Finding Aid for the Jakob Gimpel papers PASC-M.0240

Finding aid prepared by Shira Peltzman, 2020.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2020 December 11.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu


Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Jakob Gimpel papers
Creator: Gimpel, Jakob
Identifier/Call Number: PASC-M.0240
Physical Description: 13.5 Linear Feet (27 boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1870-1990
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Portions of collection unprocessed. Some material is unavailable for access. Please contact Special Collections reference (spec-coll@library.ucla.edu) for more information.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Property rights to the physical objects belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Processing Information

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 5734193 

Administrative/Biographical History

Gimpel, Jakob, born Lvov, Ukraine, April 16, 1906; died Los Angeles, California, March 12, 1989. American pianist and teacher of Polish birth. Having graduated from the Lwów (formerly Lemberg) Conservatory at the age of 15, he went to Vienna and became a pupil of Steuermann, also taking private lessons in composition from Berg. He made his Vienna début in 1923. Before World War II Gimpel toured with the violinists Erica Morini and Nathan Milstein, and also with his younger brother, Bronislav. He emigrated to the United States in 1939, settling in Los Angeles. One of the first pianists to record for the newly founded company Vox, he also made widely admired discs for Columbia. In 1954 he resumed playing in Europe. Gimpel gave concerts with the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (later the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra) from its inception and maintained a busy career until the time of his death. He taught at the California State University at Northridge from 1971 to 1986. Especially effective in large-scale works, Gimpel never quite achieved the reputation he deserved. A dynamic and authoritative player in Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto and Brahms's D minor Concerto, he was equally at home in less familiar works by such composers as Reger and Szymanowski. He had a thoroughly schooled and well-controlled virtuoso technique which, allied to an ability to phrase with sophistication, ensured that his performances were invariably distinguished. (Source: New Grove Dictionary)

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of scores and books related to Jakob Gimpel.