Schuller, Gunther (1925-2015), an American composer, conductor, and music scholar, won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for music for an orchestral work called Of Reminiscences and Reflections. Schuller wrote the work in memory of his wife, Marjorie, who died in 1992.
Schuller was influenced by jazz, which he used in such compositions as Symphonic Tribute to Duke Ellington (1955). He was a skilled French horn player who played both classical and jazz works. In 1957, he coined the term “Third Stream Music” to identify the blend of jazz and classical music that emerged at that time.
Schuller’s works also attempted to record his impressions of paintings and sculptures. Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee (1959) explores the paintings of the Swiss artist. American Triptych (1965) deals with the works of the modern American artists Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, and Stuart Davis.
Schuller’s interest in jazz led to the publication of two highly praised analytical histories of the music: Early Jazz—Its Musical Roots and Development (1968) and The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1933-1945 (1988). Schuller also wrote The Compleat Conductor (1997). A collection of his writings on music was published as Musings: The Musical Worlds of Gunther Schuller (1986).
Schuller won praise for his efforts to promote American music as a conductor and educator. He taught music at the Manhattan School of Music from 1950 to 1963, at Yale University from 1964 to 1967, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he was president from 1967 to 1977. Schuller appeared as a guest conductor with many orchestras internationally and conducted on numerous recordings. He served as host and writer for educational programs about music on both radio and television.
Gunther Alexander Schuller was born in New York City. He took lessons in the French horn as a teenager but was self-taught as a composer. Schuller died on June 21, 2015.
