Robert Shaw (conductor)
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Robert Lawson Shaw (30 April 191625 January 1999) was an American conductor most famous for his work with his namesake
Chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...
, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. He was known for drawing public attention to choral music through his wide-ranging influence and mentoring of younger conductors, the high standard of his
recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
, his support for
racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of Race (classification of human beings), race, and t ...
in his choruses, and his support for modern music, winning many
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throughout his career. Oestreich, James R. (26 January 1999
'Robert Shaw, Choral and Orchestral Leader, Is Dead at 82'
''
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''.


Biography


Early life

Robert Lawson Shaw was born in
Red Bluff, California Red Bluff is a city in and the county seat of Tehama County, California, United States. Its population was 14,710 at the 2020 census, up from 14,076 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is located north of Sacramento, California ...
. His father, Rev. Shirley R. Shaw, was a minister, and his mother was a concert singer. He had four siblings, one of whom was singer Hollace Shaw. Shaw attended Eagle Rock High School in the early 1930s where he sang in the choirs directed by
Howard Swan Howard Shelton Swan (March 19, 1906 – September 19, 1995) was an American choral conductor, tenor, music educator, and writer on music. A highly influential figure in American choral music during the 20th century, Swan was sometimes referred to ...
, a man who would later have a lengthy career as an internationally renowned choral director at
Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...
from 1934 through 1971, and whose career and writings on choral music were the subject of a symposium at the national conference of the
American Choral Directors Association The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization with the stated purpose of promoting the field of choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Lat ...
in 1987. Shaw graduated from
Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...
in the class of 1938. Shortly afterward, Shaw was hired by popular band leader
Fred Waring Fredrick Malcolm Waring Sr. (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was an American musician, bandleader, choral director, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to ...
to recruit and train a glee club that would sing with the band.


Career

In 1941, Shaw founded the Collegiate Chorale, a group notable in its day for its
racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of Race (classification of human beings), race, and t ...
. In 1948, the group performed
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's Symphony No. 9 with the NBC Symphony and
Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
, who famously remarked, "In Robert Shaw I have at last found the maestro I have been looking for." Shaw continued to prepare choirs for Toscanini until March 1954, when they sang in ''
Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...
'' by Verdi and the prologue to ''
Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was lib ...
'' by Boito. Shaw's choirs participated in the NBC broadcast performances of three Verdi operas: '' Aida'', '' Falstaff'' and '' A Masked Ball'', all conducted by Toscanini, with soprano Herva Nelli. They can be seen on the home videos of the telecasts of '' Aida'' (from 1949) and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (from April 1948), also conducted by Toscanini. As the video shows, Toscanini refused to take a bow until he went backstage and brought an apparently reluctant Shaw out to take a joint bow at the end of the Beethoven telecast. In 1946, he conducted the
Naumburg Orchestral Concerts Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. ...
, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. Shaw was also Charles F. Shaw's second cousin and often vacationed at his winery in Napa Valley. He went on to found the Robert Shaw Chorale in 1948, a group which produced numerous recordings on
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
up until his appointment in Atlanta. The Chorale visited 30 countries in tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department. In 1952 he was choral director for the Broadway musical, '' My Darlin' Aida''. Shaw was named music director of the San Diego Symphony in 1953 and served in that post for four years. Following his San Diego tenure, Shaw joined George Szell, one of his prior teachers at Mannes School of Music in New York, to work with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1956. He served as the assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra for eleven seasons until 1967. He also took over the fledgling Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (started in 1952) and fine-tuned it into one of the finest all-volunteer choral ensembles sponsored by an American symphony orchestra - an ensemble that continues to this day. While in Cleveland, Shaw was also the choral director at the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland where he led a community music program. From 1967 to 1988 Shaw was
music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
and conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In 1970, he founded the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and worked to recreate the success he had had for Cleveland in preparing them for performances and recordings with their namesake symphony orchestra. On 30 April 1972, Shaw conducted a massed 640 voice chorus made up of auditioned university choirs from 16 different countries invited to the Third International University Choral FestivalShaw, Robert (6 April-2 May 1972)
The third Lincoln Center International Choral Festival
Publisher: LCS 1972 Lincoln Center.
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.
to perform at the
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
, New York after a two-week concert tour of USA university campuses. A recording was made of the festival concert. During their tour, on the eve of the breaking of the
Watergate Scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...
, the choirs also performed before First Lady
Pat Nixon Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as the Second ladies and gentlemen of the United States, second lady ...
, at the
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, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the
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. Nixon, Pat.
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. (21 April 1972)
Diary (Box 24): "First Lady's Press Office: 4/21/72 Mrs. Nixon – 3rd Intn'l Choral Festival Reception"
Press
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.
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.
(7 April 1972). 'On The Go'. Page 7C. ''
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''. (Rochester, New York).
After stepping down from his Atlanta post in 1988, Shaw continued to conduct the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as its Music Director Emeritus and Conductor Laureate, was a regular guest conductor with other orchestras including Cleveland, and taught in a series of summer festivals and week-long
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
workshops for choral conductors and singers. He can be seen again conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in footage of the 1996 Olympic Ceremonies. He died in 1999, in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
following a stroke, aged 82.


