Nationally celebrated composer Stephen Paulus, who was composer-in-residence with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and composed a 30-minute oratorio commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11 for Tucson Chamber Artists, died on Sunday. He was 65.
Paulus died at a Minnesota assisted living facility, where he had been since suffering a massive stroke July 4, 2013. Published reports said his death was a result of complications from that stroke.
“Not only was he an incredible composer but he was a wonderful human being,” Tucson Chamber Artists Music Director Eric Holtan said Monday, recalling the musician whose final artistic endeavor was likely a CD he recorded with Holtan’s professional choir in May 2013 — just weeks before Paulus suffered the stroke.
Paulus had spent a week in Tucson with Holtan’s choir, recording his works including “Prayers and Remembrances,” the 9/11 piece TCA commissioned. The group recorded at Catalina Foothills High School in late May 2013 and during the project came across a work that Holtan said he had never heard.
Paulus had scored the piece, “Nunk Dimittis,” for choir and organ, but there was no organ at Catalina Foothills High School where they were recording. So Paulus plunked down with pen and notepad and within minutes had re-scored the work for a capella in his own handwriting, Holtan recalled.
“It’s an awesome piece,” he said. “We had sent a copy of the album to his wife (Patty) to play for Stephen and she said he listened to it intently and was moved.”
In a career that spanned 40-plus years, Paulus was a steady presence in Tucson, beginning with a one-year composer-in-residence stint with the TSO in 1998/99.
“When I first came here to Tucson and I was asked what my priorities were, my No. 1 priority was to get connected to Stephen Paulus and have him write some works for us,” said TSO Music Director George Hanson. “The legacy for his works written for TSO will be an important one.”
Hanson and Paulus, both Minnesotans, met in Atlanta a few years before Hanson came to Tucson in 1996. Paulus was composer in residence with the Atlanta Symphony and Hanson was resident conductor.
Paulus was born in New Jersey and raised in Minnesota from the age of 2. He attended the University of Minnesota, earning a Ph.D. in composition.
During his TSO tenure, he penned several works including “Concerto in the American Style,” which the TSO, with Hanson at the podium, premiered in 1998; and “Dylan Thomas Songs,” commissioned by Helen Schaefer and based on the death poems of Dylan Thomas including his famous “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.”
“It’s not droll and dismal. The first (poem), ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,’ was written for his father,” Paulus said in a 2009 phone interview. “(Thomas) was saying, ‘Don’t just take this sitting down!’ In a way, it’s about death, but it’s encouraging.”
In 2003, Paulus helped the orchestra mark its 75th anniversary with “Paean” for Orchestra. The TSO also performed six more Paulus compositions between 1997 and 2011.
“He loved it here. He enjoyed his time here,” Hanson said.
In addition to his wife, Paulus is survived by sons Greg and Andrew Paulus; his mother Patricia Paulus; and brother Terry Paulus. Services will be in Minnesota in early November.
Holtan said the TCA is shopping its Paulus CD to a national record label.
No release date has been set.
