Morton Gould (December 10, 1913 – February 21, 1996) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist.[1]
Morton Gould was born inRichmond Hill,New York, United States.[1] He was ofAustrian-Jewish heritage. He was recognized early as achild prodigy with abilities inimprovisation andcomposition. His first composition was published at age six. Gould studied at theInstitute of Musical Art in New York. His most important teachers wereAbby Whiteside and Vincent Jones.[2] Gould was a member ofPhi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
During theDepression, Gould, while a teenager, worked inNew York City playing piano inmovie theaters, as well as withvaudeville acts. WhenRadio City Music Hall opened in December 1932, 19 year old Gould was hired as the staff pianist. By 1935, he wasconducting and arranging orchestral programs for New York'sWOR radio station, where he reached a national audience via theMutual Broadcasting System, combining popular programming with classical music.
Gould led the orchestra forThe Jack Pearl Show, which was broadcast on NBC in the 1930s.[3]: 170 In the 1940s, Gould appeared on theCresta Blanca Carnival[3] radio program,Keep 'Em Rolling,[3]: 189 andMajor Bowes' Shower of Stars,[3]: 213 as well asThe Chrysler Hour onCBS, where he reached an audience of millions. In 1942, he composed music for the short filmRing of Steel, directed byGarson Kanin and produced by the Film Unit of the U.S.Office for Emergency Management. In 1943, he was hired by the William H. Weintraub advertising agency as its musical director, believed to be the first position of its kind in the advertising field.[4]
In 1936, Gould married Shirley Uzin, and lived in apartment with her and her sister on Austin Street inForest Hills, Queens. The marriage ended in divorce in 1943, and Gould moved into an apartment on nearby 78th Avenue with his brother, Walter Gould, adjacent toFlushing Meadows-Corona Park. In the following year, Gould married Shirley Bank.[5][6] This marriage, too, ended in divorce.[7]
Gould had four children with Shirley Bank. On February 16, 1945, their son Eric was born.[6] Their second son David was born on March 2, 1947.[8] Their first daughter, Abby, was born on February 3, 1950,[8] and, on December 21, 1954, their second daughter Deborah was born.[8]
Gould composedBroadway scores such asBillion Dollar Baby andArms and the Girl;film music such asDelightfully Dangerous,Cinerama Holiday, andWindjammer; music for television series such asWorld War One and the miniseriesHolocaust; andballet scores includingInterplay,Fall River Legend, andI'm Old Fashioned.[1]
Gould's music was commissioned bysymphony orchestras all over the United States and was also commissioned by theLibrary of Congress,The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, theAmerican Ballet Theatre, and theNew York City Ballet. His ability to seamlessly combine multiple musical genres into formal classical structure, while maintaining their distinctive elements, was unsurpassed, and Gould received three commissions for theUnited States Bicentennial.
As a conductor, Gould led all of the major American orchestras as well as those ofCanada,Mexico,Europe,Japan, andAustralia.[9] With his own orchestra, he recorded many classical standards, includingGershwin'sRhapsody in Blue, on which he also played the piano. Gould arranged and conducted instrumental music from many genres (classical, light classics, "pops", Broadway, jazz standards, and Latin American) on dozens of LP record albums for major record labels (oftenRCA Victor), usually credited to Morton Gould and his Orchestra. He won aGrammy Award in 1966 for his recording ofCharles Ives' first symphony, with theChicago Symphony Orchestra.[10] In 1983, Gould received theAmerican Symphony Orchestra League's Gold Baton Award. In 1986 he was elected to theAmerican Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
For many decades Gould was an active member ofASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers). He sat on its board from 1959 and served as president from 1986 until 1994.[2] During his tenure, he lobbied for the intellectual rights of performing artists as the internet was becoming a force that would greatly affect ASCAP's members.
Incorporating new styles into his repertoire as they emerged, Gould incorporated wildly disparate elements, including arappingnarrator in a work titled "The Jogger and the Dinosaur," American tap dancing in his "Tap Dance Concerto" for dancer and orchestra, and a singingfire department titled "Hosedown"—commissioned works for the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony. In 1993, his work "Ghost Waltzes" was commissioned for the ninthVan Cliburn International Piano Competition. In the same year, he received theEl PremioBillboard for his contributions toLatin music in the United States.[11] In 1994, Gould received theKennedy Center Honor in recognition of lifetime contributions toAmerican culture.
In 1995, Gould was awarded thePulitzer Prize for Music forStringmusic, a composition commissioned by theNational Symphony Orchestra in recognition of the final season of directorMstislav Rostropovich.[1] In 2005, he was honored with theGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also was a member of the board of theAmerican Symphony Orchestra League and of theNational Endowment for the Arts music panel.Gould's originalmanuscripts, personal papers and other pertinent pieces are archived in the Library of Congress and available to the public.[12]
Gould died on February 21, 1996, in Orlando, Florida,[1] where he was the first resident guest composer/conductor at theDisney Institute and was in the middle of a three-day tribute honoring his music. He was 82 years old.[2]
Billboard also honored Gould with its first "El Premio Billboard" award for his contribution to the growth of Latin music in the U.S.
Gould premiered "American Salute" on radio on "Cresta Blanca Carnival," on NBC, November 11, 1942
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