Composers
Noel DaCosta
1929 - 2002About
Noel DaCosta , co-founder of the Society of Black Composers, spent his early school years in the West Indies and New York City. He received a B.A. in Music (1952) from Queens College, New York City, and an M.A. in theory and composition (1956) from Columbia University, He received a Seidl Fellowship in composition and a Fulbright Fellowship to study with Luigi Dallapiccola in Italy. He began teaching in 1961 at Hampton University in Hampton, Va., and later taught at Hunter College and Queens College in New York before joining the faculty of Rutgers in New Brunswick, N.J., in 1970. He retired from Rutgers in 2001. Da Costa wrote music that drew from the American classical tradition, spirituals and African folk music. He also set poems by Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Countee Cullen and others. Among his works are: Two Pieces for Unaccompanied Cello, Blue Mix, Silver Blue, Three Short Pieces for Alto Flute, The Singing Tortoise, and Two Songs for Julie-Ju.
Related Information
https://artsongalliance.org/composers/noel-g-dacostaWorks by Noel DaCosta
| Title | Collection | Voice Type | Range | Poet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dream Duet | Dream Thoughts | Tenor | A3 - Ab4 | Langston Hughes |
| Dreams | Dream Thoughts | Tenor | Gb3 - B4 | Langston Hughes |
| Hymn: Oh God of Light and Love | Voice | C4 - Eb5 | George Houston Bass | |
| I (Eagerly like a woman…) | Four Glimpses of Night | Baritone | Ab2 - E4 | Frank Marshall Davis |
| I (The first firefly…) | Four Haiku Settings | Soprano | F4 - E5 | Kobayashi Issa |
| II (As I picked it up...) | Four Haiku Settings | Soprano | C#4 - D5 | Basho Matsuo |
| II (Night is a curious child..) | Four Glimpses of Night | Baritone | A2 - E4 | Frank Marshall Davis |
| III (fleeing the hunter…) | Four Haiku Settings | Soprano | D4 - D5 | Basho Matsuo |
| III (Peddling from door to door..) | Four Glimpses of Night | Baritone | C2 - E4 | Frank Marshall Davis |
| IV (Night's brittle song…) | Four Glimpses of Night | Baritone | Gb2 - F#4 | Frank Marshall Davis |
| IV (Suddenly you light…) | Four Haiku Settings | Soprano | C#4 - E5 | Basho Matsuo |
| Movement I | Beyond the Years | Soprano | Eb4 - Ab5 | Paul Laurence Dunbar |
| Movement II | Beyond the Years | Soprano | F4 - Bb5 | Paul Laurence Dunbar |
| Movement III | Beyond the Years | Soprano | Eb4 - G5 | Paul Laurence Dunbar |
| My People | Medium | D4 - G5 | Langston Hughes | |
| Prayer of Steel | Baritone | A2 - E4 | Carl Sandberg | |
| The Dream Keeper | Dream Thoughts | Tenor | B3 - Ab4 | Langston Hughes |
| The Monotony Song | Baritone | C#3 - C4 | Theodore Roethke | |
| Two Songs for Julie Ju (I) | Voice | C4 - Bb5 | George Houston Bass | |
| Two Songs for Julie Ju (II) | Voice | C4 - B5 | George Houston Bass |
| Title | Published | Size | Solo with Ensemble | Duration Range | Level | Orchestration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremony of Spirituals | Yes | Full Orchestra | soprano | Professional | chorus-ssax, tsax-orchestra | |
| Five Epitaphs | Yes | Chamber | soprano | 10-20 | Professional | str quartet |
| Generata for Organ and String Orchestra | Yes | String Orchestra | Organ | Professional | str |
| Title | Work | Instrumentation | Level | Number of Movements | Accompanied | Size | Duration Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hymn Tune and Variations | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| I'm Troubled | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Prelude for Organ | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Progressions | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Spiritual: Round About the Mountain | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Triptich | Organ | 1 | No | Solo |