Ussachevsky, Vladimir

Related Category: Music: History, Composers, and Performers: Biographies

(vlədyē´mĭr səchĕf´skē), 1911–90, Russian-American composer, b. Manchuria. Ussachevsky emigrated to the United States in 1931 and studied at the Eastman School. He joined the faculty of Columbia Univ. in 1947. After composing many works for traditional instruments, Ussachevsky began working in electronic music in 1951, in collaboration with his former teacher Otto Luening. The two, together with Milton Babbitt and Roger Sessions, became (1959) directors of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in New York City. Ussachevsky wrote many tape pieces, such as Of Wood and Brass (1964) and much film music. In a series of works written between 1961 and 1973, including Creation Prologue (1961) and Epilogue “Spell of Creation” (1971), he combined choruses with electronic tape.