Born December 10, 1913, in Queens, NY; died February 21, 1996, in Orlando, FL. Pianist, conductor, composer. Gould gained wide acclaim as the composer ofmore than one thousand works of "American" music. Throughout his lifetime, Gould was nominated for several Grammy awards, receiving one in 1966 for classical album of the year, conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. When he wasa child, Gould wrote his first piece, titled Just Six. At the age of eight,he received a scholarship to the New York Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard School) and later studied under Dr. Vincent Jones. He played piano for Radio City Music Hall and from 1935 to 1942 was the conductor and arranger forMusic for Today, a weekly radio show for the Mutual Network's WOR. He composed pieces for Broadway, including Arms and the Girl and Billion Dollar Baby,and was commissioned to write the score for Fall River Legend, the ballet about the Lizzie Borden trial choreographed in 1947 by Agnes de Mille. He was also commissioned to write American Sing for the 1984 Olympic Games held in LosAngeles. His other numerous works include Boogie Woogie Etude, Spirituals for Orchestra, Cowboy Rhapsody, and The Jogger and the Dinosaur for Rapper andOrchestra. He made several television appearances and in 1965 hosted The World of Music with Morton Gould. His musical score for the television miniseriesHolocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss earned him a Grammy nomination andan Emmy nomination. In 1994 he received the Kennedy Center Honors Award, andin 1995 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music. He was being honored with atribute to his music by the Disney Institute at the time of his death.
Books:
Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: