xv, 692 pages : 25 cm

The musical landscape of New York City and the United States of America would look quite different had it not been for William Schuman. Orpheus in Manhattan, a fully objective and comprehensive biography of Schuman, portrays a man who had a profound influence upon the artistic and political institutions of his day and beyond. Steve Swayne draws heavily upon Schuman's letters, writings, and manuscripts as well as unprecedented access to archival recordings and previously unknown correspondence. The winner of the first Pulitzer Prize in Music, Schuman composed music that is rhythmically febrile, harmonically pungent, melodically long-breathed, and timbrally brilliant, and Swayne offers an astute analysis of his work, including many unpublished music scores. Swayne also describes Schuman's role as president of the Juilliard School of Music and of Lincoln Center, tracing how he both expanded the boundaries of music education and championed the performing arts. Filled with new discoveries and revisions of the received historical narrative, Orpheus in Manhattan confirms Schuman as a major figure in America's musical life [Publisher description]

Includes bibliographical references (pages 653-662) and indexes

Introduction: The Impact of a Single Symphony -- PART 1: THE EARLY YEARS -- 1. The Family Tree -- 2. A Kid Grows in Queens and Manhattan -- 3. Camp Cobbossee (and a Summer Abroad) -- 4. A Flash in Tin Pan Alley -- 5. Frankie -- 6. An Unconventional Education -- PART 2: THE SARAH LAWRENCE YEARS -- 7. Sarah Lawrence and the Beginning of the Decade of War -- 8. "The pupil is outdoing the master" -- 9. Schuman, Copland, Koussevitzky, and Bernstein -- 10. Populism, Progressivism, and Politics -- 11. World War II and the Prize-Winning Composer -- 12. The Modern Meteor I Sing -- PART 3: THE JUILLIARD YEARS -- 13. Wringing the Changes -- 14. Dancing in the Dark -- 15. Family Matters -- 16. An Old Religion, Two Champions, and a New Symphony -- 17. Delays and Diversions -- 18. Striking Out -- 19. The (Mostly) Off-Stage Ambassador -- 20. With an Eye on the Marketplace -- 21. International Man of Music -- PART 4: THE LINCOLN CENTER YEARS -- 22. The Dream Defined -- 23. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed -- 24. One Nightmare after Another -- 25. The Potemkin Center -- 26. The Death of the Dreamers -- 27. The Death of the Dream -- PART 5: THE YEARS OF COMPLETION -- 28. The Administrator Reinvents Himself -- 29. The Composer Reasserts Himself -- 30. Round and Round and Round He Goes -- 31. Bicentennial Fireworks -- 32. Reflections and Ruminations -- 33. Triplets -- 34. The Wind Was With Him -- 35. A Rare Vintage -- Epilogue: William Schuman and the Shaping of America's Musical Life

The early years -- The Sarah Lawrence years -- The Juilliard years -- The Lincoln Center years -- The years of completion

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