Alan Shulman (4 June 1915 – 10 July 2002) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

. He wrote a considerable amount of

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

music,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music.

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

er Eddie Bailey said, "Alan had the greatest ear of any musician I ever came across. He had better than perfect pitch. I've simply never met anyone like him." Some of his more well known works include his 1940 ''Neo-Classical Theme and Variations for Viola and Piano'' and his ''A Laurentian Overture'', which was premiered by the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

in 1952 under the baton of

Guido Cantelli Guido Cantelli (; 27 April 192024 November 1956) was an Italian orchestral conducting, conductor. Toscanini elected him his "spiritual heir" since the beginnings of his career. He was named Musical Director of La Scala, La Scala, Milan in November ...

. Also of note is his 1948 ''Concerto for Cello and Orchestra'' which was also premiered by the New York Philharmonic with cellist

Leonard Rose Leonard Joseph Rose (July 27, 1918 – November 16, 1984) was an American cellist and pedagogue. Biography Rose was born in Washington, D.C.; his parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Bragin, Belarus, and his mother from Kyiv, ...

and conductor

Dmitri Mitropoulos Dimitri Mitropoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος; The dates 18 February 1896 and 1 March 1896 both appear in the literature. Many of Mitropoulos's early interviews and program notes gave 18 February. In his later interviews, howe ...

. Many of Shulman's works have been recorded, and the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

ist

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

have been particular exponents of his work both in performance and on recordings.

Biography

Early life and education

Shulman was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, the son of a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

immigrant father and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

mother. His father, who died when Shulman was one and a half, worked as a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

and was a skilled amateur

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

. He had two siblings, Sylvan Shulman, who became a

ist, and Violet Shulman, who became a

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. When Alan was 8, the siblings formed the Shulman Trio and performed in concerts throughout the Baltimore area. They were some of the earliest musicians to perform in

radio commercial In the United States, commercial radio stations make most of their revenue by selling airtime to be used for running radio advertisements. These advertisements are the result of a business or a service providing a valuable consideration, usually ...

s. All three children attended the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

where they studied under Louis Cheslock and Alan, who started his training there at age 10, studied the cello under Bart Wirtz. Shulman wrote his first music composition during his first year studying at the Peabody Conservatory. At the age of 14, Shulman and his family relocated to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He attended

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Ac ...

between 1928–1929 and

Brooklyn Vocational High School Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

between 1929-1932. In 1929 he won a scholarship from the

which enabled him to continue his music studies further with cellist

Joseph Emonts Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

and composer

Winthrop Sargeant Winthrop Sargeant (December 10, 1903 – August 15, 1986) was an American music critic, violinist, and writer. Early life Sargeant was born in San Francisco, California on December 10, 1903. He studied violin in his native city with Albert Elku ...

for the next three years. He played with the National Orchestral Association under conductor

Léon Barzin Léon Eugene Barzin (November 27, 1900April 19, 1999) was a Belgian-born American conductor and founder of the National Orchestral Association (NOA), the oldest surviving training orchestra in the United States. Barzin was also the founding mu ...

from 1929-1932. Shulman joined Chapter 802 of the

American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...

in 1931. He entered the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in 1932 where he studied for five years, principally under cellist

Felix Salmond Felix Adrian Norman Salmond (19 November 188820 February 1952) was an English cellist and cello teacher who achieved success in the UK and the US. Early life and career Salmond was born to a family of professional musicians. His father Norman Sa ...

and composers

Albert Stoessel Albert Frederic Stoessel (October 11, 1894 – May 12, 1943) was an American composer, violinist and conductor. Biography He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule as a pupil of Emanuel Wirth and ...

and

Bernard Wagenaar Bernard Wagenaar (July 18, 1894 – May 19, 1971) was a Dutch-American composer, conductor and violinist. Wagenaar was born in Arnhem. He studied at Utrecht University before starting his career as a teacher and conductor in 1914. He moved to ...

. While a student he began performing with a string quartet that played popular music for the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

network in 1933. He also worked as the group's arranger. He joined the Kreiner String Quartet in 1935, playing with them through 1938. He also started writing his first serious compositions during this time, notably writing music for the American Children's Theatre production of

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

's '' The Chinese Nightingale'' in 1934. Upon graduating in 1937, he pursued further studies with cellist

Emanuel Feuermann Emanuel Feuermann (November 22, 1902 – May 25, 1942) was an internationally celebrated cellist in the first half of the 20th century. Life Feuermann was born in 1902 in Kolomyja, Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Kolomyia, Ukraine) to ...

in 1939 and composer

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

in 1942.

Early career

During the 1930s and 1940s Shulman worked actively as an arranger for such people as

Leo Reisman Leo F. Reisman (October 11, 1897 – December 18, 1961) was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he was of Jewish ancestry; from German immigrants who immigrated to th ...

Andre Kostelanetz Andre Kostelanetz (russian: Абрам Наумович Костелянец; December 22, 1901 – January 13, 1980) was a Russian-born American popular orchestral music conductor and arranger who was one of the major exponents of popular orche ...

Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one o ...

, and

Wilfred Pelletier Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier (sometimes spelled Wilfred), (20 June 1896 – 9 April 1982) was a Canadians, Canadian conducting, conductor, pianist, composer, and arts administrator. He was instrumental in establishing the Montreal Symphon ...

. In 1942 he became a member of the

American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers is an organization whose mission is to promote the arts of Music Arranging, Composition and Orchestration within the entertainment industry community and the general public. The ASMAC was foun ...

. During the mid-1940s, he taught

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

who later garnered fame as an arranger for singers

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

.Biography of Alan Shulman at capital.net
/ref> In 1937 the Shulman brothers joined the brand new

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosca ...

which was established by

David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was an American businessman and pioneer of American radio and television. Throughout most of his career, he led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in various capacities from shortly afte ...

of the

National Broadcasting Company The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

especially for conductor

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

. The following year Alan and Sylvan were among the founding members of the New Friends of Rhythm, a

group that made many recordings between 1939 and 1947, including several by Shulman. Other members of the group included

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

ist Laura Newell, jazz clarinetists

Buster Bailey William C. "Buster" Bailey (July 19, 1902 – April 12, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist. Career history Early career Buster Bailey was taught clarinet by classical teacher Franz Schoepp, who also taught Benny Goodman. Bailey gained his s ...

and

Hank D'Amico Hank D'Amico (March 21, 1915 – December 2, 1965) was an American jazz clarinetist. Early life D'Amico was born in Rochester, New York, and was raised in Buffalo. Career D'Amico began playing professionally with Paul Specht's band in 1936. ...

, and singer

Maxine Sullivan Maxine Sullivan (May 13, 1911 – April 7, 1987), born Marietta Williams in Homestead, Pennsylvania, United States, was an American jazz vocalist and performer. As a vocalist, Sullivan was active for half a century, from the mid-1930s to just be ...

among others. Also in 1938, the two brothers established the Stuyvesant String Quartet, which remained active through 1954. The string quartet excelled in performing and recording contemporary works by such composers as

Augustyn Bloch Augustyn Bloch (13 August 1929 in Grudziądz – 6 April 2006 in Warsaw) was a Polish composer and organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or ac ...

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

Gian Francesco Malipiero Gian Francesco Malipiero (; 18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor. Life Early years Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gia ...

, Hindemith and

Fritz Kreisler Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, and regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, he was known ...

. They notably played the American premiere of

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

's ''

Piano Quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

'' at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in 1941. Musicologist

Tully Potter Tully may refer to: People * Tully (surname), origins and history of the Tully surname in Ireland ** List of people with surname Tully * List of people with given name Tully * Marcus Tullius Cicero, or Cicero, a Roman philosopher, politician, l ...

, a string-specialist, said the following:

The Shulman brothers were among a small group of fabulously gifted New York-based string players whose careers showed a constant tug between earning a living – which often led them into orchestral and session work – and doing something more artistic. It was a nightmare trying to run a string quartet in the United States, where distances were so great and there was not the infrastructure of music societies that existed in Europe. Had the Stuyvesant Quartet been privately sponsored, as some American groups were, or given a residency, it would be remembered today as one of the best of its time. As it was, it left a small but valuable corpus of recordings – and a recent reissue proved that the best of these performances have lost nothing of their power.

In 1941, Shulman's ''Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra'' was premiered by the NBC Symphony Orchestra with violist

Emanuel Vardi Emanuel Vardi (21 April 1915 – 29 January 2011), an American Viola, violist, was considered to have been one of the great viola players of the 20th century. Early life Emanuel Vardi was born April 21, 1915 in Jerusalem. His mother, Anna Joffa ...

. The work was Shulman's first major success and it is now considered a standard part of the viola repertoire. The following year he left the NBC Symphony Orchestra when he decided to join the

United States Maritime Service The United States Maritime Service (USMS) was established in 1938 under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 as voluntary training organization to train individuals to become officers and crewmembers on merchant ships that form the U ...

with the intent of becoming a

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

. After receiving his training he spent the next several years serving in the USMM at

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * ''Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central Am ...

, between 1943-1945. During this time he was still able to pursue musical interests and work during his off hours. In 1944 his ''Suite on American Folk Songs'' premiered at

with violinist Eudice Shapiro and pianist

Vivian Rivkin Vivian may refer to: *Vivian (name), a given name and also a surname Toponyms * Vivian, Louisiana, U.S. * Vivian, South Dakota, U.S. * Vivian, West Virginia, U.S. * Vivian Island, Nunavut, Canada * Ballantrae, Ontario, a hamlet in Stouffville, ...

. That same year his ''Pastorale and Dance'' was played for the first time by Sylvan on ABC Radio. The work received its concert premiere three years later with Oscar Shumsky and the

Baltimore Symphony The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...

. Shulman also worked frequently with

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Rise Stevens Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a video ...

during the mid-1940s, arranging five cross-over albums for her between 1945-1947 in addition to other projects.

Middle life and career

After the war, Shulman married the pianist Sophie Pratt Bostelmann on 17 September 1946. They had met previously while they were both students at Juilliard. Their first child, Jay, a cellist, was born in 1949, followed by his daughter Laurie, a musicologist, in 1951, his son Marc, a guitarist, in 1953, and his daughter Lisa in 1956. Shulman returned to his position at the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1948. That same year he became a member of the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

. The following year the NBC Symphony Orchestra premiered his ''Waltzes for Orchestra'' under conductor Milton Katims at Carnegie Hall. In 1950 his

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

''Threnody'', written in honor of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's fallen soldiers, was premiered by the NBC String Quartet during Jewish Music Week. In 1954 the NBC Symphony Orchestra disbanded when Toscanini retired, and Shulman, along with several other members of the Symphony Orchestra, formed a new ensemble for NBC called the "Symphony of the Air". He remained with the Symphony of the Air for three years. During the 1950s Shulman wrote numerous popular songs with entertainer

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

and he did several arrangements for

Skitch Henderson Lyle Russel "Skitch" Henderson (January 27, 1918 – November 1, 2005) was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname "Skitch" came from his ability to "re-sketch" a song in a different key. Bing Crosby suggested that he should use the ...

, Raoul Poliakin and

Felix Slatkin Felix Slatkin (December 22, 1915 – February 8, 1963) was an American violinist and conductor. Biography Slatkin was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a Jewish family originally named Zlotkin (though it is not certain) from areas of the Russian Empi ...

. In 1956 he wrote his ''Suite Miniature for Octet of Celli'' which was commissioned by the Fine Arts Cello Ensemble of Los Angeles. That same year he was one of several musicians to found the Violoncello Society, later serving as the organization's president from 1967 to 1972. In 1959, during the midst of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, he was asked to join a Soviet-American composers' symposium organised by

Nicolas Slonimsky Nicolas Slonimsky ( – December 25, 1995), born Nikolai Leonidovich Slonimskiy (russian: Никола́й Леони́дович Сло́нимский), was a Russian-born American conductor, author, pianist, composer and lexicographer. B ...

for

. In addition to Shulman, the symposium included Americans

Roy Harris Roy Ellsworth Harris (February 12, 1898 – October 1, 1979) was an American composer. He wrote music on American subjects, and is best known for his Symphony No. 3. Life Harris was born in Chandler, Oklahoma on February 12, 1898. His ancestry ...

and

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...

and Russians

and

Dmitry Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (russian: Дми́трий Бори́сович Кабале́вский ; 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Co ...

Later life and career

Shulman played actively in

with the Philharmonia Trio from 1962–1969 and the Haydn Quartet from 1972 until his wife's death in 1982. During his career he has also served on the faculties at

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...

, the

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It was fo ...

Johnson State College Johnson State College was a public liberal arts college in Johnson, Vermont. Founded in 1828 by John Chesamore, in 2018 it was merged with the former Lyndon State College to create Northern Vermont University. History and governance Both the ...

, and the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

. Shulman retired in 1987 due to declining health. He died of complications from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

Hudson, New York Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the rive ...

in 2002.

Selected works

;Orchestra * ''Waltzes'' (1949) * ''Hatikvah'' (1949); arrangement for orchestra * ''A Laurentian Overture'' (1951) * ''Popacatepetl'' (1952) * ''Prelude'' (1952) * ''Hup-Two-Three-Four'', Jazz March (1953) * ''Ricky Tic Serenade'' (1954) * ''In Memoriam Sophie'' (1982) * ''Woodstock Waltzes'' for chamber orchestra (1985) * ''Quilt'' (1986) ;String orchestra * ''A Nocturne for Strings'' (1938) * ''Four Moods'' (1942); also for string quartet * ''Threnody'' (1950); also for string quartet: ''Allegro, Intermezzo and Scherzo'' * ''Portrait of Lisa'' (1954) * ''Viennese Lace'' (1954) * ''The Bop Gavotte'' (1954) * ''Minuet for Moderns'' (1954) * ''An Elizabethan Legend'' (1954) * ''Ben Franklin Suite'' (1963) * ''A New England Tarantella'' (1978) * ''Ripe for Plucking'' (1987) ;Wind ensemble * ''Top Brass, Six Minutes for Twelve'', Suite for brass ensemble (1958) * ''Two Chorales for Brass'' for brass ensemble (1962) * ''The Three Faces of Glen Cove'' for concert band (1968) * ''Interstate 90'' for symphonic winds (1968) * ''The Corn Shuckers'', March-Scherzo for concert band (1969) ;Concertante * ''Theme and Variations'' for viola and orchestra or piano (1940) or for viola, string orchestra and harp (1954) * ''Poem'' for violin and orchestra or piano (1941) * ''Pastorale and Dance'' for violin and orchestra (1944) * Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1948) * ''Cadenzas for Mozart's Flute and Harp Concerto, K. 299'' (1954) * ''Kol Nidre'' for cello and orchestra or string quartet (1970) * ''Variations'' for viola, string orchestra and harp (1984) ;Chamber music * ''Homage to Erik Satie'' for cello or viola and piano (1938) * ''Waltz'' (Valse) for violin and piano (1939) * ''Piece in Popular Style'' for viola and piano (1939) * ''Lament'' for cello and piano (1939) * ''Mood in Question'' for clarinet, string quartet and harp (1939) * ''High Voltage'' for clarinet, string quartet, double bass, guitar and harp (1939) * ''Serenade'' for cello and piano (1941) * ''Four Moods'' for string quartet (1942); also for string orchestra * ''Cradle Song'' for harp (1943); also for piano * ''Folk Songs for Winds'' for wind quintet (1943) * ''Suite Based on American Folk Songs'' for violin and piano (1944) *# Fare Ye Well, My Darlin' *# Little Bird *# The Mermaid *# Cod Liver 'Ile *# Johnny Stiles *# What Shall I Do with a Drunken Sailor? * ''Rendezvous'' (''"Rendezvous with Benny"'') for clarinet and string quartet (1946) * ''Platter Chatter'' for clarinet, string quartet, double bass, guitar and harp (1946) * ''J.S. on the Rocks (Nightcap)'' for clarinet, string quartet, double bass, guitar and harp (1947) * ''Vodka Float (Sailor's Dance)'' for clarinet, string quartet, double bass, guitar and harp (1947) * ''Suite for Solo Cello'' (1950) * ''Allegro, Intermezzo and Scherzo'' for string quartet (1950); also for string orchestra: ''Threnody'' * ''Suite for Solo Viola'' (1953) * ''Suite Miniature'' for 8 cellos (1956) * ''3 – 4 – J'' (''"Three for Jay"'') for cello and piano (1960) * ''Five Duos for Student and Teacher'' for 2 cellos (1960) * ''Suite for the Young 'Cellist'' for cello and piano (1961) * ''Three Sketches'' for double bass and piano (1963) * ''Pastorale'' for 4 cellos (1964) * ''Two Pair'' for 4 cellos (1964) * ''Theme and Variations'' for 2 violins (1967); ''New Directions for Strings'' * ''Duet'' for violin and viola or cello (1967); ''New Directions for Strings'' * ''Study in 5ths'' for violin, or viola, or cello (1967); ''New Directions for Strings'' * ''Passacaglia'', Transcription from J.S. Bach for cello ensemble (1968) * ''Aria'' from J.S. Bach's organ ''Pastorale'' in F major for 4 cellos (1969) * ''Sarabande'' from J.S. Bach's ''English Suite No.3'' for 4 cellos (1974) * ''Berkshire Mist'' for 4 cellos (1975) * ''Two Episodes'' for 4 violas (1978) *# Night *# Ancora * ''Canadian Folksongs'' for 4 violins or violin ensemble (1978) * ''Lament II'' for cello and piano (1983) ;Piano * ''Cradle Song'' (1943); also for harp * ''Dripping Faucet'', March (1959) * ''Lopsided'' (1959) * ''March'' (1960) * ''Hues of Blues'' (1961) * ''One Man Show'', 9 short works (1961) * ''Mexican Mountain Climb'' (1962) * ''Sonatina for Sophie'' (1963) * ''Jazz Grab Bag'' (1975) ;Vocal * ''Song of the Moon Festival in the Woods'' for voice and piano (1934); words by

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

* ''Tess' Lament'' for voice and piano (1959) ;Film scores * ''Tennessee Valley Authority'' (1946) * ''Freedom and Famine'' (1946) * ''Port of New York'' (1946) * ''Behind Your Radio Dial'' (1948) * ''The Tattooed Stranger'' (1950)

References

A compact disc of eight orchestral works of Alan Schulman's was released by Bridge Records in 2002 (BRIDGE 9119) as
''The Music of Alan Schulman''

External links

Alan Shulman papers, 1924-2005
Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shulman, Alan 1915 births 2002 deaths American classical cellists American male classical composers American classical composers Erasmus Hall High School alumni Jewish classical musicians Jewish American classical composers Johnson State College faculty Juilliard School alumni Juilliard School faculty Sarah Lawrence College faculty State University of New York faculty United States Merchant Mariners University of Maine faculty Musicians from Baltimore Peabody Institute alumni Pupils of Paul Hindemith American people of Russian descent 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 20th-century cellists