William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American
composerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and music administrator.
Life
Born in
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in New York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president,
William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, although his family preferred to call him Bill. Schuman played the
violinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and
banjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
as a child, but his overwhelming passion was baseball. While still in high school, he formed a
dance bandDance band can be one of several kinds of musical ensemble:* British dance band* Dansband, a Swedish pop genre* A Eurodance band...
, "Billy Schuman and his Alamo Society Orchestra", that played local weddings and bar mitzvahs in which Schuman played string bass.
In 1928 he entered
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
'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 lyricist
Frank LoesserFrank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
and wrote some forty songs with him. 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 a
Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
concert of the
New York PhilharmonicThe New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, conducted by
Arturo ToscaniniArturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
. The program included works by
WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
,
KodályZoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
, and
SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
. 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
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
at the Malkin Conservatory with Max Persin and Charles Haubiel. From 1933 to 1938 he studied privately with
Roy HarrisRoy Ellsworth Harris , was an American composer. He wrote much music on American subjects, becoming best known for his Symphony No...
. In 1935, Schuman received his B.S. degree in Music Education from
Teachers CollegeTeachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...
at
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Harris brought Schuman to the attention of the
conductorConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
Serge KoussevitzkySerge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
, 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 MusicThe Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year...
for his
cantataA cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
,
A Free Song, adapted from poems by
Walt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
. From 1935 to 1945, he taught composition at
Sarah Lawrence CollegeSarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
. In 1945, he became president of the Juilliard School of Music, founding the
Juilliard String QuartetThe Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York. The original members were violinists Robert Mann and Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd; Current members are Joseph Lin and Ronald Copes violinists,...
while there. He left in 1961 to become the first president of Lincoln Center, a position he held until 1969. In 1987, he was awarded the
National Medal of ArtsThe National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
.
He was a National Patron of
Delta OmicronDelta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
, an international professional music fraternity.
Music
Schuman left a substantial body of work. His "eight
symphoniesA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, numbered Three through Ten", as he himself put it (the first two were withdrawn), continue to grow in stature. His
concertoA violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
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 TriptychNew England Triptych is a symphonic composition by William Schuman. The work lasts about 16 minutes, and is written for an orchestra of 3 flutes , 2 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion , and...
(1956, based on melodies by
William BillingsWilliam Billings was an American choral composer, and is widely regarded as the father of American choral music...
), the
American Festival Overture (1939), the
balletsBallet as a music form progressed from simply a complement to dance, to a concrete compositional form that often had as much value as the dance that went along with it. The dance form, originating in France during the 17th century, began as a theatrical dance. It was not until the 19th century that...
Undertow (1945) and
Judith (1949) (the latter written for
Martha GrahamMartha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
), the
Mail Order Madrigals (1972) to texts from the 1897
Sears RoebuckSears Holdings Corporation is a retail conglomerate formed in 2005 by the merger of Sears, Roebuck and Co., of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, with Kmart Holdings Corporation, of Troy, Michigan...
catalog, and two operas,
The Mighty Casey (1953, based on Ernest L. Thayer's
Casey at the Bat), which reflected his lifelong love of baseball, and
A Question of Taste (1989, after a short story by
Roald DahlRoald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
). He also
arrangedThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
Charles IvesCharles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
'
organThe organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
piece
Variations on "America" for
orchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
in 1963, in which version it is better known. Another popular work by William Schuman is his
George Washington Bridge (1950), for concert band.
Television appearance
William Schuman appeared as the opening guest on the
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
game show,
What's My Line?What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
on September 30, 1962 (episode No. 632). Because of his recognizability, panel members
Dorothy KilgallenDorothy Mae Kilgallen was an American journalist and television game show panelist. She started her career early as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal after spending only two semesters at The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, New York...
,
Martin GabelMartin Gabel was an American actor, film director and film producer.-Life and career:Gabel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ruth and Israel Gabel, who was a jeweler...
,
Arlene FrancisArlene Francis was an American actress, radio talk show host, and game show panelist...
