Klarinet Archive - Posting 000104.txt from 1994/08

From: 00smgeidel@-----.EDU
Subj: for Connie Josias
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 1994 15:07:35 -0400

Friends,

A few years back, when I was preparing to write my doctoral dissertation on
Mozart's Trio for clarinet, viola, and piano, one of the first things I did was
to take a drive over to Jerry's house, which is about twenty minutes from my own
home here in Indiana. Let me digress...

For those of you who have never had the unique experience of visiting Jerry's
home, let me tell a bit about it. Jerry lived on the outskirts of Anderson,
Indiana, quite close to a beautiful state park. The peaceful, rural setting
always gave me a sense of tranquility, a sense that everything was in its
right place. However, this feeling was immediately dispelled whenever I walked
through Jerry's front door and into his office! The top of Jerry's desk was
rarely visible. Every time I went there, it was the same story...piles and
piles of letters, packages (both opened and unopened)... I always teased Jerry
about this, and he always replied, "Stan, it's all NEW MAIL...I just can't
keep up with it all." He was rather proud of his correspondences, which were
with musicians from all over the world. He loved these communications.

From Jerry's office, you walked into his living room, which was not a
living room at all, but in fact was his famous library of clarinet music. The
first time I saw it I was overwhelmed. Jerry saw that I was flabbergasted, and
he said, "Well, Stan, that's about half of it! The rest is stashed all around
the house!" Which was TRUE! Jerry literally lived in a library of clarinet
music. There was so much music I wondered how he ever found anything he
wanted to look at. . .however, it seemed that he had complete recall of where
everything was. He could find anything you mentioned, in just a few minutes.
It was amazing. But, later I realized this was not really surprising,
since that library was his heart and soul. And the content! It was so
comprehensive. . .I can't begin to describe the treasures that were in there.
I believe it must be among the very greatest collections of clarinet music in
the world, and quite possibly the greatest of them all. It was Jerry's pride
and joy.

Back to my story of Jerry's kindness...as I said, I was preparing to begin
writing my dissertation on Mozart Trio for clarinet, viola, and piano.
I went to Jerry's house, and we visited for a bit. Then I asked him if I
could borrow any editions he had of the Trio. He said, as he always did,
"Sure!" But then he added that he would like to do something for me, and
if I could wait a few weeks, he would give me something special. I said OK--
I surely could wait a few weeks before I began writing--and asked what he
had in mind. He wouldn't say; he just smiled. Well, about six or eight weeks
went by, and Jerry called me to say that he wanted to get together. We met,
and he handed me a microfilm copy of Mozart's original manuscript! He
told me what it was, and I was completely taken aback by the fact that he had
gone through all the trouble and expense of obtaining it. He told me the story
of chasing it down--it was a copy he had known about, and he had finally
tracked it down in England! I asked him if I could pay his expenses, and all he
did was chuckle...he said, "Stan, I'm just glad to help you out." He then
simply got in his car and drove off, smiling all the while. That was Jerry.
He took so much pleasure in finding that manuscript for me. He did things like
this for so many people. Whenever I'd drop in on him, he'd show me letters from
all over the world, and he tell me about the music he was trying to locate for
those who wrote to him.

I was in attendance at Jerry's funeral, and it was a very moving
experience. Many, many people were there to pay their final respects.
Linda, Jerry's wife, had prepared a wonderful celebration of Jerry's
life. There were photographs of Jerry--Jerry as a young man, some photographs
of Jerry during performances he gave. . .in addition, music was playing softly
in the background--a tape of Jerry performing some of the Mozart Trios for
two clarinets and bassoon. It was a beautiful tribute to a wonderful man.