Dello Joio was born Nicodemo DeGioio in New York City to Italian immigrants. He began his musical career as organist and choir director at the Star of the Sea Church on City Island in New York at age 14. His father was an organist, pianist, and vocal coach and coached many opera stars from the Metropolitan Opera. He taught Norman piano starting at the age of four. In his teens, Norman began studying organ with his godfather, Pietro Yon, who was the organist at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. In 1939, he received a scholarship to the Juilliard School, where he studied composition with Bernard Wagenaar.
While he was a student, he worked as organist at St. Anne's Church, but he soon decided that he didn't want to make his living as an organist. In 1941, he began studying with Paul Hindemith, who encouraged him to follow his own lyrical bent, rather than sacrificing it to the atonal systems then popular.
He received numerous awards and much recognition. He was a prolific composer in a variety of genres, but is perhaps best known for his choral music. Perhaps Dello Joio's most famous work in the wind ensemble category is his Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn, which was composed for the Michigan State University Wind Ensemble and has since been performed thousands of times across the world. Dello Joio also wrote several pieces for high school and professional string orchestra, including the difficult piece Choreography: Three Dances for String Orchestra. In 1948 he became associated with the dancer Martha Graham, for whom he wrote several works, including Diversion of Angels and Seraphic Dialogue, a recomposition for chamber orchestra of his Symphony: The Triumph of Saint Joan.
He won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Meditations on Ecclesiastes; first performed at the Juilliard School on April 20, 1956. His Variations, Chaconne and Finale won the New York Critics Circle Award in 1948. It is an orchestral version of his Piano Sonata No. 3.
In 1965, Dello Joio received the Emmy Award for the "most outstanding music written for television in the 1964-1965 Season" for his score to the 1964 NBC television special The Louvre. The composer created a five-movement suite for wind band entitled Scenes from The Louvre. The suite was commissioned by Baldwin-Wallace College for their symphonic band, and was premiered in on March 13, 1966 with the composer conducting.
He taught at Sarah Lawrence College from 1944 to 1950, and at the Mannes College of Music. He also served as professor and dean at Boston University's College of Fine Arts. In 1978, he retired and moved to Long Island. He donated his personal archive of manuscripts and papers to the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Despite infirmities, Dello Joio remained active as a composer until his final years, continuing to produce chamber, choral, and even orchestral music. He died in his sleep on July 24, 2008 at the age of 95 at his home in East Hampton, New York.
Dello Joio's early works already reveal certain characteristics of his style. He likes to use traditional chants as a cantus firmus with richly contrapuntal settings. It is amusing, but not at all incongruous, to find Gregorian melodies and jazzy rhythms rubbing shoulders, for they are blended in a creatively spontaneous texture.
One of the most notable uses of his music is his score for choreographer Martha Graham's Diversion of Angels.
Suite for piano, 1940Ballad of Thomas Jefferson for voice, 1943Vigil Strange for mixed chorus and piano (four hands), 1943Magnificat for orchestra, 1944Sextet for three recorders and string trio, 1944The Mystic Trumpeter for mixed chorus, soprano, and French horn, 1944Prelude: To a Young Musician for piano, 1945To a Lone Sentry for orchestra, 1945On Stage ballet score for orchestra, 1945Suite from "On Stage" for two pianos, 1945Prelude: To a Young Dancer for piano, 1946Concerto for harp and orchestra, 1946A Jubilant Song for mixed or women's chorus and piano, 1946Sonata 1 for piano, 1947A Fable for mixed chorus and piano, 1947Madrigal for mixed chorus and piano, 1947Sonata 2 for piano, 1948Mill Doors for voice, 1948Sonata 3 for piano, 1948Trio for flute, cello, and piano, 1948New Born for voice, 1948There is a Lady Sweet and Kind for voice, 1948Fantasia on a Gregorian Theme for violin and piano, 1949Concert Music for orchestra, 1949Duo Concertato for cello and piano, 1949The Assassination for voice, 1949Lament for voice, 1949Diversion of Angels ballet score for small orchestra, 1949Variations and Capriccio for violin and piano, 1949Nocturne in E for piano, 1950Nocturne in F-sharp for piano, 1950Variations, Chaconne and Finale for orchestra, 1950"The Triumph of St. Joan", opera in 3 Acts, 1950 (later adapted