John Craton
Encyclopedia
John Douglas Craton is an American classical composer. His works have been performed throughout the United States
and Europe
. While his compositions cover a diverse range, he is best known for his operas and works for classical mandolin
.
. Though neither of his parents was musical, his extended family included many musicians, both amateurs and professionals, among them his cousin, concert pianist and composer Barbara Gallagher. He began his formal musical training at age 10 studying violin
under retired violinist and conductor, Robert Louis Barron. After graduating from Saks High School he studied violin and piano at Jacksonville State University
before transferring to Lipscomb University
, where he earned his B.A. Craton studied theory and composition under John Maltese, Gerald Moore, and Henry Fusner. His graduate degree from Indiana University
was in audiology
, and Craton practiced as a clinical audiologist for several years in Indiana
before returning to his musical roots and devoting his full time to teaching and composing.
Craton’s music is highly tonal and in general reflects a style of English pastoralism, often incorporating onomatopoeic elements sometimes described as “nature music.” His music has been variously characterized as “atmospheric,” “dramatic and challenging,” “largely traditional ... playful,” and occasionally even reflecting “a medieval/Renaissance flavor.” He has been performed by such artists and ensembles as Sebastiaan de Grebber, Gertrud Weyhofen, Eva van den Dool, Christiaan Saris, Ljubomir Velickovic, Het CONSORT, the Orkest van het Oosten
, Townsend Opera Players, and the Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. Romanian opera composer and conductor Leonard Dumitriu has described Craton's music as "coming from some other time and planet,” stating that although he “may be an American living in the present, ... [his] music comes from the time of Haydn and Mozart, or, better, from a world without time, where ... even the cares are easy and bright ... a musical world of sonorous peace and joy." Many of Craton’s works are published by Wolfhead Music.
While in his early years Craton often performed on violin
, piano
, recorder
, and other instruments, he abandoned public performance after a hand injury and has since devoted himself completely to teaching and composing. He currently operates a private music studio in Bedford, Indiana
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. While his compositions cover a diverse range, he is best known for his operas and works for classical mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
.
Biography
Craton was born August 6, 1953, in Anniston, AlabamaAnniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741...
. Though neither of his parents was musical, his extended family included many musicians, both amateurs and professionals, among them his cousin, concert pianist and composer Barbara Gallagher. He began his formal musical training at age 10 studying violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
under retired violinist and conductor, Robert Louis Barron. After graduating from Saks High School he studied violin and piano at Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville State University is a regional public coeducational university located in Jacksonville, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in four academic units leading to Bachelor's, Master's, and Education Specialist degrees, in addition to continuing and...
before transferring to Lipscomb University
Lipscomb University
Lipscomb University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike on the east...
, where he earned his B.A. Craton studied theory and composition under John Maltese, Gerald Moore, and Henry Fusner. His graduate degree from Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
was in audiology
Audiology
Audiology is the branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Its practitioners, who treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage are audiologists. Employing various testing strategies Audiology (from Latin , "to hear"; and from Greek , -logia) is...
, and Craton practiced as a clinical audiologist for several years in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
before returning to his musical roots and devoting his full time to teaching and composing.
Craton’s music is highly tonal and in general reflects a style of English pastoralism, often incorporating onomatopoeic elements sometimes described as “nature music.” His music has been variously characterized as “atmospheric,” “dramatic and challenging,” “largely traditional ... playful,” and occasionally even reflecting “a medieval/Renaissance flavor.” He has been performed by such artists and ensembles as Sebastiaan de Grebber, Gertrud Weyhofen, Eva van den Dool, Christiaan Saris, Ljubomir Velickovic, Het CONSORT, the Orkest van het Oosten
Orkest van het Oosten
The Orkest van het Oosten is a Dutch symphony orchestra. The home of the orchestra is the Muziekcentrum in Enschede. The OvhO performs about 75 concerts a year in Enschede, Hengelo, Zwolle and Deventer, as well as throughout the province of Overijssel and the Randstad...
, Townsend Opera Players, and the Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. Romanian opera composer and conductor Leonard Dumitriu has described Craton's music as "coming from some other time and planet,” stating that although he “may be an American living in the present, ... [his] music comes from the time of Haydn and Mozart, or, better, from a world without time, where ... even the cares are easy and bright ... a musical world of sonorous peace and joy." Many of Craton’s works are published by Wolfhead Music.
