One of the most renowned contemporary American composers, Professor Druckman first achieved international fame as a composer of electronic music, particularly in conjunction with live performers. Today he is perhaps most celebrated for his orchestral writing. In an article in The New Yorker, Andrew Porter said: "Druckman has long been a master orchestrator, adept at creating thin, luminous washes of sound, thick rich impastos, and transformations of texture sudden or slow. A clear sonic sky may swiftly blacken, grow dense with menace, and be rent by lightning bolts. Darkness almost visible may begin to sparkle with twinkling points of light."
Professor Druckman won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for his composition "Windows," which was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His numerous other commissions include works for the National Symphony Orchestra, Radio France and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, among many others. At the time of his death, Professor Druckman was composing a piano concerto for Emanuel Ax.
The most recent recordings of his music include "Aureole" with the St. Louis Symphony, "Prism" with the New York Philharmonic and "Not Spell Nor Charm" with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. His String Quartets Nos. 2 and 3 are soon to be released on compact disk. He has been the guest conductor with many orchestras, and has received grants and awards from the Thorne, Guggenheim and Fulbright foundations. He was honored in 1969 by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has since been elected as a member of that organization. A resident of the town of Milford, he was named the Charles Ives Laureate Composer of the State of Connecticut in 1993. In recent months, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford and the Sanford Medal from the School of Music.
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Druckman trained in violin and piano before enrolling in the Juilliard School in 1949, where he studied composition. In 1949 and 1950, he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood and later continued his studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris 1954-55. He has taught at the Juilliard School, Bard College, Tanglewood, the Aspen Music Festival; was director of the Electronic Music Studio and professor of composition at Brooklyn College; and has been associated with the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in New York. He has been composer-in- residence at the American Academy in Rome and with the New York Philharmonic, where he was artistic director of the Horizons Music Festivals. He joined the Yale faculty in 1976.
Professor Druckman is survived by his wife, Muriel Topaz; his son, Daniel, of New York City; his daughter, Karen Jeanneret of Switzerland; and three grandchildren. Contributions in his name may be sent to the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, 30 W. 26 St., New York, New York 10010-2011.