Morris Goldenberg (July 28, 1911 – 1969) was an American percussionist, music teacher, and method book author. He wrote several books on orchestral

snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

ming,

mallet percussion A keyboard percussion instrument, also known as a bar or mallet percussion instrument, is a Pitched percussion instrument, pitched percussion instrument arranged in the same pattern as a piano keyboard and most often played using Percussion malle ...

, and

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

. He is a member of the

Percussive Arts Society The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is a non-profit organization for professional percussionists and percussion educators. It was founded in 1961 in the United States and has over 5,000 members in 40 American chapters, with another 28 chapters abr ...

Hall of Fame.

Career

Morris Goldenberg was born July 28, 1911, in Holyoke, MA. He studied music at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York, then called the Institute of Musical Arts, graduating in 1932. His career as a percussionist began with the Chautauqua Symphony from 1934 to 1937. He also played with the Russian Opera Company in 1936 and the

Russian Ballet Russian ballet () () is a form of ballet characteristic of or originating from Russia. Imperial Russian ballet Ballet had already dawned in Russia long before start of the 17th century as per the previous publications by certain authors. In this ...

in 1937. Goldenberg became a member of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

's WOR Orchestra in 1938 and played in that ensemble until 1952. Goldenberg was a faculty member at the Juilliard School from 1941 to 1969. He also taught at the Manhattan School of Music from 1959 to 1969. During his time as a teacher he wrote and published several instructional books. The first, in 1950, was ''Modern School for Xylophone, Marimba, Vibraphone'', which is often just referred to as "The Goldenberg Book." In 1955, he produced a companion volume ''Modern School for Snare Drum with a Guide Book for the Artist Percussionist.'' He later wrote several books for timpani including: ''Standard Concertos for Timpani: From the Piano and Violin Solo Repertory,'' ''Classic Symphonies for Timpani'', ''Classic Overtures for Timpani,'' and '' Romantic Symphonies for Timpani.'' He also wrote several solo works for snare drum between 1964 and 1966 that would later be compiled into the book ''12 Progressive Solos for Snare Drum.'' in 1967 he published his ''Concerto in A Minor'' for Marimba and Xylophone. He also wrote other works for solo snare drum and multiple percussion setups. Goldenberg performed for television (including

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

), film, radio, and in the recording studio in addition to his live orchestral performances. He died in 1969 and was inducted into the

Hall of Fame in 1974. Goldenberg's students include former Chicago Symphony principal timpanist Gordon B. Peters, New York Philharmonic percussionist Morris "Arnie" Lang, drummer

Allan Schwartzberg Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B. J. Thomas, Linda Ronstadt, Stan Ge ...

, jazz drummer Marty Morrell, drummer and author Lew Malin, jazz drummer and teacher Joseph D. Sefcik, fusion drummer Billy Cobham, prominent drum book author Garwood Whaley,

Warren Benbow Warren Benbow (December 22, 1954 – September 29, 2024) was a drummer who worked with Nina Simone, Jimmy Owens, Larry Willis, Eddie Gómez, Olu Dara, Michael Urbaniak, Teruo Nakamura, and was an original member of James Blood Ulmer's band, Odyss ...

, studio-orchestral-world percussionist and Juilliard School faculty 1991–2014, Gordon Gottlieb, and Philadelphia Orchestra principal percussionist Michael Lloyd "Mickey" Bookspan.

Publications

* ''Modern School for Xylophone, Marimba, Vibraphone'' * ''Modern School for Snare Drum with a Guide Book for the Artist Percussionist'' * ''Standard Concertos for Timpani: From the Piano and Violin Solo Repertory'' * ''Classic Symphonies for Timpani'' * ''Romantic Symphonies for Timpani'' * ''Classic Overtures for Timpani'' * ''12 Progressive Solos for Snare Drum'' * ''Concerto in A Minor'' * ''A Little Suite for Snare Drum'' * ''Lucy's Riff'' * ''Sticks and Skins'' * ''Studies in Solo Percussion'' * ''Marching Drum Sticks''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldenberg, Morris 1911 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians People from Holyoke, Massachusetts Drummers from Massachusetts