MC 5: Robert Ripley Oral History Interview Collection, 1991-2002

Introduction

Between 1991 and 2002, Robert "Bob" Ripley recorded a series of oral history interviews with former members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and their family members. In each interview, Ripley and the interviewee discuss the player’s early life and musical education, audition for and experience with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, chamber and solo music work, teaching experience, time with other orchestras, and their life outside of the BSO. These tapes offer insights into the educational, musical, and personal backgrounds of orchestra members during and outside of their time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Scope

The subjects of these interviews were members of the BSO as early as 1898 and as late as 2000, though most of those represented in these tapes were members between about 1940 and 1980. In some cases, when the BSO member was no longer living at the time of this oral history project, family members or close friends are interviewed in their place.

The interviews generally follow a standard format, beginning with the players’ early life, moving through their education, their audition for the BSO, experiences during their time with the BSO, and ending with reflections on their retirement life. In a few cases, previously completed recordings are incorporated into the collection: two radio broadcast interviews not conducted by Bob Ripley, a players’ performance, and a players’ documentation of speeches given at BSO events. Each member was interviewed only once, except in the case of Gaston Dufresne, who was interviewed on three occasions.

Two interviews in the collection were conducted by William Moyer with Akio Akaboshi and Toshiyuki Kikkawa, members of the exchange program with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. Joel Moerschel conducted an interview with Robert Ripley in 1999 to add to the collection.

The collection is primarily comprised of audio interviews as cassette tapes, which were converted to digital files in 2023. There are six VHS video recordings created in 1994, which are almost all duplicated among the cassette tapes; these video recordings have not yet been digitized.

Contents

The cassette tapes include discussion of the establishment of the Berkshire Music School (now Tanglewood Music Center) in 1940, unionization of Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians in 1942, international tours to Europe, China, and Japan (beginning in 1952), the exchange program with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra (1966-1971), orchestra members’ reflections on BSO conductors, and discussion of members’ performances with various New England-based chamber music groups, trios, and quartets.

Many of the BSO members represented in these tapes performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra under conductor Arthur Fiedler (1930-1979). In their interviews, they describe the less rigorous Pops rehearsals as compared to the regular BSO season and recount the playful nature of Pops performances and recording sessions.

The interviewees describe their experiences with various conductors, especially Serge Koussevitzky (1924–1949), Charles Munch (1949–1962), Erich Leinsdorf (1962–1969), William Steinberg (1969–1972), and Seiji Ozawa (1973–2002). A few of the eldest orchestra members share memories of Pierre Monteux (1919–1924) and Karl Muck (1912–1918), though the majority of interviewees began their careers with the BSO during Koussevitzky’s term as Music Director or later.

Many of the interviewees reflect on the changes they witnessed in the orchestra. Doriot Anthony Dwyer, the first woman principal player in the BSO, describes her experience in the orchestra in the gender minority; as do Winifred Winograd Mayes and Lois Shaefer, two other early female players. Willis Page describes his support for and teaching of Ortiz Walton, the first Black member of the BSO. Other changes discussed in the interviews include increased pay, the extension of the BSO season after the establishment of Tanglewood and the Esplanade orchestras, pensions established by the union, decreasing formality during rehearsals, and the changing responsibilities and personalities of the Music Director.

Besides their impressions of and experiences as members of the BSO, the interviewees discuss their outside music playing and teaching experience during their careers in Boston. BSO players taught at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Wellesley University, Longy School of Music at Bard College, and Eastman School of Music, among others. Many players also participated in summer clubs before the establishment of the Tanglewood Music Center, especially with the Lake Placid Club (now the Lake Placid Sinfonietta), the “Lake George Club,” and the Zimbler Sinfonietta, the latter of which went on a significant tour of South America in 1957.

Players discuss their experiences with other orchestras where they played before or after their time with the BSO, most frequently: the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, NBC Symphony Orchestra in New York City, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis Orchestra (now Minnesota Orchestra), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The interviewees reflect on conductors who served as guest conductors with Boston Symphony Orchestra or whom they encountered elsewhere, most frequently: Leopold Stokowski, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Fritz Reiner, Arturo Toscanini, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Bernard Haitink, Leonard Bernstein, and John Williams.