The Gunther Schuller Society
100 for Gunther’s 100th
Celebrating Gunther Schuller’s Centennial 2025
100 performances worldwide in calendar years 2025 and 2026, promoted via The Gunther Schuller Society. Once a performance is scheduled, provide details to join our list, and help us reach our goal!
100 pieces recommended for programming by conservatories/universities and professionals. See below.
100th birthday Click the Centennial dropdown in our menu for details about this celebration, and more about Gunther Schuller – born November 22, 1925.
100 Pieces List
Solo Instrumental
Small Chamber Ensembles (2-4 players)
Mid-size Contemporary Ensemble (5-8 players)
Larger Mixed Ensembles (9-16 players)
Ragtime Arrangements
Wind Ensemble
Full Orchestra (including concerti & more)
Other Orchestra
Vocal / Choral
❖ GSS Advisory Board’s picks of particularly ground-breaking pieces
Publishers: AMP = published by Associated Music | EdP = Edition Peters
Solo Instrumental
Episodes (1964)
for solo clarinet
AMP | Available for sale
Fantasy (1969) | 14:00
for solo harp
AMP | Available for sale
Fantasy Suite (1994)
for solo guitar
AMP | Available for sale
Fantasy for Violoncello Solo, Op. 19 (1951)
Rongwen Music, EdP | Available for sale
❖ Marimbology (1993) | 12:30 | Listen
for solo marimba
AMP | Available for sale
Orgelwalzer (1986)
for solo organ
AMP | Available for sale
Sonata-Fantasia (1992) | 12:00 | Listen: I.
for solo piano
AMP | Available for sale
❖ Three Small Adventures (2009) | 4:00 | Listen
for solo marimba
EdP | Available for sale (in Intermediate Masterworks for Marimba, Volume 1)
Small Chamber Ensembles (2-4 Players)
A Trio Setting (1990) | 17:00 | Video with commentary by GS
for clarinet, violin, and piano
AMP | Available for sale
Aphorisms (1967) | 14:30 | Listen & view score
for Flute and String Trio
AMP | Available for sale
❖ Concerto for Alto Saxophone (1983) | 19:00
for solo alto saxophone and orchestra (piano reduction by Joe Bozich)
AMP | Available via Ken Radnofsky* | see also Full Orchestra (including concerti & more)
Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra [Eine Kleine Fagottmusik] (1985)
for solo bassoon and orchestra (piano reduction)
AMP | Available for sale | see also Full Orchestra (including concerti & more)
Concerto for Flute (Piccolo) and Orchestra (1988) | 16:00
for solo flute/piccolo and orchestra (piano reduction)
AMP | Available for sale | see also Full Orchestra (including concerti & more)
Concerto for Trumpet (1979)
for solo trumpet and orchestra (piano reduction)
AMP | Available for sale | see also Full Orchestra (including concerti & more)
❖ Duo Concertante (1946)
A World Wide Concurrent Premieres commission (2022)
for cello and piano
AMP | Available via Ken Radnovsky*; may become Wise Music Print on Demand
Duologue
for Violin and Piano
AMP | Available for sale
Duo Sonata
for Clarinet and Bass Clarinet
AMP | Available for sale
Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik
for Trombone and Orchestra (piano reduction) | see also Full Orchestra (including concerti & more)
AMP | Available for sale
Fantasia Concertante (1946)
for three oboes and piano
AMP | Available for sale
Meditation (1964)
for medium voice and piano
Text by Gertrude Stein
EB Marks | Available for sale | also listed under Vocal / Choral
Music for Young People [Five Characteristic Pieces] (1991)
for flute, violin, cello, and piano
AMP | Available for sale
On Light Wings (1984) | 20:00 | Listen: 1. (Spotify)
for piano quartet [vn, va, vc, pf]
AMP | Available for sale
❖ Quartet for Double Basses (1947) | 16:00 | Listen & view score
AMP, Bèrben | Available for sale
Paradigm Exchanges
for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello
AMP | Available for sale
Pavane (Hommage à Maurice Ravel)
for cornet/trumpet and piano
Margun Music | Available for sale
❖ Phantasmata (1989) | 13:30 | Listen
for violin and marimba
Margun Music | Available for sale
Piano Trio (1984)
AMP | Available for sale
Romantic Sonata (1943, Rev. 1983) | 10:15 | Videos I., II., III.
for Clarinet, Horn, and Piano
Shawnee Press, Margun Music | Available for sale
Sonata (1948-51) | 19:30 | Listen: I.; II., III.
for Oboe and Piano
McGinnis & Marx Music Publishers | Available for sale
❖ Sonata for Alto Saxophone (1999) | 12:30 | Video
for alto saxophone and piano
A World Wide Concurrent Premieres commission
[“…both parts equivalent in all respects” – GS]
RCEditions | Available for sale
Sonata for Two Pianos, Four Hands (2010) | 13:00
AMP | Available for sale
Sonata Serenata (1978) | 21:00 | Video (conducted by GS)
for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
AMP | Available for sale
String Quartet No. 1 (1957)
Universal Edition | Available for sale
String Quartet No. 2 (1965) | 19:30 | Listen
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
String Quartet No. 3 (1986) | 22:30 | Listen: I., II., III.
Shawnee Press | Available for sale
Symbiosis (1957) | 22:30 | Listen: I & 2; 3 & 4
for violin, piano, percussion and dancer
AMP | Available for sale
❖ Trois Hommages (1942-6) | 11:15 | Listen: I., II., III.
for horn and piano
Shawnee Press | Available for sale
Mid-size Contemporary Ensemble (5-8 players)
A Bouquet for Collage (1988)
for Pierrot Ensemble with percussion
AMP | Available for sale
❖ Five Pieces for Five Horns (1952) | 12:00 | Listen: I.
Berben Edizioni Musicali | Available for sale
Impromptus and Cadenzas (1990) | 20:00 | Listen: I.
for oboe(ca), clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, and cello
AMP | Available for sale
Music for Brass Quintet (1961) | 12:00 | Listen: I.
AMP | Available for sale
Music for Young People [Five Characteristic Pieces] (1991) | 9:00
for flute, violin, cello, and piano
AMP | Available for sale
Octet (1979) | 34:00 | Listen
for clarinet, bassoon, horn and string quintet
AMP | Available for sale
Poems of Time and Eternity (1972) | 13:00
for chorus and chamber ensemble (fl/pic, cl, bn, hn, vn, va, vc, pf)
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music | also listed under Vocal / Choral
Quintet for Horn and Strings (2009) | 18:00
for horn and string quartet
AMP | Available for sale
❖ Suite for Woodwind Quintet (1945) | 6:30 | Listen (Spotify)
EdP | Available for sale
❖ Woodwind Quintet (1958) | 14:00 | Video
Schott/AMP | Available for sale
Larger Mixed Ensembles (9-16 players)
Abstraction, for 9 instruments (1960) | 4:30 | Listen | Video
for a.sax, 2 vln, vla, vcl. gtr. 2 db, drum set
MJQ Music | Score available from Blumenthal Family Library at NEC
Chimeric Images (1988)
for large chamber ensemble [fl, cl, bn, tpt, hn, hp, pf(cel), vn, va, vc, db]
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
Double Quintet for Wind and Brass Quintets (1961) | 12:00
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Games | 10:00 | peruse score
for sinfonietta [1-1-1/1-0-0-0/str(1-1-1-1-1)]
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Grand Concerto for Percussion and Keyboards | Listen
for 8 percussionists, harp, celeste, and piano
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Lines and Contrasts (1960) | 10:00
for 16 horns
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Transformation (1956) | 6:00 | Listen | Video
for large chamber ensemble (fl, cl, tsx, bn, hn, tbn, vib, hp, pf, db, perc, dm)
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Sandpoint Rag (1986) | 4:00 | Listen
for ragtime ensemble (12 players; also for brass sextet)
Margun Music | Available for sale
Jazz Ensemble
Jumpin’ in the Future (1947) | 4:30 | Listen
for fl, ob, ssx, asx, tsx, 2 hn, tpt, tbn, tba, pf, db, dm
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Headin’ Out, Movin’ In (1994) | 12:00 | Listen
for jazz saxophone and jazz ensemble (winds, bass, drums)
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music | see also Wind Ensemble
❖ Lament for M (1994) | 6:00 | Listen
for jazz tenor saxophone with flute, harp, drums, and strings [4-4-3-3-2]
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music | also listed under Full Orchestra (inc. concerti …)
Night Music (1961) | 4:30 | Listen
for jazz band (feat. b.cl)
MJQ/Hal Leonard | Contact George Schuller*
Teardrop (1966) | 12:00 | Listen
for chamber jazz ensemble [fl, cl (a.sax, b.sax), hn, tpt, tbn, tba, gtr, db, dm]
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
Contact George Schuller* (Gunther’s son) regarding Gunther’s arrangements for jazz ensembles by various composers. These include charts heard on the albums Jumpin’ In the Future, and Rush Hour On 23rd Street, and more.
