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Music Notes: Morton Gould, An American Musical Legend
By
David Amos
It
has been almost 10 years since Morton Gould died. He was enormously talented and
a dominant force in American music. Most of you will recognize one of his
greatest hits, American Salute, but he
composed so much more than that. I have admired his work since I was a teenager,
and later in life had the pleasure to work directly with him, and conduct
several of his compositions for recordings.
Gould is a
perfect example of the many flaws in our snobbish musical society. His
contributions to music are endless; one of his best recognized features was his
uncanny ability to take American and Latin American folk and popular tunes and
rhythms, and arrange them for orchestra in a most accessible and entertaining
way. At the same time, his phenomenal gifts of orchestration gained him deserved
fame and fortune.
But,
ironically, as one New York critic told me, “Poor Morton; the serious
classical music establishment has never forgiven him for making money!”
I would like to give you a brief description of what he accomplished with his
contributions to music, a glance into his personality, and to share with you my
personal experiences with him and the recordings of his music.
Starting
in the late 1930s (the last years of Gershwin’s life), Gould was already
making his mark as a brilliant pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. In
the 1940s his radio programs were heard nationwide. They included his colorful
orchestrations of popular tunes as well as his own compositions. His name was a
household word.
From
the 1950s until the end of his life in 1996, he continued serving music in many
noble ways, as a composer of significant, important symphonic works, as a guest
conductor, recording artist, and as an administrator with ASCAP (American
Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), where he was the voice and
champion of many musicians. He also contributed his time generously to the
American Symphony Orchestra League.
In spite of all of the above, and against all self-evident logic, Morton Gould
considered himself a failure.
In
Peter Goodman’s book Morton Gould, An
American Salute, there are a few revealing quotes from Gould’s diary. In
1987 he remarked that “I am so far away from what I thought I’d achieved
that I have to face the fact that career-wise I have been a failure. I never
made it.”
A
lot of this was due to the fact that Gould, being a New Yorker, was practically
ignored by the New York Philharmonic his entire musical life. He received plenty
of handshakes and embraces from the N.Y. Philharmonic power brokers, but never
an invitation to conduct, and his music was hardly ever performed. After being
warmly greeted by Leonard Bernstein at a reception, he wrote “Seeing Lenny
that day, I had such a warm feeling toward him. I know that Lenny is for Lenny,
he’s not particularly sympathetic to me or my music. My colleagues are
basically egos; you have to live around them. However, in Lenny’s case, he has
every reason to be egotistical.”
But
it was difficult for him. He suffered from frequent bouts of depression.
“Happiness spoils my depression. I am not too sad when depressed, but I am
less sad when I am happy, and there are times when I’m happy being happy.
Happiness is a ‘sometime thing,’ a temporary state of well being, of
optimism, of gratification. Happiness is a passing illusion of security and
comfort that helps us survive and function.”
This
is strange to hear from a person whose music is so upbeat, optimistic and
playful. There is nothing somber in his compositions. Yes, when talking to him
you could see a humble, modest person with a wry sense of humor. But he was
nevertheless an American icon, a staple, a master in making a symphony orchestra
sound entertaining and brilliant in a happy fusion of popular songs and rhythms
within a polished orchestral palette.
Gould
was so unhappy with his place in the serious music world that he commented after
some unjust criticism: “As some of my pieces got more public acceptance, I
almost felt like getting up and saying “Look, I’m terribly sorry. I wrote
something that a lot of people like, and I’ll try not to do it again. In a
number of instances I tried not to do it again, perhaps successfully, which I
sometimes regret.”
I felt this quite strongly in my
personal visits with him. He did not possess the personal charisma that is
gifted to some creative artists. He hoped that his music would stand on its own
merit, which in the long run it has, and it will. He was in the habit of being
self-deprecating, putting himself down, and I will give you a couple examples of
this in the second part of this article, in the next issue of San
Diego Jewish Times.
Although
Gould clearly did not consider himself “one of the boys in the gang,” part
of the power structure in American music, he was viewed by the world at large as
the real establishment, and one of the most powerful composers on the American
scene. I certainly considered him in this manner, taking in consideration his
endless list of well-known compositions, most of which were recorded by some of
the finest orchestras and wind ensembles in the world.