Finding Aid for Paul Vermel Papers, 1970-1994 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Carol Berthold

Service Location	Boxes
SACAM, Band Building, 1103 S. 6th Street	Box 1-10

Submit request (Aeon) | email

Email us about these papers | printer

Print this information

Collection Overview

Title: Paul Vermel Papers, 1970-1994

ID: 12/5/90

Primary Creator: Vermel, Paul (1924-2024)

Extent: 13.0 cubic feet

Arrangement: Materials are arranged into two series. Series 1) Orchestral Scores and Series 2) Personal Papers. Series 1 is arranged alphabetically by composer last name. Series 2 is arranged chronologically.

Date Acquired: 02/07/2025. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Conducting--Instruction and Study, Faculty, Faculty Papers, Music, School of, Music teachers, Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestras

Formats/Genres: Concert Programs, Papers, Sheet music

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of annotated orchestral scores and personal papers, documenting the career of Paul Vermel and his time as orchestra conductor at the University of Illinois from 1974 to 1994.

Biographical Note

Paul Vermel (1924-2024) was an orchestra director, music educator, and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois. Vermel was born in Paris, France in 1924. His parents, Naoum Vermel and Marguerite Amirian Vermel, had previously fled Russia during the 1917 Revolution. As a young child, he studied organ with Andre Fleury and both composition and harmony with Andre Cluytens and Paul Kletzki. Vermel's studies were interrupted by the German occupation of Paris during World War II.

In 1949, he traveled to America and enrolled at the Juilliard School. After studying with Jean Morel, Vermel joined the Juilliard faculty, conducting the orchestra and opera orchestra. Throughout the 1950s, Vermel conducted several New York ensembles including the Hudson Valley Symphony, the Doctor's Orchestral Society, and the Brooklyn Community Orchestra. Vermel also made his Broadway debut in 1954 as the assistant conductor for Gian Carlo Menotti's Saint of Bleecker Street. In that same year, he became an American citizen and was honored by then-president Dwight Eisenhower for his contributions to American music. At this time he was married to his first wife, Ann Nelson Vermel, with whom he had a daughter, Valerie.

In the early 1960s, Vermel became the conductor of the Fresno Youth Orchestra in Fresno, California. In 1966, he moved to Maine, eventually conducting the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He would serve as the conductor for this ensemble from 1967 to 1975. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate in fine arts from Nasson College in 1975. In 1974, Vermel accepted a professorship at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, conducting both the University Symphony Orchestra and the Champaign-Urbana Symphony. In 1978, he met and married his second wife, Carolyn Paulin. He retired from the University of Illinois in 1994. Following this, he moved to Chicago, where he conducted the Northwest Symphony Orchestra until 2013 and the North Suburban Symphony until 2007.

Vermel was the recipient of the Koussevitsky Memorial Award at the Tanglewood Festival, the American Symphony Orchestra League's Recognition Award, a Ford Foundation grant, an ASCAP award, and the Max Rudolf Award from the Conductor's Guild. Vermel died in Portland, Maine at the age of 99.

Subject/Index Terms

Conducting--Instruction and Study
Faculty
Faculty Papers
Music, School of
Music teachers
Orchestra
Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Orchestras

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals: An additional 9 boxes of orchestral scores were donated on September 30, 2025.

Acquisition Source: Carolyn Paulin

Acquisition Method: Gift

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Orchestral Scores],
[Series 2: Personal Papers],
[All]

Series 1: Orchestral Scores

Consists of performance scores with annotations. Materials follow a rough alphabetical order, with materials arranged by composer last name.

