Warren Benson (1924-2005), a distinguished composer, conductor, lecturer, and writer, is best known for his innovative and profoundly expressive music for wind ensemble and his finely wrought song cycles. From the early Transylvanian Fanfare (1953), to such striking works as The Leaves Are Falling (1964), The Solitary Dancer (1966), The Passing Bell (1974), and Symphony II-Lost Songs (1983), Benson created a series of lauded compositions for band and wind ensemble that have become masterworks in the repertoire for that medium, with his wind band compositions being acclaimed as “among the most important of this century” (United States Marine Band, Bicentennial Collection). His profound response to contemporary poetry (he was himself a published poet) led him to produce a distinguished body of choral and solo vocal music, much of it for voice and mixed instrumental ensembles. Benson set to music the poetry of more than 25 poets including Tennessee Williams, Kenneth Patchen, May Swenson, Earle Birney, Octavio Paz, and perhaps most memorably, Louise Bogan (Five Lyrics of Louis Bogan, 1977; and Shadow Wind, 1968, revised 1992/93). From his early days as a percussionist and timpanist for the Detroit Symphony, Warren Benson recognized the rich variety of sounds percussion instruments can produce and integrated these into his compositions for wind ensemble and a wide variety of music for chamber ensembles. His catalog includes more than 150 compositions touching on almost all the significant genres of music, with the exception of opera. Among the many musical organizations that commissioned music from Benson are the Kronos Quartet, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the International Horn Society, the United States Marine Band, Switzerland’s Ulster Festival, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His music has been performed in more than 50 countries and some 30 works have been recorded. The hallmarks of Warren Benson’s musical style were well described by Elliott Schwartz and Daniel Godfrey in their book Music Since 1945: Issues, Materials and Literature: “(It is) inclusive music, incorporating tonality, free atonality, serialism, ethnic elements and other strains. At times one of these may predominate at others they may intermingle; throughout, however, the material is very much Benson’s creation rather than derivative of others.” Benson was a founding member of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), was a professor of percussion and composition for 14 years at Ithaca College, and in 1967 became professor of composition at the Eastman School of Music where he taught until his retirement in 1993. In 1994, upon his retirement from Eastman, he was named professor emeritus of composition.
Portrait by Louis Ouzer
