VanderCook College of Music
Merle J. Isaac Collection
FIGURE 1 Merle Isaac as a young conductor, ca. 1930s
Merle J. Isaac (October 12, 1898 – March 11, 1996) was a Chicago musician and music teacher who wrote more than 800 arrangements and original compositions for school orchestras, bands, and other combinations over a career of 60-plus years – from his first published work in 1936 to his last, published 5 months after his death in 1996”. Merle is important to string music education because he started when there were few resources available for school music teachers, and from the start he tried to give “each player an interesting … part to play” that was challenging but within their capability. The popularity of Merle’s arrangements over the years and the fact that over 100 are still in print today, attest to his success at meeting these goals.
SCOPE AND ARRANGEMENT
The Merle J. Isaac Papers include: music manuscripts and publications written or arranged by Isaac, pedagogical material, correspondence with publishers and colleagues such as H.E. Nutt and Forest Etling as well as documents and correspondence relating to Isaac’s tenure as a member of the Board of Trustees at VanderCook College of music.
The first series of this collection contains compositions and arrangements by Merle Isaac, arranged alphabetically by composer then title. These include all forms of solo and ensemble music – band, string orchestra, full orchestra, and various chamber & solo works. (Boxes 1-32)
The second series of this collection contains methods books, practice folios and other educational materials by Merle Isaac, arranged alphabetically by title (Boxes M1-M4)
The third series of this collection contains Merle’s personal collection of scores used in the early years of his career as a theater organist in the Chicago area, ca. 1922-1926. (Box T1)
The fourth series of this collection contains photographs, correspondence and other personal papers and possessions of Merle Isaac (Boxes 667 – 672)
If you wish to view any portion of the collection, please contact the VanderCook College of Music archivist at [email protected]
FIGURE 2 This chart indicates the relative size of each collection; and how much of it exists in manuscript and/or published form.
FIGURE 3 This chart shows how many compositions in each category were published each year throughout his life, and by this you can see the trends in what either the publishers were looking for, or what Merle felt was most needed.
BAND SCORES
Merle Isaac published the bulk of his band scores between 1941 and 1974, with the last one published in 1989 (Capriccio ltalien by Tchaikovsky). Our collection includes 49 published scores (of which 12 also include the original manuscripts) and 23 additional manuscripts (not published). Please GO HERE for a complete list of Merle Isaac’s band scores.
FIGURE 4 Merle Isaac’s first (1941) and final (1989) published band scores
FULL ORCHESTRA SCORES
Merle Isaac published full orchestra scores throughout his entire career, starting with his first published arrangement in 1936 (Carl Bohm’s Perpetual Motion) and concluding in 1989 with Suppé’s Poet & Peasant Overture. Our collection includes 187 published scores (of which 44 also include the original manuscripts) and 65 additional unpublished manuscripts. Please GO HERE for a complete list of Merle Isaac’s full orchestra scores.
FIGURE 5 Merle Isaac’s first (1936) and final (1989) published full orchestra scores
STRING ORCHESTRA SCORES
Merle Isaac published most of his string orchestra scores during the 1970s and 1980s, however he published his first string orchestra arrangement in 1939 (The Jolly Dutchman – string bass solo w/ string orchestra accompaniment) and concluding in 1991 with Seymour Smith’s Old English Dance. Our collection includes 132 published scores (of which 52 also include the original manuscripts) and another dozen additional manuscripts (not published). Please GO HERE for a complete list of Merle Isaac’s string orchestra scores.
FIGURE 6 Merle Isaac’s first (1939), J.S. Bach’s Breandenburg Concerto No. 3 (1st movement, abridged) from 1976, and final (1991) published string orchestra scores
SOLO & CHAMBER MUSIC SCORES
Merle Isaac’s Solo music was one of his earliest endeavors, with the bulk of them dating from 1937-1943 (1943 is also the end of his high school teaching career, as he became an elementary school principal afterward).
