the Jongleur
Newsletter of the Mills Music Library
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Volume 3, No. 1 -- September 1996Grants to Benefit Music Library The Mills Music Library will benefit from two recently awarded grants. The first will bring to the library a digital audio preservation lab and the second provides funding to restore the Pro Arte Quartet recordings made in the 1940s. James Leary of the University's Folklore Program authored a successful Instructional Technology Grant. He proposed that the Folklore Program, in cooperation with the Mills Music Library, establish a sound recording laboratory to develop course-related curriculum materials, data bases, audio-visual products, and also one which could be used to train students in audio archival methods. The facility will be situated in the Music Library, and staff will draw upon the archival preservation aspects of the proposal to begin preservation reformatting of the library's deteriorating tapes and instantaneous records. Equipment for the new lab will be purchased over the course of the fall semester, including a 78 rpm turntable, a disc cleaning machine, reel-to-reel and cassette tape recorders, a compact disc recorder, a computer, and digital editing software. If all goes well, the lab should be operational by the beginning of the spring semester. Library staff are excited by this new use for its collections and by the fact that the lab will assist them in their audio preservation efforts. The second grant, like the first, also melds nicely with the Music Library's deep concern for the preservation of its fragile and historically important audio recordings. The Evjue Foundation has funded a joint request from the Mills Music Library and the School of Music. The grant, written by Geri Laudati and John Stevens, was awarded to restore seventy-nine sides of historic Pro Arte Quartet recordings. The recordings were made by WHA Radio in the 1940s for broadcast over the Mutual Radio Network. The process used to make these recordings and the surface onto which the sound was incised was different than the commercially released discs of that era. Consequently, the records are literally disintegrating. The funds from the Evjue Grant will be used to hire a professional sound restoration expert who will provide the library with an analog reel-to-reel tape for preservation purposes and a digitized version to be used for playback and possibly the release of a commercial recording. The Director's Corner by Geri Laudati On behalf of the staff of Mills Music Library, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all. We have had an exceedingly busy summer, with much of our energies devoted to our special collections. Processing of collections, grant activities, and the development of a digital remastering studio will be among our top priorities for 96/97. In addition, we are applying for a major grant from Ameritech and the Library of Congress to include the Tams Witmark collection in the National Digital Library. In the area of collection management, serial cancellations will continue throughout the coming year. Although the prices of music journals have not seen the extraordinary increases experienced in some disciplines, we continue to study use patterns and to develop the collection accordingly. On a more positive note, we will be expanding our score approval plans in an effort to provide better coverage. The Mills Music Library web page (http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Music) makes its official debut with the start of the semester. Check the "What's New" link for late-breaking news concerning library policies, new collections, and other library activities. We are also experimenting with web based electronic reserves and have mounted reserve materials for a few fall courses. Other developments in electronic access to Mills materials include the completion in June of the retrospective conversion of books and journal titles. We project that the score collection will be converted in its entirety by July 1997, at which point we can discard half of the card catalog. Despite numerous other projects and activities, our first priority continues to be the provision of exemplary service to library clientele. Steve Sundell, head of reference services; Peg Brown, circulation, reserves, and audio facility supervisor; Mark Rosa, collection management assistant; and I are available to assist. Please let us know how we might better meet your needs. Our best wishes for a happy and productive year! Free, Informative, Lively Music Workshops Everyone is welcome! Music Resources on the Internet Thursday, September 12, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Friday, October 18, 2:30 - 4:00 pm Wednesday, November 20, 3:00 - 5:00 pm 362 Memorial Library Finding Music Resources in MadCat Tuesday, September 10, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Wednesday, October 2, 3:30 - 5:00 pm 443A Memorial Library Finding Music Resources in Journal and Information Databases Thursday, September 26, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm Friday, October 11, 2:30 - 4:00 pm B162G Memorial Library (Mills Music Library Seminar Room) Staff Changes In July, Ann Marie Rigler resigned from her position in the Music Library to accept a teaching appointment in organ and music history at the University of Northern Iowa. We will miss her, her infectious laugh, and her dedication to the job. Replacing Ann Marie is R. Mark Rosa. Mark brings a wealth of library experience to the position having previously held positions at the Kohler Art Library, the Middleton Health Sciences Library, and in the Central Technical Services unit of Memorial Library. He holds degrees in Linguistics and Library and Information Studies, and his music background includes studying piano with Leo Steffens and organ with Jet Turner. Mark also describes himself as an amateur harpsichordist and "erstwhile" harpsichord builder. We also know he is an opera buff who enjoys the alfresco performances of the Santa Fe Opera., Electronic Reserves Mills Music Library is undertaking a pilot project in electronic reserves. Scores, articles, and other assigned readings placed on reserve for some courses will be made available on the World Wide Web. Students can then access this material from home via computer modem or from the computer labs on campus. These files can be downloaded or printed out. Access to these materials will not be limited to the Music Library's hours of operation. We are seeking student input on the ease of using this reserve format and will modify our procedures as needed. If you would like more information or a demonstration please contact Peg Brown at 263-2961. ù Spotlight on Collections ù The Paramount Records Database by Steve Kurr A new database is opening this fall at the Wisconsin Music Archives website (http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Music/wma/). The Paramount Records Database contains discographical information on the WMA collection of 78 rpm recordings released by the New York Recording Laboratories in Port Washington, Wisconsin and its affiliated companies. The four labels produced by NYRL that appear in this collection are Broadway, Famous, Paramount, and Puritan. The corporate history of the NYRL is a cloudy one at best, as all company records burned during a fire in the late 1930s. The Northern Couch Company (a subsidiary of Wisconsin Chair of Port Washington) began producing phonographs and phonograph records in 1917. Several labels, subsidiaries, and a headquarters move later, production ceased in 1932. In addition, some discs list the Bridgeport Die & Machine Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, as the manufacturer. Brian Rust's American Record Label Book provides an overview of each label and its history. Paramount was clearly the premiere label of the four. Most Famous and many Broadway and Puritan releases were either simultaneous or subsequent duplicates of Paramount recordings. Paramount is nationally known for its blues and jazz and, after its absorption of the Black Swan label, its "race" records, recordings aimed at the African-American community. Among the artists recorded in this series is Ma Rainey. Unfortunately, the WMA collection has only a few of the race series in its holdings. Studios for Paramount were located in New York, Chicago, and (from 1929-1932) Grafton, Wisconsin. The music recorded on the four labels represents many distinct styles. Blues and jazz, with such artists as King Oliver and Fletcher Henderson, appear on both Paramount and Puritan. Popular music, both vocal and instrumental, is plentiful on all four labels. Puritan released a series of ethnic recordings (mostly German, but also Irish and Hispanic) aimed at the diverse market in Milwaukee. Classical music, dance band music, and musical show tunes also appear on these labels. Wisconsin performers, such as "The Badgers," "The Wisconsin Roof Orchestra," Jack Penewell, and Bill Carlson surface on Broadway, Paramount, and Puritan. The WMA accumulation of NYRL recordings represents the combination of three separate collections: the Mayer Collection, donated by the Milwaukee Public Library; the John Steiner Collection, donated by a former owner of NYRL; and the Madison Collection, recordings gathered by the WMA during the past several years. While the Paramount Records Collection is by no means a comprehensive one, it is perhaps the largest single accumulation of this Wisconsin manufacturer to be found in a public institution, with over 750 distinct discs, excluding duplicates. Sometime in the fall semester of 1996, Mills Music Library will have a phonograph in place to play these