10" 78 rpm record

Condition:

Better than EXCELLENT  PRISTINE, plays very quiet lightest hiss

A SUPERB COPY

Charles Cook Cushing, Music: Berkeley

Charles Cushing taught at the University of California for 37 years. During that period he achieved distinction, not only as a zestful and sympathetic teacher, but also as a skillful and gifted composer. As a native Californian, he received his early education in the public schools in Oakland, and went on to serious study in musical composition at the University in Berkeley, where he received especial encouragement from the visiting French composer, the outstanding Charles Koechlin, in the summers of 1927 and 1928.

Charles' bachelor's degree was earned in 1928, and the master's in 1929. Upon graduation, he won the coveted George Ladd Prize, which gained him the honor of studying composition under the internationally famous Nadia Boulanger for a span of two years at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. On his return to Berkeley, he was appointed Instructor in the University's Music Department, advancing to the full Professorship in 1948, where he continued until he retired in 1968.

During these years, Charles wrote many noteworthy musical compositions, including a piece for chorus and band, called Angel Camp, commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Military Academy of West Point (1952), followed by a work for orchestra commissioned by the Ford Foundation, entitled Cereus, a Poem for Orchestry (1959). This was performed in 1961 by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and recorded under the cachet of the Koussevitsky Foundation in 1962. It received wide acclaim.

Enhancing publicly his Departmental obligations, Charles for 18 years conducted the University's concert band (1934-1952). His conducting was superb. Contemporary notices testify that the performances under his direction were of a quality seldom achieved by comparable bodies. His interest in quality encouraged him to transcribe a large amount of great music for this medium, producing a body of work notably distinguished by his exceptional skill and sensitivity. In 1947 he conducted on campus the first American performances of Igor Stravinsky's L'Histoire du soldat.

During his years in Paris he became a devotee of French music. Upon his return to America he worked tirelessly to encourage performances of French music; indeed he played a leading role in many performances, either as a conductor or as an accompanist. In 1952 the French government recognized his contributions by making him a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur.

One of the highlights of his career was the production of Darius Milhaud's opera The Sorrows of Orpheus in Hertz Hall in 1959. Charles translated the text into elegant English; he managed and conducted the performances. Madeleine Milhaud served as the stage director and famed artist David Park created the sets. It received rave notices in the press and achieved a level of production unsurpassed at the University of California to the present day.

Charles Cushing had a wide circle of admirers, both for his composition and his conducting. The Music Department's files include a number of congratulatory letters from such distinguished persons as Sir Arthur Bliss, Nadia Boulanger, Darius Milhaud, Alfred Frankenstein, and Igor Stravinsky.

As a composer, Charles was always modest and discreet. He aimed for utmost clarity and precision, never tried to overwhelm, but rather to achieve his goals through refinement of expression. As a teacher he was demanding, but he earned the respect of countless students over a long period of time. As a graduate adviser he went far beyond the call of duty, writing defenses of students' unorthodoxies when he was convinced they were justified, and he had the courage to say no when he believed them unwarranted. He had a waggish sense of humor. At the same time he brought a stabilizing influence to Department meetings because of his judicious sense of fair-mindedness.

He was a man to whom graciousness was a way of life, and his ability not to be buffeted by the everyday hubbub and by pressures of time was remarkable and comforting. He had the distinction of being in control of his own manner of life. Students and colleagues who were touched by his example will always remember his warmth and generosity.

He is survived by his wife Charlotte, his daughters Jennifer and Elizabeth, his son Caleb, and six grandchildren.