Editing David Diamond (composer)

{{short description|American classical composer (1915–2005)}}
{{infobox person
| name        = David Diamond
| birth_name  = David Leo Diamond
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1915|7|9}}
| birth_place = [[Rochester, New York]], U.S.
| image       = David Diamond 1987.jpg
| caption     = Portrait of Diamond {{circa|1987}}
| occupation  = [[Composer]]
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2005|6|13|1915|7|9}}
| death_place = [[Brighton, Monroe County, New York|Brighton, New York]], U.S.
}}

'''David Leo Diamond''' (July 9, 1915 &ndash; June 13, 2005) was an American [[composer]] of [[classical music]]. He is considered one of the preeminent American composers of his generation. Many of his works are [[Tonality|tonal]] or modestly [[Musical mode|modal]]. His early compositions are typically triadic, often with widely spaced [[harmonies]], giving them a distinctly American tone, but some of his works are consciously French in style. His later style became more [[chromatic]].

==Life and career==
He was born in [[Rochester, New York]], and studied at the [[Cleveland Institute of Music]] and the [[Eastman School of Music]] under [[Bernard Rogers]], also receiving lessons from [[Roger Sessions]]<ref name="Olmstead2012">{{cite book|author=[[Andrea Olmstead]]|title=Roger Sessions: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9z1QegJ4_RcC&pg=PA16|date=6 August 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-86892-5|pages=16–}}</ref> in New York City and [[Nadia Boulanger]] in Paris. He won a number of awards including three [[Guggenheim Fellowship]]s.

Diamond's most popular piece is ''Rounds'' (1944) for [[string orchestra]]. Among his other works are eleven [[symphony|symphonies]] (the last in 1993), [[concerto]]s including three for [[violin]], eleven [[string quartet]]s, music for [[wind ensemble]], other [[chamber music]], [[piano]] pieces and vocal music.

He composed the musical theme heard on the [[CBS Radio Network]] broadcast ''[[Hear It Now]]'' (1950–51) and its TV successor, ''[[See It Now]]'' (1951–58).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/seeItNow.html |title=See It Now |publisher=Classicthemes.com |access-date=2013-12-04}}</ref>

Diamond was named honorary composer-in-residence of the [[Seattle Symphony]]. He was a longtime member of the [[Juilliard School]] faculty, his notable students including [[Alan Belkin]], [[Robert Black (conductor)|Robert Black]], [[Kenneth Fuchs]], [[Albert Glinsky]], [[Daron Hagen]], [[Adolphus Hailstork]], [[Anthony Iannaccone]], [[Philip Lasser]], [[Lowell Liebermann]], [[Alasdair MacLean]], [[Charles Strouse]], [[Francis Thorne]], [[Kendall Durelle Briggs]] and [[Eric Whitacre]]. Diamond is also credited with advising [[Glenn Gould]] on his mid-career work, most notably his String Quartet, Op. 1.

In 1995, he was awarded the [[National Medal of Arts]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html |title=Lifetime Honors: National Medal of Arts |access-date=2012-04-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106055028/http://www.nea.gov/honors/medals/medalists_year.html#95 |archive-date=January 6, 2013 }}</ref> In 1991 he was awarded the [[Edward MacDowell Medal]].<ref>{{cite web |title=David Diamond - Artist |url=https://www.macdowellcolony.org/artists/david-diamond |website=www.macdowellcolony.org |language=en}}</ref>

Diamond was openly [[gay]]<ref name="McFarland, John 2006 glbtq.com">McFarland, John (2006). "[http://www.glbtq.com/arts/diamond_d.html Diamond, David] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629001755/http://www.glbtq.com/arts/diamond_d.html |date=2008-06-29 }}", ''glbtq.com''.</ref> long before it was socially acceptable, and believed his career was slowed by [[homophobia]] and [[antisemitism]].<ref name="McFarland, John 2006 glbtq.com" /><ref>[http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2005/06/16/david_diamond_89_composed_symphonies_of_intensity_1118903057/ "David Diamond, 89; composed symphonies of intensity"] by Richard Dyer, ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', June 16, 2005</ref> According to an obituary in ''[[The Guardian]]'' however, "He enjoyed enormous success in the 1940s and early '50s with champions that included Koussevitzky, Bernstein, Munch, Ormandy and Mitropoulos but, in the 1960s and '70s, the serial and modernist schools pushed him into the shadows."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/Awards%20Issue%202005/42/803725/|title=Obituaries: David Diamond Composer|work=[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]|date=2005}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' similarly referred to Diamond as "a major American composer whose early brilliance in the 1940s was eclipsed by the dominance of atonal music... He was part of what some considered a forgotten generation of great American symphonists, including [[Howard Hanson]], [[Roy Harris]], [[William Schuman]], [[Walter Piston]] and [[Peter Mennin]]."<ref>Wakin, Daniel J. "David Diamond, 89, Intensely Lyrical Composer, Is Dead". ''The New York Times''. June 15, 2005</ref> ''The New York Times'' also suggested that Diamond's career troubles may have also been caused by his "difficult personality... he said in the 1990 interview, 'I was a highly emotional young man, very honest in my behavior, and I would say things in public that would cause a scene between me and, for instance, a conductor.'"

In 2005, Diamond died at his home in [[Brighton, Monroe County, New York]], from [[heart failure]].

==Works==
{{Div col}}

===Ballet===
*''TOM'' (1936)

===Orchestra===
*Early discarded symphonies (No. 1 from 1933, No. 2 from 1935)<ref>See {{Google Books|HYFQmNASg30C|David Diamond, a Bio-bibliography|page=2}} in regards the early "first" symphony (conducted by Howard Hanson in 1933, Kimberling says; {{OCLC|27784320}} claims first performed in Kilbourn Hall, Rochester, April 18, 1934), and {{OCLC|45420849}} in regards the second.</ref>
*Symphony No. 1 (1940)
*Symphony No. 2 (1942–1943)
*Symphony No. 3 (1945)
*Symphony No. 4 (1945)
*Symphony No. 5 (1947–1964)
*Symphony No. 6 (1951)
*Symphony No. 7 (1957)
*Symphony No. 8 (1958–1960)
*Symphony No. 9 (1985)
*Symphony No. 10 (1987/2000)<ref>Manuscript copy of score record in Grawemeyer Collection Library Catalog. Also contains instrumentation and number of pages (398).</ref>
*Symphony No. 11 (1989–1991)<ref>published in 2016 by Peermusic. {{OCLC|961937630}}.</ref>
*Concerto for Small Orchestra (1940)
*''Psalm'' (1936)
*''Elegy'' in Memory of Ravel (1937)
*''Rounds'' for String Orchestra (1944)
*Concert Piece for large orchestra (1939)
*Timon of Athens - A Portrait After Shakespeare (1955)
*Music for chamber orchestra
*''Overture''
*''Heroic Piece''
*''The Enormous Room'' (1948)
*''The World of Paul Klee''

===Concertante===
*Violin Concerto No. 1 (1937)
*Concerto for Small Orchestra (1940)
*Violin Concerto No. 2 (1947)
*Violin Concerto No. 3 (1976)
*Flute Concerto (1986)
*Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (1996)
*Piano Concerto
*Piano Concertino
*Cello Concerto
*''Kaddish'' for cello and orchestra (1987)
*''Romeo and Juliet'' (1947)
*Incidental music for ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1951)

===Wind ensemble===
*''Tantivy'' (1988)
*''Hearts Music'' (1989)

===Chamber music===
*String Quartet No. 1 (1940)
*String Quartet No. 2 (1943–1944)
*String Quartet No. 3 (1946)
*String Quartet No. 4 (1951)
*String Quartet No. 5 (1960)
*String Quartet No. 6 (1962)
*String Quartet No. 7 (1963)
*String Quartet No. 8 (1964)
*String Quartet No. 9 (1965–1968)
*String Quartet No. 10 (1966)
*Concerto for String Quartet (1936)
*String Trio (1937)
*Quintet for Flute, Piano and String Trio (1937)
*Quartet for Piano and String Trio (1936/67)
*Partita for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano (1935)
*Quintet for Clarinet, 2 Violas and 2 Cellos (1950)
*Piano Trio (1951)
*Wind Quintet (1958)
*Night Music, for Accordion and String Quartet (1961)
*Piano Quartet (1937 rev. 1967)
*Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 (1943-6)
*Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 (1981)
*Canticle for Violin and Piano (1946)
*Perpetual Motion for Violin and Piano (1946)
*Chaconne for Violin and Piano (1948)
*Sonata for Solo Violin
*Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1
*Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 (1987)
*Sonata for Solo cello
*Concert Piece for Horn and String Trio (1978)
*Concert Piece for Flute and Harp (1989)
*Concert Piece for Viola and Piano (1994–95)
*Concerto for Two Solo Pianos (1942)
*Alto Saxophone Sonata
*Nonet for Strings
*Sonatina for Accordion

===Piano===
*Piano Sonata No. 1 (1947)
*Piano Sonata No. 2 (1971)
*Piano Sonatina No. 1 (1935)
*Piano Sonatina No. 2 (1987)
*Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major
*Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C minor (1939)
*Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in E minor
*Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp minor (1939)
*Prelude, Fantasy and Fugue (1983)
*A Myriologue (1935; rev. 1969)
*Gambit (1967)
*Tomb of Melville (1950)
*8 Piano Pieces
*Album for the Young
*Two Barcarolles (1993)

===Vocal===
*''David Mourns for Absalom'' (1946); text from II Samuel 18:33
* ''Vocalises'' for soprano and viola (1935, revised 1956)
*This Sacred Ground for solo baritone, choir, children's choir and orchestra (1962)
*Prayer for Peace for choir
*Many songs for solo voice with piano
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
* "Dark Years And Difficult Questions". Essay by Diamond in Berman, P. L. (1989), ''The Courage To Grow Old'' (p.&nbsp;83-88). New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

==External links==
* [http://www.peermusicclassical.com/composer/composerdetail.cfm?detail=diamond Profile, works, discography] at Peermusic Classical
* {{IMDb name|id=0224600|name=David Diamond}}
* {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q7237}}
* [http://www.daviddiamond.org The Official David Diamond Website] created by The Estate of David L. Diamond
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/diamond.html Interview with David Diamond], October 18, 1990

{{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}}
{{Modernism (music)}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Classical music|LGBTQ}}
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