Box 1

Folder 1: J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No. 2 and No. 3, 1956: Published score and part of score with notes.
Folder 2: J.S. Bach Works, undated: Includes: Piano Concerto in D minor; Musical Offeerings; Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor Air from the Suite in D; Brandenbirg Concerto No. 5; Brandenburg Concerto No. 6; Sheep May Safely Graze; Choral Prelude.
Folder 3: J.S.Bach - Stokowski Arrangenents, undated: Items include: Komm Suser Tod (Come Sweet Death); Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor;
Folder 4: Abels - Barber, undated: Items include: Michael Abels, Global Warming, 1991; John Adams, The Chairman Dances, 1989; Samuel Barbeer, Capricorn Concerto (parts), 1945; Samuel Barber, Adagio For Strings, 1939; Samuel Barber, Essay for Orchestra, 1941; Samuel Barber, Third Essay, 1978; Samuel Barber, Toccata Festiva, 1961; Samuel Barber, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, 1942.

Box 2

Folder 1: J.S. Bach - Art of the Fugue, undated
Folder 2: Bartok, 1946, 1953: Items include: Magyar Kepekl Viola Concerto; Violin Concerto No. 2, full score.
Folder 3: Bela Bartok, undated: Items include: Piano Concerto No. 3. full score, 1947; Divertimento for String Orchestra (full score) Concerto for Orchestra, 1946; Rumanian Folk Dances, 1922.
Folder 4: Beethoven - Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 2, undated

Box 3

Folder 1: Beethoven - Eroica Inserts, undated
Folder 2: Beethoven - Eroica Tempi: Max Rudolf Comments, undated
Folder 3: Beethoven - Paul Vermel's Comments and Interpretation, 2015
Folder 4: Beethoven - Paul Vermel's Notes on Eroica, 1965-2005
Folder 5: Beethoven, udated: Items include: Ein Skizzenbuch; Symphony No. 5 in C minor; Symphony No. 4; Notes and articles.
Folder 6: Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 - Parts, Notes, undated

Box 4

Folder 1: Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 in F Major, undated: Items include: Parts.
Folder 2: Beethoven - Symphony No. 6, undated: Items include: Violin I; Violin II; Parts. Notes on Symphony No. 7.
Folder 3: Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 and Symphony No. 8, undated: Items include: Symphony No. 7 Score and notes; Symohony No. 8 and notes.

Box 5

Folder 1: Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 and Egmont Overture, undated: Items include: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, complete score and notes; Egmont Overture and notes.
Folder 2: Beethoven - Symphony No. 1 in C Major; Symphony No. 2 in D Major; Symphony No. 3 in Eb Major, undated: Items include: Complete scores for each.
Folder 3: Beethoven, undated: Items include: Scores for Five Piano Concertos - No. 1 in C Major, No. 2 in Bb Major, No. 3 in C Minor, No. 4 in G Major, and No. 5 in Eb Major; The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Score; King Stephen Overture, Score.
Folder 4: Beethoven, undated: Items include: Notes on various Beethoven pieces; Wellington's Victory, score; Three Cadenzas. notes.

Box 6

Folder 1: Beethoven, undated: Items include: Symphony No. 3, score; Symphony No. 5, score.
Folder 2: Beethoven, undated: Items include: Symphony No. 7, score; Symphony No. 8, score; Piano Concerto No. 1, score.
Folder 3: Brahms, Johannes, undated: Items include: Brahms, Symphony No. 4, score; notes on various Brahms works.

Box 7

Folder 1: Beethoven, undated: Items include: Leonore (Fidelio) Overture No. 1, Conductor's Score; Piano Concerto No. 4, Conductor's Score; Overture to Leonore No. 2, Orchestra Score.
Folder 2: Beethoven, undated: Items include: Piano Concerto No. 3, Conductor's Score; Piano Concerto No. 5, Conductor's Score; Piano Concerto No. 5, Conductor's Score; Cadenzas to Piano Concertos No. 1 - No. 4. Violin Concerto, Conductor's Score.
Folder 3: Beethoven, undated: Items include: Egmont, Conductor's Score; Leonore (Fidel9io) Overture No. 3, Conductor's Score (2 copies); King Stephen Overture, Conductor's Score; Coriolan Overture, Conductor's Score; Piano Concerto No. 2, Conductor's Score.