Chamber music here is a bit of a catch-all for what appears to be primarily private work for his own use; of 149 items identified in the collection, only 11 were published. Please GO HERE for a complete list of Merle Isaac’s solo and chamber music scores.
METHOD BOOKS AND FOLIOS
Merle published some of the earliest method books for strings, first appearing in 1938. In an interesting “historical Perspective” within his commentary on Merle Isaac’s 1973 composition Quinto-Quarto Suite author William Dyson had this to say about the use of method books in the early 1900s:
“During the first three decades of the twentieth century, string instruction in schools in this country was haphazard. Orchestras were affiliated with schools, but students in the orchestra ( usually ten to fifteen members) were products of private instruction. Although Herforth published his A Tune a Day in 1927 and the Merle Isaac String Method was published in 1938, it was not until the 1950s that the concept of heterogeneous string class teaching began to take hold. This concept continued into the 1960s and 1970s with string methods by Muller-Rusch, Applebaum, Matesky and Rush, Etling, and Wisniewski and Higgins.ii”
Merle’s 1938 “String Class Method” books were followed by dozens of folios with solos and elementary orchestra arrangements which were published from the 1930s into the 1980s. Please GO HERE for a complete list of Merle Isaac’s method books and folios.
FIGURE 7 Merle Isaac’s String Class Method (1939) and an Album of Favorite Cello Solos (1941)
SILENT MOVIE ORGANIST
Merle Isaac’s earliest professional experience was as an organist in silent movie theaters. Among his papers we found a number of theater programs from 1921-24 which show his name as organist; and about 150 pieces of published music with rubber-stamped dates – these were probably the bulk of his professional library at the time.
FIGURE 8 Merle Isaac, organist at the Paramount Theatre in Chicago. The “Queen of Sheba” was showing the week of March 20, 1922. The Famous Theatre announced their “new organist, Merle J. Isaac” in this program from November 3, 1923.
BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Merle was born in 1898 in Iowa and his family moved to Chicago by 1900. His earliest musical experiences involved a school music teacher in the 4th grade, and piano & organ lessons which began soon after. In high school he played the flute and sang in the glee club. He “visited movie theaters and became acquainted with the organists. [He] learned about the various kinds of music that were used to accompany the silent pictures [and] registered with one of the organ companies as a theater organist seeking employment. On the day after Christmas in 1919, [he] received a call to report to a theater for work. (Their organist didn’t show up on Christmas Day!)”[i]
“In the late 1920s, as silent pictures were replaced by talkies, Isaac realized that he would have to find another way to make a living. About this time, Dr. Lewis Browne, with whom Isaac had studied organ and harmony, became director of music for the Chicago public schools. Browne planned to develop music programs in all the schools, and he encouraged Isaac to consider becoming a high school orchestra director. Isaac studied the violin and the trumpet with private teachers and took counterpoint and orchestration lessons from Browne. Subsequently, Isaac took and passed the Chicago Board of Education examination, which certified teachers of instrumental music. Note that at that time, a teaching degree was not yet required. In September 1929, Isaac was assigned to Marshall High School in Chicago, where he served the next fourteen years as chair of the Department of Instrumental Music.”[ii]
School Music Teacher
When Merle began teaching, he discovered two things. First, “he realized that he needed to know more about all of the instruments and about teaching students to play them. So, in addition to his regular teaching duties at Marshall, he spent Saturdays in classes at the VanderCook College of Music, and learned to play all of the instruments reasonably well. During the week he took private lessons on violin, cello, and string bass.[iii]”
