William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910 – February 15, 1992) was an American composer andarts administrator.
Schuman was born into aJewish family inManhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. president,William Howard Taft, though his family preferred to call him Bill. Schuman played theviolin andbanjo as a child, but his overwhelming passion was baseball. He attendedTemple Shaaray Tefila as a child.[1] While still in high school, he formed adance band, "Billy Schuman and his Alamo Society Orchestra", that played local weddings and bar mitzvahs in which Schuman played string bass.
In 1928 he enteredNew 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. Around that time, Schuman met lyricistFrank Loesser 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 attended aCarnegie Hall concert of theNew York Philharmonic, conducted byArturo Toscanini.[citation needed] According to the Philharmonic's archives, the program included works byBrahms,Mendelssohn,Castelnuovo-Tedesco andSmetana.[2] 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."[This quote needs a citation]
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. In 1935, he received a M.A. degree in music education fromTeachers College atColumbia University. Harris brought Schuman to the attention of theconductorSerge Koussevitzky, who championed many of his works and conducted Schuman's Symphony No. 2 in 1939. Possibly Schuman's best known symphony, theSymphony 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.[3]
Schuman won the inauguralPulitzer Prize for Music in 1943 for hisCantata No. 2. A Free Song,[4] adapted from poems byWalt Whitman. From 1935 to 1945, he taught composition atSarah Lawrence College. In 1945, he became president of theJuilliard School, founding theJuilliard String Quartet while there. He left in 1961 to succeedJohn D. Rockefeller III as president ofLincoln Center, a position he held until 1969. In 1971, Schuman was awarded TheEdward MacDowell Medal byThe MacDowell Colony for outstanding contributions to American culture.[5] He won aspecial Pulitzer Prize in 1985 citing "more than half a century of contribution to American music as composer and educational leader"[6] and he received theNational Medal of Arts in 1987.[7]
He died atLenox Hill Hospital in New York City at age 81, following hip surgery. Schuman was survived by his wife Frances (they married in 1936); two children, Anthony William and Andrea Frances; and one grandchild.[8][9]
Schuman left a substantial body of work. His "eightsymphonies, numbered Three through Ten", as he himself put it (the first two were withdrawn), continue to grow in stature. Hisconcerto 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 theNew England Triptych (1956, based on melodies byWilliam Billings), theAmerican Festival Overture (1939), theballetsUndertow (1945) andJudith (1949) (the latter written forMartha Graham), theMail Order Madrigals (1972) to texts from the 1897Sears Roebuck catalog, and twooperas,The Mighty Casey (1953, based onErnest Thayer's "Casey at the Bat"), which reflected his lifelong love of baseball, andA Question of Taste (1989, after a short story byRoald Dahl). He alsoarrangedCharles Ives'organ pieceVariations on "America" fororchestra in 1963, in which version it is better known. Another popular work by William Schuman is hisGeorge Washington Bridge (1950), for concert band.
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William Schuman appeared as the opening guest on theCBS game show,What's My Line? on September 30, 1962 (episode No. 632).[10] 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, "How about music?" Schuman replied, "How about it, what's the question?" When asked if he wasLeonard Bernstein, Schuman replied, "I'm his friend." When asked if he wasRudolf Bing, Schuman repeated, "I'm his friend", prompting Francis to wonder who was not his friend. When asked if he had ever sung 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 (nowDavid Geffen 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.
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