Samuel Sanford
Encyclopedia
Samuel Simons Sanford was an American pianist and educator.
He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut
. He studied piano in New York with William Mason
(son of Lowell Mason
and student of Franz Liszt
and Ignaz Moscheles
). He went to Paris and studied with Alfred Jaëll
, Louis Plaidy
(teacher of Hans von Bülow
and many others), Théodore Ritter (another student of Liszt), and Édouard Batiste
. In 1869, he became acquainted with Anton Rubinstein
, and later studied with him. He travelled with Rubinstein during his first American tour in 1872-73. Ignacy Jan Paderewski
changed his execution of octave playing after hearing Sanford play, and once described Sanford as the most musically gifted person he ever knew.
Sanford brought Sir Edward Elgar
's music to American attention through the brothers Walter and Frank Damrosch and Theodore Thomas. He was instrumental in having Elgar awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Yale University
in 1905; at the conferral ceremony on 28 June, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 was played, instituting the tradition of playing noble processional music at graduation ceremonies. Later that year, Elgar returned the compliment by dedicating his Introduction and Allegro
to Sanford.
Sanford joined the Yale Music Faculty as Professor of Applied Music in 1894, along with Horatio Parker
as Professor of Theory. During the sixteen years he worked at Yale, he refused to be paid any salary as he was independently wealthy.
He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
. He studied piano in New York with William Mason
William Mason (composer)
William Mason was an American composer and pianist and a member of a musical family.Mason's father was composer Lowell Mason, a leading figure in American church music...
(son of Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason was a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include Mary Had A Little Lamb and the arrangement of Joy to the World...
and student of Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
and Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso, whose career after his early years was based initially in London, and later at Leipzig, where he succeeded his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as head of the Conservatoire.-Sources:Much of what we know about Moscheles's life...
). He went to Paris and studied with Alfred Jaëll
Alfred Jaëll
Alfred Jaëll was an austrian-ungarick pianist.He was born in Trieste. He studied under Carl Czernyand began his public career at the age of 11, appearing at the Teatro San Benedetto, Venice, in 1843. The following year he studied with Ignaz Moscheles in Vienna. In 1845 and 1846 he lived in...
, Louis Plaidy
Louis Plaidy
Louis Plaidy was a celebrated German piano pedagogue and compiler of books of technical music studies....
(teacher of Hans von Bülow
Hans von Bülow
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
and many others), Théodore Ritter (another student of Liszt), and Édouard Batiste
Édouard Batiste
Édouard Batiste was a French composer and organist. He was born and died in Paris.While studying at the Imperial Conservatoire as a teenager, he won prizes in solfège, harmony and accompaniment, counterpoint and fugue, and organ...
. In 1869, he became acquainted with Anton Rubinstein
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
, and later studied with him. He travelled with Rubinstein during his first American tour in 1872-73. Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...
changed his execution of octave playing after hearing Sanford play, and once described Sanford as the most musically gifted person he ever knew.
Sanford brought Sir Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
's music to American attention through the brothers Walter and Frank Damrosch and Theodore Thomas. He was instrumental in having Elgar awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1905; at the conferral ceremony on 28 June, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 was played, instituting the tradition of playing noble processional music at graduation ceremonies. Later that year, Elgar returned the compliment by dedicating his Introduction and Allegro
Introduction and Allegro (Elgar)
Sir Edward Elgar's Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47, was composed in 1905 for performance in an all-Elgar concert by the newly formed London Symphony Orchestra. Scored for string quartet and string orchestra, Elgar composed it to show off the players' virtuosity. Though initial critical...
to Sanford.
Sanford joined the Yale Music Faculty as Professor of Applied Music in 1894, along with Horatio Parker
Horatio Parker
Horatio William Parker was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the teacher of Charles Ives....
as Professor of Theory. During the sixteen years he worked at Yale, he refused to be paid any salary as he was independently wealthy.
Sanford Medal
In 1972 Yale University instituted the Samuel Simons Sanford Medal (usually referred to as the Sanford Medal), to honour celebrated concert artists and distinguished members of the music profession. Recipients have included:- 1983: Louis KrasnerLouis KrasnerLouis Krasner was a renowned Ukrainian-born American classical violinist who premiered the violin concertos of Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg.-Biography:...
- 1983: Maureen ForresterMaureen ForresterMaureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, was a Canadian operatic contralto.-Life and career:Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in a poor section of Montreal, Quebec. She was one of four children to Thomas Forrester, a Scottish cabinetmaker, and his Irish-born wife, the former May Arnold. She...
- 1991: Richard F. French
- 1997: Dorothy DeLayDorothy DeLayDorothy DeLay was an American violin instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School.She was born in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.-Career and education:...
- 1999: Keith WilsonKeith Wilson (musician)Keith L. Wilson is an American classical musician. He is a clarinetist, teacher, and conductor.-Teaching and conducting career:Wilson was appointed to the faculty of the Yale School of Music, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1946....
- 2002: Lili ChookasianLili ChookasianLili Chookasian is an American contralto who has appeared with many of the world's major symphony orchestras and opera houses. She began her career in the 1940s as a concert singer but did not draw wider acclaim until she began singing opera in her late thirties...
- 2003: Andrew LittonAndrew LittonAndrew Litton is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School, and holds both undergraduate and Masters degrees in music from Juilliard....
- 2005: Robert Blocker
- 2005: Richard StoltzmanRichard StoltzmanRichard Stoltzman is an American clarinetist. Born Richard Leslie Stoltzman in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years in San Francisco, California and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is part of the faculty list at the New England Conservatory...
- 2010: Vivian Perlis
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, Pierre BoulezPierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
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, and Virgil ThomsonVirgil ThomsonVirgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
.