Samuel Simons Sanford (15 March 18496 January 1910) was an American pianist and educator.
Early life
He was born in
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...
.
Education
He studied piano in New York with
William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener
*William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect
*William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...
(son of
Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason (January 8, 1792 – August 11, 1872) was an American music director and banker who was a leading figure in 19th-century American church music. Lowell composed over 1,600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His best-know ...
and student of
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
and
Ignaz Moscheles
Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano in the Co ...
). He went to Paris and studied with
Alfred Jaëll,
Louis Plaidy (teacher of
Hans von Bülow
Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...
and many others),
Théodore Ritter (another student of Liszt), and
Édouard Batiste. In 1869, he became acquainted with
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory.
As a pianist, Rubinstein ran ...
, and later studied with him.
Career
He travelled with Rubinstein during his first American tour in 1872–73.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; r 1859
R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''.
The lette ...
– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...
changed his execution of octave playing after hearing Sanford play, and once described Sanford as the most musically gifted person he ever knew.
Sanford brought Sir
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
's music to American attention through the brothers
Walter
Walter may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...
and
Frank Damrosch
Frank Heino Damrosch (June 22, 1859 – October 22, 1937) was a German-born American music conductor and educator. In 1905, Damrosch founded the New York Institute of Musical Art, a predecessor of the Juilliard School.
Life and career
Damrosch ...
and
Theodore Thomas. He was instrumental in having Elgar awarded an honorary doctorate in music from
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 ...
in 1905; at the conferral ceremony on 28 June, Elgar's
Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 was played, instituting the tradition of playing noble processional music at graduation ceremonies. Later that year, Elgar returned the compliment by dedicating his ''
Introduction and Allegro'' to Sanford.
Sanford joined the Yale Music Faculty as Professor of Applied Music in 1894, along with
Horatio Parker
Horatio William Parker (September 15, 1863 – December 18, 1919) was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the undergradua ...
as Professor of Theory. During the sixteen years he worked at Yale, he refused to be paid any salary as he was independently wealthy.
He died at home on 6 January 1910 after a long illness.
Sanford Medal
In 1972 Yale University instituted the Samuel Simons Sanford Medal (usually referred to as the Sanford Medal), to honour celebrated concert artists and distinguished members of the music profession. Recipients have included:
* 1972:
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...
* 1975:
Doriot Anthony Dwyer
* 1983:
Louis Krasner
Louis Krasner (4 May 1995) was a Russian-born American classical violinist who premiered the violin concertos of Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg.
Biography
Louis Krasner was born in Cherkassy, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire (now part of Ukrai ...
* 1983:
Maureen Forrester
Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, (July 25, 1930 – June 16, 2010) was a Canadian operatic contralto.
Life and career
Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec, one of four children of Thomas Forrester, a British cabinetma ...
* 1991:
Richard F. French
* 1997:
Dorothy DeLay
Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American violin teacher, instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Cincinnati.
Life
Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in Medic ...
* 1999:
Keith Wilson
* 2000: H.M. King
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej (5 December 192713 October 2016), titled Rama IX, was King of Thailand from 1946 until Death and funeral of Bhumibol Adulyadej, his death in 2016. His reign of 70 years and 126 days is the longest of any List of Thai mo ...
of Thailand
* 2002:
Lili Chookasian
* 2003:
Andrew Litton
Andrew Litton (born May 16, 1959, New York City) is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School.
Biography
He studied piano with Nadia Reisenberg and conducting with Sixten Ehrling at the Juilliard Schoo ...
* 2005:
Robert Blocker
* 2005:
Richard Stoltzman
Richard Leslie Stoltzman (born July 12, 1942) is an American clarinetist. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years in San Francisco, California, and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is pa ...
* 2010:
Vivian Perlis
* 2012:
Joseph W. Polisi
* 2013:
Willie Ruff
Willie Henry Ruff Jr. (September 1, 1931 – December 24, 2023) was an American jazz musician, specializing in the French horn and double bass, and a music scholar and educator, primarily as a Yale professor from 1971 to 2017.
Personal life
Wil ...
* 2013:
Peter Gelb
Peter Gelb (born 1953) is an American arts administrator. Since August 2006, he has been General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Career
Early career
While in high school, Gelb began his association with the Metropolitan Ope ...
* 2015:
Klaus Heymann
Klaus Heymann (born 22 October 1936) is a German entrepreneur and the founder and head of the Naxos Records, Naxos record label.
Early life
Heymann was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and studied Romance languages and English at the Universities of G ...
* 2015:
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...
*
Emanuel Ax
Emanuel "Manny" Ax (born June 8, 1949) is a Grammy Award-winning American classical pianist. He is known for his chamber music collaborations with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinists Isaac Stern and Young Uck Kim, as well as his piano recitals and p ...
,
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music.
Born in Montb ...
,
[ ]Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel (born 5 January 1931) is a Czech-born Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is noted for his performances of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven.
Biography
Brendel was born in Wizemberk, Czechoslovakia ...
, Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
,[ ]Richard Goode
Richard Goode (born June 1, 1943) is an American classical pianist who is especially known for his interpretations of Mozart and Beethoven.
Early life
Goode was born in the East Bronx, New York. He studied piano with Elvira Szigeti, Claude Fran ...
, Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Berneice Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient ...
,[ Sherrill Milnes,][ ]Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...
,[ Robert Shaw,] Sir Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-servi ...
,[ ]Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist.
Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...
, Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson (April 21, 1899 – July 9, 1984) was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.
Career
Thompson attended The Lawrenceville School, where his father was an English teacher. He then attended Harvard University ...
, and Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...
.[
]
Notes
Sources
World-Renowned Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman was Presented Prestigious Sanford Medal by Yale School of Music on Thursday, September 1, 2005
1849 births
1910 deaths
Musicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut
American male classical pianists
American male pianists
American music educators
Edward Elgar
Yale University faculty
19th-century American classical pianists
19th-century American male musicians
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