David was my grandfather.
I regret that I was only just beginning to realize the things he had
accomplished and cared about when his memory started to go. I wish I'd had
more time to learn from him. (It's part of why I'm on this email list).
Here he is reenacting the famous photograph of Lionel Mapleson:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30696492/grandpa-cylinder-2.jpg
Becca
--
Becca Hall
Northwest Chicago Film Society
www.northwestchicagofilmsociety.org
On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Michael Biel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> David 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 [log in to unmask]
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] David Hall - ARSC Past President Obit
> From: Steve Ramm <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, April 16, 2012 9:22 am
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> This sad news (details below) was received by ARSC Exec. Dir Peter
> Shambarger yesterday and I wanted to share. Though David retired to
> Maine years
> ago - and I haven't seen him in many years - he was one of the
> "legends" in
> Recorded Sound History who I had to honor to meet and dine with at many
> ARSC
> Conferences and moments like that reminded me of why ARSC Conferences
> are
> so much fun. (You get to meet folks you've only READ about in person.)
>
> Steve Ramm
>
>
> >Sound archivist, writer and record producer David Hall died in
> Castine,
> >Maine, April 10, 2012, aged 95.
> >
> >After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University in
> >1939, Hall authored “The Record Book,” an annotated discography of
>
> >concert music repertoire on 78 rpm discs, which instructed record
> >collectors on “how to lay a solid foundation for a record
> library.”
> >Published in 1940, it was followed by a series of supplements, and an
> >international edition, the last published in 1955.
> >
> >Hall began a lifelong involvement with the record business as
> >advertising copywriter with Columbia Records. In 1942, he became
> script
> >writer for the NBC Symphony, the all-star orchestra conducted by
> Arturo
> >Toscanini.
> >
> >In 1948, Hall joined fellow Yale graduate John Hammond on a quest to
> >postwar Europe on behalf of Mercury Records, to acquire European
> >classical recordings for American release. Their efforts helped
> Mercury
> >become a major force in the record industry.
> >
> >Between 1951 and 1956, with C. Robert Fine and Wilma Cozart, Hall
> >co-produced Mercury’s Living Presence Series, notable recordings by
> the
> >Chicago, Minneapolis and Eastman Rochester symphony orchestras under
> >such conductors as Rafael Kubelik, Antal Dorati, Paul Paray and Howard
>
> >Hanson. Mercury’s 1955 recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture
> became
> >the best-selling classical record of the decade.
> >
> >After a year in Denmark as a Fulbright Fellow, in 1957, Hall joined
> >Stereo Review, to which he continued to contribute until 1999, when
> the
> >magazine ceased publication. In 1963, he became president of
> Composers’
> >Recordings Inc., a nonprofit label devoted to recording and
> distributing
> >the work of American contemporary composers.
> >
> > From 1967 to 1985, Hall served as curator of the Rodgers and
> >Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at Lincoln Center, which became
> a
> >major force in sound recording collection and service. Under his
> >direction, the Archives produced The Mapleson Cylinders, an important
> >collection of historic sound which captured the performances of early
> >20th century Metropolitan Opera stars. It received a Grammy from the
> >National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences in 1986.
> >
> >Hall was active in a variety of board and trusteeship activities: as
> >president of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections and the
> >Sibelius Society, as a director of the National Music Council, as
> >classical music consultant to the National Academy of Recording Arts
> and
> >Sciences, as a member of the Music School sub-committee of the Yale
> >University Council, and as trustee of the Wilton (CT) LIbrary
> Association.
> >
> >In 1985, Hall moved to Maine with his wife of 50 years, Bernice
> Dobkin,
> >in 1985, where he served on the board of the Blue Hill Concert
> >Association. Last fall, he donated an extraordinary collection of
> 2,500
> >classical CDs to the Blue Hill Library.
> >
> >He is survived by his domestic partner, Del Thomas of Castine; his
> >children, Marion Hunt of St. Louis, Mo., Jonathan Hall of South
> >Brooksville, Peter Dobkin Hall of New Haven, Conn., and Susannah Hall
> of
> >Bucksport; as well as nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
>
>
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