Elizabeth Brown Larsen (born December 24, 1950) is a contemporary American classical composer.[1] Along with composerStephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now theAmerican Composers Forum.[2]
Libby Larsen was born on December 24, 1950, inWilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Robert Larsen and Alice Brown Larsen.[4] She was the third of five daughters in the family,[1][2] and at the age of three, Libby and her family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota.[5]
Her first musical experience dates from the time when she was three years old. She observed her older sister's piano lessons at home; later, she imitated what she had heard. Her formal music education began at theSaint Joseph of Carondelet nuns at Christ the King School. All students sangGregorian Chant and learned to sight-read usingmoveable ‘do’ solfege. The rhythmic flexibility and prosody of text Larsen learned in chant showed her that there is freedom in music, a concept that would prove to be very influential in her future compositions. In addition to her classical training, Larsen's father was an amateur clarinetist in a Dixieland band, and her mother played boogie-woogie on the record player, giving her a multifarious and very American musical background.[5]
Larsen attended theUniversity of Minnesota for both her undergraduate and graduate work. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theory and Composition in 1971, a Masters of Arts degree in Composition in 1975, and a PhD in Theory and Composition in 1978. Throughout her studies at university, she studied composition withDominick Argento,Paul Fetler andEric Stokes.[1] In 1975, Larsen married her husband, James Reece, whom she met at university.[2]
In 1973, Larsen co-founded theMinnesota Composers Forum with colleagueStephen Paulus with the goal to provide a public platform and an audience for the creation and performance of new compositions, along with giving practical help in business matters such as applying for fellowships and negotiating contracts.[2] In 1996, the organization changed its name to theAmerican Composers Forum and established chapters in cities throughout the country including Texas Fort Worth Mesquite, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, among others. Its base is still in St. Paul, Minnesota.[6]
In 1983, Larsen was appointed one of the Minnesota Orchestra's twocomposers-in-residence, making her the first woman to serve as a resident composer with a major orchestra.[2][7] She composed her first symphony,Water Music, for the Minnesota Orchestra, which was premiered in 1985 underSir Neville Marriner.[1] During her time with the Minnesota Orchestra, Larsen researched reasons for the low attendance of people of her own age at classical concerts and why non-European composers were not adequately represented in concert programs. This led her to studies of classical music in America and its place in American culture, the results of which she has explored in her compositions and other philosophical projects.[8] In 1986, her daughter Wynne was born.[2]
Larsen organized and became artistic director of the Hot Notes Series (sponsored by theSchubert Club of St. Paul) in 1993, which focuses on the modern keyboard, particularly on the interaction between performer and synthesized sound. This interaction has become a feature of her later works, includingFrankenstein: The Modern Prometheus (1990) based on thebook byMary Shelley. This work used electronic visual effects such as projectors and screens around the theater which showed different perspectives (e.g. those of the monster or those of Frankenstein himself) throughout the opera. This opera was Larsen's first exploration of technological sound[1] and was selected as one of the eight best classical music events of 1990 byUSA Today.[9]
In 1993, she won aGrammy Award for producer of Best Classical Vocal Performance for "The Art of Arlene Augér", featuring her song cycleSonnets from the Portuguese.[10] In 1996, she received Honorary Doctorates from both St. Mary's College/Notre Dame, and theUniversity of Nebraska.[11]
In addition to being known as a composer, Larsen is known as a musical philosopher and speaker. She has given keynote addresses at places such as theLeague of American Orchestras,American Choral Directors Association, American Orff-Schulwerk Association National Convention, Concert Band Directors National Association, Dominique de Menil Presidential Lecture Series atRice University (2001), Music Educators National Convention, andNational Association of Schools of Music.[11] From 2003-04, she served as the first Harissios Papamarkou Chair in Education and Technology at the Library of Congress.[12]
Larsen has never held a formal teaching position in college or university, about which she said that she "never felt the need to be attached to an academic institution", as she had been "lucky enough to have the kind of musical life [she] wanted".[16] She has taken independent students, including composerAdam Berndt.[17]
When asked about her influences, Larsen responded, "To tell the truth, my teachers have come to me from unexpected places in my musical life. They have been poets, architects, painters and philosophers. The other way I really learn is by reading scores voraciously, fromChuck Berry toWitold Lutosławski."[18]
Her style and approach to music comes from her own philosophy on music. Her music comes from the sound she hears everyday around her in the world. It is noted for its "energy, optimism, rhythmic diversity, colourful orchestration, liberated tonality without harsh dissonance, and pervading lyricism."[1]
Therhythms used are often taken directly from the American language: "our own American language has beautiful rhythms in it; it is this American vernacular and the rhythm of our American life that is the language of my music."[19] Pieces such asHoly Roller (about a revivalist preacher’s speech) andBid Call (about auctioneering patterns) showcase this style. Larsen composes without barlines, preferring to first discover the natural flow of a line and then refine it until she finds a common meter, giving many of her compositions a feeling of free internal rhythm.[20]
An opera by Libby Larsen, the story of a child brought by a family into a new culture. Appleton Boychoir; Attic Theater, Inc.; Children’s Ballet Theatre; Fox Cities Performing Arts Center; Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra; Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir; University Drumming Group; White Heron Chorale; Brian Groner, conductor
I Just Lightning
Las Cantantes, The University of New Mexico Women’s Chorus; Bradley Ellingboe, conductor
Featuring Larsen’s Love After 1950, also includes music of Lisbeth Alexander-Katz, Amy Beach, Lili Boulanger, Rebecca Clarke, Alma Mahler, Clara Wieck Schumann, Elinor Remick Warren
Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano; Craig Rutenberg, piano
Journeys: Orchestral Works by American Women
Leonarda Productions, LE327, 1985.
Featuring Larsen’s Overture--Parachute Dancing 1984, also includes music of Nancy Van De Vate, Kay Gardner, Marga Richter, Katherine Hoover, Ursula Mamlok, Jane Brockman.
^Marilyn Biery. "New Music for Organ at the End of the Twentieth Century: A Series on the Compositions of Six American Composers", in:The American Organist, July 2000, 76-78.
^DeSmith, Christy. "Loading the Canon", in:The Rake, November 2005, 57-62.
^"Classical: Batons Hint at a Brave New World", in:USA Today, December 24, 1990, 2D.
