Paul Fetler

Paul Fetler (February 17, 1920 – July 7, 2018; born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American composer. He received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and was taught composition by David Van Vactor. Following his bachelor's, Fetler earned a master's degrees from Yale, and then accepted a position at the University of Minnesota where he obtained his doctorate. In addition to Vactor, Fetler also studied with Paul Hindemith, Quincy Porter, and Boris Blacher, and taught many composers at Minnesota including Eric Stokes, Donald Keats, Marjorie Rusche, Michael Schelle, Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen, and Carol Barnett.

Compositional style

Fetler's style is atypical of the well-known composers of the 20th century. Fetler's music, as he has described it, is “the merger of listener and music.” The 2nd movement is an exception and is described as “lear in the storm hysteria” by reviewer Bret Johnson. The following choral works are listed here: http://www.lieder.net/lieder/f/fetler.html. Drum (SATB), Text: Langston Hughes

Madman's Song (SATB), Text: Elinor Wylie

November Night (SATB), Text: Adelaide Crapsey

Now This is The Story (SSA), Text: Dorothy Parker

Wild Swans (SATB), Text: Edna St. Vincent Millay

All Day I Hear (SATB), Text: James Joyce

April (SATB), Text: Sir William Watson

Orchestra

Celebration

Three Poems by Walt Whitman

Capriccio

Organ: "I Bind unto Myself Today" (tune: ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE)

Major awards

Guggenheim Award recipient - 1953, 1960 Society for American Music - 1953 Ford Found Grantee Certificate of Merit from Yale University Alumni Association - 1975 NEA Award - 1975, 1977, 1987