Master Classes

The composer Gunther Schuller is, famously, a man of many musical pursuits. He began his professional life as a horn player in both the jazz and classical worlds, working as readily with Miles Davis and Gil Evans as with Toscanini; he was principal horn of the Cincinnati Symphony from age sixteen and later of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra until 1959.

In the 1950s he began a conducting career focusing largely on contemporary music, and thereafter conducted most of the major orchestras of the world in a wide range of works, including his own. He was central in precipitating a new stylistic marriage between progressive factions of jazz and classical, coining the term "Third Stream" and collaborating in the development of the style with John Lewis, the Modem Jazz Quartet, and others.

An educator of extraordinary influence, he has been on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and Yale University; he was, for many years, head of contemporary music activities (succeeding Aaron Copland) as well as a director of the Tanglewood Music Center, and served as President of the New England Conservatory. He has published several books and recently embarked on the writing of his memoirs.

In the late 1970s he started the GunMar and Margun music publishing companies and later the GM Recordings label. (The GunMar/ Margun catalogs are now part of G. Schirmer/Music Sales/AMP.) Composition has had a continual central presence in Schuller's musical life: he has written more than 180 works dating back to the beginning of his career when, at age nineteen, he was soloist in his own Horn Concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Eugene Goosens. His works range from solo works to concertos, symphonies, and opera, and many fall outside of any genre (for which reason there can be no such thing as a brief and comprehensive overview of his output).

Gunther Schuller's orchestral works include some of the classics of the modern repertoire written for the major orchestras of the world. Prominent among these are several masterful examples in the "Concerto for Orchestra" genre, though not all of them take that title. Most recently, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and James Levine premiered Where the Word Ends in February 2009. An early example is Spectra (1958), commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for the orchestra's departing music director Dimitri Mitropoulos. Schuller reconfigured musical space by organizing the ensemble onstage into smaller chamber groups within the larger orchestra, and also concentrated on instrumental timbre as a defining aspect of the piece's form and expression; both of these aspects were cutting-edge for the time, foreshadowing concerns of later composers. Spectra remains a compelling orchestral essay alongside such other works as the Concerto for Orchestra No. 1: Gala Music (1966), written for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra No. 2 (1976) for the National Symphony Orchestra; and Farbenspiel (Concerto for Orchestra No. 3) (1985), written for the Berlin Philharmonic. The title of the latter, translatable as "play of colors," echoes the visual metaphor of Spectra.

Many of Schuller's other purely orchestral works draw explicitly on visual influences while invoking the Impressionist and late Romantic tone poems of Debussy and Schoenberg. These include An Arc Ascending (1996), which was inspired by photographs by Alice Weston. Orchestral works of similar origin are his Four Soundscapes (Hudson River Reminiscences) and Shapes and Designs.

Only one of Schuller's large orchestral pieces takes the generic title of "symphony": his colorful Symphony (1965), written for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and premiered that year. Schuller himself, however, has described his Of Reminiscences and Reflections (1993) as a "symphony for large orchestra." Written for the Louisville Orchestra and winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize in Music, Of Reminiscences and Reflections is Schuller's large-scale memorial to his wife of 49 years, Marjorie Black. (Another orchestral tribute to Marjorie is The Past Is the Present, written for the centennial of the Cincinnati Symphony and premiered in May 1994.) One of his first works performed by a major orchestra was his Symphony for Brass and Percussion, played in 1949 by Mitropoulos and the New York Philharmonic; his Symphony No. 3, In Praise of Winds (1981) is also for wind ensemble. He has also written a Chamber Symphony and a work for solo organ titled, simply, Symphony.

Concertos and concertante works for solo or small ensemble with orchestra form a large subgroup within Schuller's output. To go along with the two piano concertos (1962 and 1981), two violin concertos (1976 and 1991), two horn concertos (1943 and 1976), and concertos for trumpet, for flute, and for viola, Schuller has championed as soloists unusual but deserving instruments including alto saxophone, bassoon, contrabassoon, organ, and double bass. He has shown a predilection for works combining small ensemble and orchestra in his classic Contrasts for Wind Quintet and Orchestra (1961), Concerto Festivo for Brass Quintet and Orchestra, and the Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, to name a few. For concert band are Diptych for Brass Quintet and Concert Band (1967), Eine Kleine Posaunemusik for trombone and band (1980), and Song and Dance for violin and band (1990). He added notably to the percussion ensemble repertoire with his Grand Concerto for Percussion and Keyboards, featuring more than 100 percussion instruments, written for the New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble. The Grand Concerto was premiered at Tanglewood in July 2005 by Tanglewood Music Center Fellows under the composer's direction.

Schuller's two operas date from the early-middle of his compositional career. The Visitation (1966), a full-evening work in three acts based on a Kafka story, was produced by the Hamburg State Opera and the San Francisco Opera and was produced for television by the BBC in 1969. His hour-long 1970 children's opera The Fisherman and His Wife features a libretto by John Updike drawn from the Grimm fairy tale.

As in his concertos, Schuller's chamber music is for a range of both traditional and non-traditional forces, from the four string quartets, brass and woodwind quintets, to works for solo instrument or voice with piano and mixed-ensemble pieces. These works appear frequently on the programs of local and internationally known ensembles throughout the US, Europe, and Japan. His String Quartet No. 3 (1986) is prominent in the repertoire of, and has been recorded by, the Emerson String Quartet, and the Juilliard Quartet has championed his String Quartet No. 4 (2002). The outstanding, exotic mixed-media work Symbiosis (1957) for violin, piano, and percussion, written for a Metropolitan Opera Orchestra violinist and his wife, a dancer, is but one example of Schuller's embrace of unusual performance opportunities and instrumental combinations.

Not to be overlooked are Schuller's original jazz compositions such as Teardrop and Jumpin' in the Future, works that epitomize the composer's Third Stream approach combining the total-chromatic language of Schoenberg and the structural sophistication of the contemporary classical composer with the ensemble fluidity and swing of jazz. Schuller's realizations and orchestrations of music by composers from Tallis and Monteverdi to John Knowles Paine and Charles Ives coexist with his concert ensemble arrangements of classic jazz, standards, and ragtime music by Jelly Roll Morton, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and many others. Of special importance is his work with the music of Scott Joplin. His performances and arrangements of Joplin's music resulted directly in an immense resurgence of interest in the composer and in ragtime music generally in the 1970s.

Schuller's advocacy of other composers through performance, publishing, recording, teaching and administration has been as unflagging in its energy and scope as his pursuit of his own musical expression as performer, conductor, and composer.

Edward Dusinberre, VIOLIN
Károly Schranz, VIOLIN
Geraldine Walther, VIOLA
András Fejér, CELLO

Recognized as one of the world's premiere string quartets, the Takács Quartet is renowned for the ability to fuse four distinct, expressive musical personalities into gripping, unified interpretations. Commenting on their latest Schubert recording for Hyperion, Gramophone magazine noted; "The Takács have the ability to make you believe that there’s no other possible way the music should go, and the strength to overturn preconceptions that comes only with the greatest performers."

Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet performs ninety concerts a year worldwide, performing throughout Europe as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea. The quartet members are Associate Artists at the South Bank Centre in London, performing several concerts there each year. In 2008-2009 the quartet will build its London programs around the music of Schumann, culminating in a recording of the piano quintet with Marc-Andre Hamelin in May 2009. Other highlights of the 2008-2009 season include the world premiere and performances throughout Europe of a quartet written for them by Wolfgang Rihm, three concerts to celebrate the re-opening of New York’s Alice Tully Hall, featuring the complete Bartok Cycle and a tour to Japan and Korea in June 2009. In a North American tour the quartet will continue its collaboration with the Hungarian folk ensemble Muzsikas and singer Marta Sebestyen.

The Quartet's multi-award winning recordings include the Late Quartets by Beethoven which in 2005 won Disc of the Year and Chamber Award from BBC Music Magazine, a Gramophone Award and a Japanese Record Academy Award. Their recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets collected a Grammy, another Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America Award and two further awards from the Japanese Recording Academy. Of their performances and recordings of the Late Quartets, the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote “The Takács might play this repertoire better than any quartet of the past or present.”

In 2005 the Takács Quartet signed a contract with Hyperion Records, for whom their first recording, of Schubert's D804 and D810 was released in 2006. A disc featuring Brahms' Piano Quintet with Stephen Hough was released to great acclaim in November 2007. Brahms Quartets Op. 51 and Op. 67 will be released in fall, 2008, and a disc featuring the Schumann Piano Quintet with Marc-Andre Hamelin will be released in 2009. The Quartet has also made sixteen recordings for the Decca label since 1988 of works by Beethoven, Bartok, Borodin, Brahms, Chausson, Dvořák, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Smetana. The ensemble's recording of the six Bartok String Quartets received the 1998 Gramophone Award for chamber music and, in 1999, was nominated for a Grammy. In addition to the Beethoven String Quartet cycle recording, the ensemble's other Decca recordings include Dvořák's String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 51 and Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 with pianist Andreas Haefliger; Schubert's Trout Quintet with Mr. Haefliger, which was nominated in 2000 for a Grammy Award; string quartets by Smetana and Borodin; Schubert's Quartet in G Major and Notturno Piano Trio with Mr. Haefliger; the three Brahms string quartets and Piano Quintet in F Minor with pianist András Schiff; Chausson's Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet with violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet; and Mozart's String Quintets, K515 and 516 with Gyorgy Pauk, viola.

The quartet is known for innovative programming. In 2007 it performed, with Academy Award–winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Everyman” in Carnegie Hall, inspired by the Philip Roth novel. In May 2008 the quartet performed a new piece commissioned by the South Bank by James Macmillan. The Takács has performed a music and poetry program on a fourteen-city US tour with the poet Robert Pinsky. Current commissions include works by Wolfgang Rihm and Daniel Kellogg.

At the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet has helped to develop a string program with a special emphasis on chamber music, in a small tightly nit community where students work in a nurturing environment best designed to help them develop their artistry. The Quartet's commitment to teaching is enhanced by summer residencies at the Aspen Festival and at the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara. The Takács is a Visiting Quartet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.

The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér. It first received international attention in 1977, winning First Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The Quartet also won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions and First Prizes at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the Bratislava Competition in 1981. The Quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982. Violinist Edward Dusinberre joined the Quartet in 1993 and violist Roger Tapping in 1995. Violist Geraldine Walther replaced Mr. Tapping in summer, 2005. Of the original ensemble, Karoly Schranz and Andras Fejér remain. In 2001 the Takács Quartet was awarded the Order of Merit of the Knight’s Cross of the Republic of Hungary.

Known for her deep musical and emotional commitment to a wide range of repertoire, Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute performs regularly in the US and Europe. Critics have described her as possessing "razor-sharp intelligence and wit"' (The Washington Post) and as "elegant and engaging" (The Wall Street Journal). Over the last seasons, Ieva made her Chicago Symphony debut at the Ravinia Festival with James Conlon and her Brazilian orchestral debut in Rio de Janeiro under the baton of Ligia Amadio. She has given solo recitals in Vilnius, Lithuania, on the Dame Myra Hess series in Chicago, at Caspary Hall in New York, and at the Freer Gallery in Washington DC. In the autumn of 2009, Labor Records will release her world premiere recordings of works written in tribute to Alban Berg by Scelsi, Ali-Zadeh, Finney, Gilboa and Apostel, which will be coupled with Berg's Piano Sonata Op.1 and Four Songs Opus 2. A much sought after chamber musician, Ieva Jokubaviciute recently appeared at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium and tours regularly with Musicians from Marlboro. Her piano trio Trio Cavatina made its New York City and Boston debuts in 2006. She appears annually at international music festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Bard, Prussia Cove in England, and most recently at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany. Earning degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and from Mannes College of Music, her principal teachers have been Seymour Lipkin and Richard Goode.

Cellist Fred Sherry has introduced audiences on five continents and all fifty United States to the music of our time through his close association with such composers as Babbitt, Berio, Carter, Davidovsky, Foss, Knussen, Lieberson, Mackey, Takemitsu, Wuorinen and Zorn. He has been a member of the Group for Contemporary Music, Berio's Juilliard Ensemble, the Galimir String Quartet, and a close collaborator with jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea. Mr. Sherry was a founding member of Speculum Musicae and Tashi. He is on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and The Juilliard School. In his extensive recording career, he has been soloist and "sideman" on hundreds of commercial and esoteric recordings; his longstanding collaboration with Robert Craft has produced recordings of major works by Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Webern. In 2001, in collaboration with the Chamber Music Society and Merkin Concert Hall, he created and directed A Great Day in New York, a groundbreaking festival featuring the music of 52 living composers.