Ragtime Arrangements
Scott Joplin, Arranged by Schuller
for ragtime ensemble [fl/pic, cl, tpt, tbn, tba, dms, pf, 2vn, va, vc, db]
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music:
The Chrysanthemum, An Afro-American Intermezzo | Available for sale
The Easy Winners, A Ragtime Two-Step
Sugar Cane, A Ragtime Two Step
Kenneth Laufer and Gunther Schuller | Listen
The Twelve-Note Rag (1977)
1111/1111/dm/gtr[or banjo?].pf/str (1.1.1.1.1)
GunMar Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
Wind Ensemble
❖ Blue Dawn into White Heat (1997) | 7:00 | Listen
for concert band [a ‘jazz oriented’ piece for a full wind ensemble with rhythm section]
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Headin’ Out, Movin’ In (1994) | 12:00 | Listen
for jazz saxophone and jazz ensemble (winds, bass, drum set)
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music | see also Jazz Ensemble
Meditation for Concert Band (1963) | 6:00
for concert band (Level 4-5)
AMP | Available for sale
Nature’s Way (2006) | 6:30 | Listen & view score
for concert band (Grade 4.5)
American Composers Forum | Available for sale
On Winged Flight: A Divertimento for Band (1989) | 12:00
for concert band and three celli
AMP | Available for sale
❖ Symphony for Brass and Percussion, Op. 16 (1950) | 18:00
for brass band [4.6.3+bar.2/timp.2perc]
Malcolm Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
Symphony No. 3 “In Praise of Winds” (1981) | 25:00 | Listen: IV. Finale - Rondo
(Symphony for Large Wind Orchestra)
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Tre invenzioni for Chamber Ensembles (1972) | 18:00
for 25 players divided into five groups, without strings
Premiered at Tanglewood for the 20th Anniversary of the Fromm Music Foundation
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Full Orchestra (including concerti & more)
American Triptych [A Study in Textures] (1965) | 14:00
for orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | Score available for sale
And They All Played Ragtime (1992) | 20:00
for orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Bagatelle: With Swing (2010) | 3:30
for orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Concertino da camera (1971) | 16:00
for orchestra
AMP | Available to hire from Wise Music
Concertino for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra (1959) | 19:30 | Listen: III.
MJQ Music | Possible availability for hire by Hal Leonard
Concerto Festivo for Brass Quintet and Orchestra (1984)
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Concerto for Alto Saxophone (1983) | 19:00
for solo alto saxophone and orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra [Eine Kleine Fagottmusik] (1985) | 22:00 | Listen: I.
for solo bassoon and orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | see also Small Chamber Ensembles (2-4 players)
Concerto for Contrabassoon (1978) | 23:00 | Listen: II. Scherzo
for solo contrabassoon and orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | piano-4 hands reduction created by GS
Concerto for Flute (Piccolo) and Orchestra (1988) | 16:00 | Listen
for solo flute/piccolo and orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | see also Small Chamber Ensembles (2-4 players)
Concerto for Piano No. 1 (1962) | 22:00 | Listen: I.
