Sonneck Society for American Music
Bulletin, Volume XXIV, no. 1 (Spring 1998)
Marilyn J. Ziffrin: A Lifetime of Creating Music
Malinda Schantz, Harvard Music Library
Marilyn Ziffrin has devoted her entire life to creating music. The adjectives used to describe
the composer range from brilliant and fun to intense. They could also be used to describe her music.
Even though she has been composing for over fifty years, and received numerous awards and
commissions, her music is still unknown to many listeners.
Marilyn Jane Ziffrin was born on 7 August 1926 in Moline, Illinois to Betty S. and Harry B.
Ziffrin. Her parents were both children of Russian immigrants who left Belarus amidst growing
anti-semitism in the late nineteenth century. She enjoyed an idyllic childhood with loving parents
and an older brother, Norman Richard (1923-1985), and a younger brother, James Donald (b. 1932).
The Ziffrin household was always filled with music, as every member played at least one instrument.
Three years of piano lessons were mandatory for all three children, and Marilyn began studying piano
at age four. She recalls her first piano lesson vividly as the first time she consciously knew
that she wanted to be a musician. Her piano teacher, Louise Cervin, reportedly studies with a
"Miss Pillsbury" in Chicago, who had in turn studied with Theodor Leschetizky.
Besides the piano, Ziffrin also studied clarinet and saxophone. She organized a band in junior
high school and also began composing. Though no manuscripts from this period are extant, Ziffrin
remembers her first composition as a piano piece entitled "Ode to a Lost Pencil." Upon graduation from
University of Wisconsin Madion in 1948, Ziffrin realized that she wanted to be a composer but did not
begin formal studies at that time. At Columbia University, where she received a Master of Arts
degree in 1949, she wrote her first large scale work, a piano concerto. Music history professor
Howard Murphy took a special interest in Ziffrin and encouraged her to continue composing. At his
suggestion, she joined the National Association of Composers and Conductors.
From 1952-55 she studied privately with her principle composition teacher, Alexander Tcherepnin, who
encouraged her to go to the MacDowell Colony and realize her potential. Not until the summer of 1961,
as a first time fellow at the MacDowell Coloney, did Ziffrin finally feel that she had come into her own
as a composer. "It was the first time people looked at me as a composer, so I began to identify
myself as a composer."1
Ziffrin served as Associate Professor of Music at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire from
1967-1982, and she also taught private composition lessons at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire
from 1972-1983. One of Ziffrin's most renowned composition students was Augusta Read Thomas, who
studied with Ziffrin at St. Paul's School from 1979 to 1982. Having a woman as a role model was
extraordinary for Thomas, and she recalled that Ziffrin was an impressive teacher and musician.
In particular, she remembered Ziffrin's teaching of how to construct strenght within a single line.2
Indeed, as Thomas stated, Ziffren served as a great role model, especially since Ziffrin respresents
an older generation of women composers who have not always shared the encouragement often given to
younger women today. Ziffren has been fortunate, ye she has encountered instances where she was
discouraged because of her sex. Soon after graduating from Columbia University, she found her aspirations
to work as a conductor at a college or university thwarted. The placement agency representative informed
her that as long as he was alive, she or any other woman would never be placed as a conductor. Several
years later, she auditioned one of her compositions for an elderly male music director in New York,
who commented, "What strong music from such a little girl."3 Regardless, none of
these instances had any lasting impact on her, and Ziffrin resolved to pursue her goals.
Ziffrin's many awards are included in the literature. What is not generally known is that she
had a patron for fifteen years starting in the 1970s.4 Each year this benefactor
awarded her the opportunity to concentrate solely on composing for one month with all expenses
apid at the patron's ranch in California, which Ziffrin nicknamed 'MacDowell West."
Ziffrin has received numerous grants and commissions and has been a guest composer at several
colleges and universities throughout the Northeast and Midwest. One of her most recent commissions
came as a result of being chosen the 1997 Composer of the Year by the New Hampshire Music Teachers
Association. For this work, she combined her love of literature with her sense of adventure and
exploration, creating a multi-movement piece for classical accordion and baritone. The text is
based on the Love Poems of Propercius, translated by her good friend the distinguished poet
Constance Carrier.5 Though she had never written anything for the accordion, she was
undaunted by the project. The never-ending process of learning and striving not to repeat herself
is quintessential to her.
