For the younger generation of classical music enthusiasts in Seattle, Gerard Schwarz is the only conductor they’ve ever known. The Seattle Symphony is celebrating 25 years with Schwarz at the helm, and the City Council honored him earlier this fall by declaring Sept. 24 “Gerard Schwarz Day” in Seattle.
Perhaps best known for leading the orchestra in recordings of American composers, including Paul Creston, Walter Piston, Howard Hanson and David Diamond, Schwarz discusses their music, looks back over the years and looks ahead to this year.
AH: Does one of these series of discs stand out to you from the others, or are they equally rewarding?
GS: All of the composers that we championed on the recording series on Delos, many of which are now on Naxos, were extremely important to me. Of course Creston stands out because he was my teacher. Diamond stands out because he was a very close family friend. Piston, because I find the music to be extraordinary and it had been accused of being very academic. Well, I don’t find that to be the case at all.
And Hanson, because his symphonies were the first that we did in their entirety, and we receive the most recognition from those performances.
Schwarz on Paul Creston and David Diamond
AH: What was Creston like as a teacher, and did any of his musical philosophies rub off?
GS: While Creston was a wonderful teacher, he taught his style. He taught the style of his kind of harmony, which of course is relatively traditional, almost as if it were an extension of the harmonies of Chopin, who was one of his most admired composers.
AH: What makes a Creston piece so recognizable from the opening bars?
GS: His rhythmic vitality was always a strong part of his music making. His style of course was not only full of wonderful melodies, gorgeous harmonies, but he also got into the rhythmic figuration that accompanied his melodies. Between that and the harmonies, his music always became extremely recognizable from the beginning.
AH: Why can't Creston's music, an audience's dream, be programmed more often?
GS: I don’t know why his pieces aren’t played more often, especially the shorter ones because they are so accessible and so delightful. Hopefully time will be good to Creston as the other great Americans that we’ve championed.
AH: What lasting memories do you have of David Diamond, and what made his musical language unique to other American composers?
GS: While the lasting memories about David could probably fill a book, he was a brilliant musician with an incredible memory. He could recount passages in a symphony that he hadn’t heard in 30 years with exactness. His language was very lyrical; he was a great melodist. He also was a great contrapuntal writer. His music all had tremendous passion and beauty.
For us and our family, of course it was extraordinary spending time with this brilliant musician who was not only a great composer, but also a great person. And it was always fascinating and joyful to be with him.
Recording William Schuman’s Symphonies
AH: How would you describe William Schuman, both the man and his music? And how did the Schuman symphony cycle project come together?
GS: Well, William Schuman was an absolutely wonderful man. He had a tremendous sense of humor, he had a tremendous intellect, and he had a great knowledge and love of music, especially symphonic music. He also had a great love of movies.
I’ve always been a fan of the symphonies. The family – in other words his heirs, his son [Tony] especially – was interested in a project that would record his symphonies, so the family foundation helped a little bit at the very beginning. After we got started with the project and it became quite interesting and successful, Naxos also became extremely interested and helped to complete the project.
So between the family, Joseph Polisi and Naxos Records, the project came together. The music is quite difficult and I think it is like any other great music: You just have to rehearse it properly and understand it both musically and technically to make it come across.
Accomplishments in Seattle and Silver Anniversary Goals
AH: As your tenure winds down, what are you most proud of and what will you take from these many years at the podium?
GS: In terms of what I’ve been most proud of, I think it’s pretty clear that the growth of the orchestra has been paramount for me. The musical growth, technical growth, and the fact that the orchestra has a real sound that is distinctive from other orchestras is something very important to me.
The building of our hall in downtown Seattle, Benaroya Hall, was a very significant thing I look back on. The fact that we have been able to record so much wonderful music, and obviously, especially the great American symphonists that we have recorded. I’m also very proud of the growth of our audience, the importance of the orchestra in our community and all the educational work that we have been doing over these years.
AH: What are you most eagerly anticipating musically in this, your 25th season in Seattle?
GS: What I am anticipating the most in this 25th anniversary season is the continued musical growth of our orchestra and of my own musical growth. We keep striving for the highest possible level, and in a way having a wonderful anniversary gives me continued courage to strive for the highest artistic results.
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The Seattle Symphony’s recording of Schuman’s Symphony No. 6 and New England Triptych is set to drop in November. Future concerts in 2009-10 conducted by Schwarz will include Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and an all-Leonard Bernstein series finale.
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