2262 oo+
Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History
Interview with Ralph T. Gould, 31 Forest Road, Cape Elizabeth ME I4arch 22, 1992 Interviewer: Gordon W. Bowie B: Bowie G: Gould t<**x**t
G: Yes we are, Gordon, we're here in the sunright. Fr.owers on the table, but no food. [Iauehter] We're here to pick each other's cerebrum, and cerebellum. B: That's Rieht. WeII, Ralph, this intervievr is intended for the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History, where it will be made available by permission to scholars in appropriate fields of interest. Is that all right with you-/ 011 G: That's okay with me. I don't want the address of any young l-adies to be circulated, but I'11 try to avoid mentioning any. Ilauehter. by both] B: And about how ol-d are you, Mr. Gould? G: I'm ninety-one and a half. And next September I'lI be 92. B: That's marvelous. Have you lived in Maine al_l your life? 2262 005 G: Not yet. [chuckles at .'ioke] B: We]l, most of your 1ife, then, to this point. G: Yes. I'm the eleventh generation of the Gould, the Tribe of Jacob. I've spent a lot of time getting the geneal-ogy. So, I'm the eleventh generation. I have g,reat grandchildren that would be the fourteenth generation in Maine. Never spent the winter in Florida, or anything Iike that. Just sissies do. B: Well, you've been a very successful- businesstnan, and as well as beirrg a successf ttI buslnessman yLrlr've lreen strLrngly associated with participation and support for music- How did you get start- ed in music? G: WelI, I was trying to figure it out. Must have been born under a certain star. However I had a grandmother in Lewiston, that taught school there forty years. She took the French pupils in grade three that didn't speak any EngIish, and transferred them from tr'rench to English. $he had an old upright piano in tire front haIL When I was ttp there spending some time on vacation, she'd take me to that rrpright piano and sing and get me to play with one finger, and I-- She got me started in interest and then
I had other people along the way, aLl the way, that increased my desire to play, and I did start in playing when I was nine years old. I took lessons on the Clarinet from Mr. Mills, the solo clarinetist with Chandlers band, and the, when I started in group playing I was pl-aying Tuba in the Y. M. C. A. boys' band, which was formed with high school boys, and we had uniforms.. flookine up in mock prayerl (Please don't rain. ) Every time it woul-d rain and we'd get in the uniforms they'd al-I shrink up. It was about a fifty piece band. 039 Played pretty good. German gentleman led flg62 ooo them. This was in 1911 that the YMCA Boys Band started. We'd rehearse onee a week. We never marched in the street, but we played concerts, that's what bands seemed to do. They'd just play anyway, whether people wanted them or not. B: People wanted them, in those days, didn't they? G: A lot of what? B: Didn't people want the bands to play? I mean you had a lot of demand for your playing. 046 G: Oh, yes, yes. There were many bands in this part of Maine. There was the Portland band, Chandlers band, American cadet band Joe Romano's Band. Those were al-l professional bands, they got paid for playing. Then there were the fringe bands. 050 The schools at that time clidn't have bands, they had orehes- tras. So I played tuba in an orchestra. Didn't have any bass fiddle. But there were a lot more bands then than there are now. Now they're mostly confined to one or two professional bands, and college and high school bands. Mr. Bowie, that I'm talking with, knows about the school bands more than I do, because I say, there were no bands in the earlier part of the twentieth century, in the schools in southern Maine. However nor^r I can see where some writing on music in Maine, or music being made in Maine, would be of value to somebody that was interested in it. 061 I spent some time and looked up the bands in Cape El-izabeth, actually went around and found the bands, and that material is availabl-e in the Main Historical Society. I got the names of the players, what instrument they played, where they played. Rieht here in this town of Cape Elizabeth there were five bands: The 22sz 0ol
Knightville band, Townhouse band, Cape band, so they $rere almost as plentiful as navels. Ilauehteq] Okay 069 B: Okay, WeIl, then, You went up to the University of Maine, and that was in Orono, and you played in the band there. You told me before, not only tuba but also the cornet and saxophone. G: Yes. B: And coul-d you tell a little bit about the band up there in those day,s? G: WelI, w€ had an R.O.T.C. band. By this time it's 1918-19, so the college had quite a band there, I should say sixty pieces, I played E-flat bass, and we all wore R.O.T.C. uniforms. And it was amazing, at that time the Bates band and the Bowdoin band weren't real-ly bands, they were seven or eight students, and the town barbers. And the one down in Bowdoin was a pitiful little band, about twelve or thirteen pieces. Usually Bates and Bow- doin, and sometimes Colby would beat Maine athletically, but MusicalLy, we'd mow 'em down. And-uh. My dad was a graduate of Bates in'96 , 1896, he played clarinet, I never thought much about talking with him, about playing, until he'd passed away, some yearrs ago. I wrote to Bates and they sent me all the thing,s he played in, and his Ranks, which were excel-]en'b. I wished f 'd talked more with him, about this time at Bates. 0Bg
One thing he did sdy, he was manager of the barrr-1 and they went to Orono, and Bates beat Maine on the football field, so they formed the band, and the bates band had about seven ()r eight pieces, and they started to march on across the campus celebrat- ing their victory. WeIl the Maine fellows promptly got after them, kicked in the head of their bass drum, kicked in their 2262 008 snare drum, took a trombone, extended it and wrapped it right around a tree. Heh,hehl The Bates band didn't know that there was a tradition that no other college band could play on the campus I so it realIy fixed the Bates band up, both pieces.
I lauEhter] That's true. 101 t
rtr":'m wh'=re r"re glE taiking. Thssa nirimx F-,Er-itr,di'--rgllg gE wE tslh l
B: Are there any other stories that come to mind from those uni- versity days? G: Yeah, we had the-- I played in the dance band. Doc Turner, he's a fraternity brother, f was a Phi Eta Kappa, then, and he played violin. He smoked Lorcl Salisbury cigarettes, bought'em by the carton. We'd Iet him get his sttrff in the car, to take us out to where we're going to play, and while he was out putting the stuff in the car, we'd steal packages of his cigarettes. That's about all we got out of it. 109 We played in Still- water, Old Town, Orono, and we had a drummer, there was also a piccolo player. And Doc Turner, playecl viol-in, we had a piano and a trombone named Kennedy. Kennedy's the crazy trombone player. He's the one I guess I told you about, that put the lights a1l ont, footlights all out, went around and [Ralph__puls_tris_trenlLs
wif,h tha cnd rrf t.}. a frnmlrnna q'li.'1 a r^uhila n]atri-a I We'd play in the city haII in Portland. 34qu ous
B: Put 'em out with his slide, did he? G: Yes. t77 G: Knocked 'em all out. And one time I had hi-s, Kennedy's teach- er who was a hundred years old. Mr. Rigby, and he was a trombone player at one ti-me. And he came in to where we were praying f or a dance, and this l(ennedy had an oil can the size that a locomo- tive engineer woul-d use sitting dowrr the side of his chair, ancl he'd, right when the audience was at tip top peak, why he'd hotd his foot out, [Ralph eeE-tures as he speaks, clemonstratirre t.he qnpalr.r rrf i+. anr{ trirr{r1 f ani al 6vhtsaee{**= I an.-1 hold his trom- bone np, and let the slide go to catch it with his foot, and then he'd take that big can and go up and down. Then take the trombone up and rip'er right ont! Mr. Rigby got up and left the pl-ace, he was so disgusted with him. Ilauehter] That Kennedy could do things that, can you shut it off a minute? B: $ure. \29 ltarce stopoed f or a r:r>rrrrle of minrrf.eq whi ]c Mr
stories as antecedent material for later descriptions,.l B: Okay, and do you remember any particul-ar people from those days? WeII you just told me about Kennedy, the trombone player, (G: yes) do you remember any other particular people that were involved. G: Yeah, 1. At that time, the dance bands were mostly non union. P^262 010
Young people, high school people. And in the Six Links Orches- tra, I played in that, pl-ayed every Friday night. That consisted of two generations of people, there were several high school players in there, and several people o1d enough to be their parents. And that orchestra had piano, violin, drums, banjo, I played tenor, I played trumpet and alto sax, Roy Baker beside of me played tenor sax, and trumpet. Another girl played marimtra, fell-ow on string bass, and the drummer had a wooderr leg, and he'd treat people up right during the dance, he'd pull his pants leg r-rp and drive tacks into his, to hold his stockings up. Thal we played three or four years in Six Links, it was in Morrill's Corner, and we'd have sj-x or seven hundred people in that haIl. 151 People danced then. That was the time of the it wasn't like the bie band thing, but it was the first of an or- r:hestra that wa-- Normal orchestra then was pi-ano, tenor banjo, mandolin, and drums. So this was a, we could do with wind instruments, these song pluggers would come, with new songs, and they'd hand everybody an orchestra part, so we'd have to trans- pose, the, to fit our key. No parts for the individual instru- ments. 159
But the best contact I've had with good musicians, was a lady who I called Aunt Grace. My mother died when I was yollng, nineteen, and I was the principal- of a high school, flt nineteen. I was teaching things I had never studied. And when my mother died r kind of went to heck on teachi-ng, and I resigned from the Ethan Stone Hish Schoor. And r went up to Malden Mass, and lived with this aunt. She wasn't a real aunt, but she was a close friend of my mother's from Lewiston. werr this Aunt Grace, had ?^262 0r I strange friends, Ethyl Lejinske, the pianist, and the symphony conductor, used to come there regularly. And Ruth St.Denys and Ted Shawn famous internationally famous dancers came to her house. And Aunt Grace bel-onged to the Symphony group in Boston, and so I went with her every Wednesday, to the Wednesday concerts of the --Koussevitsky was the director, that time, so through her I was acquainted with good symphony music, and I played in a dance band, while I was, and I lived up there about two years. 190 They didn't have any children, she and her husband. Husband didn't l-ike me. l used his Ed Pinod's Tonic after I shaved. And he marked the bottle, I didn't know it, see it go down. His wife told me that he-- says "Norris doesn't like to have you using his hair tonic." But I was nsing his after shave, so I put water back, when I used it. And it got so he wouLdn't use it. [Iaueht€r] But .bhat's the contact I had up there, then when I was manager of the symphony, I irad five mercharrts in Portland. Porteous-MitchelI, A.H. Benoit, the Large Concerns, and each Friday they'd a1l l-oan rne fifty dollars. Anci I had six of 'em, so I had three hundred dollars to hire the soloist with the C)rchestra. The reason for our not having any money was that the Symphony had been using some City property to rehearse orr, and when f took it over during the war, they owed Eighteen Hun- dred DoIIars, and they weren't going to let us rehearse any more
1n the city building. So I had to get-- pay that off first. We had no cash flow. Minus cash flow. So I got acquainted with these artists that we'd hire. They weren't very good for three hundred dollars even in war time. zjs 2262 ot2 One of them was excellent, though, was Percy Grainger. I had to go to the Union Station, and meet Percy, and I went down there, and I didn't know what he would look like, then I asked the ticket man sel-Ling, (they had several ticket safes there. ) Says: "That man laying right in that settee there. " And I went over and it was a little fel-low al-l curled up with a Scottish tweed hat orr, and a Knapsack laying curled up right around the settee. So I pinched him a little bit, and asked him if he was Percy Grainger, and he acknowledged he was. And I took him out to meet the symphony crowd, and he played one of his pi-ano conc- ertos with the symphony that night. He was great, and since then I found he had written a lot of band music. B: Yes he has. 2t6 G: I guess some of his pieces are well known. Somebody on the strand, is one of his pieces. (B: yeah) And, oh, The other people were people who had been famous, and were on their way out. Three or four of 'em were Metropolitan singers, who were stars, vocalists. Then we had one pianist that was in Army unj-form. So I had a chance to meet these people, and it meant scouring around every time when we had a concert, had about six or seven in the winter, to get this money. And f'd pay'em back the next day. If we had a concert Friday night, I'd go right there with a check and give it to them, And I wasn't paid, I wasn't paid for the Maine music camp- There's money in music." I know, I put it in! 23I (B: mm-hmm) Yeah. There aren't many people that-- A l-ot of the musicians, the professional- ones, it was a chore for them to play. Of course the men playing in the theaters, they were excel- 2262 01S lent players. Keith's theater had a piano, a violin, violin was the Leader, 'cello, and bass, strings. Then they had a flute, clarinet, cornet, trombone, and drums. We used to Bo, when we were kids, up in the balcony, and we'd buy Hershey bars. Cost a nickel then, so big you couldn't get'em all in your mouth at once. We'd ro]1 up the tinfoil. From the second balcony, we'd throw it, We got so we could hit the tirnpani and bass dnrm. Dick Shaw was the drummer and he owned the drum store here, so he had a pretty good set of things to hit. llauehter] That's about all I know for "people of genius." 248 i Clocks can be heard chimins in the backqround. Since his re- tirement, Mr. Gould has built hundreds of chimine cl-ocks of all sizes. Manir of them are huns about the house. where thev cheer- fully announce the passaee of time. l B: Ha, ha, heh, well that's great. When you were on the road for so many years with Gould Equipment, er it was your company, Hh, but it is said that you used to carry a cornet in your car (G: Yes) and sit in with the local bands wherever you went. (G: Yeah) Is this really how it worked? G: Well, There were only two or three towns that I did play with. Some of ern didn't have any bands, and some-- it usually worked out that when my customer would be working for an oil company, and up in Ellsworth, for instance, I played with them several times, like ten or twelve. (B: mm-hmm) And he was, the bass- drummer was my customer in Ellsworth, and he was the bass-drummer for the Cora Shrine band--not the Cora, what's the name of the Bangor?
10 ?-262 ot4 B: There's Anah shrine in Bangor. G: Anah, yeah. Beal. Fred Bea1, his name was.
B: Oh, surre . G: I, I don't-- He isn't alive, now, couldn't be. He was the caretaker for Hannibal Hamlin's home up there. Then I played in the Farmington Band. They had an excellent, band rip there, and I used to carry my tnrmpet, and I carried a set of golf clubs. I also had an order blank for Gould Equipment Company. That was the main thing to get filled. [Iauehter] I made friends by not playing in some places. b: WelI do you have any recollections of the Portland Cadet band, in Portland? 275 G: Yes. Portland Cadet was a professional band, and the director was named Chandler. And Chandler's Band was-- The main band here was the Chandl-ers Band. I've got some pictures of them taken in'97 and around 1910, that was an excerrent band. Felrow named Brooks led it for about 40 years. They were the ones that were hired by Bowdoin for their commencement. And there's Ameri- can Cadet band, I used to rehearse with them, and I rehearsed with the Shrine band up in Lewiston, that's Cora temple. (B: mm- hmm) And I'd ride up with a, I wasn't a shriner, but they liked, A tuba player can get in most anywhere. They usually needed tubas. They If they were starting a band, you'd get as big a fellow as you could, He doesn't have to know very much, B: Excuse me, G: A maximum of two notes to a measure. B: Excuse me just a sec. We've kind of lost our signal here. 294
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[Tape stopped for a few minutes while I changed the batteries in the Sony. The meter had been droppins for five minutes, and I kept on turnine up the knob. hopine to finish the _side, f inallv there was no further to eo with the Eain knob. and the meter was continuins to drop. Durine the break Ralph broueht in e__Ejlef.L gl-ass of cranberrvjuice on ice f or each of us. He made severa] .iokes about beer..l B: WeIl there. After our little pause for fresh batteries, we're back up to normal, now. And we were talking about Chandler's bancl and the Portland cadet band, arrd you were trying to explain to me how it worked with Chandler's band and the American Cadet band and the Portland cadet band, and I think that there's some c.:nfusiorr amorrg a lot of people wiro don't really kuow how it was back in those days, about how peopLe overlapped in those bands. Could you explain that a Iittle better? G: Wel}, they'd have parades here, and there'd be four or five professional bands. The choice band was Chandlers, and then the Portland band. It wasn't Portland Callet, it was American Cadet. They were in thi.s order for ability and nttmber of players would be: Chandler's Band, and Portland Band, who makes it confusing by being led by a Chandler, and then the Ameri<:an Cadet Band, then Joe Romano's Band which was all ]talian people. And every ltal- ian festival around in the area, why Romano would play for it. So there's one, two, three, four, professional bands in Port- land, And they did jobs-- there was a lot of jobs then for every el-ection. Everybody running even f or councilman, they'd have a band when they were out speaking. And there'd be little bands
T2 22 62 0 r 6 playing around for the people running for the primaries. So that's four bands, were in use all the time, rehearsed every week, didn't get much, I think five dollars was the regular pay, for a player, and that meant sometimes marching a long ways. 330 B: Well did you play with bands in the Waterville area ever, with Waterville Military, c)r Drew's band, or several bands up there? G: No, never did, I had a neighbor that went to all of R. B. Hall's concerts, she's now passed away. Clarke, Wilkie Clarke's wife. And in her youth, why, she knew, she knew Smith, she knew the band from praying concerts, they used to play in Watervirle. she spent the early years of his life in waterville, after he left the town where he was born, Richmond. (B: mm-hmm) what's the next town to Richmond that he? B: HaII, you mean? Bowdoinham? Brunswick? Bowdoinham was where he was born, yeah. G: Bowdoinham. yeah. B: And then you were telling me that you visited the El-lsworth band several times, did you ever visit the Bangor Band? G: No, rrever did. B; How about Cherryfield. G: cherryf ield'/ Yes, r played there, that the university of Maine Singing crnb used t,,: stop overnight in chesterfierd-- in cherryfield. People would put the students rp, there, and we had a concert, and then we'd go down to Harrington, and then to cal-ais. Every year, why, the Maine music cl-ub woul-d make that trip, down into washington county. But r think that Cherryfield, R. B. Hal] went there, I guess he was the director for some time.