While in his early years Craton often performed on violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, and other instruments, he abandoned public performance after a hand injury and has since devoted himself completely to teaching and composing. He currently operates a private music studio in Bedford, Indiana
Bedford, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,768 people, 6,054 households, and 3,644 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,157.1 people per square mile . There were 6,618 housing units at an average density of 556.2 per square mile...
.
Opera
- The Curious Affair of the Count of Monte Blotto
- The Fashionable Lady
- Gilgamesh
- Inanna: An Opera of Ancient Sumer
- The Parliament of Fowls
- The Reconciliation
- Vasya Whitefeet
Ballet
- La Boîte à musique
- The Huluppu Tree (from Inanna)
- Pierrot & Pierrette (aka Le mime solitaire)
- The Tattered Slippers
- Through the Looking-Glass
- Voyageur de temps : un ballet électronique
Orchestral
- Ann Putnam Overture
- Apologetic Waltz for string orchestra
- Assyrian Fantasy for violin, strings & percussion
- Beowulf: The Orchestral Suite
- Bloemen van Spanje (Flowers of Spain) for two guitars & strings
- Coronach for the Martyrs of Our Lady of Salvation
- Danseries anciennes for mandolin orchestraMandolin orchestraA mandolin orchestra is an orchestra consisting primarily of instruments from the mandolin family of instruments, such as the mandolin, mandola, mandocello and mando-bass or mandolon...
- Gilgamesh Overture
- Inanna Orchestral Suite
- The Legend of Princess Noccalula for mandolin & orchestra
- Mongolian Folk Songs for viola & chamber orchestra
- Pagan Festivals for string orchestra
- Three Paintings by Nikolai Blokhin for violin & strings
- Triptych for string orchestra
Concertos
- Concerto for 2 Mandolins & Orchestra (“Rromane Bjavela”)
- Flute Concerto
- Mandolin Concerto No. 1 in D Minor
- Mandolin Concerto No. 2 in D Major
- Mandolin Concerto No. 3 in E Minor
- Mandolin Concerto No. 4 in G Major
- Tuba Concerto in G Minor
Chamber
- Antebellum Suite for violin & piano
- Autumn Leaf for flute & harp
- Beowulf: A Suite for Ancient Instruments
- Charon Crossing the Styx for mandolin & double bass
- Dance of the Fey for violin & piano
- Dioses aztecas for mandolin & piano
- Divertissements médiévaux for violin & piano
- Duettino No. 1 in A for two violins
- Duettino No. 2 in D for two violins
- Duettino No. 3 in B-flat for two violins
- Elementals for flute & piano
- Five Apothegms for violin, horn & trombone
- Five Observations for five to six instruments & voice
- Four Cornish Sketches for violin & piano
- Four Whimsies for mandola & mandocello
- Gorillas for two violins
- The Gray Wolf for mandolin solo
- In Memoriam: George Kirles for violoncello & piano
- L’Ombre de la tour d’horloge for violoncello & piano
- Perpetuum Mobile for mandolin solo
- Petite Suite for violin & piano
- Quatuor pour les jeunes for string quartet
- Romanza for clarinet & piano
- Scherzo for violin & piano
- Seven Variations on “What If a Day, or a Month, or a Yeare” for lute or guitar
- Six Pantomimes for two mandolins
- Sonata Colloquia for marimba & piano
- Sonata for Solo Violin
- Sonate pour violon, clarinette & piano (“Trois petites filles”)
- Sonatina for saxophone & piano
- Sonatina in F for recorder & harpsichord
- Sonatina No. 1 for violin & piano
- Sonatina No. 2 in A Major for violin & piano
- Sonatina No. 3 in G Major for violin & mandolin
- Sonatina No. 4 (“Sonatina semplice”) for violin & piano
- String Quartet
- Tango for four guitars & chitarrone
- Three Tableaux from George MacDonald for recorder, mandolin & violoncello
- Triosatz for three violins
- Trois sœurs assyriennes for flute & piano
- Twelve Variations on “La Follia” for violin & piano
- Variations from Der Fluyten Lust-hof of Jakob Van Eyck for mandolin solo
- Variations on a Traditional Theme for solo violin
Piano
- Bag o’ Tails: A menagerie of (almost) 10 bagatelles for piano and unbreakable Native American medicine rattle
- A Childhood Scrapbook
- I Am Goya
- Piano Sonata in Free Form (Hilton Head, S.C.)
