Ingolf Dahl

Ingolf Dahl was born in Hamburg, Germany of Swedish parents on the 9th of June, 1912. He began his studies at the Cologn Hochschule fur Musik, and then went on to the Zurich Conservatory and the University of Zurich. Dahl started his professional career coaching and conducting at the Zurich Stadttheater. He became one of many composers to move from Europe to America (specifically Southern California) in the years before World War II (joining the likes of Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Milhaud). During this time, Dahl worked closely with Stravinsky as a musical assistant, arranging the scores of Danses concertantes and Scenes de ballet for piano.

Dahl was appointed to the faculty of the University of Southern California in 1945, and taught there until his death in August of 1970. He also was named head of the Tanglewood Study Group of the Berkshire Music Center for the summers of 1952/53 and 1955/56.

Dahl's early works exhibit dissonant and polyphonic textures. His use of serial techniques in his Piano Quartet (1957) stems from his work with Stravinsky.

The spring of 1948 brought Sigurd Rascher to Dahl. In a letter to Dahl, Rascher complained of the lack of large scale works for orchestra and saxophone. Dahl began writing the work in the winter. When he informed Stravinsky of his new project, Stravinsky said, "I don't know, to me a saxophone always sounds like a pink slimy worm." The Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Orchestra was premired in its original version on May 17th, 1949 by Rascher, accompanied by the University of Illinois Concert Band. Dahl revised the work several times and its nearly final version was premiered on January 11th, 1954. (According to Harvey Pittel, in his editor's notes in the Dahl Concerto, one last change was made shortly before Dahl's death.)