Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is a Compositeur, Corniste and American Leader , born the November 22nd 1925 with New York. It is one of the principal representatives of “Third Stream Music” (“Third current”).
Biography
Wire of a Violonist of the Philharmonic orchestra of New York, Gunther Shuller studies with St Thomas Choir School (1938-1942) then in Manhattan School off Music. It begins its career as instrumentalist, playing of the horn, in particular in the symphony orchestra of Cincinnati (1943-1945) then in the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera of New York (1949-1959).
As of end of the year 40, it starts to compose. One finds in his works the influences of Schönberg, Babbitt and Stravinski, but also, that of the Jazz. It takes part besides in 1949, like Corniste, with the little nun of Miles Davis, the orchestra headlight of the Cool jazz. He attends the mediums of the jazz assiduously, while remaining in the world of the classical music and contemporary. Little by little, it will forsake its career of instrumentalist, to carry out face a career of teacher, of Musicologue, type-setter and leader.
As pedagog, he worked, inter alia, to the School of jazz of Lenox (Massachusetts) and directed New England Conservatory of Boston (1967-1977).
As musicologist, he wrote many articles (in Jazz review ,…) and of the theoretical works like Early jazz: Its roots and development (1968) (see bibliography in appendix). It also gave many conferences all over the world.
Like “organizer of events”, he was musical director of the jazz festivals of Monterey (1961), of Washington (1962) and of Tanglewood (1963), of the festival of “American romantic Music” of Boston. He organized many concerts and governed the recording of rare parts of the traditional repertory or American jazz.
As leader, one considering directing successively it Orchestrated it the USA, New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble, New England Conservatory Jazz Repertory Orchestra and Columbia Chamber Together. In addition to its own works and parts of the traditional or contemporary repertory, Schuller also directed seldom played works (the opera Treemoshina of Scott Joplin) and resumptions of parts of the jazz of years 20-30 (pieces of the repertory of the orchestras of Paul Whiteman, Earl Hines, Benny Moten, Sam Wooding, Jim Europe or McKinney' S Cotton Pickers).
As type-setter, he abundantly wrote (more than 160 works): orchestral music, Chamber music but also operas. Its eclecticism and a certain tendency to scattering was worth in Gunther Schuller to be a little marginalized compared to the other type-setters of American modern music, considered as more “sizeable”. Rather unclassable type-setter, it is in fact especially known like principal initiator, with John Lewis of the “third current” (“Third stream”), attempt at fusion between the classical music and the jazz.