David Hall (recorded sound archivist)
Encyclopedia
David Hall is a sound archivist and writer.
, and Susannah Hall.
, Hall received a B.A.
from Yale University
in 1939. He was a postgraduate student at Columbia University
from 1940-41.
, 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 Doráti
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.
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 HallPeter Dobkin Hall
Peter Dobkin Hall is an American author and historian. He is Professor of Public Affairs at Baruch College, CUNY], and Senior Research Fellow at the , Harvard University....
, and Susannah Hall.
Education
After graduating from Phillips Exeter AcademyPhillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, Hall received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1939. He was a postgraduate student at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
from 1940-41.
Career
At the urging of family friend, Saturday Review of Literature Editor Norman CousinsNorman Cousins
Norman Cousins was an American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate.-Early life and education:...
, 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
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
-- the all-star orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
. In 1948, Hall joined forces with fellow Yale graduate John Hammond
John H. Hammond
John Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
on a quest to post-war Europe on behalf of Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, 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
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's 1812 Overture
1812 Overture
The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E flat major, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture or the Overture of 1812 is an overture written by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880 to commemorate Russia's defense of Moscow against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of...
under the baton of Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...
became the best selling classical record of the decade.
In 1956, Hall was awarded a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
, 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
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
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
Harry Partch
Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...
.
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
Mapleson Cylinders
The Mapleson Cylinders are a group of more than 100 phonograph cylinders recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera, primarily in the years 1901–1903, by the Met librarian Lionel Mapleson ....
, which captured the singing of Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
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
Association for Recorded Sound Collections
The Association for Recorded Sound Collections as stated on their website, was "founded in 1966 [and] is a non-profit organization dedicated to research, study, publication, and information exchange surrounding all aspects of recordings and recorded sound."...
(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
Castine, Maine
Castine is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States and was once the capital of Acadia . The population was 1,343 at the 2000 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduates officers and engineers for the United States Merchant Marine and marine...
, 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
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, Roy Harris
Roy Harris
Roy Ellsworth Harris , was an American composer. He wrote much music on American subjects, becoming best known for his Symphony No...
, Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
, Harry Partch
Harry Partch
Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...
, William Schuman
William Schuman
William Howard Schuman was an American composer and music administrator.-Life:Born in Manhattan in New York City to Samuel and Rachel Schuman, Schuman was named after the twenty-seventh U.S. president, William Howard Taft, although his family preferred to call him Bill...
, and others. His writings also helped garner attention for jazz and folk musicians.