William Howard Schuman was born in New York City on August 4, 1910, the second child of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He began to study the violin as a young boy and later played a number of other instruments as well. His broad musical interests ranged form his own jazz band and the school orchestra to family evenings singing operetta and musical comedy excerpts as well as "semiclassics." On his own, he wrote some original popular songs. But music definitely took second place to Schuman’s all-consuming passion, baseball. Looking back on his youth, he would later claim that baseball was the main focus of his early years.
In 1928, Schuman entered New York University to prepare for a business degree at the School of Commerce, while at the same time working for an advertising agency. He continued to collaborate on pop songs with E.B. Marks, Jr., an old friend from summer camp, and also created some forty songs with lyricist Frank Loesser, a neighbor who was also at the beginning of his career. Loesser’s first publication, in fact, was a song with music by Schuman. Together they wrote many songs for radio, vaudeville, and nightclub acts. In April 1930, having attended (albeit unwillingly) his first professional symphony orchestra concert, Schuman suddenly realized that baseball, business, and popular music must be relegated to subsidiary positions (but never forgotten) in favor of composing "classical" or concert music.
Realizing that extensive training would be necessary to reach his goals, Schuman withdrew from new York University to study harmony with Max Persin and to hear as many concerts and operas as he could. He began counterpoint lessons with Charles Haubiel and at The Juilliard School attended summer courses in orchestration with Adolf Schmid and harmony with Bernard Wagenaar. Two years at Teachers College of Columbia University not only earned Schuman a B.S. in music education (1935), but also set him thinking about the current state of music education and how strongly he felt the need to reform and improve it.
In the fall of 1935, Schuman settled into his first teaching position, at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, N.Y., where he remained on the faculty for a decade. Highlights of his life during these years were his marriage to Frances ("Frankie") Prince on March 27, 1936, sporadic composition studies with Roy Harris, an M.A. from Columbia University (1937), and the first successful public performances of his music. Although Schuman later withdrew several of his earliest efforts, it was these orchestral and chamber compositions that generated his first prizes and commissions. His Symphony No. 2 came to the attention of Aaron Copland, who wrote in Modern Music(May, 1938): "Schuman is, as far as I am concerned, the musical find of the year. There is nothing puny or miniature about this young man’s talent."
In 1944, G. Schirmer, Inc. appointed Schuman Director of Publications. He began work there even before leaving the Sarah Lawrence faculty and continued to serve Schirmer as Special Publications Consultant after moving in 1945 to his next post, the presidency of The Juilliard School. During the 1940s Schuman received his first honorary doctorates, became the father of a son and daughter, and was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize ever given in the field of musical composition. In spite of the heavy demands of his Juilliard presidency — into which he threw himself wholeheartedly, making essential and lasting improvements in the school — he remained first and foremost a composer. Schuman is a rarity among composers in that he was always able to balance his creative endeavors with administrative duties, classroom teaching, writing, public service, consultancy work, and public speaking.
Schuman was clearly fond of public speaking, an activity at which he had always triumphed. In 1961, Harold C. Schonberg wrote of him in The New York Times Magazine "the man can speak with the fervor, hypnotism and eloquence of Gielgud on one of his better days." Schonberg further stated, in the words of an awed observer, "he is by far the most brilliant off-the-cuff speaker in America." In one BMI brochure, Oliver Daniel claimed that Schuman "possesses in abundance the intellectual agility and personality quotient that stamp a man ‘presidential caliber.’" Indeed, Schuman was a man of multiple talents and boundless energy who accomplished in his long career what might have been achieved in the lifetimes of four or five ordinary mortals.
As Juilliard president, Schuman convinced the planners of Lincoln Center that the School should become one of its constituent organizations. It was not long before the Lincoln Center board of directors named him to preside over the entire complex. Schuman’s tenure as president of Lincoln Center began in January, 1962, months before the official opening of Philharmonic Hall [as Avery Fisher Hall was then known], the first completed building. He guided the growth of Lincoln Center, establishing both the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. During this time, he continued to add to his own catalogue of compositions. In 1968, Schuman suffered a heart attack, and while recuperating, took stock of his personal and professional priorities. His ultimate decision was that he should forgo major administrative posts, and therefore would resign from Lincoln Center. Effective January 1, 1969, he was named President Emeritus, as he had earlier been designated by the Juilliard School.
