Maynard Elliott Solomon (January 5, 1930 – September 28, 2020) was an American music executive and musicologist, a co-founder of Vanguard Records as well as a music producer."Maynard Solomon" in '' Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', vol. 5 ( N. Slonimsky & D. Kuhn, 2001). Later, he became known for his biographical studies of Viennese Classical composers, specifically Beethoven (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 (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
(biography), and Schubert (Solomon was the first to openly propose the highly disputed theory of Schubert's homosexuality in a scholarly setting).
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 advertise ...
'', 19 November 1966, featuring Vanguard Records from
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus.
Being New York City's first publ ...
,
CUNY
, mottoeng = The education of free people is the hope of Mankind
, budget = $3.6 billion
, established =
, type = Public university system
, chancellor = Fél ...
, with a BA in 1950, subsequently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University 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 SUNYStony Brook, Columbia University, Harvard University and Yale University, 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 elit ...
Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
, 2001).
Career in the recording industry
Maynard Solomon founded Vanguard Records jointly with his brother
Ari L. Goldman
Ari L. Goldman (born September 22, 1949) is an American professor and journalist. He is professor of journalism at Columbia University and a former reporter for ''The New York Times''.
Early life and education
Goldman attended the Rabbi Jacob ...
, '' The New York Times'', 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.
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 ''
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 advertise ...
'' 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. They generated the first major commercial success for the label with that group's 1955
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
concert. Solomon also acquired the rights to record and release material from the Newport Folk Festival, 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 ec ...
, were recorded at Newport, as was dynamic young Columbia artist Bob Dylan. The Solomons continued to work with folk artists up until the 1980s.
In 1959, the company signed Joan Baez, 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 recorded " Walk Right In" 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 for Vanguard at the height of the McCarthy era.
Solomon's belief in Marxism 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
Joseph Allen "Country Joe" McDonald (born January 1, 1942) is an American musician who was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish.Richard Brenneman"Country Joe McDonald Revives Anti-War Anthem", ''Berkeley ...
), 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 training i ...
, 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 are ...
) 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
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
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
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning of ...
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 E ...
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
Willibald Karl Boskovsky (16 June 1909 – 21 April 1991) was an Austrian violinist and conductor, best known as the long-standing conductor of the Vienna New Year's Concert from 1955 to 1979.
Biography
Boskovsky was born in Vienna, and joined the ...
I Solisti di Zagreb
The Zagreb Soloists ( hr, Zagrebački solisti) is a chamber orchestra founded in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1953 through the auspices of Zagreb Radiotelevision, under the artistic leadership of the Italian cellist and conductor, Antonio Janigro. After ...
, 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 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 Orpheus, the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the ''azione teatrale'', mea ...
'' sung in Italian with the
Vienna State Opera Orchestra
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...
Solomon later began a second career as a musicologist, 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,
Mozart's Berlin journey
One of the longest adulthood journeys of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a visit, beginning in Spring 1789, to a series of cities lying northward of his adopted home in Vienna: Prague, Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin.
Departure
The journey took place d ...
,
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
Antonie Brentano (28 May 1780 in Vienna – 12 May 1869 in Frankfurt), born Johanna Antonie Josefa Edle von Birkenstock, known as Toni, was a philanthropist, art collector, arts patron, and close friend of Beethoven, being the dedicatee of his " ...
). 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
Rita Katherine Steblin (April 22, 1951 – September 3, 2019) obituary, ''Figures of Speech'' was a
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 coopera ...
, and addressed its congress in London. He was the author of ''Mozart: A Life'', a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...
. 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
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 ...
(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 Schubert 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
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.
)
* "Best of the Vanguard Years" (1998) ( Ian & Sylvia)
* "Best of the Vanguard Years" (2004) ( The Rooftop Singers)
* "Best of the Vanguard Years" (2003) ( Buffy Sainte-Marie)
* "Best of John Hammond" (1989) ( John Hammond)
* "Best of Eric Andersen" (1970) ( Eric Andersen)
* "Vanguard Sessions: Baez Sings Dylan" (1998) ( Joan Baez)
* "Reunion at Carnegie Hall, 1963, Pt 1" (2001) ( The Weavers)
* "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'', 19 (Spring 1974). New York: Telos Press.
* ''Myth Creativity Psychoanalysis: Essays in Honor of
Harry Slochower
Harry Slochower (September 1, 1900 – May 11, 1991) was an Austrian-American scholar, philosopher and psychoanalyst.
Biography
Slochower was born Hersch Zloczower in Bukowina, Romania, Bukowina, formerly part of Austria and now Romania. He ar ...
Otto Kinkeldey
Otto Kinkeldey (November 27, 1878 – September 19, 1966) was an American music librarian and musicologist. He was the first president of the American Musicological Society and held the first chair in musicology at any American university.Cornell ...
Award from the American Musicological Society
* ''Mozart: A Life'' (New York, 1995)
* "Franz Schubert and the Peacocks of Benvenuto Cellini", ''
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 ...
'', 12 (3) University of California Press: 193–206,
* (translator) ''Memories of Beethoven'' (2003) (by