RCEditions

By the end of my last year in grad school, I knew I had been hired to teach saxophone the following year at NEC and was feeling pretty sure of myself. We were playing Ernst Krenek's great and popular jazz opera 'Jonny Spielt Auf,' and in concert form, with chorus, off stage jazz band, orchestra and soloists, had most of the school ONSTAGE. I made a mistake on a jazz rhythm, but was sure I was right. But Gunther said, 'take a look.' I looked, and was still sure I was right. However I nodded to Gunther that I understood. After I missed it a third time and Gunther put down his baton, shook his head and said 'and you're going to be teaching here..,' i looked closer. Krenek had naively written a jazz eighth /sixteenth rhythm unidiomatically in reverse, and I had surface read it as the standard idiom. But, I never took what Gunther said as a personal insult. I learned to look more closely at the music, to not be so sure as to be closed minded or arrogant in my interpretations, and that to the best of my ability has continued to this day. And although Gunther may have made a mistake conducting once or twice, I never saw it. He was as close to a 'Compleat Conductor' (read his book of that title) as there is/was.
That same year, coming back from the Kennedy Center, I was sitting next to Gunther on the plane. I asked if he would consider writing a saxophone concerto for me. He said that he would, but that there were details and time to be worked out. But I took that as a yes, and during the next 5-7 years, began working on it. (Many of my more than 70 commissions take years to come to fruition, but I love commissioning new works). I wrote and called people--The Hong Kong Symphony, with Ling Tung, was interested-Gunther said, 'too far.' The Atlanta Symphony with old friend/Fred Scott the associate conductor interested --Gunther wanted to conduct himself. But after seeing how much effort I had put into this, Gunther had his manager John Gingrich work on it, and we premiered his Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony, I raised the commission money in 30 days, as the idea of the consortium commission was born, and Gunther's Concerto was commissioned in honor of Joe Allard's seventieth birthday. We presented Joe with a leather bound golden lettered autography with everyone's name, and Joe planned to come to the premiere, but the effects of what later proved to be Alzheimer's Disease, (along with the terrible weather that night), prevented Joe from fully enjoying the night's events. But, Gunther's work would not exist without Joe Allard, who helped so many of us be the best we could be, so that is the happy ending we must accept.

David Amram

A Salute to (My) Teachers

5. Composers and Other Inspirations (cont.)