Alan Shulman, American Composer, Cellist and Arranger
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Visit our new website (same content but mobile-friendly) at AlanShulman.com
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Contact us via email: shulmuse@capital.net
Producer Fred Flaxman has done a one-hour program of Alan Shulman's music for his PRX series 'Compact Discoveries.' Listen
Alan Shulman
American Composer, Cellist and Arranger
Born: Baltimore, Maryland, June 4, 1915
Married: September 17, 1946 to pianist Sophie Pratt Bostelmann (1916-1982)
Children: Jay (1949), Laurie (1951), Marc (1953), Lisa (1956)
Died: Hudson, New York, July 10, 2002
Education:
Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore
- Cello: Bart Wirtz
- Harmony: Louis Cheslock
Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn, 1928-9
Brooklyn Vocational High School, 1929-32
National Orchestral Association/Leon Barzin, 1929-32
Juilliard School, New York, 1932-37
- Cello: Felix Salmond
- Composition: Bernard Wagenaar
- Orchestra: Albert Stoessel
Additional Cello Studies: Emanuel Feuermann, 1939
Additional Composition Studies: Paul Hindemith, 1942
U.S. Maritime Service, 1942-45
As Cellist and Composer:
Local 802, American Federation of Musicians, 1931
Kreiner String Quartet, 1935-38
N.B.C. Symphony/Arturo Toscanini, 1937-42, 1948-54
Stuyvesant String Quartet, 1938-54
New Friends of Rhythm, 1938-47
American Society of Musical Arrangers, 1942
ASCAP, 1948
Symphony of the Air, 1954-57
Violoncello Society, Inc. Founding member, 1956; President, 1967-72
Philharmonia Trio, 1962-69
Haydn Quartet, 1972-82
Chevalier du Violoncelle, Indiana University, 1997
Of related interest:
David Ewen. American Composers. New York: Putnam, 1982.
B. H. Haggin. The Toscanini Musicians Knew. New York: Horizon, 1967.
The Strad. "Affinity for Strings." November 1988.
Gunther Schuller. The Swing Era. New York: Oxford UP, 1989.
Video: Toscanini: The Maestro. Video Arts International, 1985.
Margaret Campbell. The Great Cellists. N. Pomfret, VT: Trafalgar SQ, 1989.
The New Grove II. Entry by Margaret Campbell. Macmillan, 2001.
Peter J. Levinson: September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle. Billboard Books, 2001.
Mortimer Frank: Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years. Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 2002.
The Letters of Arturo Toscanini. Edited & translated by Harvey Sachs. Knopf, New York, 2002.
Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007.
Cesare Civetta: The Real Toscanini. Amadeus Press, 2012.
Harvey Sachs: Toscanini: Musician of Conscience. Liveright, 2017.
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Recording News:
We are delighted that after many years, Capitol Records has reissued a CD of 'Seasons Greetings,' the classic 1961 Liberty Records' release by The Fantastic Strings of Felix Slatkin.Remasterd by Mike Milcher at SonicVision, the booklet reproduces the original album jacket and includes an essay ''A Holiday Journey with Felix Slatkin'' written by his son, conductor Leonard Slatkin. Leonard's notes honor the legacy of his talented parents; violinist and conductor Felix who was concertmaster at 20th Century Fox and conductor at the Hollywood Bowl, and who, with his wife Eleanor Aller, principal cello at Warner Bros., together founded the Hollywood String Quartet and made a series of important recordings for Capitol Records in the 1940s and 50s.
The booklet notes also tell the story of the making of Seasons Greetings. But there is more to the story:
Eleanor Aller, and Alan Shulman and his future wife Sophie Bostelmann had met at Juilliard in the 1930s. The Slatkins and the Shulmans were long-time colleagues and friends. New Year's eve, 1959-60 Alan and Sophie hosted Felix and Eleanor and other friends at their new home, Powdermill House, in Scarsdale. The Slatkins brought along the brilliant young violinist Michael Rabin. During the course of the evening, Felix proposed that Alan arrange an album of Christmas carols for Liberty Records.
He told Alan that he would receive album credit and would be paid royalties.
How do I know? I was there. They discussed the stereo concept, antiphonal strings, with the right channel orchestra muted for greater stereo effect. The harp (a favorite of Alan's) celeste, glockenspiel, and chimes were placed in the center. Felix told Alan he would confirm details upon his return to Los Angeles.
