Paul Price was born on May 15, 1921, and raised in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In 1939 he was awarded a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), and earned a Diploma in Percussion in 1942. It was during these formative years at NEC that he was exposed to the works of Edgard Varese, and met with visiting artist Henry Cowell; thus inspiring his life’s work to develop and promote a repertoire for the percussion soloist and percussion ensemble. (Fairchild) Shortly after completing his studies at NEC, he served in the Pacific Theater during World War II
as a United States Army Medical Corps X-Ray Technician. And following his discharge as a Technician Fourth Grade, he went on to earn his Bachelor of Music (1948), and Master of Music (1949) degrees from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. While at Cincinnati, he taught percussion methods, as well as applied percussion at Ludlow and Erlanger High Schools in Kentucky. In addition, he was the First Percussionist and Xylophone Soloist for Frank Simon’s Band from 1946 – 1949.
It was from 1949 until 1956, that Mr. Price taught at the University of Illinois. There he established the first accredited college percussion ensemble and percussion literature courses. (Brown) According to Mr. Price, this was significant because “the acceptance of the percussion ensemble in…schools of music…helped to popularize percussion music and provide a workshop where composers might hear their endeavors.” (Music Journal) He then went on to hold positions at Boston University, Ithaca College, Newark State College (now Kean University), and from 1957 till 1986, he was Chairman of the Percussion Department at Manhattan School of Music.
Mr. Price was known by his students to be a demanding teacher who created an atmosphere that encouraged hard work; and rewarded them by assisting and supporting their aspirations. (Williams) This atmosphere was integral to the success he had in recruiting students, and that of the Manhattan Percussion Ensemble. This ensemble, which consisted of Mr. Price’s most advanced students, performed professionally at Carnegie Hall, and appeared as part of the United States State Department tour of Europe, and the Middle East. (Brown)
His dedication to promulgate solo and ensemble literature for the percussionist stemmed further than concerts and recordings; it led him to create Paul Price Publications, and later, Music For Percussion (now part of the Colla Voce catalog: www.collavoce.com). The intent of Music For Percussion was to present this growing repertoire to a wider audience. Hence, composers anxiously sent him their compositions, hoping that he would perform, and/or publish their work. (Fairchild) And due to his contributions to the profession, he was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame in 1975; and in 1977, he was awarded a citation by the National Association of American Composers and Conductors, as an “Outstanding Contributor to American Music.”
Mr. Price died at the age of 65 on July 10, 1986, leaving behind an indelible mark on the percussive arts and contemporary music. For “it is doubtful [that] the percussion ensemble would have achieved its present status, and level of attainment, without the influence he had on its literature and performance practices.” (Fairchild)
Though he is no longer with us, Mr. Price’s impact still lives on through his compositions, recordings, and the students whom he inspired. Jan Williams studied with Mr. Price from September 1959 to May 1964 at the Manhattan School of Music, and was kind enough to discuss his experiences with this icon of percussion and contemporary music.
Professor Williams served as a Trustee of the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music, and as Co-Artistic Director of the North American New Music Festival. He has toured extensively as a percussion soloist and conductor throughout the United States, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. Furthermore, such composers as: Lukas Foss, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Joel Chadabe, Morton Feldman, Orlando Garcia, Gustavo Matamoros, Luis de Pablo, Frederic Rzewski, Nils Vigeland, and Iannis Xenakis have composed works especially for him. As a recording artist, Professor Williams can be heard on such labels as: Columbia, Vox/Turnabout, Desto, Lovely Music, Spectrum, Wergo, DGG, Orion, Hat-Art, OO, New World, Deep Listening, EMF Media, and Mode Records. And after 30 years of directing the percussion program, while also demonstrating distinguished service as a scholar and artist, he was awarded the prestigious title of Professor Emeritus from the University at Buffalo upon his retirement.
How long did you study with Mr. Price?
I studied with him from September, 1959 to May, 1964.
Were you in contact with him after you left Manhattan School of Music (MSM)?
Yes, I invited him to Buffalo several times to work with my students. He was one of the judges for the New Percussion Quartet’s Composition Contest held in the mid 1960’s.
What type of atmosphere did he create at MSM?
He created an atmosphere which encouraged hard work and dedication to the “cause.” He was respected and admired by most of his students. And I would say, maybe feared a bit due to the intensity of his demeanor.
How would you describe his personality, and his interactions with students?
He was a demanding teacher. We all called him Mr. Price, and he never told me to call him Paul, even after studying with him and performing in his percussion ensembles for five years. I very highly respected his abilities as a performer, and as a conductor; and I generally had a good personal relationship with him. His dedication to raising the image of the percussionist and the repertoire among conductors, composers, and other instrumentalists was profound, and we all realized that early on. He sometimes would be hurt by someone’s off hand remark. Eventually we would figure out what the problem was, or what someone had said that might have upset him, and were able to smooth things over. He rewarded those students who worked hard and embraced his mission by supporting their work and aspirations.
