Paul Bowles

From Wind Repertory Project
Paul Bowles

Paul Bowles (30 December, 1910, Queens, New York – 18 November, 1999, Tangier, Morocco) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.

Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making several trips to Paris in the 1930s. He studied music with Aaron Copland, and in New York wrote music for theatrical productions, as well as other compositions. He achieved critical and popular success with his first novel The Sheltering Sky (1949), set in French North Africa, which he had visited in 1931.

In 1947, Bowles settled in Tangier, at that time in the Tangier International Zone, and his wife Jane Auer Bowles followed in 1948. In an open marriage, both Paul and Jane were openly bisexual. Except for winters spent in Ceylon during the early 1950s, Tangier was Bowles' home for the remainder of his life. He came to symbolize American immigrants in the city.

Despite his success as a writer, Bowles always thought of himself primarily as a composer. Much of his music remained unpublished at the time of his death; nevertheless, it enjoyed a renaissance of interest during the final decade of his life, evidenced by numerous recordings and performances


Works for Winds by this Composer


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