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About
Ricky Ian Gordon was born on May 15, 1956 in Oceanside, New York and raised on Long Island. After studying composition at Carnegie Mellon University, he settled in New York City. In 2001, Bright Eyed Joy: The Music of Ricky Ian Gordon, was presented at Lincoln Center as part of the American Songbook Series, and the New York Times said, “A composer versed in the harmonic idiom of Samuel Barber and Benjamin Britten, Mr. Gordon also has a knack for witty theatrical pastiche. Many of his lighter songs pluck vintage theatrical echoes from their 1920’s and 30’s niches and dress them up with bold chord changes that catapult them in new directions.”
Gordon’s works for voice include Green Sneakers, a theatrical song cycle for baritone, string quartet, and empty chair, with a libretto by the composer; and Orpheus and Euridice, an hour-long song cycle in two acts that includes choreography. Other song publications are A Horse With Wings, Genius Child, Only Heaven, Finding Home, Songs for Our Time, Late Afternoon, and Too Few the Mornings Be, a cycle of eleven settings of Emily Dickinson poems, written for Renée Fleming.
Operas include The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Autumn Valentine, The Grapes of Wrath, Morning Star, Only Heaven, and The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Other theatre works include My Life with Albertine, written with Richard Nelson and based on Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, Dream True, and States of Independence, written with Tina Landau, and Only Heaven, based on the works of Langston Hughes. Gordon has also written extensively for chorus and piano.
The composer has taught master classes and composition classes across the country, and been the composer-in-residence at various festivals. Among his honors are the 2003 Alumni Merit Award for exceptional achievement and leadership from Carnegie Mellon University, the Shen Family Foundation Award, the Stephen Sondheim Award, the Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Award, the Constance Klinsky Award, and many awards from ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Music Center.
For the most up-to-date information about Ricky Ian Gordon, please visit his website.
—rickyiangordon.com
Related Information
Songs
A Horse With Wings
Ricky Ian Gordon
Ricky Ian Gordon
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
A Horse With Wings
Song CollectionRicky Ian Gordon
Emily Dickinson
Ricky Ian Gordon
John Hollander
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Frank O’Hara
Dorothy Parker
Afternoon on a Hill
Ricky Ian Gordon
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
Air
Ricky Ian Gordon
Frank O’Hara
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
An Old-Fashioned Song
Ricky Ian Gordon
John Hollander
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
Angel Wings
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Border Line
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Daybreak in Alabama
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Delinquent
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Demand
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Dream
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Dream Variations
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Drum
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Fewer Words
Ricky Ian Gordon
Ricky Ian Gordon
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
Genius Child
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Song CollectionRicky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Harlem Night Song
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
In Time of Silver Rain
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Janet Underneath the Roses
Ricky Ian Gordon
Ricky Ian Gordon
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
Joy
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Just Now
Ricky Ian Gordon
Marie Howe
Kid in the Park
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Late Last Night
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
The Light Comes On By Itself
Ricky Ian Gordon
Frank O’Hara
Song Collection: Songs of Our Time
Litany
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Luck
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
My People
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
New Moon
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Night: Four Songs
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Only Heaven
Song CollectionRicky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Poem (Lana Turner Has Collapsed)
Ricky Ian Gordon
Frank O’Hara
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
Port Town
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Prayer
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Song For a Dark Girl
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Souvenir
Ricky Ian Gordon
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
Stars
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Strange Hurt: Long Version
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Strange Hurt: Short Version
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
The Red Dress
Ricky Ian Gordon
Dorothy Parker
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
The Spring and the Fall
Ricky Ian Gordon
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
To Be Somebody
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Troubled Woman
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
What Shall We Remember?
Ricky Ian Gordon
Ricky Ian Gordon
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
White Haired Woman
Ricky Ian Gordon
Ricky Ian Gordon
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
When Sue Wears Red
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Only Heaven
Will There Really Be a Morning?
Ricky Ian Gordon
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: A Horse With Wings
Winter Moon
Ricky Ian Gordon
Langston Hughes
Song Collection: Genius Child: A Cycle of 10 Songs
Recordings
American Composers at Play
(William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lori Laitman and John Musto)
2020
Five Borough Songbook
(Ricky Ian Gordon, Richard Pearson Thomas and Scott Wheeler)
2013
For Your Delight... - New American Art Songs
(Chris DeBlasio, Ricky Ian Gordon, Daron Aric Hagen, Richard Hundley, John Musto and Ned Rorem)
2002
Dreamer - A Portrait of Langston Hughes
(Margaret Bonds, William Grant Still, Kurt Weill, Henry T. Burleigh, Robert Owens, John Musto, Ricky Ian Gordon, Howard Swanson, Jean Berger, Erik Santos and Florence Price)
2001
Permit Me Voyage: Songs by Americans
(Dominick Argento, Elliott Carter, Ricky Ian Gordon and Richard Hundley)
1992
Sheet Music
A Horse With Wings
Composer(s): Ricky Ian Gordon
Song(s): Once I Was
Sweet Song
Afternoon on a Hill
My Sister's New Red Hat
A Horse with Wings
Air
Poem (Lana Turner has Collapsed)
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
The Spring and the Fall
Souvenir
Coyotes
The Red Dress
What Shall We Remember?
Will There Really Be a Morning?
Sycamore Trees
Fewer Words
The Special Picnic
Janet Underneath the Roses
I am a Cherry Alive
An Old-Fashioned Song
White Haired Woman
Genius Child
Composer(s): Ricky Ian Gordon
Song(s): 1. Winter Moon
2. Genius Child
3. Kid in the Park
4. To Be Somebody
5. Troubled Woman
6. Strange Hurt: Long Version
7. Strange Hurt: Short Version
8. Prayer
9. Border Line
10. My People
11. Joy
Only Heaven
Composer(s): Ricky Ian Gordon
Song(s): Harlem Night Song
Daybreak In Alabama
When Sue Wears Red
Late Last Night
Port Town
Angel Wings
Luck
Delinquent
Dream Variations
In Time Of Silver Rain
Song For A Dark Girl
Drum
Litany
Dream
Night: Four Songs
Demand
Stars
Songs of Our Time
Composer(s): Ricky Ian Gordon
Song(s): Virginia Woolf
Friend
Little Horse
Spell against Sorrow
The Light Comes on by Itself
Pont Mirabeau
A Poem of Unrest
This Room
If You Can
Aspen Tree
Three Floors
The Crazy Woman
Child
Dreams / Feet o' Jesus