William schuman biography
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He left in 1961 to succeed John D. Rockefeller IIIas president of Lincoln Center, a position he held until 1969. And though he never enjoyed consistent critical acclaim or the full acceptance of academic composers, Schuman's music has been studied in scholarly dissertations--perhaps the ultimate mark of legitimacy. The premiere was conducted by Antal Dorati.
His tenth and final symphony, entitled, American Muse, was composed in 1975 as a commission from the National Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the American Bicentennial. With the reclamation of tonality toward the latter part of the twentieth century and the emergence of "neo-romanticism," those composers who never strayed far from the tonal path or its genres may have been vindicated, but they received little credit.
Schuman did, however, achieve a certain stature in the public consciousness.
G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1982. Commenting on his Symphony No. 10, he stated, "I trust that the music emerges as an expression of affirmation."
Much of William Schuman's music reflects his advocacy of the communicative aspect of the artistic experience between the artist and his/her audience. It was in the Alamo Society Band that he began composing music.
He was named after the 27th U.S. president, William Howard Taft, though his family preferred to call him Bill. American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary. Two other popular works by for concert band were George Washington Bridge and Chester for concert band. Looking back, he once told an interviewer, "Had I been a better catcher, I might never have been a musician." Yet there was a powerful appeal in the growing popularity of jazz in the 1920s, and the young man was gradually drawn to musical pursuits.
Schuman used his considerable administrative talents to organize a jazz band.
Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. Thereafter, honors and awards came from all directions, and his music was widely performed.
In 1945 Schuman left Sarah Lawrence to join music publisher G. Schirmer as director of publications.
Schuman took violin lessons, albeit reluctantly, and his family often amused themselves by playing music together--a common form of domestic recreation in the early part of the century. William Schuman: a bio-bibliography. Education : Attended New York University School of Commerce, 1928-30; studied harmony with Max Persin; studied counterpoint with Charles Haubiel; attended summer courses at Juilliard, 1932, 1933; studied conducting at Salzburg Mozarteum, 1935; Columbia University Teachers College, B.S., 1935, M.A., 1937, Mus.D., 1954; studied composition with Roy Harris, 1936-38.
He was fortunate to have been one of the few modern American composers whose works were--and still are--published, performed, recorded, and broadcast. Harris's influence is apparent in much of Schuman's symphonic writing, especially in the expansive orchestration and use of the elegiac "endless melody" over a slowly treading background. To replace the old theory department, he developed a four-year course of study called the "Literature and Materials of Music," which combined music theory, history, and composition in an attempt to produce enlightened, well-rounded musicians.
The program included works by Wagner, Kodály, and Schumann. In The Juilliard Report, he wrote, "It is our responsibility to help the student to see the music of any given period in the light of its own social, political, and cultural climate ...
Life
Born in the Bronx in New 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). This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution.