,
distributed by G. Schirmer)
Something
for the Girls Film Score
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Stretti for Clarinet,
Violin, Viola, and Guitar
Available From Mills Music, Inc. (EMI Music Publishing,
distributed by G. Schirmer)
The
Diocletians for Band
Available From Mills Music, Inc. (EMI Music Publishing,
distributed by G. Schirmer)
The
Emperor's New Clothes
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
The
Emperor's Nightingale Ballet for television
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
The
Fur-lined Foxhole Film Score
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
The
Nativity Ballet for Television
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
The
Purple Turtle Film Score
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
The Queen
of Ice Ballet for Television
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
The
Swineherd a Ballet
Available From Mills Music, Inc. (EMI Music Publishing,
distributed by G. Schirmer)
The
Twisted Heart a Ballet
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
Would Be
Gentleman Incidental Theater Music
Available From Special Collections, Van Pelt Library,
University of Pennsylvania
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Duo for Cello and Piano
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Haiku of Basho for
Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Contrabass, Two
Percussion, Piano and Tape
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A Poison Tree for
Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, and Soprano
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Smithsonian Collection N027:
20th Century Consort, Christopher Kendall cond., and Lucy
Shelton, soprano.
Spectrum Records SR-183:
Syracuse New Music Ensemble and Neva Pilgrim, soprano.
"Richard Wernick is a sensitive artist who so
enjoys his work that he never feels the need of a hobby to relax.
Yet at the same time, his music never floats down on the world
from some ivory tower: He is a modern troubadour whose
compositions are as timely as the newspapers and newscasts."
-Dunning, Santa Fe
Reporter
"Wernick has a vision of music's future, and no
musician is more actively involved in realizing that
vision."
-Wigler, Baltimore
Sun
"… a piece that works its magic by having
the pairs of pianists and cellists begin in tandem and gradually
find their independence. Subtle changes of texture were
everything."
-Allan Kozinn, The
New York Times
"… jaunty, angular melody and
broad-arching structure… subtle shadings of dynamic range
and variety of colors in the piano."
-Gail Wein, The
Washington Post
"… an ingeniously constructed piece in
three parts… Wernick's piano writing [has] an emotional
expansiveness - powerfully articulated - which seems entirely
personal. … cordially recommended…"
-Richard Whitehouse,
Gramophone
"Wernick’s Piano Sonata No. 2
[offers] meditative breathing spaces amid busy passages that
suggest a Bach toccata filtered through a modernist, atonal
sensibility… as in Wernick’s best music, this one
seems to be powered by a deep inner experience."
-David Patrick Stearns,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"It is one of the finest pieces in the
contemporary idiom."
-Sable, NATS
Bulletin
"…a dark work, and a beautiful one. The
text asks God to manifest his presence in the midst of human
suffering. And Wernick uses his vocal and instrumental forces in
an equally uncompromising way, challenging and ultimately
rewarding the audience."
-Wigler, Baltimore
Sun
"…a memorable score… capable of
commanding not only respect but deep affection."
-American Record
Guide
"… [Hannah Senesh's] poignant, anguished
verses hover above Wernick's haunting string lines…""
-Donald Rosenberg,
Gramophone magazine
"Because the motifs are so clear, they provide
structural guides that strengthen the work. The effect is that of
a serious unity – instruments and voice creating a portrait
of the poet's thought."
-Webster,
Philadelphia Inquirer
"Ingenious writing for solo violin which uses
every conceivable technical resource including a couple that the
composer has invented himself."
-Making
Music
"A dramatic, virtuoso number in eight contrasting
sections (theme, five variations, and two cadenzas) generated by
the unifying thematic material, the progressive sections, played
without pause, stress natural and false harmonics, left hand
pizzicato and utilize a broad vocabulary of bowings in all
degrees of dynamic shadings from the quietest pianissimo to the
wildest fortissimo... There is a fascinating element of discovery
in this work which makes imaginative use of the materials
appropriate to the violin idiom, suitable for very advanced
violinists with facile technique, versatile bow control, and a
desire for adventure."
-American String
Teacher
"…an intriguing mixture of seriousness and
playfulness… has a quality of broad romantic gesture,
without sounding old-fashioned. It is personal and rich in
contrast without being extravagant… grandly
conceived."
-Haagsche
Courant
"…enormously resonant … It expands
naturally as an exploration of evocative ideas."
-Webster,
Philadelphia Inquirer
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Duo for Cello and Piano
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"Wernick here succeeds in re-imagining the
potential of the instruments he is writing for, and forging for
them what seems at once a totally original and an absolutely
compelling musical language"
-Bernard Jacobson,
Seen & Heard: Music Web
"…a short Scherzo for a middle movement,
cut off in midstream as he was composing on 9/11, after which
comes a movement called 'Remembrance'. The contrast between that
and the foregoing is powerful, yet tasteful and well balanced;
and the music returns finally to the opening. This is a fine
piece."
-D. Moore, American
Record Guide
"… eager to please both the untutored and
the sophisticated listener… a genuinely ambitious score
with some beautiful moments in it."
-Horowitz, New York
Times
"…a demonstration of fine creativeness
composed to correspond with the apocalyptical verses with music.
. .a martial design that is obsessive and brilliant, while in the
center of everything there appears the delicate cameo that is
entrusted to a sextet that radiates a phosphorescent post-Webern
color over the delicate Danteian Intermezzo."
-La
Republica
"The divine order of the world is evoked by the
composer in a complex, thoughtful construct … no one would
be able to deny the acknowledgement of a noble spell; as well as
the undeniable impression of finding one's self engaged with a
very original personality."
