Maynard Elliott Solomon (January 5, 1930 – September 28, 2020) was an American music executive and musicologist, a co-founder of

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a nu ...

as well as a

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

."Maynard Solomon" in ''

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' is a major reference work in the field of music, originally compiled by Theodore Baker, PhD, and published in 1900 by G. Schirmer, Inc. The ninth edition, the most recent edition, was published in ...

'', vol. 5 ( N. Slonimsky & D. Kuhn, 2001). Later, he became known for his biographical studies of Viennese Classical composers, specifically

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

(writing an influential biography and an award-winning collection of essays),

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

(biography), and

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

(Solomon was the first to openly propose the highly disputed theory of Schubert's homosexuality in a scholarly setting).

Education

Having attended New York's

High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...

, Solomon graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', 19 November 1966, featuring Vanguard Records from Brooklyn College,

CUNY The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

, with a BA in 1950, subsequently pursuing graduate studies at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

from 1950 to 1952. In 1979 he became adjunct associate professor at the Graduate School, CUNY, and between 1988 and 1994 held visiting professorships at SUNY Stony Brook, Columbia University,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, joining the graduate faculty of the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most e ...

in 1998."Maynard Solomon" by Paula Morgan, in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and the ...

'', (

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicology, musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), whi ...

, 2001).

Career in the recording industry

Maynard Solomon founded

jointly with his brother

Seymour Solomon Seymour Solomon (May 23, 1922 – July 18, 2002)"Seymour Solomon, 80, Record Label Founder"
by Ari L. Goldman, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', July 19, 2002]. Retrieved 10 April 2014 The label was one of the prime movers in the folk and blues boom for the next fifteen years. As well as producing many albums, Solomon was a prolific writer of

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the record sleeve, sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner n ...

. His nascent venture's first disc was of J.S. Bach's 21st cantata, " Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21" ("I had much grief"), with

Jonathan Sternberg Jonathan Sternberg (July 27, 1919 – May 8, 2018) was an American conductor, musical director and professor emeritus of music. He is known for his work with symphonic orchestras in the United States, China, Germany and Austria, and for introducing ...

conducting Hugues Cuénod and other soloists, chorus and orchestra. "What speaks for the Solomons' steadfastness in their taste and their task", wrote a ''

'' journalist in November 1966, "is that this record is still alive in the catalogue (SC-501). As Seymour says, it was a good performance, not easy to top. Of the whole Vanguard/Bach Guild catalogue, numbering about 480 issues, 30 are Bach records..." Vanguard's first non-classical signing was

The Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fr ...

. They generated the first major commercial success for the label with that group's 1955 Carnegie Hall concert. Solomon also acquired the rights to record and release material from the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foc ...

, which meant he could issue recordings by artists who had not actually signed with Vanguard. In this period,

Elektra Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Greek mythology *Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades * Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo * Electra (Oc ...

was the main competitor for folk artists. Their singers,

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...

and

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ...

, were recorded at Newport, as was dynamic young Columbia artist

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. The Solomons continued to work with folk artists up until the 1980s. In 1959, the company signed

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

, who would remain with the Vanguard label for the next twelve years. Two years later, they recorded ''

Odetta at Town Hall ''Odetta at Town Hall'' is a live album by American folk singer Odetta, recorded at Town Hall, New York, NY, on April 5, 1963 and first released later that year. ''At Town Hall'' is also available along with ''At Carnegie Hall'' from the same ...

'' (New York).

The Rooftop Singers The Rooftop Singers were an American country folk-singing trio in the early 1960s, best known for the hit "Walk Right In". The group was composed of Erik Darling and Bill Svanoe (vocals, guitar) with former jazz singer Lynne Taylor (vocals). ...

recorded "

Walk Right In "Walk Right In" is a country blues song written by musician Gus Cannon and originally recorded by Cannon's Jug Stompers in 1929. Victor Records released on a 78 rpm record and in 1959, it was included on the influential compilation album '' The ...