The project, as entered in Alan's 1960 datebook, progressed as follows:
Saturday, January 9, 1960: ''Call from Calif - Green Lite on Project (Christmas Album) for antiphonal string Stg Orch for Slatkin - Liberty - Start Sketching 630'' /
Sunday, January 10: ''Complete Sketch + Arr. #1 (First Noel)'' / Wednesday, January 20: ''Score #2 for Felix God Rest ye, Merry Gentlemen / Monday January 25: Sketch #3 (It Came Upon a Midnight Clear)'' / Tuesday January 26: ''Score #3) / Wednesday January 27 ''Sketch + partially score #4 (Adeste Fideles) / Monday, February 1 ''Complete Sketch and Scoring of #4 (ADESTE FIDELES) / Thursday February 4: ''Work on Score #5'' / Saturday February 6:''Completed Scoring on #5 (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing) / Thursday February 11: (Work on #6) / Friday, February 12: ''Complete #6 (Deck The Halls) Sketch + Score #7 (Silent Night) / Monday February 29: ''Complete Scoring on #8 (O Holy Night) / Friday March 4: ''Complete Sketch and Scoring of #9 (White Christmas) / Saturday March 5:''Sketch # 10 (Joy to the World)'' / Tuesday March 15: ''Sketch #11 (Away in a Manger) / Saturday March 19 ''(Complete #11 AWAY IN A MANGER)'' / Monday April 4: ''work on # 12'' Tuesday April 5: ''Complete #12 I heard the bells on Christmas day'' [Project Slatkin Completed]''
(The dozen charts were completed in 3 months during which Alan also played numerous record dates, NBC television shows, edited several original compositions for publication, had social engagements, attended concerts and rehearsed and performed the Brahms Double Concerto with his brother Sylvan.)
Alan sent the scores off to Felix. A year later however, when the Liberty LP was released bearing the attribution ''White Christmas (Irving Berlin) - Publisher Irving Berlin Music (ASCAP) All Other Selections Arr. by Felix Slatkin - Publisher Metric Music - BMI,'' Alan felt betrayed. While he had been paid for the arrangements, he filed a lawsuit which, as Leonard writes, was eventually settled out of court.
The arrangements are in Alan's sophisticated arranging style of the late 1950s - his extraordinary harmonic and orchestration sense, and his use of counterpoint, key choice and modulations, plus clever nods to Brahms, Thomas, Handel, 'Jingle Bells' in 'White Christmas' etc. - and are techniques he used in charts he wrote for, and were recorded by, Skitch Henderson and Raoul Poliakin. Alan's arranging skills (he had taught orchestration to Nelson Riddle) were why Felix asked Alan to arrange the project in the first place. Felix died at 47 in 1963. Lawsuit notwithstanding, the estrangement didn't last long. In June, 1964, Eleanor brought her son Fred east and Alan wrote a cello quartet ''Two Pair'' which the four of us played when they visited Scarsdale. That October, Leonard, who was studying at Julliard, was also guest in our home.
When Alan died in 2002, the New York Public Library requested Alan's archives. I subsequently donated to the Lincoln Center Library Alan's original sketches and scores for Seasons Greetings. Both are in Alan's hand. I went to the Library of Congress and called for the copyright copy of the scores. At the top of each score, pasted over ''Alan Shulman'' was ''Felix Slatkin'' and on the bottom © 1961 Metric Music. Alan had neglected to copyright the scores in his own name and Felix treated them as a work for hire.
'Seasons Greetings' is Alan Shulman's arranging masterpiece - no matter whose name appears on the album or the scores in the Library of Congress.
The recording has been a favorite in our house for more than 60 years, and now that the CD reissue has made it available again, we hope it will be in yours as well.
- Jay Shulman
Seasons Greetings can be ordered here:
Amazon, RGM-1076 The Fantastic Strings of Felix Slatkin - Seasons Greetings
- Artek Recordings has released Laura Newell: The Philharmonia Recordings, which includes the 1951 recordings of Bax, Ibert and Malipiero with the Stuyvesant Quartet and her 1953 solo album with works of Casella, Respighi and Donizetti. (Artek AR-0067-2).
Amazon
- Bridge records has released The Tattooed Stranger: The Film Music of Alan Shulman the scores Alan composed for R.K.O. 1945-1949 including the documentaries Tennessee Valley Authority, Freedom and Famine, Port of New York, and an excerpt from Behind Your Radio Dial. Notes by Jay Shulman. (Bridge 9560)
The Tattooed Stranger Alan Shulman BRIDGE 9560-Bridge Records
- Warner Archive has released on DVD the 1950 RKO police procedural The Tattooed Stranger with Alan Schulman's (sic) exciting film score. Shot on location in New York City, this 64 minute whodunit has never been available in any format. Amazon
- It has come to our attention that a Stuyvesant String Quartet CD of Bloch and Shostakovich is being offered on Amazon by Stop Poverty Records purporting to help African people in need. This is an unauthorized CD which we believe to be suspicious and have reported to Amazon. The recordings are available elsewhere.
- The Stuyvesant Quartet's 1947 recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with Al Gallodoro, and their celebrated 1951 recordings of the Mozart D-Major Quartets, K. 499 & 575, have been reissued on Bridge Records (9397) Copies may be ordered from us at $18 postpaid, or from Bridge Records. Lloyd Schwartz's Fresh Air review is here.
