Finding Aid for Paul Price Percussion Music and Papers, 1961-1982 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Noah Lenstra

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Collection Overview

Title: Paul Price Percussion Music and Papers, 1961-1982

ID: 12/5/51

Primary Creator: Price, Paul (1921-1986)

Extent: 17.0 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: Organized into 5 series. Each series arranged alphabetically by last name of composer or performer, except for Series 4, which is arranged chronologically, and Series 5, which is arranged by format. Series 1. Music Manuscripts - Consists of orginal manuscripts of unpublished compositions and/or arrangements. Series 2. Annotated Scores and Parts - consists of unpublished and published sheet music annotated by Price and/or members of the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble for performance. Series 3. Unannotated Scores and Parts - Consists of reproduced manuscripts bearing no or very few annotations, retained because of their unavailability in other sources. Series 4. Papers - Personal papers of Paul Price. Series 5. Sound Recordings - including LPs, reel-to-reel tapes, and cassette tapes.

Date Acquired: 08/31/1987

Subjects: Faculty Papers, Manuscripts, Music, Music, School of

Formats/Genres: Sheet music, Sound Recordings

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of percussion sheet music, sound recordings and correspondence documenting Paul Price's career as a percussion music educator, publisher and performer. Of special note are manuscripts, non-commercial recordings, and other forms of unpublished music materials of American 20th-century composers including Lou Harrison, Michael Colgrass, and Henry Cowell, as well as works by Price himself. Among the sound recordings, of special note are performances by the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble with Paul Price as conductor. Also includes correspondence file containing correspondence with 20th-century composers of percussion music. Some of the sheet music files also contain correspondence, performance programs or other additional material documenting a work's performances or publishing history.

Biographical Note

Paul William Price (b. Fitchburg, Mass., 31 July, 1910- d. New York, 1986) was a percussionist, composer, conductor, publisher of percussion music, and music educator during the four decades following the end of World War II. He studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory under George Carey and Fred Noak. In his teaching career he held faculty positions at the University of Illinois from 1949 to 1956; Boston University; Ithaca College; Newark State College and, after 1957, the Manhattan School of Music. Price also conducted the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble and began independently publishing percussion music under the titles "Music for Percussion" and "Paul Price Publications," beginning in the mid-1960s. He was also a composer of percussion music and a writer of books on percussion methodology. Through these activities he was influential in promoting the growth of the percussion ensemble movement in the United States and in stimulating interest in composing for percussion in the latter half of the 20th century.

Subject/Index Terms

Faculty Papers
Manuscripts
Music
Music, School of

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Alternate Extent Statement: 17 cubic feet

Access Restrictions: No restrictions.

Acquisition Source: Percussive Arts Society and Phyllis Price

Acquisition Method: Donation.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Music Manuscripts, ca. 1950-1980],
[Series 2: Annotated Scores and Parts, ca. 1950-1980],
[Series 3: Unannotated Scores and Parts, ca. 1950-1980],
[Series 4: Papers],
[Series 5: Sound Recordings],
[All]

Series 1: Music Manuscripts, ca. 1950-1980

Box 1

Folder 6: Adams, B "Three Poems for G. Lorez and Trio" S and P, undated
Folder 1: Arceneaux, Jack "Reflections in Dimension" S, undated
Folder 2: Arceneaux, Jack "5000 B.C., A Vision: Percussion Ensemble for 7 Players and 2 Voices", undated
Folder 3: Ardeval, Jose "Suite for 30 percussion instruments" S and P, undated: "Suite para 30 instrumentos de percusion, friccion y zillrido. 15 ejecutantes"
Folder 4: Ardevol, Jose "Preludio a 11 para once instrumentos de percussion", 1942
Folder 5: Bartlett, Harry "Eight Soloistic Etudes for the Advanced Snare Drummer" S, August 1954: Composed at DePaul University
Folder 7: Bates, Robert "Blue Offering for Flute and Vibraphone" S, 1979: Started April 23, 1979; Finished May 24, 1979. Dedicated to Susan, with love
Folder 8: Belmar, Harold "Timbrandun" S and P, undated
Folder 9: Belmar, Harold "Quartet 4 Tom-Toms" P, undated
Folder 10: Bergamo, John "Introduction and Merangue" S and P, undated
Folder 11: Bergamo, John "Quartet #1", undated
Folder 12: Bergamo, John "Interactions for Vibraphone and Percussion", 1963: "For Paul and Phyllis Price"
Folder 13: Bergamo, John "Tanka for Solo Percussion", undated
Folder 14: Beyer, Johanna M. "March", 1939
Folder 15: Brisman, Heskel "Dialogue for Flute and Percussion", undated
Folder 16: Broadkorp, Wayne "Quartet", undated
Folder 17: Burnham, E.J. "Reflections", undated
Folder 18: Canning, Thomas "Symphony No. 1", undated

Box 2

Folder 9: Childs, Barney "Welcome to Whipperginny" S and P, 1961
Folder 10: Colgrass, Michael "Concerto for Timpani and Brass", 1952
Folder 11: Colgrass, Michael "Impromptu Invention No. 1", undated
Folder 1: Colgrass, Michael "Impromptu Invention", undated
Folder 2: Cowell, Henry "Ostinato Pianissimo", 1934: manuscript arrangement
Folder 3: Cowell, Henry "Pulse", undated
Folder 4: Cowell, Henry "Return", 1939
Folder 5: Crane, Robert "Toccata and Fugue", 1958
Folder 6: Davidson, Harold (arr. Paul Price) "Auto Accident" P, undated
Folder 7: Dietz, N.E. "Fantasy for Percussion Instruments" S and P, undated
Folder 8: de Castilla, Robert "Tentet for Percussion", January 16, 1958

Box 3

Folder 8: Ernst, David "Waves" S and P, 1972: "To Paul Price and the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble"
Folder 9: Fink, Ron "Sonata Brevis for 2 Percussionists", 1965: Written in Denton, Texas
Folder 10: Hale, James P. "Introduction to Percussion Ensemble Playing", undated: book draft
Folder 11: Harrison, Lou "Canticle #5", undated
Folder 12: Harrison, Lou "Suite" [For percussion] (P, FS), undated: Full score is handwritten in a spiral notebook and includes performance directions.
Folder 1: Harrison, Lou "Canticle #1", undated: manuscript arrangement and annotated parts
Folder 2: Hart, William S. "Concert Piece for Timpani Duet", undated
Folder 3: Hartley, Gerald "Timpani Concertante", 1963
Folder 4: Horwood, Michael S. "Piece Percussionique, No. 3", undatd
Folder 5: Iadone, Joseph "Arrangements of mid-16th century music", 1972
Folder 6: Johnston, Ben "Concerto for Percussion", Christmas 1952
Folder 7: Kamm, Richard "Fast", undated

Box 4

Folder 1: Kelly, Thomas Williams "Die Symphonie - Der Technishen - Das Schlagzeug", undated
Folder 2: Kelly, Thomas "Snare Drum Duets"/"Snare Solo"/"Burial Song"/"Conclusion Ensemble (Tahitian Song)" S and P, ca. 1964
Folder 3: Kelly, Thomas "Contemplation" S, undated
Folder 4: Kelly, Thomas "Hum Drum"/"Go Scene-Roll Off"/"The Crusaders"/"Cross Stroke"/"Cracker Jax", undated
Folder 5: Kelly, Thomas "Latinette" and "What - Me Worry?", undated
Folder 6: Knaack, Donald "Music of the Renaissance and Early Baroque Periods" (arr. for Marimba) book draft, undated
Folder 7: Komorowski, Edward "One, Two, Donki-Do" S, undated
Folder 8: Larsen, Arved M. "Indian Sortie for Percussion" and "A Fourth for Six" S, September 20, 1964 and February 20, 1964
Folder 9: McPhee, Colin "Kachapi Mas (Golden Zither)" S
Folder 10: McPhee, Colin "Lagu Deleim" S and P, undated
Folder 11: McKenzie, Jack "Suite for Side Man and Four Choirs of Handclappers" P, undated
Folder 12: McKenzie, Jack "Song for Trombone and Percussion" S and P, undated
Folder 13: McKenzie, Jack "Cadenza - Timpani" P and "I Scherzo" P, undated
Folder 14: Macbride, David "Ever Inward" with recording and program notes, undated
Folder 15: Morgan, Glen E. "Music for Horn and Percussion", 1960
Folder 16: Price, Paul "S.S.B." S and P, undated
Folder 17: Price, Paul "Study No. 3" S and P, November 1952
Folder 18: Price, Paul "12 Graded Timpani Solos for Contest", undated
Folder 19: Price, Paul "Lullabye" P, undated
Folder 20: Price, Paul "Octet" and "Jimmy", undated
Folder 21: Petit, Pierre "Hors d'Oeuvre" with handwritten notes, ca. 1955
Folder 22: Rosenberg, Michael and Paul Price "Percussion Quartet" S and "Kettle Drum Tuning Exercise", undated
Folder 23: Russell, William "Marches", undated
Folder 24: Russell, William (arr. Paul Price) "Three Cuban Pieces" P, undated
Folder 25: Russell, William (Bill) (arr. Price?) "Three Dance Movements Waltz", undated
Folder 26: Stephens, Michael "Clusters", 1966
Folder 27: William Russell (arr. Paul Price) "Fugue for Eight Percussion Instruments", undated (1933)

Box 5

Folder 1: Siwe, Tom "For Two in Two Four", undated
Folder 2: Stevens, Henry K. "African Search", June 19, 1975
Folder 3: Strang, Gerald "Percussion Music for Three Players", ca. 1949
Folder 4: Tautenhahn, Gunther "By the Dawn's Early Light", 1980
Folder 5: Theobald, Jim "Three Rhapsodies for Eb Alto Sax and Percussion Quartet" S and P, 1978
Folder 6: Thome, Joel "Poco Concerro: Percussion Sextet", undated
Folder 7: Thome, Joel "The Rhythm Patrol: Percussion Quartet" and "The Rambler: Snare Drum Duet", undated
Folder 8: Uber, David "Rhythmic Contours for Solo Tuba and Percussion", undated
Folder 9: Varese, Edgard "Ionisation" P, undated
Folder 10: Weigel, Eugene "Piece" S and P, undated
Folder 11: Wertman, David "Alchemy", 1973
Folder 12: Wildermuth, Richard "Bossa Nova for Percussion" S and P, undated
Folder 13: Wildermuth, Richard C. "Quartet" S and P, undated