WELCOME TO GEORGEHEUSSENSTAMM.COM!
Thank you for visiting GeorgeHeussenstamm.com. Take some time to explore the music of the influential composer author and teacher. George started his compositional career in 1959 and wrote over ninety works in his three decades as an active composer. George passed away peacefully on April 8, 2024 at 12:45am. He left behind an amazing legacy of music scores, recordings, books, and inspired students. Read more about George in the bio below.
Herein, you will find a complete listing of George's entire musical CATALOGUE. On the LISTENING LIBRARY page, you can hear many recordings of some of his greatest works. On the BOOKSHELF, you will find information about George's authored books which may help you on your own musical journey.
If you are looking to perform some of George's music, you may request perusal scores on the CONTACT page. You may also send George a message. Thank you for visiting!
Herein, you will find a complete listing of George's entire musical CATALOGUE. On the LISTENING LIBRARY page, you can hear many recordings of some of his greatest works. On the BOOKSHELF, you will find information about George's authored books which may help you on your own musical journey.
If you are looking to perform some of George's music, you may request perusal scores on the CONTACT page. You may also send George a message. Thank you for visiting!
Ensembles for Brass Quintet
Crystal Records CD 219: ANNAPOLIS BRASS QUINTET
Forever - is composed of Nows
Digitally remastered CD of the 1986 Crystal recording which includes Ensembles for Brass Quintet has is available on Crystal Records.
2014 Remastered Recording of Annapolis Brass Quintet:
David Cran and Robert Suggs, Trumpet; Arthur Brooks, Horn; Wayne Wells, Trombone; Robert Posten, Bass Trombone; and guest artists John McDonough, Narrator; Heidi Lehwalder, Harp; and Elaine Bonazzi, Mezzo-Soprano perform works by Jerzy Sapieyevski, George Heussenstamm, Robert Starer, Douglas Allanbrook and Elam Sprenkle.
PURCHASE NOW! from www.brassquintetforum.com
http://www.crystalrecords.com
WANT TO STUDY COUNTERPOINT?
George's unpublished Handbook of Tonal Counterpoint, used for years with his university and private students, is now available for free online!
www.FreeCounterpointOnline.weebly.com
Here you will find downloadable chapters and exercises, MIDI examples of all of the aural examples in the book, and even some amazing examples of music written in the polyphonic tradition. This is a wealth of contrapuntal knowledge that will take you from 1st species through writing your own three-part fugues!
~~~~ GEORGE ON YOUTUBE ~~~~
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George in Amsterdam, 2024Score, Op. 46 for four saxophone quartets and four percussionists
conducted by Chibir Chen recorded in the Bernard Haitink Zaal in Amsterdam (two weeks before the composer's passing) |
George in the NetherlandsDuo for Alto Saxophone and Percussion, Op. 71
played by Duo LiBra (The Netherlands). Vincent Klep, saxophone Paul Gubbels, percussion |
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Alter Ego in RecitalAlter Ego, Op. 67 for euphonium and tape (1978)
Live Recording May 19th, 2017 UNT Recital Hall, Denton TX Jonathan Watkins, euphonium |
PlayphonyPlayphony, Op. 56 for alto sax and percussion (1976)
Recording May 3, 2016 Geneviève D'Ortun, saxophone François Vallet, percussion |
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Interpolations in RecitalInterpolations, Op. 68 for contrabass (1979)
Live Recording May 21, 1987 Cal. State University, Los Angeles - Music Recital Hall Celebrating the sixtieth birth year of George Heussenstamm Daniel Gwin, contrabass |
Alchemy on CDAlchemy, Op. 60 for oboe and tape (1976)
Mark Hill, oboe |
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Largo with the Almont EnsembleLargo, Op. 80 for piano, clarinet, violin, viola and cello (1976)
Provided to YouTube by NAXOS of America (1993) The Almont Ensemble |
Biography
George Heussenstamm (1926-2024) received all of his musical training in the Southern California area. Winner of numerous national and international composition competitions, he was a member of ASCAP, wss an honorary member of the international music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota, and was a former member of the American Society of University Composers (now called SCI) and the International Society for Contemporary Music. He was a member of NACUSA (National Association of Composers, USA), in which he served as Vice-President for many years. In 1976 and 1981 he was the recipient of Fellowship Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Eight of his compositions were recorded on LP and six of these were committed to CD. From 1971 to 1984 he was Manager of the Coleman Chamber Music Association, the oldest continuing chamber music series in the country.
