Herbert Nanney papers, 1924-2005

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Summary

Abstract:
Programs, news clippings, correspondence, photographs, audio recordings, music scores, and other materials which document Herbert Nanney's tenure as Stanford University professor of music and university organist.
Extent:
4 Linear Feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Herbert Nanney papers (SC0920). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

Programs and news clippings related to performances by Nanney comprise the bulk of these papers. For preservation reasons, clippings on newsprint have been placed at the end of each folder and are segregated from other documents with acid-free paper. Also included are several folders of clippings, programs, and other documents related to the construction of the Fisk-Nanney organ at Stanford University's Memorial Church. There are also several tributes to Nanney, including congratulatory letters compiled and presented to him at the time of his retirement; a memorial service address by James Welch; and a program and an original composition from an honorary concert presented by the San Jose Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Many of the programs, news clippings, and congratulatory letters were originally located in scrapbooks. Due to preservation concerns these items were detached from their scrapbook pages and placed in acid-free folders. Folder titles indicate items that were originally found in scrapbooks.

Other correspondence is sparse and consists largely of letters to Nanney from his parents. Two items of particular interest are a 1945 letter of reference from prominent French organist Marcel Dupre and a 1953 letter from Vice President Richard Nixon in response to Nanney's inquiry about the position of Organist and Choirmaster at West Point's Cadet Chapel.

There are two recordings of works by Nanney: a CD-R copy of a 1956 baroque music performance in Memorial Church and an LP of Nanney s performance at the 1963 Far West Regional Convention of the American Guild of Organists. The papers also include several original compositions by Nanney, including his Sonata in E Minor for pipe organ and The Creation: A Sacred Cantata for Chorus, Soprano and Baritone Soloists, Full Orchestra, and Organ.

Most of the photographs in box 1 are posed portraits of Nanney, but there are a few images of the Memorial Church organ as well as several individual and group photographs of others.

The papers were donated to the Stanford University Archives by James Welch, a former Nanney student. Welch's notes on the papers are included in box 5, folder 12. There is also a transcript of Welch's 1991 interview with Nanney, a recording of the interview on audiocassette, and a copy of Welch's piece on Nanney for Stanford magazine's January/February 2003 "The Teacher Who Changed My Life" feature.

Biographical / historical:

Herbert Boswell Nanney, university organist and professor of music at Stanford University, was born in Whittier, California in 1918. He began piano lessons at the age of five, and studied organ under UCLA's Alexander Schreiner while a high school student. Nanney received his A.B. in Music from Whittier College in 1940, an Artist's Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1947, and his M.A. from Stanford in 1951.

Nanney first came to Stanford shortly after receiving his A.B., serving as assistant to university organist William D. Allen. He left Stanford to attend the Curtis Institute of Music in 1941. In August 1942 he was inducted into the Army. While stationed in Paris from 1944-1945, Nanney studied organ with Marcel Dupre at the Paris Conservatory of Music and was organist at the American Cathedral.

After his return from Europe, Nanney served as organist and choir director for churches in southern California and Philadelphia before returning to Stanford in 1947 as university organist and a member of the music faculty. In the years that followed he traveled regularly to lecture and perform, and was instrumental in the planning and construction of the Fisk-Nanney organ in Memorial Church, which was dedicated in 1984.

Nanney's 1985 retirement was celebrated with a series of concerts on campus, at which 30 of his former students played the works of Bach. He remained in the Bay Area until his death in 1996.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mrs. Herbert Nanney and James Welch, 2008
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.

Terms of access:

While University Archives is the owner of the physical and/or digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

Preferred citation:

Herbert Nanney papers (SC0920). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Stanford University Archives, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
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