Secret Music: Celebrating David Del Tredici at 85

Composer David Del Tredici has been a resident of the West Village since the 1970s and has created some of the most important music of our time, including his 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning work All in the Golden Afternoon. Since the 1990s he has created a body of music that celebrates his own gay sexuality such as Gay Life, commissioned by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.

This program by pianist Marc Peloquin celebrates Del Tredici’s artistry as an openly and uninhibited gay composer and performer who has opened the door to future generations of LGBTQ+ classical musicians. The major work will be his piano suite, Mandango, consisting of five movements dedicated to gay couples who are friends of his as well as an homage to his mentor Aaron Copland.

Also included on the program will be Recollections, a post-impressionistic and deeply poetic work by composer and pianist Robert Helps, one of the most significant influences in David’s life. Dennis Tobenski was a student of David and composed Growl for Marc Peloquin, a six-minute tour-de-force replete with scintillating rhythms and triumphal chords.

Performer
Marc Peloquin, piano

Main photo: David Del Tredici composing