Second, Merle discovered that “much of the music in the Marshall library was unsuitable for a school orchestra. He said ‘I found some published music in the orchestra room, but there was little that I could use. Some was too difficult and some was too easy. Actually, not much of the music published at that time was suitable for school orchestras. I was well acquainted with music arranged for theater orchestras. This music was not suitable for school use.’ “ [iv]
“Isaac understood the musical interests and abilities of the student. He sought to write parts that were interesting and easily performed by students, while maintaining the musical sonority and integrity of the orchestral sound. ‘The violas need not to have the principal melody, but should have a melodic part whenever possible. Viola players don’t like to play afterbeat accompaniments. Since the viola section in most school orchestras are lacking in numbers, it is especially important for the arranger to write viola parts that are playable and interesting. … When I write a trombone part, I try to consider how I would feel if I were a trombonist. I would not care to have 64 measures of rest. Neither would I care to be playing all the time, as the strings do. Every part should be difficult enough to be challenging. Each player in the orchestra needs to feel that he is a member of the team and that he is making an essential contribution. “ [v]
“The reason I arranged music at that time was that I needed certain kinds of music that were not readily available. The original editions of symphonies and much concert music were quite difficult, were not edited, and did not even have rehearsal numbers! Much of the published music was arranged for theater orchestras with 10 to 20 players, and was not edited for students. So, I arranged music for my own students. In doing so, I learned what they could do and what they could not do; what they liked to do and what they didn’t like to do.” [vi]
Post-Teaching Career
Isaac had earned a Bachelor of Music degree from VanderCook College in 1932, a Bachelor of Science degree from IIT’s Lewis Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1936, and a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 1937[vii]. After 14 years of leading the Marshall High School Department of Instrumental Music, Merle accepted a position as a CPS elementary school principal in 1943, and eventually retired from his school principal in 1964. While he published few solo pieces after 1943, he continued arranging music for students for the rest of his life. Several of his arrangements have been held in particularly high regard, including an abridgement of the Brandenburg Concerto #3, his own Apollo Suite, and Tchaikovsky’s Russian Chorale & Overture. One educator said, “If it’s Merle’s music, you know it will sound good, will be well edited, and the kids will love it!” [viii]
Merle “attended every Midwest Clinic from 1947 to 1981[ix]” and enjoyed interacting with fellow arrangers, conductors, publishers, and students. Merle was a humble and gentle man. After a 1981 Midwest Clinic performance, one music director said that “Merle commented: ‘It’s wonderful to hear a real high school orchestra at the Mid West–one with an occasional squeak.’ I knew that he meant it as a sincere compliment.”[x]
Merle “led many state and national music education professional organizations. He served on the executive boards of the NSOA, the Illinois ASTA, the Illinois MEA, and the Chicago Federation of Musicians. He also served on the board of directors of VanderCook College of Music. The same schools and professional organizations that he served have recognized Isaac with many of their highest honors. These awards include the ASTA Distinguished Service Award in 1970, an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the VanderCook College of Music in 1990, the NSOA’s inaugural Merle J. Isaac Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, and induction into the MENC’s Music Educators’ Hall of Fame in 1996, a few weeks after his death. ASTA has also instituted the Merle J. Isaac Composition Contest to encourage the composition, publication, and performance of quality music for school orchestra programs.” [xi]
