William Mayer (composer)


William Mayer was an American composer, best known for his prize-winning opera A Death in the Family.

Life and career

Mayer was born in New York City, the son of Dorothy and John C. Mayer. He entered Yale University in 1944, but his college years were interrupted by military service. Upon his discharge he re-entered Yale and graduated in 1949, then trained at the Juilliard School and the Mannes College of Music, studying with Roger Sessions and Felix Salzer, and later with Otto Luening, Emanuel Balaban and Izler Solomon.
The composer wrote three stage works in addition to his prize-winning A Death in the Family, and a variety of orchestral, chamber, choral and vocal works. John Rockwell of The New York Times has pointed out that Mayer was "especially known for his operas and songs... his work sings out with real beauty, both in the vocal writing and the instrumental settings."
Distinguished artists have introduced his scores: Robert De Cormier led the New York Choral Society in its Lincoln Center premiere of "Spring Came on Forever"; sopranos Heidi Grant Murphy, Eleanor Steber and Christine Brewer have all premiered vocal-chamber works; and Leopold Stokowski conducted Mayer's piano concerto Octagon at Carnegie Hall with William Masselos as soloist.
Mayer taught composition and orchestration at Boston University; was a guest lecturer at Yale, Columbia, the Pratt Institute and the Juilliard School; fulfilled writing and cultural assignments from the US Information Agency, one of which involved preparing lectures on American chamber opera to be delivered abroad; served on judging panels for the MacDowell Colony, the American Composers Orchestra, Composers Recordings, Inc., the National Opera Association and the National Federation of Music Clubs; and was Composer-in-Residence at the Conductors' Institute and Adirondack New Music Festival.
Mayer was the author of a provocative feature for The New York Times entitled .

Awards and honors

Mayer's lyricism and humor have frequently been singled out. "His is a lyrical music, favored by an unusual flow of fancy and wit," wrote Joseph Machlis in his Introduction to Contemporary Music. also touches on his humor: "His style is characterized by a contrasting of transparent textures with humorous, highly rhythmic and densely scored passages."
This humor is seen in the micro-opera Brief Candle, in which a mime is hurdled from infancy to marriage, and then death in six minutes, followed by a ten-second recapitulation. It is also present in an article entitled "Good Friend, Bad Piece", which addresses a not-infrequent dilemma: what to say to a composer friend after having just heard—and disliked—his new piece.
Among Mayer's works for young people are Hello, World!, which was recorded with Eleanor Roosevelt as narrator, the ballet The Snow Queen and the opera One Christmas Long Ago. All three stage works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
His discography encompasses most media. Operatic and orchestral works have been recorded by the Manhattan School of Music, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony and Music Today ; choral works by conductors Robert De Cormier, Peter Schubert and Gregg Smith ; and chamber music by St. Luke's Chamber Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, North/South Consonance and the New York Brass and Wind Ensemble.
Both Mayer's Piano Sonata and Octagon have been recorded by William Masselos, while pianists and have recorded Abandoned Bells and Subway in the Sunlight and Other Memories. Most recorded of all are the composer's songs, especially with instrumental accompaniment.
A Death in the Family, Mayer's opera based on the James Agee novel and Tad Mosel play All the Way Home, was named the "best new work" of its type for 1983. The late Robert Jacobson wrote in Opera News:
The St. Louis performance with Dawn Upshaw and Jake Gardner was broadcast on National Public Radio.
In 2012, the and the staged a production of A Death in the Family, and it won the award for "Best Production" in the Armel Opera Competition and Festival. Filmed excerpts from the production have been uploaded to YouTube.com.

Complete list of works

Stage