Favorite Music Composers
Samuel Adler (author).
This article is about the musician. For the rabbi, see Samuel Adler (rabbi).
Samuel Hans Adler (born March 4, 1928) is an American composer, conductor, author, and professor. During the course of a professional career which ranges over six decades he has served as a faculty member at both the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School. In addition, he is credited with founding and conducting the U.S. Seventh Army’s Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra which participated in the cultural diplomacy initiatives of the United States in Germany and throughout Europe in the aftermath of World War II.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Awards
- 3 Works
- 3.1 Solo instrumental
- 3.2 Chamber ensemble
- 3.3 Vocal/choral
- 3.4 Orchestra
- 3.5 Orchestra with soloist(s)
- 3.6 Band/wind ensemble
- 3.7 Stage works
- 4 Notable students
- 5 References
- 6 External links
Biography[edit]
Adler was born to a Jewish family in Mannheim, Germany, the son of Hugo Chaim Adler, a cantor and composer, and Selma Adler.[1] The family fled to the United States in 1939, where Hugo became the cantor of Temple Emanuel in Worcester, Massachusetts.[1] Sam followed his father into the music profession, earning degrees from Boston University and Harvard University (where he studied with Aaron Copland, Paul Hindemith, Paul Pisk, Walter Piston, and Randall Thompson and earned an M.A. in 1950). He studied conducting with Serge Koussevitzky at Tanglewood in 1949. Adler has been awarded honorary doctorates from Southern Methodist and Wake Forest Universities, St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame and the St. Louis Conservatory of Music.[2][3][4][5]
Eastman School of Music- University of Rochester – general view
After completing his academic studies in 1950, Adler enrolled in the Seventh United States Army.[6][7] During this time he founded the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra (1952) in Stuttgart, Germany which served to demonstrate the shared cultural heritage of America and Europe in the post World War II era through cultural diplomacy.[8][9][10] He was awarded the United States Army’s Medal of Honor for his services in 1953.[11] Subsequently, he accepted a position as music director at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Texas, beginning his tenure there in 1953.[12] At the Dallas temple he formed a children’s choir and an adult choir. From 1954 to 1958 Adler conducted the Dallas Lyric Theater. From 1957 to 1966, Adler served as Professor of Composition at the University of North Texas College of Music.[13][14] Between 1966 and 1995, Adler served as Professor of Composition at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music.[15] Since 1997, Adler has been a member of the composition faculty at Juilliard and, for the 2009–10 year, was awarded the William Schuman Scholars Chair.[16][17][18]
Juilliard School – Alice Tully Hall
He is also the author of three books, Choral Conducting (Holt Rinehart and Winston 1971, second edition Schirmer Books 1985), Sight Singing (W.W. Norton 1979, 1997), and The Study of Orchestration (W.W. Norton 1982, 1989, 2001; Italian edition edited by Lorenzo Ferrero for EDT Srl Torino, 2008).[19] He has also contributed numerous articles to major magazines, books and encyclopedias published in the U.S. and abroad. Adler also reflected upon six decades of teaching in his memoirs Building Bridges with Music: Stories from a Composer’s Life which was published by Pendragon Press in 2017.[20][21]
Awards[edit]
Adler has been awarded many prizes, including a membership into the American Academy in Berlin (2004)[22] and Institute of Arts and Letters awarded in May 2001, the Charles Ives Award and the Lillian Fairchild Award.[23] In May, 2003, he was presented with the Aaron Copland Award by ASCAP for Lifetime Achievement in Music (Composition and Teaching).[24] In 2008 he was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.[25] In 1999, he was elected to the Academy of Arts, Berlin for distinguished service to music.[26] In 1983, he won the Deems Taylor Award for his book on orchestration; in 1984, he was appointed Honorary Professorial Fellow of the University College in Cardiff, Wales, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for 1984–85. He has been a MacDowell Fellow for five years between 1954 and 1963. In 1986 he received the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from Boston University.[27][28][29][30]
The Music Teachers’ National Association selected Adler as its “Composer of the Year 1986–87” for Quintalogues, which won the national competition. In the 1988–89 year, he has been designated “Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar.” In 1989, he was awarded The Eastman School’s Eisenhart Award for distinguished teaching[31], and he has been given the honor of Composer of the Year (1991) for the American Guild of Organists. During his second visit to Chile, Adler was elected to the Chilean Academy of Fine Arts (1993) “for his outstanding contributions to the world of music as composer, conductor, and author.” He was initiated as an honorary member of the Gamma Theta (1960, University of North Texas) and the Alpha Alpha (1966, National Honorary) chapters of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and in 1986 was named a National Arts Associate to Sigma Alpha Iota, international music fraternity for women.[32] In 1998, he was awarded the Brock Commission from the American Choral Directors Association.[33][34]
Works[edit]
Adler’s catalogue includes over 400 published works in all media, including three operas, six symphonies, ten string quartets, at least eleven concerti (organ, piano, violin, viola or clarinet, cello, flute, guitar, saxophone quartet, woodwind quintet), many shorter orchestral works, works for wind ensemble and band, chamber music, a great deal of choral music and songs.[1][35][36]
Solo instrumental[edit]
- Four Composer Portraits (Birthday Cards for Solo Piano), for unaccompanied piano
- Bassoonery (Study for Bassoon Solo), for unaccompanied bassoon (1965)
- A Bonnie Tune (A Scherzo for Solo Flute), for unaccompanied flute (2012)
- Bravura (A Concert Piece for Bass Trombone), for unaccompanied bass trombone (2012)
- Bridges to Span Adversity, for harpsichord (1991)
- Cantilena, for solo F horn (2018)
- Canto III, for solo violin
- Canto V
- Canto VIII, for solo piano (1976)
- Clarinon, for unaccompanied B-flat clarinet
- Fantasy, for solo piano (2014)
- Festschrift for solo piano
- Flaunting, for unaccompanied flute
- From Generation to Generation, for solo organ
- In Memory of Milton, for solo violin (2012)
- In Praise of Bach, for solo organ (2003)
- Meadowmountetudes (Four Studies Of 20th-Century Techniques), for solo violin (1996)
- Oboration, for unaccompanied oboe (1965)
- The Sense of Touch (Eight Short Pieces Introducing the Young Pianist to Techniques Used in Twentieth-Century Music), for solo piano (1983)
- Solemn Soliloquy, for solo violin (2015)
- Sonata, for solo guitar (1990)
- Sonata for harpsichord (1984)
- Three Piano Preludes, for solo piano
- Thy Song Expands My Spirit (A Tribute to Aaron Copland on His 80th Birthday), for solo piano (1983)
- Two Meditations, for organ (1965)
Chamber ensemble[edit]
- 5 Movements
- Acrostics (Four Games for Six Players)
- Be Not Afraid: The Isle Is Full Of Noises, for brass quintet
- Brahmsiana
- Caccia, for two flutes
- Concert Piece
- Contrasting Inventions
- Diary Of A Journey
- Divertimento
- Divertissement, for viola and marimba
- Divertissement, for violin and marimba
- Festival Fanfare and Dance, for brass ensemble
- Fidl-Fantazye: A Klezmer Concerto, for violin and piano (2017)
- Four Dialogues for Euphonium, for euphonium and marimba
- Into The Radiant Boundaries, for viola and guitar
- Introit & Toccatina
- L’Olam Vaed, for cello and piano
- Let The Trumpet Sound, for trumpet and organ (2015)
- Life Is an Ecstasy, for trumpet and organ (2017)
- Pasiphae, for piano and percussion
- Pensive Soliloquy, for E-flat alto saxophone and piano (1998)
- Ports Of Call, for violin duet
- Praeludium
- Primavera Amarilla
- Quintet, for piano and string quartet
- Recitative and Rondo Capriccioso, for flute and piano (2014)
- Romp, for string quartet
- Scherzo Schmerzo, for trumpet, horn, trombone, tuba, and percussion
- String Quartet No. 6 (A Whitman Serenade for medium voice and string quartet)
- Sonata, for horn and piano (1948)
- Sonata, for flute and piano (2006)
- Sonata, for viola and piano (1987)
- String Quartet No. 9
- String Quartet No. 10
- Three Pieces, for cello and piano (2016)
- Time in Tempest Everywhere
- Trio (“5 Snapshots”), for string trio
- Trumpetry
- Two Southern Appalachian Folk Songs, for violin and piano (2014)
Vocal/choral[edit]
- Five Choral Scherzi, for mixed chorus, viola, and guitar
- In Praise Of Labor, for voice and piano
- Jonah (The Man Without Tolerance), for SATB chorus and orchestra
- Nuptial Scene
- Of Love and Dreams, for voice and piano (2018)
- Of Saints & Sinners-Mez
- Passionate Sword-Fl/Cl
- A Psalm Trilogy, for a cappella SATB chorus (1997)
- Recalling The Yesterdays, for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion
- Serenade
- Sixth String Quartet
- Song Of Songs Fragments, for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, and piano
- Those Were The Days, for voice and piano
- Two Shelley Songs, for SATB chorus and piano (1982)
- To Remember: To Be Remembered
- Todesfuge, for tenor voice and piano
- We Believe A Hymn Of Faith
Orchestra[edit]
- All Nature Plays
- American Airs and Dances
- Art Creates Artists
- A Bridge to Understanding
- Centennial
- Drifting on Wind and Currents
- Elegy, for string orchestra
- In Just Spring
- In The Spirit Of Bach, for string orchestra (2015)
- Jonah (The Man Without Tolerance), for SATB chorus and orchestra
- Man Lebt Nur Einmal (Darum Tanzen Wir), for large orchestra
- Serenade
- Seven Variations on ‘God Save the King’, for small or chamber orchestra
- Shadow Dances
- Show An Affirming Flame
- Symphony No. 1 (1953)
- Symphony No. 2 (1957)
- Symphony No. 3 (“Diptych”, 1960, rev. 1980)
- Symphony No. 4 (“Geometrics”, 1965)
- Symphony No. 5 (“We Are the Echoes”), for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (1975)
- Symphony No. 6 (1985)
- Time in Tempest Everywhere, for soprano, oboe, and chamber orchestra
- We Believe: A Hymn of Faith
Orchestra with soloist(s)[edit]
- Arcos Concerto (A Bridge between the old and the new), for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and string orchestra
- Beyond the Pale (A Portrait of a Klezmer), for clarinet and string orchestra
- Concerto, for cello and orchestra (1999)
- Concerto, for viola and orchestra (2002)
- Concerto, for violin and orchestra (2015)
- Concerto “Shir Ha Ma’alot”, for woodwind quintet and orchestra
- Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra (1998)
- Concerto for Horn and Orchestra
- Concerto for Organ and Orchestra
- Concerto No. 2, for piano and orchestra (1996)
- Fidl-Fantazye: A Klezmer Concerto, for violin and orchestra
- Lux Perpetua, for organ and orchestra
- Piano Concerto No. 2
- Piano Concerto No. 3, for piano and string orchestra
- Second Piano Concerto
- Those Were the Days
Band/wind ensemble[edit]
- American Airs and Dances
- Concerto for Guitar and Wind Ensemble
- Concerto for Winds, Brass and Percussion
- Dawn to Glory
- A Little Night and Day Music (1977)
- Pygmalion
- The River That Mines the Silences of Stones (2016)
- Rogues and Lovers
- Serenata Concertante, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, alto saxophone and wind ensemble
- Solemn March
Stage works[edit]
- The Outcast of Poker Flat, 1959, opera, staged Dallas, April 1961
- The Wrestler, 1971, opera, staged Dallas, June 1972
- The Disappointment, 1974, opera [reconstruction of an early ballad opera]
- The Lodge of Shadows, musical drama for baritone solo, dancers and orchestra
- The Waking, 1978, ballet
Notable students[edit]
For Adler’s notable students, see List of music students by teacher: A to B § Samuel Adler.
Since 1997 he has been a member of the composition faculty at the Juilliard School in New York City. Among his most successful students are composers Fisher Tull, Kamran Ince,[37] Eric Ewazen, Claude Baker, Marc Mellits, Robert Paterson, Gordon Stout, Chris Theofanidis, Michael Glenn Williams, Gordon Chin and Roger Briggs.
References[edit]
Sources
- Darryl Lyman: Great Jews in Music. J. D. Publishers, Middle Village, N.Y, 1986.
- David M. Cummings, Dennis K. McIntire (Ed.): International Who’s Who in Music and Musician’s Directory. In the Classical and Light Classical Fields, twelfth edition 1990/91. International Who’s Who in Music, Cambridge, England 1991.
- Kurtz Myers: Index to Record Reviews 1984–1987. G.K. Hall, Boston, Ma. 1989.
- Gerry Cristol: A Light in the Prairie: Temple Emanu-El of Dallas 1872–1997. TCU Press, Fort Worth TX 1998, ISBN 0-87565-184-4.
- Marie Rolf: “Adler, Samuel”. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition. Edited by S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001.
- Don Michael Randel (Ed.): “Adler, Samuel”. In The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996.
- R. Winston Morris, Lloyd E. Bone Jr., Eric Paull (Ed.): “Adler, Samuel”. In Guide to the Euphonium Repertoire – The Euphoneum Sourcebook. Indiana University Press, IN 2007
Notes
External links[edit]
- Samuel Adler’s page at Carl Fischer
- Official website
- Interview with Samuel Adler, January 21, 1991
- Samuel Adler’s page at Theodore Presser Company
- Sibley Music Library – Resources for the History of the Eastman School of Music – Samuel Adler’s Papers Archive on esm.rochester.edu
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Adler_(composer)
