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Paul Fetler is an American composer who was born in the United States in 1920. He spent a great deal of his childhood outside of the United States in many different countries including Latvia, Switzerland, and Sweden. Fetler received his Bachelor’s from Northwestern University under the tutelage of David Van Vactor. He then earned master’s degrees from Yale. Following his masters, Fetler accepted a position at Minnesota, after which he obtained his doctorate, taught, and also composed for many years. In addition to Vactor, Fetler also studied with Paul Hindemith, Quincy Porter, and Boris Blacher. Fetler taught many composers during his tenure at Minnesota including Eric Stokes, Donald Keats , Stephen Paulus , Libby Larsen , and Carol Barnett.

Compositional Style
Fetler’s style is not like many of the typical, better known composers of the 20th century such as John Cage, Arnold Schoenberg, or the very experimental and avant-garde composers such as Milton Babbitt. The goal of Fetler’s music, as he has described it is “the merger of listener and music.”  Unfortunately few recordings of Fetler’s music exist though recently, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra recently released an album exclusively devoted to Fetler pieces. The pieces on this album are Fetler’s Three Poems by Walt Whitman, Capriccio, and Violin Concerto no. 2.  The first piece, Three Poems by Walt Whitman is described as “delicate and sometimes languid but essentially reflective and thoughtful.”   The 2nd movement is an exception and is described as “lear in the storm hysteria” by reviewer Bret Johnson. This piece features a narrator which has been viewed a less than favorable by many reviewers, though the music is viewed very highly. Fetler’s 2nd violin concerto does not call for virtuosic speeds or flashy scale runs. This piece is much more subdued; the challenge to the soloist and the ensemble being that of setting the very ethereal and at times mysterious scene. There is a slight similarity to the Barber Violin Concerto, though one reviewer commented that this piece has a more “oriental” feel. Much of Fetler’s music contains a great deal of subtly, richness, and intimacy. Fetler demonstrates a great deal of comfort with orchestration on both small and large scales. The 2nd violin concerto provides a very good demonstration of this as there are many sections featuring few or solo instruments as well as contrasting sections with the orchestra playing together. Fetler describes his compositional style as “progressive lyricism”. This is very apparent in many of his pieces. There is very little about his style that could be described as avant-garde, especially when compared once again with composers like John Cage. Fetler’s style clearly attempts to engage listener in such a way that they become intertwined with the music, as if there is perfect unity between the piece, performers, and the audience. In this way Fetler’s music is very intellectual, though overall conservative, and very carefully constructed.

Selected Works (This is not a comprehensive list)
Sing Unto God - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2xOZqYQmeA Monologue - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKx7cKs5eU0 Following list from Recmusic.org - (http://www.lieder.net/lieder/f/fetler.html) All Day I Hear (Text: James Joyce) April (Text: Sir William Watson) Drum (Text: Langston Hughes) Madman’s Song (Text: Elinor Wylie) November Night (Text: Adelaide Crapsey) Now This is The Story (Text: Dorothy Parker) Wild Swans (Text: Edna St. Vincent Millary) Following list from Naxos (http://blog.naxos.com/2009/12/12/fetler-violin-concerto/) Three Poems by Walt Whitman Capriccio Violin Concertos (2) Following piece from Choral Journal (Citation Below) December Stillness Following list from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=paul+fetler#) Three Impressions Celebration Sing Alleluia