To date, Ziffrin has written approximately sixty compositions, which span several genres including
chamber music, orchestra, concert band, solo instrumental, and choral works. Most works have been
commissioned or written for specific performers. Though dissonance and quartal harmonies dominate
many pieces, others are more clearly neo-Romantic and share more tonal qualities. Ziffrin believes
that in each of her compositions there is a point of stability, whether tonal or atonal, that assists
in giving cohesion to the piece.6
The influences of Bartok, Stravinsky, Bach, the sinagogue, jazz, and Broadway are all present in
Ziffrin's music. They are assimilated to form quite different and distinctive sounds depending on
the composition. According to Ziffrin, "While my style continues to change, it is probably best
described as eclectic. I choose to believe it is essentially expressive, optimistic, and
adventurous."7
She begins each new piece by writing sketches in a sketch book. "I just write a line. That's the
Bach influence, or even the Ruggles. The very last thing I do is add barlines."8 Ziffrin
feels that performers should never be bound by the barline. Her sketchbooks from approximately the
early 1970s to today show a distinct maturation process. Earlier sketchbooks are not titled or
dated, and may contain several pieces. The music is interspersed with notes or ideas concerning
the genesis of a new line. More recent sketches such as those for For the Love of Cynthia, and
Fantasy for Two Pianos are neat enough to serve for performance. There are few erasure marks
although occasional experimentation with vocal lines or harmonies is evident. Sometimes measures
are crossed out, and accidentals or accents are written in with a different color pen or pencil.
The barlines are mostly curved because of their late addition.
A few examples from her 1955 Suite for Piano demonstrate some of her earlier stylistic qualities.
John Akin premiered the work on 11 April 1955 at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. In
1992, North/South Recordings released CD 1002 that features Max Lifchitz playing Suite for Piano.
Reviews have been favorable. Allan Kozinn of the New York Times state, "Bartok's ghost
also hovered over Marilyn Ziffrin's Suite (1955), a set of six concise, crisply
characterized movements that had melodic simplicity."9 Another reviewer stated,
"This music has a peculiarly American sound: lean, direct, ronal and often jazzy. It is
delighful and unpretentious."10
The piece consists of six short movements that might be called character pieces, although no
individual titles are assigned. They alternate in tempo from slow to fast. The general form for
all movements in Suite for Piano is ABA. Ziffrin insists that structure plays a significant role
in her music, and that a great portion of her music is in a large sense ABA. Almost jokingly, she
admits that deep down she may truly be a Classicist.11 The texture of all movements is
often transparent, allowing the lyrical lines that are found at some point in almost all her
composition to be clearly heard. At other times, short melodic cells replace the long lines, adding
contract and interest. Use of dense chromaticism is found in the third and last movement. Example 1 shows
measures 13-16 of the third movement in which a nearly chromatic ascending scale is ued as
accompaniement for a simple descending melodic idea.
Her love of quartal harmonies is found throughout the Suite. Perhap nothing exemplifies this
more than Example 2 from the first movment, in which a chormatic gesture composed of quartal harmonies
supports the lyrical right hand line. In the fourth movement, the left hand again plays
parallel quartal harmonies, this time in a more nearly diatonic sequence, while the right hand
contrasts with a rhythmic theme. (See example 3.) Though the work in general has tonal qualities,
Ziffrin's later works move further away from a sense of tonality.
The influence of Bach is found in the contrapuntal lines and hints of fugal writing, especially in
the last movement. As seen in Example 4, a fugal subject enters on B and is answered in A-flat
in measure 4, accompanied by an inverted countersubject. Strongly rhythmic elements and
references to jazz are often prominent throughout this and many other pieces. One instance
is found in the last movement, measures 18-20. As shown in Example 5, Ziffrin uses a recurrent
three-note figure containing a lower neibor note reminiscent of blues embellishments as well
as rhythms that hint at ragtime derivations. A similar Gershwinesque flavor is found in the
Clarinet Concerto recently recorded by Richard Stoltzman.
Ziffrin has been included in all of the major sources devoted to women in music and honored with numerous
commissions and awards. She will be included in the upcoming new edition of the New Grove.
Despite the accolades she has received only a few of her works have been published. No less than
eight pieces, including one to be released in 1998, are available on recordings.
