Finding Aid for University Bands Collection, circa 1840-2021 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Tracy Parish, Adriana Cuervo, Kelly A. Carlson, and William Fisher

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Collection Overview

Title: University Bands Collection, circa 1840-2021

ID: 12/9/93

Primary Creator: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. University Bands

Extent: 113.5 cubic feet

Arrangement: Arranged by type of material.

Date Acquired: 09/16/2004. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Band Department, Brass Instruments, Musical Instrument Collections, Musical Instrument Makers - Europe, Musical Instrument Makers - United States, Woodwind Instruments

Formats/Genres: Papers

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Includes musical instruments, band uniforms, photographs, music, newsclippings, audiovisual recordings, concert programs, and administrative records that document the University of Illinois Bands Department since its creation in 1905. The 1982 Chief Illiniwek Regalia was deaccessioned in 2009. The three boxes of administrative records include band conference and clinic programs, festival adjudications, Illinois commencement programs and band concerts, Marching Illini programs, ISYM programs, and WILL Radio broadcasts that were managed by the Assistant Directors of Bands between 1956 and 1974, including Eldon Oyen who joined the University Bands staff in 1969.

Biographical Note

The University of Illinois Military Band was established in 1870 for the purpose of providing music for functions within the military department of the Illinois Industrial University. From 1868 to 1894, the band was administered by student leaders and from 1895 to 1904 was led by various university faculty members. From 1905-1907, the band was led by Albert Austin Harding, who was an undergraduate in engineering.

In 1907, Harding was named the first director of bands, serving in this role for over forty years (1907-1948) and leading the band to a position of national prominence. Under Harding, the University of Illinois band became the first band to perform at a collegiate baseball game (1906) and a collegiate football game (1907); one of the few collegiate bands to receive a march written by John Philip Sousa (1929); and a laboratory ensemble for many of Harding's mentees, which included William D. Revelli, Frederick Fennell, Clarence Sawhill, Ray Dvorak, and Glen Cliffe Bainum. In 1929, Harding became one of the founding members of the American Bandmasters Association.

In 1932, upon the death of John Philip Sousa, Sousa left his vast library of sheet music and original manuscripts in the care of the University of Illinois Band. In 1955, the Band Department had grown so large that they required a new building to be constructed. In 1958 the Harding Band Building was completed, becoming the first permanent building specifically constructed for a collegiate band program in the country.

Subsequent directors of the Band Department include: Mark H. Hindsley (1948-1970), Harry Begian (1970-1984), James F. Keene (1985-2008), Abel Saldivar Ramirez (2008-2009), Robert Rumbelow (2009-2014), Linda Moorhouse (2014-2015), Stephen Peterson (2015-2022), and Kevin Geraldi (2022- ). The University Band Department also saw the rise of several important assistant directors and directors of the Marching Illini, including: Ray Dvorak, Glen Cliffe Bainum, Clarence Sawhill, Everett Kisinger, Guy Duker, Eldon Oyen, Harvey Herman, Gary E. Smith, Ken Steinsultz, Peter Griffin, Tom Cavena, Roby George, Barry Houser, Jesse Leyva, Elizabeth Peterson, and Kimberly Fleming.

The Band Department is currently a unit of the University of Illinois School of Music, which is in turn a unit of the College of Fine and Applied Arts. Ensembles under the administration of the Band Department include the UI Wind Symphony, two symphonic bands, three concert bands, a British Brass Band, Clarinet Choir, the UI Basketball Band, the Orange & Blues and the Marching Illini.

Subject/Index Terms

Band Department
Brass Instruments
Musical Instrument Collections
Musical Instrument Makers - Europe
Musical Instrument Makers - United States
Woodwind Instruments

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Instruments],
[Series 2: Photographs],
[Series 3: Uniforms],
[Series 4: Ephemera, 1912-2000],
[Series 5: Music],
[Series 6: Pressbooks],
[Series 7: University of Illinois Band Films and Audiovisual Recordings, 1932-2004],
[Series 8: Bound Concert Programs, 1906-1985],
[Series 9: University of Illinois Band Videocassettes, 1979-1999],
[Series 10: Administrative Records, 1956-1974],
[Series 11: Direct Cut Discs, 1937-1956],
[All]