- Albany Records has released cellist Wesley Baldwin's recording of Alan Shulman: Works for Cello (Troy 1187). The CD includes the first new recording of the Concerto for Violoncello, with the Hot Springs Festival Orchestra conducted by Jean Reis, as well as the premiere recordings of Homage to Erik Satie, Serenade, Lament, Lament II, and Suite for Solo Cello, and Suite for the Young Cellist. Amazon
- Out of print for more than 75 years, The New Friends of Rhythm recordings have long been favorites of Alan Shulman fans. These sought after recordings, unavailable since the 78 era, were released in 2007 on Hep Records. The CD, remastered by Doug Pomeroy with notes by Jay Shulman, includes the complete instrumental commercial recordings, plus rare broadcast air checks. Amazon
For many years Alan Shulman's arrangements were unavailable on compact disc. Fortunately, a number of recent CD reissues are now available from Amazon:
- Irene Kral: The Band And I & SteveIreneO! (Fresh Sound 626) Amazon
- Barbara McNair: Front Row Center (Sepia 1148) Amazon
- Essential Media Group has digitally remastered The Poliakin Orchestra's Irving Berlin - Great Man of American Music, which includes three classic Alan Shulman arrangements, The Girl That I Marry, Say It Isn't So, and Let's Face the Music and Dance. Amazon
- Alan's arrangement of Harold Arlen's Over The Rainbow is also available on Poliakin's Rodgers/Arlen disc. Both are available for the first time on CD since their 1960 release on Everest Records. Amazon
- Maxine Sullivan Le Ruban Bleu with New Friends of Rhythm (Shulman arrangements) (Baldwin Street 303) Amazon
- Artie Shaw: The 'Artistry' of Artie Shaw (Hep 78) (Rendezvous, Mood in Question and Alan's arrangement of I Concentrate on You. Amazon
- Rise Stevens: Dearly Beloved (Flare 256) has several of Alan's arrangements done around the time he taught orchestration to Nelson Riddle. Web Fantastic
- Amazon also has Rise's out-of-print The Pop Side (Collectors Choice) from the same 1945-47 session in outstanding studio sound. All but the Berlin songs are Alan's arrangements. Amazon
- Leo Reisman's Puttin on the Ritz (Flare 254) has Alan's first recorded arrangement of Lost in a Fog, recorded for Brunswick in 1934. Amazon
- Bridge Records has released Rey de la Torre, historic recordings by the Cuban-born master that were originally recorded for Philharmonia Records and have long been unavailable. Included are the first LP recording of the Boccherini Fandango Quintet with the Stuyvesant Quartet, unavailable since its original release in 1951, and Rey's popular Music for the Spanish Guitar recorded in 1952 and reissued as a Nonesuch Records LP in the 1960s. Notes by Rey's student Anthony Weller, and a history of the Stuyvesant Quartet by Jay Shulman. Remastering by Brian C. Peters. Bridge Records
- Bridge Records has released the second Stuyvesant String Quartet CD. Included are the Philharmonia/Nonesuch Malipiero Rispetti e Strambotti, their celebrated 1951 recordings of the Debussy and Ravel Quartets, and the 1946 radio broadcast premiere of Alan Shulman's Rendezvous for Clarinet & String Quartet (Rendezvous with Benny) with Benny Goodman. Audio restoration by Brian C. Peters, notes by Laurie Shulman, and an expanded history of the Quartet by Jay Shulman. $18 postpaid by check to Jay Shulman, P.O. Box 602, Claverack, NY 12513 or online at Bridge Records.
- Bridge Records released the definitive collection The Music of Alan Shulman, in June 2002. Compositions included are Theme & Variations, in Emanuel Vardi's first performance, clarinet virtuoso Al Gallodoro performing Rendezvous, Leonard Bernstein conducting Shulman's arrangement of Hatikvah, Milton Katims conducting A Nocturne for Strings, and Waltzes for Orchestra, a rare Guido Cantelli performance of A Laurentian Overture, and Don Gillis conducting Minuet for Moderns and The Bop Gavotte. $18.00 postpaid by check to Jay Shulman, P.O. Box 602, Claverack, NY 12513 or online at Bridge Records.
Theme & Variations for Viola has been recorded by the following artists:
-- Yizhak Schotten with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, Richard Rosenberg conductor Presto Music
-- Cathy Basrak with pianist Robert Koenig. American Viola Works. Cedille Records
-- Joseph DePasquale with Angelin Chang, piano. Amazon
-- Robert Glazer with Gilda Glazer, piano. Amazon
- Soprano Danielle Woerner has recorded Song of the Moon Festival in the Woods from The Chinese Nightingale (1934) on her CD Voices of the Valley. Apple order
- Tashi's 1989 recording of Rendezvous with Richard Stoltzman is still available on CD. Amazon
- Maureen Hurd's recording of Rendezvous with pianist Barbara Gonzaler-Palmer: Amazon
- Music of Alan Shulman Facebook page (not currently active).
American composer, cellist and arranger Alan Shulman was born in Baltimore, June 4, 1915.
Shulman's early studies were with Bart Wirtz (cello) and Louis Cheslock (harmony) at the Peabody Conservatory.
In 1928 the family moved to Brooklyn where Alan played in the National Orchestral Association under Leon Barzin. He received a New York Philharmonic Scholarship, studying cello with Joseph Emonts and harmony with Winthrop Sargent.
He joined Local 802, America Federation of Musicians in 1931.
From 1932-37 he attended the Juilliard School where he was a fellowship student, studying cello with Felix Salmond and composition with Bernard Wagenaar. While still a student, he composed music for the American Children's Theatre production of Hans Christian Anderson's The Chinese Nightingale (1934). He continued his cello studies with Emanuel Feuermann (1939) and composition with Paul Hindemith (1942).
Alan Shulman was cellist of the Kreiner String Quartet (1935-38). In 1938, with his brother, violinist Sylvan Shulman, he co-founded the Stuyvesant String Quartet which during the 1940s and 1950s were noted for their performances and recordings of contemporary quartets of Bloch, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Malipiero, Hindemith and Kreisler, among others. In 1941 they played the American premiere of the Shostakovich Piano Quintet at Carnegie Hall and recorded it for Columbia Records.
The Shulman brothers' swing septet The New Friends of Rhythm recorded with Buster Bailey for Victor before the war, and with Maxine Sullivan for International Records after. (Baldwin Street Music BJH-303).
Alan Shulman was a charter member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini in 1937-42, serving in the U.S. Maritime Service 1942-45, and rejoining NBC from 1948-54.
During the 1930s and 1940s he was also active as an arranger for Leo Reisman, Andre Kostalanetz, Arthur Fiedler and Wilfred Pelletier's Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air. While in the Maritime Service, he taught orchestration to Nelson Riddle who went on to make celebrated arrangements for Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat "King" Cole.
Shulman's first successful composition was Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra which received its premiere over NBC in 1941 with Emanuel Vardi (Bridge 9119) as soloist. Theme & Variations has been recorded by Yizhak Schotten (Crystal CD 635), Cathy Basrak (Cedille 90000 053), Joseph DePasquale (Albany/Troy 715) and Robert Glazer (Centaur 2755). Chicago Symphony principal Milton Preves played the work often, and it is in the repertoire of most American viola soloists.
His Suite on American Folk Songs was premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1944 by violinist Eudice Shapiro with pianist Vivian Rivkin.
Jascha Heifetz performed and recorded "Cod Liver 'Ile" from the Suite (Heifetz Collection, Vol.35).
Shulman's Pastorale and Dance was first played by Sylvan Shulman over ABC in 1944 and was performed by Oscar Shumsky with the Baltimore Symphony in 1947.
Between 1945-47 Shulman arranged five cross-over albums or soprano Rise Stevens for Columbia Records (Sony CCM-067-2)
Alan Shulman joined ASCAP in 1948.
He wrote music for children's records (James Thurber's Many Moons - Columbia), for radio and for motion pictures, including the RKO feature The Tattooed Stranger.
Waltzes for Orchestra received its premiere by the NBC Symphony with Milton Katims conducting October 15, 1949 on a Carnegie Hall network broadcast (Bridge 9119).
His Threnody (for the fallen soldiers of Israel) was premiered by the NBC String Quartet during Jewish Music Week in February, 1950.
Shulman's Rendezvous, written for Benny Goodman (Bridge 9137), was recorded by Artie Shaw with the New Music Quartet for Columbia (Hep 78) and by Richard Stoltzman with Tashi for RCA/BMG (7901-2-RC) in 1989. Al Gallodoro's 1946 NBC Symphony performance is included on Bridge 9119.
Leonard Rose premiered Shulman's Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra with the New York Philharmonic under Dimitri Mitropoulos in 1950.
Guido Cantelli conducted the premiere of Shulman's A Laurentian Overture with the Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in 1952. The Overture was dedicated to Talullah Bankhead. Olin Downes in the New York Times called it "boldly and mischievously made."
In 1946 Shulman married pianist Sophie Pratt Bostelmann (1916-1982) They had four children.
Alan Shulman was a founder of the Symphony of the Air (1954), and the Violoncello Society (1956). He was the Society's President 1967-72.
His Suite Miniature for Octet of Celli was written in 1956 for the Fine Arts Cello Ensemble of Los Angeles.
In the 1950s, Shulman wrote popular songs with entertainer Steve Allen and arranged for Skitch Henderson, Raoul Poliakin and Felix Slatkin.
During the 1960s and 70s, Shulman was busy in the recording and television studios, and composed teaching material
and works for band including 3 Faces of Glen Cove, Interstate 90, The Corn Shuckers and Mazatlan and arranged for singer-songwriter Cris Williamson's debut recording on Ampex Records.
