[78-L] David Hall. Was: Mercury [FWD]
Michael Biel
mbiel at mbiel.com
Mon Sep 28 12:57:39 PDT 2009
Jeff Sultanof wrote:
> Dr. Biel,
>
> Thank you for sharing this. I would like to e-mail him to thank him for all
> of his kindnesses to me at the R&H archives.
>
> Now I'd love to know who I confused him with re. the obit.
>
> Jeff Sultanof
>
>
Could it have been Phil Miller perhaps? Phil was the longtime music
librarian at NYPL and designed the concept of R&H and handed it over to
David when it opened. Both were early ARSC Pres and Editors. And tell
David Hi for me.
Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com
> On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 1:48 AM, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:
>
>
>> David's email is dtdh at prexar.net and his mailing address is POBox 257
>> Castine Me 04421-0257
>> Last time I spoke to him on the phone he had just turned 90 a couple of
>> days earlier and and said he was absolutely astounded at that! He also
>> said that he was just 25 when he wrote The Record Book and was amazed
>> that all these people paid attention to the things he wrote as a young
>> whippersnapper. He had also just moved in with a lady friend, and he
>> recommended it very highly! He and Phil Miller were two of the first
>> people I met at my first ARSC Conference in1971. We had lunch together
>> that first day. I was awestruck.
>>
>> Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com
>>
>> Thomas Stern wrote:
>>
>>> Below is the WIKI entry for David Hall - seems to have retired to Maine
>>>
>> in
>>
>>> 1986
>>> and continued to be active through the 90's.
>>>
>>> White Pages returns the following:
>>> David D Hall
>>> Castine, ME
>>> (207) 326-9424
>>> Household: Bob, Hazel
>>>
>>> Conclude that he is still with us. Would be 93....
>>>
>>> Best wishes, Thomas
>>>
>>> David Hall (recorded sound archivist)
>>> >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
>>> Jump to: navigation, search
>>> David Hall (born December 16, 1916 in New Rochelle, New York) is a sound
>>> archivist and writer.
>>>
>>> Contents [hide]
>>> 1 Biography
>>> 1.1 Early life
>>> 1.2 Education
>>> 1.3 Career
>>> 2 References
>>>
>>>
>>> [edit] Biography
>>> [edit] Early life
>>> Hall's parents were Fairfax and Eleanor Raeburn (Remy) Hall. He married
>>> Bernice Dobkin on June 8, 1940. Their children are Marion Hall Hunt,
>>> Jonathan Hall, Peter Dobkin Hall, and Susannah Hall.
>>>
>>> [edit] Education
>>> After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy, Hall received a B.A. from
>>> Yale University in 1939. He was a postgraduate student at Columbia
>>> University from 1940-41.
>>>
>>> [edit] Career
>>> At the urging of family friend, Saturday Review of Literature Editor
>>>
>> Norman
>>
>>> Cousins, Hall abandoned his graduate studies to write an annotated
>>> discography of recorded sound. The book instructed record collectors on
>>>
>> "how
>>
>>> to lay a solid foundation for a record library, what pitfalls to avoid in
>>> the buying of records, whether or not it is advisable to specialize, and
>>>
>> how
>>
>>> to distinguish between fair and excellent recordings of the same
>>> composition" (Hall 1940). The book also provided tips on playback
>>>
>> equipment
>>
>>> and offered detailed commentary on the whole range of recorded music,
>>>
>> from
>>
>>> classical through experimental music, jazz, folk, and spoken word. The
>>> Record Book appeared in 1940 and was followed by a series of supplements,
>>> and international edition (1948). The last supplement appeared in 1950.
>>>
>> The
>>
>>> series was an immediate hit, selling more than 100,000 copies.
>>>
>>> In 1940, Hall began a lifelong involvement with the record business,
>>>
>> taking
>>
>>> a job as an advertising copywriter with Columbia Records, then located in
>>> Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1942, he became music program annotator for
>>>
>> the
>>
>>> NBC Symphony Orchestra -- the all-star orchestra conducted by Arturo
>>> Toscanini. In 1948, Hall joined forces with fellow Yale graduate John
>>> Hammond on a quest to post-war Europe on behalf of Mercury Records, then
>>>
>> a
>>
>>> Chicago-based produced of "pop" material.
>>>
>>> Wishing to enter the growing classical music market, Mercury executives
>>> realized that radio stations and governments in formerly Nazi-occupied
>>> countries held a gold mine in superb performances by Europe's top
>>>
>> musicians.
>>
>>> Hammond's and Hall's objective was to acquire these assets for Mercury.
>>> Hammond had hired Hall, "a well-known authority on classical recording,
>>>
>> to
>>
>>> handle the considerable job of cataloging Czech and German material. He
>>>
>> was
>>
>>> known and respected by the Czechs, who were interested in establishing an
>>> international records archive. David would be an asset in delicate
>>> negotiations" (Hammond 1977, 282). Hall and Hammond left Prague one step
>>> ahead of Soviet forces as they crushed Czechoslovakia's democratic
>>> government.
>>>
>>> Hall remained at Mercury Records until 1956 as classic music director.
