Barney Childs

Barney Childs (February 13, 1926 – January 11, 2000) was an American composer and teacher. Born in Spokane, Washington, he taught and composed avant-garde music and literature at universities in the United States and United Kingdom. He was a musical autodidact till his association in the 1950s with Leonard Ratner and Elliot Carter in New York and with Aaron Copland and Carlos Chavez at Tanglewood. He was associated later with double bass player B... more

Barney Childs (February 13, 1926 – January 11, 2000) was an American composer and teacher. Born in Spokane, Washington, he taught and composed avant-garde music and literature at universities in the United States and United Kingdom. He was a musical autodidact till his association in the 1950s with Leonard Ratner and Elliot Carter in New York and with Aaron Copland and Carlos Chavez at Tanglewood. He was associated later with double bass player Bertram Turetzky and clarinet player Phillip Rehfeldt. He wrote several pieces for these and other players, often using extended techniques. Much of his music employs improvisation and indeterminacy (see his "Roachville Project," 1967). However, his influences are diverse and include jazz artists, John Cage, Charles Ives, and Paul Hindemith. Childs won the Koussevitzky Award at Tanglewood in 1954. Trained originally as a literary scholar, Childs earned a Ph.D. in English from Stanford University (1959) and remained active as an editor and... less