SKU: CF.B3470

ISBN 9781491159460. UPC: 680160918058.

The awardee of two Guggenheim fellowships, Julia Perry studied composition with Luigi Dallapiccola and Nadia Boulanger, and conducted her works on a tour throughout Europe with the Vienna Philharmonic and the BBC Orchestra. She would become one of the first African-American female composers to have an orchestral work performed by the New York Philharmonic. Although she had an auspicious and promising career in her early life, it was tragically cut short by a series of strokes leading to partial paralysis and eventually, her death, at age 55 in 1979.Perry’s catalog is widely varied, featuring thirteen symphonies, numerous chamber and solo works, pieces for band, choral and vocal music, and four operas. Her Violin Concerto, completed in 1968, shows the influence of Dallapiccola’s teachings: sharp harmonic dissonances organized around specific pitch centers, short repetitive patterns that establish significant musical materials, and contrapuntal textures. Her fastidious performance markings in the solo violin part indicate her profound understanding of the instrument. Angular, muscled, and sparkling by turns, this piece is a sophisticated entry to the serious violinist's concert repertoire.There is no evidence or documentation that the Violin Concerto was ever premiered or performed during her lifetime, despite the fact that the composer prepared a full score, piano reduction and orchestral parts. Regrettably, this is the case with the majority of her works composed in the final decade of her life.
What is extraordinary about Julia Perry’s musical career was the astonishing success she attained in her early years. In her youth she studied piano, voice, violin and cello. She began to compose in her teenage years, her first publication being a choral work in 1947 by Carl Fischer. Her Stabat Mater was published in 1951 and would become one of her most often performed pieces, with performances in Europe and the United States. In 1953 she was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship to study with the Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola, first at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, later in Florence, Italy. During this time, she also pursued studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and was awarded a second Guggenheim fellowship. She studied conducting at this time, touring Europe in 1957 to conduct her own works with the Vienna Philharmonic and the BBC Orchestra. During her European sojourns, she learned and mastered French, German and Italian. She would become one of the first African-American female composers to have an orchestral work performed by the New York Philharmonic.Perry’s circumstances would change dramatically once she reached forty years of age, having returned permanently to the United States. At some point in the spring of 1970, she suffered the first of two strokes that would paralyze her right side and confine her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Nonetheless, she continued to compose and to promote her works with publishers and conductors. A second stroke contributed to her death in 1979 at age 55. She likely endured harsh ethnic and gender discrimination in the course of her career, and her later years would witness a period of extreme civil unrest. These matters and the significance of music in her life are undoubtedly what led her to say, “Music has a great role to play in establishing the brotherhood of man.”Perry’s catalog is widely varied, featuring thirteen symphonies, numerous chamber and solo works, pieces for band, choral and vocal music, and four operas. Her Violin Concerto, completed in 1968, is indicative of the influence of Dallapiccola’s teachings: sharp harmonic dissonances organized around specific pitch centers, short repetitive patterns that establish significant musical materials, and contrapuntal textures. The work is a single movement of 392 measures organized around three alternating tempos: Slow (Œ = 60), Moderate (Œ = 84) and Fast (Œ = 120). The opening thirty-measure cadenza for the solo violin introduces most of the thematic material for the piece. The orchestration commonly features antiphonal writing between orchestral groups, for example, strings alternating with brass, or strings alternating with winds. The harp and piano generally appear as solo instruments, rather than as members of the orchestra. Her fastidious performance markings in the solo violin part indicate her profound understanding of the instrument.There is no evidence or documentation that the Violin Concerto was ever premiered or performed during her lifetime, despite the fact that the composer prepared a full score, piano reduction and orchestral parts. Regrettably, this is the case with the majority of her works composed in the final decade of her life.