" in 1963, a hit on both sides of the Atlantic produced by Solomon along with some of their other songs. Unfortunately their next single, "Tom Cat," was banned for being slightly suggestive, though tame by modern standards. It was probably Solomon's influence that induced Baez to record " Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" by

Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

. Solomon insisted on a clean appearance on stage, and clear diction, views in accord with majority public opinion at the time. More bravely, he signed

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his ...

for Vanguard at the height of the

McCarthy era McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

. Solomon's belief in

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialec ...

was a driving force in these early years, but it was not until 1973 that his writings explicitly reflected this. His book ''Marxism and Art'' from that year has been continuously in print since then. In the late 1960s Vanguard had some success with rock artists, most notably " Country Joe and the Fish" (today usually called Country Joe McDonald), along with some jazz, blues or disco records that have not stood the test of time. One of the most surprising signings he made, in 1969, was Michael Szajkowski, an electronic composer. Szajkowski's material was borrowed from

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his train ...

, but the sound, on a synthesizer, was far from classical. Maynard's brother Seymour, however, had previously signed humorous electronic music artists Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley (

Perrey and Kingsley Perrey and Kingsley (known also as "Perrey & Kingsley" or "Perrey-Kingsley") was an electronic music duo made up of French composer Jean-Jacques Perrey and German-American composer Gershon Kingsley. The duo lasted from 1965 to 1967 and both ...

) in 1965. That team's work has stood the test of time: their Vanguard music is still used on commercials, children's television, and elsewhere. The multiplicity of popular classical music series released by the Solomons on Vanguard and

Bach Guild Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

between 1950 and 1966 include, in addition to 22

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

cantatas, pieces from the English Madrigal School performed by the Deller Consort, Italian and French

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance music, Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque music, Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The Polyphony, polyphoni ...

masterpieces, Elizabethan and Jacobean music,

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest En ...

and the virtuoso trumpet, virtuoso flute and virtuoso oboe, along with German University Songs with Erich Kunz, songs of the Auvergne, Viennese dances with Willi Boskovsky, traditional songs by Roland Hayes, Vivaldi's

Four Seasons The Four Seasons, originally referring to the traditional seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter (typical of a temperate climate), may refer to: Music * ''The Four Seasons'' (Vivaldi), a 1725 set of four violin concertos by Antonio Viv ...

and other concertos from I Solisti di Zagreb, music by

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, numerous

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...

symphonies performed by the Esterhazy Orchestra, a double LP of Gluck's opera ''

Orfeo ed Euridice ' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...

'' sung in Italian with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra led by

Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engl ...

, and an influential

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism o ...

cycle with the

Utah Symphony The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving c ...

conducted by

Maurice Abravanel Maurice Abravanel (January 6, 1903 – September 22, 1993) was an American classical music conductor. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years. Life Abravanel was born in Salonika, Rumelia Eyalet, Ot ...

As musicologist

Solomon later began a second career as a

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, notably as author of composer biographies, and his work (particularly his studies of Mozart and Beethoven) has met with both acclaim and criticism (for overly simplistic psychological interpretations of their subjects). Characteristic of Solomon's approach is a careful sifting of the scholarly evidence, often with the goal of supporting new hypotheses about the events or motivations of the great composers in question and those around them (for instances, see

Maria Anna Mozart Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart (30 July 1751 – 29 October 1829), called "Marianne" and nicknamed Nannerl, was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) and daughter of Leopold (1719–1787) and Anna Maria Mo ...

, Mozart's Berlin journey,

Mozart's name The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( , ) went by many different names in his lifetime. This resulted partly from the church traditions of the day, and partly from Mozart being multilingual and freely adapting his name to other languages. Baptism ...

and Antonie Brentano). Solomon is also careful to avoid uncritical repetition of old formulae in composer biographies; for example, like other recent biographers, he characterizes 1791, the last year of Mozart's life, as of personal revival cut off by terminal illness rather than the steady slide toward the grave typical of more traditional biographies. Though Solomon hasn't hesitated to offer specific psychological analyses and diagnoses of his subjects, he has, nevertheless, been criticized for anachronistic assumptions and a lack of understanding of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century German. Rita Steblin, "The Peacock's Tale: Schubert's Sexuality Reconsidered", ''

19th-Century Music ''19th-Century Music'' is a triennial academic journal that "covers all aspects of Western art music composed in, leading to, or pointing beyond the "long century" extending roughly from the 1780s to the 1930s." The Journal is "interested equally ...

