Schieffer Unveils The King Henry IV Violin

The violin by Antonio and Girolamo Amati (Cremona, ca. 1595), bearing

the armorials of King Henry IV of Navarre and France (1553-1610) that was

presented to the NMM on May 14, 2010 by Kevin Schieffer (Sioux Falls), was

revealed to the public in its new display case on September 24, 2010. The

timing of the unveiling, which took place during the annual fall Member and

Trustee Reception, was scheduled in honor of the 400th anniversary of the

requiem mass held for King Henry IV in the Medici family church of San

Lorenzo, in Florence, Italy, on September 16, 1610. The royal violin, along

with its 18th-century case made during the reign of Louis XVI, can now be

seen during regular museum hours.

Visit the NMM website for additional images of The King Henry IV violin,

its unveiling, and an account of the annual Member & Trustee Reception.

"To have assembled the world's premier collection of musical instruments and to deploy them with such taste enriches the culture of our country and of mankind itself. From 16th-century Amati violins to 18th-century Portuguese pianos to the great American guitars by Gibson, the breadth of the National Music Museum's collection represents a wonder not just o f m u s i c b u t o f civilization." — James Leach, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities November 8, 2010

“Chairman Leach was, I think it’s fair to say, based on his reaction at dinner tonight, overwhelmed with the qual i ty of the instruments and the breadth of the collection there, so that’s one more great tribute to the University of South Dakota.” —Tom Brokaw, NBC News Special Correspond-ent and USD Alumnus, in speech given at USD, September 29, 2010

National Music Museum 414 East Clark Street Vermillion SD 57069

605-677-5306 phone 605-677-6995 fax nmm@usd.edu

www.nmmusd.org The Newsletter is published by the NMM and

is available in both printed and electronic

formats.

Margaret Downie Banks, Editor.

©National Music Museum, 2010.

Photo by Jonathan Santa Maria Bouquet

NNNAAATTTIONALIONALIONAL MMMUSIUSIUSICCC MMMUSEUUSEUUSEUMMM NEWSLENEWSLENEWSLETTTTERTERTER

Volume 37, Number 3 www.nmmusd.org December 2010

Bob Carlin, Lexington, North

Carolina, conducted extensive

research about Regal Musical

I ns t r u m e nt s (1 8 9 5 - 1 9 5 5 ) ,

consulting both the Musical

Instrument Manufacturers’

Archive (MIMA) and the NMM’s

instrument collection.

Ken Drobnak, Director of Bands,

South Dakota School of Mines

(Rapid City) conducted on-going

research about the Holton

Company and euphoniums for a

presentation at Wayne State

College (Wayne, Nebraska).

Wayne Jones , Evansville,

Indiana, searched the Felix

Vinatieri Music Archive for

compositions to be arranged and

performed by his Civil War

re-enactment band. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman,

California, best-selling authors

and guitar collectors, toured the

NMM with Arian Sheets, Curator

of Stringed Instruments.

Jennifer Newberry, USD graduate

student, conducted research

about Leblanc clarinet produc-

tion for her M.M. in musicology.

Rolf Olson, USD Professor of

Music, and Dave Reynolds, Chair,

Music Department at South

Da ko ta Sta te Univers ity

(Brookings), examined brass in-

struments and archival materials

from the Holton Collection in

preparation for a presentation at

the International Trumpet Guild

convention to be held in

Minneapolis in May 2011.

Rainer Beilharz and John

Simmers, violin makers from

Australia, spent several days

examining stringed instruments

in the Witten-Rawlins Collection.

Kendra van Nyhuis, USD under-

graduate student, conducted

on-going research about bamboo

flutes for her Senior honor’s

thesis.

Lynn Wheelwright, Clearfield,

Utah, conducted extensive

research about the manufacture

of plucked stringed instruments.

James Leach, Chairman of the National

Endowment for the Humanities, visited the

NMM on September 29, prior to addressing

the campus community at the Al Neuharth

Media Center. His lecture, “Civility in a

Fractured Society,” was presented as part of

a fifty-state “American Civility Tour:

Bridging Cultures.”

Leach is the ninth chairman of the NEH,

an independent grant-making agency of the

U.S. government, dedicated to supporting

research, education, preservation, and public

programming in the humanities.

NMM staff and members of the NMM

Board of Trustees accompanied Leach on his

tour of the galleries. [Read more on NMM website!]

