Alan Shulman
Encyclopedia
Alan Shulman was an American
composer
and cello
virtuoso
. He wrote a considerable amount of symphonic
music, chamber music
, and jazz
music. Trumpet
er Eddie Bailey said, "Alan had the greatest ear of any musician I ever came across. He had better than perfect pitch. I've simply never met anyone like him." Some of his more well known works include his 1940 Neo-Classical Theme and Variations for Viola and Piano and his A Laurentian Overture, which was premiered by the New York Philharmonic
in 1952 under the baton of Guido Cantelli
. Also of note is his 1948 Concerto for Cello and Orchestra which was also premiered by the New York Philharmonic with cellist Leonard Rose
and conductor Dmitri Mitropoulos. Many of Shulman's works have been recorded, and the violin
ist Jascha Heifetz
and jazz
clarinet
ist Artie Shaw
have been particular exponents of his work both in performance and on recordings.
and was a skilled amateur flautist
. He had two siblings, Sylvan Shulman, who became a violin
ist, and Violet Shulman, who became a pianist
. When Alan was 8, the sibling formed the Shulman Trio and performed in concerts throughout the Baltimore area. They were some of the earliest musicians to perform in radio commercial
s. All three children attended the Peabody Conservatory where they studied under Louis Cheslock and Alan, who started his training there at age 10, studied the cello under Bart Wirtz. Shulman wrote his first music composition during his first year studying at the Peabody Conservatory.
At the age of 14, Shulman and his family relocated to Brooklyn, New York. He attended Erasmus Hall High School
between 1928–1929 and Brooklyn Vocational High School between 1929-1932. In 1929 he won a scholarship from the New York Philharmonic
which enabled him to continue his music studies further with cellist Joseph Emonts and composer Winthrop Sargentat for the next three years. He played with the National Orchestral Association under conductor Leon Barzin
from 1929-1932.
Shulman joined Chapter 802 of the American Federation of Musicians
in 1931. He entered the Juilliard School
in 1932 where he studied for five years, principally under cellist Felix Salmond
and composers Albert Stoessel
and Bernard Wagenaar
. While a student he began performing with a string quartet that played popular music for the NBC
network in 1933. He also worked as the group's arranger. He joined the Kreiner String Quartet in 1935, playing with them through 1938. He also started writing his first serious compositions during this time, notably writing music for the American Children's Theatre production of Hans Christian Andersen
's The Chinese Nightingale in 1934. Upon graduating in 1937, he pursued further studies with cellist Emanuel Feuermann
in 1939 and composer Paul Hindemith
in 1942.
, Andre Kostalanetz, Arthur Fiedler
, and Wilfred Pelletier. In 1942 he became a member of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers
. During the mid 1940s, he taught orchestration
to Nelson Riddle
who later garnered fame as an arranger for singers Frank Sinatra
, Ella Fitzgerald
and Nat King Cole
.
In 1937 the Shulman brothers joined the brand new NBC Symphony Orchestra
which was established by David Sarnoff
of the National Broadcasting Company
especially for conductor
Arturo Toscanini
. The following year Alan and Sylvan were among the founding members of the New Friends of Rhythm, a symphonic
jazz
group that made many recordings between 1939 and 1947, including several by Shulman. Other members of the group included harp
ist Laura Newell, jazz clarinetists Buster Bailey
and Hank D'Amico
, and singer Maxine Sullivan
among others. Also in 1938, the two brothers established the Stuyvesant String Quartet, which remained active through 1954. The string quartet excelled in performing and recording contemporary works by such composers as Augustyn Bloch
, Sergei Prokofiev
, Gian Francesco Malipiero
, Hindemith and Fritz Kreisler
. They notably played the American premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich
's Piano Quintet
at Carnegie Hall
in 1941. Musicologist Tully Potter, a string-specialist, said the following:
In 1941, Shulman's Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra was premiered by the NBC Symphony Orchestra with violist Emanuel Vardi
. The work was Shulman's first major success and it is now considered a standard part of the viola repertoire. The following year he left the NBC Symphony Orchestra when he decided to join the United States Maritime Service
with the intent of becoming a United States Merchant Marine
. After receiving his training he spent the next several years serving in the USMM at Sheepshead Bay, between 1943-1945. During this time he was still able to pursue musical interests and work during his off hours. In 1944 his Suite on American Folk Songs premiered at Carnegie Hall
with violinist Eudice Shapiro and pianist Vivian Rivkin. That same year his Pastorale and Dance was played for the first time by Sylvan on ABC Radio. The work received its concert premiere three years later with Oscar Shumsky
and the Baltimore Symphony. Shulman also worked frequently with soprano
Rise Stevens
during the mid 1940s, arranging five cross-over albums for her between 1945-1947 in addition to other projects.
at Carnegie Hall. In 1950 his string quartet
Threnody, written in honor of Israel
's fallen soldiers, was premiered by the NBC String Quartet during Jewish Music Week. In 1954 the NBC Symphony Orchestra disbanded when Toscanini retired, and Shulman, along with several other members of the Symphony Orchestra, formed a new ensemble for NBC called the "Symphony of the Air". He remained with the Symphony of the Air for three years.
During the 1950s Shulman wrote numerous popular songs with entertainer Steve Allen
and he did several arrangements for Skitch Henderson
, Raoul Poliakin and Felix Slatkin
. In 1956 he wrote his Suite Miniature for Octet of Celli which was commissioned by the Fine Arts Cello Ensemble of Los Angeles. That same year he was one of several musicians to found the Violoncello Society, later serving as the organization's president from 1967 to 1972. In 1959, during the midst of the Cold War
, he was asked to join a Soviet-American composers' symposium organised by Nicolas Slonimsky
for NBC
. In addition to Shulman, the symposium included Americans Roy Harris
and Howard Hanson
and Russians Shostakovich and Kabalevsky.
with the Philharmonia Trio from 1962–1969 and the Haydn Quartet from 1972 until his wife's death in 1982. During his career he has also served on the faculties at Sarah Lawrence College
, the Juilliard School
, the State University of New York at Purchase
, Johnson State College
, and the University of Maine
. Shulman retired in 1987 due to declining health. He died of complications from a stroke
in a nursing home
in Hudson, New York
in 2002.
String orchestra
Wind ensemble
Concertante
Chamber music
Piano
Vocal
Film scores
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
. He wrote a considerable amount of symphonic
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
music, chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music. Trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er Eddie Bailey said, "Alan had the greatest ear of any musician I ever came across. He had better than perfect pitch. I've simply never met anyone like him." Some of his more well known works include his 1940 Neo-Classical Theme and Variations for Viola and Piano and his A Laurentian Overture, which was premiered by the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
in 1952 under the baton of Guido Cantelli
Guido Cantelli
Guido Cantelli was an Italian orchestral conductor.-Biography:Born in Novara, Italy, Cantelli was named Musical Director of La Scala, Milan on 16 November 1956 but his promising career was cut short only one week later by his death at the age of 36 in an aircraft crash in Paris, France.Cantelli...
. Also of note is his 1948 Concerto for Cello and Orchestra which was also premiered by the New York Philharmonic with cellist Leonard Rose
Leonard Rose
Leonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...
and conductor Dmitri Mitropoulos. Many of Shulman's works have been recorded, and the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
have been particular exponents of his work both in performance and on recordings.
Early life and education
Shulman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of a Russian-immigrant father and Jewish mother. His father, who died when Shulman was one and a half, worked as a pharmacistPharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
and was a skilled amateur flautist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
. He had two siblings, Sylvan Shulman, who became a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, and Violet Shulman, who became a pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. When Alan was 8, the sibling formed the Shulman Trio and performed in concerts throughout the Baltimore area. They were some of the earliest musicians to perform in radio commercial
Radio commercial
Commercial radio stations make most of their revenue selling “airtime” to advertisers. Of total media expenditures, radio accounts for 6.9%. Radio advertisements or “spots” are available when a business or service provides valuable consideration, usually cash, in exchange for the station airing...
s. All three children attended the Peabody Conservatory where they studied under Louis Cheslock and Alan, who started his training there at age 10, studied the cello under Bart Wirtz. Shulman wrote his first music composition during his first year studying at the Peabody Conservatory.
At the age of 14, Shulman and his family relocated to Brooklyn, New York. He attended Erasmus Hall High School
Erasmus Hall High School
Erasmus Hall Campus High School is a four-year public high school in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States operated by the New York City Department of Education....
between 1928–1929 and Brooklyn Vocational High School between 1929-1932. In 1929 he won a scholarship from the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
which enabled him to continue his music studies further with cellist Joseph Emonts and composer Winthrop Sargentat for the next three years. He played with the National Orchestral Association under conductor Leon Barzin
Leon Barzin
Léon Eugene Barzin was a Belgian-born American conductor and founder of the National Orchestral Association , the oldest surviving training orchestra in the United States...
from 1929-1932.
Shulman joined Chapter 802 of the American Federation of Musicians
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
in 1931. He entered the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in 1932 where he studied for five years, principally under cellist Felix Salmond
Felix Salmond
Felix Adrian Norman Salmond was an English cellist and cello teacher who achieved success in both England and the United States of America.-Early life and career:...
and composers Albert Stoessel
Albert Stoessel
Albert Frederic Stoessel was an American composer, violinist and conductor.He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule as a pupil of Emanuel Wirth and Willy Hess...
and Bernard Wagenaar
Bernard Wagenaar
Bernard Wagenaar was a Dutch/American composer, conductor and violinist.Wagenaar, not related to the Dutch composer Johan Wagenaar, was born in Arnhem. He studied at Utrecht University before starting his career as a teacher and conductor in 1914. He moved to the USA in 1920, where he became a...
. While a student he began performing with a string quartet that played popular music for the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
network in 1933. He also worked as the group's arranger. He joined the Kreiner String Quartet in 1935, playing with them through 1938. He also started writing his first serious compositions during this time, notably writing music for the American Children's Theatre production of Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
's The Chinese Nightingale in 1934. Upon graduating in 1937, he pursued further studies with cellist Emanuel Feuermann
Emanuel Feuermann
Emanuel Feuermann was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century.-Biography:...
in 1939 and composer Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
in 1942.
Early career
During the 1930s and 1940s Shulman worked actively as an arranger for such people as Leo ReismanLeo Reisman
Leo Reisman was a violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, Reisman studied violin as a young man, and formed his own band in 1919. He became famous for having over 80 hits on the popular charts during his career. Jerome Kern called Reisman's orchestra "The...
, Andre Kostalanetz, Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
, and Wilfred Pelletier. In 1942 he became a member of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers
American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers
The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers was founded in 1938. It welcomes all composers as either associate or full members.Members originally dubbed their group "The American Society of Music Arrangers" , the predecessor to ASMAC....
. During the mid 1940s, he taught orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
to Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
who later garnered fame as an arranger for singers Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
.
In 1937 the Shulman brothers joined the brand new NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
which was established by David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff
David Sarnoff was an American businessman and pioneer of American commercial radio and television. He founded the National Broadcasting Company and throughout most of his career he led the Radio Corporation of America in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his...
of the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
especially for conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
. The following year Alan and Sylvan were among the founding members of the New Friends of Rhythm, a symphonic
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
group that made many recordings between 1939 and 1947, including several by Shulman. Other members of the group included harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
ist Laura Newell, jazz clarinetists Buster Bailey
Buster Bailey
William C. "Buster" Bailey was a jazz musician specializing in the clarinet, but also well versed on saxophone...
and Hank D'Amico
Hank D'Amico
Hank D'Amico , was an American jazz clarinetist.D'Amico was born in Rochester, NY. He began playing professionally with Paul Specht's band in 1936. That same year, he joined Red Norvo. In 1938, D'Amico began radio broadcasts with his own octet before returning briefly to Norvo's group in 1939...
, and singer Maxine Sullivan
Maxine Sullivan
Maxine Sullivan , born Marietta Williams, was an American blues and jazz singer.She was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, and married jazz musician John Kirby in 1938 , and stride pianist Cliff Jackson in 1956...
among others. Also in 1938, the two brothers established the Stuyvesant String Quartet, which remained active through 1954. The string quartet excelled in performing and recording contemporary works by such composers as Augustyn Bloch
Augustyn Bloch
Augustyn Bloch was a Polish composer and organist, student of Feliks Rączkowski and Tadeusz Szeligowski...
, Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
, Gian Francesco Malipiero
Gian Francesco Malipiero
Gian Francesco Malipiero was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor.-Early years:Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gian Francesco Malipiero was prevented by family troubles from pursuing his musical education in...
, Hindemith and Fritz Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
. They notably played the American premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
's Piano Quintet
Piano Quintet (Shostakovich)
The Piano Quintet in G Minor, opus 57, by Dmitri Shostakovich is one of his best known chamber works. Like most piano quintets, it is written for piano and string quartet ....
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in 1941. Musicologist Tully Potter, a string-specialist, said the following:
"The Shulman brothers were among a small group of fabulously gifted New York-based string players whose careers showed a constant tug between earning a living – which often led them into orchestral and session work – and doing something more artistic. It was a nightmare trying to run a string quartet in the United States, where distances were so great and there was not the infrastructure of music societies that existed in Europe. Had the Stuyvesant Quartet been privately sponsored, as some American groups were, or given a residency, it would be remembered today as one of the best of its time. As it was, it left a small but valuable corpus of recordings – and a recent reissue proved that the best of these performances have lost nothing of their power."
In 1941, Shulman's Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra was premiered by the NBC Symphony Orchestra with violist Emanuel Vardi
Emanuel Vardi
Emanuel Vardi an Israeli-American violist, was considered to have been one of the great viola players of the 20th century.- Early life :...
. The work was Shulman's first major success and it is now considered a standard part of the viola repertoire. The following year he left the NBC Symphony Orchestra when he decided to join the United States Maritime Service
United States Maritime Service
The United States Maritime Service, abbreviated as USMS, was established in 1938 under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. The mission of the organization is to train people to become officers and crewmembers on merchant ships that form the United States Merchant Marine...
with the intent of becoming a United States Merchant Marine
United States Merchant Marine
The United States Merchant Marine refers to the fleet of U.S. civilian-owned merchant vessels, operated by either the government or the private sector, that engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The Merchant Marine is...
. After receiving his training he spent the next several years serving in the USMM at Sheepshead Bay, between 1943-1945. During this time he was still able to pursue musical interests and work during his off hours. In 1944 his Suite on American Folk Songs premiered at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
with violinist Eudice Shapiro and pianist Vivian Rivkin. That same year his Pastorale and Dance was played for the first time by Sylvan on ABC Radio. The work received its concert premiere three years later with Oscar Shumsky
Oscar Shumsky
Oscar Shumsky was an American violinist and conductor born to Russian-Jewish parents.-Biography:...
and the Baltimore Symphony. Shulman also worked frequently with soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Rise Stevens
Risë Stevens
Risë Stevens is a retired American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Professional life:Stevens studied at New York's Juilliard School for three years. She went to Vienna, where she was trained by Marie Gutheil-Schoder and Herbert Graf. She made her début as Mignon in Prague in 1936 and stayed there until...
during the mid 1940s, arranging five cross-over albums for her between 1945-1947 in addition to other projects.
Middle life and career
After the war, Shulman married the pianist Sophie Pratt Bostelmann on 17 September 1946. They had met previously while they were both students at Juilliard. Their first child, Jay, a cellist, was born in 1949, followed by his daughter Laurie, a musicologist, in 1951, his son Marc, a guitarist, in 1953, and his daughter Lisa in 1956. Shulman returned to his position at the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1948. That same year he became a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. The following year the NBC Symphony Orchestra premiered his Waltzes for Orchestra under conductor Milton KatimsMilton Katims
Milton Katims was an American violist and conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony for 22 years . In that time he added more than 75 works, made recordings, premiered new pieces and led the orchestra on several tours. He expanded the orchestra's series of family and suburban...
at Carnegie Hall. In 1950 his string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
Threnody, written in honor of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's fallen soldiers, was premiered by the NBC String Quartet during Jewish Music Week. In 1954 the NBC Symphony Orchestra disbanded when Toscanini retired, and Shulman, along with several other members of the Symphony Orchestra, formed a new ensemble for NBC called the "Symphony of the Air". He remained with the Symphony of the Air for three years.
During the 1950s Shulman wrote numerous popular songs with entertainer Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
and he did several arrangements for Skitch Henderson
Skitch Henderson
Lyle Russell Cedric “Skitch” Henderson was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname reportedly derived from his ability to quickly "re-sketch" a song in a different key.- Biography :...
, Raoul Poliakin and Felix Slatkin
Felix Slatkin
Felix Slatkin was an American violinist and conductor.-Biography:Slatkin was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a Jewish family originally named Zlotkin from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. He began studying the violin at the age of nine with Isadore Grossman...
. In 1956 he wrote his Suite Miniature for Octet of Celli which was commissioned by the Fine Arts Cello Ensemble of Los Angeles. That same year he was one of several musicians to found the Violoncello Society, later serving as the organization's president from 1967 to 1972. In 1959, during the midst of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, he was asked to join a Soviet-American composers' symposium organised by Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky was a Russian born American composer, conductor, musician, music critic, lexicographer and author. He described himself as a "diaskeuast" ; "a reviser or interpolator."- Life :...
for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. In addition to Shulman, the symposium included Americans Roy Harris
Roy Harris
Roy Ellsworth Harris , was an American composer. He wrote much music on American subjects, becoming best known for his Symphony No...
and Howard Hanson
Howard Hanson
Howard Harold Hanson was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided opportunities for commissioning and performing American music...
and Russians Shostakovich and Kabalevsky.
Later life and career
Shulman played actively in chamber musicChamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
with the Philharmonia Trio from 1962–1969 and the Haydn Quartet from 1972 until his wife's death in 1982. During his career he has also served on the faculties at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
, the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, the State University of New York at Purchase
State University of New York at Purchase
Purchase College, State University of New York, is a public four-year college located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York system...
, Johnson State College
Johnson State College
Johnson State College is a small public liberal arts college, founded in 1828 by John Chesamore at Johnson in the U.S. state of Vermont. Johnson's president is Barbara E. Murphy and its board chair is Gary M. Moore.- History and governance :...
, and the University of Maine
University of Maine
The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...
. Shulman retired in 1987 due to declining health. He died of complications from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in a nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
in Hudson, New York
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city located along the west border of Columbia County, New York, United States. The city is named after the adjacent Hudson River and ultimately after the explorer Henry Hudson.Hudson is the county seat of Columbia County...
in 2002.
Selected works
Orchestra- Waltzes (1949)
- Hatikvah (1949); arrangement for orchestra
- A Laurentian Overture (1951)
- Popacatepetl (1952)
- Prelude (1952)
- Hup-Two-Three-Four, Jazz March (1953)
- Ricky Tic Serenade (1954)
- In Memoriam Sophie (1982)
- Woodstock Waltzes for chamber orchestra (1985)
- Quilt (1986)
String orchestra
- A Nocturne for Strings (1938)
- Four Moods (1942); also for string quartet
- Threnody (1950); also for string quartet: Allegro, Intermezzo and Scherzo
- Portrait of Lisa (1954)
- Viennese Lace (1954)
- The Bop Gavotte (1954)
- Minuet for Moderns (1954)
- An Elizabethan Legend (1954)
- Ben Franklin Suite (1963)
- A New England Tarantella (1978)
- Ripe for Plucking (1987)
Wind ensemble
- Top Brass, Six Minutes for Twelve, Suite for brass ensemble (1958)
- Two Chorales for Brass for brass ensemble (1962)
- The Three Faces of Glen Cove for concert band (1968)
- Interstate 90 for symphonic winds (1968)
- The Corn Shuckers, March-Scherzo for concert band (1969)
Concertante
- Theme and Variations for viola and orchestra or piano (1940) or for viola, string orchestra and harp (1954)
- Poem for violin and orchestra or piano (1941)
- Pastorale and Dance for violin and orchestra (1944)
- Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1948)
- Cadenzas for Mozart's Flute and Harp Concerto, K. 299 (1954)
- Kol Nidre for cello and orchestra or string quartet (1970)
- Variations for viola, string orchestra and harp (1984)
Chamber music
- Homage to Erik Satie for cello or viola and piano (1938)
- Waltz (Valse) for violin and piano (1939)
- Piece in Popular Style for viola and piano (1939)
- Lament for cello and piano (1939)
- Mood in Question for clarinet, string quartet and harp (1939)
- High Voltage for clarinet, string quartet, double bass, guitar and harp (1939)
- Serenade for cello and piano (1941)
- Four Moods for string quartet (1942); also for string orchestra
- Cradle Song for harp (1943); also for piano
- Folk Songs for Winds for wind quintet (1943)
- Suite Based on American Folk Songs for violin and piano (1944)
- Fare Ye Well, My Darlin'
- Little Bird
- The Mermaid
- Cod Liver 'Ile
- Johnny Stiles
- What Shall I Do with a Drunken Sailor?
- Rendezvous ("Rendezvous with Benny") for clarinet and string quartet (1946)
- Platter Chatter for clarinet, string quartet, double bass, guitar and harp (1946)
- J.S. on the Rocks (Nightcap) for clarinet, string quartet, double bass, guitar and harp (1947)
- Vodka Float (Sailor's Dance) for clarinet, string quartet, double bass, guitar and harp (1947)
- Suite for Solo Cello (1950)
- Allegro, Intermezzo and Scherzo for string quartet (1950); also for string orchestra: Threnody
- Suite for Solo Viola (1953)
- Suite Miniature for 8 cellos (1956)
- 3 – 4 – J ("Three for Jay") for cello and piano (1960)
- Five Duos for Student and Teacher for 2 cellos (1960)
- Suite for the Young 'Cellist for cello and piano (1961)
- Three Sketches for double bass and piano (1963)
- Pastorale for 4 cellos (1964)
- Two Pair for 4 cellos (1964)
- Theme and Variations for 2 violins (1967); New Directions for Strings
- Duet for violin and viola or cello (1967); New Directions for Strings
- Study in 5ths for violin, or viola, or cello (1967); New Directions for Strings
- Passacaglia, Transcription from J.S. Bach for cello ensemble (1968)
- Aria from J.S. Bach's organ Pastorale in F major for 4 cellos (1969)
- Sarabande from J.S. Bach's English Suite No.3 for 4 cellos (1974)
- Berkshire Mist for 4 cellos (1975)
- Two Episodes for 4 violas (1978)
- Night
- Ancora
- Canadian Folksongs for 4 violins or violin ensemble (1978)
- Lament II for cello and piano (1983)
Piano
- Cradle Song (1943); also for harp
- Dripping Faucet, March (1959)
- Lopsided (1959)
- March (1960)
- Hues of Blues (1961)
- One Man Show, 9 short works (1961)
- Mexican Mountain Climb (1962)
- Sonatina for Sophie (1963)
- Jazz Grab Bag (1975)
Vocal
- Song of the Moon Festival in the Woods for voice and piano (1934); words by John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
- Tess' Lament for voice and piano (1959)
Film scores
- Tennessee Valley Authority (1946)
- Freedom and Famine (1946)
- Port of New York (1946)
- Behind Your Radio Dial (1948)
- The Tattooed Stranger (1950)
External links
- Alan Shulman website
- Alan Shulman papers, 1924-2005 Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.