Kraft ‘werks’: five facts about the composer of Timpani Concerto No. 1

Born in Chicago but a longtime resident of Southern California, composer William Kraft died last year, just 18 months shy of his centennial. Regarded as one of the West Coast’s most important creative voices for nearly four decades, he worked with nearly every major name in 20th-century music, performing premieres of works by Igor Stravinsky and Pierre Boulez.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will present Kraft’s Timpani Concerto No. 1 (1983), with Principal Timpani David Herbert as soloist, in concerts May 25-27, under Riccardo Muti.

The French connection: Kraft adored the music of French Impressionist composers such as Debussy and Ravel (“my great idols,” he called them). But their achievements initially intimidated him. “I just thought they were gods and not to be touched,” Kraft said in a 2020 interview. “They were influences, but I never thought I could write the style.” Nevertheless, Kraft often referred to himself an “American Impressionist.”

Studying with the masters: Kraft credited jazz legends Benny Goodman and Count Basie with sparking his interest in performing. While at Columbia University from 1947 to 1951, he studied composition with modernist greats Jack Beeson and Henry Cowell. He also learned orchestration from Henry Brandt and studied the timpani with Saul Goodman.

Sessions with Stravinsky: Kraft once said that hearing Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring for the first time as a teenager “changed my life” and cited the Russian composer as an important influence. Kraft went on to work frequently with Stravinsky, who moved to California in the 1940s. Kraft served as Stravinsky’s timpanist and percussionist in charge of all percussion activities for the composer’s Los Angeles performances and recordings. Kraft also edited the percussion parts for Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.

Triple threat: Kraft’s tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic began in 1955, including 18 years as principal timpanist. Music director Zubin Metha appointed Kraft as assistant conductor for three years, and he served as its composer-in-residence from 1981 to 1985.

Ambient 1: Music for Airports: Though rock icon Brian Eno is credited with establishing the ambient music genre with his 1978 album “Ambient 1: Music for Airports,” others, including William Kraft, have taken the concept and turned it into reality. In 1987, United Airlines commissioned Kraft to create a score for Michael Hayden’s “The Sky’s the Limit,” a 745-foot-long kinetic light sculpture in the tunnel connecting United’s Concourses B and C in Terminal 1 of O’Hare International Airport.