Did he only recruit students with a passion for Contemporary Music?
Mostly, but not exclusively. I think his mission was known to most prospective students. Which was to promulgate his passion for building a legitimate repertoire for percussion, (i.e. solo, percussion ensemble, and in chamber music). If new students didn’t realize what studying with him meant, they soon found out.
Did Price only teach Contemporary Music in his private studio?
No, we studied technique, sight-reading, repertoire, including orchestral, percussion literature, and to a degree, pedagogy.
Did his mission conflict with the traditional conservatory environment at MSM?
Absolutely not. It was embraced by most of the administration because the percussion students were active and generally enthusiastic members of all the traditional conservatory ensembles. My scholarship duties involved playing timpani in the opera orchestra, among other things. I remember being asked by Michael Steinberg, who was then teaching musicology at MSM, to talk to his class about the new scores for percussion that Paul and his students found; many employing notational systems that were even foreign to Professor Steinberg.
How was Mr. Price viewed by his contemporaries?
I have no first hand knowledge. I have the feeling that initially his work was not very highly regarded by orchestral percussionists and timpanists. I don’t think that the early percussion pieces of John Cage, Lou Harrison and Henry Cowell, that Paul was performing in NYC, were generally accepted as being serious percussion works by these players back then. Thankfully, that is obviously not the case now.
As a performer, did he focus on a specific area of percussion?
I would have to say no. When I played with him in the percussion section of the American Symphony Orchestra (ASO), he played all the instruments at times except timpani. Elaine Jones was the timpanist with the ASO at that time, and I substituted for her on a few occasions. His primary activity as a performer was, of course, as a conductor of contemporary chamber music, and especially the percussion ensemble. Furthermore, he taught every student, at least while I studied with him, all percussion instruments, including the triangle, castanets, tambourine, etc.
What inspired Mr. Price to make Contemporary Music his artistic and pedagogical endeavor?
I believe it was due to his discovering the percussion music of John Cage, Lou Harrison and Henry Cowell soon after he returned from serving in WWII.
Were all contemporary composers on his radar?
All. Again, he was interested in creating a large body of work for percussion – so he welcomed new pieces by any serious composer. The notational system was never an issue nor was the compositional style. He insisted that we do our best to perform them well and to the composer’s specifications; assuming, rightly, that the good pieces would survive the test of time. And being young players, we could learn a great deal from bad pieces as well as from the good ones.
What inspired him to compose?
He felt that percussion students needed to have a broader range of pieces to draw from, especially on school competition lists which were dominated by rudimental snare drum solos. He did not make friends among the rudimental drumming community, such as William F. Ludwig, because he advocated for a much broader stylistic palette of pieces for the young student. I remember him saying that there were actually only two snare drum rudiments, the big stroke involving the whole arm, and the small stroke using the wrist and fingers, and that all the other so-called rudiments were just different combinations of both. Let’s say this did not engender respect from the rudimental drumming community.
What was Mr. Price’s objective when he created Music For Percussion?
It was to present this new repertoire to a wider audience, and by offering the smaller, pedagogical pieces to support the larger, “aesthetic” works, composed for percussion ensemble and solos. On average, he would publish only one or two large ensemble pieces per year due to the costs and time needed to prepare each for publication (e.g. Lou Harrison’s Canticles 1 & 3, and John Cage’s First Construction). Unfortunately, there were no computers back then, so he would prepare every score by hand: cutting and pasting each note, rest, and articulation on large sheets of heavy paper. It took an enormous amount of time for the larger works like Lou Harrison’s Labyrinth No. 3; which he never finished preparing for publication, although we did play the piece from Paul’s mock ups.
Did Mr. Price object to those who performed his work differently then he intended?
I don’t think that it was a big concern for him; probably because his compositions and method books were mostly for pedagogical purposes. But it was when performing the works of other Composers.
What should percussionists know about his contributions to the percussive arts?
This very question was the impetus for my presentation, Breaking the Sound Barrier, The Paul Price Legacy. This presentation outlines his important contributions: his early recordings, most notably the Time Records recording; as well as the Music for Percussion catalog. I would say that probably his most important contribution was his dedication to building a repertoire of serious music for solo percussion, and the percussion ensemble. The promulgation of these new works inspired young percussionists to form ensembles of their own in the college/university setting, as well as in the non-academic world.
Bibliography:
Brown, Thomas A., Paul Price: Pioneer In Percussion, Woodwind World Brass and Percussion, May 1976.
Fairchild, Frederick D., Paul Price, https://www.pas.org/about/hall-of-fame/paul-price
Price, Paul, Percussion Up-to-Date, Music Journal, December 1964
