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Today I am going vintage. I was up at school earlier today and discovered that one of my good colleagues had left an etude book in my mailbox. This book, The Complete Harry Glantz, had been given to him by Harry himself when he used to teach here at the University of Miami (I’m sure most people don’t know it, but yes, Harry Glantz was the predecessor to Gil Johnson here at UM. I guess that leaves me in pretty good — and intimidating — company!).
Anyway, I promptly took the book home, ripped out my Bb trumpet, and have been enjoying some of the etudes from this book. Playing through this material makes me think about that great, old school, mid 20th Century, bravura style trumpet playing that I remember from so many great old recordings. Those guys could flat out play the trumpet!
I will let you know my thoughts about the book itself as I have more time to look over it. In the meantime, to get in the mood, pull out an old Timofei Dokshitzer recording, or better yet some classic trumpet solo or etude and play away. We owe a lot to the great players that came before us. They have illuminated the path for all of us who have followed. Here’s to them…
Craig,
As a youngster Mr. Glantz was my hero. I used to seek out NBC Symphony recordings just to hear him.Even today, my favorite recording is an old LP that has him playing “Quiet City”. I have played it for students and been amused at their open mouthed amazement when they hear him. The sad thing is that none of them had ever heard of him! My guess is that they might feel similarly about Mr. Caston and Mr. Mager!
Thanks for the post!
Roy Griffin
Roy,
Thanks for the comment. My teacher, Ray Crisara, played with Harry Glantz in the NBC Symphony under Toscanini. He has so many great stories about his time in New York, both in the studio and with the NBC Symphony. It was a golden era for trumpet players; there was a lot more work and a lot more variety of work for players in those days. Ray Crisara was Principal Trumpet in the Met at the age of 19, but he left that position to go play in the studios for NBC because, in his words, “I just couldn’t imagine sitting there playing The Barber of Seville for the rest of my life.” That is oviously a huge change from today where one of the best jobs available is playing principal in the Met. Yes, times they are a changin’!
Craig
My teacher, Joe Alessi Sr., studied with Mr. Glantz when he was at Juilliard. He had many amusing stories about Mr. Glantz. Here are two.
When arriving at the lesson, Joe would say “Hello Mr. Glantz”, at which he would respond, “Call me Harry.” At the next lesson, it was “Hello Mr. Glantz”, and the response “Call me Harry.” Finally, Joe got up the nerve to say “Hello Harry”, and was bitten by “It’s ‘Mr. Glantz’!”
Another story — Mr. Glantz would demonstrate his etudes, or a portion of them for the student to give them an idea of the style. One lesson, he was standing with his back to Joe and played through one of the very most difficult of the Etudes in his book without missing a single note or nuance. Joe was completely impressed and said “Mr. Glantz, that was wonderful. But I couldn’t see what you were doing. Could you turn toward me and play it again?” Mr. Glantz responded, “What are you, crazy???”
Mr. Glantz would take a summer vacation every year and leave the principal chair open. Everyone would shift up a chair, leaving the 4th chair open for a student. Joe Alessi often played with the NBC Symphony under this arrangement, before landing jobs with Radio City Music Hall, the Met Orchestra, and many other gigs. -Ken