The Music Of William Schuman Vincent Persichetti And Peter Mennin

William Schuman, Vincent Persichetti, and Peter Mennin were three of the most significant American composers of the 20th century, yet their music has largely disappeared from view since their respective deaths. Because they each spent the majority of their careers working at the Juilliard School and Lincoln Center, their music is often viewed as "interchangeable." In The Music of William Schuman, Vincent Persichetti, and Peter Mennin: Voices of Stone and Steel, Walter Simmons provides a thorough examination of the lives and work of these artists, clarifying their considerable individuality both as composers and as human beings. The book begins with a comprehensive introduction summarizing the conventional view of the history of American music, while noting the marginalization of traditionalist composers—those who preferred to work with the musical forms and developmental principles on which the body of Western classical music is based. In the chapters that follow, each composer is presented through a brief overview and a biographical essay, followed by a general description of his style. Extensively researched and including detailed discussions and insights, the sections include lists of the composer's "most representative, fully realized works" and then provide systematic overviews of most or all of their compositions, giving the reader a general understanding of the artist and his work. The overviews contain a description of each composition, information concerning first performance and first recording, excerpts from reviews as well as Simmons' own critical assessment of each, and a statement of its place within the composer's output as a whole. A selected bibliography and essential discography follows at the end of each chapter.

"Here is the remarkable story of a New Yorker who heard his first orchestral concert at the age of 20, ten years later received the first award given by the New York Music Critics' Circle for a symphony, and five years after that was appointed president of one of the largest music conservatories in the world. It is the story of a man who suddenly found that what he wanted more than anything else was to compose music that would endure and who crammed into a few short years as much study as many composers require a third of a lifetime for. But William Schuman is not only one of the most distinguished composers this country has produced. He is an eminent educator, a first-rate administrator, and a powerful, progressive force in the creative and educational aspects of musical life in America. How Schuman rose from an unknown youth who supplied material for night-club acts to his present high position is told in these pages. The book also contains a sound and penetrating study of Schuman's music that examines every aspect of his style and analyzes in detail several of his most representative compositions."--Jacket

Vincent Persichetti: Grazioso, Grit, and Gold is the first critical biography of the esteemed American composer, bringing together scholarly work and short contributed essays of prominent performers. Andrea Olmstead weaves a captivating narrative of the composer from his early life to his musical activities at Juilliard and death in 1987.

(Meredith Music Resource). This sourcebook was created to aid directors and teachers in finding the information they need and expand their general knowledge. The resources were selected from hundreds of published and on-line sources found in journals, magazines, music company catalogs and publications, numerous websites, doctoral dissertations, graduate theses, encyclopedias, various databases, and a great many books. Information was also solicited from outstanding college/university/school wind band directors and instrumental teachers. The information is arranged in four sections: Section 1 General Resources About Music Section 2 Specific Resources Section 3 Use of Literature Section 4 Library Staffing and Management

William Howard Schuman, a celebrated figure in 20th-century music, was a composer and a copious writer on music and music education. Early on, as a composer, he received the attention of several musicians and writers such as Nathan Broder, Elliott Carter, and Leonard Bernstein. He was the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the New York Music Critics Circle Award. After teaching at Sarah Lawrence College from 1935 to 1945 and serving as president of the Juilliard School from 1945 to 1962, Schuman assumed the presidency of Lincoln Center, where he successfully implemented that institution's artistic programs. Schuman, who composed in several genres, is perhaps best known for his orchestral compositions and choral music. This reference work provides a biography and a thorough catalog and guide to Schuman's writings and compositions and to the current research available on this gifted and multi-talented musician. An invaluable resource to music scholars interested in William Schuman's career, five sections provide accessible detailed information: a biography, works and performances, discography, bibliography, and bibliography of writings by Schuman. The biography traces Schuman's life and career with an emphasis on illustrating his compositional activity. The bibliography includes books, dissertations, articles, and reviews that chronicle Schuman's activities from his days as a young composer to his death in 1992. An author index, index of compositions, and general index complete this in-depth reference on William Schuman.

In Neoclassical Music in America: Voices of Clarity and Restrain, music reviewer and scholar, R. James Tobin explores the origins and fate of neoclassicism, arguing how efforts to define musical neoclassicism as a style largely fail because of the stylistic diversity of the music that fall within its scope. Tobin surveys the careers of various figures, drawing especially on early reviews of performances before offering his own critical assessment of individual works. His examination includes such European influencers, as Igor Stravinsky, Paul Hindemith, and Nadia Boulanger, before he turns his attention to Edward Burlingame Hill, Walter Piston, Harold Shapero, Irving Fine, early Lukas Foss, Alexei Haieff, Ingolf Dahl, Louise Talma, John Lessard, Nicolai Lopatnikoff, and Aaron Rabushka

Winner of the ASCAP Nicolas Slonimsky Award for Outstanding Musical Biography The musical landscape of New York City and the United States of America would look quite different had it not been for William Schuman. Orpheus in Manhattan, a fully objective and comprehensive biography of Schuman, portrays a man who had a profound influence upon the artistic and political institutions of his day and beyond. Steve Swayne draws heavily upon Schuman's letters, writings, and manuscripts as well as unprecedented access to archival recordings and previously unknown correspondence. The winner of the first Pulitzer Prize in Music, Schuman composed music that is rhythmically febrile, harmonically pungent, melodically long-breathed, and timbrally brilliant, and Swayne offers an astute analysis of his work, including many unpublished music scores. Swayne also describes Schuman's role as president of the Juilliard School of Music and of Lincoln Center, tracing how he both expanded the boundaries of music education and championed the performing arts. Filled with new discoveries and revisions of the received historical narrative, Orpheus in Manhattan confirms Schuman as a major figure in America's musical life.

The book provides a historical survey of the wind band’s music and denotes how historical and cultural developments have influenced it over the course of time. Although the modern wind band developed first in the 19th century, it has its roots in the wind music of ancient times, and music survives that has been composed since the Middle Ages. Therefore, this book covers the music from that time to the present, including the dance music of the Renaissance, the Harmoniemusik of the Classical Period, and the nationalistic music of the Romantic Period, as well as the major wind band repertoire developed after 1900.