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R. B. HaIl played in a theater here in Cape Elizabeth two sum- mers. We're speaking of R. B. HaI1, I might as well get it out of trl€, I want to give you , You heard of carrying a message to Garcia? B: Yeah. G: WeIl, there's a message to Garcia that you could well carry. B; Okay. 370 G: These, All my good inf ormation about R. B. Hall, r-rf cor-lrse I never met him, he died 1907, I'd be seven years old then, that's two years before I got the "bug". So R. B. Hall, through this dentist in Brunswick, whom I visited at the time I was collecting the materiaL on HaII, was a reLative of R. B.'s, and knew hirn vel'y well, And fr,rm hlm I got s(lme half mcrdels r-rf boats that R. B. HaIl had designed. He not only designed them, but he made the boats, and he used them when he was playing up to Kineo. Up on Moosehead Lake. 385 And so I took these half models of boats, they were kind of rugged, ragged condition, not rugged, and I made pine back boards for them, and I had some sterling silver, and I engraved plates for them, and I gave them to this dentist. He'd got'em out of a woodshed somewhere, that R. B. HaIl not only made the models, but he made the boats, and was an excellent craftsman. And when this dentist died, I endeavored to get a hold ,rf some other relatives, and the man that seemed to know about'em, but didn't ever offer to give them to me is, --I wanted to give them to the Maine Historical, so his name was Ransom Kelly, and he has passenger boats down to Boothbay Harbor.
B; Down t,o Boothbay Harbor, 4A7
74 2262 olg
G: So sometime in the summertime you could go down there, or caII him, or try to find out whatever happened to those ship models, 'cause they'd be a wonderful thing to have.
B: Well, I do, I go down to Boothbay in the summertime once in a while, almost every year. 4L4 G: Well, it's Ransom Kelly, and he was, either he or his wife was related to the Brownes, (B: Sure) Browne was R.B.'s Wife (B: Rieht) She was a brown. B: R. B. 's Mother was a browne. yeah. G: She's the one that, he come back from playing, there wasn't any furniture in the house. She was a Bitch! [lauehter] And, R. B. was a man that drank quite a lot (B: uh-huh) in the Cal_umet club, he spent his days in Waterville in the Calumet club, and this is according to Roundy. What was Roundy's first name? B: Arthur. Arthur Roundy. G: Arthur, yeah. Get it mixed up because I had a Clarence Roun- dy, an oil man in Bangor was a customer of mine. But Roundy I went to see twice. He used to take lessons from R. B. HaI1 and there was a man up the road from Waterville, that R. B. used to like to play duets with, and R. B. marveled at this man, said he had a tongue just like a snake. He could do the Arban's hook right through, and the CarnivaL of Venice with all the varia- tions, so Roundy, he was only a youngster when he took lessons, I think it was a Dollar and a Quarter. Fact he gave me olle crf the Islieht hesitation as he eropes for. and pantomimes "receipt" but can't come up with the wordl 'things' he saved where he paid the dol-Iar and a quarter for the lesson from R. B. HaIl, and I don't know where the hel-l it is. 448
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But Roundy was quite a source. Then Varney, orr across the river is a trumpet player, and he was kind of sour. He was about my age, fmeaning ninety-one, ] when I was about forty, (B: mm-hmm) researching. And he says: [Gou]-d facially pantomimes a used gp old man. with lollins head and eyes vacuously starine at ltre___q9ll-L-agl"oh, R. B. Hafl, " says, "he was a wonderful pl-ayer and all of his music" he says, "but they've taken all of the spice out of the--" he says, "when we were pl-aying hls manu- scripts , we had something to play." But the publisher had modified the marches to make them playable by any band. (B: mm- hmm) And its, IoLl meet so much resistance, what's the average person think of? " Stars And Stripes Forever:" that's the only march they know. 468 Was it Grant said he onLy knew two tunes, one of 'em was Old Lang Syne, and the other one wasn't, [Iauehter] B: I'd heard that one about George Washington, G: Eh-Yeah B: I'd heard that one about George Washington G: Don't know which one they know. B: But could have been Grant, too. I think many men in those days. G: But Varney's only gripe was that they'd modified t,he music, I g:uess that Varney wasn't the ability of R. B. HaIl. I guess nobody was. And I marvel at his marches. Oh, did you ever hear of a fellow named John Gooch? B: Yes, I did hear of John Gooch. Let me turn this tape over rieht now, and we'11 catch up with John.
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G: Okay. 489 t eet lost. l *)t(**X****l(*r<***t<*)k*I(**t(*X**X****X*(I(*X**X**t(t(X**r(Xl(***Xr(t<**l(X*X** 002 [Side two opens with Mr. Gould askine Is this on?] G: --on? John Gooch, he had every book and every Harch of Hall, and some Manuscript. I had quite a few manuscripts of HalI, that I gave to the Maine Historical, and I don't know whether you've seen those or not? B: Yes, I have. f've seen all of that material that you gave. G: And I can't remember who gave me the photographs, I had two or three great large pictures of Hall-, that were well framed, and I did give one to the Waterville R. B. HalI band, do they still exist-/ B: They still exist. But they don't have any of the HalI materi- al left. G: I wonder where that photo is? B: They changed directors so many times. And uh- G: Its a picture as big as that[ irrdicates abot"rt a foot wlde arrd two-three feet hieh with his hands I Its the orre that's L)n the front of the R. B. Hall Day. B: Yeah, yeah. G: Yeah. tlh- B: We have the negative f or that, still-. G: You do? B: Yes. G: Yeah. Wel-l, Uh-- This had a curved gLass on the front of it.
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I Didn't sell it, I just gave it to them. They heard that I had it, and wrote me. And wasn't doing me any good. Ah- What's your opinion of HalI's Marches? 016 B: Oh, I think Ha1l's marches are the very best. Um, I've played almost aII of them, either as a conductor or as a Trombone play- €r, and I've conducted just about all the Ha]l marches with the Bangor Band, and I think they're the best. They're great. G: I don't know what happened to.lohn Goc'ch's library, mayhe they 're still with that band that he-- They had their rehearsal haII in the Masonic temple, here in Port1and. If you ever wanted to find out you could, I think that band, the Commandery band, has rather a shaky existenee. Gooch was an excel-lent clarinetist, and a good player. I used to play dances with him, he played saxophone on the dances. I'd-- He had every book that Hall had made, and that had been published. There were different publish- ers. Fischer did one set. (B: mm-hmm) You got most of his books? B: Yes I have, right now al-l of HaIl's print muslc, f believe, I've got aII four of his books, and the ones that were published singl-y without books, and just about all- of them, but I woul-d be interested in trying to find what was left of Mr. Gooch's li- brary, yeah. G: He came from Yarmouth, and he was an employee of S. D. Warren Company. 035 Chemist. And he not only led this band, but everywhere there was a Band concert, he'd go to it. He was ctazy about Band music, and he never boosted HalI too much, but he did get ahold of all of his music. (B: mm-hmm) Hal-l's funeral march
18 2262 o2z- is one of the nicest things. You know that it was played for Kennedy's funeral? B: That's right. 041 G: And I wrote the Army band, and asked if that was true that they played R. B. HalI's-- ft was the Navy, I glress. [Those letters are now in the co]-Iection at Baeaduce. where they were moved when the Maine State Librarv was beine rebuilt. GWEI B: It was the Navy Band, yeah, G: Yeah, And they said "Yes" they use it aII. the tirne, and they use his marches for concerts, too. And he sent me a copy of a Ietter. If you remember the bugler that played taps', at Kenne- dy's burial, $issed the high note, orr taps, and this kid from out in Sheboygan, Wisconsl-n, wrote to the director of the Navy band, and said "I wished you wouldn't do anything to the man that missed that high note," he says, "I'm a Boy Scout, and I'm the bugl-er, and lots of times I miss that high note, pl_ease don't punish hirn. " Mr. the director of the band sent me a copy of that letter, I wished I had it it was a good story. I Gould pitch- es his voice hieh to emulate the vouth of the bov in the storrz as empathy to the storv. The letter is in the collection at Baqa- 1,. ^^ :rnd flnrrl d haq *nl.t i+ \raFlr narrlrr rranh=*in I 054 B: Oh, that's marvelous! Ha, ha, ha. That's wonderful. WeII, when yor: were talkine with Varney, f or that matter, r-ir ft,c-rr-i-y1r-{y, did they ever tell you any interesting stories about Hall's final years?
G: No, cause his final years were spent here in Portland. They weren't in WaterviIle, I don't thlnk. But-uh, Apparently R. B.
19 2262 028
Hall either roomed at the Calumet club, or went there all the time, then he left Watervill-e and went to Bangor, and that's the time he went to Ellsworth, and I guess to Kineo. You wouldn't play out there in the winter in Kineo. B: No, of course not. 064 G:'Nyeah,'nyeah, and then he did play here two years at Cape Elizabeth, theater here, they had a theater orchestra, and this Bernie Greeley, the trombone player, used to sit 'sj-de of him, said he was a wonderful player. 'Course he was lame, he played with a cane hooked over his arm. And they say that at a Col-by commencement, his band was playing, and his hand became para- lyzed, and he couldn't turn the music over, and the music sort of slid on the stage. But he was an excellent player, and his music was so sweet and harmonious. And the poor fellow, his wife raised hell with him, and he was lame, in pain I guess all the time, (B: mm-hmm) then didn't keep his drinking down. uh, You asked me about a man, if I'd heard from him. There's that man that's been championing him. B: Oh, Otr, Tom Bardwell. That's right. 081 Did you ever talk to Tom Bardwell?
G; He called me and wrote me, about his trying to increase my interest, and I coul-dn't stand it being increased any more. But he was vociferous, he. Clint Graffam, here in Portland, that's junior symphony director, he knows that man. I grress he took ttre Deering Band down there and-- r paid for the Deerlng Band making a record of his, and it went through two or three press- ings, they sold it, and 'twas before tape came out.
20 2262 024 l{hen I was at Maine Music Camp, there wasn't any tape, but I had a wire recorder. 090 You know, a great big heavy thing, and poor-- Didn't sound too good. [eveing the miniature sonv on the table between usl This has been a bl-essi-ng, these Iittle audio tapes. hmm.
B: oh, they're wonderful. r have the record that Graffam made with the Deering Hieh schoor Band, that you paid for. That was back about '64, I think. And uh- G: r was there at the recording. They onry played one piece overr twice. They, every march. There's the whole carl Fischer book I think in there. B: Yeah, that's the whoLe of the Carl Fischer Book. Did you ever meet Harold J. Crosby?
G: Who? B: Harold J. Crosby? G: No. 099 B: He was the director, after Ha]l, of the Waterville Band, and--
Man from Dexter. Um. l In your article you mentioned, anci I know it,s a long time si.nce you wrote that articl-e, but you did rnention a t,irne when HalI went to Philadelphia, to be the Senior Copy Editor for Harry Col-eman's publishing company. And I was wonderi.ng how you found out about that?
G: r read it in an article about Hal1, in a Richmond paper. He went down there, and he wrote a march for them, Harr did. And he went down there to help the band to bring it up to --What was the name of the march he wrote? "Officer of the Day" is that one of
27 2262 025 his?
B: "Officer of the Day, " but that's Lyon and Healey. Lyon and Healey publisher. G: Ayuh. B: yeah, but "Officer of the Day" is one of his marches. G: Is the "Tenth Regiment?" B: "Tenth Regiment" Yeah.
G: I think he wrote that for them. That's where he went. Was it in Albany? New York? B: That was in Arbany. Yeah, yeah. Tenth Regiment was in Alba- ny. 114 G: I read it, I didn't hear it by word of mouth, but this eras a, they picked a year, He wasn't down there any much longer than to get that band straightened out. He did quite a job with it. (B: mm-hmm) But it's kind of a pitiful story for the man nevelf took advantage of his-- He Eot, I guess he was getting royalties on these marches whire he was arive, but he courdn't drink alr that --unless he had a 1ot of friends that were dry. B: t chuckling at Gould's wrrz facial expression sand droll se.q- tures of pantomirnecl drinkine as he spoke.l Well, it's hard to say. Uh- I was wondering, WeIl you were saying, that HalI, you know, maybe seemed to have blown that opportunity over there in Albany, ufil-- But what do you think was the biggest, ob*st6g1s, realIy, that Ha1l had to his success? 727 G: His i-solation, up here in Maine. rf he'd been born in Phila- delphia, et washington-- r think sousa deserves everything he has for what he's done, but Sousa was a third horn player. In
22 2262 026 the Marine Band. His father was a player, and Sousa had somebody do the arranging. HalI not only composed, but he did all of his own arranging, and his, some of his early manuscript was just like printing (B: 's right) and he wrote Schottisches and concert pieces and quite a library of things. I forget where I got aII that manuscript music. Oh I think from the dentlst up in Bruns- wiek. That dentist now would be about a hlrndred and twenty five or thirty years old. B: That was Harry Browne? G: Browne! yeah B: Harry Browne. G: Yeah. B: Yeah, I think. G: He was a partner with another dentist, eh. (B: mm-hmm) There was 'something he tord-- two or three things he told me about Hall. 744
But Hall- didn't seem to have too many real good friends. He had people that respected his playing. When I was a little youngster, why, being around in this-- oh, r played in a carnival band. With a--- This carnival come into Portland and there was another carnivaL put up right beside of it. And they got fieht- ing each other, and then setting fire to each other's tents. And somebody, one band quit, and left there and this ferlow named Hirton came up to the YMCA and hired out of the YMCA boys band. I was playing tuba, Franklin Hamilton's pLaying trombone, Roy Baker's praying cornet. And this Hilton, that was the r-eader of the band, wo'd call him "Dogmouth." A11 he'd do was around the band, praying, "Louder, Louder" [spoken with a barkine tone. and
Z'oa .) 2262 027
the other direction. with short shakes of the headi JiE it up and then get the crowd around. 159 Then the speaker wouLd come out, and if enough didn't go in, he'd send us in the tent, and we'd play in there. And then at midnight, whlr they had the feIlow walk across the carnival grounds, orr a wire, and they'd have the naked show Boing, and we'd be playing for the tight rope walker. We played the whole summer with him, We got two dollars and a half each time we played, like: Afternoon: two-fifty, evening: two-fifty. (B: mm-hmm) and we had to do a parade every day, and we had a man and a woman from Waterville, named Snell, played trombone, so he, they, w€, the baritone player was named StCIair, and he was Frerrch. Hardly spoke any English. And he had a wooderr leg, he couldn't march so: Ieesturine and pantomiming excitedlv as he speaksl Here's the band going down the street. I'm in front with a Bass horn, behind me is Mrs. Snell. She walked in front of her husband al1 the time, rippine hell out of the trombone. [pau.tomimes the slide in and out wildlv aII around] And behind her is Mr. Snel-], and behind them, Mr. Snell-, is-- (they didn't have any alto) is Roy Baker, and bringing up in the rear, like, the Drummers were-- why, it was Hilton. "Dogmor:th. " And then they had the two drums in back, a bass drum and the--- So we played in each town. We played Biddeford, we were all in York County, but that was big money then, two-fifty. 181 Up in Boston, when I was up there with my Aunt Grace, I played in that sma1I orchestra. FeIlow named Virelio form Har-
24 2262 028 vard was the pianist he was an excellent pianist. A fellow named "Gourlou" [spoken in heavy "Yiddish accent"] but his name was wer- "Goldberger" a generation ago. He was the the drummer. We played down Brown University, severa] times, down in Providence, and we played in Medford, and aII little gigs up there for dances, and we got five and therr if we stayed after midnight we got seven dollars and a half. On a new year's day up there I played in Arlington Town Hal1 with Sid Reinert's orchestra. Bie one, about twenty pieces. Full saxophone, four trombones, four trumpets, looked about like Lawrence Welk's orchestra. B: About what year would that have been? G: Oh, about nineteen-- Rieht after World War I, about 1920. B: About t92O G: Yeah. I vacuouslv. he seems to lose the traek l B: And that was with Sid Reinert',s on New Years Eve? And it Looked about like Lawrence welk's orchestra? [he doesn't hear, cups hand- to earl You were saying it looked about like Lawrence Welk's Orchestra? 200
G: No, but the instrumentation was B: the instrumentation was , yeah, yeah. G; No, we didn't have any uniforms, otr This, the big orches- tra up there then was Leo Reisman. Sid Reinert's was trying to
(lopy it, him, hi,s orchestra, and not buy anything. I laushter. as
"Jewish" expression. Accent. Rubs hands. I Ja, ja, ja. {or Ya, yfl, ya, ] This little Jewish drummer that played in our dance band, he,-- We had Piano, Breglio, Gould, il€ on trumpet and Saxophone. We had a guitar, made pretty good pl-aying. They gave
25 22 62 0 2 9 you a rest on the trumpet all night, that's pretty hard to play in a trio, or something, unless you've got an iron Iip. 2t3 I used to take kids around here to the circus, and I got a seat right'side the band, and then there'd be five or six cir- cuses and the hrrndred and one ranch, and Barnum and Bailey, Adam Fourpaw, I'd go out there early and work, putting the terrts Hp, and I got a seat right aside of the band, and these were, I had three daughters, made mostly girLs, and they'd have to-- we,d just get there and sit down to buy them all popcorn, and "I got to go the bathroorn! " I could have shot those kids, I know why they have child abuse now. [Iauehter] And, Oh, this carnival band, we really got so we could play, the time the sr.lmmer was over, and that's a crazy parade. f'd like to have movies of it, I got a picture of the carn--Did I show you a picture of the Carnival band? B: No, I don't believe you did. G: Yeah, yeah, oh right we're In a picture studio, all Iooking like that. fpantomimes a scared. stiff look] We did have caps and coats. And they'd open a trunk, and boy, mothball- smerr wourd come out of there. We'rl get a cap that woul-rln't fit, arrci aLso a coat that wouldn't f it, if it f itted they'd chanE;e it. [Iauehter]
Ldz,oDo But Mrs Sne1l, She played a hot trombone. Great big tall, lanky ord woman, and he had a furl beard, like the balr players have now. They were from either Waterville or Benton, Somewhere rieht around there. They must have played Waterville band. You never knew any SneL1s?