Bill Willroth, Sr., Vermillion, retired in

November after eight years as the

NMM’s official photographer. His photo-

graphic legacy includes thousands of

digital images of musical instruments

that will continue to be seen on the

NMM’s website and in organological pub-

lications for many years to come. The

entire staff extends its gratitude and best

wishes to Bill as he focuses upon more

relaxing pursuits.

As you do your estate planning, please

don‟t forget to include the National Music

Museum. The care and preservation of

the NMM‟s great collections is an awe-

some responsibility. Your help is needed,

if we are to meet the challenges of the

future. Become a member of The Amati

Society!

Sally Fantle Archival Research Center

Guestbook

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

December 10. Holiday Brass, South

Dakota Brass Quintet. 12:05 p.m.

January 28. Klassic Klarinet Klezmer,

Deborah Check Reeves (USD) & John D.

Check (University of Central Missouri).

12:05 p.m.

February 8, 15, 22, March 1. Histories

and Mysteries at the NMM, OLLI Class

with Deborah Check Reeves.

March 4. Fingerstyle Fireworks, Bill Mize

and Beth Bramhall (Gatlinburg,

Tennessee). 12:05 p.m.

March 18. Returning and Returned,

Michael Mandrell (Portland, Oregon).

12:05 p.m.

March 18-20. Gamelan Workshop with

Joko Sutrisno.

March 25. An Eclectic Musical Journey,

Curtis Teague & Loretta Simonet

(Minneapolis). 12:05 p.m.

James Leach, NEH Chairman, Visits NMM Galleries

Bill Willroth, Sr. Retires as NMM Photographer

Catherine Stearns Addresses Cultural Diplomacy

Photo by John Koster

Michael Tsalka Records Daniel

Türk Sonatas on Five Historic

Keyboards at NMM Michael Tsalka, Professor of

Harpsichord and Chamber Music at the

Escuela Superior de Música (National

Center for the Arts), Mexico City, recorded

twelve sonatas by Daniel Gottlob Türk at

the NMM in August. Five of the NMM’s

historic keyboard instruments will be fea-

tured in a two-CD set to be published on

the Naxos label. [Read more on NMM website!]

C a t h e r i n e

Stearns, a Pub-

l i c A f f a i r s

Advisor to the

Assistant Secre-

tary of State for

E d u c a t i o n a l

and Cultural

Affairs, Wash-

ington, DC,

spoke about the

value of cultural

diplomacy at

the annual NMM Member & Trustee

Reception on September 24. [Read more on

NMM website!] Photo by Aaron Packard

NEH Photo by Greg Powers and Audrey Crewe

BEHIND THE SCENES

The NMM welcomes

Jonathan Santa

Maria Bouquet,

who joined the

NMM staff as a

Conservation Re-

search Assistant on

N o v e m b e r 2 2 .

B o u q u e t w i l l

continue creating

technical drawings

of selected musical

instruments. He has already begun the tech-

nical documentation of the NMM’s bass viola

da gamba (later converted into a cello) made

in the Stradivari workshop in Cremona, Italy,

ca. 1730.

Congratulations to

John Koster, Conserva-

tor and Professor of

Music, who was named

the USD College of

Fine Arts Distin-

guished Professor for

2010-2012. In October,

he was presented with

the 2010 President’s

Award for Research

Excellence in the

Established Faculty

category. [Read more on website!]

Sarah Deters Richardson, Curator of Musical

Instruments, joined Jonathan Santa Maria

Bouquet and former conservation intern,

Jimena Palacios Uribe, in Mexico City in

November, where the three colleagues

presented papers at a conference attended by

museum specialists, musicologists, and

conservators. [Read more on website!]so

Curatorial Commentary

Click on Links Below to Read Articles Posted on the

NMM Website

“A „Lot‟ of Love: A Love Story

Forever Preserved at the NMM”

By Deborah Check Reeves

“C. G. Conn‟s Double-Wall

Wonder Clarinets”

By Margaret Downie Banks

“The Grace of Imperfection:

Jarana Primera by the Legend-

ary Maker Carlos Escribano”

By Jonathan Santa

Maria Bouquet

“The Objects of Research: The

Documentation of Musical

Instruments at the NMM”

By Jonathan Santa

Maria Bouquet

“Measuring Sound: BIAS

Aid s Und ers ta nd ing o f

Brass Instruments”

By Sabine K. Klaus

“How Did They Do It? Musical

Instrument Making Tools at

the NMM”

By Arian Sheets

“A Visit to Andy Taylor‟s

Trumpet Workshop”

By Sabine K. Klaus

Michael F. Suing, a 2009 graduate of the

NMM’s M.M. program in the history of

musical instruments, is a Curatorial Research

Fellow in the Department of Musical Instru-

ments at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,

where he co-authored the recently published

book, MFA Highlights Native American Art

by Gerald W. R. Ward, Pamela A. Parmal,

Michael Suing, Heather Hole, and Jennifer

Swope (Boston: MFA, 2010).

