Elias Tanenbaum

Biography

Born in 1924 in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Tanenbaum studied trumpet at an early age and played with many jazz bands. After serving with the U.S. Army in World War II, he received a B.S. from the Juilliard School of Music in 1949, and an M.A. from Columbia University. He studied composition with Dante Fiorillo, Bohuslav Martinu, Otto Luening and Wallingford Riegger. Mr. Tanenbaum composed over 100 works in all idioms. Works include music for concert, jazz, theater, television, ballet and electronic and comptuer music. His music has been performed extensively throught this country, Europe and Japan by orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonia, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Westchester Philharmonic and many other performing groups. His many awards and grants include a WCBS commission, a MacDowell Fellowship, a commission from the Chicago Symphony, two Composers Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1974 and 1989, a Ford Foundation Recording Grant in 1970, an American Composers Allience Recording Award in 1975 and 1979, Composers Grant from the New York State Foundation for the Arts in 1989 and numerous "Meet the Composer" grants. Mr. Tanenbaum was the Founding Director of the Electronic Computer Music Studio and a member of the composition faculty at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He held that post from 1970 until his retirement. In addition, Mr. Tanenbaum was a visiting composer at the California Institute for the Arts in 1983 and a visiting lecturer at Stuttgart Conservatory in 1993. He was married to pianist Mary Tanenbaum in 1952. They have two children, David and Jacob, and three grandchildren. He was awarded the purple heart in 1944.

  • solo keyboard
  • duo inst or voices
  • instrumental quartet
  • voice(s)+ 1 inst or tape playback non-keyboard
  • woodwind quintet
  • ACE Publications

    20 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    Elias Tanenbaum ANDANTE & ALLEGRO tpt,pf
    Elias Tanenbaum Back Viola, Guitar
    Elias Tanenbaum BELLS AND THINGS
    percussion (4)
    Elias Tanenbaum BLURRED VISIONS fl/alfl/pic, perc, hp, vla
    Elias Tanenbaum Bring Em On String Quartet
    Elias Tanenbaum COMING TOGETHER tbn,vln
    Elias Tanenbaum COMING TOGETHER AGAIN (Quartet) vln, cb, bstbn (also plays woodblock with snare stick), piano
    Elias Tanenbaum DUO for GUITAR and VIOLA gtr, vla
    Elias Tanenbaum DUO FOR TWO CLARINETS IN B FLAT 2 Bb clarinets
    Elias Tanenbaum EXTENSIONS ww qnt(1-1-1-1,hn),tape
    Elias Tanenbaum FALLUJAH for Saxophone Quartet Bb soprano sax, Eb alto Sax, Bb tenor sax, Eb Baritone sax
    Elias Tanenbaum FANTASY - Four Harps and Tape 4 hps,tape
    Elias Tanenbaum FANTASIA for Violin and Piano vln,pf
    Elias Tanenbaum GuitarPerc guitar and percussion(1)
    guitar, marimba, 2 small susp cymbals, bongos, 4 temple blocks
    Elias Tanenbaum IMAGES 3 ('My Fellow Americans') sop,tape
    Elias Tanenbaum Roaming Star Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano
    Elias Tanenbaum SAX QUARTET SATB Saxophones
    Elias Tanenbaum STRING QUARTET NO.1 str qrt
    Elias Tanenbaum STRING QUARTET NO.2 str qrt
    Elias Tanenbaum STRING QUARTET & TAPE str qrt,tape

    Additional Works