Born in Richmond Hill, New York, on December 10, 1913, Gould was recognized early on as a child prodigy with the ability to improvise and compose. At the age of six he had his first composition published. He studied at the Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School), but his most important teachers were Abby Whiteside (piano) and Vincent Jones (composition). During the Depression, teenaged Gould found work in New York's vaudeville and movie theaters.
Gould’s childhood experience of watching parades of military veterans marching through his city’s streets to the cheers of thousands of spectators, engendered a lifelong admiration of those who serve in our armed forces and a special attachment to marching band music. When he was rejected by the Army for health reasons, he turned his talents to writing memorable music for concert and marching bands.
When Radio City Music Hall opened, the young Gould was its staff pianist. By the age of twenty-one he was conducting and arranging a series of orchestral programs for WOR Mutual Radio. He attained national prominence through his work in radio, as he appealed to a wide-ranging audience with his combination of classical and popular programming. During the 1940s Gould appeared on the "Cresta Blanca Carnival" program and "The Chrysler Hour" (CBS), reaching an audience of millions.
At a time before the term “crossover music” wasn’t even an idea, Gould’s music transcended and crossed the set lines that separated “serious” from “pop”, orchestral from band, ballet from chorus, Broadway from television, doing so when it was not only rare, but not always deemed acceptable.
He integrated jazz, blues, gospel, country-and-western, and folk elements into compositions which bear his unequaled mastery of orchestration and imaginative formal structures.
Gould was always open to innovative forms of creating music. As early as 1978, he made records for the Chalfont and Varese Sarabande labels using a new technology that would change the creating and marketing of music forever: digital recording.
His music was commissioned by symphony orchestras throughout the United States, the Library of Congress, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the American Ballet Theatre, and the New York City Ballet. Gould’s talents as an arranger are featured on a series of recordings recently re-released by BMG.
As a conductor, Gould led all the major American orchestras as well as those of Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan and Australia.
A member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers since 1939, Gould served on the board from 1952 until his death and was president from 1986 until 1994. He also served on the board of the American Symphony Orchestra League and on the National Endowment for the Arts music panel.
Morton Gould’s music talents were surpassed only by his well known wit and warmth, his accessibility and generosity with his colleagues of all ages and his keen, uncompromised sense of personal integrity. The last was in full display when Gould refused to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, even when offered recording contracts and Broadway musicals in exchange for his testimony. It wasn’t long before he went from the Committee’s “ask” list to their “black list.”
Morton Gould was a firm believer in the intellectual rights of all artists and as the dawn of the internet took shape, he used his position at ASCAP to actively lobby on behalf of the rights of all creative people to be recognized and paid for their works.
Many of Morton Gould’s pieces are on YouTube. Simply enter “Morton Gould” and enjoy watching James Levine, along with seven other pianists, perform a lively Morton Gould arrangement of Stars and Stripes. You can also see performances of his Tap Dance Concerto, Interplay and many other works.
His music is published by G. Schirmer, Inc. Gould’s more than 100 LPs were recorded for many labels, including RCA and Columbia. Most recently, many of his works have been recorded by the Albany Symphony on Albany Records.