26 2262 080
B: No, I didn't know any SneIIs, nope. G: I knew a Bowie somewhere, did you have relatives in this part of the state at all'/ B: We1l, there were quite a few, not close relatives to mine, but quite a few Bowies that are related distantly. Yes Some in the Gardiner area, and some down arounri Brunswick, and yes. 246
[Gould is lookine throueh_hi,s notes and cue cards, They c.rntain names and kev words to sueeest stories he wants to tel-l. He had requested mv questions prior to the interview. so he could thinld of answers and -_!o-tsi_aE_- He geeJers to taf k about topics__a_s-lkley .:ross his mind. and doesn't, want to miss any of his favorite qf.ori aq l G: Oh, I started the Cape Elizabeth Fire department band, we had forty pieces, I taught twenty of them to play. It's pretty hrad, and we had a platform made in four sections, another fellow and I, the French Horn player, take it out.rncl put it up. Ftrt elec- tric lights around. We played for the town, w€ played for the Grange. We played two-three times a week, and finally one of the fellows that was a selectman, that played in the h,and, arrd he says they had a meeting last night, and this is right aft.er the Fourth of July, we hacl three bands. We split or-lrs up had the band down on the field, with a base baII team, and another band up on top of the school hou.se, up on a thing in the air, and we had another band, marching around. We had parachute jumpers, w€ had fellows riding through a fence set on fire on motorcycles, and we had thousands of people out here to the cape. As the headline on the paper said "SeLectmen vote to have no more Fourth
27 2262 03 r of JuIy celebrations at the Cape" tied up aII the traffic on that. So they had a meeting and one of the fellows in the band was at the meeting, he says they voted, and they opened the meeting the first selectmen saying: "Can't we have anything in this town without that God-damned band playing?" So he says, "I don't think we are appreciated." We played too much. We just wanted to play aII the time. 274 B: Sure. G: And we had paper mach6 hats, like African hats, what do you call, helmets, (B: mm-hmm) and white shirts, and a black bow tie, And I, we made enough money, we ran a l-ottery, "The Great Pond Navigation and Educational Socj-ety," and we'd sell these tickets, and turn all of the profit over, except ten dollars. So we'd get creeping up, and we'd ask the treasurer how much we had. We'd have two hundred doll-ars. All right, now let's get the unj_- forms, We'd get measured, so one fellow gets up , every time. Says lets vote on whether we get uniforms, or have another cLam- bake, so every time the clam bake wonl 288 We'd go out to Richmoncl's ls]and, Coast guard woul-d take us out there. We'd invite Chandlers Band, to come. Several of the members would. We had barre]s of beer, (B: Sure, ) carrying on the Coast Guard boat, se that Cape Elizabeth Fire Department band finally was dissolved, after the selectman said that. Dirty crack. Ichuck- 1l *- nLn{-^ ^'1 "- ^+ -- -^-l^^+ - he wants to talk about. I Let me see if I can find anything in here. 296 B: Okay,
28 2262 oBz
G: that might be of interest instruments] There's Tuba, Baritone, Trombone, Trumpet, crari- net. My mother made all the, she made the Tam-o' shanter nlaid, and we had the skirts, and they were, raffia for the hairpiece down in front. we played around theaters here in portlarrcl. LittIe cheap theaters, mostly movie theaters. B: Now you called that a Kiltie sextet? G: Kiltie sextet, yeah. B: Now about what year would that have been? G: That wourd be, we were in Hish schoor, it wourd be seventeen,
1917 .
B: Yeah. 309 G: fReadine his cue cards] Playing in Bo.ston, Cape Ellzabeth Fire Department band. R.B. HaIl, corby. carumet club. oh, for two years they had a thing called Junior Volunteers, and, we formed a band, the first year. Junior volunteers, and we prayed at Mara- nacook, lake Maranacook, in Augusta, while they Lrrought kirls in here fourteen to sixteen years ord, to learn how to farm, and sent'em up top Aroostook county. Thousands of kids, and it was run by the State of Maine, and we got a dollar a day when you went out and farmed, but the band stayed there until they-- The kids would stay a week, learn how to farm, then they'd ship ,em up to Presque rsre, Madawaska. And we formed a band there and the second year some of the fellows had graduated, and we had four Bangor fellows come. one of 'em prayed ruba, orre prayed trombone, Fellow named Devoe played French horn. And there was
29 2262 088 an Excellent trumpet prayer, came, those four ferlows. Then we all went on up to Limestone, where the, course there wasn't any frying up there then, but the whore band went there. course we used to play in the movj-e theaters. I wish I could remember the name of the Bangor fellows, They'd be, maybe about my age now. They prayed in the Band in Bangor. You ever heard of Devoe, French--343 B: Yeah, Irvy Devoe, sure. G: Was he French horn? B: Yeah. Itrumpet. actua]1vl G: Is he alive? B: No.
G; Suppl-y Belcher. You know about $upply Bel_cher? B: Rieht, 349 G: That sounds l-ike a feLlow that was going lforces a real]t eross belchl "Urpl" aII the time. IlauEhter] B: Well that is a funny o1d name. G: Varney, B: You had said when you talked to varney, that he, Mr. varney, sounded kind of "embittered" about the whole experience. G: Yeah, res, maybe it was because he wasn't mentionecl, and Hall was, but he revered Hal|s playing. Main thing was that they had watered down his marches.
B: Yeah, that they'd watered down so many of them, sure. 363
G: [Iookins in scrapbook] Oh, I had a saxophone quartet. We prayed churches, woodfords cl-ub, all- over, Lions cl-ub, so forth. Had raccoon coats and derby hats, and a baritone (saxophone) that was, had two oet,ave keys on it, trsecl to make a fe]row's finger
30 ?262 034 bleed. Denny Wadsworth, he was the cashier in the bank, and we played the Woodfords club. And I'd get a gag to go, each time we'd keep going back to the same club, to have something; new. So we had aLl these six Brown brothers music, and Rigey dig music and so I had a starters pistol aII loaded with the cartridges, and we were playing at the Woodford's c1rrb, five or six hundred men, all sittirrg there, getting ready for tkre sllpper. We're up en the stage. (B:Right) Saxophone, they introduce us , the saxo- phone quartet. So most of the Brown Brothers pieces started like the introduction to a march. This one's like [sines] Da ta Da, tadum ta dum ta dum, I go Bang! Bang! Jesus, d gux keels right over, in the front row. Has an attack, but we don't stop, we keep playing, (B: Iaughter) So they asked us not to come again. i92 There was another thing it brought to mind, about that saxo- ph.rne quartet, These things seem to expire, after a while. The fellows in the quartet didn't know what I was going to do. They was, they thought, Of course a starter's pistol makes as mu(lh noise as a--(B: sr-tre) More noise cause its, nc,thing t,o c()me out, of it except noise.
" I elancirre at cue card_l " 18 12 viit,h tw+ pai r ijf p.r-rrt F " I ref er-.i ttr a ioke he trrl rJ earl i er whl I er tlre f,ao+: w.q s stc,ppecl . Orsani st haq anni dont 'in nrn*c rrlron d.r nf # in 1R1? f\rrar*,.-o ^ihhAhc Conductor then reouires oreanist to brins a spa.re pair of pants f-n t-ho novf nnnnar* l The name of that pianist with my Aunt was Ethyt Lejinska, and she had a man's haircut, and a man' s suit coat way back then,
31 2262 035 and smoked a cigarette with a holder as long as that. [eestures about a foot and a halfl She was a Russian. B: Russian? G: And a concert pianist, and also she was a conductor, she'cl been there to conduct the symphony in Boston, so she was of some standing. B: And you spell that L-I- G: L-E- B: L-E-
G: G-I-N- S-K-A- And you heard of Ruth $t. Denys, and B:Yeah. 422
G: I sunk on a ship. Tire ALlison. Fellow named Wild BilI Feeny played clarinet, and he prayed it so hard that a crarinet would last him about a year before he'd bite through the mouthpiece.
(B' sure, yeah) he'd hold his teeth on it, and these were made grenadilla wood then, (B: yeah) no plastic or metal. 4Zg So he and I took a trip aboard this ship that was built here in Portrand, the Allison. This was after worrd war r. rt sank down the Deraware Breakwater, they said we were responsibre, w€ had-- I had my trumpet, and he had his clarinet, and we usecl to get on the back deck, it was a freighter, we werce going to New- port News. To load coaL to England, that's like you say "carry- ing coal to Newcastle" (B: Sure) That's what we were going to do. Fortunately the gol darn thing sank in the DeLaware Break- water, and we got taken off by a Navy tug. I,m glad we didn,t get the coal-. But they had said it was bad l-uck to have musi- cians on a freighter. 448 B: Bacl ]uck Lu have musiclans-- That's one f ,d never heard
32 2262 0s6
G: mm-hmm. And another thing, w€ played for, a saxophone quar- tet, played for Governor Horace Hildreth, when he was running for senator against Margaret chase smith. He'd go around and speak, we'd play outside of it. we're down to Harpswell, and alL around cumberrand cor.rnty, and one night they served us scalroped clams, and they got all in our mouth, and got on to the reed, pretty bad, and it sounded so bad that Horace Hitdreth, cause he didn't win, he thought it was the orch--group, that had licked irim. llauehter] Thought it was a curse. B: Well harrg on just a second, and I'm going to put irr a fresh tape in here, We've just abont run out. 47I [End of tape interview continued on next tape]
*******t(x*x**x ***x****.*t(* x xt()t( x(*I(*x**x *t 33 2262 03? oboe, second daughter played clarinet, third daughter played French horn, and I would play trumpet. And they had cards: "Dear Dad, I have practiced one hour today. " And Saturday, come $aturday we'd all meet in the music room. Mrs. Goul-d gritting her teeth and the kids alr giesring and raughing, and they're ar1 taking it just as seriously as a funeral. Heh, heh, 021 And the clarinet player wouldn't have the right reed, the oboe player's reed wouldn't open up, the French horn player couldn't find the mouth piece. This-- So unless they tnrned in six cards they didn't get their allowance. And this, I was serious, and r was getting uglier and uglier, not trying to show it. I wanted to show Mr. Bowie the cabinet out there, that held all this music, and then in the bottom of the cabinet I had records of how it was supposed to sound. WeII this solfdge thing, I'd like to know more about it and if it can be taught, or if it's according to your genes. But memorizing a melody line, to me, comes quite easy. I have a-- ilve been making duets on tape, some with trumpet and saxophone, this is after I'm eighty years ord. r pray the merody, and then on another tape I play that one and over-ride it with a harmony, and sometimes it sounds real bad. TJh-- I made a tape "opus Four" And r start in and I play like Beautiful crhio with the t,wo in- struments, and it come out pretty good and I says: "WeIl, weII, we1l. Here you have an old man sitting in a big house all al-one I,m praying the melody on a trumpet and the harmony on the saxo- phoner or vice-versa. Here's an ol,d man in a house playing with himself. I'm going to caII this tape 'Masturbation Number Four, opus Threel'" Ha, Ha, Hal []auehterl r sent it around to every- 34 2262 038 body. 044 B: Sent that around to everybodyl [eeneral lauehter] G: The women didn't like it. B: No, f guess probabl-y not. G: Your voice, your wife's voice ls quite charming on the phr-rne. If you've been in business as long as I have and talk with people on the phone, the voice makes a lot of difference. She sounds very friendly, and all she said was "hello. " But the tone of it was, -- 052 Oh. I was in Kiwanis club here in Cape, when I first moved here, and Kiwanis club had "Kiwanis Capers" every year, and I played trumpet soIo, a standard trumpet solo and we had a trumpet player frorn the fifth infantry played a duet with me. They had a band out here at the fort, that is a regiment that was estab- Iished in the Portland Harbor around 1938, before World War Two. And this trumpet player was named Vladimir Orlov. And he could play the fiddle too. Sc I had a connactir--'n with s mu=i': rr-ipplixr that sold all kinds of instruments, some cheapie ones. But he had a ten-dollar violin. So I would get Lrp an act where I would get up and introduce Vladimir Orlov, and it's hard to get him to see what was funny, 'fact it was hard to get the audience to see what was funny. And I took the violin and sawed halfway through it, and- I had., I think I ordered for-rr r:ii r*itir il..Llliis Wr: iilr.il f i:;iig more nights to play. And when he--he had a wig on-- and we'd take the violin, and I hadn't sawed it quite enough, and I'd beat him and beat him. FinaLl-y, it was just a beating thing, what I wanted it to do was break and the strings all come up. So the 35 2262 089 next night I sawed it through, just to the sounding board, and it reaIIy broke that night. And it come down, cut him all up on the side of the face. He was a mad Russianl That left me with two fiddles, Nobody woul-d take it back. llauehter] The first night where it didn't break, it knocked the hell out of his scalp, but then when it did it scratched down over here. [eesticulates with fineers. a grotesque scratching of face and neck.] Vladimir Orlov. 078 B: Vladimir Orlov. G: He was pretty mad about the whole thing. He cot:l-dn't under- stand why anybody would break a violin, even if 'twas a bad one. Did you ever study solfdge? B: Sure. G: Where, &t Colby? B: At Colby, yeah. G: Who taught it? B: WeIl, Peter R6 taught it, at the time. G: Peter R6? B:Peter R6, yeah. He was a good teacher. I had him for a teach- €r, and I had, of course, Ermanno Comparetti for a teacher for a while. G: Ermanno sat right in that chai-r, and had supper with us a couple of times. My daughter played oboe. She was graduated from Colby. She went three years to Eastman, and got fed up. Said she heard any more music, she'd never want to hear it. She played in the-- $he was second oboist in the Rochester symphony, and first oboist in the school musicr so that's when she trans- ferred her senior year to Colby, and that's how I happened to 36 2262 040 give 'em that shell there. B: Sure. G: Mr. $trider was the president then. Went up there and had dinner with him two or three times. He was a Democrat. I was afraid he was going to poison my supper. B: And so you gave them the shell, um--? G: The shell was here in South Portland. B: It was here in South Portland. Now where had it been? G: I bought it from the City. B: You bought it from the City-- G: And hired men to take it apart, and number each part. And my-- We had a trailer, then, big low bed. And took it up there and gave them the paint, Rustoleum, to do it. And got an archi- tect to do the Hatch shelr. (B: mm-hmm) And they did the sounding boards on the thing. I don't know whether you ever heard anybody play in it, but acoustically its pretty good. B: Yeah, its nice. lts a nice shel-l aeoustically. The second R. B. HaIl Day festival was held there. I think that would have been '82, maybe. G: Do you think you can teach people Solfdge? B: Sure. With varying resu]ts, depending on the people. G: But some peopLe must grasp-- B; Some people pick it up right away, some people it takes forev- er. 109 the interview- Thev were on cards and printed wi th a black marker in half-inch aapital letters- Bv usine a stronE maenifv- 37 ?