When we talk about the most influential musicians in history, they’re almost always confined to a genre. We might say Beethoven changed the trajectory of classical music, or Coltrane changed the direction of jazz.
But Gunther Schuller changed the direction of music. He was a boundary-pushing composer, conductor and scholar who championed the fusion of jazz and classical music, what he termed “third-stream,” and helped redefine the New England Conservatory during his tenure as president.
The NEC is honoring that legacy with a new festival titled “Jumpin’ in the Future: The Legacy of Gunther Schuller.” Friday’s concert, “Reminiscences and Reflections,” features Nancy Zelstman, marimba virtuoso and Berklee instructor who serves on the Gunther Schuller Society advisory board.
Nancy joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to talk more about Gunther’s genius. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.
Arun Rath: This whole thing is exciting. Gunther Schuller is just an amazing force in the music world, one of our great local treasures. I’ve got to ask you... for a concert like this, I mean, this is just one part of the whole thing. For Friday night, how did you go about programming something like that to give a sense of such a vast output?
Nancy Zeltsman: Well, you put your finger on the challenge. We had a planning meeting back in March or April, and we learned this year that NEC would put on a concert virtually every night this week. [Monday night] was a chamber music featured concert. [Tuesday night] at NEC is contemporary musical arts. [Wednesday night] is the orchestra, and Thursday night is the jazz orchestra. And then, our annual concert this year is on Friday night.
I said in this meeting, “You know, a lot of music is already gonna be played that centers on Gunther’s world. This organization was formed because we’re these people who were so powerfully, personally influenced by him; let’s make this personal somehow.” So, I somehow wound up being the curator of this.
It’s a multifaceted concert I’ve put together with videos and images running throughout, which gets to the heart of how deeply we loved this man and, as you said already, [his influence] is absolutely staggering in so many realms of music.
Rath: We’re going to talk about some of these people, but let’s start with you, because we’ll be hearing you play some of the music that Gunther Schuller wrote specifically for you.
Zeltsman: I’ll be playing a short movement with my duo Marimolin, which is Sharan Leventhal and myself on marimba. Gunther wrote us a piece in 1989 called “Phantasmata.” We’re going to play the second movement of that.
What’s so interesting is that Sharan and I, as we’ve been rehearsing, we’re laughing some of the time at how much it delights us and how catch [it is.] It sounds like modern music, but it’s also very memorable and catchy, and even in two-and-a-half minutes, it goes through so many clear, beautiful feelings and energies. It’s just extraordinary writing. He wrote the whole four-movement piece for us in three days, so it’s pretty extraordinary.
Rath: That’s quite a piece. I’m kind of amazed — three days?
Zeltsman: Yes.
Rath: Wow. Give us a sense, again, of the range — I want to talk about one of the other musicians that you have, Fred Hersch, one of the great fixtures of the New York downtown jazz scene. He’s playing “Mood Indigo.” Tell us about that song and why we’re hearing it.
Zeltsman: The program Friday begins with a quote hearing Gunther’s voice telling how he recalls hearing Duke Ellington’s music on the radio for the first time, I believe when he was 13, and how completely knocked out he was by Duke Ellington. That’s why I wanted to start with Fred playing some Ellington.
A little while later, you’ll hear the great pianist Christopher O’Riley play his arrangement of Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge.” And a little later on, you’ll hear Ran Blake, who used to be the chair of the third string department — so appointed by Gunther. Ran is going to feature a couple of tunes from Charles Mingus, with whom Gunther was very close, and Dominique Eade is going to be singing with Ran.
You’ll hear some of the Brahms Horn Trio, performed by a handpicked group of some favorite players of his — Joel Smirnoff on violin, Richard Todd on horn, and again, Chris O’Riley on piano.
Rath: Nancy, I want to stop on that for a moment because — I know about this just because you told me about it right before we started this recording — there’s a wonderful story related to the Brahms Horn Trio. That was the last record that Gunther Schuller produced.
Zeltsman: That’s what I understand, yeah. I was surprised, as we were starting to put this together, a few weeks after that first meeting I mentioned to you, George Schuller, Gunther’s son, who’s a drummer, wrote and said, “You know, Dad was obsessed his whole life with the Brahms Horn Trio.” George just remembered him always talking about this, that he was never quite happy with anybody’s recording of it. So he said, “I have to make the recording I envisioned.”
Rath: We should probably tell people that Gunther Schuller played horn.
Zeltsman: He really played horn. Gunther first put a French horn to his lips when he was 16, and at 18, he was principal horn of the Cincinnati Symphony. After that, he was first horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for many, many years, so he was quite a hornist and had a very natural talent for that.
Rath: I’m sorry, I got you off-topic because you were talking about how he thought that nobody had quite done the horn trio right before.
Zeltsman: Right, so that’s what he told George — he just wanted to put together a recording with players he loved and coach them on his vision of what this should be. He just always loved this piece, and there are some nice pictures of him holding a horn — he probably hadn’t held a horn for years.
In fact, his favorite French horn of his professional life, which was nicknamed the “Magic Horn,” he sold to Richard Todd, and that horn is going to be with us on stage and played by Richard Todd at this concert.
Rath: I almost hate this expression, but do you feel like that piece is just the perfect swan song for Gunther Schuller?
Zeltsman: Well, it is going to be heard near the end of the concert, and I think some tears are going to be shed by then. I have to say, I was shedding tears putting this whole concert together — and certainly not just in sadness of him being gone, but overwhelmed at how much this man meant to all these people and to music.
