Ruth Anderson
Encyclopedia
E. Ruth Anderson is a composer
, orchestrator, and flutist, whose music is influenced by her study of Zen
.
Studied composition with Darius Milhaud
. Retired from Hunter College
in 1989, she lives in New York during the winter and in Montana during the summer.
She is a, "respected electronic
composer," whose works have been released on the Opus One label and Charles Amirkhanian
's "pioneering" LP anthology New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media (1977).
Her sound poem I Come Out of Your Sleep (revised and recorded on Sinopah 1997 XI) is constructed from speech sounds in Louise Bogan
's poem "Little Lobelia." According to the composer "a very soft dynamic
level is an integral component of this piece. It is important to listen to it in the way it was composed, near the threshold of hearing." (liner notes) Her collage piece SUM (State of the Union Message) is included on the Lesbian American Composers collection (1998 CRI: 780). SUM and DUMP (1970), also a sonic collage, are her best known pieces. She calls her student of Zen, begun in 1990, "a natural extension of my music," and cites as influential, especially on her interest in music and healing
, composers Pauline Oliveros
and Annea Lockwood
.
Anderson received degrees in flute and composition at the University of Washington
and later studied with Darius Milhaud
and Nadia Boulanger
in the 1950s and with Vladimir Ussachevsky
and Pril Smiley
in the 1960s at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. She wrote that after her exposure to tape manipulation she became open to the potential of, "all sounds...as material for music". She joined the staff at Hunter College (CUNY) in 1966 and created the electroacoustic music center there after being fired and rehired at the new Hunter College facilities in 1968.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, orchestrator, and flutist, whose music is influenced by her study of Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
.
Post-secondary education
- 1949 — Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
- 1951 — Master of Arts, University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
- 1952 — studied at the Manhattan School of MusicManhattan School of MusicThe Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...
- 1953–55 — studied at Mannes College
- 1962–63 — Princeton University Graduate School (first woman admitted)
- 1965, 1966, 1969 — Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Electronic Music Studio - 1967 — New York University Computer Synthesis of Music
Studied composition with Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
. Retired from Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
in 1989, she lives in New York during the winter and in Montana during the summer.
She is a, "respected electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
composer," whose works have been released on the Opus One label and Charles Amirkhanian
Charles Amirkhanian
Charles Amirkhanian is an American composer. He is a percussionist, sound poet, and radio producer of Armenian extraction. He is mostly known for his electroacoustic and text-sound music...
's "pioneering" LP anthology New Music for Electronic and Recorded Media (1977).
Her sound poem I Come Out of Your Sleep (revised and recorded on Sinopah 1997 XI) is constructed from speech sounds in Louise Bogan
Louise Bogan
Louise Bogan was an American poet. She was appointed the fourth Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1945.-Early years:...
's poem "Little Lobelia." According to the composer "a very soft dynamic
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
level is an integral component of this piece. It is important to listen to it in the way it was composed, near the threshold of hearing." (liner notes) Her collage piece SUM (State of the Union Message) is included on the Lesbian American Composers collection (1998 CRI: 780). SUM and DUMP (1970), also a sonic collage, are her best known pieces. She calls her student of Zen, begun in 1990, "a natural extension of my music," and cites as influential, especially on her interest in music and healing
Healing
Physiological healing is the restoration of damaged living tissue, organs and biological system to normal function. It is the process by which the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area....
, composers Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
and Annea Lockwood
Annea Lockwood
Annea Lockwood is a New Zealand born American composer. She taught electronic music at Vassar College. Her work often involves recordings of natural found sounds...
.
Anderson received degrees in flute and composition at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
and later studied with Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
and Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
in the 1950s and with Vladimir Ussachevsky
Vladimir Ussachevsky
Vladimir Kirilovitch Ussachevsky was a composer, particularly known for his work in electronic music.-Biography:...
and Pril Smiley
Pril Smiley
Pril Smiley is an American composer and pioneer of electronic music.-Biography:Pril Smiley was born in Mohonk Lake, New York. She worked at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in the 1960s and 1970s with Milton Babbitt, Otto Luening, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Mario Davidovsky and Alice...
in the 1960s at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. She wrote that after her exposure to tape manipulation she became open to the potential of, "all sounds...as material for music". She joined the staff at Hunter College (CUNY) in 1966 and created the electroacoustic music center there after being fired and rehired at the new Hunter College facilities in 1968.
Publications
- Contemporary American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary, compiled by E. Ruth Anderson, G.K. Hall, Boston (1976)
- Contemporary American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary, compiled by E. Ruth Anderson, G.K. Hall, Boston (1982)
External links
- Andreu, Montse. "Innovative Women Composers"
- Tyranny, "Blue Gene"Gene TyrannyBlue' Gene Tyranny is an avant-garde composer and pianist. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, the adopted son of Dorothy and Meyer Sheff. He studied piano with Meta Hertwig and Rodney Hoare, and composition with Otto Wick and Frank Hughes...
. [ "I come out of your sleep"], All Music. - Gann, KyleKyle GannKyle Eugene Gann is an American professor of music, critic and composer born in Dallas, Texas. As a critic for The Village Voice and other publications he has been a supporter of progressive music including such Downtown movements as postminimalism and totalism.- As composer :As a composer his...
. "List of Women Composers".