^262 041 inct olrqq ha nazA *ham -c ha fallrar{ l Music book Cabinet. We're going to look at that when we go out in the other room. B: Yeah, we'11 look at it, yeah. G: Six Links I mentioned, Percy Grainger I mentioned, Svetlova and Dorlanov, When I was manager of the Symphony, I hit a biggie. Putting the Orchestra down on the floor, and I , in the list of Artists available there was Svetlova and Dorlanov. I says: "Aye, dy€, aye!" There she was Premier ballerina. B: Sure. G: In the Metropolitan at that time. Or, irrst before that, time. She was on her way down. And Dorlanov was her partner. So they were going to come here and, g€e, the tickets were selling pretty good. Everybody was interested in the dancing. The Symphony aLone never drew very many people. So they came, and she was a beautiful thing, Iike most ballerinas alre, and he was a rough Russian, and he said: [mimicking a sour expression and a rough impatient voicel "Where do you get the beer?" And this, one of the violinists, Elmer Hinners, was manager of the $herwin Williams place, and he says; "We'II go get'em some beer." So we come out of the City Hal-I, right, w€ had to go three of four streets, and we says we'd get 'em some Budweiser, so we get two packs of Budweiser. It was almost time for them to g-- for the Symphony to get on. They weren't ready to go on. So we come back, and we says: "We, took us quite a while, and we wanted to get you Budweiser. " He said: [roush voice as before] "I hate BudweiserI" Ilauehter] 134 After we'd gone th-- so we gave'em the beer. And the crowd 38 2262 042 went wild about 'em. They did the Nutcracker suite, so we hired 'em again, for the next winter. And we put on a l-obster feed for Svetlova. He was a bit nicer this time. "I hate Budweiser!" I thought the God-damned Russian was lucky to get the thirty dol- Iars. Ilauehter] B: What year, what years were you involved as manager for the Symphony, for the Portland? G: From the start of World War Two to the end of it. The, from the Forties. B: Just through the World War Two years, then? Yeah. G: That's wherr I was manager of Maine Music Camp. That's when I ran , I was manager of two or three housing projects. I don't know how I ever did so many things. I47 B: Isentle lauehter] G: Portland Symphony. I got them out of-- Paid off all the bills and when I gave up as manager I-- One thing: I wasn't of caliber to pl-ay in the Syrnphony, unless Tuba, I could do all right on that. I'd get into the percussion section, was a triangle player a couple of times, kind of degrading. And did I te]l you, that we didn't only had one bassoon, and he wasn't very good. So I got a bass clarinet, I rented it and I'd only had it for twc-> days, and Dr. RusseII Ames Cooke was the Director, came from Boston. Nice, nice, nice man. And he says, after the rehearsal, he says:"Ralph, why don't you just play in the double F passages." [lauehter] That's all he said. I knew that-- Oh I did ask him, How do you put this curved neck on the-- He didn't think I was a master of the instrument. So I got out. Portland Sympho- 39 2262 049 ny. 165 f readi no hi q nr^,tcq, .ao.ai n nl nnlzq ahi mi nrr 'i n *lea hralzorar"n.l l Svetrova and Dorlanov, offendor Band, oh in the cellar! Band in Cellar. Twenty piece band we used to rehearse down ceIlar. B: Rieht down cellar, this house? G: Yes, but this house is onl-y excavated halfway through, so some of 'em were behind the furnace. Some of us from Skowhegan, the customers coming down here, and poor Mrs. Gould, she stood it. B indicate a humorous intent in the tell-ine of the abovel G: [readine] Aunt Grace, I guess that's aIL Oh and these, I just made Names of things I got irrterested in, pr,-rbably wouldn't be of interest to anybody eIse. t78 Oh, IhadaSalzedo art colony up to Maine Music Camp, twice. The story I think is in the envelope, there. Iindicates a l-arpe brown enverl ooe+ of clippinss and memorabilia l B: Okay. G: Four harpists from Camden, B; Rieht. G: sarzedo was would f amous (B; oh, yes.) harpi.st anci-- I did a tape with he, on the thins, and he had great pronlrnciation, he was Spanish, and he liked those girls. The harpist,s seerned to be more for beauty than for music. And I recorded four harps. salzedo said, this was before there was any amateur recording, ,says "You'II never get it. " But the f loor in the Farmington hall was enough vibration so that it came out pretty good. Now they've got another group up there, of classicar music, a wood- wind quartet, and sextet. 40 2262 044 B: You mean up there in Camden. or up there in Farmington? G: Up in Rockport. B: Up in Rockport, at the same pl-ace as the Salzedo used to go, yes. 200 G: We had a, we were giving a concert in $outh Portland City Hall, and in it was quite a lot of crlarinet work. WeIl a week before the concert we'd hired WaLter Srnith. He was a trumpet soloist from Boston. He had his own band, and he was on the radio all the time, and so our solo clarinetist was an electrical engineer, name was Wes Gray and he was building an electri_c organ. This is before Hammond had it, and three olr four days before the concert he had his mouth go like that [makes s]ack mouthed facel He had Be]l's pal-sy, you ever heard of it? B: BeII's palsy, y€s. G: werl we needed him. r didn't want to go hire another fel"l-ow. So we-- At a rehearsal, we put the clarinet he held it in his mouth. I said: "Hord it just like you're going to." I took mask- ing tape, that Duct tape, (B: yeah) and taped his [beeinnine to make faces and laush as _he_t_c]Is itl --tapecl his horrr t,r_r fuip. It came apart agairr, so he pl.tyed the LrLrn-- had to go out at inter- mission, take it of f , pretty rrear pullecl his skin of f . Eh, ha, ha, heh-ho! B: Ho, ho, Poor guy! But it worked? G: Fortunately it wasn't too painful, but, rro strength in the muscle, so he could pucker up on it at all. I puckered hirn upl And we got through, by, with it. warter smith did ask what was the matter with the clarinetist, but-- [makes face of crarinet 47 2262 045 embouchure, with rips out of prace. and hords it with handsl I lauehter] B: I can see thisl [lauehter] G: "Taped up SoIo Clarinet. " IlauEhter] That's pretty rude. 227 E; I gu*s= sc'. Ncw .ttror-rt, wirn-t-. lrelc-t w*r-:-1il th.q-t li,r_v* tr**tr, Jr_t-qi t* kind of place it in terms of history? G: Well rrnless you can t,hink of anything more-- B: WelI just, um--[looks at notes] (I guess not) We were talking about Ha1l a little while flEo, arrcl I was wr_irrclerl_rig lf Ll.ny*r!* eve said to you what [IalI's specific inf irmity was, t]rat made hirn lame, or sickly? Did anyone ever say that G: No, it apparently came on him when he was an adult. It doesn't mention, never heard anything about it when he was grow- ing up and starting the bands there, and playing in was it Bowdoinham? B: Yeah. Richmond, Bowdoinham, yeah. G; He took ressons r think in Lewiston or Auburn. (B: Right) was his first teacher, but you don't hear anything mentioned of his infirmities, tiII he gets up and is playing at Colby. So he,s mature t,hen, he This dentist in Brurrswick, that r sperrt some time with, when-- he was real ord then, ninety. Given Lrp prrac- tice, but he had such a memory of HalI. I hope you,re able to find those boat things'cause I think that's an addition to show that the man was a craftsman. And Roundy told me about other things that he made, some furniture. (B: y€s,and,) So, I make clocks. I made 170 Clocks, I thought I'm probably more 1ike HaIl_ on craftsmanship than musicj_anship. 42 2262 046 Let's go out in the-- 257 B: Okay, well thank you very much for your contribution to our knowledge, and our tradition, our oral tradition. Thank you very much. G: WeIl, I think that the material that Ocy Downes has turned over, that you'II find some interesting things on Maine Music Camp, and the opera trip. And thank you for asking me. B: Oh, It's been a pleasure. 262 [tape stopped. End of Interview. ] t(*X**X*t plavins. I 265 B: I've heard quite a bit about the Al-penhorn, and. This alpenhorn is Iabeled at the bottom: S. K. I. V. Sektion Oberland 1945 Nr. 131 Fabrikant H. Steck Unterseen. $o its about, I would say about sixteen to eighteen feet long, [actuallv more like fourteen, from its pit_ch_l and the mouthpiece is about the size of the trombone mouthpiece. The beII at the end is about seven inches, and its made of, apparently cedar, with the root section at the end that cu.rves up. Wrapped in rattan, and there's a split in the middle, a ferrule in the middle, that Mr. Gould had made in the instrument in order to 43 2262 047 G: That's not split, it was sawed in half. B: Sawed in half for shipping, when it came, and it G: Threaded so I can take it apart. B: Its threaded. There, and what we'll do is set this microphone over here and play a few notes on the Alpenhorn. 289 --wound up about enough I think it will probably work about that leveI. G: Gi-ve her Hel1l 292 Ha, ha, ha, ha. [ "Music" ] G: Now There's something about that that's like a French horn. fTrles to check pitch with piano. which is out of tune- l G: Is that it? B: Yeah, F-sharp G: What's That Note? B: F-sharp G: ft's D B: Coul-d be a G [It is in fact an F-sharp. GWB] fMore music, excerpt from Midsummer Night's Dream, then Reveille] G You got a pedal note, last time you were here. 327 Below that. B: lP]ays pedaL notel G: That's the same thing as the other one, though an octave above that. B: Yeah, still F-sharp. The pedaL note is F-sharp, according to your piano. Mieht, might actually be, might be an F. G: F? B: um-- Well if, that piano might be a smidge off. G: [Tries some notes on the piano, a bit of C-scale. ] 44 2262 048 B: Yeah, that's a C, there, yeah. [Can't get Alpenhorn to play a C. which proves it is in a sharp kev. l G: There must be some relation, either to the Bore, or to the length of it, or to the taper. To have it act like a French horn, when you get way up in that upper register. B: Oh, yeah. Well-- G: You can almost play a chromatic scale. B: Its just like a French horn, it's-- G: Is it? Does it have to do with the-- B: Yeah, it is, it really is, cause its the conical- taper. Yeah, it's conical the whole length of it, G: That's the way-- French horn length, stretched out? B: Yeah. G: Must be about the same l-ength of this. B: Just about, iust about. I'd say this does act an awful lot like a French horn. [p1ays, hieh notes] Ha, ha. That's kind of forcing it. 355 G: Were you using great pressure at the time? B: No, [pats stomach muscles] Breath. G: yeah? B: Not much lip pressure. AII "diaphragm. " G: You draw in? You draw in? B: Actually I press out. Give me yollr hand, 's like this: [B places G's hand over his (Bowie's) abdominal muscles, between Navel and $olar plexus. with moderately firm contact. Physical demonstration of the Charles Colin "Tense Protruded Diaphraem" technieue as he plavs up the partials of the Alpenhorn. I 360 45 2262 04g G: Is that from your nose? B: Its from the "dlaphragm. " G: Now, whatr JZou intake? B: "Hoosh" [demonstrates the "short stabbv breath" (intercostal diaphraenatic method. instant complete breath)l G: You're taking air ln through your nose? B: No. G: You can't bl-ow--? Where's the air coming from? B: I take in the whole air supply, which is seven liters. In other words I fill my whole lungs, and then I use the stomach muscles to create the internal pressure for the upward notes. G: Do they teach like Dizzy Gillespie's cheeks coming out, now for the trumpet players? 372 B: No, that's a bad habit. G: No. Yeah. Always was: "keep your cheeks in. " B: Yeah, keep your cheeks in, and breathe from low, flpats stomach musclesl down here. G: From the diaphragm, that is, isn't it?. B: That's right, from the "diaphragm." [plays] mmm. G: You played reveille, does that part of the scal-e come easier, the lower part? B: Sure. Well, the l-ower part is down here in the bugle cal-l range. G: That pedal note must be-- B: [plays, then reveille] G: That's about the same tone as a baritone. B: [plays. middle, then higher notes] Welt its up there some- place. 402 46 ?-262 050 G: [LauEhter] B: [p]-ays, exploring, 1ip trllLs, then "Theme from Moulin Rouge"l G: and B: [uproarious lauEhter] G: Your wife would say don't do that again. B: She probably would, that's right. It sounds-- But its kind of fun, if you're used to it, blowing a long i-nstrument like that G: You know, you can imagine four Swiss fellows, two on one AIp two on the other. Playing. It must sound beautiful. 417 B: That would be absolutely great! Sure would! [plays Beetho- ven, then explores a few classic type licks, tries a little vibratol 436 B: Oh, from Siegfried: G: You know? B: [p]ays Siegfrled, but horn is in the wrong key to finishl No, that's not in the same key. G: It wouldn't be too difficul-t to write a "Little Rondo for Alpenhorn. " B: Not at a]l. G: I mean, you get into that center where it blows a litt1e easier. 447 B: Yeah. [plays, extemporizing a "Little Rondo for A]-penhorn"l G: Some time, if you've got something going on at the University, you eoul-d come down and borrow this, take it apart, and pfay lt, that little piece there you just did is--- unless its a street job. B: WeIl, that's a wonderful offer. Well, rro it woul-dn't be a street Job, believe--- put the end on a wheel, Iike a little 47 9262 051 wheel dolly, and go down the street with it, but I don't think that would be too producti-ve. B: That's a beautiful instrumentl G: I think you can get it in a car. With that strengthened enough with the way I threaded it. There',s no damag;e from being s--, you'd think it would ruin the tone of it. 487 t l-ape_ :un s--_q u!-l^rh"L,Lc_ c onve r s at i on i s i n pro gr e :; s e--fu-r!he r -ll ma_t_elial on_ tape. nothirrg orr_side_L:s!-r:l 4B 2262 052 T -f F&rr.ortr /7 t :C , ? ?Z 4n ,r{r",,.- t_t,1,< t?,4rru Gouro TT /U/"" ea+te- / r,-e e/qce i ruloTf , f /z-/7/oru/ T! ir;; ;;; o+L Fz-t ,;("');: r-aui/u/ ,-- /a u)s)t a t at|zazter Z '/ a 4,* *ot ,.',, ,4o.y'ru*/ //u 1r'1 ool -oo{ /" t< a *e- o-/.Je- .b,z * s a-r"l 4o en// .s 4o ./t, n nl {rr"_ a Z .o-*n , o-n{ d/- *tora rLrg lua-s Lnt/. nl a oJ n*^ I r..z-;-.-- 04- F=-L /Z ,,,'(- nr / "l-,L cz-<. F.,' f -e rF. B-^( /Z.ro./t--- riD - * . y'4^. /dl /2 L-e-h FT J f ",/nt l" |{l ra c 4 l,R ;D D IJl 3 { I { {t {t rn t lnrtn4 t ^.{ A;.. l-r',^n- Jtl Fornrf 9f Q"fE(,*hh i t 3:oe 7 a. 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Q lso /" q.Z5 t A Ca-t-a O /^.----Z h.uz-"--4-+\- t /J u a>\---z-L- o--11/\-z-l q Zo {/s ?o fu( rce4 f €^-4 o.-ye--.- /g ea/?-a 2a Lr^--+ C.a4-/ azz.t-t-zz L- a- ,oA a ,y'r, ,-.-o /. ,. o.aI Ed v I v t v i v I lz t t> rl a.2\ gs0 z9zz 2262 I 050 I 3/tt/ qt Jo :C u,'.,* il*( p t, Go u t) il t t C C a :ilt a C- L C a C O Die ,t tr c-9 J a-t Z- ^4^-+ € A*o* b Z {-L,*^4 L\ € , "/";^-< G la (} a G G (E (e (E t4- tu fu-";-e- o 3cp c 4/ e- ao/t- ( G /r,e /^f,-- ^-,./.zf*r_f--( &_- /.-\_ C p.t - /{o' ,*n*r# "/ zJ--- l"* - la !F p r^1rrt 1\. 4 r, 6--.,-,* .1 i;- /,,44;-,7 . tt 2262 T o5z T a C C 4z (-t) J,/ n*-/. 'l-- /)(r il U- -^^A a-c il /-l u *.---(, + t / C aV1^- C a ;rj,-'h 4n- V /--,r/- /r4-L u42 il 9*-x Baa+ .O re-8 ( f 7 t (o yrs a 1o oa" ( )ry 1a e //. ,^'-,"!.-( //; o-?"o( C aZ*/ Ja'le o(a J c--.- C /^^Z //"- ; a^ L4)M-- C O G J."I ,t-, D a2 t) /aTd D ID e! (e G G ,3 G (g G G G G f, c C G C I G G Fizo^ ( q6.g- 7Z D t-t 4c, Dy * Bo oKLer 2262 RALPH T. GOULD 05g Honorary Chairman Ralph T. Gould of Cape Elizabeth, Maine was born on September 12, 1900 in Lewiston, Maine and has for many years proven himself to be an R. B. Hall enthusiast. Playing trumpet and tuba in many bands since 1912 has made him keenly aware of the New England band tradition. He is a former member and manager of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, yachtsman, restorer of antique automobiles, and wood craftsman, in the best Maine tradition. In 1949, Mr. Gould established a trust fund for an annual Award for Youdt in Music. In 1960, he gave over a period of more than thirty yeam. heard his band in concerts and at Colby commencements. Made several trips to Richmond and visited his birthplace at Bowdoinham. Had several meetings with the late Dr. Browne (dentist) of Brunswick, a close relative of Hall, who gave me quite a lot of R. B.'s manuscript which I turned over to the State of Maine Library...Dr. Browne had three half models in his woodshed just as R. B. had made them. I offered to clean them up, varnish them and mount them on pine back boards, and I engraved sterling silver plates, stating as to what they were and who made them. Apparently R. B. was a very good craftsman and did build a boat or two when he was at Kineo on Moosehead a couple of summers...am sure rhat someone should look up these models and they should be with the rest of his memorabilia in the museum. Believe Ransom Kelley of Boothbay might be aware of where they might be, his wife was a relative of R. B. Hall. I have a 8x10 glossy of the three half models." Besides writing an article on R. B. Hall for the October 1967 issue of Down East magazine, Mr. Could wrote manuscript histories of the bands of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth (some nine of them) now in the Library of the Maine Historical Society in Portland. Fortunately, individuals like Ralph T. Gould have had the foresight to preseryg data on 19th cenury bands and specifically the legacy of R. B. Hall. We all feel a sense of gratitude toward him for his contributions. notes by Robert Hudson 2262 o5g March 4, 7992 Mr. Ralph Gould 31 Forrest Road Cape Elizabeth, Maine O4LOT Dear Ral-ph, Thank you so much for a1lowing me to visit you last month and sharing your recollections and reminiscences and recollec- tions with me. I especially enjoyed hearing about your early days in business, and your early experiences in band music. seeing your photo albums was fun and informative, too. Having chance to try my lip on your? Alphorn, with your hand-made wooden mouthpieces, was a special treat. During that visit we discussed the possibility of making a tape recorded interview for the Northeast Archives of Folklore and orar History. The area of topicar interest wourd be your participation in and recol-lections of, various bands in Maine, ds well as your interest in R.B. HaII leading to your fine articre in the october 1967 Downeast Magazine, and your support of the Deering High School 1964 recording of Hall's marches. I,d also like to include a Iittle about your support for the Music Camp at Farmington, and Colby's music program for archival purposes. I wonder if it woul-d be possible for me to visit (with my tape recorder) on Friday March 20 or saturday March 2L? rn hopes that this will be possible, r am enclosi-ng a list of the ques- tions that I,d like to include on the interview. This doesn't have to be exclusive, though, and if there's anything else that you would Iike to include, or if there is any area you would like to skip or Leave out, that is al-r right, too. r would anticipate the session wourd take about one hour of actuar interviewing. I'11 give you a call- in a week or so, to see if this will be all right with you. Sincerely, Gordon W. Bowie 22 62 0 6 0 POTENTIAL QUESTIONS FOR TAPED ]NTERVIEW This interview is intended for the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History, where it will be made available, by permission, to scholars in appropriate fields of interest. Is that all right with you? About how old are you, Mr. Goul-d? And have you lived in Maine most of your life? As we]l- as being a successful businessman, )zor have been strongly associated with participation in and support for music. How did you get started in music? In your yeaLs at the University of Maine you played in the band, not only tuba, but cornet and saxophone too. TeIl us a little about the band in those days. Do you remember any particular people? You said you know Rudy Vallee. Was he already famous at that time? What was he like, to know? Are there any interesting stories you'd like to telI about those days in the University Band? After you graduated, did you keep up with band music? When you were first in business, were there many opportunities to plav? 2262 061 How about Harold J Crosbf? In your estimation, what was the biggest obstacle to Ha11's success? How did you come into possession of the Ha}1 Photographs? (The portraits of HalI, Mrs. Hall (Izzie,) HaII's Mother, the house at Abagadassett point?) How about the manuscripts that were with the material you donated to the State Archives, which is now at Bagaduce? How did you come to donate your Hall memorabiLia to the Maine State Archives? Did you ever talk to Tom BardwelL about R. B. Ha]]? Do you think that HaIl's influence has any special meaning for the community bands of Maine? Nowadays you also pay a falr bit of attention to the Orchestras in Maine. FOLLOW UP AS YOU WISH What do you think the future holds for music in a sparsely popu- Iated state like Maine. ANY OTHER TOPIC YOU WOULD t]KE TO INCLUDE Thank you very much for your contribution to knowledge about our local- musical traditlon and to Maine Oral History. 