Musicatlas
News for Hoiby
- Lee Hoiby dies after short illness
[posted 29 March 2011]The prominent opera and song composer Lee Hoiby died at Montefiore Hospital in New York City after a short illness. There will be a memorial service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on a date yet to be announced.
Hoiby wrote over 100 songs and was also well known for his many operas. His first opera, The Scarf (1957), was already a success at the Spoleto Festival. Other operas are A Month in the Country, Summer and Smoke, Something New for the Zoo, The Italian Lesson, and This Is the Rill Speaking. He also wrote many instrumental compositions.
His career started as a child prodigy at the piano. Hoiby studied the instrument with Gunnar Johansen and Egon Petri. Later his interest shifted to composing. His compositional style has always been tonal, even in times when that was not considered fashionable.
[Source: www.sequenza21.com]