H. Vose Greenough, Jr. Paper Collection

H. Vose Greenough, Jr. (1912-1976) was the founder and owner of Technichord Records, a small recording company in Brookline, Massachusetts. He grew up in Massachusetts, attended the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, and graduated in 1935 from Harvard University with a BS degree. During World War II he was a lieutenant commander in the Navy, and was stationed for a time at the David Taylor Model Basin in Maryland, specializing in mine warfare. In 1950 he moved to Vienna, Austria, working for the Haydn Society as chief recording engineer. After three years, he returned to the United States to teach acoustics at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. He later returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to work as a consultant.

Mr. Greenough died in1976 at the age of 64, leaving his father, Henry V. Greenough, a sister, Mrs. Barbara Bradley, and a brother, Peter Greenough.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The H. Vose Greenough, Jr. Paper Collection is a small part of a larger gift of more than 700 acetate records and tapes Mr. Greenough recorded and left to the Library of Congress upon his death. The Greenough Collection includes materials from Technichord Records, a recording company he founded located in Brookline, Massachusetts, as well as his personal papers.

Though modest in size, Technichord Records was known for recording music by talented performers that many other companies overlooked. For example, Technichord was the first to record E. Power Biggs, the noted American organist and broadcaster, who did much to popularize the concert organ and organ music to the American public. Other recordings include harpsichordist Claude Jean Chiasson, tenor Hughes Cuenod, soprano Isabel French, and the Harvard Glee Club and the Radcliffe Choral Society performing with harpsichordist Putnam Aldrich.

Mr. Greenough recorded radio broadcasts and local concerts as well, and his record and tape collection holds some unique recordings. These include the 1937 NBC Symphony Orchestra premier broadcast; the 1940 NBC special broadcast of the draft lottery, marking the official opening of the national lottery for military service with remarks by President Franklin D. Roosevelt; the 1940 opening ceremonies of the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood); the very first recording of Peter Schickele’s Concerto for Horn and Hardart performed at a Juilliard School concert; a recording of the 1939 Lili Boulanger Memorial Concert which includes Psalm 119, a piece thought to be lost; and two 1969 radio broadcasts from station WHRB (Harvard Radio Broadcasting) reporting on student demonstrations at Harvard University, including the student occupation of University Hall and subsequent police confrontations.

The paper materials of the Greenough Collection date from 1937 to 1972, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1948 to 1955. The collection contains correspondence, business and financial records, music programs, pamphlets, recording notes, and one photograph. The collection is divided into four series:

Series I: Correspondence
Series II: Financial records
Series III: Technichord Records recording activities
Series IV: Miscellaneous

Link to Series I.