Role

:

Composer Conductor  

Country

:

United States of America

Birth

:

November 22, 1925 in Queens, NY

Death

:

June 21, 2015 in Boston, MA

Genre

:

Chamber

 

 

Keyboard

 

 

Orchestral

 

Gunther Schuller was a renowned American composer, conductor, and music educator who made significant contributions to the world of classical music. He was born on November 22, 1925, in New York City to German immigrant parents. His father was a violinist and conductor, and his mother was a singer and pianist. Schuller grew up in a musical household and began playing the piano at a young age. Schuller's musical education began at the age of seven when he started taking piano lessons. He later learned to play the French horn and the trumpet. He attended the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, where he studied composition with Edgar Varèse and Vincent Persichetti. He also studied conducting with Serge Koussevitzky at the Tanglewood Music Center. Schuller's early compositions were influenced by the Second Viennese School, particularly the music of Arnold Schoenberg. He was also interested in jazz and began incorporating elements of jazz into his compositions. In 1957, he coined the term "Third Stream" to describe music that combined elements of classical music and jazz. One of Schuller's most significant works is his Symphony for Brass and Percussion, which he composed in 1950. The piece is scored for 12 brass instruments and four percussion instruments and is notable for its use of polytonality and complex rhythms. The Symphony for Brass and Percussion was premiered by the New York Philharmonic in 1951 and has since become a staple of the brass repertoire. In 1959, Schuller composed his Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee, a work for chamber ensemble that was inspired by the paintings of the Swiss artist Paul Klee. The piece is scored for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion and is notable for its use of serialism and jazz elements. The Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee was premiered by the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble in 1960 and has since become a classic of the contemporary chamber music repertoire. Schuller's interest in jazz led him to collaborate with some of the most prominent jazz musicians of his time. In 1957, he wrote the score for the film The Connection, which featured a jazz score performed by a group of musicians led by pianist Freddie Redd. Schuller also worked with jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, arranging and conducting the music for Davis's album Birth of the Cool. In addition to his work as a composer, Schuller was also a respected conductor. He served as the principal conductor of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1991 and was the artistic director of the Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood from 1963 to 1984. He also conducted many of the world's leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Schuller was also a prolific writer and music educator. He wrote several books on music, including The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 and Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. He also taught at several universities, including the New England Conservatory of Music and the Yale School of Music. In 1994, Schuller was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his work Of Reminiscences and Reflections, a piece for jazz ensemble and orchestra. The piece was commissioned by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and premiered in 1993. Schuller continued to compose and perform music well into his later years. He died on June 21, 2015, at the age of 89.

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