Merrill Leroy Ellis


Merrill Leroy Ellis was an American composer, performer, and experimental music researcher. He is most known for his work with electronic and intermedia compositions, new compositional techniques, development of new instruments, and exploration of new notation techniques for scoring and performance.

Education

Ellis studied privately with Roy Harris, Spencer Norton, and Charles Garland.

Career

Merrill Ellis taught music theory and composition during the 1950s at the Joplin Junior College in Joplin Missouri.
Ellis founded the electronic music program at the University of North Texas College of Music shortly after he began teaching there in 1962. North Texas acquired its first Moog Machine for use in Merrill Ellis' studio, late 1965. Ellis was a pioneer in composing and performing live multimedia music on Moogs from the mid to late 1960s. He worked with Robert Moog to design the second Moog synthesizer ever made to be portable for him and his doctoral students to use during performances. Robert Moog gave a nod to Ellis by naming this second model the E-II. It was Moog's second synthesizer and Ellis' second Moog. In March 1970, a Tucson newspaper mentioned that he had brought a Moog for a live performance of "Kaleidoscope."
The electronic music center at North Texas was one of the few in the southwest in the early 1960s. According to Ellis in a 1970 interview, Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center was the largest and oldest. Yale University, University of Toronto, and University of Illinois had prolific computer music labs, too.
The Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia at North Texas is an outgrowth of his accomplishments. When the College of Music designed and erected a new music complex in the late 1970s, a "new music" theater was designed and named "The Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater" or "MEIT."

Selected compositions

; Instrumental works
  • "And Ruth Said," sacred songs with piano ;
  • "Brass Quartet," for 2 trumpets, tenor trombone, bass trombone
  • "Bridge Game," for string quartet;
  • "Cape "G" Melody," for oboe, viola, cello, with optional part for double bass
  • "Classical Combo," a septet + one;
  • Dizzy Kate Piano Suite, ;
  • "A Dream Fantasy," an intermedia piece; may use dancers if desired; for clarinet, percussion, tape, and 2 reels of 16 mm. film; 35 mm. slides optional, C. Fischer ;
  • "Duets," for flute & piano
  • "Ecce homo," for cello & piano ;
  • "Einyah ," for piano, trumpet, and percussion;
  • Etudes for Piano, ;
  1. Etude I:"Dorian"
  2. Etude II:"Phrygian"
  3. Etude III:"Lydian"
  • "Fantasy for Organ" ;
  • "Five Plus One," for woodwind quintet - flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon, with optional double bass
  • "General William Booth Enters Into Heaven," for SATB chorus with instrumental ensemble, text by V. Lindsay
  • "Incantations," for two pianos ;
  • "Mutations," a multi-media composition for brass quintet, prepared electronic tape, 16mm film projection and 35mm slide projections, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, Shawnee Press ;
  • "Pastoral," for harp ;
  • "Pastoral," for & piano
  • "Piece," for trumpet & piano ;
  • "Celebration," for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, percussion, tape, lasers, and visual events American Music Center, New York ;
  • ''Dream of the Rode," for tape and 16 mm film;
  • "Feedback Fantasy"
  • "The Great Gift"
  • "Kaleidoscope;"
  • "Mutations," Shawnee Press, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania ;
  • "Nostalgia," for orchestra, film & theatrical events;
  • "Oboe Quintet"
  • "Organ Fantasy"
  • "Scintillation," solo piano; General Words and Music Co., Park Ridge, Illinois ;
  • "Tomorrow Texas," North Texas Composer's Archive, Denton
; Opera
  • "The Sorcerer," for solo baritone, tape, film, slides, and chorus ; Shawnee Press, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania ;
; Film and television
  • "The Choice is Ours," intermedia work for 2 films, slides, tape & audience participation

    Awards & honors

  • 1962 — Harvey Gaul Prize, Friends of Harvey Gaul, Inc., and the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Department of Music, for the composition, Organ Fantasy, performed in Carnegie Hall
  • 1964 — Texas Federation of Music Clubs Competition, First Prize for "The Great Gift"
  • 1965 — Texas Federation of Music Clubs Competition, First Prize for "Oboe Quintet"
  • 1965 — Texas Federation of Music Clubs Competition, Second Prize for "Tomorrow Texas"
Ellis became a member of ASCAP in 1966.
  • ASCAP Award for contributions in serious music; 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979

    Other publications

  • Electronic Music Composition Manual, Merrill Ellis, Robert Cannon Ehle, and Robert A. Moog, North Texas State University ;

    Merrill Ellis Memorial Composition Scholarship recipients

  • 1990–92 — Kurt Kuniyasu
  • 1990–91 — Gregory Alan Schneider
  • 1991–92 — Rick D. Chatham
  • 1991–92 — Michael Anthony McBride
  • 1994–95 — Steven Bryant
  • 1994–95 —
  • 1994–96 — Man-Mei Wu
  • 1996–97 — Lucio Edilberto Cuellar, DMA 2002
  • 1998–99 —
  • 1999–00 —
  • 2000–01 — Kayli House
  • 2002–03 —
  • 2005–07 —
  • 2007–08 —
  • 2009–10 — Nicholas Kanozik
  • 2011–12 — Ryan Pivovar
  • 2012–13 — Jonathan Jackson
  • 2013–15 —

    Selected discography

  • Louisville Orchestra - Jorge Mester, conductor
  • Unconventional Trumpet, music by University of North Texas, composers Ellis, Beasley, McTee, Mailman, Austin, Latham, and Tull
  • Facets 2, John Holt, Trumpet

    Videos

  • , The Louisville Orchestra, Joan Wall, mezzo-soparano, Jorge Mester, conductor

    General references

  • , compiled by E. Ruth Anderson, Boston: G.K. Hall & Co. ;

    Inline citations