Finding Aid for John Garvey Music Collection, 1956-2006 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Nolan Vallier

Service Location	Boxes
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 1-2
SACAM, Band Building, 1103 S. 6th Street	Oversize textile box 5

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Collection Overview

Title: John Garvey Music Collection, 1956-2006

ID: 12/9/142

Primary Creator: Garvey, John (1921-2006)

Extent: 0.5

Arrangement: Materials are arranged chronologically.

Date Acquired: 04/04/2015. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Clothing and Textiles, Concert tours, Faculty, Jazz, Music, School of, Russian Folk Orchestra, Russian Folk Songs, Stringed Instruments, Walden Quartet

Formats/Genres: Sound Recordings

Languages: English, Russian

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of newspaper articles, concert programs, personal papers, videos, and audio recordings, documenting the career of John Garvey and his involvement with the Russian Folk Orchestra and University Jazz Ensemble.

Biographical Note

John C. Garvey was born March 17, 1921 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and attended Temple University, studying violin under Alfred Lorenz. He joined the faculty of the UIUC School of Music in 1948 when the Walden String Quartet was brought to the University from Cornell University, as quartet-in-residence. Garvey continued as the principal teacher of viola, and as a member of the quartet, until the 1970s.

After coming to Illinois, he developed a large number of other musical interests. He conducted the School of Music's chamber orchestra, started the jazz band in 1960 and remained the principal faculty member in the jazz field until his retirement in 1991, and became very active in the School's activities in new and experimental music. In addition to doing much of the conducting at the biennial Festival of Contemporary Arts in the 1960s and early 1970s, Professor Garvey also arranged guest residencies at UIUC for important innovators and composers of new music, such as Harry Partch and John Cage.

In the 1970s, Garvey traveled to Russia and Southeast Asia, to study performance of indigenous musics. He became an expert in Russian instrumental folk music and established the University's Russian Folk Orchestra, which he conducted for over a decade, and which toured widely in the USA and abroad. He also studied South Indian vocal music with visiting professor from India, Dr. Ranganayaki Ayyangar. Intimate involvement with Indonesian music and dance was characteristic of the late part of his career, as he traveled repeatedly to Java and Bali in order to observe performances, engage in research, and begin collecting art and artifacts from these countries. This part of his collection was donated in 2003 to the University's Spurlock Museum.

John Garvey and the UI Jazz Band were acknowledged by the Smithsonian Institute as one of the major contributors of recorded jazz during the period from 1966 through 1975. A publication compiled by the Smithsonian included Garvey and his band along with jazz noteables Count Basie, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Sarah Vaughan, and other legendary musicians.

Related Materials:

John Garvey and the University of Ilinois Jazz Band web log

Subject/Index Terms

Clothing and Textiles
Concert tours
Faculty
Jazz
Music, School of
Russian Folk Orchestra
Russian Folk Songs
Stringed Instruments
Walden Quartet

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals: Audio recordings of the University of Illinois Jazz Ensemble were acquired from Jeff Helgesen April 7, 2015; Materials concerning the Russian Folk Orchestra, John Garvey Retirement Concert, and John Garvey Memorial Concert, t-shirts, and the Walden String Quartet were acquired from Sue and Bruce Wood April 4, 2015. University of Illinois Jazz Band concert program from 1979 gifted by James Beauchamp on July 16, 2015.

Acquisition Source: Gift

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Oversize Textile Box 5],
[All]

