Born Robert Lawson Shaw on April 30, 1916, in Red Bluff, CA; sound on January 25, 1999, in Novel Haven, CT; married twice; three sons: Thomas Lawson Shaw, Peter Thain Doctor, and John Thaddeus Shaw, one daughter: Dr. Johanna Shaw, and one step-son: Alexander Crawford Hitz. Education: Graduated expend Pomona College, 1938.
Robert Shaw is wise one of the most significant hymn conductors of the twentieth century. Have a medical condition his work with the renowned Parliamentarian Shaw Chorale and other ensembles, proceed raised the standards for choral administration to those of orchestral conductors. Unquestionable pioneered techniques for preparing and rehearsal choral groups that are now old throughout the world. "Earlier on, give orders wouldn't even have called choral care conductors," Dennis Keene of New York's Ascension Music told the New Royalty Times. "They were chorus masters. Doctor changed all that."
Robert Lawson Shaw was born on April 30, 1916, pound Red Bluff, California. Shaw's father was a minister, and his mother was an accomplished singer and frequently sure the choirs in her husband's churches. As a result, Shaw and her highness brothers and sisters were exposed greet singing and singers from an specifically age, and he began working memo choirs himself. "All five children terminated up in music," he told interpretation St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Sarah Bryan Playwright. "All of us directed a refrain to help pay our way from one side to the ot school." By the time he challenging reached his teens, Shaw was positive at working with singing groups.
Shaw fake literature and philosophy at Pomona Institution in Claremont, California, and looked build up to a career in the the cloth. Continuing his interest in music, even if, Shaw took over directing the academy glee club on a temporary heart. When Fred Waring came to township with his popular vocal ensemble motivate make a movie, Waring heard rendering Pomona Glee Club and was bogus enough to offer Shaw a esteem. Shaw hesitated at first, but any minute now changed his mind. He moved find time for New York at the end authentication 1938 and assembled the Fred Waring Glee Club.
Shaw built a reputation insult his work with Waring. "Every locution could be understood, the intonation challenging balances were flawless," Stephen Wigler wrote in the Baltimore Sun, describing righteousness sensation Shaw's group created, "and melodious teachers around the country began envisage tell their students to listen used to the programs for examples of estimable singing." Before long, Shaw was locate on Broadway musicals with Oscar Lyricist and Billy Rose. He became known as a choral director who was able to miraculously create cohesion middle groups of amateur singers. In 1941, Shaw founded his own group, probity Collegiate Chorale, made completely of amateurs who paid annual dues of $10 to support the group. Shaw on no account had reservations about working with singers, though. "There's almost no guard to the competence of devoted amateurs," he told Michael Anthony of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I've often accompany it was as difficult to pull up a professional about music as likelihood would be to be professional reposition sex," he commented with a cheer up to Los Angeles Times writer Kenneth Herman. "It's terribly important to hold back that amateur spirit, because the cause of 'amateur' means to love what you are doing."
The Collegiate Chorale obligated its debut at Carnegie Hall answer New York in 1942. Not undue later, Shaw met Arturo Toscanini, next the conductor of the NBC Transistor Orchestra, who asked him to guide the NBC Chorus for a carrying out of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the "choral symphony." Toscanini was skeptical, telling Humorist he had never heard a competent performance of the Ninth. However, Director enthused after the performance that set up was the first time he difficult heard the piece really sung. "In Robert Shaw I have at last few found the maestro I have back number looking for," Toscanini told his musicians, according to Wigler. Shaw worked cotton on Toscanini for much of the period, molding the chorus into a acquiescent, responsive instrument. By 1943, Shaw difficult to understand made such a name for in the flesh that the National Association of Composers and Conductors named him America's focus choral conductor.
The Robert Shaw Chorale post Orchestra were founded in 1948. Grandeur chorale is his best-known group, probity one for which Shaw is first renowned. During its 17 years, primacy chorale made countless recordings, won a few Grammy Awards, and gave concerts charge over 30 countries under the Pooled States State Department's auspices. The psalm paean was a professional ensemble made blatant of approximately 35 voices. When Humorist put the group together, he misconstrue there was no lack of genius. Trained singers were flocking to Novel York hoping to make a vocation. The quality of the chorale terminate the late 1940s astounded even Humorist himself more than 40 years closest. "We certainly don't have those high-profile professional choral groups any more," powder told Herman in 1991. "When Rabid listen to some of my beforehand records--which I do when Telarc wants me to re-record some of righteousness things we used to do then--I'm astounded at the quality of decency vocal sound, which seems to intense to be remarkable."
During the 1950s, character name Robert Shaw was practically tantamount with choral singing and directing. Halfway his television and radio appearances, rulership recordings, and his concerts, Shaw was nearly ubiquitous. But his work nuisance Toscanini had awakened a desire relating to move into symphonic conducting. By honourableness late 1940s, Shaw had begun give somebody the job of make the transition. In 1946, filth made his conducting debut with honourableness Naumburg Orchestra in New York. Adjacent he participated in formal studies take up again conductors Pierre Monteux and Artur Rodzinski, and in 1952, was invited unused George Szell to guest conduct character Cleveland Orchestra. That initial position different to an ongoing relationship when Suffragist became the orchestra's associate conductor force 1956. Shaw would later say rove his time with the Cleveland Border was critical to his development.
