Rands has received many awards for his work, and was elected and inducted into The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004. From 1989 to 1995 he was composer-in-residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Rands's music is widely recorded. The recording of his Canti D'Amor by the men's vocal ensemble Chanticleer won a Grammy Award in 2000.
Rands is married to American composer Augusta Read Thomas.
David adam moore as vincent van gogh in vincent by bernard rands world premiere
Opera
Belladonna (1999)opera in two acts, with a libretto by Leslie Dunton Downer, commissioned by the Aspen Festival. Première: 1999, Aspen Music Festival, Colorado
Metalepsis 2 (1971), for mezzo-soprano, small choir & chamber orchestracommissioned by the London Sinfonietta, who gave the première in 1972 with soprano Cathy Berberian, conducted by Luciano Berio at the English Bach Festival
Mésalliance (1972), for piano solo & orchestracommissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, premièred by pianist Roger Woodward under Pierre Boulez
Wildtrack 2 (1973), for soprano solo & orchestracommissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and premièred at the 1973 Cheltenham Festival under John Pritchard.
Aum (1974), for harp solo & chamber orchestracommissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Pierre Boulez's series of contemporary concerts at Roundhouse, London
Madrigali (1977), for chamber orchestracommissioned by the National Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Washington D.C., and premièred at the Kennedy Center. The work has most recently been performed by the Jungen Philharmonie Zentralschweiz and the University of Nottingham Philharmonia.
Canti Lunatici (1981), for soprano solo & orchestracommissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra for soprano Dorothy Dorow, premièred under Rands in 1981
Canti del Sole (1983), for tenor solo & orchestrafull version commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, and premièred under Zubin Mehta and tenor Paul Sperry in 1983. The work won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Le Tambourin: Suites 1 & 2 (1984)the two suites were commissioned respectively by the Fromm Foundation for the San Diego Symphony and the Koussevitzky Foundation for the Philadelphia Orchestra, who premièred the complete work under Riccardo Muti in 1984. The work was awarded first place in the 1986 Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards. The work has since been performed widely by many orchestras, including (most recently) the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Ceremonial 2 (1986)15-minute work commissioned by Suntory Hall, Tokyo; premièred there in 1989
Hiraeth (1987), for cello solo & orchestracommissioned by the Aspen Music Festival, premièred by cellist Yehuda Hanani with the Aspen Festival Orchestra conducted by Rands. Subsequent performances took place with Hanani the BBC National Orchestra of Wales soon after.
...body and shadow... (1988)commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and premièred under Seiji Ozawa at Symphony Hall in 1989. Emily Freeman Brown and the Bowling Green Philharmonia have since taken the work into their repertoire.
London Serenade (1988)written as a gift for conductor Edwin London, who premièred the work with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Recent performances have been given by the Verge Ensemble and the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Bells (1989), for S.A.T.B. choir & orchestracommissioned by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic
Ceremonial 3 (1991)commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, premièred under Riccardo Muti. Subsequent performances have taken place by the Bristol University Symphony Orchestra
Canti dell'Eclisse (1992), for bass solo & orchestracommissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, premièred under Gerard Schwarz with bass Thomas Paul. The work has since been championed by Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
Tre Canzoni senza Parole (1993)commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, premièred under Rands in 1992. The Oregon Symphony has since championed this work.
...where the murmurs die... (1993)commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, premièred under Leonard Slatkin at Avery Fisher Hall in December 1993
Canzoni (1995)commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, premièred under Wolfgang Sawallisch in Philadelphia. A further performance was given by the same forces at the 1995 BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, London
Interludium (1995), for S.A.T.B. choir & orchestracommissioned as part of the Requiem of Reconciliation, premièred in 1995 by the Israel Philharmonic under Helmuth Rilling
Symphony (1995)
Cello Concerto (1996)
Fanfare (1996)commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony
Requiescant (1996), for soprano solo, S.A.T.B. choir & orchestra30-minute work, originally commissioned by the B.B.C. for the 1985 Proms Season, but wasn't completed in time. It was re-commissioned in 1995 for the Philadelphia Choral Society
Actions for Six (1962), for flute, viola, cello, harp & two percussionwritten for the 1963 Darmstadt Festival; premièred by the Kranichsteiner Ensemble under Bruno Maderna
Espressione IV. (1964), for two pianospremièred at the 1965 Darmstadt Festival by Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky
Ballad 1 (1970), for mezzo-soprano solo, flute, trombone, piano, percussion & contrabasswritten for SONOR Ensemble, a group formed by Rands. Text by Gilbert Sorrentino.
Tableau (1970), for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, viola & cello
as all get out (1972), for miscellaneous instrumental ensemblenotated as a graphic score; the duration of the work can be anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes
déjà (1972), for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, viola & cello
Response - Memo 1B (1973), for contrabass & tape / two contrabassi
Cuaderno (1974), for string quartet
étendre (1974), for solo contrabass, flute, clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano, electric organ, percussion, violin, viola & cello15-minute work, based on Rands' Memo 1 (for solo double bass, from 1971), and was written for bassist Bertram Turetzky and commissioned by the Claremont Festival, California.
Scherzi (1974), for clarinet, piano, violin & cellocommissioned by the Capricorn Ensemble with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain
Obbligato - Memo 2C (1980), for trombone & string quartet
...in the receding mist... (1988), for flute, harp, violin, viola & cellocommissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain for the ONDINE Ensemble, and is dedicated to Jacob Druckman on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Premièred in Washington D.C. in November 1988. Recent performances have been given by the Boston Musica Viva under Richard Pittman, the North/South Consonance Ensemble under Max Lifchitz, the Verge Ensemble (Buffalo, New York), the Dal Nienete New Music Group (Chicago), and ensembles at the Indiana University School of Music and the Arizona State University.
