Robert Ceely

Biography

"To me music is organized sound in time. Whether my music is instrumental, vocal, electronic or a combination, the impetus is the idea; the medium chosen is a result of the idea." - Robert Ceely (1930-2015), was a composer and an educator. His compositions include solo, chamber, and orchestral music as well as music for tape and tape with instruments. He attended the New England Conservatory where he studied with Francis Cooke and completed further studies with Darius Milhaud and Leon Kirchner at Mills College, with Roger Sessions, and with Edward Cone and Milton Babbitt at Princeton University.

From 1963-64, he composed music in the Electronic Music Studio in Milan as a guest of The Italian Government. His ballet “Beyond the Ghost Spectrum”, commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation with choreography by James Waring, was performed at Tanglewood with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting and the opera, “Automobile Graveyard”, after a play by Fernando Arrabal, was presented at the New England Conservatory in 1995. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ditson Fund, the Manon Jarrof dancers, the Massachusetts Arts Council, the Fromm Music Foundation and others. He has taught at the Naval School of Music, The Lawrenceville School, Robert College in Istanbul, and for thirty-eight years at the New England Conservatory where he established and directed the Electronic Music Studio and taught composition. In 1995, he was honored with an Outstanding Alumni Award. He retired from teaching in 2003 and continued to devote his time and energy to composition.

 

Robert Ceely, ACA Festival rehearsal, 2010Robert Ceely

  • voice+keyboard
  • ACE Publications

    52 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    Robert Ceely AUROS ob, cl, vln, vcl, pv
    Robert Ceely AUTOMOBILE GRAVEYARD chamber ensemble, jazz quintet
    fl/pic/altofl, ob/Eh, cl/clA/bscl, hn, bsn; Bari sax, tbn, piano/cel; vln, vla, vcl, cb; Jazz Quintet: Tpt, AltoSax, Piano, ElecBs, Drum set; 6 Singers, audio playback
    Robert Ceely BOTTOM DOGS
    4 double basses
    Robert Ceely Canons alto flute, clarinet in A, and bassoon
    Robert Ceely CAROL FOR A NEW YEAR Mixed Chorus and Solo Trumpet in C
    Robert Ceely CHAMBER VARIATIONS 18 players
    pic, fl, ob, Ehn, cl, bscl, bsn, cbsn, hn, tpt in C, tbn, tba, vln, vla, vc, cb, piano, drum kit
    Robert Ceely COMPLAINT Solo Cello
    Robert Ceely DIALOGUES fl
    Robert Ceely DUEL FOR BASS CLARINET AND PIANO bass clarinet, piano
    Robert Ceely DUOLOGUE trumpet in C, piano
    Robert Ceely ELECTRONIC MUSIC RESOURCE BOOK
    Robert Ceely EXTENSIONS FOR PIANO solo piano
    Robert Ceely FIVE CONTEMPLATIVE PIECES FOR MIXED CHORUS SATB
    Robert Ceely FIVE PIANO PIECES piano
    Robert Ceely GIOSTRA oboe, piano
    Robert Ceely GROUP SAX sax quartet
    Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bari Saxophones
    Robert Ceely GYMEL 2 ob
    Robert Ceely HARLEQUIN double bass, tape
    Robert Ceely HYPALLAGE tpt,tape
    Robert Ceely LOGS 2 dbl basses
    Robert Ceely LULLABY high soprano voice, trombone
    Robert Ceely Metamir
    trio with tape
    Robert Ceely METAMIR (Acoustic Version) Alto flute, Bass clarinet, Viola, Piano
    Robert Ceely Minute Rag piano
    Robert Ceely MODULES for SEVEN PLAYERS fl, AltoSax, Pf, Vln, Vla, Cb, Perc (vib, timp, hi cymb, 3 temple blk, cowbell, timbales, lg triangle)

    Additional Works