- William Schuman
William Howard Schuman (
August 4 ,1910 –February 15 ,1992 ) was an Americancomposer and music administrator.Born in
the Bronx inNew York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president,William Howard Taft (although his family preferred to call him Bill). Schuman played theviolin andbanjo as a child, but his overwhelming passion was baseball. While still in high school, he formed adance band , "Billy Schuman and his Alamo Society Orchestra", that played local weddings and bar mitzvahs (Schuman played string bass in the band).In 1928 he entered
New York University 's School of Commerce to pursue a business degree, at the same time working for an advertising agency. He also wrote popular songs with E. B. Marks, Jr., a friend he had met long before at summer camp. About then Schuman met lyricistFrank Loesser and wrote some forty songs with him. (Indeed, Loesser's first published song, "In Love with a Memory of You", credits the music to William H. Schuman.)On
April 13 1930 , Schuman went with his older sister, Audrey, to aCarnegie Hall concert of theNew York Philharmonic , conducted byArturo Toscanini . The program included works by Wagner, Kodály, and Schumann. Of this experience, Schuman later said, "I was astounded at seeing the sea of stringed instruments, and everybody bowing together. The visual thing alone was astonishing. But the sound! I was overwhelmed. I had never heard anything like it. The very next day, I decided to become a composer."Schuman dropped out of school and quit his part-time job to study
music at theMalkin Conservatory with Max Persin and Charles Haubiel. From 1933 to 1938 he studied privately withRoy Harris . Harris brought Schuman to the attention of the conductorSerge Koussevitzky , who championed many of his works. Koussevitzky conducted Schuman's "Symphony No. 2" in 1939. Possibly Schuman's best known symphony, the "Symphony for Strings", was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation, dedicated to the memory of Natalie Koussevitzky, and was first performed under Koussevitzky on November 12, 1943.In 1943 he won the inaugural
Pulitzer Prize for Music for hiscantata , "A Free Song", adapted from poems byWalt Whitman . From 1935 to 1945, he taught composition atSarah Lawrence College . In 1945, he became president of theJuilliard School of Music , founding theJuilliard String Quartet while there. He left in 1961 to become the first president ofLincoln Center , a position he held until 1969.Television Appearance
William Schuman appeared as the opening guest on the
CBS game show, "What's My Line? " onSeptember 30 1962 (episode #632). Because of his recognizability, panel membersDorothy Kilgallen ,Martin Gabel ,Arlene Francis , andBennett Cerf were blindfolded. Schuman's title card identified him as "Composer and President of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (New York City)". Schuman displayed his wit in response to panel questions. After the panel exhausted a few categories, Kilgallen asked, "What about music?" Schuman replied, "What about it?" When asked if he wasLeonard Bernstein , Schuman replied, "He's a friend." When asked if he wasRudolf Bing , Schuman repeated, "He's a friend," prompting Francis to wonder who was not his friend. When asked if he had ever sang for theMetropolitan Opera , Schuman said, "Often desired to, never invited." Cerf identified him after hostJohn Charles Daly had flipped over all the cards. Daly announced that Schuman's Eighth Symphony would be performed at Philharmonic Hall (nowAvery Fisher Hall ) the following Thursday, which date,October 4 1962 , marked the première of the work. It was recorded forColumbia Masterworks Records five days later by its performers, theNew York Philharmonic conducted by Bernstein.Music