2268 063 When you were on the road for so many years for Gou1d Eeuiprnent, it is said that you used to carry a cornet in your car and sit in with local bands wherever you went. Is this really how it was? What different bands can you remember? Are there any people who especlally stand out in your mind? Are there any stories from those band associations that stand out in your mlnd? Do you have any recollections of: The Portland Cadet Band? The Lewlston Brlgade Band? Chandlers Band? Romano's Band? Waterville Military Band? Drew's 'Band in Watervllle? Did you ever visit the Bangor Band? Ellsworth Band? CherryfieLd Band? (Charlie Wakefield certainly knew who you are. ) ETC FOR AS MANY BANDS AS WE CAN THINK OF TOGETHER How did you first become associated with the musj-c camp? And how long did that involvement last? Do you remember: F.G. Shaw? Heywood S.Jones? Stanley Cayting? Adelbert W. Sprague? ANY OTHER NAMES YOU CAN THINK OF FROM THAT ERA 2262 068 How did you come to donate the Gould Shell to Colby? What about the collection of nineteenth century instruments? You wrote an outstanding biographical appreciation of R. B. HalI for the October 1967 Downeast Magazine. At that time you probabl-y knew more about HalI than anybody. When and how did you begin to be interested in R. B. Hal-I? Do you think he holds a special interest for Maine bandsmen? (Why/why not? ) When you were researching for the Downeast article, did you get to meet many of HaIl's former bandsmen? FOLLOW UP ON ANY NAMES YOU MENTION When you were talking with Jim Varney, did he ever teII some interesting stories about Hal1' finaL years? Did he ever tell about the bachelor party or banquet for haII's wedding? Did he ever tell you anything about Mrs. HaII? Did you ever meet Mrs. HaII? ALice Ha]1 Thurl-ow? Any of HalI's other relatives? Hall was always characterized as being infirm, lame, sickly as a youth, etc. Did anyone ever say what HaII's specific infirmities or illnesses were? And did you talk to Arthur Roundy about Hall? 2262 0 4 local musical tradition and to Maine OraI History ?262 034 bleed. Denny Wadsworth, he was the cashier in the bank, and we played the Woodfords club. And I'd get a gag to go, each time we'd keep going back to the same club, to have something; new. So we had aLl these six Brown brothers music, and Rigey dig music and so I had a starters pistol aII loaded with the cartridges, and we were playing at the Woodford's c1rrb, five or six hundred men, all sittirrg there, getting ready for tkre sllpper. We're up en the stage. (B:Right) Saxophone, they introduce us , the saxo- phone quartet. So most of the Brown Brothers pieces started like the introduction to a march. This one's like [sines] Da ta Da, tadum ta dum ta dum, I go Bang! Bang! Jesus, d gux keels right over, in the front row. Has an attack, but we don't stop, we keep playing, (B: Iaughter) So they asked us not to come again. i92 There was another thing it brought to mind, about that saxo- ph.rne quartet, These things seem to expire, after a while. The fellows in the quartet didn't know what I was going to do. They was, they thought, Of course a starter's pistol makes as mu(lh noise as a--(B: sr-tre) More noise cause its, nc,thing t,o c()me out, of it except noise. " I elancirre at cue card_l " 18 12 viit,h tw+ pai r ijf p.r-rrt F " I ref er-.i ttr a ioke he trrl rJ earl i er whl I er tlre f,ao+: w.q s stc,ppecl . Orsani st haq anni dont 'in nrn*c rrlron d.r nf # in 1R1? f\rrar*,.-o ^ihhAhc Conductor then reouires oreanist to brins a spa.re pair of pants f-n t-ho novf nnnnar* l The name of that pianist with my Aunt was Ethyt Lejinska, and she had a man's haircut, and a man' s suit coat way back then, 31 2262 035 and smoked a cigarette with a holder as long as that. [eestures about a foot and a halfl She was a Russian. B: Russian? G: And a concert pianist, and also she was a conductor, she'cl been there to conduct the symphony in Boston, so she was of some standing. B: And you spell that L-I- G: L-E- B: L-E- G: G-I-N- S-K-A- And you heard of Ruth $t. Denys, and B:Yeah. 422 G: I sunk on a ship. Tire ALlison. Fellow named Wild BilI Feeny played clarinet, and he prayed it so hard that a crarinet would last him about a year before he'd bite through the mouthpiece. (B' sure, yeah) he'd hold his teeth on it, and these were made grenadilla wood then, (B: yeah) no plastic or metal. 4Zg So he and I took a trip aboard this ship that was built here in Portrand, the Allison. This was after worrd war r. rt sank down the Deraware Breakwater, they said we were responsibre, w€ had-- I had my trumpet, and he had his clarinet, and we usecl to get on the back deck, it was a freighter, we werce going to New- port News. To load coaL to England, that's like you say "carry- ing coal to Newcastle" (B: Sure) That's what we were going to do. Fortunately the gol darn thing sank in the DeLaware Break- water, and we got taken off by a Navy tug. I,m glad we didn,t get the coal-. But they had said it was bad l-uck to have musi- cians on a freighter. 448 B: Bacl ]uck Lu have musiclans-- That's one f ,d never heard 32 2262 0s6 G: mm-hmm. And another thing, w€ played for, a saxophone quar- tet, played for Governor Horace Hildreth, when he was running for senator against Margaret chase smith. He'd go around and speak, we'd play outside of it. we're down to Harpswell, and alL around cumberrand cor.rnty, and one night they served us scalroped clams, and they got all in our mouth, and got on to the reed, pretty bad, and it sounded so bad that Horace Hitdreth, cause he didn't win, he thought it was the orch--group, that had licked irim. llauehter] Thought it was a curse. B: Well harrg on just a second, and I'm going to put irr a fresh tape in here, We've just abont run out. 47I [End of tape interview continued on next tape] *******t(x*x**x ***x****.*t(* x xt()t( x(*I(*x**x *t 33 2262 03? oboe, second daughter played clarinet, third daughter played French horn, and I would play trumpet. And they had cards: "Dear Dad, I have practiced one hour today. " And Saturday, come $aturday we'd all meet in the music room. Mrs. Goul-d gritting her teeth and the kids alr giesring and raughing, and they're ar1 taking it just as seriously as a funeral. Heh, heh, 021 And the clarinet player wouldn't have the right reed, the oboe player's reed wouldn't open up, the French horn player couldn't find the mouth piece. This-- So unless they tnrned in six cards they didn't get their allowance. And this, I was serious, and r was getting uglier and uglier, not trying to show it. I wanted to show Mr. Bowie the cabinet out there, that held all this music, and then in the bottom of the cabinet I had records of how it was supposed to sound. WeII this solfdge thing, I'd like to know more about it and if it can be taught, or if it's according to your genes. But memorizing a melody line, to me, comes quite easy. I have a-- ilve been making duets on tape, some with trumpet and saxophone, this is after I'm eighty years ord. r pray the merody, and then on another tape I play that one and over-ride it with a harmony, and sometimes it sounds real bad. TJh-- I made a tape "opus Four" And r start in and I play like Beautiful crhio with the t,wo in- struments, and it come out pretty good and I says: "WeIl, weII, we1l. Here you have an old man sitting in a big house all al-one I,m praying the melody on a trumpet and the harmony on the saxo- phoner or vice-versa. Here's an ol,d man in a house playing with himself. I'm going to caII this tape 'Masturbation Number Four, opus Threel'" Ha, Ha, Hal []auehterl r sent it around to every- 34 2262 038 body. 044 B: Sent that around to everybodyl [eeneral lauehter] G: The women didn't like it. B: No, f guess probabl-y not. G: Your voice, your wife's voice ls quite charming on the phr-rne. If you've been in business as long as I have and talk with people on the phone, the voice makes a lot of difference. She sounds very friendly, and all she said was "hello. " But the tone of it was, -- 052 Oh. I was in Kiwanis club here in Cape, when I first moved here, and Kiwanis club had "Kiwanis Capers" every year, and I played trumpet soIo, a standard trumpet solo and we had a trumpet player frorn the fifth infantry played a duet with me. They had a band out here at the fort, that is a regiment that was estab- Iished in the Portland Harbor around 1938, before World War Two. And this trumpet player was named Vladimir Orlov. And he could play the fiddle too. Sc I had a connactir--'n with s mu=i': rr-ipplixr that sold all kinds of instruments, some cheapie ones. But he had a ten-dollar violin. So I would get Lrp an act where I would get up and introduce Vladimir Orlov, and it's hard to get him to see what was funny, 'fact it was hard to get the audience to see what was funny. And I took the violin and sawed halfway through it, and- I had., I think I ordered for-rr r:ii r*itir il..Llliis Wr: iilr.il f i:;iig more nights to play. And when he--he had a wig on-- and we'd take the violin, and I hadn't sawed it quite enough, and I'd beat him and beat him. FinaLl-y, it was just a beating thing, what I wanted it to do was break and the strings all come up. So the 35 2262 089 next night I sawed it through, just to the sounding board, and it reaIIy broke that night. And it come down, cut him all up on the side of the face. He was a mad Russianl That left me with two fiddles, Nobody woul-d take it back. llauehter] The first night where it didn't break, it knocked the hell out of his scalp, but then when it did it scratched down over here. [eesticulates with fineers. a grotesque scratching of face and neck.] Vladimir Orlov. 078 B: Vladimir Orlov. G: He was pretty mad about the whole thing. He cot:l-dn't under- stand why anybody would break a violin, even if 'twas a bad one. Did you ever study solfdge? B: Sure. G: Where, &t Colby? B: At Colby, yeah. G: Who taught it? B: WeIl, Peter R6 taught it, at the time. G: Peter R6? B:Peter R6, yeah. He was a good teacher. I had him for a teach- €r, and I had, of course, Ermanno Comparetti for a teacher for a while. G: Ermanno sat right in that chai-r, and had supper with us a couple of times. My daughter played oboe. She was graduated from Colby. She went three years to Eastman, and got fed up. Said she heard any more music, she'd never want to hear it. She played in the-- $he was second oboist in the Rochester symphony, and first oboist in the school musicr so that's when she trans- ferred her senior year to Colby, and that's how I happened to 36 2262 040 give 'em that shell there. B: Sure. G: Mr. $trider was the president then. Went up there and had dinner with him two or three times. He was a Democrat. I was afraid he was going to poison my supper. B: And so you gave them the shell, um--? G: The shell was here in South Portland. B: It was here in South Portland. Now where had it been? G: I bought it from the City. B: You bought it from the City-- G: And hired men to take it apart, and number each part. And my-- We had a trailer, then, big low bed. And took it up there and gave them the paint, Rustoleum, to do it. And got an archi- tect to do the Hatch shelr. (B: mm-hmm) And they did the sounding boards on the thing. I don't know whether you ever heard anybody play in it, but acoustically its pretty good. B: Yeah, its nice. lts a nice shel-l aeoustically. The second R. B. HaIl Day festival was held there. I think that would have been '82, maybe. G: Do you think you can teach people Solfdge? B: Sure. With varying resu]ts, depending on the people. G: But some peopLe must grasp-- B; Some people pick it up right away, some people it takes forev- er. 109 the interview- Thev were on cards and printed wi th a black marker in half-inch aapital letters- Bv usine a stronE maenifv- 37 ?^262 041 inct olrqq ha nazA *ham -c ha fallrar{ l Music book Cabinet. We're going to look at that when we go out in the other room. B: Yeah, we'11 look at it, yeah. G: Six Links I mentioned, Percy Grainger I mentioned, Svetlova and Dorlanov, When I was manager of the Symphony, I hit a biggie. Putting the Orchestra down on the floor, and I , in the list of Artists available there was Svetlova and Dorlanov. I says: "Aye, dy€, aye!" There she was Premier ballerina. B: Sure. G: In the Metropolitan at that time. Or, irrst before that, time. She was on her way down. And Dorlanov was her partner. So they were going to come here and, g€e, the tickets were selling pretty good. Everybody was interested in the dancing. The Symphony aLone never drew very many people. So they came, and she was a beautiful thing, Iike most ballerinas alre, and he was a rough Russian, and he said: [mimicking a sour expression and a rough impatient voicel "Where do you get the beer?" And this, one of the violinists, Elmer Hinners, was manager of the $herwin Williams place, and he says; "We'II go get'em some beer." So we come out of the City Hal-I, right, w€ had to go three of four streets, and we says we'd get 'em some Budweiser, so we get two packs of Budweiser. It was almost time for them to g-- for the Symphony to get on. They weren't ready to go on. So we come back, and we says: "We, took us quite a while, and we wanted to get you Budweiser. " He said: [roush voice as before] "I hate BudweiserI" Ilauehter] 134 After we'd gone th-- so we gave'em the beer. And the crowd 38 2262 042 went wild about 'em. They did the Nutcracker suite, so we hired 'em again, for the next winter. And we put on a l-obster feed for Svetlova. He was a bit nicer this time. "I hate Budweiser!" I thought the God-damned Russian was lucky to get the thirty dol- Iars. Ilauehter] B: What year, what years were you involved as manager for the Symphony, for the Portland? G: From the start of World War Two to the end of it. The, from the Forties. B: Just through the World War Two years, then? Yeah. G: That's wherr I was manager of Maine Music Camp. That's when I ran , I was manager of two or three housing projects. I don't know how I ever did so many things. I47 B: Isentle lauehter] G: Portland Symphony. I got them out of-- Paid off all the bills and when I gave up as manager I-- One thing: I wasn't of caliber to pl-ay in the Syrnphony, unless Tuba, I could do all right on that. I'd get into the percussion section, was a triangle player a couple of times, kind of degrading. And did I te]l you, that we didn't only had one bassoon, and he wasn't very good. So I got a bass clarinet, I rented it and I'd only had it for twc-> days, and Dr. RusseII Ames Cooke was the Director, came from Boston. Nice, nice, nice man. And he says, after the rehearsal, he says:"Ralph, why don't you just play in the double F passages." [lauehter] That's all he said. I knew that-- Oh I did ask him, How do you put this curved neck on the-- He didn't think I was a master of the instrument. So I got out. Portland Sympho- 39 2262 049 ny. 165 f readi no hi q nr^,tcq, .ao.ai n nl nnlzq ahi mi nrr 'i n *lea hralzorar"n.l l Svetrova and Dorlanov, offendor Band, oh in the cellar! Band in Cellar. Twenty piece band we used to rehearse down ceIlar. B: Rieht down cellar, this house? G: Yes, but this house is onl-y excavated halfway through, so some of 'em were behind the furnace. Some of us from Skowhegan, the customers coming down here, and poor Mrs. Gould, she stood it. B indicate a humorous intent in the tell-ine of the abovel G: [readine] Aunt Grace, I guess that's aIL Oh and these, I just made Names of things I got irrterested in, pr,-rbably wouldn't be of interest to anybody eIse. t78 Oh, IhadaSalzedo art colony up to Maine Music Camp, twice. The story I think is in the envelope, there. Iindicates a l-arpe brown enverl ooe+ of clippinss and memorabilia l B: Okay. G: Four harpists from Camden, B; Rieht. G: sarzedo was would f amous (B; oh, yes.) harpi.st anci-- I did a tape with he, on the thins, and he had great pronlrnciation, he was Spanish, and he liked those girls. The harpist,s seerned to be more for beauty than for music. And I recorded four harps. salzedo said, this was before there was any amateur recording, ,says "You'II never get it. " But the f loor in the Farmington hall was enough vibration so that it came out pretty good. Now they've got another group up there, of classicar music, a wood- wind quartet, and sextet. 