Vivian Perlis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vivian Perlis
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| Born | April 26, 1928 |
| Died | July 4, 2019 (aged 91) |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Oral historian Former director of Oral History of American Music |
| Partner(s) | Dr. Sanford J. Perlis |
Vivian Perlis (born April 26, 1928 – died July 4, 2019) was an American expert in music history. She started and used to lead a special project at Yale University called the Oral History of American Music. This project collects and saves interviews with important musicians.
Contents
Vivian's Early Life and Education
Vivian Perlis was born in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up on Long Island, New York. She went to the University of Michigan where she studied classical harp and piano.
Vivian earned two degrees from the University of Michigan. She received a bachelor's degree in 1949 and a master's degree in music history in 1952. Later, she also studied at Columbia University from 1962 to 1964. During this time, she taught music history at several colleges in New England.
Moving to Connecticut and Yale
Vivian later moved to Westport, Connecticut with her husband, Dr. Sanford J. Perlis, and their three children. She played the harp with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. In 1959, she started working as a librarian at Yale University. Vivian Perlis passed away on July 4, 2019, at the age of 91.
Starting Oral History in Music
As a music librarian at Yale, Vivian Perlis worked with the papers of composer Charles Ives. In 1968, she had a chance to interview Julian Myrick. He was Ives's business partner. Vivian realized how important it was to record people's memories.
She began collecting interviews with others who knew Charles Ives. She gathered 62 tapes and written records. In 1974, Vivian used these interviews to write her book, Charles Ives Remembered. This was the first time a musician's life was documented using oral history.
Her book won the American Musicological Society's Otto Kinkeldey Award in 1975. This was a very important award. Vivian was the first woman to receive it. It was also the first time the award was given for an American music topic. The book also won the Connecticut Book Publishers Award.
Founding Oral History of American Music
While working on the Ives project, Vivian saw how valuable oral history could be. It was a great way to document the lives of musicians. So, in 1969, she founded the Oral History of American Music (OHAM). It was first called Oral History, American Music.
Vivian became friends with composer Aaron Copland during the Ives project. Copland later wrote the introduction for her book, Charles Ives Remembered. After finishing the Ives project, Vivian focused on Copland. From 1975 to 1976, she interviewed Copland and people close to him for many hours.
Their work led to two autobiographies: Copland: 1900 through 1942 (1984) and Copland: Since 1943 (1989). Vivian Perlis co-authored both books.
Today, Oral History of American Music (OHAM) has over 2,200 interviews and written records. It is a special collection at Yale University's Irving S. Gilmore Music Library. The main part of OHAM includes interviews with composers, classical performers, and jazz musicians. OHAM also has projects on Paul Hindemith, Steinway & Sons, and Duke Ellington.
In 2005, Vivian Perlis released a new book called Composers’ Voices From Ives to Ellington. She wrote it with Libby Van Cleve. This book celebrates 20th-century composers. It also includes two CDs with interview recordings.
Vivian Perlis retired from the Oral History of American Music in 2010. She passed away at her home in Weston, Connecticut, on July 4, 2019, after an illness.
Media Projects
Before her book Charles Ives Remembered became famous, Vivian Perlis produced a five-record set. It was called Charles Ives, the 100th Anniversary. This set included parts of her oral history interviews. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Album in 1975.
In 1977, Vivian was a historical consultant for a PBS documentary about Ives. It was called A Good Dissonance Like a Man. This documentary also used parts from her oral history interviews.
Over the next thirteen years, Vivian wrote and produced three more documentaries. These were about other people she interviewed for oral history. They were part of the PBS American Masters Series:
- Memories of Eubie (about Eubie Blake; 1980)
- Aaron Copland: A Self Portrait (1985)
- John Cage: I Have Nothing to Say and I Am Saying It (1990)
Awards and Honors
Vivian Perlis received many awards for her important work:
- The National Institute of Arts and Letters Charles Ives award (1971)
- The New England Association of Oral History's Harvey Kantor Award (1984)
- A Guggenheim Fellowship
- The Society for American Music's Irving Lowens Award (1991)
- Letter of Distinction from American Music Center (2004)
- Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for American Music
- The Yale School of Music's Sanford Medal (2010)
- Musical America Artist of the Year (2011)
