Stuart Saunders Smith (16 March 1948 - 3 June 2024) was an American composer and percussionist. After having studied composition and music theory at three music institutions, Smith was currently based in Vermont, United States, with his wife Sylvia. He produced almost 200 compositions, half of which were written for percussion instruments with a focus on the vibraphone.[1]
Alongside Newcomb, his other percussion teachers included Fred Budha, Al Dawson, Alexander Lepak, and Thomas Siwe.[1]
Music
Smith has composed over 150 works. In categorizing Smith's work, four primary areas of focus have been identified: music of extreme rhythmic and melodic intricacy; musical mobiles with instrumental parts that freely interact; text-based compositions; trans-media systems for any kind of performing artist(s). Smith uses language (in the form of body language, melody and speech) as the core of each of these styles.[4]
Smith's percussion-theater music forms the core of that literature with notable pieces includingPoems I II III, ...And Points North, Tunnels, Clay Singing and twenty-six compositions of that genre.[4]
Smith has recorded with compositions on labels such as New World Records, Ravello Records, Centaur, Innova, 11 West Records, O.O. Discs, Equilibrium, GAC, Soundset Recordings, and Chen Li.
In addition, anthologies of new music have included his theater music, and music of rhythmic intricacy: Here and There, MacMillan Publishing, New York City; Return and Recall, Assembling Press, New York City; Faces, ASUC, New York City; and Transitions and Leaps, Mark Batty Publications, New York City. Articles on his music have been published regularly throughout the years in such journals as: Perspectives of New Music, Percussive Notes, Interface, and ex tempore.
Writings
Smith is the author of several articles on his music and the music of others. There have also been a number of articles written about Smith's music.
Perspectives of New Music
"Communications" by Stuart Smith
Vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 269–277 (1973)
"A Portrait of Herbert Brün" by Stuart Smith and Sylvia Smith
Vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 56–75 (1979)
"Visual Music" by Sylvia Smith and Stuart Smith
Volume 20, no. 1–2, pp. 75–93 (1981)
"A Composer’s Mosaic" by Stuart Smith
Vol. 22, no. 1–2, pp. 275–285 (1983)
"Return and Recall (Improvisation – The First Step) at U. M. B. C." by Stuart Smith
Vol. 22, no. 1–2, pp. 286–289 (1983)
"Notes on Stuart Smith’s Return and Recall: A View From Within" by Linda Fiore
Vol. 22, no. 1–2, pp. 290–302 (1983)
"Aussie Blue (Day in the Summer in 1985) for Piano (Pianist Also Plays Triangle and Sings) Commissioned by Chris Mann" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 300–305 (1988)
"Against Definition" by Stuart Smith
Vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 214–218 (1994)
"To Suffer Music" by Stuart Smith
Vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 106–112 (1996)
"Showing and Saying" by Stuart Smith
Vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 116–121 (1996)
"Inner-views: A Conversation between Stuart Saunders Smith and Tom Goldstein" by Stuart Saunders Smith and Tom Goldstein
Vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 187–199 (1998)
"Stuart Saunders Smith's Links No. 6 (Song Interiors): How Can I Tell what I Think Until I See What I Sing?" by Ron Hess
Vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 211–232 (2009)
"Interview with Stuart Saunders Smith" by Kristina Der
Vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 219–233 (2017)
Percussive Notes
"Music Notation as Visual Art" by Sylvia Smith and Stuart Smith
Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 49–54 (1981)
"Focus on Performance: The Noble Snare – A Concert of Snare Drum Solos" by Brian Johnson
Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 52–54 (1989)
"Having Words With John Cage" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 48–52 (1992)
"Percussion in Discussion (Language, Percussion, and My Speech Songs)" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 31, No. 8, pp. 71–73 (1993)
"Thinking On Tools – Touching My Trade – or – The Touch in Time Is Mine" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 31, No. 8, pp. 74–79 (1993)
"Percussion Ecology: Doing More With Less – Music for a Small Planet" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 62–63 (1994)
"Against Definition" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 63–64 (1994)
"Showing and Saying (1994)" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 68–70 (1995)
"The Links Series of Vibraphone Essays: A Personal View/A Concert Review" by Christopher Shultis
Vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 70–74 (1996)
