Dexter Morrill Collection, 1958-2013

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Summary

Extent:
12.5 Linear Feet : (18) box(es); (1) folder
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Dexter Morrill Collection, ARS-0228. Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection focuses on the compositions and other documents created by Dexter Morrill during his career as a musician and composer. Items include correspedonce; manuscript scores; published scores, sketches and documentation for computer compositions; concert programs; concert tour documents; project documentation; Morrill's own DMA dissertation; published and manuscript articles; video and audio recordings. In addition to the physical materials preserved within the boxes, there are also digital files created by Dexter Morrill that include scans of materials, archived audio files, and born-digital documents and compositions produced during his later years.

Biographical / historical:

Dexter George Morrill (1938-2019) was a composer, trumpet player, and professor of music best known for his collaboration with jazz saxophonist, Stan Getz during the premiere of 'Getz Variations for tenor saxophone and tape' (1984); a Morrill composition which merged jazz improvisation with computer-generated sounds. In his early years, he studied trumpet with Dizzy Gillespie at the Lenox School of Jazz, and later composition with Leonard Ratner and orchestration with Leland Smith before receiving his MA from Stanford University in 1962.

After receiving his DMA in 1970, Morrill began teaching at Colgate University and collaborated with John Chowning and Leland Smith at Stanford in the creation of the first mainframe computer music studios and workshops in the world. A significant portion of Morrill's compositions in this period focused heavily on computer-generated tape and computer music systems performed in concert with conventional instruments. In the 1980s he worked with engineer Perry Cook to develop a MIDI trumpet which he would later perform in many concerts. Morrill also authored two books, 'A Guide to the Big Band Recordings of Woody Herman' and 'The American String Quartet'.

Acquisition information:
The Dexter Morrill Collection was donated to the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound by Dexter Morrill in 2015 and 2016.
Arrangement:

The collection is divided into five series: Series 1. Scores, Sketches, and Related Compositional Files, Series 2. Documents, Series 3. Ephemera, Series 4. Recordings, and Series 5. Scans, Digital Transfers and Born-Digital Files.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research; material must be requested at least three business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive of Recorded Sound for assistance.

Terms of access:

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head Librarian, Archive of Recorded Sound, Braun Music Center, Stanford, California 94305. Consent is given on behalf of the Archive of Recorded Sound as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns.

Preferred citation:

Dexter Morrill Collection, ARS-0228. Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, CA.

Location of this collection:
Braun Music Center, 541 Lasuen Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-3076, US
Contact:
(650) 723-9312
soundarchive@stanford.edu
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