Thomas Oboe Lee
Encyclopedia
Thomas Oboe Lee is a Chinese American composer
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...

.

Life

He and his family left Communist China in 1949, and lived in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 for ten years until 1959, when he moved to São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. He emigrated to the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the summer of 1966.

His musical education began in Brazil during the Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...

 craze. He performed as a jazz flutist with many illustrious Brazilian musicians, including the singer/song-writer Chico Buarque
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda , popularly known as Chico Buarque , is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer and poet...

 de Hollanda. He continued his music education in the United States at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, the New England Conservatory of Music and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. He has been a professor of music at Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...

, since the fall of 1990.

In 1981, he and five other composers from the New England Conservatory formed a composers group called "Composers in Red Sneakers." The group produced a number of successful concerts in the Boston-Cambridge area. Lee left the group in 1986 to live in Italy for a year when he won the 1987 Rome Prize
Rome Prize
The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists and to 15 scholars The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists...

 Fellowship.

Lee's music has won many other awards and Fellowships: two Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...

 awards, two National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...

 Fellowships, two Massachusetts Artists Foundation Fellowships, the 1985 Charles Ives Fellowship
Charles Ives Prize
The Charles Ives Prize is a scholarship for young composers, awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters: scholarships of $7500, and fellowships of $15,000....

 from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, First Prize at the 1983 Friedheim Kennedy Center Awards for his Third String Quartet ... child of Uranus, father of Zeus, and recording grants from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.

Works

Lee has composed over a hundred forty works: seven symphonies, twelve string quartets, ten concerti for various solo instruments, choral works, song cycles and scores of chamber music. Some of his early works, originally published by Margun Music Inc., have since been transferred to G. Schirmer
G. Schirmer
G. Schirmer Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Italian Ricordi, Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello,...

 Inc./Associated Music Publishers. His 100-minute, two-act chamber opera "The Inman Dairies" is available for rental and sale from the Theodore Presser Company
Theodore Presser Company
The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and formerly based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music publisher in the United States.-Theodore Presser:...

. The rest - orchestral, choral, vocal and chamber music - is self-published under the moniker "Departed Feathers Music." His music has been recorded on Nonesuch, MCA Classics, Koch International Classics, BMG Catalyst, Arsis Audio, Northeastern and Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...

's GM Recordings, Inc.

His most popular work, "Morango ... Almost A Tango," written for and recorded by the Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet is a string quartet founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 in Seattle, Washington. Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan...

, has been used in dance by choreographers like Michael Tracy for Pilobolus (dance company)
Pilobolus (dance company)
Pilobolus is a contemporary dance company whose origins are traced to a 1971 Dartmouth College dance class taught by Alison Becker Chase. The group first began performing in October 1971....

, Jiri Kylian
Jiří Kylián
Jiří Kylián is a Czech dance choreographer.Kylián studied in Prague and, at the age of 20, won a scholarship at the Royal Ballet School in London. He joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 1968 and worked under John Cranko, where he began to choreograph. Kylián became Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans...

 for the Netherlands Dance Theater, Danny Rosseel for the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Nicolo Fonte for the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Australian Ballet, Carolyn Carlson for the Cullberg Ballet of Sweden, Olivia Rosenkrantz for Tapage - a tap duo, et al. Additionally, "Morango ..." was used as a sound track for "Call It Sleep" - a documentary on Henry Roth
Henry Roth
Henry Roth was an American novelist and short story writer.-Biography:Roth was born in Tysmenitz near Stanislaviv, Galicia, Austro-Hungary...

.

Lee has recently ventured into the world of opera. His two-act chamber opera, "The Inman Diaries," (libretto by Jesse J. Martin) about the infamous Boston diarist Arthur Crew Inman
Arthur Crew Inman
Arthur Crew Inman was a reclusive and unsuccessful American poet whose 17-million word diary, extending from 1919 to 1963, is one of the longest English language diaries on record....

 was produced and premiered in Boston in 2007 by Intermezzo - The New England Chamber Opera Series. His on-going opera-in-progress is "Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...

