Elaine Shaffer
Encyclopedia
Elaine Shaffer was an American flutist and principal of the Houston Symphony Orchestra
between 1948 and 1953.
. She attended the Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia and was the prize student of William Kincaid, the 'grandfather' of the majority of flutists in the United States
. That he willed his platinum flute to her makes his regard for her talent evident. Kincaid was her only formal flute teacher; prior to that, she was entirely self-taught, according to an interview with her husband, Efrem Kurtz
, published in the National Flute Association
Newsletter in the 1980s.
Shaffer played for a season as second flute in the Kansas City Philharmonic (1947–1948). Apparently she was not shy — she really did not want to accept the position, though she had been recommended by an oboist in the orchestra, Laila Storch — and she held out not only for more money, but to be allowed to fulfill another engagement prior to starting the job, and a concerto appearance with the orchestra. She surprised the critics, the audience and Kurtz not only with her playing, but her artistry as well. As this was the 1940s, women had just begun to get positions in orchestras, making Shaffer something of a trail-blazer. The music director at the time was Efrem Kurtz, which was how they first met, though they were not married until 1955, after she had left the Houston Symphony Orchestra.
After holding the principal flutist's chair in Houston for five years (1948–1953), she left to pursue a career as a soloist and chamber music
ian (another first for an American woman) winning praise for her debut recital in London
. She performed at many festivals in Europe
, and worked closely with violin
ist Yehudi Menuhin
, pianist
Hephzibah Menuhin
, and harpsichordist
George Malcolm
. The composer
Ernest Bloch
dedicated two works to her: Suite Modale and Two Last Poems (Maybe); she gave the world premiere of the latter. She was also a friend of Marc Chagall
(who did a drawing for her), Karl Barth
and Herman Hesse.
The death of William Kincaid, her principal teacher, in 1967 was very difficult for her because she had a special bond with him. John Solum
, a flutist and pioneering baroque flutist, became the prime mover (along with a group of other students and admirers of Kincaid's) behind the commission of Aaron Copland
's Duo for Flute and Piano, which was dedicated to Kincaid's memory. Solum, a close friend and colleague of Shaffer, invited her and Hephzibah Menuhin to perform the world premiere of that work in October 1971 at a benefit for the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. A short while later, Shaffer was diagnosed with lung cancer
, though according to Albert Weatherly (a flute repair technician and dealer in New York
) she had never smoked. She was able to complete two final projects that were important to her: a concert of J.S. Bach
's sonatas for flute, and the first recording of the Copland. Two months after the recording was completed, Elaine Shaffer died in London on February 19, 1973.
Some of these recordings are now available on CD : Suite No. 2/Musical Offering/ Brandenburg V included in the Christmas Box 2001 - Bach Orchestral Suites / Brandenburgs / Violin Concertos - Yehudi Menuhin
/ Bath Festival Orchestra on EMI Classics 0724357443920.
She also performed the major standard flute repertoire of the 20th century, including sonatas by Hindemith
, Prokofiev
and Poulenc
, and the flute concerti by Ibert
and Nielsen
. She gave the world premiere of Virgil Thomson
's Flute Concerto, as well as five performances with Italian orchestras of a concerto by Franco Mannino
for flute, trombone obbligato and orchestra.
Houston Symphony Orchestra
The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. Since 1966, it has performed at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston....
between 1948 and 1953.
Biography
Elaine Shaffer was born in Altoona, PennsylvaniaAltoona, Pennsylvania
-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
. She attended the Curtis Institute of Music
Curtis Institute of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...
in Philadelphia and was the prize student of William Kincaid, the 'grandfather' of the majority of flutists in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. That he willed his platinum flute to her makes his regard for her talent evident. Kincaid was her only formal flute teacher; prior to that, she was entirely self-taught, according to an interview with her husband, Efrem Kurtz
Efrem Kurtz
Efrem Kurtz was a Russian conductor. He studied at the Saint Petersburg conservatory with Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Tcherepnin, among others. He later studied in Riga, Berlin and in Leipzig, in the last city as a pupil of Arthur Nikisch....
, published in the National Flute Association
National Flute Association
The National Flute Association , is the largest organization for flutists in the world. It is an association in the United States.It was founded by Mark Thomas.-External links:*...
Newsletter in the 1980s.
Shaffer played for a season as second flute in the Kansas City Philharmonic (1947–1948). Apparently she was not shy — she really did not want to accept the position, though she had been recommended by an oboist in the orchestra, Laila Storch — and she held out not only for more money, but to be allowed to fulfill another engagement prior to starting the job, and a concerto appearance with the orchestra. She surprised the critics, the audience and Kurtz not only with her playing, but her artistry as well. As this was the 1940s, women had just begun to get positions in orchestras, making Shaffer something of a trail-blazer. The music director at the time was Efrem Kurtz, which was how they first met, though they were not married until 1955, after she had left the Houston Symphony Orchestra.
After holding the principal flutist's chair in Houston for five years (1948–1953), she left to pursue a career as a soloist and 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...
ian (another first for an American woman) winning praise for her debut recital in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. She performed at many festivals in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and worked closely with 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 Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Hephzibah Menuhin
Hephzibah Menuhin
Hephzibah Menuhin was an American-Australian pianist and human rights campaigner. She was sister to the violinist Lord Menuhin and to the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin...
, and harpsichordist
Harpsichordist
A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord.Many baroque composers played the harpsichord, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, George Frideric Handel, François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau...
George Malcolm
George Malcolm (musician)
George Malcolm CBE was an English harpsichordist and conductor.Malcolm's first instrument was the piano, and his first teacher was a nun who recognised his talent and recommended him to the Royal College of Music. Malcolm went on to study at Balliol College, Oxford...
. The 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...
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
dedicated two works to her: Suite Modale and Two Last Poems (Maybe); she gave the world premiere of the latter. She was also a friend of Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
(who did a drawing for her), Karl Barth
Karl Barth
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...
and Herman Hesse.
The death of William Kincaid, her principal teacher, in 1967 was very difficult for her because she had a special bond with him. John Solum
John Solum
John Solum is an award-winning musician, author, educator, and advocate for the arts.- Early life :Born in Wisconsin in 1935, he started taking music lessons at the age of five. He began playing the flute professionally at age 17 while still in high school in Minneapolis, including recording with...
, a flutist and pioneering baroque flutist, became the prime mover (along with a group of other students and admirers of Kincaid's) behind the commission of Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
's Duo for Flute and Piano, which was dedicated to Kincaid's memory. Solum, a close friend and colleague of Shaffer, invited her and Hephzibah Menuhin to perform the world premiere of that work in October 1971 at a benefit for the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. A short while later, Shaffer was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
, though according to Albert Weatherly (a flute repair technician and dealer in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) she had never smoked. She was able to complete two final projects that were important to her: a concert of J.S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's sonatas for flute, and the first recording of the Copland. Two months after the recording was completed, Elaine Shaffer died in London on February 19, 1973.
Recordings
- Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
- Three Flute Sonatas : Sonata in b minor BWV 1030, Sonata in A Major BWV 1032 (2nd and 3rd movements), Sonata in E Minor BWV 1034 - with George MalcolmGeorge Malcolm (musician)George Malcolm CBE was an English harpsichordist and conductor.Malcolm's first instrument was the piano, and his first teacher was a nun who recognised his talent and recommended him to the Royal College of Music. Malcolm went on to study at Balliol College, Oxford...
- harpsichord, Ambrose Gauntlett - viola da gamba - Angel S36337 - Suite No.2 in B Minor, BWV 1067 : with Yehudi MenuhinYehudi MenuhinYehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
/ Bath Festival Orchestra - Musical Offering, BWV 1079 : Ricercare / 5 Canons / Trio Sonata / 5 Canons / Ricercare - with Archie CamdenArchie CamdenArchie Camden was a British bassoonist; he was a pedagogue and soloist of international acclaim. His career began in 1906 when he joined the Hallé Orchestra where he became principal bassoonist in 1914. In 1933 he moved to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, where he stayed until 1946 when he took up...
/ Ronald Kinloch Anderson / Yehudi MenuhinYehudi MenuhinYehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985... - Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D, BWV 1050 : with Yehudi MenuhinYehudi MenuhinYehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
/ George MalcolmGeorge Malcolm (musician)George Malcolm CBE was an English harpsichordist and conductor.Malcolm's first instrument was the piano, and his first teacher was a nun who recognised his talent and recommended him to the Royal College of Music. Malcolm went on to study at Balliol College, Oxford...
/ Bath Festival Orchestra
- Three Flute Sonatas : Sonata in b minor BWV 1030, Sonata in A Major BWV 1032 (2nd and 3rd movements), Sonata in E Minor BWV 1034 - with George Malcolm
- Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
- Concerto for flute and orchestra, K 313
- Concerto for flute and orchestra, K 314
- Andante in C for flute and orchestra, K 315
- Concerto for flute and harp, K 299 (with Marilyn Costello, harp)
- Georg Philipp TelemannGeorg Philipp TelemannGeorg Philipp Telemann was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually...
- Suite in A minor for flute and strings
- Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
- Variations on Trockne Blumen, op 160
- Friedrich KuhlauFriedrich KuhlauFriedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau was a German-Danish composer during the Classical and Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish Golden Age....
- Sonata in E minor
- Franz Xavier Mozart
- Sonata movement (mistakenly called "Rondo" on the recording)
- Aaron CoplandAaron CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
- Duo for Flute and Piano - with Aaron CoplandAaron CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
- piano - On Modern American Music Series M32737 - Copland Performs and Conducts Copland - CBS 1974
- Duo for Flute and Piano - with Aaron Copland
Some of these recordings are now available on CD : Suite No. 2/Musical Offering/ Brandenburg V included in the Christmas Box 2001 - Bach Orchestral Suites / Brandenburgs / Violin Concertos - Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
/ Bath Festival Orchestra on EMI Classics 0724357443920.
She also performed the major standard flute repertoire of the 20th century, including sonatas by 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...
, 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...
and Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, and the flute concerti by Ibert
Jacques Ibert
Jacques François Antoine Ibert was a French composer. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in World War I.Ibert pursued a successful composing career,...
and Nielsen
Carl Nielsen
Carl August Nielsen , , widely recognised as Denmark's greatest composer, was also a conductor and a violinist. Brought up by poor but musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he demonstrated his musical abilities at an early age...
. She gave the world premiere of Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
's Flute Concerto, as well as five performances with Italian orchestras of a concerto by Franco Mannino
Franco Mannino
Franco Mannino was an Italian film composer, pianist, opera director, playwright and novelist, born in Palermo.He made his debut as pianist at the age of 16...
for flute, trombone obbligato and orchestra.