Fine, Irving

Irving Fine, American composer, teacher, and conductor, was born in Boston, Mass., on Dec. 3, 1914. He studied composition with Walter Piston at Harvard University and with Nadia Boulanger in Cambridge, Mass., and in Paris, 1France, and choral conducting with A.T. Davison, and orchestral conducting with Serge Koussevitzky. From 1939 until 1950, when he was appointed professor at Brandeis University, he also taught at Harvard. Fine was chairman of the Brandeis School of Creative Arts and served on the composition staff of the Tanglewood Music Center (formerly the Berkshire Music Center). He received two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Fulbright Research Fellowship for France, and many other awards. In addition to his composing, Fine wrote articles and reviews. Irving Fine died in Boston on Aug. 23, 1962.

Composed 1947. First performance Boston, 22 October 1948, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky conductor. Dedicated to the composer's wife.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

Commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra, Robert Whitney, music director. Composed 1955. First performance Louisville, 16 November 1955, Louisville Orchestra, Robert Whitney conductor. Dedicated to the Louisville Orchestra and Robert Whitney.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

American composer, teacher, and conductor.

Biographical Note

Irving Fine, American composer, teacher, and conductor, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 3, 1914. He received both his bachelor's (1937) and his master's (1938) degrees from Harvard University, where he studied composition with Walter Piston and Edward Burlingame Hill. He studied composition, as well, with Nadia Boulanger in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Paris, France, and pursued studies in choral conducting with A. T. Davison and orchestral conducting with Serge Koussevitzky. From 1939 until 1950, Fine taught at Harvard, after 1947 as assistant professor of music. Subsequently, until the end of his life, he was professor of music at Brandeis University, also serving there as chairman of the School of Creative Arts. In addition, during the summers from 1946 to 1957, Fine was on the composition faculty at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood.

Irving Fine was the recipient of numerous awards, including two Guggenheim Fellowships and a Fulbright Research Fellowship for France. In addition to his composing and teaching, he wrote articles and reviews for Modern Music, Notes, Musical America, and the New York Times . He died of a heart attack in Boston on August 23, 1962.