Box 1

Folder 1: Liner Notes for Elliot Carter: String Quartet by the Walden Quartet of the University of Illinois, 1956
Folder 2: Russian Folk Orchestra "Withered Chrysanthemums and Other Favorites", 1977-1981: Includes Liner Notes and CD (transfered from Tape Cassette). Tracks include: 1) Byelorusskaya, 2) Perepyolochka, 3) Lesnoy bal (soloist Phyllis Tilton Hurt), 4) Ne slyshno shumu gorodskovo (soloist Phyllis Tilton Hurt), 5) Bubentsy (Soloist Phyllis Tilton Hurt), 6) Gryozy, 7) Proshchay, moy tabor (soloist Harry Mechell), 8) Ekh, dorogi (soloist Harry Mechell), 9) Na rybalke (soloist Harry Mechell), 10) Moldovenyaska, 11) Somneniye (featuring the Russian Gypsy ensemble: John Garvey, violin; Dominic Skaperdas, prima Domra; David Cooper, alto domra; Walter Kujbida, prima balalaika; Judith Grass, guitar and percussion; James Green, accordion; Dmitry Gribanovsky, kontrabass balalaika), 12) Svetit mesyats (Russian Gypsy ensemble), 13) Ottsveli chis davno khrizantemy (Russian Gypsy ensmble), 14) Pod dugyoy kolokolchik poyot (Russian Gypsy Ensmble), 15) Gai-da troika, 16) Byloye na Volga (soloist Richard Anderson), 17) Gori, gori, maya zvezda (soloist Richard Anderson), 18) V'dol po Piterskoy, 19) Dorogoy Dlinnoyu. Tracks 5, 10, 15, 17, and 19 arranged by Walter Kasura.
Folder 3: Third Annual Balalaika and Dombra Association of America Convention, 1981: DVD. Recorded June 13-19, 1981 at the University of Illinois. Festival Orchestra and University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra. John Garvey Conductor, Bruce Wood, Coordinator.
Folder 4: Russian Folk Orchestra "The Sounds of Russia Old and New", 1982-1985: Tape Cassette. Side 1: 1. Pyotr Velikiy Marsh (Peter the Great March) 2. Ozhidaniye - val's (Expectation Waltz) 3. Kolybel'naya Akatuya (Akatui Lullaby) 4. Pe snegu olen' bezhit (The Reindeer Runs Over the Snow) 5. Ocharovatel'nyye ochi (Charming Eyes) 6. Mazurka No. 4 7. Goluboy vagon (The Blue Carriage) 8. Yekhal ya iz Berlina (I rode out of Berlin) 9. The Sviatogorskiy Monastery Fantasy. Side 2: 10. Memories Waltz 11. Vecher v derevnye (Evening in the Country) 12. Vsled za buynymi vetrami (After the Stormy Wind) 13. Posredi palat kamennykh (Among the Stone Palaces) 14. Mazurka, opus 119, no. 4 15. Bolgarskiye napevy (Bulgarian melodies) 16. Hude viter vel'my v poli (The Strong Wind Blows Across the Field) 17. Rostov-gorod, Rostov-Don (The City of Rostov, Rostov-on-the-Don) 18. Kolybel'naya (Lullaby) 19. Krymskiye eskizy (Crimean Sketches)
Folder 5: Russian Folk Orchestra "Homage to Andreyev", 1986-1988: Tape Cassette. Side 1: 1. Amerikanskiy marsh (American march) 2. Step', da step' krugom (The Broad steppe) 3. Iskorki (Sparks) 4. Kak pod yablon'koy (Under the apple tree) 5. Tyomnaya noch' (Dark night) 6. Kazbek (a mountain) 7. Utro (Morning) 8. Natasha (A Russian Waltz) 9. Takametsien kaipuu (I miss the forest) 10. "Romance" from Metel (The Snowstorm) 11. Tul'skiy samovar (the Tula samovar). Side 2: 1. Na shtyki (With bayonets) 2. Kolybel'naya (Lullaby) 3. Amurskiye volny (Amur waves) 4. Russkiy tanets (Russian dance) 5. Beryoszka (The little birch tree) 6. Chonguri (Georgian folk instrument) 7. U zari-to, u zoren'ki (At dawn) 8. Romance for flute and guitar 9. The night is light 10. Zvyozdy blestyat (The stars are shining) 11. Prelyudiya (Prelude) 12. Terim
Folder 6: Illinois Summer Youth Music Faculty Button, 1986: Accession number 2015-1209142-003.
Folder 7: John Garvey Retirement and Russian Folk Orchestra Concert Program, 1991
Folder 8: "Our John Retires" Retirement DVD, 1991: DVD (two copies).
Folder 9: Biography of John Garvey by Bruce Wood, 1996
Folder 10: John Garvey Obituary, 2006
Folder 11: "The World According to Garv" Memorial Concert Program and Book, 2006
Folder 12: "The World According to Garv" Memorial DVD, 2006: DVD. Two Discs.
Folder 13: University of Illinois Jazz Band concert program, 1979: Gift of James Beauchamp.

Box 2

Item 1: University of Illinois Jazz Band live at the T-Bird, 1974: 7'' Polyester Reel to Reel Tape. Recorded July 31, 1974. Tracks include: 1) In a Sentimental Mood, 2) The Thrill is Gone, 3) Shell Game, 4) Market Square, 5) Low Down, 6) Mellow Tone, 7) Sister Sadie.
Item 2: University of Illinois Jazz Band live at the T-Bird, 1974: 7'' Polyester Reel to Reel Tape. Recorded July 31, 1974. Tracks include: 1) Take the A Train, 2) Come Fly with Me, 3) Vine St., 4) Doodle Oodle, 5) In a Mellow Tone, 6) Sister Sadie, 7) Bokhara Ornament, 8) In the Mountains of Georgia.
Item 3: University of Illinois Jazz Band Live at the T-Bird, 1974: CD duplication of Box 2 Item 2. Tracks include: 1) Take the A Train, 2) Come Fly with Me, 3) Vine St. Rumble, 4) Doodle Oodle, 5) In a Mellow Tone, 6) Sister Sadie, 7) Bokhara Ornament, 8) In the Mountains of Georgia.
Item 4: University of Illinois Jazz Band, ca. 1970s: CD. Tracks include: 1) Vine St. Rumble (soloists Jim NcNeely, piano; and Brian Sanders, tenor sax), 2) The Old Beelzebub Blues (soloists Mike Peterson, banjo; Ron Dewar, soprano clarinet), 3) Doodle Oodle (soloists Ron Dewar, tenor sax; Brian Sanders, tenor sax), 4) I'm Glad There's You, 5) Tank Town Bump (soloists Jim McNeely, piano), 6) Other Summers, 7) Moten Swing, 8) Midnight Dawn (soloists John Hutchens), 9) Threshold "Mayday" (soloists Ron Dewar, tenor sax; Ric Bendel, flugelhorn).
Item 5: University of Illinois Jazz Band, ca. 1970s: CD. Tracks include: 1) The Thrill is Gone (soloist Ron Dewar), 2) Sweet Rain (soloist John Hutchens), 3) Bokhara Ornament, 4) unidentified non-Jazz ensemble, 5) unidentified non-jazz ensemble
Item 6: VOA Interview with John Garvey, 1986: Tape Cassette. Recorded January 1986. Interview in Russian and English. Music of the Russian Folk Orchestra included (soloists Phyllis Hurt and Wm. Warfield).

Oversize Textile Box 5

Item 1: Illinois Jazz Orchestra T-Shirt, undated: Accession number 2015-1209142-001.
Item 2: University of Illinois Russian Folk Orchestra T-Shirt, undated: Accession number 2015-1209142-002.

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Oversize Textile Box 5],
[All]