Robert Ward's Instrumental Music

The success of Robert Ward's opera The Crucible (1961)' has caused him to be considered primarily as a composer of operas, yet he has written numerous instrumental works throughout his career.2 This article focuses on selected instrumental compositions, presenting an overview of the major works and highlighting salient features of the composer's musical language. Biographical information, often drawn from Ward's own words, helps to illuminate his musical rhetoric, for his philosophies and experiences have integrally shaped his music.3