Box 8

Folder 1: Beethoven, undated: Notes,
Folder 2: Berlioz, Hector, undated: Item included: Complete Works, Part 2, Symphonies, Conductor's Scores.
Folder 3: Berlioz, undated: Items include: Roman Carnival Overture, Conductor's Score; Symphonie Fantastique, Conductor's Score; Overture to The Corsair, Orchestra Score; Overture to Benvenuto Cellini, Conductor's Score.
Folder 4: Berlioz, Romeo and Juliet, undated: Complete Conductor's Score,

Box 9

Folder 1: Leonard Bernstein, 1957-1967: Items include: Overture to Candide. Conductor's Score; Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Conductor's Score; Chichester Psalms, Full Score.
Folder 2: Binkerd - Bizet, 1935-1970: Items include: Gordon Binkerd, Symphony No. 2, Full Score; Georges Bizet, Symphony No. 1 Conductor's Score; Bizet. Petite Suite, Conductor's Score.
Folder 3: Berlioz, undated: Notes on various compositions.
Folder 4: Brahms, undated: Items include: Concerto for Violin and Cello, Score; Brahms, Violin Concerto, Conductor's Score; Brahms Tragic Overture, Conductor's Score (2 copies).

Box 10

Folder 1: Brahms, undated: Items include: Symphony, No. 1, Conductor's Score; Article on interpreting of Brahm's Symphony No. 1
Folder 2: Brahms, undated: Items include: Symphony No. 3; Academic Festival Overture; Serenade No. 1;
Folder 3: Brahms, undated: Items include: Symphony No, 4; Notes; Serenade No. 1.

Box 11

Folder 1: Brahms, 1967: Items within the volume: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Haden, opus 24; Variations for Piano Four Hands, opus 23; Arrangement from the Sextet, opus 18; Symphony No. 3, opus 90.
Folder 2: Brahms, undated: Symphony No. 2.
Folder 3: Bloch, Ernest - Bond, Victoria, undated: Items include: Ernest Bloch, Sacred Service; Ernest Bloch, Schelomo; Luigi Boccherini, Konzert fur Violoncello; Victoria Bond, Bridges for Chamber Orchestra.
Folder 4: Borodin, Alexander, undated: Items include: Prince Igor; Overture to Prince Igor; Symphony No. 2; In the Steppes of Central Asia; Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor.

Box 12

Folder 1: Brahms, undated: Items include: Hungarian Dances, Nos. 5 and 6; Hungarian Dances, Nos. 1, 3 and 10; Song of Fate for Chorus and Orchestra; Piano Concerto No. 2; Piano Concerto No. 1.
Folder 2: Britten, Benjamin, 1938-1943: Items include: The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra; Soirees Musicales: Suite of Five Movements from Rossini; Matinees Musicales: Second Suite of Five Movements from Rossini.
Folder 3: Bruch, Max - Bruckner, Anton, undated: Items include: Max Bruch, Kol Nidrei; Anton Bruckner, List of Critical Complete Edition; Anton Bruckner, Te Deum; Notes and articles on Bruckner; Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 4.

Box 13

Folder 1: Chabrier - Chadwick, undated: Items include: Emmanuel Chabrier, Suite Pastorale; Chabrier, Joyeuse Marche; Chabrier, Espana; George Chadwick, Symphonic Sketches.
Folder 2: Chadwick - Chausson, undated: Items include: George Chadwick, Symphonic Sketches; Chadwick, Symphonic Sketches; Ernest Chausson, Poeme for Violin and Orchestra; Chausson, Sl=ymphony in B Flat Major.
Folder 3: Colgrass - Conus, undated: Items include: Michael Colgrass, As Quiet As; Julius Conus, Violin Concerto in E minor.
Folder 4: Copland, Aaron, undated: Items include: Copland, El Salon Mexico; Copland, Appalachian Spring; Copland, Lincoln Portrait.

Box 14

Folder 1

Series 2: Personal Papers

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Orchestral Scores],
[Series 2: Personal Papers],
[All]