This change was far from a retirement, but not having a full-time position allowed Schuman more freedom to compose and still participate in the dozens of organizations he served as consultant, officer, board member or advisor. Schuman was never one just to donate his name to a cause or a letterhead, but always believed in working for any foundation, school corporation, or agency with which he was connected. For four decades he provided invaluable direction to the BMI Student Composer Awards. First as a founder, then as chairman of the judging panel, and finally as chairman emeritus, Schuman was a guiding light and an inspiration for over 350 student composer award winners; his interest in their training, accomplishments, and styles of composition never waned.
Amid all Schuman’s awards, honors, prizes, and glowing reviews, perhaps what he treasured most were the strongly supportive opinions of his colleagues. Aaron Copland, when presenting Schuman with the MacDowell Colony Medal in 1971, said:
… In Schuman’s pieces you have the feeling that only an American could have written them … You hear it in his orchestration, which is full of snap and brilliance. You hear it in the kind of American optimism which is at the basis of his music.
Schuman’s impressive catalogue of works is especially rich in orchestral, band, and choral music. He continued the strong American symphonic tradition of such predecessors as Roy Harris and Walter Piston and is particularly recognized for his mastery of orchestration. On of — if not the — most popular of Schuman’s works is his orchestration of Charles Ives’ Variations on "America." Created in response to a twentieth-anniversary commission from BMI and first performed in 1964, this brilliant orchestration enjoyed extraordinary popularity during the U.S. Bicentennial year. Along withNew England Triptych and American Festival Overture, it remains one of his most frequently performed works.
In his orchestral compositions Schuman was fond of differentiating the various sections of the orchestra by creating distinct blocks of color; he used a large orchestra, but used it wisely and with great clarity. He drew on a variety of compositional devices, from fugues, canons, and passacaglias, to toccata, chorale, or variation procedures. He always had a clear plan for the ultimate large-dimension structure of a work. His basic building block may have been a small unit — as the three-note melodic germ in American Festival Overture — but he planned on a large scale, setting up tension and building suspense to a dramatic climax.
Traditional tonality was not a framework which Schuman was bound by, and he did not write his scores with key signatures. He did not restrict his harmonic vocabulary, but used an ample palette of chromaticism and
the entire range of scales and modes in Western music. He could create powerful and thick harmonic structures; while these may sometimes sound polytonal, a tonal resolution usually follows. Long spun-out melodies and majestic arcs of sound characterize many of Schuman’s orchestral works. His rhythmic style is vital, full of variety, and intense — but never nervously so. Whether in simple ostinati, in complex rhythmic counterpoint, or in his characteristic cross rhythms, Schuman reveals his strong rhythmic foundations, undoubtedly gained in part from his early days with jazz and popular music.
In Schuman’s works based on pre-existing music, he absorbed elements of the source into his own style, while still maintaining the integrity of the original. In New England Triptych and the Concerto on Old English Rounds, his approach ranges from almost literal quotation to a wide range of juxtapositions, and transformations with extensive melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic alterations, as well as wholly new concepts of form and orchestration. The great variety and skill with which he handled his materials are demonstrated particularly well in the group of three works based on the old English round "Amaryllis": the "Amaryllis" Variations for string trio, Concerto on Old English Rounds (using "Amaryllis" as the basis for the first and final movements), and Amaryllis (Variants on an Old English Round), a brief version for string orchestra.
Along with Schuman’s re-use of pre-existing music should be mentioned his reworking of several of his compositions. Among the most performed important works available in more than one version are the Variations on "America," American Hymn, and New England Triptych. Others include The Mighty Casey (opera), Casey at the Bat (cantata), and the separately published Choruses from the Mighty Casey;The Orchestra Song and The Band Song; choral and solo versions of Holiday Song;and In Sweet Music and A Song of Orpheus, both derived from his early song Orpheus with His Lute.
