Norman Dello Joio (January 24, 1913July 24, 2008) was an American composer active for over half a century. Best known for his choral music, he won a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1957.
Life Dello Joio was born in New York City to Italian immigrants. He began his musical career as organist and choir director at the Star of the Sea Church on City Island in New York at age 14. His father, Casimiro Dello Joio, was an organist, pianist, part-time composer, and vocal coach and coached many opera stars from the Metropolitan Opera. He taught Norman piano starting at the age of four. In his teens, Norman began studying organ with his godfather, Pietro Yon, who was the organist at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. In 1939, he received a scholarship to the Juilliard School, where he studied composition with Bernard Wagenaar.
While he was a student, he worked as organist at St. Anne's Church, but he soon decided that he didn't want to make his living as an organist. In 1941, he began studying with Paul Hindemith, who encouraged him to follow his own lyrical bent, rather than sacrificing it to atonal systems.
He received numerous awards and much recognition. He was a prolific composer in a variety of genres, but is perhaps best known for his choral music. Perhaps Dello Joio's best known work in the wind ensemble form is his Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn, which was composed for the Michigan State University Wind Ensemble and has been performed thousands of times internationally. Dello Joio also wrote several pieces for high school and professional string orchestra, including the difficult piece Choreography: Three Dances for String Orchestra. In 1948, he became associated with the dancer Martha Graham, for whom he wrote several works, including Diversion of Angels and Seraphic Dialogue, a recomposition for chamber orchestra of his Symphony: The Triumph of Saint Joan.
He won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Meditations on Ecclesiastes; first performed at the Juilliard School on April 20, 1956. His Variations, Chaconne and Finale won the New York Critics Circle Award in 1948. It is a full-orchestra expansion of the theme and variations in the first movement of his Piano Sonata No. 3.
In 1965, Dello Joio received the Emmy Award for the "most outstanding music written for television in the 1964–1965 Season" for his score to the 1964 NBC television special The Louvre. The composer created a five-movement suite for wind band entitled Scenes from The Louvre. The suite was commissioned by Baldwin-Wallace College for their symphonic band, and was premiered on March 13, 1966 with the composer conducting.
He taught at Sarah Lawrence College from 1944 to 1950, and at the Mannes College of Music. He also served as professor and dean at Boston University's College of Fine Arts. In 1978, he retired and moved to Long Island. He donated his personal archive of manuscripts and papers to the Music Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Despite infirmities, Dello Joio remained active as a composer until his final years, continuing to produce chamber, choral, and even orchestral music. He died in his sleep on July 24, 2008 at the age of 95 at his home in East Hampton, New York.Daniel J. Wakin, Norman Dello Joio, Prolific and Popular Composer, Is Dead at 95 The New York Times 27 July 2008
He had one daughter, performer, teacher and speaker coach, Victoria Dello Joio, and two sons, composer Justin Dello Joio and equestrian Norman Dello Joio.
Musical analysis Dello Joio's early works already reveal certain characteristics of his style. He liked to use traditional early music chants as a cantus firmus with richly contrapuntal settings. Gregorian melodies and jazzy rhythms are blended in a creatively spontaneous texture.
One use of his music is his score for choreographer Martha Graham's Diversion of Angels.
