About
Born in New Jersey, George Perle completed his undergraduate at DePaul University and his PhD at New York University. Throughout his life, he served on the faculty of several universities, including Yale University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. Perle was also a composer-in-residence at many major music festivals, including Tanglewood Music Center, Marlboro Music Festival, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Perle was an important scholar on twentieth-century music, especially the works of the Second Viennese School. In the 1930s, Perle was drawn to the works of Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg and especially ideas regarding dodecaphonic (twelve-tone) composition. Beginning in 1939, Perle developed a “12-note tonality” method of composition, based on “hierarchical distinctions[s] found in tonal music,” such as the functional concept of a key.
Perle’s song cycles include his Thirteen Dickinson Songs as well as several settings of Rainer Maria Rilke.
–Christie Finn
Source: Paul Lansky’s article in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Related Information
Songs
Beauty—be not caused—It is
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
I know some lonely Houses off the road
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
I Like to see it lap the miles
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
If I’m lost—now
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
Perhaps you'd like to buy a flower
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
She bore it till the simple veins
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
The Heart asks—Pleasure first
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
The Loneliness One dare not sound
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
The Wind—tapped like a tired Man
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
There came a Wind like a Bugle
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
These are the days when Birds come back
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
Thirteen Dickinson Songs
Song CollectionGeorge Perle
Emily Dickinson
Under the Light, yet under
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
What if I say I shall not wait!
George Perle
Emily Dickinson
Song Collection: Thirteen Dickinson Songs
Recordings
Tribute to Soprano Bethany Beardslee
(George Perle)
1997
Books
Sheet Music
Thirteen Dickinson Songs
Composer(s): George Perle
Song(s): 1. Perhaps you'd like to buy a flower
2. I Like to see it lap the miles
3. I know some lonely Houses off the road
4. There came a Wind like a Bugle
5. Beauty—be not caused—It is
6. The Wind—tapped like a tired Man
7. These are the days when Birds come back
8. The Heart asks—Pleasure first
9. What if I say I shall not wait!
10. If I’m lost—now
11. The Loneliness One dare not sound
12. Under the Light, yet under
13. She bore it till the simple veins
Voice Type: Soprano
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