- unitid
-
{"value"=>"JPB 11-17", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"18412", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b19337279", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1924-2005", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1924/2005"}
{"value"=>"1933-1988", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1933/1988"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1924
- date_inclusive_end
-
2005
- keydate
-
1924
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Alan Shulman papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"13.92 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"47 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"id"=>"MUS", "value"=>"Music Division"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The Alan Shulman papers document the life and work of an important composer, arranger and cellist. They include subject files, correspondence, photographs, concert programs, clippings and scores, and include documentation of Shulman’s experience playing with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Alan Shulman papers, JPB 11-7. Music Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Shulman, Alan", "type"=>"persname", "role"=>"creator"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Alan Shulman was a composer, cellist and arranger. Born in Baltimore on June 4, 1915, his early studies were with Bart Wirtz (cello) and Louis Cheslock (harmony) at the Peabody Conservatory.</p> <p>In 1928 the family moved to New York, where Shulman 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. From 1932-1937, 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 studies of cello with Emanuel Feuermann, and of composition with Paul Hindemith.</p> <p>Shulman was the cellist of the Kreiner String Quartet (1935-38). Later, he and his brother, violinist/conductor Sylvan Shulman, co-founded the Stuyvesant String Quartet. During the 1940s and 1950s this group was noted for its 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 (on a bill which included Benny Goodman), and recorded it for Columbia Records.</p> <p>Simultaneously with his Kreiner Quartet activities, Shulman was arranging and performing classical themes in a jazz style with an ensemble consisting of string quartet, bass, guitar and harp. The group, called the New Friends of Rhythm, recorded for RCA Victor and sold 20,000 records in 1939 and 1940. They recorded with Buster Bailey for Victor before World War II, and with Maxine Sullivan for International Records after the war.</p> <p>Shulman was a charter member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini from 1937-1942, served in the U.S. Maritime Service from 1942-1945, and rejoined NBC from 1948-1954. While in the Maritime Service, he taught orchestration to Nelson Riddle, who went on to write celebrated arrangements for Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat \"King\" Cole. After NBC disbanded the Symphony in 1954, he helped form and manage the group’s short-lived successor, the Symphony of the Air.</p> <p>During the 1930s and 1940s Shulman was active as an arranger for Leo Reisman, Andre Kostalanetz, Arthur Fiedler and Wilfred Pelletier's Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air. Later, Shulman worked with opera singer Risë Stevens, producing “crossover” arrangements for her which she recorded from 1945-1947.</p> <p>Shulman's first successful composition was Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra, which received its première over NBC in 1941 with Emanuel Vardi as soloist. The piece was recorded several times and is in the repertoire of most American viola soloists. Among his many successful compositions are the Suite on American Folk Songs (one movement of which, Cod Liver ‘Ile, was recorded by Jascha Heifetz); Waltzes for Orchestra, premiered by the NBC Symphony with Milton Katims conducting; Threnody (For the Fallen Soldiers of Israel), premiered by the NBC String Quartet in February, 1950; Rendezvous, written for Benny Goodman and recorded by Artie Shaw and Richard Stoltzman; and the Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, premiered by Leonard Rose with the New York Philharmonic under Dimitri Mitropoulos. His Suite Miniature for Octet of Celli was written in 1956 for the Fine Arts Cello Ensemble of Los Angeles.</p> <p>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 1970s, Shulman was busy in recording and television studios, and composed teaching material and works for band including Three Faces of Glen Cove, Interstate 90, The Corn Shuckers and Mazatlan, and arranged for singer-songwriter Cris Williamson's debut recording on Ampex Records.</p> <p>Shulman founded the Violoncello Society in 1956 and was President from 1967 to 1972. He was cellist of the Philharmonia Trio (1962-1969), the Vardi Trio, An Die Musik (1976-1977), and the Haydn Quartet (1972-1982). Shulman taught cello at Sarah Lawrence College, Juilliard, SUNY-Purchase, Johnson State College (Vermont) and the University of Maine. He was made a Chevalier du Violoncelle by the Eva Janzer Cello Center at Indiana University in 1997. Shulman died on July 10, 2002.</p> <p>Sources: Margaret Campbell. \"Shulman, Alan.\" In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/52906 (accessed September 22, 2011).</p> <p>\"The Music of Alan Shulman.\" http://capital.net/com/ggjj/shulman/index.html (accessed September 22, 2011).