In the world of choral music, Schuman is known as a master of both a cappella and accompanied styles, of both extended cantatas and short pieces, including some written for amateurs. With a special emphasis on American
poetry, he was particularly discriminating in his choice of texts. The poetry of Walt Whitman, Archibald MacLeish, Genevieve Taggard, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Thomas Wolfe, among others, inspired him. It is difficult to imagine anything more American than Casey at the Bat, or the Mail Order Madrigals, which are settings of texts from the Sears Roebuck catalog.
After writing many pop songs in his youth (estimated to be a hundred or more, but, alas, not a hit among them), Schuman evinced a marked reference for orchestral and choral music during most of his career. In the late 1970s, he began adding more music with voice to his catalog, including In Sweet Music, The Young Dead Soldiers, and Time to the Old. Even more significantly, his two major works of the 1980s featured solo voice(s): On Freedom’s Ground and A Question of Taste.
On Freedom’s Ground, with a text by Richard Wilbur (a Pulitzer Prize winner who was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 1987), celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. The work received some two dozen performances in the two years following its premiere (October 28, 1986, the very day of the statue’s rededication). Reporting on the gala concert, Stephen Holden in the New York Times described Schuman’s large-scale cantata as a "characteristically imposing mixture of lofty late-Romantic chromaticism and elegant New-Classical formality." Writing of the premiere of A Question of Taste, Willard Spiegelman commented in the Wall Street Journal "In his creative maturity, Mr. Schuman has composed a chamber opera that celebrates the triumph of youth, passion and idealism over the schemings of age, greed and money." Other late works also prove that Schuman’s outlook remained young and his creative energies retained their usual vitality. Indeed, he continued to compose new works as he entered his eighties. When Schuman received a 1989 Kennedy Center Honor "for an extraordinary lifetime of contributions to American culture," Schuyler Chapin aptly wrote in the program book "William Schuman is an amalgam of carefully wrought creativity, rhetoric and logic." Schuman always enjoyed the highest esteem of his colleagues in the arts, who were always ready to extol his virtues as a composer, administrator and friend. For instance, Leonard Bernstein penned an enthusiastic introductory note to the William Schuman Documentary (1980) by Christopher Rouse. Written just before Schuman’s seventieth birthday, it is still an equally appropriate salute to this master of American music:
… I have rarely met a composer who is so faithfully mirrored in his music; the man is the music. We are all familiar with the attributes generally ascribed to his compositions: vitality, optimism, enthusiasm, long lyrical line, rhythmic impetuosity, bristling counterpoint, brilliant textures, dynamic tension. But what is not so often remarked is what I treasure most: the human qualities that flow directly from the man into the works — compassion, fidelity, insight, and total honesty…
—By Barbara Petersen
Used with permission, Barbara Petersen and BMI
1989: American Eagle Award, National Music Council
1989: Kennedy Center Honors "for an extraordinary lifetime of contributions to American culture through the performing arts"
1987: National Medal of Arts
1986: Chamber Music America Award
1986: First Alfred I. DuPont Award
1985: George Peabody Medal "for outstanding contribution to music in America," Peabody Conservatory of Music
1985: Gold Baton Award, American Symphony Orchestra League
1985: Pulitzer Prize Special Citation "for more than half a century of contribution to American music as composer and educational leader"
1982: Gold Medal, American Academy of Arts and Letters
1981: First winner of the Columbia University William Schuman Award for "Lifetime achievement of an American composer whose works have been widely performed and generally acknowledged to be of lasting significance"
1980: Horblit Award of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
1975: Distinguished Alumni, Teachers College, Columbia University
1971: Edward MacDowell Medal "for exceptional contributions to the arts"
1968: Findley Award of the City University of New York
1967: American Music Center Letter of Distinction
1967: Certificate of Merit, Sigma Alpha Iota
1967: Concert Artists Guild Award
1967: Handel Medallion of the City of New York
1965: Brandeis Medal for Distinguished Service to Higher Education
American Hymn Variations on an Original Melody (1981) -- 9' Published: #145-40022 Commission Information: American Bandmasters Association and the United States Air Force Band, for the 50th anniversary of the Bandmasters Association Premiere Information: March 5, 1981, U.S. Marine Band, John Paynter, conductor
Available Separately:
Condensed Score (#145-40022C) Errata Sheet (#145-40022E) Full Score - Large (#145-40022F) Set of parts (#145-40022P)
Anniversary Fanfare for Brass and Percussion (1969) -- 6' Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Metropolitan Museum of Art, for its centennial Premiere Information: April 13, 1970, ensemble, Frederik Prausnitz, conductor • Recordings
Be Glad Then, America (1975) -- 7' Published: #145-40016 Additional Information: Based on the first movement of "New England Triptych." • Recordings
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#145-40016F) Set of parts (#145-40016P)
Chester Overture for Band (1956) -- 6’ Published: #145-40000 Commission Information: Pi Kappa Omicron Premiere Information: January 1957, University of Louisville Band Additional Information: Based on the third movement of "New England Triptych." • Recordings
Available Separately:
Condensed Score (#145-40000C) Full Score - Large (#145-40000F) Set of parts (#145-40000P)
Dedication Fanfare for Concert Band (1968) -- 5' Published: #145-40008 Commission Information: New Music Circle of St. Louis, for opening of the arch, Gateway to the West Premiere Information: July 4, 1968
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#145-40008F) Set of parts (#145-40008P)
Prelude for a Great Occasion for Brass and Percussion (1974) -- 5’ 6Hn., 4Tpt., 4Tbn., Tuba, Timp., 4Perc. Published: #145-40015 Commission Information: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden of the Smithsonian Institution Premiere Information: October 1, 1974, members of the National Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati, conductor
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#145-40015F) Set of parts (#145-40015P)
The Band Song (1967) -- 4' Published: #145-40005 Additional Information: Band version of "The Orchestra Song."
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#145-40005F) Set of parts (#145-40005P)
Variations on "America" (1968) -- 7' Published: #145-40006 Additional Information: Arranged for Concert Band by William E. Rhoads, from Schuman's arrangement for Orchestra.
Available Separately:
Condensed Score (#145-40006C) Full Score - Large (#145-40006F) Set of parts (#145-40006P)
When Jesus Wept Prelude for Band (1958) -- 5’ Published: #145-40001 Premiere Information: Summer 1958, Goldman Band, Richard Franko Goldman, conductor Additional Information: Based on the second movement of "New England Triptych."
Also available in an organ transcription by Samuel Adler. • Recordings
Available Separately:
Condensed Score (#145-40001C) Full Score - Large (#145-40001F) Set of parts (#145-40001P)
Amaryllis Variations for String Trio with Three Women’s Voices, ad lib. (1964) -- 25' Published: #144-40017 Commission Information: Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress Premiere Information: October 31, 1964, New York String Trio
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#144-40017S)
American Hymn Variations on an Original Melody (1980) -- 9' Brass Quintet Published: #144-40091 Commission Information: American Brass Quintet Premiere Information: March 30, 1981, American Brass Quintet Additional Information: Also available for Concert Band.
Awake, Thou Wintry Earth Duo for Clarinet and Violin (1986) -- 17’ Published: #144-40148 Commission Information: Walter W. Naumberg Foundation Premiere Information: March 10, 1987, Charles Neidich, clarinet and Curtis Macomber, violin
Cooperstown Fanfare for Two trumpets and Two Trombones (1987) -- 1' Published: #144-40150 Commission Information: Written for the opening of the Alice Busch Opera Theater, home of the Glimmerglass Opera. Premiere Information: June 28, 1987, Cooperstown, NY
Dances Divertimento for Wind Quintet and Percussion (1985) -- 10' Published: #446-41053 Commission Information: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Premiere Information: October 31, 1986, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Available Separately:
Set of parts (#446-41053P)
Quatettino for Clarinet Quartet Published: #60981-707 Additional Information: Arranged by Whitney Tustin, from original version for Four Bassoons (also available).