40 2262 044 B: You mean up there in Camden. or up there in Farmington? G: Up in Rockport. B: Up in Rockport, at the same pl-ace as the Salzedo used to go, yes. 200 G: We had a, we were giving a concert in $outh Portland City Hall, and in it was quite a lot of crlarinet work. WeIl a week before the concert we'd hired WaLter Srnith. He was a trumpet soloist from Boston. He had his own band, and he was on the radio all the time, and so our solo clarinetist was an electrical engineer, name was Wes Gray and he was building an electri_c organ. This is before Hammond had it, and three olr four days before the concert he had his mouth go like that [makes s]ack mouthed facel He had Be]l's pal-sy, you ever heard of it? B: BeII's palsy, y€s. G: werl we needed him. r didn't want to go hire another fel"l-ow. So we-- At a rehearsal, we put the clarinet he held it in his mouth. I said: "Hord it just like you're going to." I took mask- ing tape, that Duct tape, (B: yeah) and taped his [beeinnine to make faces and laush as _he_t_c]Is itl --tapecl his horrr t,r_r fuip. It came apart agairr, so he pl.tyed the LrLrn-- had to go out at inter- mission, take it of f , pretty rrear pullecl his skin of f . Eh, ha, ha, heh-ho! B: Ho, ho, Poor guy! But it worked? G: Fortunately it wasn't too painful, but, rro strength in the muscle, so he could pucker up on it at all. I puckered hirn upl And we got through, by, with it. warter smith did ask what was the matter with the clarinetist, but-- [makes face of crarinet 47 2262 045 embouchure, with rips out of prace. and hords it with handsl I lauehter] B: I can see thisl [lauehter] G: "Taped up SoIo Clarinet. " IlauEhter] That's pretty rude. 227 E; I gu*s= sc'. Ncw .ttror-rt, wirn-t-. lrelc-t w*r-:-1il th.q-t li,r_v* tr**tr, Jr_t-qi t* kind of place it in terms of history? G: Well rrnless you can t,hink of anything more-- B: WelI just, um--[looks at notes] (I guess not) We were talking about Ha1l a little while flEo, arrcl I was wr_irrclerl_rig lf Ll.ny*r!* eve said to you what [IalI's specific inf irmity was, t]rat made hirn lame, or sickly? Did anyone ever say that G: No, it apparently came on him when he was an adult. It doesn't mention, never heard anything about it when he was grow- ing up and starting the bands there, and playing in was it Bowdoinham? B: Yeah. Richmond, Bowdoinham, yeah. G; He took ressons r think in Lewiston or Auburn. (B: Right) was his first teacher, but you don't hear anything mentioned of his infirmities, tiII he gets up and is playing at Colby. So he,s mature t,hen, he This dentist in Brurrswick, that r sperrt some time with, when-- he was real ord then, ninety. Given Lrp prrac- tice, but he had such a memory of HalI. I hope you,re able to find those boat things'cause I think that's an addition to show that the man was a craftsman. And Roundy told me about other things that he made, some furniture. (B: y€s,and,) So, I make clocks. I made 170 Clocks, I thought I'm probably more 1ike HaIl_ on craftsmanship than musicj_anship. 42 2262 046 Let's go out in the-- 257 B: Okay, well thank you very much for your contribution to our knowledge, and our tradition, our oral tradition. Thank you very much. G: WeIl, I think that the material that Ocy Downes has turned over, that you'II find some interesting things on Maine Music Camp, and the opera trip. And thank you for asking me. B: Oh, It's been a pleasure. 262 [tape stopped. End of Interview. ] t(*X**X*t plavins. I 265 B: I've heard quite a bit about the Al-penhorn, and. This alpenhorn is Iabeled at the bottom: S. K. I. V. Sektion Oberland 1945 Nr. 131 Fabrikant H. Steck Unterseen. $o its about, I would say about sixteen to eighteen feet long, [actuallv more like fourteen, from its pit_ch_l and the mouthpiece is about the size of the trombone mouthpiece. The beII at the end is about seven inches, and its made of, apparently cedar, with the root section at the end that cu.rves up. Wrapped in rattan, and there's a split in the middle, a ferrule in the middle, that Mr. Gould had made in the instrument in order to 43 2262 047 G: That's not split, it was sawed in half. B: Sawed in half for shipping, when it came, and it G: Threaded so I can take it apart. B: Its threaded. There, and what we'll do is set this microphone over here and play a few notes on the Alpenhorn. 289 --wound up about enough I think it will probably work about that leveI. G: Gi-ve her Hel1l 292 Ha, ha, ha, ha. [ "Music" ] G: Now There's something about that that's like a French horn. fTrles to check pitch with piano. which is out of tune- l G: Is that it? B: Yeah, F-sharp G: What's That Note? B: F-sharp G: ft's D B: Coul-d be a G [It is in fact an F-sharp. GWB] fMore music, excerpt from Midsummer Night's Dream, then Reveille] G You got a pedal note, last time you were here. 327 Below that. B: lP]ays pedaL notel G: That's the same thing as the other one, though an octave above that. B: Yeah, still F-sharp. The pedaL note is F-sharp, according to your piano. Mieht, might actually be, might be an F. G: F? B: um-- Well if, that piano might be a smidge off. G: [Tries some notes on the piano, a bit of C-scale. ] 44 2262 048 B: Yeah, that's a C, there, yeah. [Can't get Alpenhorn to play a C. which proves it is in a sharp kev. l G: There must be some relation, either to the Bore, or to the length of it, or to the taper. To have it act like a French horn, when you get way up in that upper register. B: Oh, yeah. Well-- G: You can almost play a chromatic scale. B: Its just like a French horn, it's-- G: Is it? Does it have to do with the-- B: Yeah, it is, it really is, cause its the conical- taper. Yeah, it's conical the whole length of it, G: That's the way-- French horn length, stretched out? B: Yeah. G: Must be about the same l-ength of this. B: Just about, iust about. I'd say this does act an awful lot like a French horn. [p1ays, hieh notes] Ha, ha. That's kind of forcing it. 355 G: Were you using great pressure at the time? B: No, [pats stomach muscles] Breath. G: yeah? B: Not much lip pressure. AII "diaphragm. " G: You draw in? You draw in? B: Actually I press out. Give me yollr hand, 's like this: [B places G's hand over his (Bowie's) abdominal muscles, between Navel and $olar plexus. with moderately firm contact. Physical demonstration of the Charles Colin "Tense Protruded Diaphraem" technieue as he plavs up the partials of the Alpenhorn. I 360 45 2262 04g G: Is that from your nose? B: Its from the "dlaphragm. " G: Now, whatr JZou intake? B: "Hoosh" [demonstrates the "short stabbv breath" (intercostal diaphraenatic method. instant complete breath)l G: You're taking air ln through your nose? B: No. G: You can't bl-ow--? Where's the air coming from? B: I take in the whole air supply, which is seven liters. In other words I fill my whole lungs, and then I use the stomach muscles to create the internal pressure for the upward notes. G: Do they teach like Dizzy Gillespie's cheeks coming out, now for the trumpet players? 372 B: No, that's a bad habit. G: No. Yeah. Always was: "keep your cheeks in. " B: Yeah, keep your cheeks in, and breathe from low, flpats stomach musclesl down here. G: From the diaphragm, that is, isn't it?. B: That's right, from the "diaphragm." [plays] mmm. G: You played reveille, does that part of the scal-e come easier, the lower part? B: Sure. Well, the l-ower part is down here in the bugle cal-l range. G: That pedal note must be-- B: [plays, then reveille] G: That's about the same tone as a baritone. B: [plays. middle, then higher notes] Welt its up there some- place. 402 46 ?-262 050 G: [LauEhter] B: [p]-ays, exploring, 1ip trllLs, then "Theme from Moulin Rouge"l G: and B: [uproarious lauEhter] G: Your wife would say don't do that again. B: She probably would, that's right. It sounds-- But its kind of fun, if you're used to it, blowing a long i-nstrument like that G: You know, you can imagine four Swiss fellows, two on one AIp two on the other. Playing. It must sound beautiful. 417 B: That would be absolutely great! Sure would! [plays Beetho- ven, then explores a few classic type licks, tries a little vibratol 436 B: Oh, from Siegfried: G: You know? B: [p]ays Siegfrled, but horn is in the wrong key to finishl No, that's not in the same key. G: It wouldn't be too difficul-t to write a "Little Rondo for Alpenhorn. " B: Not at a]l. G: I mean, you get into that center where it blows a litt1e easier. 447 B: Yeah. [plays, extemporizing a "Little Rondo for A]-penhorn"l G: Some time, if you've got something going on at the University, you eoul-d come down and borrow this, take it apart, and pfay lt, that little piece there you just did is--- unless its a street job. B: WeIl, that's a wonderful offer. Well, rro it woul-dn't be a street Job, believe--- put the end on a wheel, Iike a little 47 9262 051 wheel dolly, and go down the street with it, but I don't think that would be too producti-ve. B: That's a beautiful instrumentl G: I think you can get it in a car. With that strengthened enough with the way I threaded it. There',s no damag;e from being s--, you'd think it would ruin the tone of it. 487 t l-ape_ :un s--_q u!-l^rh"L,Lc_ c onve r s at i on i s i n pro gr e :; s e--fu-r!he r -ll ma_t_elial on_ tape. nothirrg orr_side_L:s!-r:l 4B 2262 052 T -f F&rr.ortr /7 t :C , ? ?Z 4n ,r{r",,.- t_t,1,< t?,4rru Gouro TT /U/"" ea+te- / r,-e e/qce i ruloTf , f /z-/7/oru/ T! ir;; ;;; o+L Fz-t ,;("');: r-aui/u/ ,-- /a u)s)t a t at|zazter Z '/ a 4,* *ot ,.',, ,4o.y'ru*/ //u 1r'1 ool -oo{ /" t< a *e- o-/.Je- .b,z * s a-r"l 4o en// .s 4o ./t, n nl {rr"_ a Z .o-*n , o-n{ d/- *tora rLrg lua-s Lnt/. nl a oJ n*^ I r..z-;-.-- 04- F=-L /Z ,,,'(- nr / "l-,L cz-<. F.,' f -e rF. B-^( /Z.ro./t--- riD - * . y'4^. /dl /2 L-e-h FT J f ",/nt l" |{l ra c 4 l,R ;D D IJl 3 { I { {t {t rn t lnrtn4 t ^.{ A;.. l-r',^n- Jtl Fornrf 9f Q"fE(,*hh i t 3:oe 7 a. H o,'-ou t /la s-)"( l,-,> to@ a trt-^^-/-/t 4, t^a,ke- f^X"-- f" ^Zr, l,G /f e /.U-**- fu47!4-Lr- I :p Jl u r'{o z {auno ,Lk LL q)t I t /Z_"-Ot eay,!.{- L 1l ye-,* ./-A 2262 o5g 0 rl T I 0; I I i i__I t___ --_:--.-- -.-ts 2262 T 054 n lc /2"// L G.-!.1, c.'"j :! // u ( al^n,|r/ L,t + ^*/- t&( / L"^>;-^-"..-* e Oca4, e- lr U- tu/ a4 ! b^-^-/ "//' Q o ., 9a-* a7 t-a.-.-c-- /" z/1 "7 /4-*- /r--/ 2 /"/ e '* u "-/Ja "/ / ( .-t{"'; L Jr/ d.*-o*L a f,-r 4o co( S e-r7 .-Js e 4 p.o C .Ut W<-- I4<4 ,aat/ Ja,"- H-.e.) Q lso /" q.Z5 t A Ca-t-a O /^.----Z h.uz-"--4-+\- t /J u a>\---z-L- o--11/\-z-l q Zo {/s ?o fu( rce4 f €^-4 o.-ye--.- /g ea/?-a 2a Lr^--+ C.a4-/ azz.t-t-zz L- a- ,oA a ,y'r, ,-.-o /. ,. o.aI Ed v I v t v i v I lz t t> rl a.2\ gs0 z9zz 2262 I 050 I 3/tt/ qt Jo :C u,'.,* il*( p t, Go u t) il t t C C a :ilt a C- L C a C O Die ,t tr c-9 J a-t Z- ^4^-+ € A*o* b Z {-L,*^4 L\ € , "/";^-< G la (} a G G (E (e (E t4- tu fu-";-e- o 3cp c 4/ e- ao/t- ( G /r,e /^f,-- ^-,./.zf*r_f--( &_- /.-\_ C p.t - /{o' ,*n*r# "/ zJ--- l"* - la !F p r^1rrt 1\. 4 r, 6--.,-,* .1 i;- /,,44;-,7 . tt 2262 T o5z T a C C 4z (-t) J,/ n*-/. 'l-- /)(r il U- -^^A a-c il /-l u *.---(, + t / C aV1^- C a ;rj,-'h 4n- V /--,r/- /r4-L u42 il 9*-x Baa+ .O re-8 ( f 7 t (o yrs a 1o oa" ( )ry 1a e //. ,^'-,"!.-( //; o-?"o( C aZ*/ Ja'le o(a J c--.- C /^^Z //"- ; a^ L4)M-- C O G J."I ,t-, D a2 t) /aTd D ID e! (e G G ,3 G (g G G G G f, c C G C I G G Fizo^ ( q6.g- 7Z D t-t 4c, Dy * Bo oKLer 2262 RALPH T. GOULD 05g Honorary Chairman Ralph T. Gould of Cape Elizabeth, Maine was born on September 12, 1900 in Lewiston, Maine and has for many years proven himself to be an R. B. Hall enthusiast. Playing trumpet and tuba in many bands since 1912 has made him keenly aware of the New England band tradition. He is a former member and manager of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, yachtsman, restorer of antique automobiles, and wood craftsman, in the best Maine tradition. In 1949, Mr. Gould established a trust fund for an annual Award for Youdt in Music. In 1960, he gave over a period of more than thirty yeam. heard his band in concerts and at Colby commencements. Made several trips to Richmond and visited his birthplace at Bowdoinham. Had several meetings with the late Dr. Browne (dentist) of Brunswick, a close relative of Hall, who gave me quite a lot of R. B.'s manuscript which I turned over to the State of Maine Library...Dr. Browne had three half models in his woodshed just as R. B. had made them. I offered to clean them up, varnish them and mount them on pine back boards, and I engraved sterling silver plates, stating as to what they were and who made them. Apparently R. B. was a very good craftsman and did build a boat or two when he was at Kineo on Moosehead a couple of summers...am sure rhat someone should look up these models and they should be with the rest of his memorabilia in the museum. Believe Ransom Kelley of Boothbay might be aware of where they might be, his wife was a relative of R. B. Hall. I have a 8x10 glossy of the three half models." Besides writing an article on R. B. Hall for the October 1967 issue of Down East magazine, Mr. Could wrote manuscript histories of the bands of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth (some nine of them) now in the Library of the Maine Historical Society in Portland. Fortunately, individuals like Ralph T. Gould have had the foresight to preseryg data on 19th cenury bands and specifically the legacy of R. B. Hall. We all feel a sense of gratitude toward him for his contributions. notes by Robert Hudson 2262 o5g March 4, 7992 Mr. Ralph Gould 31 Forrest Road Cape Elizabeth, Maine O4LOT Dear Ral-ph, Thank you so much for a1lowing me to visit you last month and sharing your recollections and reminiscences and recollec- tions with me. I especially enjoyed hearing about your early days in business, and your early experiences in band music. seeing your photo albums was fun and informative, too. Having chance to try my lip on your? Alphorn, with your hand-made wooden mouthpieces, was a special treat. During that visit we discussed the possibility of making a tape recorded interview for the Northeast Archives of Folklore and orar History. The area of topicar interest wourd be your participation in and recol-lections of, various bands in Maine, ds well as your interest in R.B. HaII leading to your fine articre in the october 1967 Downeast Magazine, and your support of the Deering High School 1964 recording of Hall's marches. I,d also like to include a Iittle about your support for the Music Camp at Farmington, and Colby's music program for archival purposes. I wonder if it woul-d be possible for me to visit (with my tape recorder) on Friday March 20 or saturday March 2L? rn hopes that this will be possible, r am enclosi-ng a list of the ques- tions that I,d like to include on the interview. This doesn't have to be exclusive, though, and if there's anything else that you would Iike to include, or if there is any area you would like to skip or Leave out, that is al-r right, too. r would anticipate the session wourd take about one hour of actuar interviewing. I'11 give you a call- in a week or so, to see if this will be all right with you. Sincerely, Gordon W. Bowie 22 62 0 6 0 POTENTIAL QUESTIONS FOR TAPED ]NTERVIEW This interview is intended for the Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History, where it will be made available, by permission, to scholars in appropriate fields of interest. Is that all right with you? About how old are you, Mr. Goul-d? And have you lived in Maine most of your life? As we]l- as being a successful businessman, )zor have been strongly associated with participation in and support for music. How did you get started in music? In your yeaLs at the University of Maine you played in the band, not only tuba, but cornet and saxophone too. TeIl us a little about the band in those days. Do you remember any particular people? You said you know Rudy Vallee. Was he already famous at that time? What was he like, to know? Are there any interesting stories you'd like to telI about those days in the University Band? After you graduated, did you keep up with band music? When you were first in business, were there many opportunities to plav? 2262 061 How about Harold J Crosbf? In your estimation, what was the biggest obstacle to Ha11's success? How did you come into possession of the Ha}1 Photographs? (The portraits of HalI, Mrs. Hall (Izzie,) HaII's Mother, the house at Abagadassett point?) How about the manuscripts that were with the material you donated to the State Archives, which is now at Bagaduce? How did you come to donate your Hall memorabiLia to the Maine State Archives? Did you ever talk to Tom BardwelL about R. B. Ha]]? Do you think that HaIl's influence has any special meaning for the community bands of Maine? Nowadays you also pay a falr bit of attention to the Orchestras in Maine. FOLLOW UP AS YOU WISH What do you think the future holds for music in a sparsely popu- Iated state like Maine. ANY OTHER TOPIC YOU WOULD t]KE TO INCLUDE Thank you very much for your contribution to knowledge about our local- musical traditlon and to Maine Oral History. 