Robert Strassburg

Biography

Robert Strassburg (August 30, 1915 – October 25, 2003) was an American conductor, composer, musicologist and music educator. Included among his compositions are numerous musical settings of the poetry of Walt Whitman, as well as several sacred Judaic choral works. As a musicologist, Strassburg was an authority on the compositions of the composer Ernest Bloch.

Early life

Robert Strassburg was born in New York City. Among his teachers in Tanglewood were Igor Stravinsky, Walter Piston and Paul Hindemith. His formal academic studies were completed at the New England Conservatory of Music and Harvard University, where he obtained a fellowship in composition. He also completed a doctorate in Fine Arts at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles.

Academic career

Strassburg's professional career as an educator begain at the Philadelphia Music Settlement School, where he served as the chairman of the composition and theory department from 1943 until 1947. After serving as a lecturer at Brooklyn College (1947–1950), Strassburg obtained a position as artist in residence at the Brandeis Arts Institute in Santa Susana, California (1951–1955). He was also the music director of the institute's music camp in Hendersonville, North Carolina. During his years in Miami, he founded the All-Miami Youth Symphony (today the Greater Miami Youth Symphony) in 1958, and was conductor until 1961. Additional contributions were made as the assistant dean for the School of Fine Arts at the University of Judaism (now the American Jewish University) in Los Angeles (1961–1966). This culminated in an appointment as professor of music at Cal State Los Angeles in 1966. During this time he curated the Roy Harris Archive and published a catalogue of Harris' compositions.

Compositions

One of Strassburg's earliest compositions Lost was completed in 1945 and received critical acclaim. As music director for various synagogues Strassburg expressed a keen interest in Jewish liturgical music and completed several sacred compositions as well as music inspired by Jewish historical themes. His secular music included several works inspired by the poetry of Walt Whitman. Strassburg also contributed to a variety of film scores as well as incidental music for such theatrical productions as: King Lear, The Rose Tattoo, and Anne of the Thousand Days

Liturgical

Lost (1945)
4 Biblical Statements (1946)
Torah Sonata (piano, 1950)
A Gilgul fun a Nign (Migrations of a Melody) - on a text by Isaac Leyb for baritone, narrator, and chamber orchestra.
Festival of Lights Symphony - for string orchestra
Kabbalat Shabbat (Liturgical)
L’kha odi - for Kabbalat Shabbat services.
Mosaic Horizons (Litrugical for organ)
Mah Tavu: High Holiday for Cantor, mixed choir (SATB) with optional keyboard, 1993
Patriarchs (String Orchestra)
Psalm 117 (Choral, 1965)
Torah Sonata - for piano.
Tropal Suite (String Quartet, 1967)
Terecentenary Suite (Viola & Piano)

Secular

Fantasy and Allegro (1947)
Festival of Lights Symphony (String Orchestra)
Migrations of a Melody (Baritone Narrator Chamber Orchestra)
Prayer of Columbus (for Voice & Piano, 1993)
The Heritage of Heaven (string orchestra, 1955)
Chelm (Opera, 1956)
Walt Whitman Cycle - (Tenor & Orchestra).
Congo Square- (Opera in one act)
Leaves of Grass: A Choral Symphony (Choral symphony, 1992)

Three "Leaves of Grass" – A Walt Whitman Trilogy (Piano, 1996)

Students

Among Strassburg's pupils are Yehudi Wyner, Jack Gottlieb, Charles Davidson, Diane Thome and John Serry.

Compositions

Lost (1945)
4 Biblical Statements (1946)
Fantasy and Allegro (1947)
Torah Sonata (piano, 1950)
The Heritage of Heaven (string orchestra, 1955)
Chelm (Opera, 1956)
Psalm 117 (Choral, 1965)
Tropal Suite (String Quartet, 1967)
Terecentenary Suite (Viola & Piano)
Patriarchs (String Orchestra)
Migrations of a Melody (Baritone Narrator Chamber Orchestra)
Festival of Lights Symphony (String Orchestra)
Leaves of Grass: A Choral Symphony (Choral symphony, 1992)
Mah Tavu: High Holiday for Cantor, mixed choir (SATB) with optional keyboard, 1993
Prayer of Columbus ( for Voice & Piano, 1993)
Three "Leaves of Grass" – A Walt Whitman Trilogy (Piano, 1996)
Walt Whitman Cycle (Tenor & Orchestra)
Congo Square (Opera)
Kabbalat Shabbat (Liturgical)
Mosaic Horizons (Liturgical)

Archives

Audio recordings of several liturgical works composed by Robert Strassburg have been archived within the Milken Archive of Jewish Music.
The Robert Strassburg Collection on Ernest Bloch is a repository of research materials which relate to the composer Ernest Bloch and Strassburg's professional endeavors as archived at the University of Florida - Gainsville within the Belknap Collection for the Performing Arts.

Musical influences

Strassburg enjoyed close contact with several other composers of his era including:

Paul Ben-Haim
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Julius Chajes
Erich Zeisl