Performances + Events
Gunther Schuller Legacy Concert
Jordan Hall
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Artist(s)
Gunther Schuller was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician who served as president of the New England Conservatory (1967-1977) where he formalized NEC’s commitment to jazz by establishing the first degree-granting jazz program at a major classical conservatory in 1969. Shortly thereafter, he instituted the Third Stream department, subsequently named the Contemporary Improvisation Department and now Contemporary Musical Arts, to explore the regions where the two musical “streams” of classical and jazz meet and mingle (Schuller coined the term “Third Stream” during a lecture he gave at Brandeis University in 1957). He hired the iconic Ran Blake to be the department’s chair. Early jazz hires included the legendary Jaki Byard and George Russell.
Schuller composed more than 180 works, spanning all musical genres including solo works, orchestral works, chamber music, opera, and jazz. Among Schuller’s orchestral works are Symphony (1965), Seven Studies of Paul Klee (1959), An Arc Ascending (1996), Four Soundscapes, and Shapes and Designs. Schuller’s large-scale work, Of Reminiscences and Reflections, was composed as a tribute to his wife of 49 years, Marjorie Black. In addition to composing for the standard concerto instruments — piano, violin, horn etc. — Schuller also wrote concertos for instruments that had been previously neglected in the concerto repertoire, such as the alto saxophone, bassoon, contrabassoon, organ, and double bass. Schuller also composed a number of works for solo ensemble with orchestra or, in some cases, band. Examples include Contrasts for Wind Quintet and Orchestra (1967), Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, Diptych for Brass Quintet and Concert Band (1967), and Eine kleine Posaunemusik for trombone and band (1980).
In addition to his musical compositions, Schuller wrote several books of note. These include Horn Technique (1962), Early Jazz: its Roots and Musical Development (1968) and its sequel, Swing Era: the Development of Jazz, 1930-1945, as well as The Compleat Conductor (1997).