2268 063 When you were on the road for so many years for Gou1d Eeuiprnent, it is said that you used to carry a cornet in your car and sit in with local bands wherever you went. Is this really how it was? What different bands can you remember? Are there any people who especlally stand out in your mind? Are there any stories from those band associations that stand out in your mlnd? Do you have any recollections of: The Portland Cadet Band? The Lewlston Brlgade Band? Chandlers Band? Romano's Band? Waterville Military Band? Drew's 'Band in Watervllle? Did you ever visit the Bangor Band? Ellsworth Band? CherryfieLd Band? (Charlie Wakefield certainly knew who you are. ) ETC FOR AS MANY BANDS AS WE CAN THINK OF TOGETHER How did you first become associated with the musj-c camp? And how long did that involvement last? Do you remember: F.G. Shaw? Heywood S.Jones? Stanley Cayting? Adelbert W. Sprague? ANY OTHER NAMES YOU CAN THINK OF FROM THAT ERA 2262 068 How did you come to donate the Gould Shell to Colby? What about the collection of nineteenth century instruments? You wrote an outstanding biographical appreciation of R. B. HalI for the October 1967 Downeast Magazine. At that time you probabl-y knew more about HalI than anybody. When and how did you begin to be interested in R. B. Hal-I? Do you think he holds a special interest for Maine bandsmen? (Why/why not? ) When you were researching for the Downeast article, did you get to meet many of HaIl's former bandsmen? FOLLOW UP ON ANY NAMES YOU MENTION When you were talking with Jim Varney, did he ever teII some interesting stories about Hal1' finaL years? Did he ever tell about the bachelor party or banquet for haII's wedding? Did he ever tell you anything about Mrs. HaII? Did you ever meet Mrs. HaII? ALice Ha]1 Thurl-ow? Any of HalI's other relatives? Hall was always characterized as being infirm, lame, sickly as a youth, etc. Did anyone ever say what HaII's specific infirmities or illnesses were? And did you talk to Arthur Roundy about Hall? 2262 0 4 local musical tradition and to Maine OraI History 2262 065 Colby College Waterville, Maine :li The Ral ollection OldAm and nts The Ralph T. Gould Collection of Old American Brass and 10. FLUTE jointl gerrnan Woodwind Instruments provides a remarkable opportunity to study the G. L. Penzel & Brothers, New York: tunable head seven silver keys: last hatf of the nineteenth century: 57.8 cm. long. construction of instruments used in American bands during the 1fth period of thirty years by century. The colle 11. FLUTE Ralph T. Gould and presented to Colby Anonymous: tunable ivory head joint: twelve keys: last half of the nineteenth College in 1962. century: 70.2 cm. long. Mr. Gould is n and notable benefactor of Colby. In 1960 he gave the college the outdoor concert shell which 12. CLARINET bears his name. He is a former member of the Portland Symphony Clementi & Co., London: boxwood with ivory ferrules: five square flat brass keys long. Orchestra, yachtsman, restorer of antique automobiles, and wood set in turned rings: before 1832: 58.2 cm. in the best Maine tradition. craftsman, 13. CLARINET Anonymous: boxwood(?) with horn ferrules: six brass saltspoon keys: mouthpiece missing: first half of nineteenth century: 54.2 cm.long without mouthpiece. Catalogue 14. CLARINET French, marked with lyre and "Paris": tiger maple(?): 13 keys, 2 rings: mouthpiece mid nineteenth century: 59 cm. long. 1. FLAGEOLET appears to be rosewood, may not be original: Anonymous: boxwood: one round flat german silver key: small ivory buttons protrude between finger holes: c. 1830: 37.2 cm. long' 15. CLARINET A. Lecomite & Co., Paris: cocus(?): thirteen saltspoon keys: mid nineteenth century: 2. PICCOLO 58 cm. long. Anonymous: rosewood(?): tunable head joint: six saltspoon keys: mid nineteenth century: 30.5 cm. long; original(?) case, fitted & velvet lined, oval exterior, leather 16. flat (?) covered wood. cocus(?): bell section of composition material and 'U S C M C" trade mark, numbered E31)677L: last 3. PICCOLO cm. Iong without mouthpiece which is missing. H. F. Meyer, Hanover: rosewood(?): tunable head joint: six saltspoon keys: mid nineteenth century: 30 I cm. long. 17. TRUMPET in B flat Tito Belati, Perugia (valve train marked L. Alziati, Milano): brass: late nineteenth 4. PICCOLO or early twentieth century: three mechanical action rotary valves: bell diameter 13.5 Anonymous: tunable head joint: four saltspoon keys: last half of nineteenth cm.: original lyre. century: 38.5 cm. long. 18. CORNET (?) 5. FIFE J. Lathrop Allen, Norwich Conn.: copPer and brass: 1846-1849: three unusual Anonymous: stained hardwood with brass end collars: nineteenth century (possibly vienna gpe valves with leaf springs on rollers, one keyed bugle type key in bell older): 37 cm. long. section: bell diameter 10.8 cm.: mouthpiece may not be original. 6. FIFE 19. CORNET in B flat hardwood brass end collars: nineteenth century (possibly Anonymous: stained with Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory: german silver: three string-wound rotary older): 37.1 cm. long. valves: 1870's: bell diameter 12.4 cm.: original coffin shaped case. This horn was once owned by Wm. E. Chandler of Chandler's Band in Portland. 7. FIFE or WHISTLE in C nickeled steel: blown through end: late nineteenth or early twentieth U.S. Military: 20. CORNET in B flat century: 31.8 cm. long. French (marked "Paris"): brass: last half of nineteenth century: three stoelzel type valves: crooks for every half step down to F: original coffin shaped wooden case and 8. FLUTE (one lyre: bell diameter 11.2 cm. Anon5rmous: stained boxwood: one square flat brass key: ivory ferrules re- placed with han): early nineteenth century: 59.E cm. long. 21. CORNETinBflat (J. german c. 188O: three string'wound FLUTE LH.F. Howard Foote), New York: silver: 9. rotary valves mounted to play vertically: crooked for B flat and A: bell diameter 11.4 Anonymous: rocewood(?): tunable head joint: six saltspoon keys: mid ninteenth cm. century: 59.2 cm. long' 22. TUBA in E flat E. G.-wright, Boston: german silver: c. 1g62: four string-wound rotary varves, three for tight hand, one for left: over-the-shoulder marchirig mJelt tell diameter 29.4 cm., standing height 143 cm. 23. KEYED BUGLE in E flat (?) E. G. wright, Boston: copper: c. rg50: ten keys: beil diameter il.4 cm: no mouth- Ptece. 24. SERPENT Anonymous: leather-covered wood: c. rgl0: brass trim with four keys and ivory hole surrounds: bell diameter r 1.3 cm.: wooden mouthpiece may not ue orilinar. 25. CLARINET CASE open end, tapered, with inner compartments, Ieatherette with carrying handre. 26. CLARINET BAG kather, open end with draw cord. 27. MOUTHPIECE CASE Hinged top, two innercompartmenis, covered with black material. j I I I I 1 I These intruments are housed in the Bixler Art and Music center. correspondence concerning the collection should be addressed to the Chairman, Department of Music, Colby College, ()/-9()1. W"t""riff., Maine (\ 5u ML t lQ'la I Portland Sunelay Telegram d Sund I ; I : I I FACULTY ANI{OUNCED-MembeTSOf the Maine Music camp faculty to teach at Farmington Aug. j.z-zl, Back row, left to right, Russell Jack, weymouth, Mass; Ralph Gould, Cape Elizabeth; Mildred Patt,erson, South Portland; Frank J. Riglcy, P'ortland; Mary c. smart, Dexter; .Ernest R. Hilli Augusta, and. Edwin Bacheld€r, Cape Elilabeth. Front, Mme, Cora P. Richmond, Sanford; Katherine Hatch Graffam, Portland; .Lew Barrett, Lewiston; Jean SawyCIr, Bangor, a,nd Joseph L. Gaudreau, poriland, - 22.62 062 ToKII EIM OI I TaN K AN D Pump CoMPANY DESIGNERS AND 1V\ANUFACTURERS OF SUPERIOR EQUIP,/V\ENT SINCE I9OI GASOLINE PUMPS PETROLEUM DISPENSING EQUIPMENTAND ACCESSORIES Fonr WavNE l, lNDtANa,U.S.A AOCRijS r?€.r_, ia: TELSPHoN=s: z:ilO6 CoM^1 Et:E llareh 2L, L949 BLlrLDlftG VlURRAY HILL 2.5O2C iALESANo SgavtcE \4URRAY HILL 2.SD2I :5-asT4/lr,r.iia.=- \.\^/ Y(]itr:. r.- \r. .:, Mr. Ralph Gould Box No. 161L Portland, Maine My dear Ralph; Mrs. MlckeL and f had a pleasant surprLse whlle looklng start of RlgoJ-etto Last lnterest I know you will eopy of the p"ogram to you. to the artlcle entltled am sure that you w111 read fellow by the name of Ralph Gouldr of Cape Ellzabeth, Malne. You are to be congratuLated for your lnterest, Ralph. If more people took more lnterest ln klds that are deservlng, r am sure we wouldnt t be troubled wlth ar1 the delinquency we here so much about these days. Everyone needs some help and r certalnlv know of no flner way than that expressed by you and the Portland Rosslnl CIub. Very trul-y yours, TOKHEI}fl OIt TA}TK AND PINiiP COMPAIW fr;"2')'--Ut UITLLIAM R. trIICKELTJR. MANAGER, EASTERN DIVISION WRM,JR:A ";'..f.i$fi,5. 2262 068 February 2 1960 Port I and Rosslnl Club Port lancJ ),,ralne. At L. i,lrs " Floyd L Ba rnett Pres i dent- Dear tlrs. Barnett, ;'rjould appreclate your brlnging before your d I rectors the I r fee I i ngs as to the acceptance from me of an I nsurance po I I cy to perpetuate the opera trlp for the junlor hl3h school st udents that the club has so ure I I supervl sed the past ten years I would,rnake the Rosslnl club the beneflclary of two 5TOOO.OO lnsurance pollcles that now existo they to ag re e r,rhen the po I I c i es become payab le to I nvest the noney and use the proceeds of the lncome to carry on thls program. The 'll0rOOO.OO lnvestecl prudent ly should brlng J;a" whlch urou ld provl de 50O.OO each year. The club coul d have the pres- I clent cf the bank url th tnrhom the y do bus I ness, recorflmend stock, bonCs or mortgages 'ryhlch r..rould ln hls mind be a pruden'l and a lso proCuct I ve i nvestnent. He vrou ld no doubt be url I I I ng to do thls for no fee r^rhlch l,rould save the cost of a trustee. Shall make some other funds available to take care of any unexpected clrcurnstances that may add to the cost ln any partlcular year. Please let nre know at your convenlence whether the club l'tl II a.jree to sr-rch a planu and I rorl II drarru up and slgn an agreement as above anci the club can slgn a copy of the same. Please let rne know the correct name of the corporatlon that the clul-r ls lncorporated under. In the r;reantlme hope to have rnany years to be ab I e to send rny check f or the continuance of the trlps. Sl.ncgrely youF i.. i i. q- \ ._.. '.,' - \ 3l Forest Road Cape El lzabeth vaine. Please say hello to Beverly for me. rtg 2262 069 CITY PORTLAND, CLINTON W. GRAFFAM, DtRECT OF MAINE THOMAS V. BUCCI, supERvlsot PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS EMIL CEDERFELDT, suPERvrso INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC DEPARTMENT CALVIN TORREY, SUFERVISoF liebruary 6, L969 Dear Ralph: f am very glad that the Car:ibou tsand ma.de out so uell on their trip to l,/ashington and think i+" was very generous of you to contribute, but of co:rrse your rqerlerosity does not surpiise me a.s I knovr of it so well . As f mrry hirve told yoir ovor the phone, the director is a good friend of mine and f htive a grea.t deal of respect for him in that he heis terup;ht and trainecl all- of his ba.nd- plrLyers all a.lone until a ycar or so a41o, when he d.iC get an nssistant. About your suggestion that one of the wj-nners of the opera trii-r a.ppear with lthe Junior Sy-mphony. We have been doing this, but nost alwa;'s & J'ear beirind the avard, when the student became a senior. For j-nstance, this year tvro of last vears winners, Debra DePeter and Robert Chibka will be featured soloists, and plans arer already under way for Johrura Bell, tl'r-is yeaJs r^rinner, to solo with the grolrp next year.r. Last year }Iicherel Moody soloed, tn I)6J, Rbbert Joseph, in L964, Paniela tsutler anri in L961, tindrea Graffam. This has follovred just about the same pattern ever since yoLE auditions vrere organized.. iy'e have had sorne excell<:nt soloists for this so,rfce . Ttiis year the vocalists had no formal training in voice, being coached. by thei:: music supervi.sor only, and I rather doubt if they wo,rld be capable of presenting an opereitic aria r,rith iln orchestra. I vras disappointed in Deerirrgrs not traving a winner this yeiir as this is the fir;t time thrrt we hatr4e not had a rel)rcsentative but I tnink the picture will tre diffe::ent next year. i/hen the newpanphlet came out yo* mi5;ht be interested to know that after checking all the years I find thr,t my wife has had four winners among her;oupils, and mJr students have won eight times. \/o'-rld like to ma.ke anocner record albun of R. B. IIaIL this year and hope thi't ti'ris can be soueezect in with our Alur,ini concert crning in i'Iay and o lr a DI111;:; I tri'' Kintlest rr:p;ards , 2262 0zo METROPOLITAN OPERA METROPOLITAN OPERA ASSOCIATION, INC. LINCOTN CENTER July 17, 1974 NEW YORK, N. Y. 10023 Mr. Ralph Gould 31 Forest Road Cape Elizabeth' Maine 04107 Dear Mr. Gould: I have read your letter to Mrs. Peltz and wish to add a personal word of thanks for your generous contri- bution of $1,000 to the Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc., as well as for the wonderful things you do for the school children of Portland. In recognition of this gift, we would, like to offer you the privileges of the Patron Program for the coming Season. The enclosed memorandum lists these privileges. Patrons constitute a mainstay of annual support which helps the Opera to exist as one of the leading cultural institutions iJI the world. Last year, Patron contributions made it possible for the Met's performances to be viewed by more than one million people, both in New York and on tour' and millions more heard our Saturday afternoon broadcasts. We are enclosing, for your information, a copy of our L972'73 Annual Report, which will inform you of our many programs. Great opera in a great opera house ca1ls for great generosity. rt is friends like you who help us make our con- tributions to the cultural life of this country. Please let us know if we may have the privilege of listing you as a Patron for the coming Season. Sincerely, l t^OrJaeSA Mrs. Alexander-)'uC5 M. Laughlin Chairman, Development Committee AREA CODE 212 TFI FDH(1NF 700,?tnn aADtE Anl\otcq. AIET^DrDA rlr\r/ vnor/ 2262 0z t octolrer 6 1981 Ocy L. Dc"vns 1?9 sts.te ctre'rri Po r' -,L"rii tl i'ia-iir r;. l)e.:,r 0cy Dovrle, Co;ter: ;rncther .year aind. itlit snclosLng the nea-tls for the oPere' l"tpt tiroz,e $ere ciividenas seirb to th.e club rjur-:-ng M83 arn0unting itl ii7tO.o5- t1ls anoiL:rt irlus your prrrdebey of 1982'.,rtth a. ba-1.:-':rce -Left oi.,er- am sendlng the e irne a.inoun'b ae leet yc?I' 'r.tt-n thl,s '.Lctter.- nanely $65C.OC. If t.hi-s tr:ta1 amount 1s not enough. Ie'|" rae hnorf t':LLl- then 8*) thro a cc.uple pf prei.r oil olcr. piln'bs and get rvhat l-o need-cci", I. eure tira! tirts-year vrith tb.c Peolrles ai-r line the'c ycu'n-Il be better"+, o-ff if rriser"atlons ei'o :lcrde we.LI aheari. fou are a ilear rvonc,n a..nti cafino'E tell yon hor,v I appreclat+ ,;11.1 yolr h.a'ue d.one fcr ihe stu.d.en'bs-----and stt-l.l ha.ve had fun goti:: se-Lf. .t iis[sn to everyth:-n;, inuei+ai I crn get ?n. i)I]li +nii'bhe l::rdj-c,'. Tcc,: ba.rl the sound, fron :f r/ Is nct o'p f,o srhet i;hoy r:'o llrltting out tire ,-tgston. anci. oiirer syraphontes shouLe havs the benefit of gcoC soun$ as :,re.ll i.'.c thelf gCr:rJ- rlCillurgs. l'1.1";'-ge bg youe ltb-et: .yuu .r-et tle know li' I cen be cf nny furthcr help- Ai,r xiod ciir uir ,'t'tbir my c;r.j',errasbs ar:d. the oi;her inliblj-J-'cier; of boin6 prQbLcn. .,r jj yi:::rs i.r i.l-----.you irlrva rrol h;r'l iiri: KJrrdes'B ,tegerc-l.a ii I lla-L.;-rl. Goulci. 'bha ], l,lrrcla .l.,avln (lr>tter) 'ilao one of enrly strrdents theu -r'reni;on tiil--0ro*" ii:o"-- si:e vrirs recon'bly fearrrrch tn Pcirucic Srlnday itegazzlne- I sent lter a copy oi the bullotln the year she rllcl gor atrd. a$ted-- fter f f sha rdght'rer*omber tt-- haventt-hoard fron her- probabll,^!H&" i went a doat'Ilon.-itory rtg-- Sa"l}y l,lerrlll Flght be -ablo !o. 6-et Ene pa1rer to rptlt a 5n tle noeslnl bust- one of two i6"'the il"iioe r;ti,t.or (otncr i,r course at the i'let.) 2262 07 2 Februany ftl fql$g To Muslc supervLsors and prln_clpals of portlandr Deerlng, south Portland, cape Ellzaueth Lnd Falmouth schooLs Method of cbooslng stud.ents for Ralph Gould. Award for Youth ln Muslc. 1. An annuar award. ls to be made Greator to four stud,ents ln. ths Portla'd area cory_rlslng porttand, o"."irrrg,-S;hoo1s1 south Pontland,, 9"pu El-tzLbeth ind r,armoulrr-nieh to be lcnocm as The Ralph Gould Awand. for youth ln Dluslco Thls award ls under the supervlslon of the portland Rosslnl- CIub. Fou:: stud.e-nts w1II be chosen each. year who w111 be taken to Now york with a chaporone to seo two_openas at the Metroporftan opera souile, turr""" they w111.be_ glv_en th_e opportr:nlty to meet operi p"oior*r"r" a'd to be shown back stage tn ttre Operd Housl. all exponses for th.e trlp wlIl be taken care of by the awand funds. 2t flee vocal and lnstrumental supervlsors of the above rtr€D- tloned htgh schools sha1l ln excellence ln Lnstnmen student ln vocal muslc ln ls also a member of one of lzatlons and a member of t Those two na.:nes shal1 be se the Portrand Rosslnl crub on whoever ln that organlzatlon who succeed.s hor in ctralnmanshlp of thls award,." - 3. 1'hese narles shalL be sent ln dun!.ng the rveek succeedlng the chrlstnras schoor vacatlon. Th6 ten stud.ents tbus selected w111 be audltloned by a comnrLttee compsoed. of tho member of the Po::tland Roislnl. club who ls- ch,alrrraFe llu superintendent of schoor.s rn pontland and. the pres- ldent of the PortLand Symphony OpgSestnao C*"fr.-"tud,ent w111 play or slng one sbr-octr6n and nrlrI-brlng--lttur" oo* accoqpanlst. They may be askod to repeat thefup serect- lon by the cormalttee and ma be asked questlons by themo lj. announcement of the four stud,ents chosen to neceive the awand wttl be made on the day followlng the completlon of the audltlons. Tlhe audltioalng confrittee arl bouna P certlfy only gne porfonmen on any one instnunente tha! ls, _there wirl not be trvo planists, two vlol,lnists or tvro of any lnstnrment chaosen ln any oDO go&rr f t.ih i'l.,.jrl.il) P.OSS II"II CLUB 2262 0?B Por L.iand, Maine AI\INUAL AWARD FOIR YOUTH IN MUSIC (Ralph T. Gould Fund) ITOR JUNIOR CLASS }IEMBERS IN THE GREATER PORTLAND AREA PUBLIC HiGH SCHOOLS OF BONNY EAGLE, CAPE ELIZABETH, CUMBERLAND, DEERING, FALIVIOUTH, GORHATI, GR-AY, PORTLAND SCARBOROUGII ' SOUTH PORTLAND, WESTBROOK, WINDHAM, AND YARMOUTH.' Information for the use of school Ir{usic Supervisors, Principals and Superintendents Through an endowment given to the Portland, l4aine Rossini Club by Ralph T. Gould of Cape Elizabeth, an annual award of a vi-sit to the lr{etropolitan opera in the Lincoln Center at New York is available to four junior class members of the Greater Portland High Schools. Any boy or girl junior class student who is a member in good standing of some school musical organization is eligible to be reconrmended by the school Music Supervisor to compete in an audition at which the fcur winners from all schools will be chosen. A11 entrants in the audition will receive a pin representing outstanding work in music in their own school - Note: one alternate winner is also chosen. 'fl;+ ju.Jg,=--. fur L.l.c au:-l-i.-';crii, io -rtt LeiJ '"'-iLhin tlie l-ast two weeks of January, shall consist of an officer of Rossini C]ub as chairman and two cther nonmembers of the Club who are musicians of standing in the community. These other two judges shall be chosen by the Gould Award committee from the Rossini CIub. At the audition each candidate shall be prepared to present their abilities by performing one selection, not more than ten minutes in length, which shall be played, or sung, from memory. Each contestant shall furnish their own accompanist. Note: two shorter selections (not over ten minutes) may be substituted. Names of the candidates that the Supervisor wishes to take part in the audition, with their d9€, instrument or voice, and certification that they are from the school's junior class and a member of some school musical organization, shall be mailed to the Gould Award Chairman Portland Rossini CIub, on or before December L, preceding the January audition. The idea of the award is a belief that the interest of youths who are studying music will be increased through the opportunities offered by seeing and hearing the great music that is performed by the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Phi lharmoni-c . AWARD ESTABLISHED L949 2262 0Z 4 PORTLAND ROSSINI CLUB PORTLAND, MAINE Annual Award for Youth in Music (RALPH T. GOULD FUND) FOR JUNTOR CrASS MEMBERS IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS OF PORTLAND, SOUTH PORTLAND DEERING, CAPE ELIZABETH, FALMOUTH SCARBORO auo ITESTBROOK Information for the use of school Music Supervisors, Principals and Superintendents Autard Establhbed - ry4g THROUGFI an endowmenr given ro rhe Portland, Maine, accompanist and also be prepared, if called upon, to be inrerviewed - Rossini Club by Ralph T. Gould of Cape Elizabeth an annual in regard to their musical understanding. eward, of a visit to the Metropolican Opera in the Opera Flouse at New York, is available to four junior class members of the Greater iTHIN a reasonable time the four students selected by the Portland High Schools. \)0f ' ' judges will be announced. It is the intent of the award that the four chosen will be two vocalists and two instrumentalists. NY boy or girl junior class student who is a member in good Flowever should there be an audition at which outstanding talent, standing of some school musical organizarion, is eligible to be or lack of candidates in either group, mahes this division inequita- recommended by the school Music Supervisor, to compete in a ble; the judges may in this instance change the grouping to besr preliminary audition preceding the final audition at which the suit the situation. No candidate may compete in both classifica- four rvinners from all schools will be chosen. All enrrants in thc tions, and only one candidate on piano will be eligible to win the final audition will receive a pin represenring outstanding work in award. music in their own school. LL expenses for the rrip ro New York fi * and artendance ar rhe ACH Music Supervisor may recommend any talented studenr, ^ opera rvill be paid and all candidates are assumed to Ft-,t be pre- or students who - are eligible as above, in either vocal or in- pared to mahe the trip if awarded the honor, The judges will enu- strumental classification, from which the committee from the merate alternates which can qualify in case illness or orher matters Rossini Club may choose, at preliminary auditions, two or more in prcvent a winner fronr being able to take advantage of rhe award. proportion to the number of students in the school's organizations; preferably divided equally berween vocalists and insrrumenralists, of the candidares thar the Supervisor wishes to rake depending on rhe talenr or lack of talent in either group. NTAMES - ' part in the preliminary audition, with their age, instrument or voice, and certificarion that they are from the school's junior judges HE for the final audirion, ro be held the second Friday class and a member of some school musical organization, shall be in January, shall consist of an officer of the Rossini Club as mailed to the President-Porrland Rossini Club, Frye Hall, Spring chairman, and tvro other non members of the club who are Strcet, Portland, Maine; on or before November lIrh, preceding musicians of standing in the community. These other two judges the January final audition. shall be chosen by a committee from the Rossini CIub. THE idea of the award is a belief that the inreresr of youths v,ho T the final audition each candidate shall be prepared ro presenr ^ are studying music be increased t{ r will through the opportunities their abilities by performing one selecrion, which shall be offered b5'seeing and hearing the great music thar is performed at played, or sung, from memory. They shall furnish their own the Metropolitan Opera. Awano \Trr.rNERs 1949 Arthur Komar Portland Gloria Teven Portland Hazel Perking South Portland Celestia Shackford Dcering 19t0 Arturo Caleandro Portland Patricia Gilli South Portland Ann Lothrop Cape Elizrbeth Drrbara Turner Deering Lester Nadeau Deering t9tr Barbara Kelly Portland Leanne Hawkes Deering Thomas Downs Deering Beverly True Falmouth t9t2 Floyd Hunter South Portland Richard Murphy South Portland Audrey Haugaard Deering Jrne Moore Cape Elizabeth 79r3 Charles Nickels Portland Hilton Page South Portland Dorothy Morgan South Portland Shirley Nielsen Deering t9t4 Judy Dunb:r Portland Lillian Crosby Deering Linda Lavin Deering Ernest True Falmouth 19t t Margaret Morrill South Portland Michael Daley Falmouth Mary Elizabeth Shesong Deering Basil Bubas Vestbrook 19t 6 Martha OIsen Cape Elizabeth Janet Balabas Capc Elizabeth Sally Merrill Deering Peter Hennings Falmouth 79t7 Sandra Hawman South Portland Joanne LaFebvre South Portland Alice Vhitney Deering Alice Maye Vestbrook 19t8 Charles Huntress South Portland Bonnie Godfrey Dcering Marion Haugaard Deering Martin Griggs Deering 19t9t Emma Delano Portland Margaret Thompson Deering Rite Maras Deering Virginia McGann Deering Vinston Browne Vestbrook + Could not attend and alternate went, f Unavoidable error at audition so five ewards made. D',1Y tZpt .,, g,& b eTgF{axq F ?-oaUt"* 2262 075 A TRIBUTE TO ROBERT BROWNE HALL The destiny of Robert Browne Hall was revealed early in his life. while a mere lad, he had already displayed an affinity for the cornet and by the age 16, was widely sought hft6r as a featured soloist in New England. pe.aqe grateful to Thomas C. Bardwell, Sr. of Vineyard Haven, Mass. tor infbrmation concerning this distinquished American composer. (Re-printed from BAND FAN) 22 62 0'? 6 Bg Ralph Gould ffi fXf to John Philip Sousa probably no band com- such farniliar Hall marches as Neo Colonial, Inde- r \ poser in America has produced more stirring pendentia, Officer of the Dag and Americnn Cadet, marches than R.B. Hall of Richmond, Maine. Com- and leading bandmasters acclaim his genius. Lieu- poser, bandmaster and virtuoso on the cornet, Hall tenant Anthony N,Iitchell, leader of the U.S. Nary thrilled Maine audience$ in the golden years of band Band, considers Hall "one of the finest composers in music at the end of the last century, and his pub- the march icliom." Lieutenant Colonel Albert Schiep- lished marches, written in Maine, are still heard per, director of the U.S. Nlarine Band, calls the throughout the world. The U.S. Navy Band played marches of R.B. Hall "solidly wrought, simple and his March Funebre for the procession from the melodious, rvith an excellent rhythmic drive and capital across the Potomac to Arlington Cen.retery at energy rvhich cielight the hearer." Even the great the funeral of the late President John F. Kennecly, as Philip Sousa, intervierved after a concert in I John I it does at all full-honor ceremonies for naval officers Portland, \laine, said he believed Hall to be one of interred in the national cemetery. Military and march- the "very best" composers of band music. a t ing bands everywhcre include in their repertoires Robert Brorvne Hall rvas born June 30, 1858 in a I t l i I t l t (, I I 69 lF- y I I 3F I F. j {, 1 : 1 I )\.. I I I Ii t.' ., 7t -E**,-,- - *- 2262 077 while in Richmond, he had started to arrange music and had composed several small pieces, none of which were published, But in Bangor he was be. friended by Melvin H. Andrews, a musician and owner of a music store. To Andrews, Hall dedicated' his first published march, NLH.A. From then on marches began to come from Hall's fertile mind with regularity, bearing names of individuals, places and organizations: Creeting to Bee, dedicated to the weekly n ame; Colonel Fitch; DeMolay Red Ilcn's llIarclr, ald others. The marvel was that the young untutored Hall could not only compose, but also arrange and then conduct and play his own compositions, And although he lived in a remote state in an era of poor communications, publishers sought him out from afar. R .8. HALL was a remarkable man. Although I t plagrrecl rvith a lameness that necessitated tf,e use of a cane and sometimes R:Ba be-gan his band career by joining the Rich- a crutch, he nevertheless mond Band, which his father hacl'stirted, but around LB77: he formed his orvn band, At the time band mu-sic in- Maine was at the height of its popularity, and bands rvere in great demand to play for paracles, picnics, political rallies, dances, concerts and even hay rides and sleigh rides. As R.B. Hall's Band was 1890, Horatio one of the best, Hall and his fellow musicians soon In Fales, organizer of a band in Waterville, asked Hall to come and be its leader. He acceptecl, ancl soon his fame attracted the best musicians of the irrca as rvell as guest-Norv players from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. called "Pro- fessor Hall," he had an orchestra of his orvn in ad- clition to his band. He also conducted the orchestra at the mond to Rockland for a firemen's muster with the local opera house and had charge of the music hand for commencements at Colby College. affair, One summer during his years at lVaterville, Hall Band led the orchestra at the Kineo House at Mt, Kineo, day's i\{ainc, rmd rvhile tlrcre dcsigned and built a sailing canoe occasion, at a political rally in Litchfield, the band for his pleasure on \{oosehead Lake. Anothei rvinter inadvertently struck up a ttrne rvhile U.S. Senator he left Waterville to direct the Tenth Regi- ment Band James G_ Blaine r,'as speakin$, causing the senator in Albanv, Nerv York. There he wrote to roar, "I can talk againit any other man, but not The Tenth Regiment Nlarch and also his famous against a brass band." Officer of the Doy llarch, u'hich he dedicated to regiment. During these early years the fame of Hall's sweet the Lyon & Healev of Chicago published tone on the cornet spread abroad, and he was invited Officer of the Day and on one order sold 900,000 copies to appear as a soloist both in Maine and N,Iassachu- for distribution in Europe. In appreciation, the publishers setts. He performed at Old Orchard and Nantasket gave Hall a gold cornet. Beaches soloist The sixteen years Hall spent in Waterville were rvith the ear he the .mo.st productive of his career. He was busy was invi Band. teaching, conducting, composing and arranging. His Hall I 1890 hand-written sheets of music rvere of such a iirafts- and there first seriously began composing. Earlier, manlike quality that tlrev could be read at sight as easily as printed notes. If a pitrt rvere missing-in an Far left-Halls mother's the Brou;nes, fatniltl, u)ere &fl arranqement, he could sit do*'n rvith a piece of music Ceorg- paper and produce the nes, part in a matter of min- Robeft, ru tc.s HalI in While leading the theatre orchestra at the opera house in Waterville, Hall came to know many mem- 3l i f 4 . !r L + Ii I a s ;f l I ( t i 2262 0z g ' There-; is no recollection, however, of his ever ap- Funebre. The stone marking his grave bears his a pearing' in. public under the infuence. Liquor was narne and the carved figure of a cornet. In l93B a a palliative li; for the man and no doubt ofieied some bandstand, now disappeared, was dedicated in his from his contintred physicai infirmities. The narnl at Averill Park in Waterville. A gold plated 1es;ite- ' !!: Carinabas CIub in Waterville, ivhich served alcoholic cornct, prcsented to hirn in 1884 by the citizens of 1:: drinks, was a favorite haunt for R.B. He even livecl Rangor, is irr the Reddington l\,luseum at Waterville. ,li,i:l and slept there and rvrote a march, Cannabas CIub, Comparisons are often made betrveen R.B. Hall j::- dedicated to this haven, ancl John Philip Sousa ( 1854-1932). \Iost critics agree [,i ' Hall's :,1 manner of teaching his bands and students that Hall ranks next to Sousa in the field of march '' was stern but pleasant. He insisted that all his players conrposition and that, had he livecl in a metropolitan .:l strive for perfection in tone and tr.chnique. His ou'n area irs dicl Sorrsa, his fame *'oulcl have spread more playing rvas described as full and srveet ivith a voicc-- rvidcly,. Somc fcel that Ilall had the gt"n1"r musieal like quality. His incredible technical mastery of the talent: he did all his own composinq and arranging l' cornet was so cornplete that the listener became rrn- and rvas a virtuoso the cornet, s'hereas Sousa's t' of conscious of it. It took anot}rer able conretist to ap- lrancl instlurnentrrl accomplishrncnt \\'as confined to -:; preciate R.B. Flall's perfcction. Arlhur Roundy, one the thircl alto horn. of rHall's students still living in \lirinr-', remernbers Unlike Sousa, u'ho sold his famous rnarches, \ how Hall once told him thit evcry time hc played Scntpcr Fitlelis, \\'uslington Post and High School he tried his best to plav bctter tlan he ever irad Cudct,s, outrigbt for S35 each, R.B. Hall let his pub- i, before, li.shcrs havc. his mirrches onlv on a royalty basis. At : {ogay and trvo other studcnts, Jamcs \/arney of onc tinrc he rvas receiving royalties on sixty. It is Fairffeld and Roy Trurvorthy of Bricigton, recall that br.lio,ed that l{all wrote more than 100 marches in .. Hall charged 75 cents a leison and stuclents rrlthough :;or.ne have been authenticated. i tauclit all, onlv sixty on other lnstrurnents as rvell irs thc c,'ornct. Thcy Irr atlclition, lrc corr.rposecl u'irltzcs, serenades for bari- 5 relate how R,B, comrnittc-cl to mcmor.y thc volrrnrinoris tonc liorn ancl trombone, rln opern, a polka, a schot- B t Arban method ancl rvould sit iri a conrcr and pick tischc ancl several .spccialtie.s for cornet. N'Iany, now I s out immediately any errors of pitch or. inflection rvhile Polished and harcl and bright, the sunlight Colclly falls through uneasy air, Ferv are the crickets left in the meadorv, Shaggy the coat of the old brourn mare. Acld rvarmer blankets, look to the rvoodpile, In 1906 Hall moved to Portland. Therc on June Brrrce yoursclf, for the w'inter is long. 9, 1907, beset u'ith illncss, hc 33