"An Interview with Sylvia Smith on the 30th Anniversary of Smith Publications and Sonic Arts Editions" by Carrie Rose
Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 74–79 (2004)
"The Geography of Time: The Links Series of Vibraphone Essays (1974–1994)" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 58–62 (2005)
"The History and Significance of The Noble Snare" by Jason Baker
Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 72–77 (2006)
"Stuart Saunders Smith's Links No. 6 (Song Interiors) How Can I Tell What I Think Until I See What I Sing?" by Ron Hess
Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 42–50 (2010)
"Stuart Saunders Smith’s Ground for Solo Glockenspiel: Clear Complexity" by Rob Falvo
Vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 42–49 (2011)
"Interview with Stuart Smith: On the Formation and Early Years of the PAS New Music/Research Committee" by Dr. Eugene Novotney
Vol. 49, No.5, pp. 32–33 (2011)
"The Silence… An Introduction to the Inner World of Stuart Saunders Smith" by Jose "Zeca" Lacerda
Vol. 50, no. 6, pp. 40–47 (2012)
"Amidst the Noise: Stuart Saunders Smith’s Percussion Music" by Jeremy Muller
Vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 6–15 (2014)
"Night Suite: Interviews with Stuart Saunders Smith and Berndt Thurner" by Rose Martin
Vol. 56, no.3, pp. 20–25 (2018)
Percussive Notes Research Edition
"Music Notation as Visual Art" by Sylvia Smith and Stuart Smith
Vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 7–14 (1981)
"Interview with John Cage" by Dr. Stuart Smith
Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 3–7 (1983)
"Stuart Smith’s Links Series" by John P. Welsh
Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 75–89 (1983)
"Lecture by Dr. Thomas DeLio" by Dr. Thomas DeLio
Vol. 22, No. 6, pp. 76–81 (1984)
"Scribing Sound" by Sylvia Smith
Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 34–51 (1985)
Percussionist
"Avant Garde Percussion" by Stuart Smith
Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 3–4 (1972)
"The Early Percussion Music of John Cage" by Stuart Smith
Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 16–27 (1978)
"Lou Harrison’s 'Fugue' for Percussion" by Stuart Smith
Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 47–56 (1979)
Interface
"Music in the Air Here and There – A Radio Landscape" by John P. Welsh
Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 199–223 (1984)
"Viewing Mobile Minds: Stuart Smith's Gifts" by John P. Welsh
Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 219–245 (1987)
ex tempore
"Thoughts of Stuart Saunders Smith on Quakerism, Trans-Media and Democracy" by Stuart Smith and Christine Humphries
Vol. 7, No. 2 (1995)
"Family Portraits: 'Delbert (great-grandfather)' and Self Interview on the Thirtieth Year of Smith Publications and Sonic Art Editions" by Sylvia Smith
Vol. 13, No. 2 (2007)
"A Composer’s Mosaic: Selected Entries from the Composing Journals of Stuart Saunders Smith (1985–1986)" by Stuart Saunders Smith
Vol. 14, No. 1 (2008)
"Interview with Stuart Saunders Smith" by Jude Traxler
Vol. 14, No. 1 (2008)
Smith is the author of two books: Twentieth Century Music Scores, an anthology, (Prentice-Hall, 1989), co-edited with Thomas DeLio; Words and Spaces, an anthology, (University Press, 1989), co-authored with Thomas DeLio. In addition, he is currently writing Composing, Thoughts, a book of experimental writings about aesthetics, language, composition, listening, and religion. Part I of this book was published in The Modern Percussion Revolution: Journeys of the Progressive Artist, edited by Kevin Lewis and Gustavo Aguilar (Routledge, 2014). John P. Welsh's The Music of Stuart Saunders Smith is published by Greenwood Press (1995).
Smith's service works on the behalf of music includes organizing hundreds of concerts of new music, functioning as a lobbyist for the arts for the American Society of University Composers during the Reagan presidency, and as Executive Editor of Percussive Notes, Research Edition from 1982 to 1984.
Awards
His awards and honors include three UMBC Research Grants, The Hartt College Distinguished Alumni Award, East/West Artist Award, three Maryland State Artists Fellowships, the National Endowment for the Arts Composer's Fellowship, Percussive Arts Society Service Award and the Atlantic Center's Master Artist Award.
Testimonials
When Smith chose the title "Links" for his ongoing series of compositions for vibraphone, he provided us with the most suggestive mode of biographical entry and subsequent inquiry, for his links are not only intra- and inter-compositional, but between and among his vocations as composer, performer, teacher, writer, anthologist, editor, entrepreneur, philomath, and musical activist.
