Dominick Argento, Literature-Loving And Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer, Dead At 91

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Dominick Argento died on Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minn., after a short illness; his death was announced by his family He was 91. Argento was best known for his lyrical and astringent music for the human voice – he wrote 13 operas, as well as song cycles and choral works. As he told the late Mary Ann Feldman in a 2002 interview , "My interest is people. I am committed to working with characters, feelings and emotions." Argento was born on Oct. 27, 1927 in York, Penn., to Sicilian immigrants who ran a restaurant and inn. He began studying music seriously in high school and, after a stint in the army as a cartographer, he enrolled in the Peabody School of Music in Baltimore. There, he studied with Henry Cowell and Hugo Weisgall, and earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in composition. His Ph.D. was from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Alan Hovhaness and Howard Hanson. The recipient of Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships, Argento