The award winning musicologist and historian Vivian Perlis has died. In her roles as founder and director of Yale University’s Oral History of America, Perlis assembled an invaluable archive of material concerning some of the United States’ greatest artists, immeasurably enhancing the depth and range of our understanding of American music.
One of her notable achievements was collaring Charles Ives’ insurance business partner and documenting his personal reminiscences. This spurred her to do the same with some of Ives’ other acquaintances. A selection of the material was issued as a book, “Charles Ives Remembered.”
She also sat down with Aaron Copland during the final years of his life, and coauthored two highly readable autobiographies, “Copland: 1900-1942” and “Copland: Since 1943.” These were combined in 2013 into “The Complete Copland.”
In 2005, she published “Composers Voices from Ives to Ellington.”
The Oral History of America holds over 2,200 interviews and transcripts, including material on both classical and jazz musicians. Perlis retired from the project in 2010.
At the time of her death, she was 91 years-old.
Perlis, the interviewer, is interviewed!