Noah Creshevsky (January 31, 1945 – December 3, 2020) was a composer and electronic musician born in
Rochester, New York. He used the term
hyperrealism to describe his work.[1]
Biography
Noah Creshevsky was born Gary Cohen in Rochester, New York, to Joseph and Sylvia Cohen. He changed his surname to Creshevsky in order to honor his maternal grandparents. At the same time he also changed his first name because, he said, "I never felt like a Gary."[2] He studied in the preparatory division of the
Eastman School of Music from the age of 6 until 1961, then earned a B.F.A. degree at the
State University of New York at Buffalo in 1966, studying with
Lukas Foss.[2]
Creshevsky began composing electronic music in 1971. His musical vocabulary used bits of words, songs, and instrumental sounds. By fusing opposites—such as
music and
noise, comprehensible and incomprehensible vocal sources–Creshevsky attempted to make music that sounded both Western and non-Western, ancient and modern, familiar and unfamiliar.[5]
This alliance of opposites is heard both in his text-sound compositions (1973-1986)—
Pop Art works in which extreme and unpredictable juxtapositions of iconographic sonic materials establish links between music and society [6] —and in later pieces, in which the integration of electronic and acoustic sources and processes “creates virtual ‘superperformers’ by using the sounds of traditional instruments pushed past the capacities of human performance.” [7]
Creshevsky’s most recent compositions are examples of "
Hyperrealism", a term he uses to describe an electroacoustic language constructed from sounds found in our shared environment that he handles in ways that are exaggerated or intense.
Creshevsky, who died of
bladder cancer, was interred on
Hart Island at his own request. Usually burials on Hart Island are for the homeless or poor and unclaimed bodies. According to his husband David Sachs (a teacher and book editor who lived with Creshevsky for 42 years), Creshevsky intended to protest the trappings and cost of traditional funerals.[10][11]