into The Trial at Rouen for television and into a one-act opera)A Psalm of David for mixed chorus, strings, brass, and percussion, 1951New York Profiles for orchestra, 1952The Bluebird for mixed chorus and piano, 1952Serenade for orchestra (based on "Diversion of Angels"), 1953Somebody's Coming for mixed chorus and piano, 1953Epigraph for orchestra, 1953Song of the Open Road for mixed chorus, trumpet, and piano, 1953Song of Affirmation for mixed chorus, soprano, narrator, and orchestra, 1953Sweet Sunny for mixed chorus and piano, 1954Six Love Songs for voice, 1954The Tall Kentuckian incidental music for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, 1954Concertante for clarinet and orchestra, 1955Aria and Toccata for two pianos, 1955The Ruby opera in one act, 1955Adieu, Mignonne, When You Are Gone for women's chorus and piano, 1955Meditations on Ecclesiastes for string orchestra, 1956Air Power symphonic suite for orchestra, 1957To Saint Cecilia for mixed chorus and brass, 1958O Sing unto the Lord for male chorus and organ, 1959The Listeners for voice, 1960The Holy Infant's Lullaby for voice (also for mixed or women's chorus and piano), 1962Family Album for piano four hands, 1962Prayers of Cardinal Newman for mixed chorus and organ, 1962Three Songs of Adieu for voice, 1962Fantasy and Variations for piano and orchestra, 1963Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn, 1963Variants on a Medieval Tune for band, 1963Un Sonetto di Petrarca for voice, 1964Colloquies for violin and piano, 1964Song's End for female chorus and piano, 1964The Louvre television score, 1964Suite for the Young for piano, 1964Three Songs of Chopin for orchestra (also for two or four voice chorus with piano or orchestra), 1964From Every Horizon for band, 1965Laudation for organ, 1965Antiphonal Fantasy for organ, brass, and strings, 1966Scenes from "The Louvre" for band, 1966Songs of Walt Whitman for mixed chorus and orchestra or piano, 1966A Christmas Carol for voice (also for mixed or women's chorus and piano), 1967Five Images for piano four hands, 1967Air for Strings for string orchestra, 1967Five Images for orchestra, 1967Proud Music of the Storm for mixed chorus, brass, and organ, 1967Bright Star for voice (also for two voice or mixed chorus and piano), 1968Christmas Music for piano-four hands (also for mixed chorus and piano), 1968Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn for band, 1968Years of the Modern for mixed chorus, brass, and percussion, 1968Bagatelles for harp, 1969Capriccio on the Interval of a Second for piano, 1969Homage to Haydn for orchestra, 1969Mass for mixed chorus, brass, and organ, 1969Note Left on a Doorstep for voice, 1969Songs of Abelard for baritone solo and band, 1969The Lamentation of Saul for baritone, flute, oboe, clarinet, viola, and piano (also for full orchestra), 1970Evocations for mixed chorus and orchestra or piano, 1970Lyric Pieces for the Young for piano, 1971Choreography for string orchestra, 1972The Developing Flutist, suite for flute and piano, 1972Of Crows and Clusters for mixed chorus and piano, 1972Psalms of Peace for mixed chorus, trumpet, French horn, and organ, 1972Come to Me My Love for mixed chorus and piano, 1973Concertante for Wind Instruments for band, 1973The Poet's Song for mixed chorus and piano, 1974Three Essays for clarinet and piano, 1974Leisure for mixed chorus and piano, 1975Lyric Fantasies for viola and string orchestra (or string quintet), 1975Stage Parodies for piano-four hands, 1975Diversions for piano, 1975Five Lyric Pieces for the Young Organist, 1975Mass in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary for cantor, congregation, mixed choir, and organ (or brass), 1975Mass in Honor of the Eucharist for cantor, congregation, mixed choir, and organ, 1975Notes from Tom Paine for mixed chorus a cappella, 1975Satiric Dances for a Comedy by Aristophanes for band, 1975Colonial Ballads for band, 1976Colonial Variants for orchestra, 1976Songs of Remembrance for baritone voice and orchestra, 1976Southern Echoes for orchestra, 1976Arietta for string orchestra, 1978Caccia for band, 1978Concertante for chamber orchestra, 1978As of a Dream for Narrator, Soloists, Optional Dancers, Mixed Chorus, and Orchestra, 1979The Dancing Sergeant for Band, 1979Salute to Scarlatti for Piano or Harpsichord, 1980Sonata for Trumpet and Piano, 1980Hymns Without Words for Mixed Chorus and Orchestra, 1981The Psalmist's Meditation for Mixed Chorus and Piano, 1981Concert Variants for Piano, 1983Ballabili for Orchestra, 1983Love Songs at Parting for Mixed Chorus and Piano, 1984I Dreamed of an Invincible City for Chorus and Piano/Organ, 1984The Vigil, for Chorus, Brass, and Percussion, 1985Nativity for Soloists, Chorus, and Orchestra, 1987Passing Strangers for Choir, 2003