Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Leopold Stokowski, 1882-1977.
- Abstract:
- Test pressings, primarily RCA Victor, of Leopold Stokowski's recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra and a set of Laura Bolton's field recordings of Native American music.
- Extent:
- 175 sound recordings
- Language:
- English.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection is divided into four series: Series 1, Disney test pressings; Series II, Laura Boulton recordings; Series III, Other recordings; Series IV, RCA Victor test pressings.
Collection contains 175 sound recordings, mostly RCA Victor test pressings and radio broadcasts of Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra from the 1934-1940.
Leopold Stokowski had a house in Santa Barbara in the 1930s which was later owned by singer Hall Clovis and his partner Charles Lee. In 1978, the pair donated the test pressings to UCSB as well as approximately 500 other commercial recordings, mostly Stokowski's RCA Victor recordings. These have been cataloged as part of the UCSB Library's general collections.
Pieces are listed alphabetically by composer and then by title/matrix. Composer's names have been added when known. Title and date information was transcribed from the disc labels and was not standardized. Some recordings are alternate takes. The collection includes much of Stokowski's most famous repertoire and his own orchestrations, including test pressings of the Fantasia soundtrack as well as Bach, Beethoven, Borodin, Chopin, Debussy, Gliere, Mussorgsky, Resphigi, Rimsky-Korsakov, Scriabin, Saint-Saens, Satie, Shostakovich, Sibelius, J. Strauss, Stravinsky, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Wagner. The collection also contains a set of unreleased RCA Victor test pressings of Native American music recorded by Laura Boulton in 1940 and given to Stokowski by Boulton.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Leopold Stokowski, 1882-1977. American conductor of British birth. Stokowski began recording in 1917 and was a pioneer of many recording techniques and was a champion of modern music. The first electrical symphonic recordings were made with the Philadelphia Orchestra under his direction as well as the first experiments in stereo recordings. He also premiered many works in the concert hall and on recording, had interests in non-western music, orchestrated works by composers such as Bach for symphony orchestra, championed classical music to the lay audience, particularly with his recordings for Walt Disney's Fantasia. His recordings remain classics today.
- Acquisition information:
- Donated in May 1978 by Hall Clovis.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
UC Santa Barbara LibrarySanta Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-3062