George Perle

Among Perle's awards was the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Wind Quintet No.

George Perle studied at DePaul University, American Conservatory of Music and New York University. Training under Wesley LaViolette and Ernst Krenek is recorded. Paul Lansky is recorded as having studied under George Perle. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is music and music theory. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Employment is recorded with Queens College, New York University and University of California, Davis. Works named in the authority record are Wind Quintet No. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship, MacArthur Fellows Program, Pulitzer Prize for Music and Arts and Letters Award in Music.

• Name — George Perle • Landscape — yes • Born — 6 May 1915 • Birthplace — Bayonne, New Jersey, United States • Died — 23 January 2009 • Place of death — New York City, US • Occupation — Composer, music theorist • Spouse — Shirley Xenia Gabis • Website — georgeperle.net/

Perle was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, to Russian Jewish parents. He graduated from DePaul University, where he studied with Wesley LaViolette and received private lessons from Ernst Krenek. Later, he served as a technician fifth grade in the United States Army during World War II. He earned his doctorate at New York University in 1956. Perle composed with a technique of his own devising called "twelve-tone tonality". This technique was different from, but related to, the twelve-tone technique of the Second Viennese School, of which he was an "early admirer" and whose techniques he used aspects of but never fully adopted. Perle's former student Paul Lansky described Perle's twelve-tone tonality thus: In 1968, Perle cofounded the Alban Berg Society with Igor Stravinsky, and Hans F. Redlich, who had the idea (according to Perle in his letter to Glen Flax of 4/1/89). Perle's important work on Berg includes documenting that the third act of Lulu, rather than being an unfinished sketch, was actually three-fifths complete and that the Lyric Suite contains a secret program dedicated to Berg's love-affair. After retiring from Queens College in 1985, he became a professor emeritus at the Aaron Copland School of Music. In 1986, Perle was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Wind Quintet No. 4 and also a MacArthur Fellowship. In about 1989 Perle became composer-in-residence for the San Francisco Symphony, a three-year appointment. It was also around this time that he had published his fourth book entitled The Listening Composer. He died aged 93 in his home in New York City in January 2009. He was buried in Calverton National Cemetery. In the run-up to his 100th birthday celebrations the composer-pianist Michael Stephen Brown released a well received CD of a sampling of Perle's work for piano. Perle was married to the sculptor Laura Slobe from 1940 to 1952; the couple were members of the Socialist Workers Party. His second wife, Barbara Philips, died in 1978. Perle married Shirley Xenia Gabis in 1982.

Richard Swift differentiates between Perle's 'free' or 'intuitive', tone-centered, and twelve-tone modal music. He lists Perle's tone-centered compositions: • Sonata for Solo Viola (1942) • Three Sonatas for Solo Clarinet (1943) • Hebrew Melodies for Solo Cello (1945) • Sonata for Solo Cello (1947) • Quintet for Strings (1958) • Sonata I for Solo Violin (1959) • Wind Quintet I (1959) • Wind Quintet II (1960) • Monody I for Flute (1962) • Monody II for Double Bass (1962) • Three Inventions for Bassoon (1962) • Sonata II for Solo Piano (1963) • Solo Partita for Violin and Viola (1965) • Wind Quintet III (1967)

George Perle is recorded as having received Guggenheim Fellowship, MacArthur Fellows Program and Pulitzer Prize for Music.