...and the rain... (1992), for horn, harp, violin, viola & cello
String Quartet No. 2 (1994)
...sans voix parmi les voix... (1995), for flute, harp & violacommissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association in honour of the 70th birthday of Pierre Boulez
Concertino (1996), for oboe solo, flute, clarinet, harp, two violins, viola & cello
Fanfare (1997), for brass quintet
String Quartet No. 3 (2003)
Prelude (2004), for flute, viola & harpcommissioned for the 2004 June in Buffalo Festival
...now again... (2006), for mezzo-soprano solo, flute, clarinet, trumpet, percussion, harp, violin, viola & cellocommissioned by Network for New Music, and premièred by that ensemble in November 2006 with mezzos-soprano Janice Felty
PRISM (Memo 6B) (2008), for saxophone quartet10-minute work commissioned by the New York State Arts Council for the Prism Quartet. Premièred: 21 November 2008 in Philadelphia, by the same artists.
Scherzi No. 2 (2008), for clarinet, piano, violin & cello18-minute work
Vocal
Ballad 1 (1970), for mezzo-soprano solo & ensemblewritten for SONOR ensemble, a group formed by Rands. Text by Gilbert Sorrentino.
Ballad 2 (1970), for female voice & pianocommissioned by Jane Manning
Metalepsis 2 (1971), for mezzo-soprano solo, small choir & chamber orchestracommissioned by the London Sinfonietta, who gave the première in 1972 with soprano Cathy Berberian, conducted by Luciano Berio at the English Bach Festival
Ballad 3 (1973), for soprano & tape (plus bell)
Wildtrack 2 (1973), for soprano solo & orchestra
Canti Lunatici (1980), for soprano & ensemble/orchestra
déjà 2 (1980), for female voice solo & ensemble
Canti del Sole (1984), for tenor solo & ensemble/orchestra
Canti dell'Eclisse (1992), for bass solo & ensemble/orchestra
Walcott Songs (2004), for mezzo-soprano & cellosong-cycle to texts by Derek Walcott, commissioned by the Tanglewood Summer Music Festival; premièred in the Seiji Ozawa Hall in January 2005 by Abigail Fischer (mezzo-soprano) and Norman Fischer (cello)
...now again... (2006), for mezzo-soprano & ensemblecommissioned by Network for New Music, and premièred by that ensemble in November 2006 with mezzos-soprano Janice Felty
Choral
...among the voices... (1988), for S.A.T.B. choir & harpcommissioned by Robert Page, who led the première in Cleveland in April 1988 with Paula Page (harp) and the Page Singers. Text by Samuel Beckett.
Bells (1989), for S.A.T.B. choir & orchestracommissioned by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic
Canti d'Amor (1991), for a cappella S.A.T.B. choircommissioned by Chanticleer, premièred in 2000 in San Francisco by that group. Sets texts from James Joyce's Chamber Music.
Interludium (1995), for S.A.T.B. choir & orchestracommissioned as part of the Requiem of Reconciliation, premièred in 1995 by the Israel Philharmonic under Helmuth Rilling
Requiescant (1996), for soprano solo, S.A.T.B. choir & orchestra30-minute work, originally commissioned by the B.B.C. for the 1985 Proms Season but not completed in time. It was re-commissioned in 1995 for the Philadelphia Choral Society
Melancholy Madrigal (2001), for a cappella S.A.T.B. choircommissioned by the Cambridge Madrigal Singers, Massachusetts, premièred in 2001 in Cambridge by that group.
apókryphos (2002), for soprano solo, S.A.T.B. choir & orchestramajor 40-minute work setting texts by Paul Celan, Heinrich Heine, Nelly Sachs, Franz Werfel and English translations of extracts from the Apocrypha. Commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and premièred at Symphony Center in May 2003 with soprano Angela Denoke under Daniel Barenboim (choral director: Duain Wolfe). Further performances have taken place in Germany and Austria in 2010, at the Berlin Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus, Großer Saal by the Staatskapelle Berlin and Staatsopernchor Berlin, again with Daniel Barenboim conducting.
My Child (2003), for a cappella S.A.T.B. choira movement from apókryphos
Memo 1 (1971), for contrabasscommissioned by Barry Guy; premièred at the English Bach Festival, Oxford in 1972
Memo 2 (1973), for trombone
Memo 3 (1989), for cello
Memo 4 (1997), for flutecommissioned by Ekkehart Trenknner for Judith Pierce, who gave the work's première in 1997
Memo 5 (1975), for piano
Memo 6 (1999), for alto saxophone
Memo 7 (2000), for female voice
Memo 8 (2000), for oboe
HBDZ (2001), for piano
Preludes (2007), for piano
Three Piano Pieces (2010)
Music Theatre
Ballad 2 (1970), for female voice & pianocommissioned by Jane Manning
Ballad 3 (1973), for soprano & tape (plus bell)
Memo 2B (1980), for trombone and female mime
Memo 2D (1980), for trombone, string quartet and female mime
Educational
Sound Patterns 1 (1967), for voices & hands
Sound Patterns 2 (1967), for voices, percussion and miscellaneous instruments
Per Esempio (1969), for youth orchestra
Sound Patterns 3 (1969), for voices (project)
Sound Patterns 4 (1969), for miscellaneous instrumental groups (graphic score)
Agenda (1970), for youth orchestra
Awards
In 2014 Rands was inducted to The Lincoln Academy of Illinois as a Laureate of the Arts and was awarded the Order of Lincoln (the state’s highest honor) by the governor of Illinois.
Current Projects
Rands has most recently completed a Seattle Symphony commission, which premièred under Gerard Schwarz on 7 December 2010 at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, alongside works by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.