News and Notes

• Douglas Yeo’s new DVD,

Approaching the Serpent: An Histori-

cal and Pedagogical Overview (2010),

filmed at the Utley Collection in

South Carolina, is available for pur-

chase through the NMM Gift Shop.

• The commemorative guitar

donated by South Dakota Governor

Mike Rounds in March is now on

display in the Everist Gallery.

• President Clinton’s saxophone is

back on display in the Everist

Gallery, following its annual summer

loan to the Presidential Wax

Museum in Keystone, SD.

• Have you seen the list of the

NMM’s most recent acquisitions on

the website?

Photo by Aaron Packard

Recent Staff Publications

Sabine K. Klaus

“The Joe R. and Joella F. Utley

C o l l e c t i o n o f H i g h B r a s s

Instruments: A Trumpeter’s Dream

Comes True,” International Trumpet

Guild Journal 34, No. 4 (June 2010):

38-45.

“Trumpet in B-flat by Joseph

Lathrop Allen,” in “Historical

Instrument Window,” International

Trumpet Guild Journal 35, No. 1

(October 2010): 56.

“Zinkengrößen. Überlegungen zur

historischen Terminologie,” in

Mozart im Zentrum. Festschrift für

Manfred Hermann Schmid zum 60.

Geburtstag, ed. by Ann-Katrin

Zimmermann and Klaus Aringer

(Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 2010):

423-438.

John Koster

“Among Mozart’s spättischen

Clavier: a Pandaleon-Clavecin by

Frantz Jacob Spath, Regensburg,

1767?,” Early Keyboard Journal 25

(2007-2008; published in 2010): 153-

223.

“Stringed-Keyboard Instruments in

Eighteenth- and Early-Nineteenth-

Century Spain,” in Susanne Skyrm,

ed., Anthology of Eighteenth-Century

Spanish Keyboard Music for Organ,

Piano, Harpsichord, or Clavichord

(Colfax, North Carolina: Wayne

Leupold Editions, 2010): v-vii.

“The Harding Bible Organ in

Perspective,” The Organ Yearbook

38 (2009): 17-43. Editor, The Historical Harpsichord,

Volume Five: Aspects of

Harpsichord Making in the British

Isles (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon

Press, 2010).

Deborah Check Reeves

“Historically Speaking [Conn

double-wall clarinets],” The Clarinet

37, No. 3 (June 2010): 26-27.

“Historically Speaking [Cundy-

Bettoney Silva-Bet clarinet],” The

Clarinet 37, No. 4 (September 2010):

28-29.

“Historically Speaking [Cundy-

Bettoney Boston Wonder clarinet],”

The Clarinet 38, No. 1 (December

2010): 20-21.

Photo by Aaron Packard

John Koster, Conservator and Professor of

Music, recently completed an extended

research trip to Europe, where he participat-

ed in several scholarly conferences, met with

numerous professional colleagues, and

examined instruments in various collections.

[Read more on website!]sound

Arian Sheets, Curator of Stringed Instru-

ments, was interviewed about The King

Henry IV Amati violin by Paul Guggen-

heimer for broadcast on his SDPB radio

show, “Dakota Mid-Day,” September 23.

1 Cornet (#3)

The Earliest Surviving

Brass Instrument

by Conn & Dupont

1 Saxophone (#16)

The Earliest Surviving

American-Made Saxophone

(by Conn)

TYPES OF ANNUAL

MEMBERSHIPS

* Member ........................................................... $35

* Donor .............................................................. $50

* Contributing ................................................. $100

* Sustaining ...................................................... $250

* Supporting .................................................... $500

(*Renewed annually)

Luthier ........................................... $1,000 or more

Artisan ........................................... $2,500 or more

Sponsor ......................................... $5,000 or more

Patron .......................................... $10,000 or more

Benefactor ................................... $25,000 or more

Fellow .......................................... $50,000 or more

Connoisseur ............................... $100,000 or more

Angel ........................................... $250,000 or more

Elegance ..................................... $500,000 or more

Founder .................................. $1,000,000 or more

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

National Music Museum 414 E. Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069

Name _______________________________________

Address ______________________________________

City _________________________________________

State _______________________ Zip ____________

*Amount $ __________________ Date ___________

Visa/MC # __________________ Expires _________

□ New □ Renewal E-mail Address ________________

*Dues may also be paid electronically through PayPal.