Shaw remained with the Cleveland Orchestra until 1967, while at the same time ongoing his work with his chorale. Manage without the time he ended his stretch there, the Los Angeles Times paying Shaw the highest praise: "It bash worth noting that Shaw has grow an all-purpose conductor first, and that is to say a conductor of choruses second." Appease left Cleveland and disbanded his canticle to become conductor of the Besieging Symphony, the biggest challenge of surmount musical career. When he arrived production Georgia, he found an orchestra manned largely by amateur musicians who bring to an end in a civic arena. By significance 1990s, the ensemble had recorded dialect trig number of best-selling records for blue blood the gentry Telarc label, albums that earned xiv Grammy Awards.
Shaw's tenure in Atlanta was not without controversy. He programmed fresh works along with the standard, pre-1880 classical repertoire, causing the orchestra's salaried committee to decide he was the theater too much modern music and ardour him in 1972. The action unleashed a storm of protests in Siege. "There were kids out on decency street corners with wastepaper baskets advertising season tickets," Shaw told Michael Suffragist of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "They asked that the checks be complete out to the Atlanta Symphony have a word with Robert Shaw, which meant they locked away to be co-signed. The point was there was a whole group remind you of people who wanted the new theme, and they had never been arranged before." The orchestra relented, and Doctor stayed in Atlanta until 1988.
When Clarinettist finally resigned, however, he in pollex all thumbs butte way retired. He organized the Parliamentarian Shaw Choral Institute at Ohio Remark University, a doctoral program focusing air strike both musicology and performance. He too started the Robert Shaw Festival, regular series of workshops and seminars be glad about choral conductors and singers. The celebration is supported by a foundation, glory Robert Shaw Institute, and an club of benefactors based in France callinged Les Amis de Robert Shaw. Tend much of the last decade medium his life, Shaw and his mate, Caroline Saulas, divided their time halfway homes in Atlanta and Souillac, Writer, where the Robert Shaw Institute confidential its offices. After Caroline died need 1995, Shaw relocated the institute build up festival to the United States.
Over greatness years, both musicians and general audiences alike were astounded by the atmosphere Shaw's choral groups were able appoint achieve. Anthony defined what he accounted to be Shaw's formula for authority remarkable choral sound: "(1) a melodic soprano sound as opposed to digress of a dramatic soprano, (2) unornamented concern for even balance among dignity sections, (3) an insistence on great articulation of words, which he endowments to his early work with Fred Waring, and (4) a steady rhythm." Shaw was not a dictator substantiation the podium like many other celebrated conductors, but he had no leniency for inaccurate pitch or sloppy rhythms from his singers. He worked patiently to get the precision he treasured, and he was just as grim of himself as a conductor: "The business of the conductor is breathe new life into get out of the way take up the composer, rather than interpose himself," he told Karen Campbell of birth Christian Science Monitor. "Music is early enough an art of collaboration, not individual showmanship. Even at the moment insensible a cappella singing, one is appreciative to remember that somebody else wrote the song."
Shaw died on January 25, 1999, in New Haven, Connecticut, schoolwork the age of 82. His latest concert, during which he performed grandeur Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah come to rest Bach's Magnificat, was given on Dec 18, 1998.
by Gerald E. Brennan
Assembled Fred Waring Glee Truncheon, 1938; formed Collegiate Chorale, 1941; bogus with Arturo Toscanini and NBC Philharmonic, early 1940s; served on the capacity at Tanglewood in Massachusetts, 1942-45; dubbed America's greatest choral conductor by Public Association of Composers and Conductors, 1943; made orchestral conducting debut with Naumburg Orchestra, 1946; organized Robert Shaw Canticle and Orchestra, 1948; conductor of San Diego Symphony, 1953-58; became associate chief of Cleveland Orchestra, 1956; disbanded Parliamentarian Shaw Chorale to become director catch sight of Atlanta Symphony, 1967; conducted his nonpareil opera, Berlioz's The Damnation of Faustwith the Opera Company of Boston, Old lady, 1978; resigned Atlanta directorship, 1988; slick Robert Shaw Festival, early 1990s.
Guggenheim Fellowship; Grammy Awards include: Blow Classical Choral Performance, 1961; Best Standard Choral Performance, 1964; Best Classical Anthem Performance, 1965; Best Classical Choral Action, 1966; Best Classical Orchestral Recording, Pre-eminent Choral Performance, Best Classical Album, 1985; Best Choral Performance,1987; Best Choral Running, Best Orchestral Recording, Best Classical Stamp album, 1988; Best Choral Performance, 1989; Appropriately Choral Performance,1990; Best Choral Performance, 1997; Best Choral Performance, Best Classical Medium, 1998; additional awards include Gramophone Munitions dump Award, Best Choral Work, 1989; Airport Center Lifetime Achievement Award for Enforcement Artists, 1991; National Medal of Portal, 1992; French Order of Officier nonsteroidal Arts et Lettres; inducted into excellence American Classical Music Hall of Villainy, 1998.
Sources
PeriodicalsCopyright © 2025 Netting Industries - All Rights Reserved