>>>
>> Under
>>
>>> his leadership, Mercury began releasing its notable "Living Presence"
>>>
>> series
>>
>>> of classical recordings. Hall worked closely with sound engineering
>>>
>> pioneer,
>>
>>> C. Robert Fine. Fine's mobile sound studio toured the midwest, recording
>>> performances by the Detroit, Louisville, and Minneapolis symphonies and
>>> musical groups at the Eastman School at the University of Rochester. A
>>>
>> 1955
>>
>>> recording of the Minneapolis Symphony performing Tchaikovsky's 1812
>>>
>> Overture
>>
>>> under the baton of Antal Dorati became the best selling classical record
>>>
>> of
>>
>>> the decade.
>>>
>>> In 1956, Hall was awarded a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, which enabled
>>>
>> him
>>
>>> to spend a year at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) teaching
>>>
>> advanced
>>
>>> recording techniques to Danish engineers and musicians. Hall had long
>>>
>> been
>>
>>> interested in Scandinavian music, having directed the music center at New
>>> York's American Scandinavian Foundation from 1950 to 1957.
>>>
>>> On returning to the United States in the fall of 1957, Hall became music
>>> editor of Hi-Fi/Stereo Review (later Stereo Review). Hall contributed
>>> reviews of classic music and articles to the magazine until it folded in
>>> 1998. In his writings, Hall championed contemporary music. His 1964
>>>
>> article
>>
>>> on Charles Ives included the first full discography of Ives's recordings.
>>>
>>> In 1963, Hall became president of Composers' Recordings, Inc., a
>>>
>> nonprofit
>>
>>> record label devoted to recording and distributing the work of
>>>
>> contemporary
>>
>>> composers. Among the notable recordings produced under his leadership
>>>
>> were a
>>
>>> series of performances by avant garde composer Harry Partch.
>>>
>>> In 1967, Hall was appointed curator of the Rodgers and Hammerstein
>>>
>> Archives
>>
>>> of Recorded Sound, one of the units of the New York Public Library's
>>> performing arts collections at Lincoln Center. There he pioneered new
>>> techniques of cataloging recorded material as one of the initiatives of
>>>
>> the
>>
>>> Research Libraries Group, a consortium of the nation's leading research
>>> libraries. Hall and his associates also released an important collection
>>>
>> of
>>
>>> historic sound recordings, The Mapleson Cylinders, which captured the
>>> singing of Metropolitan Opera stars of the early twentieth century. This
>>> recording was awarded a "Grammy" by the National Academy of Recording
>>>
>> Arts &
>>
>>> Sciences in 1986.
>>>
>>> During this period, Hall helped to found the Association for Recorded
>>>
>> Sound
>>
>>> Collections (ARSC) in 1966. He served as the group's president,
>>>
>> 1980-1982.
>>
>>> In 2002, he received the ARSC Award for Distinguished Service to
>>>
>> Historical
>>
>>> Recordings.
>>>
>>> In 1986, Hall retired to the seaside village of Castine, Maine, where he
>>> continued to write record reviews and consult on recording projects.
>>>
>> Through
>>
>>> the 1990s, he chaired the classical records awards committee for the
>>> National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. Currently, Hall is
>>>
>> completing
>>
>>> a biography of the twentieth century American composer, Roy Harris.
>>>
>>> In addition to introducing American audiences to the remarkable riches of
>>> recorded music in the years following the second World War, Hall played
>>>
>> an
>>
>>> especially important role as a champion of contemporary music. At least
>>>
>> half
>>
>>> the composers listed in the 1940 Record Book were still living. They
>>> included such notables as Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, Charles Ives, Harry
>>> Partch, William Schuman, and others. His writings also helped garner
>>> attention for jazz and folk musicians.
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com
>>> [mailto:78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com]On Behalf Of Jeff Sultanof
>>> Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2009 12:38 PM
>>> To: 78-L Mail List
>>> Subject: Re: [78-L] David Hall. Was: Mercury [FWD]
>>>
>>>
>>> I distinctly remember reading of Hall's passing some years ago, but don't
>>> remember details.
>>>
>>> I used to go to the Rodgers and Hammerstein archive on an almost weekly
>>> basis to get an education in composition, arranging and sound recording.
>>> Back when I went, there were a great many recordings that I wanted to
>>>
>> hear
>>
>>> that were simply not available (and I couldn't afford to collect
>>>
>> recordings
>>
>>> back then; I was 17 when I first went up to the archive). Think Jimmy
>>> Mundy's big band on Varsity, Franklyn Marks on Master Records, and Kay
>>> Thompson on Viking.
>>>
>>> Hall was an imposing teddy bear of a man to my eyes. He seemed to have
>>> little use for me when I first went up to the archive, although he would
>>> look surprised at some of the obscure items I wanted to hear. Once I
>>>
>> began
>>
>>> asking him some questions about such composers as Harris, Siegmeister and
>>> the like, he could go on for quite some time with incredible information.
>>> >From that time on, he was very pleasant to me and forthcoming with new
>>> aquisitions that hadn't been catalogued yet (which used to piss off the
>>> other librarians).
>>>
>>> I have very warm memories of sitting in a booth and discovering many
>>> wonderful recordings. And he opened the door.
>>>
>>> Jeff Sultanof
>>>
>>> On Sun, Sep 27, 2009 at 3:06 AM, Mike Harkin <harkinmike at yahoo.com>
>>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>> I read somewhere, long ago, that he was born in 1915. The Record Book
>>>>
>> and
>>
>>>> TRB Internataion edition opened my ears to tons of beaustiful music to
>>>> which I otherwise probably wouldn't have paid any attention....
>>>>
>>>> Long may he wave, or RIP, whichever is appropriate!
>>>>
>>>> Mike in Plovdiv
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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