The Legacy of Virdung: Rare Books on Music from the Collection of Frederick R
THE LEGACY OF VIRDUNG: RARE BOOKS ON MUSIC FROM THE COLLECTION OF FREDERICK R. SELCH March 2006 – June 2006 INTRODUCTION FREDERICK R. SELCH (1930-2002) Collector, scholar, performer, advertising executive, Broadway musical producer, magazine publisher, and editor (Ovation); organizer of musical events, including seven exhibitions (two at the Grolier Club), president and artistic director of the Federal Music Society, music arranger, musical instrument repairer and builder; book binder; lecturer and teacher; and most of all, beloved raconteur who knew something about almost every subject. He earned a Ph.D. from NYU in American studies just before his death, writing a highly praised dissertation: “Instrumental Accompaniments for Yankee Hymn Tunes, 1760-1840.” In short, Eric (as he was known) did it all. Eric was a practitioner of material culture, studying the physical and intellectual evidence found in objects, images, the written word, oral history, sound, and culture. Consequently, his interpretations and conclusions about musical topics are especially immediate, substantive, and illuminating. He has left a great legacy for those of us interested in organology (the scientific study of musical instruments) and in particular, American music history. As a collector, Eric’s first serious instrument purchase (aside from those he regularly played) was a seventeenth-century European clavichord he acquired from an extraordinary dealer, Sydney Hamer, in Washington, D.C., where Eric was stationed during the Korean War. Hamer helped focus his eye and develop his taste. Following his service, he worked in London, then studied music and opera stage production and set design in Milan, and opera staging and voice in Siena.
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