When as a young man from Maine he ventured out into our hypercompartmentalized, ultrapluristic compositional society, he was disposed to be no one's follower, and so his music has displayed no more the explicit influences of the succession of strong-willed composition teachers with whom he studied and from whom he surely learned than that of jazz which he professes to be (or, at least, to have been) his primary musical influence. For he has forged a personalized seamless musical compound, a vast collection of awarenesses fused into a unified, single, and singular vision in which the individual sources retain little of their literal characteristics. (Milton Babbitt, quoted in Welsh 1995, p. [page needed])
Smith has done very important and unique work in the fields of open-form composition and jazz. He comes to this approach naturally, for two reasons: first, as a percussionist he is comfortable with notation which diverges from the traditional mainstream in a number of ways; and second, as a jazz performer he is at home with improvisation. There is even a third reason, perhaps somewhat less obvious than these: because poetic consciousness is so fundamental to Smith, his musical thinking often results in compositions that seem to transcend music itself. This leads him to a view of artistic composition which is not tied either to ratiocination or to expression. It is not that his art is lacking in logic or in expressive effect but rather that its center of gravity is elsewhere. (Ben Johnston, quoted in Welsh 1995, p. [page needed])
Compositions
1970
Poems I, II, III for five brake drums and narrator
One for Syl for solo vibraphone
1971
One for Two for alto saxophone and organ
A Gift for Bessie for violin, piano, bassoon, and percussion
1972
Here and There for shortwave radio, piano interior (percussion) and any melody instrument or voice
Legacy Variations No. 1 for any three sustaining melody instruments
Legacy Variations No. 99 for any three sustaining melody instruments
Three for Two for violin and viola
Two for Four for percussion quartet (orchestra bells, vibraphone, cymbal, large and medium gong, xylophone, marimba, timpani, temple blocks, and various small percussion instruments).
1973
Rock Garden for organ and two percussion
1974
Faces for oboe and clarinet
Gifts for keyboard and any two melody instruments
Links for solo vibraphone
1975
Links no. 2 for solo vibraphone
Links no. 3 for solo vibraphone
1976
Return and Recall / Initiatives and Reactions: Studies in the Concept of Group Composition performance systems for actors, dancers, musicians, mimes, etc.
1977
Pinetop for solo piano
1978
Flight for flute and piano
1979
Blue for trumpet, drum set and double bass
1980
Notebook for any instruments in any combination
Notebook, Part II for one or two pianos (may be played with Notebook)
1981
Songs I–IX for percussionist-actor (small percussion instruments and various household items from kitchen)
1982
Tunnels a solo music-text-theater composition for keyboard, string, or multiple percussion
Links No. 4 (Monk) for solo vibraphone
1983
Blue Too for solo drum set
By Language Embellished: I percussion / theater opera for speaking voice
1984
Some Household Words I–XVI for solo speaking voice
1985
Aussie Blue for solo piano
In Bingham for solo speaker/narrator
1987
Links No. 5 (Sitting on the Edge of Nothing) for solo vibraphone with offstage orchestra bells and chimes
1988
The Noble Snare for solo snare drum
1989
Links No. 6 (Song Interiors) for vibraphone and piano
Links No. 7 (New England Night Weave) for solo vibraphone
1990
...And Points North a music-theater work for solo percussionist/narrator (wood block, small Peking opera gong, Tibetan cymbal, glass wind chimes, owl hooter, hawk screamer, pod rattles, Audubon bird call, "found" instruments from the city and the woods)
Transitions and Leaps for two or more performers performing any sounds/actions
1991
"as if time would heal by its passing for solo marimba
Family Portraits: Sylvia (wife) for solo piano
Family Portraits: Ivy (grandmother) for solo piano
Family Portraits: Earle (father) for solo piano
Hawk for solo oboe
In Common for flute and vibraphone
Links No. 8 (Confessions-Witness to 48 Things) for vibraphone with flute
Nightshade for violin or medium voice and two percussionists, each playing orchestra bells (glockenspiel), tam-tam or gong, two cymbals, two triangles
1992
Good Night for solo marimba
Links No. 9 (Mosque) for solo vibraphone
Meetings for flute, vibraphone and piano
1993
Each Moment and Ending for keyboard percussion quintet
Part for flute, piano, and cello
Thaw for solo orchestra bells (glockenspiel)
