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Robert Commanday Papers
985.016
985.016
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Title: Robert Commanday Papers
Identifier/Call Number: 985.016
Contributing Institution:
Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts Library
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
9.5 Linear feet
9 cartons, 1 document case
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1960-1990
Date (inclusive): 1911-2000
Abstract: Robert Commanday (1922-2015) was educated at The Juilliard School of Music, Harvard University, and the University of California;
he conducted and taught at Ithaca (NY) College, the University of Illinois, and at UC Berkeley. In 1964, he became the music
and dance critic for the
San Francisco Chronicle, a position he held from 1964-1993. Following his retirement from the
San Francisco Chronicle, in 1998 he founded
San Francisco Classical Voice (SFCV), a pioneering online resource for its time that would serve as a model for similar sites across the United States.
Commanday also has a direct affiliation to the Museum of Performance + Design as he served as a strong advocate for the Museum
(then known as the Archives of the Performing Arts) and its founder Russell Hartley since the 1970s and served on the Museum's
Board of Trustees from 1982-2001. The collection primarily focuses on Robert Commanday's nearly thirty year career as the
music and dance critic for the
San Francisco Chronicle. The collection includes Commanday's articles, original notes, correspondence, research, and collected ephemera. The Papers
have been arranged into the following series:
Articles and Press Clippings,
Reference Materials and Working Documents, and
Photographic Materials.
Creator:
Robert, Commanday
Museum of Performance + Design holds property rights. Copyright of all original works by Robert Commanday belong to his heirs.
Copyright of photographs and collected materials belong to their respective creators.
[Folder Title], Robert Commanday Papers, Museum of Performance + Design.
This collection is open to researchers.
Received from Robert Commanday in a number of installments beginning in 1985.
Biographical Sketch of Robert Commanday
Robert Commanday was born on June 18, 1922 in Yonkers, NY. Commanday was educated at The Juilliard School of Music, Harvard
University, and the University of California; he conducted and taught at Ithaca (NY) College, the University of Illinois,
and at UC Berkeley. Following his graduation from Harvard, Commanday enlisted in the Army early in 1943, trained as a crypt
analytic translator of encoded Japanese to serve in that capacity. After the war, he started his career as a choral conductor
working with the Univeristy of California Glee Club, a role he held for almost 14 years. In 1964, he became the music and
dance critic for the
San Francisco Chronicle, a position he held until 1993. During that time, Commanday served as president of the Music Critics Association of North
America twice; received the Deems Taylor Award for Music Criticism, the John Swett Award, and was honored as citizen of the
year by the Il Cenacolo society and the Harvard Club of San Francisco. Following his retirement from the
San Francisco Chronicle, out of concern about local newspapers' lack of addressing various musical activity in the San Francisco Bay Area, in 1998
he founded the
San Francisco Classical Voice (SFCV). Funded by Gordon Getty, SFCV was a pioneering online resource for its time that would serve as a model for similar
sites across the United States. Commanday also has a direct link to the Museum of Performance + Design as he served as a strong
advocate for Russell Hartley and the Museum (then known as the Archives of the Performing Arts) since the 1970s. He also served
on the Board of Trustees from 1982 to 2001. Commanday passed away on September 3, 2015 in his home in Oakland, California.
Information for this biography was obtained from the following sources:
Gereben, Janos.
"Saying Farewell to Robert P. Commanday."
San Francisco Classical Voice, 4 Septempter 2015. Web. 4 March 2017. Kosman, Joshua. "
Robert Commanday, Longtime Chronicle Music Critic, Dies ."
San Francisco Chronicle, 5 September 2015. Web. 4 March 2017.
The Robert Commanday Papers primarily focus on Robert Commanday's nearly thirty year career as the music and dance critic
for the
San Francisco Chronicle. The collection includes Commanday's articles, original notes, correspondence, research, and collected ephemera. The Papers
have been arranged into the following series:
Articles and Press Clippings,
Reference Materials and Working Documents, and
Photographic Materials. This collection provides valuable insight to the histories of various San Francisco based music and dance organizations,
especially the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony. Items of particular value include annotated programs, featuring
notes that may have likely been taken during or immediately following a performance. The collection also offers an insight
into the depth and breadth of music and dance performances taking place in San Francisco. Not one to shy from controversy,
Commanday wrote at length regarding what he felt was the unfair termination of timpanist Elayne Jones by the San Francisco
Symphony in 1975, which can be found in the
Reference Materials and Working Documents series.
The
Articles and Press Clippings series includes news articles and other writings by Robert Commanday. The bulk of the items are from the
San Francisco Chronicle. Commanday had organized some of the articles into the following subseries: Chamber Music and Recitals (information from
chamber performances, choral and solo recitals, and other related events), Dance (articles from various dance performances
Commanday reviewed in San Francisco, the bulk of which pertain to the San Francisco Ballet), Festivals (articles on the Carmel
Bach Festival among others), New Music, Opera (clippings and articles regarding opera performances, major opera company auditions,
and performances by opera singers outside of a company performance, the bulk of which pertain to San Francisco Opera), and
Symphonies and Music(articles and clippings related to symphony performances and related items, the bulk which relate to various
aspects of the San Francisco Symphony). This arrangement was retained. Some columns were sorted according to what he had labeled
as "Best" or by day of week published. All the remaining articles are in chronological order. Also included in some areas
are galley copies and working drafts. There also may be duplication across the different categories.
The
Reference Materials and Working Documents series contains working documents, collected items, correspondence, reference, and ephemera. It has been divided into the
following subseries: Annotated Programs and Notes (programs from various performances Commanday attended annotated heavily
with notes inscribed in the programs and attached handwritten notes), Correspondence (correspondence, work related documents
such as expense reports, and other related documents), and Reference Materials by Subject (reference materials from various
individuals, groups, companies, or events Commanday wrote about or made reference to, including writings by others, press
releases, collected programs and promotional materials, drafts and notes, and other related materials). The materials in the
last subseries have been further subdivided to the following categories: Dance, Opera, Symphonies and Music/Musicians, and
Other Subjects and Collected Publications. The first two subseries are arranged in chronological order. Reference Materials
by Subject are first arranged within subcategories derived from the original order of Commanday's materials upon accession.
The materials are then arranged in alphabetical order and then in chronological order if applicable. The bulk of the materials
in this series pertains to the San Francisco Symphony followed by the San Francisco Opera.
The
Photographic Materials series includes photographs collected by Commanday as part of his work. This series is largely unsorted and primarily contains
promotional photography likely sent over to him via the
San Francisco Chronicle or similar means.
- Articles and Press Clippings
- Reference Materials and Working Documents
- Photographic Materials
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ballet
Clippings (Information artifacts)
Commanday, Robert
Correspondence.
Dance
Music
Music--20th century--Performance.
Music--20th century.
Opera
Performing arts--United States.
Photographic Materials
Programs (Documents)
Promotional materials.
San Francisco Ballet Association (San Francisco, Calif.)--History.
San Francisco Ballet--History.
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra--History
San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra