[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 80 (Monday, May 15, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S6699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         HONORING MORTON GOULD

 Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I would like to express my sincere 
congratulations today to a great artist and a great man, Morton Gould. 
Considering Mr. Gould's numerous lifetime achievements in music, he is 
well deserving of the high honor that has been presented to him, the 
1994 Pulitzer Prize for music composition.
  Born in Richmond Hill, NY, on December 10, 1913, Mr. Gould's music 
career began at age 6 with his first published piece, a waltz, 
appropriately titled ``Just Six.'' At age 8, Mr. Gould entered the 
Institute of Musical Arts in New York City on scholarship and continued 
studying and playing music until his teens. After having to leave 
school for financial reasons and working for a while as a pianist for 
vaudeville acts, he landed a job as a pianist for the Radio City Music 
Hall. By the time he was 21, Mr. Gould was introducing his work through 
conducting and arranging a weekly series of orchestra radio programs 
for the Mutual Radio Network.
  Mr. Gould's unique blend of music, resonating of jazz, folk, hymns, 
spirituals, gospel, and Latin-American, reflects the lyrical cross-
section of America that makes his work so well loved. Some of his more 
popular works include: ``Latin-American Symphonette''; 
``Spirituals for Orchestra''; ``Tap Dance Concerto''; ``Jekyll and Hyde 
Variations''; ``American Salute and Derivations for Clarinet and Band'' 
written for the late Benny Goodman. ``Pavanne,'' from Gould's ``Second 
Symphonette'' has become one of the most widely performed instrumental 
standards.
  During his distinguished career he has composed works for Broadway 
musicals, dance, ballet, film, and television. His work has been 
commissioned by symphony orchestras, the Library of Congress, the 
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the New York City Ballet, and 
the American Ballet Theatre. His compositions have been performed 
around the world by many great conductors of today as well as those of 
the past, including the great talents of Arturo Toscanini, Leopold 
Stokowski, Artur Rodzinski, Dimitri Mitopoulos, and Fritz Reiner.
  While Mr. Gould's work has spanned the greater part of this century, 
he has always managed to remain contemporary. Beginning with LP's, his 
multitude of works have made their way into each new recording medium, 
including the new digital recording technology which he was one of the 
first to use as early as 1978.
  As an artist himself, Mr. Gould has long fought to protect the rights 
of all musical creators. Since 1935, he has been a member of the 
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the oldest 
performing rights organizations in the world. He has also served on the 
organization's board of directors since 1959 and from 1986-94, he was 
its president.
  His many awards include a Grammy and a number of Grammy nominations; 
the 1983 Gold Baton Award, presented by the American Symphony Orchestra 
League; the 1985 Medal of Honor for Music from the National Arts Club; 
1986 election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters; and the 
National Music Council's Golden Eagle Award. And in December 1994, Mr. 
Gould was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the Kennedy 
Center.
  Last March 10, 11, and 12, Mstislav Rostropovich conducted the 
National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, DC, in the world premier of 
Mr. Gould's ``Stringmusic,'' for which he received the Pulitzer Prize. 
This extraordinary piece was commissioned by the Hechinger Foundation 
in honor of Mr. Rostropovich's last season as musical director of the 
National Symphony Orchestra and to honor Mr. Gould's 80th birthday.
  As a fellow New Yorker and fellow American, I salute Mr. Gould's 
accomplishments and contributions through his music which have given so 
much to us all and forever enriched our lives.


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