Robert Gerle papers

Overview

Administrative/Biographical Note

Robert Gerle (1924-2005) was a noted concert violinist, conductor, and professor based in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan areas during the last thirty years of his career. Born in Abbazia, Italy, now Opatija, Croatia, of Hungarian parents, Gerle began study of the violin at a young age, graduating from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and the Hungarian National Conservatory of Music. In 1942 he won the Hubay prize for violin performance. During World War II, Gerle, who was from a Jewish family, spent several years in a labor camp in Budapest. With the approach of the Soviets, he escaped in late 1944, only to be found by Soviet soldiers in January 1945 hiding with 26 other Hungarian Jews in a crawl space over a music professor’s apartment. An article published in the New York Times in 1958, recounts the story of the ensuing interaction. The Soviets suspected the group Hungarians of firing on them and lined them up in front of a firing squad. Apparently on a whim the officer in charge, noting the violin case in Gerle’s hand asked him to play a work by Tschaikovsky. The violinist’s performance was sufficient to convince the officer that Gerle was a musician, not a soldier. All 26 men were released. Following the war, Gerle played concert engagements in New York and London, often eliciting praise from critics for his flawless technique. His performances of Bach’s Chaconne for solo violin and Heinrich Biber’s violin sonatas were particularly renown. He made a recording of the complete Beethoven violin and piano sonatas with his second wife, pianist Marilyn Neely, for the Westminster label. A video presentation of the recording won an Emmy Award. In 1972, Gerle began the orchestra program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he remained for two decades. He also taught at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Mannes College of Music in New York, and The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Critics in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area praised Gerle’s performances with the Friday Morning Music Club and Washington Sinfonia. The Friday Morning Music Club, known principally as an amateur group of older women before Gerle’s tenure, came to be admired for their musicality and zest in performance.

Scope & Content

The Robert Gerle papers cover the period from 1873 to 1992; the bulk dates are 1920 to 1960. The collection consists of scores used for performance and study. It also includes a few pieces of correspondence, various drafts of Gerle’s arrangement of Zoltan Kodaly’s Adagio for Strings, and a few articles consulted for study and performance of particular scores. The Robert Gerle papers are divided into six series. Series I contains over 130 marked violin scores, probably used for violin practice and performance during Gerle’s career as a concert violinist. They are arranged alphabetically by composer. A few exceptions to this organizational method can be found in cases where Gerle had clearly bundled two scores together. In those cases, both scores are filed together alphabetically by the composer of the first score in the folder. This series covers the period of 1898 to 1992, with additional papers that are undated. The second series contains over 50 marked conducting scores covering the period of 1922 to 1986. These scores were most likely used in performance and practice during Gerle’s career as a conductor. They are arranged alphabetically by composer. A few exceptions to this organizational method can be found in cases where Gerle had clearly bundled two scores together. In those cases, both scores are filed together alphabetically by the composer of the first score in the folder. The third series contains eleven scores that have been autographed by the composer, covering the period of 1913 to 1972. Most of the inscriptions are addressed to Gerle, but a few are to his wife, Marilyn Neeley. They are arranged alphabetically by composer. A few exceptions to this organizational method can be found in cases where Gerle had clearly bundled two scores together. In those cases, both scores are filed together alphabetically by the composer of the first score in the folder. Series 4 contains thirteen scores; all marked for performance or practice by hand other than Gerle’s. IN some cases, it appears Gerle bought the score second hand or borrowed it from a colleague. In other cases, the scores appear to belong to his first wife, Louella Hobbs. They are arranged alphabetically by composer and cover the period of 1905 to 1964. Series 5 contains scores unblemished by markings of any kind, covering the period of 1873 to 1969. Most likely these scores were not used for performance or intense rehearsal. Several are books of exercises or practice materials possibly used as teaching tools. They are arranged alphabetically by composer. The sixth, and final series, contains four undated items of miscellaneous material not in keeping with the rest of the collection. It includes a letter from Serge Gut, a letter from Gail Kubik, illegible notes unattached to a score, and a clipping from the Rand Daily Mail.

The Robert Gerle collection has been divided into six series. The collection is not divided into further sub-series. Marked Violin Scores Marked Conducting Scores Scores Autographed by Composer Scores Marked by Others Unmarked Scores Letters, Notes, and Newspaper Clippings

Provenance Information

The materials comprising this collection were transferred to the University of Maryland Libraries from The Catholic University of America Libraries in January 2008 with the blessing of Robert Gerle’s son, Andrew. The collection was processed by Christina Taylor Gibson. The collection was then received by UMBC from the University of Maryland Special Collections in Performing Arts in one accession (MSS 2014-10). The collection number at the University of Maryland, College Park was 08-82-GERLE.

This accession of 6.00 linear feet of papers arrived in December 2014. The papers had been arranged and described and had a finding aid. Processing was completed by Christina Taylor Gibson of University of Maryland Special Collections in Performing Arts. All materials in the collection were kept in the series and organizational structure in which they were originally provided by Special Collections in Performing Arts. When the collection arrived at the UMBC Special Collections, the materials were relabeled but otherwise kept in their original organizational structure. The finding aid was adapted by Jessica Deane in January 2015, using the finding aid written at College Park and reformatting it to fit UMBC’s format. Minimal changes to the content were made, with the exception of this processing note.

Access & Use

No restrictions.

Reproductions allowed for research purposes. Copyright maintained by the creator.

Subject Headings

• Gerle, Robert Archives
• Violinists United States

Series Description & Container List

Expand all | Collapse all

Series I. Marked Violin Scores

Series II. Marked Conducting Scores

Series III. Scores Autographed by Composer

Series IV. Scores Marked by Others

Series V. Unmarked Scores

Series VI. Letters, Notes, and Newspaper Clippings