Arrangement for Saxophone Quartet also available (arr. Sigurd Rascher).
Quatettino for Four Bassoons (1939) -- 5’ Published: #60979-707 Commission Information: New Music Quarterly Recordings Additional Information: Versions for Clarinet Quartet (arr. Whitney Tustin), and for Saxophone Quartet (arr. Sigurd Rascher), also available.
Quatettino for Saxophone Quartet Published: #60980-707 Additional Information: Arranged by Sigurd Rascher, from original version for Four Bassoons (also available).
Arrangement for Clarinet Quartet also available (arr. Whitney Tustin). • Recordings
String Quartet No. 1 (1936) Premiere Information: October 21, 1936, New String Quartet Withdrawn
String Quartet No. 3 (1939) -- 24' Published: #144-40001 Commission Information: Town Hall and the League of Composers Premiere Information: February 27, 1940, Coolidge Quartet • Recordings
Available Separately:
Set of parts (#144-40001P) Full Score - Large (#144-40001S)
String Quartet No. 5 (1987) -- 30' Published: #144-40161 Commission Information: Chase Manhattan Bank, N. A., for the First New York International Festival of the Arts Premiere Information: June 21, 1988, Oxford String Quartet
XXV Opera Snatches for Solo Flute (1978) -- 5' Published: #444-41018 Premiere Information: October 1, 1985, Paula Robison Additional Information: Transcription of original version for Unaccompanied Trumpet in B-flat (also available).
XXV Opera Snatches for Unaccompanied Trumpet in B-flat (1978) -- 5' Published: #144-40074 Commission Information: Written at the request of the Metropolitan Opera Association, to honor Eleanor Robson Belmont’s 100th birthday Premiere Information: January 10, 1979, Melvin Broiles and Frank Hosticka Additional Information: Version for Solo Flute also available.
A Free Song for Chorus and Piano (1942) Available From G. Schirmer
Carols of Death for Mixed Chorus, a cappella (1958) -- 11’ Commission Information: St. Lawrence University, for Laurentian Singers Premiere Information: March 20, 1959, Laurentian Singers • Recordings
Last Invocation No. 1 from "Carols of Death" Published: #342-400111
Declaration Chorale for Mixed Chorus, a cappella (1971) -- 8' Published: #342-40028 Commission Information: Lincoln Center Premiere Information: April 30, 1972, International Choral Festival Choruses, Robert Shaw Additional Information: Text by Walt Whitman.
Deo Ac Veritati for Male Chorus, a cappella (1963) -- 3' Published: #342-40015 Commission Information: Colgate University, for the inauguration of Dr. Vincent Barnett as president Premiere Information: April 19, 1963, Colgate University Glee Club, William Skelton Additional Information: Text is Colgate University motto.
Esses Short Suite for Singers on words beginning with S. (1982) -- 12' Mixed Chorus, a capella Published: #342-40153 Commission Information: Ithaca College Premiere Information: November 13, 1982, Ithaca College Choir, Lawrence Doebler
Holiday Song for Chorus and Piano (1942) Available From G. Schirmer
Mail Order Madrigals (1971) -- 12' Commission Information: Iowa State University Department of Music, for Iowa State Singers, through a grant from the J. W. Fisher Foundation Premiere Information: March 12, 1972, Iowa State Singers, W. Douglas Pritchard Additional Information: Texts freely adapted from the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue. • Recordings
Perceptions Choral Cycle on words of Walt Whitman (1983) -- 13' Mixed Chorus, a cappella Published: #342-40144 Commission Information: National Endowment, for the Arts for the Gregg Smith Singers, Dale Warland Singers, I Cantori and Philadelphia Singers Premiere Information: January 9, 1983, Gregg Smith Singers, Gregg Smith, Greenwich, CT • Recordings
Te Deum for Chorus, a cappella Available From G. Schirmer
The Last Invocation for Mixed Chorus, a cappella (1958) Published: #342-40011 Additional Information: Text by Walt Whitman.
The Lord Has a Child Hymn for Brass Quintet and Mixed Chorus (1990) -- 6' Published: #342-40159 Commission Information: Written for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Greenwich, CT. Premiere Information: July 16, 1990, Greenwich Choral Society, Richard Vogt Additional Information: Other versions available:
High Voice and Piano
Medium Voice and Piano
SATB Chorus and Organ
SSA Chorus and Organ
Available Separately:
Set of parts (#342-40159P) Full Score - Large (#342-40159S)
The Lord Has a Child Hymn for SATB Chorus and Organ Published: #342-40009 Additional Information: Other versions available:
High Voice and Piano
Medium Voice and Piano
SSA Chorus and Organ
Mixed Chorus and Brass Quintet
The Lord Has a Child Hymn for SSA Chorus and Organ Published: #342-40008 Additional Information: Other versions available:
High Voice and Piano
Medium Voice and Piano
SATB Chorus and Organ
Mixed Chorus and Brass Quintet
A Question of Taste an Opera in One Act (1988) -- 50' Voices: Sop., 2 Mezzo-sop., Ten., Bar., B-Bar.
Orch: 2(Picc.) 2 2 2 - 2 2 3 0, 2Perc. Cel. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Glimmerglass Opera, through the Eugene V. and Clare Thaw Charitable Trust Premiere Information: June 29, 1989, Glimmerglass Opera, B. Rodnet Marriott, stage director, Stewart Robinson, conductor Additional Information: Libretto by J. D. McClatchy based on the story, "Taste," by Roald Dahl.
Night Journey a Ballet (1947) -- 21' 30" 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1; Pno. Str.(2 2 2 2 1) Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress, for Martha Graham Premiere Information: May 7, 1947, Martha Graham, choreographer, Louis Horst, conductor • Recordings
Steeltown Film score (1944) -- 30' Available From Composer
The Witch of Endor a Ballet (1965) -- 30' 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1; Timp. Perc. Pno. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Martha Graham Premiere Information: November 2, 1965, Martha Graham, choreographer, Robert Irving, conductor
World War II Music for the Office of War Information film Not Available
A Free Song for Orchestra (1942) Available From G. Schirmer
A Song of Orpheus Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra or Chamber Orchestra (1961) -- 21' 3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 2(B.Cl.) 2 - 4 0 0 0; Hp. Str. or 2 2 3 2 - 1 0 0 0; Hp. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Ford Foundation, for Leonard Rose Premiere Information: February 17, 1962, Leonard Rose, cello, Indianapolis Symphony, Izler Solomon, conductor • Recordings
Available Separately:
Piano Reduction (#444-41001) Full Score - Large (#446-41006)
Amaryllis Variants on an Old English Round for String Orchestra (1976) -- 8' Published: #446-41030 Premiere Information: July 27, 1976, Philadelphia Orchestra, Andre Kostelanetz
Amaryllis Variants on an Old English Round for String Orchestra (1976) -- 8' Available from the Presser Rental Library Premiere Information: July 27, 1976, Philadelphia Orchestra, Andre Kostelanetz
American Hymn Orchestral Variation on an Original Melody (1981) -- 26' 3(Picc.) 2(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp. 3Perc. Pno. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in celebration of its centennial Premiere Information: September 24, 1982, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, conductor • Recordings
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#446-41044)
Casey at the Bat for Orchestra (1976) Available From AMP (G. Schirmer)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1959, rev. from earlier versions of 1947 & 1956) -- 30' 3(Picc.) 2(E.H.) 4(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 0; Timp. Perc. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Samuel Dushkin Premiere Information: August 9, 1959, Roman Totenberg, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Izler Solomon, conductor • Recordings
Available Separately:
Solo Part with Piano Reduction (#444-41000) Full Score - Study (#446-41002)
Concerto on Old English Rounds for Viola, Women's Chorus and Orchestra (1973) -- 40' 3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Perc. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Ford Foundation, for Donald McInnes Premiere Information: November 29, 1974, Donald McInnes, Radcliffe Choral Society, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, condcutor • Recordings
Available Separately:
Solo Part (#410-41227) Full Score - Large (#446-41021)
Credendum - Article of Faith (1955) -- 18' 4(2Picc.) 4(E.H.) 5(E-flat Cl., B.Cl.) 4(Cbsn.) - 6 4 3 2; Timp. Perc. Pno. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Department of State, for the U.S. Commission of UNESCO Premiere Information: November 4, 1955, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Thor Johnson • Recordings
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#446-41000)
