Comments on: RIP- Gerhard Samuel http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/ Music, opinion, life as a performing musician Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:19:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Robert Huffman http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-83764 Robert Huffman Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:50:49 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-83764 Mr.Woods:Gerhard ( Garry ) Samuel was a close friend of mine, beginning with concerts I attended of the Oakland Symphony in the early '60's. Since we had been out of touch for several years, I went on line to find a contact for him, ( he was always hard to reach by phone in Seattle )and was shocked to discover he had passed away. He was a wonderful, gentle and kind human being. In 1968, and by fluke, I entered his charmed circle at the Cabrillo Music Festival in Aptos, California in this manner. In 1967, I had escaped the Haight-Asbury after the April 15th Mobilization Protest Parade, and returned to my familie's beach cabin at Yachats, Oregon ( a place Garry would later visit to compose ), and while sorting out the haze my life had been in San Francisco, came across a Nonesuch Recording of the Ives First Piano Sonata, with Noel Lee. I was moved enough to write a letter to the pianist, in care of Nonesuch, and it was finally forwarded to his address in Paris. In short, I received a reply from Noel and he thanked me for my comments, and included an invitation to meet him, as he was performing at the Cabrillo Festival, playing a Mozart Concerto ( K.467 ) under the direction of his good friend Garry Samuel. So, it was there I finally met Garry, bobbing in the surf, at a gated residence, renting a lovely house, filled with lovely and handsome boys he loved to collect. I have many fond memories to share and they would fill a small novella, if I knew who to send them to.( Lunch with Lou Harrison on the hill, and hilarious episodes involving events that shocked the acting Director of the Festival, all because of an unlocked front door!) At any rate, I believe that was the last year of the festival! One of Gary's works was premiered at that festival, and I remember how outraged Garry became when a critic ( down from San Francisco ) commented on his piece, saying, "Well, there's much to be said for whole and half notes!" Please feel free to contact me if someone is putting together a book on Gary. I thank you for your tribute to Garry and filling me with pleasant memories. Robert Mr.Woods:Gerhard ( Garry ) Samuel was a close friend of mine, beginning with concerts I attended of the Oakland Symphony in the early ’60′s. Since we had been out of touch for several years, I went on line to find a contact for him, ( he was always hard to reach by phone in Seattle )and was shocked to discover he had passed away. He was a wonderful, gentle and kind human being.
In 1968, and by fluke, I entered his charmed circle at the Cabrillo Music Festival in Aptos, California in this manner.
In 1967, I had escaped the Haight-Asbury after the April 15th Mobilization Protest Parade, and returned to my familie’s beach cabin at Yachats, Oregon ( a place Garry would later visit to compose ), and while sorting out the haze my life had been in San Francisco, came across a Nonesuch Recording of the Ives First Piano Sonata, with Noel Lee. I was moved enough to write a letter to the pianist, in care of Nonesuch, and it was finally forwarded to his address in Paris. In short, I received a reply from Noel and he thanked me for my comments, and included an invitation to meet him, as he was performing at the Cabrillo Festival, playing a Mozart Concerto ( K.467 ) under the direction of his good friend Garry Samuel.
So, it was there I finally met Garry, bobbing in the surf, at a gated residence, renting a lovely house, filled with lovely and handsome boys he loved to collect.
I have many fond memories to share and they would fill a small novella, if I knew who to send them to.( Lunch with Lou Harrison on the hill, and hilarious episodes involving events that shocked the acting Director of the Festival, all because of an unlocked front door!)
At any rate, I believe that was the last year of the festival!
One of Gary’s works was premiered at that festival, and I remember how outraged Garry became when a critic ( down from San Francisco ) commented on his piece, saying, “Well, there’s much to be said for whole and half notes!”
Please feel free to contact me if someone is putting together a book on Gary. I thank you for your tribute to Garry and filling me with pleasant memories. Robert

]]> By: Kenneth Woods http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-74483 Kenneth Woods Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:32:39 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-74483 Christopher- So good to hear from you! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your memories of him- great stories. I hope all's well there! K Christopher-

So good to hear from you! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your memories of him- great stories. I hope all’s well there!

K

]]> By: Christopher Stanichar http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-74477 Christopher Stanichar Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:40:56 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-74477 Wow Ken! This is an amazing blog on a dear and beloved teacher. Even a year since his death, I am still thinking about that remarkable man, and I fortunately stumbled across your wonderful memories. Today, I still hear Gerhard in my head as I approach the podium. He was a strict interpreter of the score ("Do what the composer writes"). As a snooty-nosed 20-something beginning conductor, Gerhard could easily shatter my fragile ego at the podium (I remember him interrupting rehearsals by clapping and shouting "COME ON!"). Yet, it soon became apparent to me that he cared . . . not just cared, but LOVED the score and he wanted it to be done right. I learned to question myself always, and know as much as I could; study as much as I could. He instilled a dignity and work-ethic that is the only way a conductor should approach the most humbling task of working with an orchestra. Even today, I always remember Gerhard's admonition to question myself FIRST if something doesn't work in a rehearsal. Like you, I was amazed when I spoke with Gerhard about his contact with the legendary musicians. I remember studying a score by Rachmaninoff with him once. Like you, I thought he would have been rather critical of a composer who held so tenaciously to romanticism in a modern age. I was surprised by his enthusiasm and deep understanding of a musical style seemingly foreign to Gerhard's in a lesson. Then I asked him (naively!) if he had ever met Rachmaninoff. He related a story to me about assisting a photographer in New York when he was a teenager. Rachmaninoff came to this studio, and to Gerhard's surprise, Rachmaninoff was talkative and happy . . . not at all how he imagined him. There were so many stories he shared with us like this! Wow! There were stories about Hindemith, Stravinsky (and Craft), Stokowski, Dorati, Bernstein (not his favorite), and so many others. Also the frightful stories of escaping Nazi Germany as you mentioned. I remember saying that Albert Einstein's family actually sponsored his family to come to America. We were all so lucky to study with Gerhard. At certain times during the year, he would invite all his students to eat Chinese food (a personal favorite of his). He was forever generous with his time and his musical knowledge. His music lives on in all of us! Christopher Stanichar Director of Orchestras at Augustana College Music Director of South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra Wow Ken! This is an amazing blog on a dear and beloved teacher. Even a year since his death, I am still thinking about that remarkable man, and I fortunately stumbled across your wonderful memories.

Today, I still hear Gerhard in my head as I approach the podium. He was a strict interpreter of the score (“Do what the composer writes”). As a snooty-nosed 20-something beginning conductor, Gerhard could easily shatter my fragile ego at the podium (I remember him interrupting rehearsals by clapping and shouting “COME ON!”). Yet, it soon became apparent to me that he cared . . . not just cared, but LOVED the score and he wanted it to be done right. I learned to question myself always, and know as much as I could; study as much as I could. He instilled a dignity and work-ethic that is the only way a conductor should approach the most humbling task of working with an orchestra. Even today, I always remember Gerhard’s admonition to question myself FIRST if something doesn’t work in a rehearsal.

Like you, I was amazed when I spoke with Gerhard about his contact with the legendary musicians. I remember studying a score by Rachmaninoff with him once. Like you, I thought he would have been rather critical of a composer who held so tenaciously to romanticism in a modern age. I was surprised by his enthusiasm and deep understanding of a musical style seemingly foreign to Gerhard’s in a lesson. Then I asked him (naively!) if he had ever met Rachmaninoff. He related a story to me about assisting a photographer in New York when he was a teenager. Rachmaninoff came to this studio, and to Gerhard’s surprise, Rachmaninoff was talkative and happy . . . not at all how he imagined him.

There were so many stories he shared with us like this! Wow! There were stories about Hindemith, Stravinsky (and Craft), Stokowski, Dorati, Bernstein (not his favorite), and so many others. Also the frightful stories of escaping Nazi Germany as you mentioned. I remember saying that Albert Einstein’s family actually sponsored his family to come to America. We were all so lucky to study with Gerhard. At certain times during the year, he would invite all his students to eat Chinese food (a personal favorite of his). He was forever generous with his time and his musical knowledge.

His music lives on in all of us!

Christopher Stanichar
Director of Orchestras at Augustana College
Music Director of South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra

]]> By: Kenneth Woods- a view from the podium » Secret Beethoven subtexts in Peanuts http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-66692 Kenneth Woods- a view from the podium » Secret Beethoven subtexts in Peanuts Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:54:05 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-66692 [...] Schulz was a long time subscriber of the Oakland Symphony in the years when my teacher, Gerhard Samuel, was there. Gerhard had a number of treasured Schulz originals that he had drawn for fundraisers for the orchestra. The one which held pride of place in his flat had Charlie Brown saying the Oakland Symphony was “my kind of orchestra.” Apparently, Schulz, for all his well-documented love of Beethoven and Brahms, thought the San Francisco Symphony’s programming in those years was a little dull.   [...] [...] Schulz was a long time subscriber of the Oakland Symphony in the years when my teacher, Gerhard Samuel, was there. Gerhard had a number of treasured Schulz originals that he had drawn for fundraisers for the orchestra. The one which held pride of place in his flat had Charlie Brown saying the Oakland Symphony was “my kind of orchestra.” Apparently, Schulz, for all his well-documented love of Beethoven and Brahms, thought the San Francisco Symphony’s programming in those years was a little dull.   [...]

]]> By: Kenneth Woods- a view from the podium » Podcast- Chambers: “Lament” for String Quartet http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-45748 Kenneth Woods- a view from the podium » Podcast- Chambers: “Lament” for String Quartet Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:55:56 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-45748 [...] After our first performance in February of 1998, Gerhard Samuel asked if we would do the piece on the CCM Contemporary Music Ensemble concert at the 100 Days Festival in Portugal that spring as part of our upcoming tour. Funnily enough, we’d had one or two snotty comments from CCM administrators (imagine that, a snotty comment from a school administrator) about Evan’s resolutely tonal style. One associate dean asked why we were “wasting our talent on such trite music.” CCM was always a very New Vienna School school, primarily because of the legacy of the La Salle Quartet (the leading interpreters of the quartets of Berg, Schoenberg and Webern from the 50s through the 80s), who were in residence there for about 40 years. Gerhard was himself a serial composer, albeit much more Berg-ian in his willingness to mix a tonal vocabulary with serial ideas and open to the influence of jazz see his Requiem for Survivors, which you can hear in this podcast on his music and music making). Still, I was surprised and impressed that Gerhard  could so easily and so enthusiastically embrace a work in a style so alien to his own (as I got to know him better over the years, I would not have been surprised at all). He had that rare ability to separate his own tastes and preferences as a composer from his ability to evaluate someone else’s music on its own terms. [...] [...] After our first performance in February of 1998, Gerhard Samuel asked if we would do the piece on the CCM Contemporary Music Ensemble concert at the 100 Days Festival in Portugal that spring as part of our upcoming tour. Funnily enough, we’d had one or two snotty comments from CCM administrators (imagine that, a snotty comment from a school administrator) about Evan’s resolutely tonal style. One associate dean asked why we were “wasting our talent on such trite music.” CCM was always a very New Vienna School school, primarily because of the legacy of the La Salle Quartet (the leading interpreters of the quartets of Berg, Schoenberg and Webern from the 50s through the 80s), who were in residence there for about 40 years. Gerhard was himself a serial composer, albeit much more Berg-ian in his willingness to mix a tonal vocabulary with serial ideas and open to the influence of jazz see his Requiem for Survivors, which you can hear in this podcast on his music and music making). Still, I was surprised and impressed that Gerhard  could so easily and so enthusiastically embrace a work in a style so alien to his own (as I got to know him better over the years, I would not have been surprised at all). He had that rare ability to separate his own tastes and preferences as a composer from his ability to evaluate someone else’s music on its own terms. [...]

]]> By: Jill Dew http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-42158 Jill Dew Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:32:05 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-42158 I just received notice of Gerhard's passing. We were on vacation and were out of touch when he died. I first met Gerhard when I was a MM student at UC-CCM in 1976. I was in the chorus for the opera production of Elixer of Love. It was a full rehearsal and everyone was on stage. At one point, he stopped the rehearsal and pointed his baton at me and said, "You!" I pointed to myself and looked around. He said, "Yes, you! You're loud and your late!" My friends later asked me what did I think of his small tirade, and I said, "Well, he was right." I promise I was never too loud or late again! Some years later, I had a stint as secretary to the Ensembles and Conducting Division at CCM. He was one of seventeen professors that I took care of. It was during this time when I was introduced to the private, gentler side of the Maestro that students (singers especially!) often missed. I had gotten the department a laser printer (the second one in the school -- second to the dean's office). I was showing it to Gerhard -- how the paper went in, how the machine hummed, how it spit it out, and how great it looked, much better than anything the old daisy-wheel printer had made. Gerhard's comment, after much careful observation, was (under his breath), "What a world we live in where we can make such wonderful things and people are killing each other for food!" It was at this point I decided to make sure he laughed every day. After I left, he started calling me up, about every 4-6 months, asking if I'd become his private secretary. I had a new baby at the time and told him no, I was too busy. But he kept it up till finally I said yes. I remember the conversation on the phone. I asked, "What is it exactly you want me to do?" After a long pause, he said, "Why, straighten out my life!" I chuckled and said, "How bout we start with your checkbook?" He agreed and we became a part of each other's lives for about five years, up to the time he left Cincinnati for Seattle. I fell in love with this wonderful man. What a teddy bear he was! And such a talent. But his strongest virtue was his love and dedication to his students. I have now come full circle, teaching voice at CCM in the Preparatory Department. Gerhard is my inspiration to become the best teacher I can. I only hope I'm half the teacher he was. He will be missed. I just received notice of Gerhard’s passing. We were on vacation and were out of touch when he died. I first met Gerhard when I was a MM student at UC-CCM in 1976. I was in the chorus for the opera production of Elixer of Love. It was a full rehearsal and everyone was on stage. At one point, he stopped the rehearsal and pointed his baton at me and said, “You!” I pointed to myself and looked around. He said, “Yes, you! You’re loud and your late!” My friends later asked me what did I think of his small tirade, and I said, “Well, he was right.” I promise I was never too loud or late again!

Some years later, I had a stint as secretary to the Ensembles and Conducting Division at CCM. He was one of seventeen professors that I took care of. It was during this time when I was introduced to the private, gentler side of the Maestro that students (singers especially!) often missed. I had gotten the department a laser printer (the second one in the school — second to the dean’s office). I was showing it to Gerhard — how the paper went in, how the machine hummed, how it spit it out, and how great it looked, much better than anything the old daisy-wheel printer had made. Gerhard’s comment, after much careful observation, was (under his breath), “What a world we live in where we can make such wonderful things and people are killing each other for food!” It was at this point I decided to make sure he laughed every day.

After I left, he started calling me up, about every 4-6 months, asking if I’d become his private secretary. I had a new baby at the time and told him no, I was too busy. But he kept it up till finally I said yes. I remember the conversation on the phone. I asked, “What is it exactly you want me to do?” After a long pause, he said, “Why, straighten out my life!” I chuckled and said, “How bout we start with your checkbook?” He agreed and we became a part of each other’s lives for about five years, up to the time he left Cincinnati for Seattle.

I fell in love with this wonderful man. What a teddy bear he was! And such a talent. But his strongest virtue was his love and dedication to his students. I have now come full circle, teaching voice at CCM in the Preparatory Department. Gerhard is my inspiration to become the best teacher I can. I only hope I’m half the teacher he was.

He will be missed.

]]> By: Sheridan Currie http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-41063 Sheridan Currie Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:45:25 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-41063 Oh no! I just saw this. I grew to be very fond of Gerhard over the years at CCM- particularly during the Portugal tour. His rather crusty exterior often hid the kinder, gentler man inside. This brought back a lot of memories for me. Thank you for writing this, Ken. ~Sheridan Oh no! I just saw this. I grew to be very fond of Gerhard over the years at CCM- particularly during the Portugal tour. His rather crusty exterior often hid the kinder, gentler man inside. This brought back a lot of memories for me.

Thank you for writing this, Ken.

~Sheridan

]]> By: Kenneth Woods http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-40274 Kenneth Woods Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:10:07 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-40274 Hi Steve- Great to hear from you- it's been a while! Hope all is well in your corner. Check out the podcast on the next post- it's longish (about 30 mins) but has some great performances of his and other's music. K Hi Steve-

Great to hear from you- it’s been a while! Hope all is well in your corner.

Check out the podcast on the next post- it’s longish (about 30 mins) but has some great performances of his and other’s music.

K

]]> By: Steve Hicken http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/comment-page-1/#comment-40239 Steve Hicken Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:33:13 +0000 http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/2008/04/01/rip-gerhard-samuel/#comment-40239 Thanks for this tribute, Ken. He seems to have abeen an influence to many fine musicians. I didn't know Mr. Samuel, but I did hear a CD of some very good string quartets of his. Thanks for this tribute, Ken. He seems to have abeen an influence to many fine musicians.

I didn’t know Mr. Samuel, but I did hear a CD of some very good string quartets of his.

]]>