</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Alan Shulman papers consist of the composer’s scores and personal files containing correspondence, concert programs, photographs, clippings, writings and posters. They include files documenting his time with the NBC Symphony under Arturo Toscanini and his founding of the Violoncello Society. Among the figures appearing in the correspondence and/or photographs are Toscanini, Artur Rodzinski, Dmitri Mitropolous, Pablo Casals, Jascha Heifetz, Bruno Walter, and Talullah Bankhead.</p> <p>The papers contain full scores and parts for Shulman’s compositions, often from initial sketches to final scores and parts, many with performance notes. These include the Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, Mood In Question, Theme and Variations for Cello and Chamber Orchestra, and Top Brass, among many others.</p> <p>Also among the scores are Shulman’s unpublished, jazz-influenced arrangements for string quartet; arrangements for string quartet with bass, guitar and harp recorded by the New Friends of Rhythm, as well as a few recorded with vocalist Maxine Sullivan; songs co-written with Steve Allen; and published cello music by other composers, with Shulman's annotations.</p> <p>The collection has a substantial audio component, as well as one visual item of interest: a 16mm film, labeled “A Day Off With Toscanini, River Tigre, Buenos Aires, Sylvan Shuman 1940.”</p> <p>The audio contains recordings of Shulman's music and arrangements. These include unpublished discs, open-reel tapes or cassettes of the following pieces: Interstate 90, The Corn Shuckers, Theme and Variations for Viola and Orchestra, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, A Laurentian Overture, The Three Faces of Glen Cove, Suite Miniature, Four Diversions, Waltzes for Orchestra, Hatikvah, Ripe for Plucking, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Suite Based on American Folk Songs (and an open-reel tape of Shulman’s arrangement of Benjamin Franklin’s String Quartet, on which that suite is based), Mood In Question, An Elizabethan Legend, Rendezvous, Ricky Tic Serenade, A Nocturne for Strings, Valse, Kol Nidre, Elegy In Memoriam - Felix Salmond, Tess’s Lament, Top Brass, Jazz Grab Bag, Popocatepetl, Suite for String Orchestra, Woodstock Waltzes, Popper H.S. #6, Suite for Solo Cello and Pastorale and Dance for Violin and Orchestra. There is a commercial disc release of Shulman’s song Too Late The Spring, performed by Barbara Mcnair, and one commercially released disc of an arrangement by Shulman, performed by Risë Stevens.</p> <p>There are many recordings of Shulman in performance with various groups. These include one unpublished disc, one published disc and three published open-reel tapes of the Stuyvesant Quartet; an unpublished open-reel tape of the Shulman brothers performing the Brahms Double Concerto; two unpublished discs of the New Friends of Rhythm, as well as three-open reel tapes and one cassette of that group (likely copied from discs); an open-reel tape of the Haydn-Sinfonia Concertante; two commercially released albums by the Symphony of the Air; one commercially released album by the Philharmonia Trio, as well as several open-reel recordings of the trio; five open-reel tapes of the Juilliard Quartet; several open-reel recordings of the 1972 Felix Salmond Memorial Concert; and two commercial disc releases by Felix Slatkin. There are two open-reel tapes of Violoncello Society concerts and two of the “Powerdermill Prevue” concerts held at Shulman’s home in Scarsdale, New York.</p> <p>There are also disc recordings and open-reel tapes of performances of Sylvan Shulman as either solo violinist or as conductor, both unpublished and commercially released, including many tapes of the Great Neck Symphony Orchestra.</p> <p>There are many unpublished discs and open-reel tapes that are either completely unlabeled or labeled with very little information other than date. Other discs and open-reel tapes contain content unrelated to Alan Shulman or his brother, or contain material copied from commercially-released discs. Shulman’s cassette collection contains many copies of commercially-released music, but also has possibly unique items such as the 1986 Cello Congress Gala closing concert and a performance at a Chicago Cello Society meeting in 1973.</p> <p>Inquiries regarding audio/visual materials in the collection may be directed to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound (rha@nypl.org). Audio/visual materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Alan Shulman papers are arranged in two series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/18412#c112468'>Series I: Personal Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1924-2005</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains subject files including biographical material, correspondence, photographs, clippings, concert programs, diplomas, posters, and Shulman’s writings. All content is organized in one alphabetical listing. The largest portions of the series are devoted to Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony, the Violoncello Society, concert programs and general correspondence.</p> <p>The Toscanini files document Shulman’s time in the NBC Symphony. They contain tour itineraries, programs, correspondence from Toscanini and an essay by Shulman describing the experience of playing under the conductor. They also contain papers regarding the Symphony of the Air, documenting its history and the cancellation of one of its State Department-sponsored tours; and a file on reunions in the 1980s of musicians who played with Toscanini.</p> <p>The Violoncello Society files contain correspondence with the cellist and educator Lev Ginsburg and the publisher Alexander Broude, and general correspondence and information on the Society’s activities, particularly during Shulman’s years as President (1967-1972).</p> <p>The programs cover Shulman’s entire career and beyond; his son Alan, the collection donor, contributed programs dating up to 2005. They consist primarily of programs on which Shulman’s music was performed, but also include programs for the Kreiner and Stuyvesant Quartets and other chamber groups. Programs for the NBC Symphony and Symphony of the Air can be found with the Toscanini files.</p> <p>The general correspondence consists of letters from family members, fan mail, and alphabetical and chronological files that Shulman maintained. Correspondents include Jascha Heifetz, Dmitri Shostakovitch, Janos Starker, Fritz Reiner, Artur Rodzinski, Dmitri Mitropolous, Pablo Casals, Bruno Walter, Talullah Bankhead, Jerome Kern, and many other musicians, teachers and fellow cellists.</p> <p>The subject files hold correspondence and information regarding some of Shulman’s compositions. Each is listed by title, with the exception of The Three Faces of Glen Cove and Interstate 90, which are both covered in the file titled Band Works. Additional information for some pieces can be found with their scores in Series II. The file for Concerto for Violin and Orchestra contains the transcript of a 1983 phone interview of Shulman by Oliver Daniel regarding Dimitri Mitropoulos. Other works with information in this series include The Chinese Nightingale, Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, In Memoriam – Sophie, A Laurentian Overture, Mood In Question, Suite for String Orchestra, Theme and Variations for Cello and Chamber Orchestra, and Theme and Variations for Solo Viola and Orchestra. The file for the song Too Late The Spring contains correspondence from Steve Allen.</p> <p>Further topics in the subject files include Shulman’s cello teacher Emanuel Feuermann (the file contains a photograph of him in performance with Jascha Heifetz); chamber groups Shulman played with (the Stuyvesant and Haydn String Quartets, and the Philharmonia Trio); notable cello educators; clippings documenting some of Shulman’s composition premieres and cello performances, including some of his earliest public appearances when he was a child; a selected discography; and Shulman’s work with Skitch Henderson.</p> <p>Biographical and publicity material on Shulman can be found in two files: Biographical Material and David Ewen (a publicist). Shulman’s writings include Some Observations on Polytonality; music criticism written for local newspapers in Westchester County, New York; and letters on music and local civic issues to the editors of various New York areas newspapers and magazines.</p> <p>The photographs mostly contain publicity shots and include solo portraits of Shulman (1946-1967), the National Orchestral Association (ca. 1928), the Kreiner Quartet (mid-1930s), the NBC Symphony (1942), the Philharmonia Trio (mid-1960s), and Shulman with Tallulah Bankhead (1952). The posters are advertisements for appearances by the Philharmonia trio and other chamber groups.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/18412#c112611'>Series II: Scores</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1933-1987</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains of sketches, scores and parts for Shulman’s compositions (II.A) and arrangements (II.B), as well as published cello music by other composers, with Shulman’s notes (II.C). Compositions comprise the bulk of Shulman’s output. They include everything from solo piano and chamber works to string quartets, string orchestra and full orchestral pieces, and a variety of solo literature with piano or orchestral accompaniment. There are also educational piano and string pieces written specifically for beginning students. Shulman’s parallell career as an arranger was significant, producing an innovative body of arrangements for string quartet, bass, guitar and harp, as well as for more traditional jazz groups with added string sections. Some of these are adapted from classical works, but many more are arrangements of popular songs of the pre-World War II era. Some were likely recorded by either the New Friends of Rhythm or by Maxine Sullivan.</p> <p>Shulman’s collection of cello music by other composers includes works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann, among others.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Jay Shulman, 2011.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"type"=>"processing", "value"=>"<p>Compiled by <span class=\"name\">Matthew Snyder</span>, <span class=\"date\">2011</span></p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Chief, Music Division, The New York Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"archref\">The Toscanini Legacy scores, papers and sound recordings are held by the Music Division.</span>"}
- extent_statement
-
13.92 linear feet (47 boxes)
- date_start
-
1924
- date_end
-
2005
- date_bulk_start
-
1933
- date_bulk_end
-
1988