- Piano Sonata No. 2 in B Major
- The Rennab Delgnaps Rats
- Six Little Pastorals
Vocal
- An Aestuary (A Calm Evening) for voice & piano
- Jardin sentimental : Cinq poèmes d’Émile NelliganÉmile NelliganÉmile Nelligan was a francophone poet from Quebec, Canada.-Biography:Nelligan was born in Montreal on December 24, 1879 at 602, rue de La Gauchetière. He was the first son of David Nelligan, who arrived in Quebec from Dublin, Ireland at the age of 12. His mother was Émilie Amanda Hudon, from...
for voice & piano - The Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockThe Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, commonly known as Prufrock, is a poem by T. S. Eliot, begun in February 1910 and published in Chicago in June 1915. Described as a "drama of literary anguish," it presents a stream of consciousness in the form of a dramatic monologue, and marked the beginning of...
for tenor & strings - Six Japanese Songs for soprano & piano
- Songs for Children, Books 1 & 2 for voice & piano
Arrangements/Orchestrations
- BiberHeinrich Ignaz BiberHeinrich Ignaz Franz Biber von Bibern was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Born in the small Bohemian town of Wartenberg , Biber worked at Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left his Kroměříž employer and settled in Salzburg...
— Sonata Representativa (string orchestra) - Craton — Lullaby (from “Four Whimsies”) (string orchestra)
- Daniel — Festival (soprano, mezzo-soprano & orchestra)
- Daniel — Maiden of Dreams (soprano & orchestra)
- Daniel — Memories of Fatherland (soprano & orchestra)
- Daniel — Nineveh (soprano & orchestra)
- Daniel — Spinning Wheel Song (soprano, mezzo-soprano & orchestra)
- Daniel — Tears of the Beloved (mezzo-soprano & orchestra)
- Dobyns — Three Rags (mandolin orchestra)
- Gianneo — Cinco Piezas (solo mandolin & string orchestra)
- Issabey — Qooyama (chorus & orchestra)
- Issabey — RoomramaRoomramaRoomrama is the de facto national anthem of the Assyrian people. It was composed by Nebu Juel Issabey and written by Yosip Bet Yosip for the Assyrian Universal Alliance and the Assyrian independence movement. -Lyrics:...
(soprano & orchestra) - Issabey — Ya Umta (chorus & orchestra)
- KhofriPaulus KhofriPaulus Khofri was an Assyrian composer, lyricist and painter. He was born August 7, 1923 in Baghdad, Iraq and died in Tehran, Iran in May 2000 at the age of 77.-Biography:...
— The Nation Sacrifices (chours & orchestra) - KhofriPaulus KhofriPaulus Khofri was an Assyrian composer, lyricist and painter. He was born August 7, 1923 in Baghdad, Iraq and died in Tehran, Iran in May 2000 at the age of 77.-Biography:...
— The Vacant Nineveh (chorus & orchestra) - Kioulaphides — Four Souvenirs (string orchestra)
- SalieriAntonio SalieriAntonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
— 26 Variazioni sulla Follia di Spagna (violin & piano)
Discography
- Excerpt from Gilgamesh: An Assyrian Opera — Tablet VII: "Enkidu's Death & Lament of Gilgamnesh." Gottschalk Music Center Orchestra, John Kendall Bailey, cond. Assyryt: The Assyrian Diamond CD and DVD. Assyrian Market, MN2009DVD/CD.
- Excerpts from Gilgamesh: An Assyrian Opera — Overture; Tablet VI: “The Bull of Heaven.” Excerpts from Inanna: An Opera of Ancient Sumer — Aria: “I, the Lady”; Ballet: “The Huluppu Tree”; Drinking Song from beginning of Act III. Sibel Demirman, Donn Bradley, Lorraine Davis, Julie Anne Miller, Barbara Wesley, vocalists; Sarah Weaver, Joseph Adkins, David Riskin, dancers of the Central West Ballet; René Daveluy, choreographer; orchestra of the Townsend Opera Players; Chase Spruill, solo violin; Ryan Murray, cond. Mediterranean Night CD and DVD. Assyrian Market, mesc-001 (CD), mesd-001 (DVD).
- The Orchestral Music of John Craton. Ann Putnam Overture, Excerpts from The Parliament of Fowls, The Reconciliation, The Fashionable Lady, La Boîte à musique, and The Curious Affair of the Count of Monte Blotto; Orchestral Suite from Inanna. Wolfhead Music, 884501052672.
- “The Gray Wolf.” Fantasia Romantica. Sebastiaan de Grebber, mandolin. Stemra, SDG001-07.
- “The Legend of Princess Noccalula.” Music for Mandolin Orchestra. Sebastiaan de Grebber, solo mandolin. Het CONSORT. Alex Timmerman, conducting. Stemra ATSDG03-08.