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Biography of Ralph ShapeyName: Ralph ShapeyBirth Date: March 12, 1921 Death Date: N/A Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Nationality: American Gender: Male Occupations: composer, conductor Ralph Shapey Beginning in the early 1950s, the American composer, conductor, and teacher Ralph Shapey (born 1921) devoted himself to the cause of new music. His own powerful and complex compositions reflect a personal vision uncompromised by rapidly changing trends.Ralph Shapey was born on March 12, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At age seven he began studying the violin, which he continued later under Emmanuel Zeitlin. He rose through the ranks of the Philadelphia National Youth Symphony Orchestra, first as a playing member, then as youth conductor, and finally as assistant conductor (1938-47). The later years also included study with his principal composition teacher, Stefan Wolpe.After three years in the army he moved to New York City in 1951. Here, through the early 1960s, Shapey established himself by composing, conducting, and teaching both privately and at the Third Street Music Settlement. His conducting abilities, especially in new and difficult works, led to other assignments with orchestras …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…kidney disease, at the Bernard Mitchell Hospital of the University of Chicago. He was 81. Further Reading Little has been written on Shapey, but in the past, he has refused to provide biographical information or program notes in the belief that the music be allowed to speak for itself." Wilfrid Mellers' Music in a New Found Land and Eric Salzman's Twentieth Century Music: An Introduction both contain good but short descriptions placing Shapey in historical context. Good biographical coverage appears in David Ewen's American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary. To get beyond surface detail and into the music itself one must take recourse to periodicals, newspaper articles, and record jackets. Of these, Donal J. Henahan's articles in The Musical Quarterly, LII (1966) and LIII (1967), and in the New York Times (January 26, 1984); John Rockwell's article in the New York Times (January 13, 1984); and the liner notes for the recording of Evocation (CRI-141) are especially informative. |