recordings without damaging their surfaces. This phonograph, along with the Paramount Records Database, insures the accessibility of this important recording collection. Great Gifts! The Mills Music Library continues to benefit by substantial gifts from concerned donors. With the passing of former School of Music faculty member Tait Sanford Barrows, the family presented to the library many scores, books and recordings from her personal library. The donation also included recordings, photos, and manuscript compositions of her late husband, John Barrows, himself a past School of Music faculty member and nationally prominent horn player. Robert Arnold, the son of E. Robert Arnold of Milwaukee, donated his father's collection of over 2000 78 rpm jazz recordings including commercial recordings, test pressings, and radio transcriptions. Although centered around Duke Ellington, other early jazz musicians are well-represented in the collection also. Speaking of jazz recordings, Wisconsin Public Radio has recently given over 6000 LPs to the Music Library, about 4500 of these are jazz. Another large donation consisting of more than 2000 LPs and 4400 books came from Ralph Chicorel, a Milwaukee composer of songs and musical comedy. Madison composer Annetta Rosser donated her manuscripts, tape recordings, programs, and other papers to the Wisconsin Music Archives. Principally a song composer, Mrs. Rosser was also a performing violinist for many years, and had the distinction, as a young woman, of playing chamber music with an avid amateur musician named Albert Einstein, perhaps somewhat better known for his work in physics and math. Speaking of Madison, another Madisonian, Marie Endres, has given recordings, photos, scrapbooks, and programs documenting her career as a teacher and conductor of the Madison String Sinfonia. Previously, the library received manuscript and published compositions of her sister, Olive Endres. Retired from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Professor John Check has also been an indefatigable composer and leader of the Wisconsin Dutchman. Check has donated fifty of his 200 compositions to the Music Library and has supplied about twenty records and compact discs of his bands, including several recorded on the Cuca label. Speaking of Bands, the UW Band Department has transferred to the Music Library nearly 500 reel-to-reel tapes of their performances dating back to the mid-1950s. The Band also donated the Joseph Clauder Collection of band music. Successive generations of the Clauder family since the nineteenth-century were active as band conductors, composers, and music publishers. Clara Kitrell, a soprano who occasionally sang with the Chicago Lyric Opera, was befriended by a composer named Rudolf Beck. Beck, who fled Nazi Germany, composed many of his works for Kitrell. Eventually, Kitrell's printed song collection and Beck's manuscripts found their way into the possession of Thomas Pfister a former student of Kitrell and also a UW alum. Pfister recently donated these materials to the Music Library. Margaret Fink Wilber of Madison donated a collection of piano and organ music belonging to her mother, Annie Peat Fink a School of Music alum, and her father Albert Fink, a concert violinist. Some compositions by her aunt, the Milwaukee composer Emma Fink, were also included. When Your Silver Turns to Bronze by Steve Kurr When compact discs first appeared, the manufacturers claimed that this new format was indestructible. And while we consumers knew that CDs were not immune to some forms of abuse, we did assume a resiliency that LPs could not offer. Unfortunately, a recent problem surfaced with discs pressed by the Philips & Du Pont Optical UK Ltd which shatters our assumptions. The lacquer coating on certain CDs pressed by PDO between 1988 and 1993 reacts with the sulfur in the liner notes booklet, causing the disc to change color ("bronze") around the edges. In the advanced stages of this malady, the sound of the last tracks on the disc suffers, eventually attaining the pops and crackles characteristic of old LPs. This trouble affects several labels, most severely Hyperion, ASV, Pearl, Unicorn-Kanchana, but also a few Deutsche Grammophon, Archiv, Virgin, and perhaps others. PDO usually, but not always, engraves their identifying mark in the area immediately surrounding the center hole. Fortunately, PDO is replacing all bronzed CDs. If you have any affected discs, send a note to PDO (containing the label numbers of the bronze discs) at this address: Philips & Du Pont Optical UK Ltd Philips Road Blackburn Lancashire BB1 5RZ England You also can ship the discs only (not the jewel case or the booklet) overseas. Please do not send anything to the individual disc label, distributor, or dealer. Mills Music Library returned several bronze CDs and received all replacements within a few