Since 1976 Heussenstamm taught at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Los Angeles, Ambassador College, and steadily for 17 years at California State University, Northridge, prior to his retirement in June of 2000.
Composer of more than 85 published works, he is the author of the book, The Norton Manual of Music Notation, released by W.W. Norton and Co. in March 1987, and still a mainstay in the literature about the notation of music, making Heussenstamm one of the leading authorities in this field. He also wrote a two-volume textbook on tonal harmony, Handbook of Harmony, which was the required harmony textbook at CSUN for several years. It has now been published in two volumes by Hal Leonard Corp. under the title, Hal Leonard Theory and Harmony and is available at book stores everywhere. His Handbook of Tonal Counterpoint, is written in a style geared for maximum comprehension by college-level students.
Composing in a wide spectrum of media, George Heussenstamm's compositions have been performed with regularity both here and abroad. He is perhaps best known for his large-scale compositions for saxophone and brass ensembles. His final large work, Moiré for Strings, is a magnificent work of texture, sonority and string technique and was premiered by the University of Southern California Symphony string section in 1990.
In 2016, George became the benefactor of a choral music contest thru the California Choral Directors Association (then ACDA California). George funded the CCDA/Heussenstamm Choral Composition Competition for a total of ten years. From his generous donations, California composers have been able to attend the CCDA Summer Conference at ECCO for free, have the chance to have their winning piece read by the entire conference, and earn a $500 bonus. It has been a great way to inspire composers to create new and exciting choral music into the future.
Among his non-academic activities were fishing, pocket billiards, going to concerts, chess, cribbage, and Scrabble. For 17 years, he was the director of a Scrabble club in Glendale, California, and he was chosen as Director of the Year in 1991 by the National Scrabble Association. He was an avid follower of national and international affairs, his primary source being BBC World Service over XM satellite radio. Married in 1957, his wife, Mary Heussenstamm (1930-2005), was a locally well-known watercolor portraitist. Her book, Watercolor Portraits Painted on the Streets of Los Angeles, has been widely acclaimed.
Since 1976 Heussenstamm taught at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Los Angeles, Ambassador College, and steadily for 17 years at California State University, Northridge, prior to his retirement in June of 2000.
Composer of more than 85 published works, he is the author of the book, The Norton Manual of Music Notation, released by W.W. Norton and Co. in March 1987, and still a mainstay in the literature about the notation of music, making Heussenstamm one of the leading authorities in this field. He also wrote a two-volume textbook on tonal harmony, Handbook of Harmony, which was the required harmony textbook at CSUN for several years. It has now been published in two volumes by Hal Leonard Corp. under the title, Hal Leonard Theory and Harmony and is available at book stores everywhere. His Handbook of Tonal Counterpoint, is written in a style geared for maximum comprehension by college-level students.
Composing in a wide spectrum of media, George Heussenstamm's compositions have been performed with regularity both here and abroad. He is perhaps best known for his large-scale compositions for saxophone and brass ensembles. His final large work, Moiré for Strings, is a magnificent work of texture, sonority and string technique and was premiered by the University of Southern California Symphony string section in 1990.
In 2016, George became the benefactor of a choral music contest thru the California Choral Directors Association (then ACDA California). George funded the CCDA/Heussenstamm Choral Composition Competition for a total of ten years. From his generous donations, California composers have been able to attend the CCDA Summer Conference at ECCO for free, have the chance to have their winning piece read by the entire conference, and earn a $500 bonus. It has been a great way to inspire composers to create new and exciting choral music into the future.
Among his non-academic activities were fishing, pocket billiards, going to concerts, chess, cribbage, and Scrabble. For 17 years, he was the director of a Scrabble club in Glendale, California, and he was chosen as Director of the Year in 1991 by the National Scrabble Association. He was an avid follower of national and international affairs, his primary source being BBC World Service over XM satellite radio. Married in 1957, his wife, Mary Heussenstamm (1930-2005), was a locally well-known watercolor portraitist. Her book, Watercolor Portraits Painted on the Streets of Los Angeles, has been widely acclaimed.
George Heussenstamm (1926-2024)
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[Updated 6-15-24] |