Series 11: Direct Cut Discs, 1937-1956

Box 68

Item 1: "Founder's Day" - University of Illinois Military Bands Glee Club, March 2, 1937: Aluminum direct cut disc. Audio-Scriptions Radio Recording Studios, New York. Digital copy available in box.
Item 2: "Founder's Day" - University of Illinois Military Bands Glee Club, March 2, 1937: Aluminum direct cut disc. Audio-Scriptions Radio Recording Studios, New York.
Item 3: "Don Juan and Divertissement" - University of Illinois Concert Band, April 30, 1938: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. Gamble's Recording Studio, Chicago. Digital copy available in box.
Item 4: "Daphnis & Chloe / Music in the Air", undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 5: "Prince Igor Overture" (excerpts), undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 6: "Builders of Youth Overture" (Charles O'Neill), undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. Gamble's Recording Studio, Chicago.
Item 7: "Builders of Youth" cont., undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 8: "Pendragon Overture" (Johnson), undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 9: "Valencia / Valse" from Divertissement, undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 10: "A Manx Overture", undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 11: "Psyche and Eros" (Cesar Frank), undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 12: "Best Luck to the Bombers" with Compliments of CKRC (Illinois Loyalty with words for Blue Bombers of Winnepeg Manitoba), undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. WILL.
Item 13: "Suite Provincale No. 1, 3, 5, 7, 8" (Darius Milhaud), May 9, 1946: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 14: "Prelude / Hula" (Dai Keong Lee), May 9, 1946: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 15: "Colas Breugnon Overture" (Kabalevsky), May 9, 1946: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 16: "Suite Provincale Parts 5, 7, 8" - University of Illinois Concert Band, undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 17: "Suite Provincale Parts 1, 3, 5 / Colas Breugnon Overture" - University of Illinois Concert Band, undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. WILL Broadcast.
Item 18: "America: Tone Poem / Sea Hawk Trailer, Midnight in Paris" - University of Illinois Concert Band, November 13, 1941: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 19: "Something About a Soldier / Football and Band Medleys" - University of Illinois Concert Band, November 13, 1941: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 20: University of Illinois Football Band, October 23, 1941: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. Digital copy available in box.
Item 21: "Symph. 5.5 Part I and Part II", undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 22: "Symph. 5.5 Part 3 and Part 4", undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 23: "Concerto in G Minor" (Bruch) - Clarence Sawhill and the USC Concert Band, undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. University of Southern California Audio Visual Services
Item 24: "Concerto in G Minor" (Bruch) - Clarence Sawhill and the USC Concert Band, undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. University of Southern California Audio Visual Services
Item 25: "Concerto in G Minor" (Bruch) - Clarence Sawhill and the USC Concert Band, undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. University of Southern California Audio Visual Services.
Item 26: "Andante Cantabile Part I and Part II" - Intercollegiate Band, February 25, 1950: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 27: "Death and Transfiguration / Portrait of a Frontier Town Part I" - Intercollegiate Band, February 25, 1950: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 28: "Portrait of a Frontier Town Parts II and III" - Intercollegiate Band, February 25, 1950: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 29: "Andante Cantabile Part III / Escapada" - Intercollegiate Band, February 25, 1950: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 30: "A Concert in the Park" (Sharman), "M" Rhapsody (Werle) / "March, Men of Florida" (Henry Fillmore), "Suite of Old American Dances" (R.R. Bennett), "Cake-Walk," "Schottische," "Western One-Step," "Wallflower-Waltz Rag" - University of Michigan Symphonic Band, March 10 and 11, 1950: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. Magnetic Recording Company, Evanston, IL. Recorded at the A.B.A. Convention, Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor.
Item 31: "Peacock Variations" (Zoltan Kodaly) - University of Wisconsin Concert Band, December 18, 1956: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. WHA, University of Wisconsin Madison.
Item 32: "Peacock Variations" (Zoltan Kodaly) - University of Wisconsin Concert Band, December 18, 1956: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. WHA, University of Wisconsin Madison.
Item 33: "Peacock Variations" (Zoltan Kodaly) - University of Wisconsin Concert Band, December 18, 1956: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. WHA, University of Wisconsin Madison.
Item 34: 68th Anniversary Concert April 11, 1954 - University of Wisconsin Bands, April 11, 1954: 33.3 rpm disc. Leaf Records UWB 1 and UWB 3.
Item 35: 68th Anniversary Concert April 11, 1954 - University of Wisconsin Bands, April 11, 1954: 33.3 rpm disc. Leaf Records UWB 2 and UWB 4.
Item 36: University of Illinois First Regimental Band, undated: 33.3 rpm disc. XCTV 7654 and 7655 "Pressed but not recorded by Columbia Records."
Item 37: "Dr. Harding Presentation", undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 38: "Harding Presentation", undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 39: "Meditation / 3 & 1", undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 40: "'Meditation' from Thais, Psyche and Eros / Psyche and Eros" - University of Illinois First Regimental Band, undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 41: University of Illinois Concert Band, undated: 33.3 rpm disc. XCTV 7651 and 7652 "Pressed but not recorded by Columbia Records."
Item 42: University of Illinois First Regimental Band, undated: 33.3 rpm disc. XCTV 7756 and 7757 "Pressed but not recorded by Columbia Records."
Item 43: University of Illinois First Regimental Band, undated: 33.3 rpm disc. XCTV 8252 and 8253 "Pressed but not recorded by Columbia Records."
Item 44: "Symphony No. 1: 3rd Movement" (Borodin), "Symphony No. 6: Finale" (Prokofieff) / "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Strauss), undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc. National Music Camp.
Item 45: "Prelude and Hula" (Dai-Keong Lee) - University of Illinois First Regimental Band, undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.
Item 46: Northwestern University Concert Band, May 16, 1954: 33.3 rpm disc. Custom Records, Evanston, IL E4QP 4240 and 4241.
Item 47: "Ceremony / Dr. Harding Presentation", undated: Acetate on aluminum direct cut disc.