Roger Goeb

Roger Goeb studied at University of Wisconsin–Madison, New York University and University of Iowa. Training under Nadia Boulanger is recorded. Employment is recorded with Stanford University, Juilliard School and Adelphi University. Works named in the authority record are Symphony No. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship and Arts and Letters Award in Music.

Roger Goeb was born in Cherokee, Iowa. Although he had studied piano, trumpet, French horn, viola, violin, and woodwind instruments from an early age, he turned to the profession of music comparatively late. He studied agriculture at the University of Wisconsin (which twenty years later would be called University of Wisconsin–Madison), earning a BS degree in 1936. He then earned his living for two years playing in jazz bands before going to Paris to study composition at the Ecole Normale de Musique with Nadia Boulanger (1938–39). Returning to the United States he studied composition privately with Otto Luening, followed by graduate work, first at New York University, and then at the Cleveland Institute with Herbert Elwell, where he earned a Master of Music degree in 1942. Three years later, he gained a PhD at the University of Iowa with his Symphony No. 2 as a dissertation. After teaching stints at Bard College, the Juilliard School, Stanford University, and Adelphi College, he was awarded two successive Guggenheim fellowships in 1950–51 and 1951–52. From the late 1940s until the mid-1960s, Goeb composed instrumental music prolifically, and his music was well received. His Third Symphony was premiered on October 28, 1952, by Leopold Stokowski and the CBS Orchestra, who recorded it two days later for RCA Victor. In 1964, however, he gave up composing for more than ten years, because of family illnesses. His wife and his son eventually both died from multiple sclerosis, after which he began composing again, composing 25 more works until a stroke in 1986 curtailed his activities. He died on January 3, 1997, at the Parker Jewish Geriatric Institute in Queens, NY.

His music economically projects clear lines and formal designs. He did not orchestrate, but rather composed directly for instruments. Though he used familiar pitch combinations, he was able always to make them sound fresh and novel.

• Symphony No. 1 (1941, withdrawn) • Symphony No. 2 (1945) • Symphony No. 3 (1952) • Symphony No. 4 (1955) • Symphony No. 5 (1981) • Symphony No. 6 (1987) • Sinfonia No. 1, for orchestra (1957) • Sinfonia No. 2, for orchestra (1962)

• Concertant No. 1, for flute, oboe (or English horn, or clarinet), string orchestra or piano (1948) • Concertant No. 2, for bassoon (or cello) and string orchestra (or string quartet) (1950) • Concertant No. 3, for viola and wind orchestra (or wind ensemble or piano) (1951) • Concertant No. 4, for clarinet, piano, percussion, and string orchestra (or clarinet and string quartet, or clarinet and piano) (1951) • Concertant No. 5, for orchestra • Concertino No. 1, for orchestra (1949) • Concertino No. 2, for orchestra (1959) • Concertino (Quintet) for trombone and strings (1952) • Fantasy, for oboe and string orchestra (1952) • Violin Concerto, (1953) • Piano Concerto (1954) • Fantasy, for piano and string orchestra (1955) • Iowa Concerto, for chamber orchestra (1959) • Black on White, for clarinet and string orchestra or string quartet (1985)

• Prairie Songs, for small orchestra, or wind quintet (1947) • Romanza, for string orchestra (1948) • American Dances, Nos. 1–5 (1952) • Encomium, for band (1958) • Caprice, for orchestra (1982) • Divertissement, for string orchestra (1982) • Memorial, for orchestra (1982) • Fantasia, for orchestra (1983) • Essay, for orchestra (1984) • Gambol, for orchestra (1984)

• String Quartet No. 1 (1943, withdrawn) • String Trio (1944) • String Quartet No. 2 (1948) • Brass Septet (1949) • Wind Quintet No. 1 (1949) • Processionals (3), for organ, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones (1951) • Divertimento, for cello and piano (1951) • Suite, for flute, oboe (or trumpet, or clarinet), and clarinet (or flute) (1952) • String Quartet No. 3 (1954) • Piano Quintet (1955) • Wind Quintet No. 2 (1955) • Sonata, for violin and piano (1957) • Running Colors, for string quartet (1961) • Oboe Quartet (1961) • Declarations, for flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, and cello (1961) • Quintet, for cello and string quartet (1979) • Brass Quintet No. 1 (1980) • Octet, for clarinet, bassoon, horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass (1980) • String Quartet No. 4 (1980) • Wind Quintet No. 3 (1980) • Wind Quintet No. 4 (1982) • Flute Quintet (1983) • Hurry, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet, vibraphone, viola, cello, and double bass (1985) • Kinematic Trio, for viola, cello, and piano (1985) • Nuances, for clarinet and viola (1986) • Brass Quintet No. 2 (1987) • Urbane Duets, for viola and cello (1988) • Winds Playing, for 4 woodwinds and 6 brass (1988) • Solar Pairing, Baroque flute and harpsichord (1989)

• Fantasy, for piano (1948) • Fuga contraria, for piano (1950) • Imagery, for viola solo (1984)

• Phrases from Blake, SSATB choir (1950) • Etudes, for SATB choir and brass (1981) • Vocalises (2), for soprano and chamber orchestra (1987)