John Corigliano
21st Century · 1938–
John Corigliano grew up inside the orchestra: his father was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for over two decades. Born in New York in 1938, he built a career outside the academic fashions of his time, writing music that is modern in technique but openly dramatic and aimed squarely at listeners.
His Symphony no. 1, written in the late 1980s, was his response to the AIDS crisis and the friends he lost to it, and it brought him major orchestral prizes. Hollywood came calling too: his score for the film The Red Violin, which follows a single instrument across three centuries, won the Academy Award in 2000. He has taught composition for many years at the Juilliard School.
Start with The Red Violin music, then the Symphony no. 1 when you are ready for something rawer. The Clarinet Concerto shows his theatrical streak at full tilt.
42 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Black November Turkey
- Chaconne from The Red Violin, for violin and piano
- Fancy on a Bach Air, for cello
- Snapshot: Circa 1909
- String Quartet
- The Red Violin Caprices, for violin
- Violin Sonata
Keyboard
- Chiarascuro, for 2 pianos
- Etude Fantasy
- Fantasia on an Ostinato
- Gazebo Dances, for piano 4-hands
- Kaleidoscope, for 2 pianos
- Winging It, improvisations for piano
Orchestral
- Clarinet Concerto
- Symphony no. 1
- The Mannheim Rocket
- Conjurer, concerto for percussionist and string orchestra
- Elegy, for orchestra
- Fantasia on an Ostinato
- Phantasmagoria
- Summer Fanfare
- Symphony no. 2
- Symphony no. 3, for large wind ensemble, "Circus Maximus"
- The Red Violin, chaconne for violin and orchestra
- The Red Violin, suite for violin and orchestra
- To Music
- Violin Concerto, "The Red Violin"
- Voyage, for flute and string orchestra
Stage
- The Red Violin Film score
- Altered States Film score
- The Ghosts of Versailles, Opera
Vocal
- A Black November Turkey, for chorus
- A Dylan Thomas Trilogy, for vocal soloist, chorus, and orchestra
- Dodecaphonia, for voice and piano
- Fern Hill, for mezzo-soprano, chorus, and orchestra
- L'Invitation au Voyage, for a cappella chorus
- Marvelous Invention, for voice and piano
- Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan, for voice and orchestra
- Of Rage And Remembrance, for mezzo-soprano, boy soprano, male chorus, and orchestra
- One Sweet Morning, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra
- Three Irish Folk Songs Settings, for voice and flute
- Vocalise, for voice, electronics and orchestra
Related composers
Keep a listening journal.
Opus is free on the App Store.