Schuman left a substantial body of work. His "eight symphonies, numbered Three through Ten", as he himself put it (the first two were withdrawn), continue to grow in stature. His concerto for violin (1947, rev. 1959) has been hailed as among his "most powerful works ... it could almost be considered a symphony for violin and orchestra." Other works include the "
New England Triptych " (1956, based on melodies byWilliam Billings ), the "American Festival Overture" (1939), the ballets "Undertow" (1945) and "Judith" (1949) (the latter written forMartha Graham ), the "Mail Order Madrigals" (1972) to texts from the 1897 Sears Roebuck catalog, and twooperas , "The Mighty Casey" (1953, based onErnest L. Thayer 's "Casey at the Bat"), which reflected his lifelong love of baseball, and "A Question of Taste" (1989, after a short story byRoald Dahl ). He also arrangedCharles Ives ' organ piece "Variations on "America" fororchestra in 1963, in which version it is better known. Another popular work by William Schuman is his "George Washington Bridge " (1950), for concert band.Works
Opera
*"The Mighty Casey" (1953, based on
Ernest L. Thayer 's "Casey at the Bat")
*"A Question of Taste" (1989, after a short story byRoald Dahl )Ballet
*"Undertow" (1945, written for
Antony Tudor )
*"Night Journey" (1947, written forMartha Graham )
*"Judith" (1949, written forMartha Graham )
*"Voyage for a Theatre" (1953, written forMartha Graham ; withdrawn)
*"The Witch of Endor" (1965, written forMartha Graham ; withdrawn)Orchestral
*Symphonies
**Symphony No. 1 (1935, withdrawn)
**Symphony No. 2 (1937, withdrawn)
**Symphony No. 3 (1941)
**Symphony No. 4 (1942)
**Symphony for Strings (Symphony No. 5) (1943)
**Symphony No. 6 (1948)
**Symphony No. 7 (1960)
**Symphony No. 8 (1962)
**Symphony No. 9 "Le fosse Ardeatine" (1968)
**Symphony No. 10 "The American Muse" (1975)
*"American Festival Overture" (1939)
*"Prayer in Time of War", originally titled "Prayer 1943" (1943)
*"Circus Overture (1944)
*"Credendum" (1955, commissioned by UNESCO)
*"New England Triptych " (1956, based on melodies byWilliam Billings )
*"In Praise of Shahn" (1969)
*"American Hymn" (1980)Concertante
*Piano Concerto (1943)
*Violin Concerto (1947, rev. 1959)
*"A Song of Orpheus", for cello and orchestra (1962)
*"To Thee Old Cause", for oboe and orchestra (1968)
*"Concerto on Old English Rounds", for viola, female chorus and orchestra (1974)
*"Three Colloquies", for horn and orchestra (1979)Vocal/Choral
*"Three Carols of Death" (1958, to texts by
Walt Whitman )
*"Mail Order Madrigals" (1972, to texts from the 1897 Sears Roebuck catalog)
*"The Young Dead Soldiers" (1975)
*"Time to the Old" (1980, to texts byArchibald MacLeish )
*"Perceptions" (1982, to texts byWalt Whitman )
*"On Freedom's Ground" (1985)Chamber/Instrumental
* String Quartet no.2 (1937)
* String Quartet no.3 (1939)
* String Quartet no.4 (1950)
* Voyage: a cycle of 5 pieces for piano (1953)
* Three Piano Moods (1958)
* Amaryllis: Variations for string trio (1964)
* American Hymn, for brass quintet (1980)
* Dances, for wind quintet and percussion (1985)
* String Quartet no.5 (1987)
* Chester: Variations for piano (1988)Band
* Newsreel, in Five Shots (1941)
* "George Washington Bridge " (1950)
* Chester Overture (1956) from New England Triptych
* When Jesus Wept (1958) from New England Triptych
* Philharmonic Fanfare (1965), unpubd [withdrawn]
* Dedication Fanfare (1968)
* Be Glad then, America (1975) from New England TriptychArrangements
*"Variations on "America", for orchestra (1963, arranged from Ives' organ piece with the same name)
External links
* [http://www.williamschuman.org/ The William Schuman Music Trust]
* [http://www.presser.com/Composers/info.cfm?Name=WILLIAMSCHUMAN William Schuman page at Presser Music]
* [http://catnyp.nypl.org/record=b2575620 William Schuman papers] in the [http://www.nypl.org/musicdiv Music Division] of [http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/lpa.html The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] .
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