Book Of Proverbs 1. Opening - Music

American Composer Michael Torke Born September 22 1961 In Milwaukee Wisconsin Graduated From Wauwatosa East High School Studied At The Eastman School Of Music With Joseph Schwantner And Christopher Rouse And At Yale University And Writes Music Influenced By Jazz And Minimalism. Sometimes Described As A Post-Minimalist His Most Postminimal Piece Is Four Proverbs In Which The Syllable For Each Pitch Is Fixed And Variations In The Melody Produce Streams Of Nonsense Words. Other Works In This Style Include Book Of Proverbs And Song Of Isaiah. His Most Popular Work Is Probably Javelin Which He Composed In 1994 Commissioned By The Atlanta Committee For The Olympics In Celebration Of The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's 50th Anniversary Season In Conjunction With The 1996 Summer Olympics. Commissioned By Disney And Michael Eisner For The New York Philharmonic's Millennium Celebration He Penned Four Seasons An Oratorio For Chorus And Orchestra Celebrating Various Aspects Of The Months. The 2002 Ballet The Contract With Choreography By James Kudelka And Music By Torke Was A Smash Success. A Recent Project For The New York City Opera Fell Through Leading Him To Create A Musical Instead. A Synesthete He Is The Composer Of Numerous Pieces Bright Blue Music Ecstatic Orange Which Include Colors In The Titles Later Made Into The Suite Color Music. Other Pieces Include Rust 1989 Influenced By Rap And Disco Telephone Book 1985 1995 Adjustable Wrench And Ash 1989 And Mass 1990 Which Received Critical Maulings For Their Unabashed Return To The Style Of Beethoven And Mendelssohn. In 2003 He Created His Own Record Label Ecstatic Records On Which He Re-Released A Set Of Six 1990s CDs Which Were Put Out Of Print By The Now Out-Of-Business Argo Records. read less