William Schuman

William Howard Schuman (born August 4, 1910 in New York City , † February 15, 1992 there ) was an American composer .

Life

Born in the New York Bronx, Schuman played the violin and banjo as a child . As a young man he founded a dance orchestra and wrote songs with his friend Frank Loesser . For a time he studied at the School of Commerce of New York University , the study broke off but to study music instead. Roy Harris was one of his teachers . Harris made the conductor Sergei Alexandrowitsch Kussewizki aware of Schuman; he stood up for many of his works.

In 1943 he won the new Pulitzer Prize for Music with his cantata A Free Song . In 1945 he became president of the Juilliard School of Music and during this time co-founded the Juilliard String Quartet . In 1961 he gave up this post to take over the management of Lincoln Center . Also in 1961 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . Since 1946 he was an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

plant

Schuman's better-known works include some of his 10 symphonies (the first two withdrawn), a violin concerto, the William Billings Overture and New England Triptych (both based on melodies by William Billings ), the American Festival Overture , the ballet Undertow , and an opera about it Baseball, The Mighty Casey (based on Ernest Thayer's Casey at the Bat). He also arranged Charles Ives ' organ piece Variations on America for orchestra, which is mostly played in this version today. George Washington Bridge for concert band and a version of the Austrian song "Zur Feier" (joke canon about the orchestra's instruments) for orchestra with the title "The Orchestra Song" are also played frequently.

List of works (selection)

Orchestral works

• Symphony No. 1, 1935, withdrawn
• Symphony No. 2, 1937, withdrawn
• Symphony No. 3, 1941
• Symphony No. 4, 1941
• Symphony No. 5, for string orchestra, 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, original title "Prayer 1943", 1943
• William Billings Overture, 1943
• Newsrell (in Five Shots), 1941, also with reduced instrumentation
• Circus Overture, 1944
• Variations on a Theme by Eugene Goossens, for string orchestra, 1944
• Credendum (Article of Faith) commissioned by UNESCO, 1955
• New England Triptych, based on Melodies by William Billings, 1956
• The Orchestra Song, a version of the Austrian song "Zur Feier" (joke canon about the orchestra's instruments), 1963
• Philharmonic Fanfare, 1965, withdrawn
• In Praise of Shahn, 1969
• Anniversary Fanfare, for wind instruments and percussion, 1969
• Voyage, 1972
• Amaryllis, Variants for Strings on an Old English Round, 1976
• Showcase, A short Display, 1986

Concerts

• Piano concerto, 1938–42, premiered in 1943
• Violin Concerto, 1947, rev. 1959
• A Song of Orpheus, for cello and orchestra, 1961
• To Thee Old Cause, for oboe and orchestra, 1968
• Concerto on Old English Rounds, for viola, female choir and orchestra, 1974
• Three Colloquies, for horn and orchestra, 1979

Concert band

• George Washington Bridge, 1950
• Chester Overture, from New England Triptych, 1956
• When Jesus Wept, from New England Triptych, 1958
• Dedication Fanfare, 1968
• Be Glad then, America, from New England Triptych, 1975
• American Hymn, orchestral variations on an original melody, 1980

Vocal music

• Prologue, text by Genevieve Taggard , for mixed choir and orchestra, 1939
• This is our Time, Secular Cantata No. 1 for mixed choir and orchestra, text by Genevieve Taggard, 1940
• Requiescat, wordless for female choir and piano, 1942
• A Free Song, based on a poem by Walt Whitman, for mixed choir and orchestra, 1942
• Te Deum, for mixed choir a cappella, 1944
• Carols of Death, for a cappella choir, based on a text by Walt Whitman, 1958
• Declaration chorale, for mixed choir a cappella, text by Walt Whitman, 1971
• Mail Order Madrigals, based on texts from the Sears-Roebuck catalog of 1897, 1972
• "The Young Dead Soldier", lamentation for soprano, horn, 8 wind instruments and 9 strings, text by Archibald McLeish, 1975
• Casey at the Bat, baseball cantata from the opera "The Mighty Casey", for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra, 1976
• Time to the Old, text by Archibald McLeish, 1980
• "Esses", small suite for singers starting with an "S", for mixed choir a cappella, 1982
• Perceptions, text by Walt Whitman, 1983
• "On Freedoms Ground", American cantata for baritone, choir and orchestra, text by Richard Wilbur, 1985
• "Lets hear is for Lenny!", Variations on "New York, New York", one of eight entries in "A Bernstein Birthday Bouquet", 1988

Opera

• The Mighty Casey, opera in 3 scenes, based on Ernest L. Thayer's "Casey at the Bat", 1953
• A Question of Taste, opera in 1 act, text by JD McClatchy based on the short story "Taste" by Roald Dahl, 1988

Chamber music

• String Quartet No. 1, 1935, withdrawn
• String Quartet No. 2, 1937
• String Quartet No. 3, 1939
• String Quartet No. 4, 1950
• String Quartet No. 5, 1987
• Quartettino for 4 bassoons, 1939
• Voyage: A cycle of 5 piano pieces, 1953
• Three Piano Moods, 1958
• Amaryllis, Variations for String Trio, 1964
• In Sweet Music, Serenade based on a setting by Shakespeare for flute, viola, voice and harp, 1978
• XXV Opera Snatches, for trumpet in Bb solo, 1978
• American hymn for brass quintet, 1980
• Dances for wind quintet and percussion, 1985
• Awake, Thou wintry earth, for violin and piano, 1986
• Chester. Variations for piano, 1988

ballet

• Undertow, written for Antony Tudor, 1945
• Night Journey, written for Martha Graham, 1947
• Judith, written for Martha Graham, 1949
• Voyage for a Theater, written for Martha Graham, 1953, withdrawn
• The Witch of Endor, written for Martha Graham, 1965, withdrawn

Arrangements

• Variations on "America" ​​for orchestra, arrangement of the organ piece of the same name by Charles Ives , 1963

literature

• Joseph W. Polisi: American muse. The life and times of William Schuman. Amadeus Press, New York NY 2008, ISBN 978-1-574-67173-5 .

Web links

• Literature by and about William Schuman in the catalog of the German National Library
• The William Schuman Music Trust

Individual evidence

1. ^ Members: William Schuman. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 24, 2019 (with information on awards).