Influence

During his long career, Shaw drew attention to choral music and came to be considered the "dean" of American choral conductors, mentoring a number of younger conductors—including Jameson Marvin, Margaret Hillis, Maurice Casey, Ken Clinton, Donald Neuen, Ann Howard Jones, and current Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus director Norman Mackenzie — and inspiring thousands of singers with whom he worked around the United States. His work set new choral standards in the United States, and many of his
recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
are considered benchmarks for choral singing. Although his formative years and much of his work occurred before the rise of mainstream interest in informed historic performance practice, his recordings, reflecting his insistence that clearly projected texts serve as the foundation for musical interpretation, do not sound dated in comparison to more modern efforts by frequently smaller forces. He created techniques and approaches still in use today. Shaw was a champion of modern music from the beginning of his career. He commissioned a requiem for
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
from the newly naturalized German-born composer
Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...
, who responded with ''
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" is a long poem written by American poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892) as an elegy to President Abraham Lincoln. It was written in the summer of 1865 during a period of profound national mourning in the ...
'', a setting of
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...
's poem commemorating the death of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
. Shaw led the premiere of the work in 1946 with the Collegiate Chorale and continued to champion the work well into the last decade of his life; in 1996 he conducted a 50th anniversary performance at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
, where Hindemith was a professor when he wrote the work. In 1998 Yale also awarded Shaw an honorary doctorate. He was also a recipient of Yale's Sanford Medal. Shaw also received the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit in honor of his vast influence on male choral music. He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity, and was an honorary initiate of
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (legally Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha, PMA, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for men with a special interest ...
(''Alpha Chi'', University of Tulsa, 1945).


Recordings

Although noted in classical repertoire, Shaw hardly limited himself to that genre. The 104 recording credits on his discography'The Robert Shaw Chorale'
Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
.
also include recordings of sea shanties, glee club songs, sacred music and spirituals, musical theater numbers, Irish folk tunes, and, most notably, Christmas albums that have remained bestsellers ever since their release. Shaw was also noted for his many collaborations with
Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
and the
NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, the parent corporation of the National Broadcasting Company especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC ...
on several operatic and choral radio broadcasts and recordings. Under Shaw, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra made its first recordings, beginning with a 2-LP album set called ''Nativity'' in 1976, based on the annual Christmas concerts that Shaw performed in Atlanta beginning in 1970. For
Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...
he recorded several digital
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
s of the Christmas albums he had previously recorded for
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
, including '' The Many Moods of Christmas''. Shaw collaborated with noted choral composer and conductor Alice Parker (a former student of Shaw's at the
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
) on arrangements of folksongs, hymns, spirituals, and Christmas music that remain popular with choruses today. Shaw recorded for a variety of labels, beginning with a single record for American
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...
and numerous releases on RCA Victor during the 78 rpm era. During the 1950s and 1960s, Shaw and his Chorale made many LP's for RCA Victor Red Seal Records. From 1977 onward, most of his recordings appeared on the Telarc label. For that company he led not only the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus but also the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers, which drew its personnel largely from the Atlanta Symphony Chamber Chorus, and the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, a group assembled for Shaw's summer choral workshops in France. His last recording was for Telarc of Dvořák's '' Stabat Mater'' with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, chorus, and soloists. Shaw recorded many of the great choral-orchestral works more than once, and his performances of
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
's ''
Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
'', J.S. Bach's '' Mass in B minor'', Beethoven's ''
Missa Solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass.Mass
, ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. N.p., Appleton, 1910. 797. and is a genre of < ...
'', Orff's '' Carmina Burana'', Verdi's ''
Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...
'', and other similar masterworks remain highly regarded. In a move toward
historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...
, Shaw's first recording of ''Messiah'', in 1966, used a chorus of only thirty-one singers. In 2016, Shaw's recording of the Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil (Vespers), by the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, was added to the
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...
of the
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.


Awards

* 14
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
* 4 ASCAP Awards for service to contemporary music * First
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
ever awarded to a conductor * Alice M. Ditson Conductor's Award for Service to American Music * George Peabody Medal for outstanding contributions to music in America * Gold Baton Award of the American Symphony Orchestra League for "distinguished service to music and the arts," * American
National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
* France's Officier des Arts et des Lettres * England's Gramophone Award * 1991 recipient of the
Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to Culture of the United States, American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in ...
Singers.com website, Robert Shaw,


References


External links


Atlanta Symphony Orchestra website

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus website

Collegiate Chorale website

Robert Shaw Resource website


* ttp://www.bruceduffie.com/shaw.html Interview with Robert Shaw August 14, 1985
Robert Shaw--Man of Many Voices
Website for film about Robert Shaw {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Robert 1916 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American conductors (music) Musicians from California American choral conductors American male conductors (music) American music arrangers Grammy Award winners People from Ontario, California Pomona College alumni United States National Medal of Arts recipients People from Red Bluff, California RCA Victor artists Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 20th-century American male musicians Kennedy Center honorees Music directors of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra