Ralph Shapey, 81, of Chicago, heralded as one of the nation’s most important classical composers and renowned for his abstract-expressionist style, died of heart and kidney disease Thursday, June 13, in Bernard Mitchell Hospital of the University of Chicago.
Hearing Mr. Shapey’s music for the first time, listeners usually did one of two things, said his colleagues and friends. They either stood up and walked out in confusion or immersed themselves in his unique, engaging style.
Mr. Shapey, who wrote more than 200 compositions, from solo pieces to orchestra works, liked to describe himself as a “radical traditionalist.”
Mr. Shapey, born in Philadelphia, was a violin prodigy. He began playing at 7, and at 16 began studying under Emanuel Zetlin.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Mr. Shapey moved to New York, where he worked as a freelance violinist for nearly 20 years. During this time he intensified studies with German composer Stefan Wolpe.
In 1963 he commuted from New York to Philadelphia to conduct the University of Pennsylvania orchestra and chorus. In 1964, Mr. Shapey moved to Hyde Park and joined the faculty of the U. of C., where he taught composition and founded the Contemporary Chamber Players, a professional ensemble dedicated to cutting-edge performance of contemporary music. He retired from the U. of C. in 1991 but continued composing until days before his death.
Throughout his life Mr. Shapey pushed the limits of the musical establishment. While being resistant to easy categorization, his style is nonetheless instantly recognizable, said Shulamit Ran, a U. of C. music professor who said she considered Mr. Shapey her mentor. His work requires an unprejudiced, willing ear, she said.
Not everyone viewed Mr. Shapey’s music with such esteem. In 1992 the Pulitzer music jury unanimously chose his “Concerto Fantastique” for the award. In a controversial move that created heated debates in newspapers throughout the country, the Pulitzer board rejected that recommendation and instead chose the jury’s second choice, “The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark” by Wayne Peterson.
“He was scrappy when he had to be scrappy,” said his wife, Elsa Charlston. “But he did so in self-defense. He really stood up for what he believed: his music.”
Mr. Shapey conducted the New York Philharmonic; the Buffalo, Chicago, Jerusalem, London and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestras; and the London Sinfonietta.
He received the George Gershwin Award in 1951, a MacArthur Fellowship in 1982, the 1999 Kennedy Center Friedheim Award and more than a dozen awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
In 1989 he was named an American Academy and Institute of the Arts and Letters Fellow, and in 1994 he was named an American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow.
Mr. Shapey also is survived by his son, Max; two stepchildren; and two grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the U. of C. at a later date.