Links No. 10 (Who Are We? Where Are We?) for solo vibraphone
1994
Family Portraits: Brenda (first cousin) for solo piano
Links No. 11 (Regions I–XXI) for three vibraphones
Wind in the Channel for solo tenor recorder
1995
Family Portraits: Delbert (great-grandfather) for percussionist/narrator (playing woodblock, logs, and newspaper)
Strays for xylophone and tenor recorder or flute
1996
Family Portraits: Cubba (grandfather) for trumpet, flute, and five percussion (tom-toms and triangles)
Family Portraits: Mom and Dad Together for solo double bass
Polka in Treblinka for percussion trio (bass drum, xylophone, snare drum and high hat)
1997
Family Portrait: Self (in 14 stations) for solo piano
The Night is Never Long for piccolo and xylophone
1998
Closing for solo guitar
Fences in Three Tragedies for solo piano
When Music is Missing, Music Sings for two percussionists playing five "found" instruments each
1999
All That is Left orchestra bells (glockenspiel) duet
And Sometimes the Ears for solo tenor steel drum
Even Song for solo orchestra bells (glockenspiel)
Leaving for solo marimba
2000
Books of Flutes for solo flute
Bones for percussion, piano, and 3 or 4 melody instruments
Endless for two flutes and two vibraphones
The Geography of Streams for percussion trio (xylophone solo with two sets of orchestra bells, two bass drums, claves, and woodblocks)
Thinking About Anne Sexton duo for vibraphone and speaking voice
2001
Breath for mezzo-soprano and orchestra bells (glockenspiel)
Family Portraits: Ligeia (daughter) for soprano voice and piano
Light A Dew for solo double bass
Minor for solo violin
2002
Asleep in Thorns for guitar and flute
Brush for solo drum set
Dad's Time Had Come for solo xylophone
Dead Reckoning for tenor recorder trio
Things That Grow Smaller for flute, clarinet, bassoon, piano, and percussion
Two Lights for solo drum set
2003
Family Portraits: Embden Pond for solo alto flute with two vibraphones
Willow for solo cello
Wounded an antiphonal composition for 3 or 4 xylophones
2004
Hearts for solo violin
Ground for solo orchestra bells (glockenspiel)
Plenty thirty-four movements for solo vibraphone
2005
Clay Singing for solo percussion with spoken text
Family Portraits: Erika (daughter) for vibraphone and violin
In Hours Like These for soprano voice and orchestra bells (glockenspiel)
A River, Rose for violin and vibraphone
When The Body Betrays for tenor voice and double seconds steel drums
Women in Meeting flute duet
2006
The Authors for solo marimba with spoken text
Big Falls, Little Falls for percussion quartet and off-stage percussion ensemble (4)
Castine for marimba with offstage voice
Magdalene for soprano saxophone and two percussion
Over for solo orchestra bells (glockenspiel)
Rose for flute with spoken text and movement
A Vietnam Memorial opera for speaking voice and vibraphone
2007
Among Us for solo piano
Light for two voices
Light in Each One for solo alto flute
The Lines of Ageing for solo vibraphone
The Narrow Path trio for two vibraphones and orchestra bells (glockenspiel)
Quilt for vibraphone and orchestra bells
Seven Seasons for contralto voice and vibraphone
Angels for percussion trio, three triangles each
as the days get shorter for solo bass clarinet (revised 2018)
2008
Mornings for solo vibraphone
Apart for 2 orchestra bells and vibraphone
The Narrow Path for 2 vibraphones and orchestra bells
Family Portraits: Justin for vibraphone/voice
Shine for piccolo and orchestra bells
2009
The Home of the Brave for percussionist/actor performing on a 2X4, 3 bottles, and 5 metal objects
To Freshen the Moment for cello and vibraphone
Far Away for solo chimes
Wait for solo marimba
GodSongs for actor singer and orchestra bells (one player) (revised 2018)
2010
Time Comes Full Circle for cello and violin
Thicket for orchestra bells or piano
All Too Human for soprano and clarinet
Winter, Knee Deep for flute/theater
They Looked Like Strangers for solo vibraphone
Winter Songs for violin/theater
2011
Three Winter Carols for orchestra bells/voice
Winter for any winds, strings, keyboard, mallet percussion
New England for vibraphone
2012
Palm Sunday for piano
A Liturgy of the Hours for flute
Our Father for soprano
Heaven and Earth for organ
Five Books for orchestra bells
2013
Blessings for soprano and clarinet
A Good Friday for clarinet
By Hand for bongos
The Lilies of the Field for vibraphone and female voice
Across: Lines for orchestra bells/xylophone/vibraphone/marimba/chimes/voice, one player
My Friend Gita Said: for marimba/voice
Lyric for percussion theater
The Shapes Beneath the Ground for marimba
2014
Crystal Night for violin and percussion quartet