He was cellist of the Philharmonia Trio (1962-69) (CRI), the Vardi Trio (MMO), An Die Musik (1976-7) of the Haydn Quartet (1972-82).
Shulman taught cello at Sarah Lawrence College, Juilliard, SUNY-Purchase, Johnson State College (VT) and the University of Maine.
In the 1980s his health declined and he retired in 1987.
Alan Shulman was made a Chevalier du Violoncelle by the Eva Janzer Cello Center at Indiana Unversity in 1997.
Alan Shulman died July 10, 2002 at a nursing home in Hudson, New York.
He is survived by his sons Jay Shulman, a cellist, and Marc Shulman, a guitarist; and daughters Laurie Shulman, a program annotator and author, and Lisa Shulman.
Alan Shulman's works are published by Chappell/Warner, Sam Fox, MCA/Leeds, Mills Music, and Bregman, Vocco & Conn (EAM), Shawnee Press and Weintraub Music (G. Schirmer), and Tetra/Masters Music.
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Publications News:
- The Music Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has opened the Alan Shulman papers for research. Finding aid: PDF at NYPL. For more information, contact the Music Division at musicdiv@nypl.org, Matt Snyder, Archivist, Manuscripts & Archives Division, New York Public Library matthewsnyder@nypl.org Tel: 917-229-9582
- Wise Music is now handling the following Alan Shulman orchestral works, including Theme & Variations (1940) for Viola & Orchestra (and 1954 Viola, Strings & Harp); Rendezvous; A Laurentian Overture; Cello Concerto; Waltzes for Orchestra; Prelude for Orchestra. Wise Music.
- European American Music is handling the following Alan Shulman orchestral works: Hatikvah; Pastorale & Dance for Violin & Orchestra, Kol Nidre (Cello/ Orchestra); In Memorium – Sophie; Woodstock Waltzes. Contact: rental@eamdc.com (212) 461-6940 EAM
- Schirmer Classical on Demand now has for sale the Alan Shulman pieces originally published by Weintraub Music. Order direct, or through your music dealer:
• DRIPPING FAUCET & MARCH
• LOPSIDED
• PASTORALE
• CRADLE SONG
• FIVE CELLO DUOS FOR STUDENT AND TEACHER
- Alfred now has for sale Alan Shulman's string orchestra works An Elizabethan Legend, The Bop Gavotte, Viennese Lace, Minuet for Moderns, Portrait of Lisa, and A Nocturne for Strings. Also available for sale is Threnody (1950) and for string orchestra or string quartet, and Two Chorales for Brass (1962) (Tetra))
- Alfred now has for sale three long-unavailable Alan Shulman titles formerly in the Sam Fox catalogue.
• One Man Show - Sketches for the Piano. (1961) Misprinted on the cover as 'Alan Schulman' (sic).
• Hues of Blues 1. Light Blue 2. Dark Blue. Piano Solo. (1961)
• Suite for the Young Cellist. Cello & Piano. (1961)
- Gems Music www.gemsmusicpublications.com has new editions of Alan Shulman's. Gems
• Pastorale and Two Pair (1964) for 4 Cellos. Sore & Parts. (GPL 237)
• Variations (1984) for Viola, Harp and Strings. Score & Parts (GPL 192)
• Variations (1984) Viola/Piano reduction. (GPL 193)
• 2 Episodes for Viola Quartet 1. Night 2. Ancora. Score & Parts. (GPL 194)
• 3 Canadian Folksongs for Violin Quartet. Score & Parts. (GPL 198)
- Piedmont Music has published Ben Franklin Suite for string orchestra. Composed in 1963 and based on the string quartet attributed to Benjamin Franklin, it was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra on their Bi-Centennial celebration concerts in 1976. Set C (8-8-8-4-4, optional Vn. 3, score & piano conductor) are available for sale $50.00 and can be ordered from Hal Leonard. Hal Leonard
- In February, 2020, Jay Shulman donated 100 additional 78 r.p.m acetate masters and open reel tapes of Alan Shulman’s recorded compositions, arrangements and Alan Shulman's setting of Christopher Marlowe's The Passionate Shepherd to His Love for SATB & Harp has been published by Hal Leonard (www.halleonard.com) $1.95 ea, 16 pps. includes harp part (HL 08711520) JW Pepper
- Alex Ross's highly-praised The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century mentions the New Friends of Rhythm in the chapter "Radio Music." Amazon
- Peter J. Levinson's biography of Nelson Riddle, September in the Rain, published by Billboard Books in September, discusses Alan Shulman's mentoring of the celebrated arranger. Riddle and Shulman were in the Merchant Marine stationed at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn 1943-4. Amazon
- Jay Shulman's article on the Stuyvesant String Quartet "Band of Brothers," appeared in the Summer, 2005 issue of Classic Record Collector.
- Jay Shulman's article, "My Student - Nelson Riddle" is in the Spring 2002 issue of "Nelson's Notes - The Journal of the Nelson Riddle Appreciation Society."
- Jay Shulman's article, "Laura Newell, the Shulman Brothers and The New Friends of Rhythm," appeared in the Summer, 2001 issue of the American Harp Journal. It contains a Laura Newell discography, and some great photographs of the group at work.
- Laurie Shulman's "The Meyerson Symphony Center: Building a Dream" has been published by the University of North Texas Press. ISBN 1-57441-082-2 cloth, 448pps 30 color, 55 b&w photos, 24 illustrations. Amazon
- Steven Honigberg's long-awaited biography of Leonard Rose has been published. It contains a coupon for a CD of Rose's 1950 premiere of the Alan Shulman Cello Concerto with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos. Amazon
- University of Wyoming Professor James Przygocki writes in t he February 2020 issue of ASTA’s “American String Teacher” “Alan Shulman was an important twentieth-century composer (who) knew string instruments well and wrote idiomatically for the viola...the “Theme and Variations” is shorter and less technically difficult...and can be an excellent choice for competitions.” (Vol. 70 No. 1, p. 53)
- Producer Fred Flaxman has done a one-hour program of Alan Shulman's music for his PRX series 'Compact Discoveries.' Listen
- Jazz pianist Judy Carmichael interviewed Jay Shulman about Alan's music and Jay's work with it for her NPR program Jazz Inspired. Listen
- Steven Honigberg's performance with pianist Audrey Andrist of Alan Shulman’s 'Kol Nidre' has been posted to YouTube.
- In February, 2020, Jay Shulman donated 100 additional 78 r.p.m acetate masters and open reel tapes of Alan Shulman’s recorded compositions, arrangements and performances to the Shulman collection at the New York Public Library’s Music Division at Lincoln Center. Also included were scrapbooks and letters. Library’s online catalog
- Peter J. Levinson's biography of Nelson Riddle, September in the Rain, published by Billboard Books in September, discusses Alan Shulman's mentoring of the celebrated arranger. Riddle and Shulman were in the Merchant Marine stationed at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn 1943-4. Available from Amazon.
- Jay Shulman's article, "My Student - Nelson Riddle" is in the Spring 2002 issue of "Nelson's Notes - The Journal of the Nelson Riddle Appreciation Society."
- Jay Shulman's article, "Laura Newell, the Shulman Brothers and The New Friends of Rhythm," appeared in the Summer, 2001 issue of the American Harp Journal. It contains a Laura Newell discography, and some great photographs of the group at work.
- Laurie Shulman's "The Meyerson Symphony Center: Building a Dream" has been published by the University of North Texas Press. ISBN 1-57441-082-2 cloth, $39.95 plus $10.00 shipping for an inscribed copy. 448pps 30 color, 55 b&w photos, 24 illustrations. Orders: Laurie Shulman.
- Now available: "Suite Based on American Folk Songs" for Violin and Piano. $22.50. After being buried for years in the Shawnee rental catalog, we have retained the copyright and have published this wonderful work which has been performed by Eudice Shapiro, Joseph Gingold and Jascha Heifetz, who recorded "Cod Liver Ile."
- Program notes for "Theme and Variations" are available from Laurie Shulman.
- Bernard Robbins, who was second violinist of the Stuyvesant Quartet, died November 28, 1999 after a short illness. He was 86. Born in New York in 1913, Bernie was raised in the Bronx, received a bachelor's degree from City College and a master's in mathematics from Columbia University. He studied at Juilliard with Sascha Jacobson, graduating in 1935. He was a member of the Kreiner Quartet with Sylvan and Alan Shulman before joining the National Symphony. From 1937 until 1944 he was a member of the Stradivarius Quartet. In 1944 he joined the NBC Symphony and in 1945 the Stuyvesant Quartet. In 1955 he joined the New York Philharmonic. For three years (1961-64) he was a member of the CBC String Quartet. He then rejoined the Philharmonic until his retirement in 1983. He remained an avid chamber music player.
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- Milton Preves, for 46 years principal violist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, died June 10, 2000, a week short of his 91st birthday. Born in Cleveland, Milton joined the Chicago Symphony in 1934. He was a member of the Mischakoff String Quartet and the Chicago Symphony String Quartet. After hearing Vardi's broadcast premiere, he wrote to Alan requesting a copy of the "Theme and Variations." Milton gave the Chicago premiere in December 1943, Hans Lange conducting, and performed it again with Lange in February 1944. In 1947 he played it with Tauno Hannikainen, who also conducted the "Waltzes for Orchestra" with the CSO; on a 1966 telecast with Seiji Ozawa; and at Ravinia in 1979 with James Levine conducting. Milton conducted the premiere of Alan's "Prelude for Orchestra" with the North Shore Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall in 1953. The "Suite for Solo Viola is dedicated to him. Milton taught Alan's music and his enthusiastic advocacy helped it to enter the standard viola repertoire. Milton's career and friendship is truly something we celebrate.
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- Cellist Anthony Sophos died April 14, 2004. He was 81. Born in Peabody, Massachusetts 11 February 1923, Tony was raised in Cleveland and at 19 was appointed to the faculty of Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. He played in the Cleveland Orchestra under Arthur Rodzinski 1942-44. When he came to New York to study with Felix Salmond at the Juilliard, Tony and Alan began a lifelong friendship. Tony was a member of the NBC Symphony under Arturo Toscanini 1947-8, and then joined with the New York Philharmonic under Dimitri Mitropoulos and Leonard Bernstein 1947-57. He was a member of the New York Philharmonic Cello Quartet with Laszlo Varga, Nathan Stutch and Martin Ormandy that recorded for Decca Records. Tony left the Philharmonic in 1958 to join CBS. He was an busy freelancer in radio, television and Broadway and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Perry Como and many others. He taught at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY, The Masters School in Tarrytown, NY and The Westchester Conservatory of Music in White Plains, NY. Tony was my first teacher. When I announced in 1958 that I wanted to study cello, Alan took me to Tony, saying "A doctor doesn't operate on his own child." Tony's enthusiasm made him a great teacher who continues to inspire me. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, and sons Marc and Kip, all wonderful musicians.
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- Violinist Charles Libove died in May 22, 2008. Born in New York in 1926, he studied at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School.
Among his teachers were Lea Luboschutz, Ivan Galamian, and Demetrius Dounis. He played in the first Casals Festival in 1957 in
Puerto Rico, and in 1958 was the sole American Laureate at the Enesco Violin Competition in Bucharest. He was a member of the
Paganini Quartet, Marlboro Trio and the Naumberg Award-winning Beaux Arts Quartet.
He also taught at NYU, SUNY, American University and the Peabody Conservatory, and was among the busiest New York studio free-lancers.
With his wife, pianist Nina Lugovoy, he had the idea musical partner and together they performed a wealth of repertoire.
Their recording of the Ravel and Frank Bridge sonatas has been reissued on a MSR Classics CD (MS 1012)
In 1961, Charlie, Nina and Alan Shulman formed the Philharmonia Trio. Their 1962 Carnegie Recital Hall début was critically acclaimed, and for the rest of the decade they gave memorable concerts throughout the United States while maintaining busy teaching and freelance careers in New York. Their CRI recording of the Cowell and Semmler trios document their artistry. Alan abruptly left the Trio during a 1969 tour.
Charlie and Nina had been part of our family during those years and it was a loss that affected us deeply.
In 1980, Alan and Sophie moved to the Woodstock area where the Liboves had a country home since the 1960s.
A reconciliation was effected when Charlie and Nina performed Alan's music on programs at Maverick
Concerts (where they performed for nearly 40 years) and at Merkin Concert Hall.
Charlie was a violinist's violinist. His effortless bow arm, facile left hand technique and flawless shifts, produced a
tone that was a thing of beauty. Charlie was highly opinionated, but often spoke of the great violinists of yesteryear with admiration and humility. He was truly among their ranks.
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- Violist Emanuel Vardi died at his home in North Bend, Washington on January 29, 2011. Born in Jerusalem April 21, 1915, Manny studied violin at the Institute of Musical Art in New York
with Constance Seeger, and viola with Edouard Dethier at Juilliard, where he first met Alan Shulman. Alan, Sylvan and Manny played together in the NBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1941,
Manny gave the first performance of Alan's Theme & Variations with pianist Vivian Rivkin on his Town Hall debut, February 17, 1941. At Manny's suggestion, Alan orchestrated the work
and Manny played the radio premiere March 11, 1941 on a short-wave broadcast to South America, and an NBC network broadcast the same night. The second broadcast is on Bridge records CD 9119. Manny's championing of Theme & Variations help launch both their careers and its subsequent success is in large part owed to him. When violist Louis Kievman left the Stuyvesant Quartet in 1942, Manny replaced him. He plays on their Columbia recording of the Shostakovich String Quartet, Op. 49. While Manny was in the U.S. Navy Orchestra he played for the Roosevelts at the White House. After the war, Manny pursued his career as a soloist, performing the Theme & Variations with ABC in 1946 and with Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1947. He studied art in Florence 1950-52. Upon his return to New York, he became one of the busiest freelance players in radio and television, on classical and popular record dates, arranging and composing. His landmark viola recording of the Paganini Caprices has been reissued on Cembal d'Amour 129. Manny, Alan and pianist Ed Haimovitz recorded for Music Minus One Records as the Vardi Trio during the 1970s. Manny was Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony from 1977-82. Two injuries curtailed Manny's playing career in the early 1990s. He continued to give master classes, and paint. Manny is survived by his wife, musical and artistic partner Lenore Weinstock Vardi, and his daughters Andrea Smith and Pauline Normand.
