Miriam Gideon (1906-1996) was an American composer and instructor. A prolific artist, her works have been widely published and performed. She studied composition under, among others, composer Roger Sessions, whom she considered her greatest influence. She taught in several New York schools. Her oeuvre is a diverse catalogue of pieces for various ensemble types and in various genres.

Initially influenced by Romance music, she then turned towards the more modernist trends of her time, developing an expressionist style marked by a heavy use of free atonality – though without conforming to any rigid compositional doctrine or totally renouncing tonal and modal composition. In any case, she was very attached to the idea that the modern techniques she used were, above all, tools in the service of expression, drama, and emotion. In this regard, her works are of a profoundly introspective and subjective character.

A specialist in Jewish liturgical music and a teacher of composition at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Miriam Gideon also focused aspects of her work on the expression of her faith, setting Jewish prayers to music and composing various works based around themes of Jewishness. Of particular note, she composed a full Shabbat service, becoming the very first woman in history to be given a commission for the writing of a Jewish liturgical service.

– Frédérick Duhautpas –

[Traduction en anglais : Raphaël Meyer]