In Praise of Shahn Canticle for Orchestra (1972) -- 18’ 3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp. Perc. Pno. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Friends of Ben Shahn, in his memory Premiere Information: January 29, 1970, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein • Recordings
New England Triptych Three Pieces for Orchestra (1956) -- 15' 3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 4(E-flat Cl., B.Cl.) 2 - 4 3 3 1; Timp. Perc. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Andre Kostelanetz Premiere Information: October 26, 1956, University of Miami (FL) Symphony Orchestra, Andre Kostelanetz Additional Information: Band versions of each movement also available (listed separately). • Recordings
On Freedom's Ground an American Cantata for Baritone, Mixed Chorus and Orchestra (1985) -- 40' 3(3Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 2 - 4 3 3 1, Timp. 4Perc. Pno./Cel. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: New York Philharmonic, Crane School of Music of Potsdam College and a consortium of Symphony Orchestras: Albany, Atlanta, Chicago, National, Oregon, Pittsburgh and St. Louis Premiere Information: October 28, 1986, Sherrill Milnes, Crane Chorus, New York Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta Additional Information: Text by Richard Wilbur.
Also available in a version for wind instruments.
Available Separately:
Choral Part(s) (#442-41010) Full Score - Large (#446-41054)
Showcase: A Short Display for Orchestra (1986) -- 4' 3 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp. 4Perc. Pno. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Houston Symphony Orchestra, in celebration of the Texas Sesquicentennial Premiere Information: September 26, 1986, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Sergiu Comissiona, conductor
Symphony No. 10 "American Muse" (1975) -- 33' 3(II, III d. Picc.) 4(E.H.) 4(E-flat Cl., B.Cl.) 4(Cbsn.) - 6 4 4 1; Timp. 6Perc. Pno. Hp. Cel. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: National Symphony Orchestra, for the American Bicentennial Premiere Information: April 6, 1976, National Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati, conductor
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#446-41029)
Symphony No. 2 (1937) Premiere Information: May 25, 1938, Greenwich Orchestra, Edgar Schenkman, conductor Withdrawn
Symphony No. 7 (1960) -- 28' 3(2Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp. Perc. Pno. Str.; Ad libitum additional Fl. Ob. E-flat Cl. Cl. Bsn. 2Hn. Tpt. Ten.Tuba Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress for the 75th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Premiere Information: October 21, 1960, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, conductor • Recordings
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#446-41003)
Symphony No. 8 (1962) -- 31' 4(2Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 6 4 4 1; Perc. 2Hp. Pno. Str.; Ad libitum: Additional Ob., Cl., Bsn. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: New York Philharmonic, for the opening of the Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center Premiere Information: October 4, 1962, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor • Recordings
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#446-41008)
Symphony No. 9 "Le Fosse Ardeatine" (1968) -- 28' 3(Picc.) 4(E.H.) 4(B.Cl.) 4(Cbsn.) - 4 4 3 1; Timp. 4Perc. Pno. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Friends of Alexander Hilsberg, in his memory Premiere Information: January 10, 1969, Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, conductor • Recordings
The Orchestra Song (1963) -- 4' 2(Picc.) 1 1(B.Cl. ad lib) 1 - 4 3 3 1; Timp. Perc. Str. Published: #146-40000 Premiere Information: April 11, 1964, New York Philharmonic, Andre Kostelanetz
Available Separately:
Full Score - Large (#146-40000F) Set of parts (#146-40000P) Full Score - Study (#446-41011)
The Young Dead Soldiers Lamentation for Soprano, Horn, Eight Woodwinds and Nine Strings (1976) -- 15' 2Ob., E.H., 2Cl., B.Cl., 2Bsn., 4Vla., 4Vcl., Cb. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: National Symphony Orchestra Premiere Information: April 6, 1976, Rosalind Rees, soprano, Edward C. Thayer, French horn, National Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati, conductor Additional Information: Text by Archibald MacLeish. • Recordings
Available Separately:
Piano Reduction (#444-41015) Full Score - Large (#446-41026)
This is Our Time for Orchestra Available From Hendon Music/Boosey & Hawkes
Three Colloquies for French Horn and Orchestra (1979) -- 24’ 3(Picc.) 2 3(B.Cl.) 2 - 0 3 0 0; Timp. 4Perc. Hp. Pno./Cel. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: New York Philharmonic Orchestra Premiere Information: January 24, 1980, Philip F. Myers, French horn, New York Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta, conductor Additional Information: Movements played without pause.
Piano Reduction (#144-40085) Full Score - Large (#446-41040)
To Thee, Old Cause Evocation for Oboe, Brass, Timpani, Piano and Strings (1968) -- 17' 0 1 0 0 - 4 3 3 1; Timp. Pno. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: New York Philharmonic Orchestra, for its 125th anniversary Premiere Information: October 3, 1968, Harold Gomberg, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor • Recordings
Variations on "America" for Orchestra (1963) -- 8' 3(2Picc.) 2(E.H.) 2 2 - 4 3 3 1; Timp. Perc. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: BMI, for its 20th anniversary Premiere Information: May 20, 1964, New York Philharmonic, Andre Kostelanetz, conductor Additional Information: Based on an original Organ composition by Charles Ives.
Also available for Concert Band (arr. William E. Rhoads). • Recordings
Available Separately:
Full Score - Study (#446-41010) Full Score - Large (#446-41171)
Voyage for Orchestra (1972) -- 25' 3(Picc.) 3(E.H.) 3(B.Cl.) 3(Cbsn.) - 4 3 3 1; Timp. Perc. Pno. Str. Available from the Presser Rental Library Commission Information: Eastman School of Music Premiere Information: October 27, 1972, Eastman Philharmonic, Gustav Meier, conductor Additional Information: Also available for Piano solo.
When Jesus Wept Prelude for Organ (1983) -- 5' Published: #143-40006 Additional Information: Transcribed by Samuel Adler from Schuman's original version for Band (also available). • Recordings
Chester Variations for Piano (1988) -- 6’ Published: #440-40016 Commission Information: Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, as a required composition for all semi-finalists Premiere Information: June 2, 1989, Fort Worth, TX Additional Information: Based on William Billings’ Hymn and Marching Song of the American Revolution.
Three Piano Moods (1958) -- 11' Premiere Information: December 2, 1958, Joel Rosen
Voyage a Cycle of Five Pieces for Piano (1953) -- 24’ Published: #440-40000 Commission Information: Sigma Alpha Iota, for its Golden Anniversary Premiere Information: August 18, 1953, Lillian Steuber Additional Information: Also available for Orchestra.
God’s World for Voice (1932) Available From E.B. Marks/Hal Leonard
Holiday Song for Voice (1942) Available From G. Schirmer
In Sweet Music Serenade on a Setting of Shakespeare (1978) -- 23' Voice, Fl.(Picc., A.Fl.), Vla., Hp. Published: #144-40072 Commission Information: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Premiere Information: October 29, 1978, Paula Robinson, Jan DeGaetani, Walter Trampler, Osian Ellis • Recordings
The Lord Has a Child Hymn for High Voice and Piano Published: #141-40003 Additional Information: Other versions available:
Medium Voice and Piano
SATB Chorus and Organ
SSA Chorus and Organ
Mixed Chorus and Brass Quintet
The Lord Has a Child Hymn for Medium Voice and Piano Published: #141-40004 Additional Information: Other versions available:
High Voice and Piano
SATB Chorus and Organ
SSA Chorus and Organ
Mixed Chorus and Brass Quintet
Time to the Old Three Song Set on words of Archibald MacLeish. (1979) -- 11' Voice and Piano Published: #441-41015 Premiere Information: May 19, 1980, Rosalind Rees, Thomas Muraco • Recordings
