Stravinsky: Danses Concertantes and Dumbarton Oaks Concerto
Rochester Chamber Orchestra conducted by Robert Hull
Recorded c. 1954
Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet and Concertino
The Gordon String Quartet (Gordon-Rossi-Dawson-Magg)
Recorded c. 1947
Concert Hall CHS-1229, one LP record
Link (FLAC files, 116.63 MB)
Link (MP3 files, 81.29 MB)
I can find out very little online about the conductor, Robert Hull, and the sleeve-note for the record unobligingly offers no information either, focusing its attention on the orchestra (and advertising its previous releases). It appears that Hull was active also at Cornell University during this period, then went to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1957 to conduct the symphony orchestra there. In the 70s his name turns up as conductor of the Arizona Symphony on several LPs of contemporary music made by very small specialist labels such as Klavier and Laurel. Jacques Gordon, the leader of the quartet that bears his name, had, sadly, been dead for six years at the time this LP reissued his Stravinsky recordings.
Alternate links:
ReplyDeleteFLAC:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/c5rtlhlnwncwq30/Hull%2C_Gordon_SQ_-_Stravinsky_FLACs.zip
MP3:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/r6oz0s3biejd4ud/Hull%2C_Gordon_SQ_-_Stravinsky_MP3s.zip
Dear Bryan, Thanks so much for acting on my tip-off, which as I'm sure you guessed was motivated by interested greed! I'm so looking forward to enjoying your restoration of these recordings. I've just found Hull on Ancestry.com, so I hope I'll be able to fill in more details about him - I'll report back when I know more! Best wishes and thanks again, Nick
DeleteOK, Robert Leslie Hull:
Deleteborn February 11, 1916, the Bronx, NY
B.Mus., 1939, & M.Mus., 1941, both University of Rochester
Ph.D., 1945, Cornell University
Associate Professor, Cornell (dates unknown)
Married Jeanne Ethel (date unknown); no children?
Dean of Fine Arts, U. Arizona at Tucson, for the last 15 years or so of his working life
died February 12, 1999, Tucson
buried East Lawn Cemetery, Ithaca
That's it for now...
Hi Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about Hull myself, but several years ago I shared a recording that he conducted, also on Concert Hall, of music by Vaughan Williams and Robert Palmer.
http://big10inchrecord.blogspot.com/2011/05/vaughan-williams-and-robert-palmer-from.html
Dear Buster, Somehow I missed that earlier post of yours - I'm hotfooting it there now, thank you again for that reminder and for everything! Best wishes, Nick
DeleteLooking forward to this, Bryan. Here's my contribution to the Robert Hull archive, a short piece from the January 10, 1949 Cornell Daily Sun. Since copying the link produced a very strange-looking result, here's the text:
ReplyDeleteHull Previews Violin Recital
Professor Robert Hull of the Cornell Music Department was the guest speaker at the Browsing Library’s reading hour last night, discussed the programs to be given in Bailey Hall Tuesday by violinst Erica Morini. At the outset, Professor Hull stated frankly that he did not like the program. The Bruch G minor concerto, the main work on the program, “is not a great concerto; it is a pleasant concerto', easily listened to,” he stated. Professor Hull then went on to explain that he considers the work over-played, and that he in company with many others would prefer something far more substantial.
He digressed momentarily to explain some of the elemenatry mechanics of concert contracting, pointing out that many managements do not offer the local impressario a voice in the selection of an artist’s program. Thus he is forced to select a performer rather than a group of compositions he feels would be of interest to his particular audience. Prior to discussing the G minor ■sonata by the eighteenth century Italian composer Tartini, Professor Hull briefly reviewed the physics of the overtone series and the undertone in order to support his contention that Tartini and the other late Baroque masters had a more secure feeling for sonority than any other composers in musical history. This sonata he considers to be “the only work on the program of any real musical substance.” At the end of his talk Professor Hull demonstrated many of the special techniques of the violin.
Thanks so much, fascinating! I get the impression he was quite a high-brow. Late in life, at Tucson, he was also grappling with new technology, pondering the Arts School's need to engage with video...
Deletei appreciate your offerings very much, but not the file host that you use. i am constantly getting a "server load too high, try again later" error message when trying to download your shares. have you considered using one of the more hassle-free and smooth functioning hosts, such as zippyshare, dropzippy, mediafire, mega, etc? i'll keep trying, and hope to eventually be able to download this recording. thank you for your time and generosity.
ReplyDeleted'oh! my apologies. i just noticed the added mediafire links. embarrassing. thank you very much
DeleteThank you Nick, Buster, DF and all for your comments and excavation work! Oddly, Hull's dates (1916-1999) are the same as another conductor named Robert - Shaw (who was born two months later, and died one month earlier, than Hull).
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Bryan - it's the least I can do in return! A bit like you and PMR (in which I'm currently buried), I'm addicted to Ancestry - I think I might have to sign up to newspapers.com too! All the best, Nick
DeleteThanks a lot for that very rare recording featuring an excellent choice of the works: historical and captivating ! THX also to DF for the precisions regarding Pr Hull.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you or your loyal readers (myself generally included) would be interested in this
ReplyDeletehttp://pastdaily.com/2016/01/10/1936-music-guild-awards-3rd-prize-past-daily-weekend-gramophone/
if not already found.
Bloggo
Muchas gracias por esta buena grabación, saludos.
ReplyDelete