Marilyn Ziffrin currently lives in New Hampshire and continues to devote herself to composing and
performing occasionally with frineds. Her music is gaining more recognition, and her significance
in the field of composition is clearly increasing. After fifty years of receiving critical acclaim
as a composer, she still finds it difficult ot stand up and take a bow after a performance of her
music. Modesty, or perhaps the mere privacy of her nature, has prevented her from actively
promoting herself. Instead, she insists that her music should speak for itself. Perhaps now, as
more audiences discover Ziffrin's music, she will find herself at ease in taking a
well-deserved bow.
Selective List of Works
Solo Instrumental
Theme and Variations for Piano, 1949
Suite for Piano, 1955
Toccata and Fugue for Organ, 1956
Rhapsody, guitar, 1958 (Pub., Editions Orphee, Inc.)
Four Pieces for Tuba, 1973 (Pub., Frank E. Warren Music Service)
Fantasia, bassoon, 1986 (Pub., Frank E. Warren Music Service)
Three Movements for Guitar, 1989
Themes and Variations "In Memoriam," organ, 1989-90
Incantation and Dance, guitar, 1989-90
Obsolo, oboe, 1994 (Pub., Frank E. Warren Music Service)
Solo Vocal
Three Songs for Woman's Voice, mezzo-soprano and piano, 1957
Three Songs of the Trobairitz, soprano and piano, 1991
Choral
Jewish Prayer, mixed chorus, 1950
Prayer, mixed chorus, 1966
Chorus from "Alcestis," 1990
Death of Moses, cantata, reworked 1982-83
Choruses from the Greeks, 1992
New England Epitaphs, 1994
Clichés, mixed chorus, 1997
Chamber Music
The Little Princess, suite for B-flat clarinet and bassoon, 1953
Make a Joyful Noise, Quintet for recorders, 1966
In the Beginning, percussion ensemble, 1968
XIII for Chamber Ensemble, 1968
String Quartet, 1970 (13'30")
Haiku, song cycle for soprano, viola, and harpsichord, 1971 (Pub., Frank E. Warren Music
Service)
Sonata for Organ and Cello, 1973
Trio for Xylophone, Soprano, and Tuba, 1973-74
Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano, 1975
Quintet for Oboe and String Quartet, 1976
Concerto for Viola and Woodwind Quintet, 1977-78
Sono, cello and piano, 1980
Yankee Hooray, piano four hands, 1984 (Pub., Frank E. Warren Music Service
Conversations, double bass and harpsichord, 1986
Tributum, B-flat clarinet, viola, and double bass, 1992
Fantasy, two pianos, 1995
Trio for Clarinet, bassoon and piano, 1995
The Encore, two pianos, 1996
Lines and Spaces, brass quintet, 1996
Orchestra and Band
A Small Suite for String Orchestra, 1963
Orchestra Piece, 1976-77
Colors, orchestra, reworked 1979
Symphony for Voices and Orchestra: "Letters", one voice and orchestra, 1988
Movie Music, suite for orchestra, 1993
Concerto for B-flat Clarinet and Orchestra, 1994-94
Overture for Concert Band, 1958
Salute to Lexington, overture for concert band,1958
Notes
1. Marilyn J. Ziffrin, interviewed by author, 2 October 1996.
2. Augusta Read Thomas, interviewd by author, 7 April 1997.
3. The name of the director is withheld at the request of Ms. Ziffrin.
4. The name of the patron is withheld at the request of Ms. Ziffrin.
5. The Love Songs of Propercius was published in 1963 by Indiana University Press,
Bloomington, Indiana.
6. Marilyn J. Ziffrin, interview by author, 2 May 1997.
7. See http://www.amc.net/member/Marilyn_Ziffrin/home.html.
8. Marilyn J. Ziffrin, interview by author, 12 July 1996.
9. Allan Kozinn, "Classical in Review," New York Times, January 1992, sec. C., p. 22.
10. A.C., review of Suite for Piano, by Marilyn Ziffrin, High Performance Review,
vol. 10, no. 1 (March 1993): n.p.
11. Marilyn J. Ziffrin, interview by author, 2 May 1997.
Malinda Britton Schantz received a Master of Art degree in musicology from Rutgers University
and a Master of Library and Information Science from Simmons College. She works at the Loeb
Music Library, Harvard University, and also teaches private piano. She is currently doing
research for a bio-bibliography on Marilyn Ziffrin.
Updated 4/20/98