Jack Diether collection of sound recordings, 1967-1984

Links

• View catalog record
• View finding aid

Creator

Diether, Jack.

Location

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

Extent

• 67 tape reels : analog ; 7 in.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public. Users never directly handle sound recordings. Listening selections are transmitted through a playback system. Some items are available as service copies. Other items which need preservation work may require advance notification for use. Refer to item descriptions in finding aid for more information.

Scope/Contents Note

The collection contains recordings of the radio programs which Diether wrote, including the series "The Life of Beethoven." In addition to the programs themselves, soundcues for the programs are included. The collection also contains appearences of Diether as a commentator on radio programs and intermission features from concert broadcasts. In addition to documentaries and commentary, there are recordings of concerts by the New York Mahlerites (today known as The Gustav Mahler Society of New York).

Biographical/Historical Notes

Jack Diether (1919-1987) was a noted musicologist and scholar. He was especially known for his expertise of Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner. Over the years, althoughhis major interests remained Mahler and Bruckner, he branched out into many other aspects of music. He was a regular contributor to Chord and Discord, Musical America,American Record Guide, The Villager, The Westsider / Chelsea Clinton News / East Side Express, and wrote articles and reviews for almost all the major music magazines and journals between 1955 and 1986. He also wrote articles for non-musical publications such as Film Quarterly, The Journal of Orgonomy, Psychoanalysis & The Psychological Review, and program notes for many orchestras.

He gave a number of lectures and wrote the scripts for six radio programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, including the eight-part "The Life of Beethoven" and programs on Bruckner, Mahler, Ralph VaughanWilliams, Edward Elgar, and the film music of Bernard Herrmann. His record liner notes covered the musical fieldfor almost every major record label. He was a member of the Gustav Mahler Society of America; Gustav Mahler Society, USA; Music Critics Association; National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; and the Dance Critics Association, for which he presented some panels on music, including one with conductors of dance music.

The New York Mahlerites, which he co-founded with Nancy Karlins Thoman in 1976, presented annual concerts from 1977 on, offering such rare works as Mahler's Piano Quartet movement, the Songs to Josephine, concert highlights from the Weber-Mahler Die Drei Pintos, and a dance version of "Blumine," choreographed and performed byballerina Sallie Wilson. The Society, under his leadership,partly sponsored William Carragan's completion of the Bruckner Ninth Symphony, performed in 1985 by the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra and later released in a recording with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yoav Talmi onthe Chandos label.

Controlled Access Terms

• Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827.
• Mahler, Gustav, 1860-1911.
• Bruckner, Anton, 1824-1896.
• Elgar, Edward, 1857-1934.
• Vaughan Williams, Ralph, 1872-1958.
• Herrmann, Bernard, 1911-1975.

Additional Creator Name

• New York Mahlerites.