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Performances:
- Violist Michael Klotz of the Amernet Quartet performed Theme and Variations with the Caroga Arts Ensemble conducted by Alexander Platt
at the Maverick Concert Hall, Woodstock NY, Saturday, August 27, 2022 at 6:00. The concert marked the 20th anniversary of Alan Shulman's passing.
Maverick Concerts
- Clarinetist David Shifrin will join the Miro Quartet in a performance of Rendezvous for Clarinet and Strings for the opening of the Skaneateles Festival, Thursday, July 28, 2022 at 8:00 p.m.
- Jay Shulman gave his PowerPoint presentation on Alan's life and career to the Los Angeles Violoncello Society, Jerry Kessler, president, at the Los Angeles Violin Shop, Saturday, June 4, 2022. Los Angeles Violoncello Society
- Jay Shulman’s planned coaching of JoAnna Cochenet-Gallastegui’s students in “Ben Franklin Suite” at Levine Music at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD in April, 2020 will be rescheduled.
- Inbal Segev performed Alan’s Bach Aria transcription with the Great Fall (MT) Symphony 2/8/20. Grant Harville conducted.
- Jay Shulman presented a tribute to Alan at the Violoncello Society’s meeting at West End Collegiate Church in Manhattan, November 18, 2019. Photos:
www.violoncellosociety.org
- Violist Ron Carbone and pianist Derek Han performed Theme and Variations at the Kamerfest Kosova in Prishtina 10/26/18.
- Rendezvous was performed by clarinetist Alexander Muhr with Priscila Baggio Simeoni, Elke Zocher,violins, Matthias Schella, viola,and Claudia Pfannschmidt-Barz,Violoncello, at the Staatstheater Cottbus (Germany) Kammermusiksaal on January 27, 2015 and February 29, 2015.
- Violist Pamela Ryan performed 'Theme and Variations' with the Thailand Philharmonic in Bangkok, September 19-20, 2018.
- Christopher Blair conducted ‘The Bop Gavotte’ with the Laurel Beach Casino Orchestra, September 8, 2018 in Milford, CT.
- Cellist Steven Honigberg performed Alan Shulman's Kol Nidre (1970) with pianist Steven Glaser at the Milton Center for Jewish Studies at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH on May 7, 2017.
- Cellist Wesley Baldwin performed Alan Shulman's Cello Concerto with the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra conducted by Betty Everett in Bemidji, MN, May 1, 2016.
- The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performed 'A Laurentian Overture' under the direction of Joseph Young at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore January 7, 2015 and at the Strathmore in Bethesda, MD January 10, 2016.
- Violist Pamela Goldsmith performed 'Theme and Variations' with the Topanga Symphony conducted by Jerome Kessler
at the Topanga Community House, Topanga, CA, Sunday August 23, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.
- Clarinetist David Shifrin performed ‘Rendezvous for Clarinet & Strings’ at Chamber Music Northwest, July 23, 2015 at Reed College, Portland, OR.
- Clarinetist Chad Smith performed 'Rendezvous for Clarinet and Piano' on March 30 at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, PA and March 31, 2015 at Mansfield University in Mansfield, PA in tribute to Alan Shulman’s centenary.
- Two Pair and Aria from Organ Pastorale in F, were performed by cellists Jerome Kessler, Lynn Angebranndt, Maurice Grants and Billy Tobenkin on March 1, 2015 at Roth Hall at the Crossroads School on a Los Angeles Violoncello Society concert.
- Cellist Francesco Mastromatteo performed Suite for Solo Cello
at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Dallas, TX on March 29, 2015.
- A Nocturne for Strings was performed by the Windham Festival Chamber
Orchestra conducted by Robert Manno at the Doctorow Center in Hunter, NY
on November 29, 2014.
- Clarinetist Nicholas Lewis performed Rendezvous for Clarinet and Strings
at the Bard College Conductor’s Institute August 1, 2014.
Augustina Kapoti conducted the ensemble.
- Clarinetist Julian Milkis performed Rendezvous for Clarinet and Strings
with violinists Gary Levinson, Felix Olschefka, violist Richard Young
and cellist Brinton Avery Smith at the Chamber Music Society of
Fort Worth at the FW Modern Art Museum, March 29, 2014.
Laurie Shulman gave the pre-concert talk.
- Clarinetist Lindsey Malko, a student of Dr. Maureen Hurd,
performed Rendezvous with violinists Angel Liu, Michael Szeles,
violist Seth Van Embden, and cellist Alex Nelson at Schare
Recital Hall, Douglass Campus at Rutgers on May 4, 2014.
- Violist Mary Moran performed Theme and Variations with
the El Paso Youth Orchestra, at the Abraham Chavez
Theater, February 2, 2014. Andres Moran conducted.
- Threnody was performed by the Atrium Quartet at the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth (TX) November 16, 2013.
The CMSFW will also perform Rendezvous March 29, 2014 with clarinetist Julian Milkus, with Gary Levinson and Felix Olschofka, violins, Richard Young, viola, and Cellist Brinton Smith.
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