Charles Fussell

Charles Clement Fussell (born February 14, 1938, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American composer and conductor of contemporary classical music. He has composed six symphonies and three operas. His symphony Wilde for solo baritone and orchestra, based on the life of Oscar Wilde and premiered by the Newton Symphony Orchestra and the baritone Sanford Sylvan in 1990, was a finalist for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Music. He received a citation and award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1992.

Fussell received advanced degrees in composition and conducting from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Thomas Canning and Bernard Rogers. He received a Fulbright grant to study at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, where he worked with Boris Blacher. He also attended the Bayreuth masterclasses of Friedelind Wagner. He was an assistant and close friend of the composer Virgil Thomson. He served as the president of the Thomson Foundation for many years.

Fussell has served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the North Carolina School of the Arts (1976–1977), Boston University (1983–2003), and Rutgers University.

Catalogue of works Late 1950s

Essay for Orchestra Variations for Orchestra Six Dances for Orchestra

1962

Caligula, opera based on a play by Albert Camus Trio, for violin, cello, and piano

1963

Dance Suite, for flute, trumpet, viola, and two percussionists Symphony in One Movement [No. I], for large orchestra

1964

Sweelinck Liedvariationen Mein Junges Leben, for solo string trio, marimba, mandolin, harp, and small orchestra Saint Stephen and Herod, drama for speaker, chorus, and winds

1965

Poems for Chamber Orchestra and Voices after Hart Crane, text by Hart Crane Three Choral Pieces (rev. 1975), for chorus and piano I. Fancy's Knell (SA and piano) II. Three Epitaphs (TB and piano) III. I Saw a Peacock (mixed chorus and piano)

1967

Symphony No. II, for soprano and large orchestra

1968

Two Ballades (rev. 1976), for cello and piano The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation, realization after Henry Purcell for soprano and ten instruments

1970

Voyages, for soprano and tenor soloists, female chorus, piano, and solo wind instrument plus recorded speaker. Text by Hart Crane.

1971

Julian, drama in five scenes after the tale of Gustave Flaubert

1973

Three Processionals for Orchestra

1975

Eurydice, for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, with obligato trumpet, horn, trombone, and bass-drum

1976

Résumé, cycle of nine songs for soprano, clarinet, string bass, and piano. Text by Dorothy Parker. Greenwood Sketches, Music for String Quartet A Prophecy, for chorus and piano. Text by Allen Ginsberg.

1977

Etudes and Portraits, for solo organ

1979

Northern Lights, two portraits for chamber orchestra I. Leós Janacek, for two flutes, four solo violins, timpani, and strings II. Edvard Munch, for two flutes, string quartet, timpani, and string orchestra A Joyful Fugue, transcription for band of an orchestral score by Virgil Thomson

1981

Landscapes, Symphony No. III, for chorus and large orchestra I. A Prophecy (Allen Ginsberg) II. A Night Battle (Walt Whitman) III. Moment Fugue 1929 (Hart Crane) IV. Landscape (Alberta Phillips) Four Fairy Tales After Oscar Wilde, for orchestra I. The Young King II. The Nightingale and the Rose III. The Happy Prince A. Prelude B. Romance of the Sparrow and Reed C. Coda IV. The Remarkable Rocket

1982

Overture to Paul Bunyan, transcription for band of an orchestral score by Benjamin Britten

1983

Song of Return, for SATB chorus with piano. Text by W. H. Auden.

1985

Cymbeline, drama after Shakespeare for soprano and tenor soli, narrator, plus chamber ensemble (11 players)

1986

The Gift, for SATB chorus with soprano solo. Text by William Carlos Williams. Three Portraits for Chamber Orchestra I. Virgil Thomson (1981) Version for solo piano composed in 2015 II. Maurice Grosser (1983) III. Jack Larson (1986)

1988

Free-fall, for chamber ensemble (seven players)

1989

A Song of Return, cantata for small chorus and orchestra. Text by W. H. Auden. The Gift, for chorus, soprano solo, and orchestra

1990

Wilde [Symphony No. IV], for baritone and orchestra. Runner-up for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

1991

Goethe Lieder, cycle of five songs with an epilogue 1. Soprano or tenor and piano 2. Version for seven players 3. Version for orchestra Last Trombones, for five percussionists, two pianos, and six (or twelve) trombones

1992

Specimen Days, cantata for baritone solo, chorus, and orchestra. Text by Will Graham, based on the life and writings of Walt Whitman.

1993

Being Music, for baritone solo and string quartet. Text by Walt Whitman. Song and Dance, for violin and piano Invocation, for chorus (SA and accompaniment or SATB). Text by May Sarton.

1994

Sonata-Duo, for flute and piano

1995

Symphony No. V, for orchestra Night Song, for solo piano

1996

Comrade and The Journey, two songs for baritone and piano

1997

The Astronaut's Tale, chamber opera. Text by Jack Larson. Mists, three pieces for a cappella chorus. Texts by Hart Crane.

1998

November Leaves, four songs for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Texts by Alfred Corn. Sonnet, for baritone solo, flute, and organ. Text by Elizabeth Bishop. Trio, for violin, cello, and piano

1999

From A Pioneer Songbook, for a cappella chorus 2000

A Walt Whitman Sampler, for TTBB chorus and piano. Text by Will Graham. Venture, four songs for baritone and piano on poems by Toni Mergentime Levi Version for baritone and orchestra was composed in 2016 2002

Right River, Variations on an Original Theme for 'cello and string orchestra

2003

Infinite Fraternity, for SATB chorus, baritone solo, flute, and viola. Texts by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Will Graham. High Bridge (rev. 2008), A Choral Symphony [No. VI] after poems of Hart Crane, for soprano, alto, tenor, baritone solos, chorus and orchestra 2008

Moonshine, for double bass and vibraphone

2011

Marion in Memory, for flute, clarinet, horn, violin, cello, piano, and marimba

2018

K.G. in Space and Time, for flute, clarinet, horn, marimba (and vibraphone), piano (and celesta), violin, and cello