-L'unita
"Richard Wernick's music, which once appeared a
reconciliation of modernism with the mainstream, now seems
positively defiant in standing up for dissonant chords and
melodies that have no obvious tonal home. Monday night's first
performance… brought out the virtues of persistence."
-New York
Times
"…an absolutely brilliant and compelling
composition."
-Black, Market Square
(Pittsburgh)
"Clearly modern in its idiom but in touch with
traditional ideals, styles and forms of concerto writing, this
three-movement work combines technical brilliance (in both the
piano and orchestra) with intense emotional communication…
a beautifully balanced work"
-McLellan, Washington
Post
"Richard Wernick's music… seems to be
about energy, its rise and fall, the stresses that pull it
towards velocity and stasis… Tonal and near-tonal lines
alternate with dissonant counterpoints, often punctuated by
clusters for dramatic effect. Wernick's use of rhythm is
impeccable, as is his sense of dramatic timing."
-Fanfare
"…a notably less abstract work than many
of Mr. Wernick's recent scores… His themes, particularly
those introduced by the piano, are often angular, and tend to
evade tonal centers. But this time the evasion is sneakier:
Several of Mr. Wernick's melodies begin as comfortably diatonic
melodies, and slowly break away. And his lush scoring and
avoidance of stretches of overtly dissonant harmony are all the
more seductive once one realizes how far afield Mr. Wernick has
led the willing ear… The 30-minute work's most appealing
quality though, is its sense of coherent narrative flow…
In each of the three movements, themes are fully developed and
are passed back and forth between the piano and the orchestra in
the kind of lively dialogue listeners have largely despaired of
hearing in contemporary concertos."
-Kozinn, New York
Times
"…is alternately amusing and sentimental.
Interestingly, the piece has no jazz or pop music in it, and the
resulting sonorities, in which the saxes play mostly without the
usual vibrato, are fascinating."
-Zakariasen, Daily
News (Philadelphia)
"…an orchestral craftsman who has absorbed
the gamut of modernist techniques into an idiom both eclectic and
communicative. Wernick states bold lyric and dramatic oppositions
and then boldly reconciles them in a big, eruptive, brilliantly
scored, rhythmically agitated finale that is the musical heart of
the work… In sum, Wernick's concerto seemed a 25-minute
odyssey from darkness to light that was worth taking. It has
serious ideas to communicate and it communicates them well."
-Von Rhein, Chicago
Tribune
"…incorporates a host of rigorous musical
procedures, including canons of various sorts a chaconne, a
passacaglia and an isorhythmic obbligato. But it is the work's
broad Romantic gestures that make the most striking first
impression… Mr. Wernick skillfully uses instrumental color
to reinforce the shifting moods of his 18-minute
composition"
-Horowitz, New York
Times
"…Has something to say, and says it
strongly and affectingly."
-Salzman, Stereo
Review
"Sunday evening I heard a piece of contemporary
music so compelling, so intellectually stimulating, to which I
also had such a strong emotional response, that I was literally
drawn back to the Monday evening performance — there was
simply no other choice. That work was Kaddish
Requiem by composer Richard Wernick… an example of
protest music which works and will endure. It does so because it
captures a universal emotion of lament, a contrast of violence
and serenity in musical language which can be understood on many
levels."
-Pearson, Albuquerque
Journal
"…intensely eloquent. Its central section
is based on the Jewish "Kaddish" rite for the dead, and by the
use of tape collage effects it transforms a single cantor's voice
into a striking chorus of grief for human suffering. This section
is bracketed by others that draw motifs from Brahms' German
Requiem, Renaissance polyphony and the Catholic
Requiem Mass, and the composer's integration of these
works into a single entity with a unified impact is an impressive
tour de force."
-Washington
Post
"If you enjoy music that stirs the intellect and
the emotions — that stretches your imagination as you
listen, don't miss tonight's performance. The music stands on its
own without the need for explanation or a story to tie it to an
event in American life… the emotional effect is enough to
move the listener to tears. The reason for this impact lies with
Wernick's genius, and the reality of it was apparent from the
expressions of the people in the audience Sunday."
-Hillerman, The New
Mexican
"…I’m prepared now to declare
Richard Wernick’s Kaddish-Requiem a
masterpiece."
-Lamply, WAPV-TV
(Washington, DC)
"The invisible but very real harmonies and
organization of the piece gave it a rationality that pleased
listeners and drew praise, we discovered later, from the
performing musicians"
-Dunning, Santa Fe
Reporter
"…The Symphony breathes with
a sense of freedom, ease and maturity … The piece has
melodies to recall, colors to savor and a form that
satisfies."
-Webster,
Philadelphia Inquirer
"…gives the impression of a man who
harbors a great secret sorrow but has found the means to express
it succinctly, with dignity and simple eloquence… The
clarity and purpose of his symphony are never in doubt, from that
awesome first sound — a pedal point on the bass instruments
that seems to well up from somewhere in the center of the earth
— through a logically ordered and organic treatment of
time, material, and gesture that leads us back to the
source."
-Davis, New Yorker
Magazine
"The work’s two movements – a
tumultuous scherzo followed by a gentle slow movement –
provide a natural dramatic structure depicting death and
resolution."
-Dobrin, Philadelphia
Inquirer
"…a strong, tightly made piece rich in
instrumental invention and altogether quite moving in
effect."
-Buell, Boston
Globe
"…undeniably music of craft, drama and
splendid invention… holds dramatic power in using the
orchestra like a dynamo."
-Musical
America
Page last updated November 14, 2008
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