Memory for any soloist
Lazarus for piano or vibraphone/actor/singer
Past Regrets for double bass/singer/actor or cello
Lady Slippers for harp, viola, alto flute
Queen Anne's Lace for vibraphone
The Deep for vibraphone
2015
Re:Verse trans-media work for any two performance artists
Wellspring for orchestra bells
Echo for 1–8 singers
Evening Primrose for vibraphone solo with two drumsets
Commune, vibraphone concerto with small chamber ensemble
Meadow Sweet for marimba and clarinet
Here's the Sun for cello solo
2016
Inner Light for solo violin
Halo for solo vibraphone
The Circle of Light for flute solo and eight luminists/actors
Family Portraits: Our Home for soprano voice and vibraphone
Easter in Bingham for alto saxophone and actor/vibraphone
Milk and Honey for vibraphone and harp
Alone for solo vibraphone
Men's Culture for soprano saxophone and xylophone, two actors
My Romance for solo orchestra bells or vibraphone or piano
Alone in a Room for solo orchestra bells and percussion quartet (triangles)
2017
Emily for jazz/electric guitar and piano
Mercy for large percussion orchestra
Dignity for soprano voice, vibraphone, and actor
History for marimba, vibraphone, and piano
When We Were Giants for guitar (2014–2017)
The Untold Range for 3–5 percussionists, chimes, and pre-recorded environmental sounds
Lace for orchestra bells duet and soprano
2018
as the days get shorter for solo bass clarinet
Envelope Poems for vibraphonist / vocalist and offstage melody instrument
Winter Taps for 2 actors and vibraphone duet
Lace for orchestra bells duet and soprano
Honesty for flute and vibraphone
Family Portraits: Harriet for vibraphone
Family Portraits: Harpreet for violin and vibraphone
Holy Week for vibraphone
Compassion for vibraphone
My Better Angel for vibraphone
Family Portraits: Self at 70 for flute, double bass, and drumset
Family Portraits: Sylvia at 70 for pian
2019
Afterlife concerto for marimba with large percussion orchestra
Poetry for marimba and actor/actress
A Friend's End for actor/actress and offstage flute and chimes
Regrets for double bass and soprano
Older Years for alto flute and actor
The Vibraphone Poems for vibraphone and voice (one player)
Peace for bass flute, flute, piccolo (one player)
Eternity for solo vibraphone
Love for violin and piano
2020
Shattered for solo drum set
Renoir's Piano for piano, vibraphone, and flute
Past for marimba solo
East of Eden for soprano saxophone and drum set
Inner Light for violin, piano, and vibraphone
Dusk for steel band
Cries and Whispers for vibraphone and speaking/singing voice (one player)
Shoreline for viola and vibraphone
Emotion for large percussion ensemble
Happy Hour for solo vibraphone
2021
Sadness for double bass and soprano voice
Life for piano and voice (one player)
Sadness for double bass and soprano
Some Household Words for sound text percussion duo
Tears for vibraphone and string quartet
Letters for guitar and voice (one player)
Past for solo marimba
Another Echo for any wind or string instrument and piano or vibraphone
To All of Those for any string or woodwind instrument
Vermont Chimes for chimes, two glockenspiels, two bass drums, and two triangles
Violets for solo drum set
Books
Smith, Stuart Saunders. Twentieth Century Scores. Prentice-Hall.
Smith, Stuart Saunders, and Thomas DeLio (1989). Words and Spaces: An Anthology of Twentieth Century Musical Experiments in Language and Sonic Environments. University Press of America. ISBN0-8191-7425-4. ISBN978-0-8191-7425-3.
Discography
Wind in the Channel, O.O. Disc (Out of Print)
1. Hawk (1991), solo oboe
2. Family Portraits: Brenda (1994), solo piano
3. California Driving (1995), solo voice
4. Return and Recall (1976)
5. Notebook (1980), 2-piano version
6. Wind in the Channel (1994), tenor recorder/voice/percussion
7. Gifts (1974), flute, vibraphone, piano
8. Pinetop (1976–1977), solo piano
9. In Bingham (1985), solo voice
10. Aussie Blue (1985), solo piano
Music/Theater, Centaur (CRC 2633)
1. by Language Embellished: I (1983–1984), solo voice/percussion
The Year Begins to Be Ripe, 11 West Records/Smith Publications
1. Poems I, II, III (1970), 5 brake drums, narrator
2. In Hours Like These (2005), soprano, orchestra bells
3. Family Portraits: Delbert (1994), percussion/voice
4. Xylophone Poems No. 1: Went Forth (1999), xylophone/voice
5. Thinking About Anne Sexton, vibraphone (2000), narrator
The Noble Snare, 11 West Records/Smith Publications
1. The Noble Snare (1988), solo snare drum
Breath, 11 West Records/Smith Publications
1. Each Moment An Ending (1993), marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, orchestra bells, chimes
