Thinking Big: David Del Tredici, A Conversation in 13 parts

Thinking Big: David Del Tredici, A Conversation in 13 parts

How to write what you want for orchestra.

Written By

Frank J. Oteri

Frank J. Oteri is an ASCAP-award winning composer and music journalist. Among his compositions are Already Yesterday or Still Tomorrow for orchestra, the "performance oratorio" MACHUNAS, the 1/4-tone sax quartet Fair and Balanced?, and the 1/6-tone rock band suite Imagined Overtures. His compositions are represented by Black Tea Music. Oteri is the Vice President of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) and is Composer Advocate at New Music USA where he has been the Editor of its web magazine, NewMusicBox.org, since its founding in 1999.

10. Radical Tonalism

FRANK J. OTERI: At the time, your return to tonality was an extraordinarily confrontational, radical thing to do.

DAVID DEL TREDICI: I was really the first to be doing it along with George Rochberg who was doing it at the same time. Strangely I didn’t know any of his music. I was completely on my own and felt really weird about it.

FRANK J. OTERI: Because of the reaction of other composers?

DAVID DEL TREDICI: Well, before something like Final Alice, which is very tonal, I was a respected composer. After Final Alice, I was a loved or despised composer. It was very polarizing. I became either the devil or the salvation of music

FRANK J. OTERI: Yet soon after that, the piece that you won the Pulitzer Prize for is unabashedly tonal.

DAVID DEL TREDICI: I don’t know how I won the Pulitzer Prize. Because just recently there was that article with John Adams saying that they just give it to conservatives. It’s terrible, too. I mean whom they’ve often given it to. I don’t know why, in 1980, they gave it to me for such an unabashedly tonal piece. I’d like to know who the judges were.

FRANK J. OTERI: I can find that out for you.

DAVID DEL TREDICI: I’d love to know.

FRANK J. OTERI: So you don’t know.

DAVID DEL TREDICI: No, I never asked. I didn’t know whom to ask.

FRANK J. OTERI: Really?

DAVID DEL TREDICI: It was an unusual choice.

FRANK J. OTERI: I think the Pulitzer has been unfairly maligned through the entire history.

DAVID DEL TREDICI: Yeah, but the recent history is not good. The last 20 years hasn’t been great. Interestingly enough, I, having won a Pulitzer 20 years ago, have never been asked to be on the Pulitzer committee.

FRANK J. OTERI: Oh, that is interesting!

DAVID DEL TREDICI: That is very interesting.

FRANK J. OTERI: You’re certainly entitled to be. That’s part of it.

DAVID DEL TREDICI: But if I were there it would probably upset the vote a little bit. So I was not asked by whatever powers run the Pulitzer committee.

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