, and
Bennett CerfBennett Alfred Cerf was a publisher and co-founder of Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his television appearances in the panel game show What's My Line?.-Biography:Bennett 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 was
Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Schuman replied, "He's a friend." When asked if he was Rudolf Bing, Schuman repeated, "He's a friend," prompting Francis to wonder who was not his friend. When asked if he had ever sung for the
Metropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, Schuman said, "Often desired to, never invited." Cerf identified him after host
John Charles DalyJohn Charles Patrick Croghan Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly (generally known as John Charles Daly or simply John Daly (February 20, 1914 – February 24, 1991) was an American journalist, game show host and radio personality, probably best known for hosting...
had flipped over all the cards. Daly announced that Schuman's Eighth Symphony would be performed at Philharmonic Hall (now
Avery Fisher HallAvery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
) the following Thursday, which date, October 4, 1962, marked the première of the work. It was recorded for
Columbia Masterworks RecordsColumbia Masterworks Records was a record label started in 1927 by Columbia Records.It was intended for releases of classical music and artists, as opposed to popular music, which bore the regular Columbia logo. Masterworks Records' first release, in 1927, was a complete performance of the...
five days later by its performers, the
New York PhilharmonicThe New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
conducted by Bernstein.
Opera
- The Mighty Casey (1953, based on Ernest L. Thayer's Casey at the Bat
"Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888" is a baseball poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer. First published in The San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888, it was later popularized by DeWolf Hopper in many vaudeville performances.The poem was originally published...
)
- A Question of Taste (1989, after a short story by Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
)
Ballet
- Undertow (1945, written for Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
)
- Night Journey (1947, written for Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
)
- Judith (1949, written for Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
)
- Voyage for a Theatre (1953, written for Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
; withdrawn)
- The Witch of Endor (1965, written for Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
; withdrawn)
Orchestral
- Symphonies
- Symphony No. 1 (1935; withdrawn)
- Symphony No. 2 (1937; withdrawn)
- Symphony No. 3
American composer William Schuman's Symphony no. 3 was completed on January 11, 1941, and premiered on October 17 of that year by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitsky, to whom it is dedicated.-Instrumentation:...
(1941)
- Symphony No. 4 (1941)
- 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 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
New England Triptych is a symphonic composition by William Schuman. The work lasts about 16 minutes, and is written for an orchestra of 3 flutes , 2 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion , and...
(1956, based on melodies by William BillingsWilliam Billings was an American choral composer, and is widely regarded as the father of American choral music...
)
- In Praise of Shahn (1969)
- American Hymn (1980)
- Showcase: A Short Display for Orchestra (1986)
Concertante
- Piano Concerto (1942)
- Violin Concerto (1947; 1st rev., 1954; 2nd rev. 1957–8)
- 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 (1973)
- Three Colloquies, for horn and orchestra (1979)
Vocal/Choral
- Prelude for Voices (1939, to texts by Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
)
- Orpheus with His Lute (1944, to a text by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
)
- Five Rounds on Famous Words (1956/69)
- Carols of Death (1958, to texts by Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
)
- Mail Order Madrigals (1972, to texts from the 1897 Sears Roebuck
Sears Holdings Corporation is a retail conglomerate formed in 2005 by the merger of Sears, Roebuck and Co., of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, with Kmart Holdings Corporation, of Troy, Michigan...
catalog)
- The Young Dead Soldiers (1975, to a text by Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...
)
- Time to the Old (1980, to texts by Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...
)
- Perceptions (1982, to texts by Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
)
- Esses (1982)
- On Freedom's Ground (1985, to texts by Richard Wilbur
Richard Purdy Wilbur is an American poet and literary translator. He was appointed the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987, and twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1957 and again in 1989....
)
Chamber/Instrumental
- String Quartet no. 1 (1935; withdrawn)
- 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)
- In Sweet Music, Serenade on a setting of Shakespeare for flute, viola, voice and harp (1978)
- 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
New England Triptych is a symphonic composition by William Schuman. The work lasts about 16 minutes, and is written for an orchestra of 3 flutes , 2 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion , and...
- When Jesus Wept (1958) from New England Triptych
New England Triptych is a symphonic composition by William Schuman. The work lasts about 16 minutes, and is written for an orchestra of 3 flutes , 2 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion , and...
- Philharmonic Fanfare (1965), unpubd [withdrawn]
- Dedication Fanfare (1968)
- Be Glad then, America (1975) from New England Triptych
New England Triptych is a symphonic composition by William Schuman. The work lasts about 16 minutes, and is written for an orchestra of 3 flutes , 2 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion , and...
Arrangements
- Circus Overture, for band, arr. Don Owen (originally for orchestra--1944)
- Variations on "America", for orchestra (1963, arranged from Ives's organ piece with the same name)
External links