MEMBERSHIP

PRIVILEGES

Membership in the NMM offers the tangi-

ble benefits of special invitations to previews

and receptions, concerts and special events,

gift shop discounts, the Newsletter, and re-

search services. More importantly, it offers

the intangible rewards of being associated

with a unique institution, one of the great

museums of its kind in the world.

Membership dues and contributions are

tax deductible, within the limits provided

by law, and directly assist in supporting the

many public services of the NMM.

NMM BY THE

NUMBERS What Makes the NMM

Unique?

1,138 Instruments Made by

24 Different Manufacturers

in Elkhart, Indiana

740

Instruments by

Conn & Pan

American

158 Instruments

by Buescher

54 Instruments

by Martin

Band

Instruments

53 Percussion

Instruments

by Leedy and

Ludwig

1 Flute

Made in Elkhart for the

Movie, The Music Man

OLLI‟s “Histories and Mysteries

at the NMM” to Be Presented Why do the bells of Civil War brass

instruments point the same direction as

their mouthpieces? How can a piano

sound like a drum? Why does the

Hardanger fiddle have eight strings?

How can bagpipers sing while they play?

Members of

the Osher Life-

long Learning

I n s t i t u t e

(OLLI) will

soon have the

opportunity to

uncover the

answers to

these and other

m u s i c a l

m y s t e r i e s

while attend-

ing the first OLLI course ever to be

offered at the NMM. Deborah Check

Reeves, Curator of Education, will meet

with registered OLLI members for two

hours every Tuesday afternoon (2-4 PM)

from February 8-March 1, to lead them

in this exciting new experience.

OLLI’s intellectually engaging and

enriching classes, workshops, activities

and events, designed for lifelong learners

age 50 and up, are being offered in

Vermillion for the first time this winter.

Learners of all ages, from all back-

grounds, and levels of education are

welcome to register for the NMM’s class.

Visit www.olliuc.org for information

about how to become a member of South

Dakota’a OLLI and register for

“Histories and Mysteries at the NMM.”

Class size will be limited, so be sure to

register early. For further information

about the Bernard Osher Foundation,

which supports South Dakota’s OLLI,

visit www.osherfoundation.org.

The NMM in Print

Andrew Dipper and Claire Givens, “Fit

for a King,” The Strad 121, No. 1446

(October 2010): 26-34.

Kenneth Drobnak, “A Catalog of Upright

Tubas by Frank Holton & Company at

the National Music Museum (USA),”

ITEA Journal 38, No. 1 (Fall 2010): 92-

96.

Kenneth Drobnak, “The Process of

Cataloging an Unsigned Tuba,” ITEA

Journal 37, No. 4 (Summer 2010): 46-47.

Craig Kridel, “Resurrecting the Bass

Cornetto,” ITEA Journal 38, No. 1 (Fall

2010): 86-88. Mentions cornetti in the Joe

and Joella Utley Collection.

David Lias, “400-year-old Violin

Unveiled at National Music Museum,”

Vermillion Plain Talk (October 1, 2010).

“The National Museum of Music [sic]

Receives a Violin by Antonio and

Girolamo Amati Bearing Armorials of

King Henri IV of Navarre and France,”

France-Midwest Express Retrospective

(August/September 2010).

Corinne Ramey, “The Power of 8,” The

Strad (November 2010): 41-44. Features

images of all the instruments in the

NMM’s Carleen Hutchins Violin Octet.

Sonya Szabo Reynolds, “From the New

World . . .,” The Dvorák Society For Czech

and Slovak Music Newsletter 93 (October

2010): 4-5. Review of the NMM website’s

virtual tour, “Muzika! A Celebration of

Czech and Slovak Music.”

“Violin Strings Together French Past and

American Future,” News from France: A

Free Monthly Review of French News and

Trends 10.07 (September 30, 2010): 8.

About presentation of the King Henry IV

Amati violin to the NMM, published by

the French Embassy Press and Communi-

cation Service, Washington, DC.

The C. G. Conn Archive

Photo by Aaron Packard