Catalogue of works 1937 (Began studies at Juilliard in the fall) Ballad of Thomas Jefferson for voice (words by Louis Lerman; publ. Weaner-Levant 1943) Quartet for four bassoons (unpublished, now lost) Sonata [#1] for Violin and Piano (unpublished, now lost) Sonata for Cello and Piano (unpublished, "Sonatina" manuscript in New York Public Library) Trio for piano, violin and cello (unpublished, now lost) Winner of the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Award 1938 Colloquy for violin and piano (unpublished, manuscript in New York Public Library) Sonata [#2] for violin and piano (unpublished, now lost) 1939 Chicago for mixed chorus a cappella (text by Carl Sandburg; unpublished, manuscript is in New York Public Library) Concertino for flute and strings (unpublished, manuscript in New York Public Library and at Juilliard library) [Broadcast from the Eastman School of Music in 1953 of movements 2 & 3] [historical rehearsal radio broadcast on WNYC with the composer talking includes a run-through of all 3 movements] "Gone" for voice and piano (unpublished, manuscript in New York Public Library, poem by Carl Sandburg) "Joy" for voice and piano (unpublished, manuscript in New York Public Library, poem by Carl Sandburg) "Mill Doors" for voice and piano (text by Carl Sandburg; publ. Carl Fischer, 1948)https://www.carlfischer.com/shop/norman-dello-joio-vocal-collec.html?SID=31q7fb1qgfs2lin0n2k1rd74t0 [included in Three Songs 1948] Quartet for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon (unpublished, now lost) 1940 Ballad for string orchestra (unpublished, manuscript lost?) Concertino (in Stilo Classico) for piano and orchestra (unpublished, manuscript lost?) [Radio recording from WYNC archives from 1947 American Music Festival] Sinfonietta for orchestra (G. Schirmer or unpublished? Manuscript in New York Public Library) [Used in a four-hand reduction for ballet "Prairie"] Suite for piano (publ. G. Schirmer 1945) [Performance by Debra Torok] Trio for clarinet, French horn and bassoon (unpublished, now lost) [Recording from WYNC archives, probably 1941] 1941 (finished studies at Juilliard; attended Tanglewood, studying with Paul Hindemith) Concerto for Two Pianos and orchestra (unpublished, manuscript in New York Public Libirary) The Duke of Sacramento, ballet for two pianos (unpublished; manuscript in the New York Public Library) [An excerpt became the Rhumba for two pianos] Prairie, ballet for two pianos (unpublished, manuscript lost?) [reduction of Sinfonietta from orchestra] Spoon River, incidental music for piano (unpublished, manuscript?) Vigil Strange for mixed chorus and piano (four hands) (text by Walt Whitman; publ. Weaner-Levant 1943) 1942 (completed independent study with Paul Hindemith) Fantasia on a Gregorian Theme for violin and piano (publ. Carl Fischer 1949) [theme title is Ite Missa Est] Magnificat for orchestra (publ. Carl Fischer 1944) Town Hall Composition Award, 1943 [Radio broadcast recording with NBC Symphony at 1944 Music Critic's Circle Awards] 1943 Greentree Thoroughbred, documentary film score (music and film are missing and presumed lost) The Mystic Trumpeter, for mixed SSAATTBB chorus, soprano, and French horn (text adapted from Walt Whitman; publ. G. Schirmer 1945) Prelude to a Young Dancer, for piano (publ. G. Schirmer 1946) [performance by Debra Torok] Prelude: To a Young Musician for piano (publ. G. Schirmer 1945) [Performance by Debra Torok] Sextet for three recorders (or Woodwind Trio) and string trio (publ. Hargail Music Press 1944) Sonata No. 1 for piano (publ. Hargail Music Press 1947) [Performance by Sidney Foster] Sonata No. 2 for piano (publ. G. Schirmer 1948) [Recording by Jorge Bolet] To a Lone Sentry, for orchestra (publ. G. Schirmer 1945) 1944 Concert Music for orchestra (publ. Carl Fischer 1949) Concertino for harmonica and orchestra (unpublished, manuscript score and parts in New York Public Library) Duo Concertante for two pianos (unpublished, manuscript in New York Public Library) Duo Concertato for cello and piano (publ. G. Schirmer 1949) Fanfare for Victor and the Oklahoma Symphony for orchestral brass (manuscript in the New York Public Library) Rhumba, for Two Pianos (unpublished; holograph in the Juilliard library) [arranged excerpt from The Duke of Sacramento] Trio for flute, cello, and piano (publ. Carl Fischer 1948) [Performance by the George Crumb Trio] 1945 Concerto for harp and orchestra (publ. Carl Fischer 1946) [1947 recording with Edward Vito] On Stage, ballet score for orchestra (publ. G. Schirmer) Suite from "On Stage" for two pianos, or orchestra, Symphony for Voices and Orchestra (text "Western Star" by Stephen Vincent Benét) [withdrawn 1952, reworked into Song of Affirmation] [live recording of Carnegie Hall debut performance] 1946 A Fable for mixed chorus and piano (Text: The Mouse That Gnawed the Oak Tree Down by Vachel Lindsay; publ. Carl Fischer 1947) [Performance by Estherville High School Varsity Chorus] A Jubilant Song for mixed (or women's or men's chorus) and piano (now also orchestra or band), (Text by Walt Whitman; publ. G. Schirmer) [Later incorporated into As of A Dream] [Performance by the Quad City Choral Arts, John Hurty conducting] New Born for voice (text: Lenore Marshall; publ. Carl Fischer 1948) [included in Three Songs 1948] [performance by Lila Deis] Nocturne in F-sharp for piano (publ. Carl Fischer 1950; first performance 1949) [Performance by Debra Torok] Nocturne in E for piano (publ. Carl Fischer 1950) [Performance by Debra Torok] "There Is a Lady Sweet and Kind" for voice and piano (text by anonymous Elizabethan; publ. Carl Fischer 1948) [one of Three Songs, publ. 1950 Carl Fischer] [Recording by Cesare Valletti] Ricercari [original title: Tre Ricercare] for piano and orchestra (publ. Carl Fischer) [Recording by Germaine Smadja] 1947 The Assassination: Two Fates Discuss a Human Problem, for voice and piano (text adapted from Robert Hillyer; publ. Carl Fischer 1949) [one of Three Songs, publ. 1950 Carl Fischer] [Recording by Kevin Maynor] Lament, for voice and piano (text by Chidiock Tichborne, written on the eve of the poet's execution; publ. Carl Fischer 1949) [one of Three Songs, publ. 1950 Carl Fischer] Madrigal, for mixed chorus and piano (text by Christina Rossetti; Publ. Carl Fischer) Sonata No. 3 for piano (publ. Carl Fischer 1948) [partially a reworking of the orchestral Variations, Chaconne and Finale] [Performance by Tanya Stambuk] Variations, Chaconne and Finale for orchestra [aka Symphonic Dances] (publ. Carl Fischer 1950) [Now also band version] Winner of New York Music Critics Circle Award [reworked into portions of the Piano Sonata No. 3] [Recording by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra] 1948 Serenade for orchestra [concert version of Martha Graham ballet "Diversion of Angels"] (publ. Carl Fischer 1953) [Recording by Edvard Tchivzhel and the Atlantic Sinfonietta] Six Love Songs for voice and piano (texts: J. Addington Symonds "Eyebright"; John Suckling "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?"; Robert Browning "Meeting at Night"; Stark Young "The Dying Nightingale"; Arthur Symons "All Things Leave Me"; and Elizabeth Barrett Browning "How Do I Love Thee?"; publ. Carl Fischer 1954) Variations and Capriccio for violin and piano (publ. Carl Fischer 1949) [Recording with William Steck, violin] 1949 Concertante for clarinet and orchestra (or piano) (commissioned by Big Band clarinetist Artie Shaw; publ. Carl Fischer 1955); Shaw premiered the work with the Chautauqua (NY) Symphony on 23 July 1949, Franco Autori conducting.”Shaw at Chautauqua.” New York Times, 24 July 1949, 54. [Recording with Robert Alemany, clarinet] Diversion of Angels ballet score for small orchestra [Video of Martha Graham Ballet Company performing the ballet] 1950 The Triumph of Joan, opera in 3 Acts [school version – withdrawn; musical themes reworked into Triumph of St. Joan Symphony] The Bluebird for mixed chorus and piano (text: Joseph Machlis; publ. Carl Fischer 1952) [Performance by the John Alexander Singers] [Main theme from this used again in the opening movement of the Triumph of St. Joan Symphony]