'' 17, no. 1 (Summer 1993): 5–33. Solomon's concentration on the life and work of Beethoven resulted in close collaboration with German scholars; in 1996 he was made a scholarly adviser to the Beethoven-Archiv in Bonn, in addition to becoming a member of the editorial committee for the ''Neue Ausgabe Beethovens Briefe'' (the New Edition of Beethoven's letters, Munich, 1996–1998). Solomon became, in 1997, a member of the

International Musicological Society The International Musicological Society (IMS) is a membership-based organisation for musicology at the international level, with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It seeks the advancement of musicological research through international coope ...

, and addressed its congress in London. He was the author of ''Mozart: A Life'', a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography which won the

Deems Taylor Award Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Earl ...

, as did his biography of

and his study of Charles Ives. His ''Beethoven Essays'' won the Otto Kinkeldey Award for most distinguished book on music published in 1988. An associate editor of American Imago, and co-founder of the

(a subsidiary Vanguard record label), he also published articles in applied psychoanalysis and edited several books on aesthetics. His later projects included a life of

and a book tentatively titled ''Beethoven: Beyond Classicism''. Solomon died on September 28, 2020 in Manhattan from Lewy body dementia at the age of 90.

Selected discography of records produced by Solomon

* " Best of the Vanguard Years" (2000) (

The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popu ...

) * "Best of the Vanguard Years" (2000) (

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.Ian & Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. ...

) * "Best of the Vanguard Years" (2004) (

) * "Best of the Vanguard Years" (2003) (

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American ( Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ...

) * "Best of John Hammond" (1989) ( John Hammond) * "Best of Eric Andersen" (1970) ( Eric Andersen) * "Vanguard Sessions: Baez Sings Dylan" (1998) (

) * "Reunion at Carnegie Hall, 1963, Pt 1" (2001) (

) * "Reunion at Carnegie Hall, 1963, Pt 2" (2001) (The Weavers)

Bibliography

* ''The Joan Baez Songbook'' (1964) (by Solomon and Eric Von Schmidt) * ''Noel: The Joan Baez Christmas Songbook'' (1967) (by Joan Baez, Solomon and Eric Von Schmidt) * ''Marxism and Art'' (1973)
"Beethoven and the Enlightenment"
''

Telos Telos (; ) is a term used by philosopher Aristotle to refer to the final cause of a natural organ or entity, or of a work of human art. Intentional actualization of potential or inherent purpose,"Telos.''Philosophy Terms'' Retrieved 3 May 2020. ...

'', 19 (Spring 1974). New York: Telos Press. * ''Myth Creativity Psychoanalysis: Essays in Honor of Harry Slochower'' (1979) * ''Beethoven'' (1977, 1998), ''Beethoven'' (Second, revised edition, 2001) * ''Beethoven's Tagebuch: 1812–1818'' (1983) * ''Beethoven Essays'' (1988). Winner of the Otto Kinkeldey Award from the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legiti ...

* ''Mozart: A Life'' (New York, 1995) * "Franz Schubert and the Peacocks of Benvenuto Cellini", ''

'', 12 (3) University of California Press: 193–206, * (translator) ''Memories of Beethoven'' (2003) (by

Gerhard von Breuning Moritz Gerhard von Breuning (28 August 1813 – 6 May 1892)"Breuning, Moritz Gerhar ...

). * ''Late Beethoven: Music, Thought, Imagination'' (2004)

References

External links

*Norman Weinstein (December 4–11, 1997).
Folk'd Up: The Good and the Bad of Vanguard
, ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' a ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Maynard 1930 births 2020 deaths American Marxists American Marxist writers Harvard University staff Columbia University alumni Columbia University staff American biographers Mozart scholars Beethoven scholars Schubert scholars American record labels Classical music record labels Folk record labels Reissue record labels Record labels established in 1950 Brooklyn College alumni Deaths from dementia in New York (state) Deaths from Lewy body dementia