 ... An Opera in Two Acts."

In the summer of 2010, Mr. Lee embarked on a project to add a visual component to his music. The resultant videos can be accessed on his iPhone app: TOLmtv.

List of works

  • Opus 1 'Aperture' (1974) string quartet.
  • Opus 2 'The Mad Frog' (1974) oboe, bass clarinet in Bb, harp.
  • Opus 3 'The Sensuous Gargoyle' (1975) violin, piano.
  • Opus 4 'Piece For Viola' (1976) saxophone quartet.
  • Opus 5 'Tennessee Sourmash' (1976) cello, piano.
  • Opus 6 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book I, Four Pieces [i-iv]' (1977) solo piano.
  • Opus 7 'Libelle ... "dragonfly"' (1977, withdrawn) solo harp.
  • Opus 8 'After A Lecture By John Cage' (1978) solo piano.
  • Opus 9 'Photograph 1920' (1978; rev. 1982) soprano, clarinet/bass clarinet in Bb, violin, viola, cello.
  • Opus 10 'Octopus Wrecks' (1979; rev. 1981) 2 Bb trumpets, F horn, trombone, tuba, 3 double basses.
  • Opus 11 'Currie Cabot' (1980) viola, piano.
  • Opus 12 'Departed Feathers' (1980) string quartet.
  • Opus 13 'Phantasia For Elvira Shatayev' (1981) soprano and orchestra
  • Opus 14 'The Cockscomb' (1981) female voice, violin, Bb trumpet, double bass, piano, 2 percussion.
  • Opus 15 'The MacGuffin' (1982) Bb soprano/Eb alto sax, percussion.
  • Opus 16 'White Pond ... Concord, Mass.' (1982) oboe, piano.
  • Opus 17 'Third String Quartet ... child of Uranus, father of Zeus' (1982)
  • Opus 18 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book II, Seven Pieces [v-xi]'(1982–1986) solo piano.
  • Opus 19 'The Gainsborough Five' (1983) 2 Bb trumpets, F horn, trombone, tuba.
  • Opus 20 'Morango ... Almost A Tango' (1983) string quartet.
  • Opus 21 'Double Concerto' (1983–1984) 2 pianos and chamber orchestra
  • Opus 22 'Double "L" Triptych, opus 22' (1983) oboe solo, strings
  • Opus 23 'Hylidae ... The Tree Frogs' (1984) violin, double bass, piano.
  • Opus 24 'Cavatina Cavadini' (1991, replaces 1984 version) concert band
  • Opus 25 'Saxxologie ... A Sextet' (1984) six saxophones: 2 Bb soprano, 1 Eb alto, 2 Bb tenor, 1 Eb baritone.
  • Opus 26 'Waltzes, opus 26 (1984, rev. 1994) flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, F horn, bassoon.
  • Opus 27 'Harp Concerto (1985) harp solo; chamber orchestra
  • Opus 28 'Louie MCMLV' (1985 - pièce d'occasion) saxophone quartet.
  • Opus 29 'String Trio' (1985) violin, viola, cello.
  • Opus 30 'Six At The Top Means...' (1985) alt, ten, bari sax, 3 tpt, 2 tbn, piano, bass, drums, perc.
  • Opus 31 'Piano Sextet' (1985) flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, F horn, piano.
  • Opus 32 'Santa Cecilia ...' a Horn Trio (1986/1990 - pièce d'occasion) violin, F horn, marimba.
  • Opus 33 'Marimolin' (1986) violin, marimba.
  • Opus 34 'Harp Trio' (1986, withdrawn) flute, cello, harp.
  • Opus 35 'Concertino' (1986) Bb trumpet solo, timpani, string orchestra
  • Opus 36 'String Quartet No. 5 ... Four Birthdays' (1987)
  • Opus 37 'Apples ... Six Dreams by Richard Kenney' (1987; rev. 1990) mezzo-soprano, piano.
  • Opus 38 'Chôrinhos, opus 38' (1987) flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion.
  • Opus 39 'Piano Quintet ... Apple Strudel' (1988) violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano.
  • Opus 40 'numina I ...' (1988; rev. 1994) solo trumpet.
  • Opus 41 'numina V ... a Williams fanfare' (1988 - pièce d'occasion) 2 oboes, English horn in F, 2 bassoons.
  • Opus 42 'Unmasked ... a chamber opera in one act' (1989–90, withdrawn)
  • Opus 43 'numina II ...' (1989; rev. 1990 - pièce d'occasion) two flutes, or recorders.
  • Opus 44 'Marimolintoo' (1989–90) violin, marimba.
  • Opus 45 'String Quartet on B-flat' (1989–1990; rev. 1993)
  • Opus 46 'Dark Angels' (1990; rev. 1994) viola, cello.
  • Opus 47 'Hymnbook Resources Commission' (1990) vocal quartet: SATB.
  • Opus 48 'Seven Jazz Pieces' (1990–91) string quartet.
  • Opus 49 'I Never Saw Another Butterfly' (1991) mezzo-soprano, Bb clarinet, piano.
  • Opus 50 'That Mountain' (1991; rev. 1992) lyric baritone, flute, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion.
  • Opus 51 'Jana ... An American Overture' (1991, withdrawn) orchestra
  • Opus 52 'Les Adieux à Dhu ... an Adagio' (1992 - pièce d'occasion) orchestra
  • Opus 53 'Poema de Natal' (1992, rev. 1996) mezzo soprano, Bb clarinet, trombone, piano, percussion.
  • Opus 54 'Studio 54' (1992) flute, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, piano.
  • Opus 55 'Four In One + 3' (1992 - pièce d'occasion) flute, oboe, cello, trap set.
  • Opus 56 'Symphony No. 1 ... Fallen Angels' (1993; rev. 1995) orchestra
  • Opus 57 'Castor & Pollux' (1993; rev. 1996 - pièce d'occasion) flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, piano.
  • Opus 58 'Tunesmith ... American Beauty Pageant' (1993) violin, piano.
  • Opus 59 'Sinfonietta' (1994) orchestra
  • Opus 60 'Piano Trio No. 1' (1994; rev. 2000) violin, cello, piano.
  • Opus 61 'Chôros, opus 61' (1994–95) violin or viola solo in seven movements.
  • Opus 62 'Eurydice ... A Tone Poem for Cello and Orchestra' (1995) solo cello and orchestra
  • Opus 63 'La Chimera Fantastica ... [String Trio No. 2]' (1995; rev. 1996) violin, viola, cello.
  • Opus 64 'ART: arias & interludes ... Commedia dell'arte for String Quartet' (1996; rev. 1997)
  • Opus 65 'Trinca de Chôros' (1996 - pièce d'occasion) Bb clarinet solo in three movements.
  • Opus 65a 'Canções e Sambinhas' (1996) cello, piano.
  • Opus 66 'Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards' ... Twenty-two salon pieces for two pianos, opus 66 (1996).
  • Opus 66a 'Eight Tarot Cards for Madam Rubio' (1997-version for two marimbas).
  • Opus 67 'Jack and the Blues' (1997) soprano, piano.
  • Opus 68 'Tantric Psalms' (1997, rev. 1999) mezzo-soprano, string quartet.
  • Opus 69 'Yo Picasso' (1997) Bb clarinet, viola, cello, piano.
  • Opus 70 'Symphony No. 2 ... A Phantasmagorey Ballet' (1998) orchestra
  • Opus 71 'Forró' (1998) orchestra
  • Opus 72 'The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa' (1998) mezzo-soprano, organ.
  • Opus 73 'Pambarry Jam' (1998 - pièce d'occasion) piano solo.
  • Opus 74 'EletRIC BARB' (1998 - pièce d'occasion) flute, bass.
  • Opus 75 'VW in July' (1998 - pièce d'occasion) 2 flutes, piano.
  • Opus 76 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book III, Seven Pieces [xii-xviii]' (1998, rev. 2000) piano solo.
  • Opus 77 'Septet, opus 77 ... Variations on a Shaker Tune' (1998) flute, Bb clar., F Horn, violin, viola, cello, doublebass.
  • Opus 78 'Love Songs' (1998) mezzo-soprano, piano.
  • Opus 79 'Berkshire Country Day School Fugue' (1999 - pièce d'occasion) string quartet.
  • Opus 80 'He Loves And She Loves' ... G. & I. Gershwin (1999 - pièce d'occasion) arr. for two pianos.
  • Opus 81 'Children's Suite, opus 81' (1999 - pièce d'occasion) violin, cello, piano; or violin, Bb clarinet, piano.
  • Opus 82 'Jubilatus' (1999 - pièce d'occasion) orchestra
  • Opus 83 'Waltzin' Isabella' (1999 - pièce d'occasion) Bb trumpet, piano.
  • Opus 84 'Pastorale' (2000 - pièce d'occasion) harp solo, orchestra
  • Opus 85 'Mass for the Holy Year 2000' (1999–2000) SATB soloists, SATB chorus & orchestra
  • Opus 86 'Summer Lilies' (2000) mezzo-soprano, piano.
  • Opus 87 Symphony No. 3 ... Portraits in Jazz' (2000) orchestra
  • Opus 88 'Lux Aeterna I, II, III, IV & V' ... (2000–02, rev. 2010) a cappella SATB chorus.
  • Opus 89 'Morning Bliss' (2000) mezzo-soprano, piano.
  • Opus 90 'Flauta Carioca' (2000) flute solo, orchestra.
  • Opus 91 'Symphony No. 4 ... War and Peace' (2000–01) soprano and orchestra.
  • Opus 92 'Voilà!!! ... Seven movements for two violas' (2001) or violin & viola.
  • Opus 93 'Hancock Shaker Village' (2001) mezzo-soprano & string quartet.
  • Opus 94 'I've Got the Munchies' (2001, rev. 2004) violin, viola, bass clarinet in Bb, vibraphone.
  • Opus 95 'Christmas Cantata' (2001, rev. 2004) mezzo-soprano solo, SATB chorus, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, organ, timpani.
  • Opus 96 'Toccata, Adagio & Fugue' (2001) organ solo.
  • Opus 97 'Fantasia for solo organ' (2001)
  • Opus 97a 'Chorale-Fantasy, opus 97a' (2003) organ solo.
  • Opus 98 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book IV, Seven Pieces [xix-xxv]' ... (2002) piano solo.
  • Opus 99 'Twenty-nine Fireflies, Book V, Four Pieces [xxvi-xxix]' ... (2002) piano solo.
  • Opus 100 'Seven Steps To Heaven' (2002) 2 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos & double bass.
  • Opus 101 'Waltzes, opus 101' (2002) flute/alto flute, harp.
  • Opus 102 'Stabat Mater' (2002) SATB chorus, organ.
  • Opus 103 'The New England Transcendentalists: Emerson, Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott & Thoreau' (2003) string quartet.
  • Opus 103a 'Pater Noster' (2003) baritone & string quartet.
  • Opus 104 'Mambo!!!' (2003) orchestra.
  • Opus 105 'Symphony No. 5 ... Utopia Parkway' (2003) orchestra.
  • Opus 106 'Brocktonian Two-Step' (2003 - pièce d'occasion) orchestra.
  • Opus 107 'Clarinet Concerto ... Sounds of the Islands' (2003) clarinet solo & orchestra.
  • Opus 108 'Bellaboola, opus 108' (2004 - pièce d'occasion) solo trumpet in Bb.
  • Opus 109 'Symphony No. 6 ... The Penobscot River' (2004) SATB chorus & orchestra.
  • Opus 110 'Flowers of Terezín' (2004) for children's chorus - SSA chorus, piano.
  • Opus 111 'Concerto for Orchestra, opus 111' (2004–05) orchestra
  • Opus 112 'Prelúdios ... Comidas Típicas Brasileiras' (2005) solo marimba.
  • Opus 113 'Mechthild von Magdeburg ... Minnelieder an got' (2005) SATB chorus, harp & string quintet.
  • Opus 114 'Pluto ... Lord of the Underworld' (2005) orchestra.
  • Opus 115a 'Oscar Wilde ... An Opera in Two Acts' (piano-vocal score of Act One, 2005)
  • Opus 115b 'Oscar Wilde ... An Opera in Two Acts' (piano-vocal score of Act Two, work-in-progress)
  • Opus 116 'Persephone and the Four Seasons' (2006) oboe solo & orchestra.
  • Opus 117 'String Quartet No. 10 ... The Berkshires' (2006) string quartet.
  • Opus 118 'Piano Concerto ... Mozartiana' (2007) piano solo & orchestra.
  • Opus 119 'The Inman Diaries ... A Chamber Opera in Two Acts' (2007) nine singers and seven instruments.
  • Opus 120 'Chorões Brasileiros' (2007) alto saxophone in Eb & piano.
  • Opus 121 'Piano Quintet' (2008) piano & string quartet.
  • Opus 122 'Symphony No. 7 ... Roman Holidays' (2008) orchestra.
  • Opus 123 'Walden' (2008) lyric tenor & octet - flute, clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass & piano.
  • Opus 124 'Septem Verba Christi in Cruce' (2008) a cappella SATB chorus.
  • Opus 125 '... bisbigliando ...' (2008–09) harp solo & orchestra.
  • Opus 126 'Variations on a Mennonite Hymn' (2009 - pièce d'occasion) 2 sopranos, violin.
  • Opus 127 'Emerald Necklace ... The Story of Frederick Law Olmsted' (2009) narrator & chamber orchestra.
  • Opus 128 'Jasmine Variations' (2009) string quartet.
  • Opus 129 'Violin Concerto ... for Irina' (2009) violin solo & orchestra.
  • Opus 130 'Tangata Manu' (2009) piano, string quartet, double bass & percussion.
  • Opus 131 'Tokuno Toccata' (2010) piano solo.
  • Opus 132 'Focus on Grace' ... Concerto for Jazz Saxophone (2010) alto saxophone in Eb & orchestra.
  • Opus 133 'Part The First ... THOU mastering me God!' (2010) soprano & piano.
  • Opus 134 'De Profundis' (2010) baritone & piano.
  • Opus 135 'String Quartet No. 12 ... The Seasons, after Franz Joseph Haydn' (2010) string quartet.
  • Opus 136 'Vincent Millay Cycle' (2010) soprano & piano.
  • Opus 137 'Becky's Bassoon' (2010 - pièce d'occasion) bassoon solo.
  • Opus 138 'Concerto for Concert Band' (2011)
  • Opus 139 'O Magnum Mysterium' (2011) all-male a cappella sextet.
  • Opus 140 'Partita for Solo Violin' (2011)
  • Opus 141 'Symphony No. 8 ... City of Light' (2011) chamber orchestra.
  • Opus 142 'Corso's Marriage' (2011) baritone & piano.
  • Opus 143 'A Double Bassoon Fantasy' (2011) 2 bassoons.
  • Opus 144 'Octet' (2012) Bb clarinet, bassoon, horn in F, string quartet & double bass.
  • Opus 145 'Four Didactic Songs' (2012) soprano & piano.
  • Opus 146 'God's Grandeur ... For the 150th Anniversary of the Founding of Boston College' (2012-13) SATB chorus & chamber orchestra.

Recordings

  • Thomas Oboe Lee String Quartets – performed by the Hawthorne String Quartet
    Hawthorne String Quartet
    The Hawthorne String Quartet is an American string quartet, all four of whose members are players from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Although its repertoire ranges from the 18th century to contemporary works, the ensemble specializes in works by composers who were interned at the Terezín...

    . Label: Koch International
    Koch Records
    E1 Music , the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is the largest independent record label in the United States. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal...

    3-7452-2-III
  • Thomas Oboe Lee The Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards – performed by the Hirsch-Pinkas Piano Duo. Label: Arsis Audio CD 148

External links

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