for solo piano and orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Concerto Quaternio for Four Solo Instruments and Four Orchestral Groups (1984)
for solo violin, flute, oboe, and trumpet and orchestra (divided into groups)
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Concerto for Trumpet (1979)
for solo trumpet and orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | see also Small Chamber Ensembles (2-4 players)
Concerto for Viola (1985)
for solo viola and orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Dreamscape (2012) | 12:00
for orchestra
Commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center for Tanglewood’s 75th anniversary celebration
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik (1980) | 16:00 | Listen
for solo trombone and orchestra | see also Small Chamber Ensembles (2-4 players)
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | Score available for sale
Farbenspiel [Concerto for Orchestra No. 3] (1985) | 25:00
for large orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | Score available for sale
Five Bagatelles (1964) | 14:00
for large orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Four Soundscapes [Hudson Valley Reminiscences] (1975) | 15:00 | Listen: I. A Day on the River
for large orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Journey into Jazz (1962) | 18:00 | Listen
for narrator, jazz quintet, and chamber orchestra
Text by Net Hentoff
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Jubilee Music (1984) | 24:00
for large orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Lament for M (1994) | 6:00 | Listen
for jazz tenor saxophone with flute, harp, drums, and strings [4-4-3-3-2]
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music | see also Jazz Ensemble
❖ Of Reminiscences and Reflections (1993) | 20:00 | Listen
for large orchestra
Winner of the 1994 Pulitzer Prize in Music
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | Score available for sale
The Past is in the Present (1994) | 25:00
for large orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Ritmica-Melodica-Armonia (1993) | 15:00
for large orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee (1959) | 23:30 | Listen
for orchestra
Available to hire by Universal Edition | Art and Music article
Six Renaissance Lyrics (1962) | 15:00
for Lyric Tenor and Chamber Orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music | Score available for sale
Symphonic Images (2012) | 16:00 | peruse score | Listen
for orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Symphony (1965) | 22:00 |
for large orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Variants (1960) | 18:00 | Listen: Variant I
for jazz quartet (vib, pf, db, dm) and orchestra
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
Vertige d’Eros (1945) | 15:30 | Listen
for large orchestra
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
❖ Where the Word Ends (2007) | 25:30 | Listen
for large orchestra
Premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Levine, Feb. 2009
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Other Orchestral
Souvenir de Villingen (1974) | 4:00 | Listen
by Stephane Grappelli | Arranged by Gunther Schuller
for violin (partly improvised) and orchestra
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
Yale-Princeton Football Game (1898)
by Charles Ives | Edited by Gunther Schuller
for large orchestra
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Vocal / Choral
❖ The Black Warrior (1998) | 25:00
for narrator, chorus and orchestra
(Schuller's oratorio is a tribute to civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., featuring text from Dr. King's Letter From Birmingham City Jail [1963].)
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
Meditation (1964)
for medium voice and piano
Text by Gertrude Stein
EB Marks | Available for sale
Music for a Celebration (1980) | 6:00
for chorus, audience, orchestra and offstage brass ensemble
(includes American national themes and tunes inc. The Star-Spangled Banner)
Available to hire by Wise Music | Score available for sale
Poems of Time and Eternity (1972) | 13:00
for chorus and chamber ensemble (fl/pic, cl, bn, hn, vn, va, vc, pf)
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
Six Early Songs (1944) | 18:00
for soprano and orchestra
Text by Li-Tai-Pe / paraphrases by Klabund | Language: German
Margun Music | Available to hire by Wise Music
Opera
The Fisherman and His Wife (1970) | 60:00 | video preview
Libretto by John Updike after the Grimm fairytale | Language: English
A family friendly opera with a moral: a small gain is worth more than a large promise
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
The Visitation (1966) | synopsis
Libretto by the composer after a motive by Franz Kafka | Language: English
A story about the experience of a young black American, Carter Jones, with American racism
AMP | Available to hire by Wise Music
* Contacts:
Ken Radnovsky, ken.radnofsky@necmusic.edu
George Schuller, gschulldog@gmail.com