months. This problem is a disconcerting one: it will be interesting to see what other maladies surface in the future. It is reassuring, however, that PDO is willing to rectify its mistake, and we can only hope that other manufacturers will be as cooperative., Mills Acquires Folk Museum's Music The Wisconsin Folk Museum of Mount Horeb closed its doors this past spring due to insurmountable financial obligations. The Museum traced its origins back nearly two decades. Through the years, it fostered the folk arts of Wisconsin and the upper midwest through exhibits, publications, sound recordings, school programs, tours, and more. Its staff secured grants from such agencies as the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund for Folk Culture. The Mills Music Library had an ongoing and mutually rewarding relationship with the Museum as the Library has hosted its traveling exhibit, regularly purchased its publications, and staff have written letters of support for its grant requests. In turn, the Museum has placed materials from its collections with the Music Library. With its closing, Museum personnel in conjunction with staff at the State Bank of Mount Horeb, sought to place its holdings in other appropriate public institutions. At the end of July, the Music Library was notified that it had successfully bid for the music materials in the collection, and by mid-August the transfer had taken place. Specifically, the Music Library now holds all the Museum's significant music materials including recordings, documentation, photographs, and research and archival materials from its projects in Wisconsin Old-Time music, German-American music, and Swiss-American Music. The bulk of the remaining artifacts and documents went to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Imprint A Checklist of Recent Faculty and Student Publications and Recordings Articles Hyer, Brian. "Before Rameau and After." Music Analysis 15, no. 1 (March 1996): 75-100. _____"Reimag(in)ing Riemann." Jounral of Music Theory 39, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 101-138. Grieve, Tyrone. "Preparing for Auditions." Instrumentalist 50, no. 7 (February 1996): 74-78. Jensen, Janet. "Connected Learning: Toward an Holistic Approach to String Pedagogy, III." Dialogue in Instrumental Music Education 20, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 35-38. Burnett, Henry, and Shaugn O'Donnell. "Linear Ordering of the Chromatic Aggregate in Classical Symphonic Music." Music Theory Spectrum 18, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 22-49. Pearsall, Edward. "Multiple Hierarchies: Another Perspective on Prolongation." Indiana Theory Review 17, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 37-66. Radano, Ronald. "Denoting Difference: The Writing of the Slave Spirituals." Critical Inquiry 22, no. 3 (Spring 1996): 506-544. Sutton, R. Anderson. "Interpreting Electronic Sound Technology in the Contemporary Javanese Soundscape." Ethnomusicology 40, no. 2 (Spring/Summer 1996): 249-268. Audio Recordings Madison Marimba Quartet QO195. The Madison Marimba Quartet. Includes performances and arrangements by James Latimer. 1995? Comp Disc 2860. Mark D-1982. Symphonia. Includes a composition and performances by John Stevens. 1996. Comp Disc 3377. Music Library Hours - Fall 1996 Mills Music Library Stacks September 3 (Tues) - December 8 (Sun) Regular hours M-Th 8:00 am-10:00 pm Fri 8:00 am-5:00pm Sat 12:00 pm- 5:00 pm Sun 1:00 pm-10:00 pm November 27 (Wed)................. 8:00 am-5:00 pm November 28-29 ...................................CLOSED December 9 (Mon) - December 20 (Fri) Extended hours M-Th 8:00 am-10:00 pm Fri 8:00 am-8:00 pm Sat 10:00 am-8:00 pm Sun 10:00 am-10:00 pm December 21 (Sat)........................10:00 am-5:00 pm Dec 22 (Sun) - Dec 29 (Sun)......................CLOSED December 30 (Mon).....................12:00 pm-4:30 pm December 31-January 1..............................CLOSED January 2 (Thurs)- January 19 (Sun) Interim Hours Mon-Fri 12:00 pm-5:00 pm Sat-Sun.............CLOSED January 20 - Martin Luther King Day........CLOSED Audio Facility/Reserves September 3 (Tues) - December 8 (Sun) Regular hours M-Th 9:00 am-9:45 pm Fri 9:00 am-4:45pm Sat 12:00 pm-4:45 pm Sun 1:00 pm- 9:45 pm November 27 (Wed)................. 9:00 am-4:45 pm November 28-29....................................CLOSED December 9 (Mon) - December 20 (Fri) Extended hours M-Th 8:00 am- 9:45 pm Fri 8:00 am- 7:45 pm Sat 10:00 am-7:45 pm Sun 10:00 am-9:45 pm December 21 (Sat)........................10:00 am-4:45 pm Dec 22 (Sun) - Dec 29 (Sun)......................CLOSED December 30 (Mon).....................12:00 pm-4:15 pm December 31-January 1..............................CLOSED January 2 (Thurs) - January 19 (Sun) Interim Hours Mon-Fri 12:00 pm-4:45 pm Sat-Sun CLOSED January 20 - Martin Luther King Day........CLOSED