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Kohn, Karl (George)

(b Vienna, 1 Aug 1926). American composer, pianist and conductor of Austrian birth. He emigrated to the USA in 1939 and studied at the New York College of Music (1940--44). He became a naturalized American in 1945. Following service in the US Army during World War II, he attended Harvard University, studying composition with Piston, Ballantine, Irving Fine, and Randall Thompson (BA 1950, MA 1955). In 1950 he was appointed to Pomona College and Claremont Graduate School, where he became Thatcher Professor of Music. For three years he was on the faculty of the Berkshire Music Center. He received a Fulbright scholarship (1955--6) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1961--2). With his wife Margaret, Kohn has performed music for two pianos with a repertory emphasizing 20th-century music, giving concerts both in the USA and abroad.

Kohn's early works were grounded in the American neo-classical tradition of Piston and Fine. From the mid-1950s, until the early 1960s, his music was derived from serial procedures; this practice culminated in the Concerto mutabile (1962). Since then, his music has been remarkable for its chromatic and athematic character combined with chords, figurations and textures evocative of earlier styles.

Kohn's works have been performed by the Los Angeles PO, the Buffalo PO, the Oakland SO and in concerts and broadcasts throughout the US and abroad.

WORKS
Orch: Sinfonia concertante, pf, orch, 1951; Ov., str, 1953; Castles and Kings, suite for children, orch/pf 4 hands, 1958; Scenes, 1960; Concerto mutabile, pf, orch, 1962; Episodes, pf, orch, 1964, arr. 2 pf, 1966; Interludes, 1964; Interlude I, fl, str, 1969; Interlude II, pf, str, 1969; Centone, 1973; Hn Conc., hn, small orch/pf, 1974; Innocent Psaltery, wind band, perc, 1975; Serenade II, concert band, 1977; Waldmusik, conc., cl, orch/pf, 1979, arr. cl, pf, wind ens, 1983; Wind Chamber, concert band, 1981; Time Irretrievable, 1983; Return, brass, str, perc, 1990; Ode for Str Orch, 1993; Memory and Hope: Essay for Str Orch, 1996
Chbr: Str Trio, 1950; Concert Music, 12 wind, 1956; Song, vn/cl, pf, 1956; Vn Sonata, 1956, Capriccios, fl, cl, vc, hp, bn, 1962; Kaleidoscope, str qt, 1964; Encounters I--VI, various solo insts, pf, 1965--77; Introductions and Parodies, cl, hn, bn, str qt, pf, 1967; Rhapsodies, perc, 1968; Impromptus, 8 wind, 1969; Trio, vn, hn, pf, 1972; Paronyms, fl, pf, 1974; The Prophet Bird, chbr ens, 1976; Son of Prophet Bird, hp, 1977; Paronyms II, sax, pf, 1978; Prophet Bird II, pf, chbr ens, 1980; Recreations II, 2 gui, 1980; Capriccios II, chbr ens, 1983; An Amiable Piece, 2 pf, wind, perc, 1987; Reconnaissance, chbr ens, 1995; More Reflections, cl, pf, 1997; Capriccio, vn, s sax, a sax, pf, 1998; Toccata and Virelais, accdn, hp, 1998
Kbd: Rhapsodie no.1 , pf, 1960; Recreations, pf 4 hands, 1968; Prelude and Fantasia, org, 1968; Rhapsody no.2, pf, 1971; Rhapsody no.3, pf, 1977; Shadow Play, 2 pf, 1981; Dream Pieces, 2 pf, 1983; Neofantasy, org, 1990; Little Pieces, pf, 1993; Metasuite, pf, 1994; Adagio for Dancing, 2 pf, 1995; Allegro for Dancing, 2 pf, 1996; Number Play, 2 pf, 1999
Vocal: 3 Songs (T. Carew, J. Lyly, F. Beaumont), Tr vv, 1956; 3 Descants (Bible: Ecclesiastes), chorus, brass, 1957; Sensus spei (Bible: Lamentations), chorus, pf, 1961; Leisure (A. Lowell), Bar, chbr ens, 1965; Madrigal (R. Chester), chorus, pf, 1966; Esdras: Anthems and Interludes, chorus, fl, pf, orch, 1970, arr. chorus, pf, 1975; Only the Hopeful (Heb.), male v, chorus, 1971; What Heaven Confers (Chin.), chorus, vib/pf, 1981; Alleluia (Militant Praise), mixed vv, brass/pf, 1982; The Resplendent Air, 5 songs, high v, pf, 1985; Lions on a Banner (Sufi texts), S, chorus, orch, 1988
MSS in Central Library, Claremont, CA; Honrold Library, Claremont, CA
Principal Publisher: C. Fischer, GunMar, Edition Contemp Art

BIBLIOGRAPHY
EwenD
L. Morton: 'Current Chronicle', MQ, xlix (1963), 229--35
P. Oliveros: 'Karl Kohn: Concerto mutabile', PNM, ii/2 (1963), 873--99
H. Pollack: Harvard Composers: Walter Piston and his Students, from Elliott Carter to Frederic Rzewski (Metuchen, NJ, 1992), 228ff
 

RICHARD SWIFT/STEVE METCALF