(American String Teachers Association)
(National School Orchestra Association)
(Music Educators Association)
(Music Educators’ National Conference)
[i] Harley, Alexander “Arranged by Merle Isaac” Instrumentalist, June 1989
[ii] Harley, Frances “Merle, Magical Musician” American String Teacher, Spring 1997, p.25
[iii] Ibid
[iv] Tsugawa, JHRME Oct. 2010 p. 64
[v] Tsugawa, JHRME Oct. 2010 p. 69
[vi] Merle Isaac Collection, H.E. Nutt Archives, VCM – folder 663/3 page 11
[vii] Tsugawa, JHRME Oct. 2010 p. 63
[viii] Harley, Frances – American String Teacher, Spring 1997, p.27
[ix] Tsugawa, JHRME Oct. 2010 p. 73
[x] Harley, Frances – American String Teacher, Spring 1997, p.27
[xi] Tsugawa, JHRME Oct. 2010 p. 73-74
BIBLIOGRAPHY – ARTICLES BY OR ABOUT MERLE ISAAC and RELATED TOPICS
1938 – 1996
1938.06 – Isaac, Merle “Arrangement and Editing of Music for School Orchestras” The Etude, June 1938 PDF
1949.11 – Isaac, Merle “Expression and Style in Band and Orchestra Playing” Instrumentalist, Nov. 1949 PDF
1950.10 – Isaac, Merle – “What a Music Educator Expects of a Music Dealer” – Music Publishers Assn Bulletin, v2-2, October 1950 pp3-4 (Presented at the 1950 Annual Convention of the National Association of Sheet Music Dealers, July 10 and 11, 1950 at the Congress Hotel, Chicago) PDF
1950.11 – Isaac, Merle “How to Build an Orchestra – Part 1” Instrumentalist, Nov. 1950 PDF
1951.01/02 – Isaac, Merle “How to Build an Orchestra – Part 2” Instrumentalist, Jan./Feb. 1951 PDF
1953.01 – Isaac, Merle “Memo to Teachers from the Principal’s Office” Instrumentalist v7 pp14, 15, 26, Jan. 1953 PDF
1963.05 – Orchestra News Vol. 11 No. 3 pg. 3 – Merle Isaac – Helpful Hints on Program Planning
1966.08 – Isaac, Merle “Teaching Rhythm” Instrumentalist, Aug. 1966
1967.09 – Isaac, Merle “The Importance of Bowing” Instrumentalist, Sept. 1967
1970.08 – Isaac, Merle “School Orchestras-Past, Present, Future” Instrumentalist v25-1, Aug. 1970 pp31-
1970.09 – Isaac, Merle “The Importance of Bowing” Instrumentalist, Sept. 1967
1971.01 – “Merle Isaac – Historian” Instrumentalist v25-6, Jan. 1971 PDF
1977.11.10 – Palatine Countryside pg12, 15 Music Man Wields His Baton – M.I. photo & article PDF
1979.06 – NSOA Bulletin – Merle’s Pearls pg8 PDF
1981.10 – Mills, Don Laurence “4 1/2 Minutes with Merle J. Isaac” Instrumentalist, v36-3 pg 42 Oct. 1981 / also in String Anthology: A Compendium of Articles on String Playing and Teaching from ‘The Instrumentalist’ from 1946–1997 (Northfield, Ill.: The Instrumentalist Publishing Co., 1997), 711
1982.06.13 – Sunday Herald – M.I. article & photo PDF
1988.01.27 – Des Plaines Journal pg 12 M.I. article & photo PDF
1989.06 – Harley, Alexander “Arranged by Merle Isaac” Instrumentalist, June 1989
1996 – PRESENT
1996.03.14 – Chicago Tribune – Merle Isaac obituary PDF
1996.05 – “Merle J. Isaac (1898-1996)” Instrumentalist, May 1996, pg75 PDF
1996 – “In Memoriam: Merle J. Isaac” American String Teacher v46-3, Summer 1996, p.101 PDF
1997 – Harley, Frances “Merle, Magical Musician” American String Teacher, Spring 1997, p.25 PDF
1998.06 – “Merle Isaac’s comments to students in 1976” Instrumentalist v52-11, June 1998 pp79-
2010.10 – Tsugawa, Samuel “Merle J. Isaac (1898–1996): His Contributions and Influence on Music Published for the School Orchestra” JHRME v32-1. Oct. 2010 PDF
2010.12 – “Classics from Merle Isaac” Instrumentalist v65-5, Sept. 1967 pp55-
Thank you for your interest in Merle Isaac.
If you have any questions or comments please contact the VanderCook College of Music archivist at [email protected]
i Tsugawa, Samuel “Merle J. Isaac (1898–1996): His Contributions and Influence on Music Published for the School Orchestra” JHRME v32-1. Oct. 2010 p. 58
ii William Dyson, “Quinto-Quinto Suite: Merle Isaac (1898–1996),” in Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, vol. 2, ed. David Littrell (Chicago: GIA Publications, 2003): 305. My thanks to Samuel Tsugawa for this citation, also used in his excellent article