Howard Brubeck

Howard Rengstorff Brubeck was a composer and music educator and the older brother of jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. His best known work, Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra, premiered at Carnegie Hall December 10, 1959, with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic and was recorded on Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein in 1961. His California Suite, also from the 1950s, was performed in San Francisco and in Brussels. According to the Grove Dictionary of Music, "The influence of Milhaud – and sometimes echoes of Copland – can be heard in his music; a flair for orchestral writing, secure craftsmanship and sophisticated wit are also in evidence." He wrote liner notes for many of his brother's commercial recordings, and transcribed, edited, and arranged much of his brother's music for publication.