[78-L] David Hall Obit [fwd]

[Jeff Sultanof]

Almost every Saturday for about three years, I would be at the Rodgers and
Hammerstein Archive, and he was usually there. At first he eyed me
suspiciously, but then he saw me there repeatedly and saw the call slips of
the recordings I wanted to hear, which were not your typical teenage fare.
I would occasionally ask a question, and got an answer that held me rooted
to the spot with its thoroughness. I will never forget his notations in the
various discographies: corrections, call numbers for recordings, and odd
notations that I didn't understand. One day I found out what they were. I
noted in a copy of Jepsen that the archive had a recording on an Epic EP,
but the number made no sense to me. I filled out a call slip, handed it to
the librarian (there were two there usually; one was more snooty than the
other), and was promptly told, "David Hall isn't here, and I don't know
where this is." I wondered why. "He stashes some things where only he knows
where they are." I eventually found out that there were a number of
recordings that were as yet uncatalogued, and he found places for them in
case anyone wanted to hear them. The other librarians didn't know and
probably didn't care where he put them, but I was impressed that he wanted
people to have access to them even though the staff hadn't gotten to them
yet. There was one instance where he made me aware of a recording the
archive had that was not catalogued, and found it for me so that I could
hear it.

He was a great man, and I feel very lucky to have known him, albeit
slightly.

Jeff Sultanof

On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 10:55 AM, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:

> Of course, many of us did know him personally, and he was an
> enthusiastic mentor to young collectors, discographers, and archivists.
> When I first heard about ARSC in 1971, the current president was the
> music librarian at my school, Northwestern.  So I went over and asked
> him about it, and noted that David's name was listed as was Philip
> Miller.  "If I went to this conference, might I be able to meet them?"
> "Sure," he replied.  And not only did I meet them, I was having lunch
> with them the first day!
>
>
> I wish Leah and I had had a chance to interview him on videotape when we
> were doing her "For the Record" documentary, but beyond that I had so
> many additional questions to ask on my research projects.  When I
> contacted him a year or two ago, his partner said that his memory had
> mostly gone but he did recognize my name when she gave him my message.
>
>
>
> David Hall was a driving force in the creation of ARSC and what was the
> premiere sound archive, R&H.  I've already been missing him.  Say Hi to
> Phil for me.
>
>
>
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com
>
>
>  -------- Original Message --------
>  Subject: Re: [78-L] David Hall Obit [fwd]
>  From: Mike Harkin <xxm.harkin at yahoo.com>
>  Date: Mon, April 16, 2012 10:12 am
>  To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>
>  A sad, sad day for collectors of classical music on 78s!  Thanks to his
> love of music, and his own enthusiasm. my horizons were much widened, my
>  appreciation deepened,`and curiosity piqued to hear things I otherwise
>  possibly would not have done.  My life is much richer due to his
> writings!
>  Wish I could have known him personally.
>
>  Requiescat in pace.  Бог да го прости.
>
>  Mike in Plovdiv
>
>  --- On Mon, 4/16/12, Steve Ramm <steveramm78l at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>  > From: Steve Ramm <steveramm78l at hotmail.com>
>  > Subject: [78-L] David Hall Obit
>  > To: "78-l 78-l" <78-l at 78online.com>
>  > Date: Monday, April 16, 2012, 1:27 PM
>  >
>  > This was just passed on to be from ARSC Exec Director, Peter
>  > Shambarger. The info came from David's son.
>  >
>  > Dig out one of your Mercury Living Presence Lps (Davied
>  > helped create that format) and play it today in David's
>  > memory.
>  >
>  > Steve Ramm
>  >
>  >
>  >
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