[78-L] Autographs

[Cary Ginell]

Jeff,

 

Did you ever find the original orchestration for Gershwin's "Blue Monday"? (1922). I published a piano/vocal songbook of this for Alfred last year, but all we had to work with was the reduction by George Bassman from the early '50s.

 

Cary Ginell
 
> Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:20:13 -0500
> From: jeffsultanof at gmail.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Autographs
> 
> Dr. Biel,
> 
> I promise that I will put down some things in a couple of days concerning
> this subject. I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of this, but I
> saw some things firsthand that really upset me. The good news is that the
> music is safe and is either at the Library of Congress or Yale (Cole
> Porter), thanks primarily to Robert Kimball and Elizabeth Aumann. I will
> also say that I still remember holding scores in Frank Saddler's handwriting
> with notes attached written by Jerome Kern ca.1917. Imagine holding the
> original manuscript of the Overture for Showboat, and a 1921 orchestration
> by Maurice DePackh of a Gershwin song for some show that closed after a few
> performances.
> 
> Jeff Sultanof
> 
> On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 11:03 PM, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:
> 
> > From: Jeff Sultanof <jeffsultanof at gmail.com>
> > > Some years ago when it was discovered that the Warner Bros.
> > > Secaucus, NJ warehouse had hundreds of pages of Kern, Gershwin,
> > > Porter and many other manuscripts (including orchestrations
> > > from the Princess Theatre shows)
> >
> > For decades it was opined that the orchestral parts and scores from
> > dozens of important shows were missing and had to be re-created for the
> > many revivals that were being undertaken. Martin Williams was one of
> > those who suggested that contemporary recordings that included
> > performers and band leaders from the shows might be the best source to
> > work from in the absence of true Original Cast albums. This was part of
> > the reasoning behind the series of LPs he did for Smithsonian. Some of
> > these were very controversial because he sometimes edited recordings
> > such as removing a refrain singer who had not been in the cast from of a
> > recording by the bandleader who was. He defended himself at an ARSC
> > presentation reiterating his pronouncement that scholars could study
> > these records and devise the missing scores from them. The very next
> > year Artis Woodehouse fell victim to this theory by unknowingly using
> > his edited version of a Gershwin piano solo of "The Man I Love" in her
> > detailed analysis of Gershwin's piano style--the very thing I had warned
> > him about.
> >
> > > One day a WB executive (whose name I will not reveal) came to the NY
> > > office with piles of checks that he showed us. Imagine hundreds of
> > > checks dating from 1921-22 made out to Jerome Kern, George Gershwin
> > > and Victor Herbert and which had been endorsed by these men. My boss
> > > and I were in near shock at the sheer importance of this find, as well
> > > as the dollar value these handfuls of checks were worth on the open
> > market.
> > > P.S. - I never did find out what happened to them, and I don't ever
> > > remember hearing that they were donated to the Library of Congress
> > > along with most of the other manuscripts.
> >
> > Back in the mid-70s Columbia phonograph collector and expert Howard
> > Hazelcorn showed me a stack of a hundred or two of canceled checks from
> > an Edison subsidiary company that were all beautifully signed by T.A.
> > Edison himself in the classic style you see on all his records and
> > machines. He gave me my pick from the pile, and he eventually sold them
> > all at a price that we would now consider a wonderful bargain --
> > something like $25 or 3 for $50, but I don't remember exactly. I have
> > mine framed with a first day cover of the 1947 Edison stamp signed by
> > Mina Edison.
> >
> > > Someday when I am old, I will write about my take on the "Secaucus
> > > find." Too many people still alive (although one of the dramatis
> > > personae, John McGlinn, died not long ago). Jeff Sultanof
> >
> > I would have thought that all the publicity at the time would have
> > precluded any nefarious doings like you are hinting at. But write it
> > NOW and put it in a safe deposit box with a note that it go to the D.A.
> > in case of your mysterious demise! You REALLY have us intrigued.
> >
> > Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com
> >
> >
> >
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