Sessions, Roger (1896-1985), was an American composer and one of the most respected composition teachers in the United States. His students included many important American composers of the 1900’s. Sessions wrote in the modern 12-tone technique, but he believed a composer should not be limited to one particular musical system. His compositions are intense, serious, and intellectual. Sessions won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for music for Concerto for Orchestra (1981). He also received a Pulitzer special citation in 1974 for his life’s work as a composer.
Sessions wrote for orchestra, chamber groups, chorus, solo voice, organ, and piano. His nine symphonies reflect his stylistic development from the 1920’s to the 1970’s, ranging from the Neoclassicism of his early period to the 12-tone method of his later style. His most popular work is the orchestral suite The Black Maskers (1923). His also composed two operas, The Trial of Lucullus (1947) and Montezuma (1935-1963). One of his most important works is the cantata When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra (1964-1970), based on a poem by Walt Whitman.
Roger Huntington Sessions was born on Dec. 28, 1896, in New York City. He died on March 16, 1985.
