Peter Mennin and His Symphonies

Peter Mennin (1923-1983) is an American composer with close ties to the Julliard School. His education includes a Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degree in music from the Eastman School of Music, studying with composers such as Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers. At some point in discussing his symphony, I will make some connections with these composers and the works that characterize this period and area of the country.

Though his compositional education was done almost exclusively at Eastman, he is deeply tied to the Julliard school, where he taught form 1947 till 1958, and again from 1962 until his death in 1983. He returned in 1962, after gaining acclaim as the president of the Peabody Institute from 1958-1962.

He composed nine symphonies in all, having completed the first six by the age of thirty. All the administrative responsibilities seemed to have slowed down his creative process as it took over a decade to complete another symphony. In this decade, we can see a huge change in Mennin’s compositional style, having felt the influence of composers such as William Schuman. His music became less tonal and more complex in the style of counterpoint seen in composers of the twentieth century.

Below is a list of Mennin’s symphonies:¹

1941 – Symphony No. 1

Composed as a student of Normand Lockwood, score withdrawn

1944 – Symphony No.2

Composed while studying at Eastman, movement entitled “Symphonic Allegro” was performed by Bernstein and New York Philharmonic in 1945.

1946 – Symphony No.3

Doctoral Dissertation from Eastman School of Music

1948 – Symphony No.4 “The Cycle”

Includes SATB choir with a setting of three short philosophical texts.

1950 – Symphony No. 5

Commissioned by Dallas Symphony Orchestra, premiered by Walter Hendl.

1953 – Symphony No. 6

Commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra, premiered by Robert Whitney.

1963 – Symphony No. 7 “Variation Symphony”

Unlike his previous works, all composed in three movements, this work is set in one movement with five parts that resemble the parts of a five movement symphony. Premiered by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

1973 – Symphony No. 8

This work was premiered by Daniel Barenboim and the New York Philharmonic.

1981 – Symphony No. 9

Commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, returning to a three movement form, though compositional style is more like symphonies 7 and 8 than his earlier works.

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¹Neil Butterworth, The American Symphony, (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 1998), 156-159.

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Works Referenced

• Butterworth, Neil. The American Symphony. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 1998.
  
• Olmstead, Andrea. Julliard: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999.
  
• Simmons, Walter G. “Mennin, Peter.” Grove Music.