Donald Wetzell collection of Philadelphia Orchestra commercial recordings, 1907-1994.

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Wetzell, Donald, 1926-2009, creator.

Contributor:

The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and the Academy of Music Archives, former owner.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stokowski, Leopold.

Ormandy, Eugene, 1899-1985.

Ormandy, Eugene.

McDonald, Harl.

Muti, Riccardo.

Philadelphia Orchestra.

Philadelphia Orchestra Association.

Angel Records (Firm).

CBS Records (Firm).

Columbia Records, Inc.

RCA Victor Records.

Victrola (Sound recording label).

Music.

Symphony orchestras--United States.

Symphony orchestras.

Genre:

sound recordings

open reel audiotapes

audiocassettes

optical disks

phonograph records

Physical Description:

1186 Item(s) (1,186 recordings)

119 boxes (39 linear feet)

Arrangement:

Organized into 2 series: I. Administrative records and II. Recordings.

Place of Publication:

1907-1994.

Biography/History:

Donald Wetzell was the audio engineer for The Philadelphia Orchestra from 1962 to 1977. Working under the supervision of the Orchestra's recording engineer Albert L. Borkow, Jr., Wetzell prepared tape recordings of the Orchestra's performances, editing the recordings to include narration and intermission features, which were then aired on national radio each week. In addition to his professional work, Wetzell was a collector of sound recordings and historic recording and playback machines such as phonographs and gramophones. He collected recordings of The Philadelphia Orchestra, in addition to numerous other ensembles and musical genres. Between 1993 and 1994, Donald Wetzell donated his collection of Orchestra recordings to The Philadelphia Orchestra. It included a complete run of 78 rpm vinyl records (all records are described here as LPs (long playing), preceded by their measurements, such as 12" LP or 7" LP). Wetzell had also donated portions of his collections to other institutions, such as the Billy Graham Museum at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, which received his recordings of sacred music. The Donald Wetzell collection of Philadelphia Orchestra commercial recordings was then held and maintained by the Orchestra until 2021, when it was included in the gift of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and Academy of Music Archives.

Summary:

The Donald Wetzell collection of Philadelphia Orchestra commercial recordings comprises thorough coverage of the Orchestra's commercial recordings from the late 1920s through the mid 1980s, and includes recording labels such as Angel Records, Columbia (Columbia Masterworks; Columbia Odyssey; Columbia Special Products), RCA (RCA Camden; RCA Gold Seal; RCA Red Seal; RCA Special Products; RCA Victor; RCA Victrola), Victor (Victor Red Seal) and Victrola. Long playing records (LPs) make up the majority of the collection, in 7-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. Other media include 4-track magnetic tapes and cassette tapes. Most of the collection's commercial recordings are documented with catalog numbers. In these instances, the titles and dates provided here have been directly copied from either Discogs , or the Discography of American Historical Recordings, UC Santa Barbara Library , with minimal reformatting. Information from online retail sites such as Ebay was also used to populate title information. Some titles are directly transcribed from the items or their containers, and others are listed as unknown. A small number of recordings are documented as unknown or appear to be non-commercial items, with hand-written notes provided as title information. Each file name is formatted as: "Recording Label, catalog number: Title, recording format, date(s)". For example: "Columbia, CL-839: Eugene Ormandy, The Philadelphia Orchestra - Strauss Favorites in Hi Fi, 12" LP, 1956". Due to the variation in online database listings, the titles are not always consistent with one another. Additionally, full names are not always given, and some names are spelled with different variations (such as "Tchaikovsky" and "Tschaikowsky"). While the processor provided information to the best of their ability, it is possible that researchers may find some inconsistencies and errors. *Please note : use of the physical objects is restricted to researchers wishing to consult the text and images on the records (LPs), 4-track magnetic tapes and cassette tapes. These items cannot be used for playback . In certain instances, researchers may request a recording be reformatted, and they should be aware that in rare instances reformatting efforts may be unsuccessful due to the natural degradation of some media formats over time. The majority of recordings in this collection are commercially available and can be easily accessed online. Researchers are encouraged to explore alternate options for access to the sound recordings before requesting digitization .

OCLC:

1528390934