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Merle J. Isaac (1898-1996): His Contributions and Influence on Music Published for the School Orchestra

Prologue

The rise and development of instrumental music instruction in the public schools in the United States remains a superlative accomplishment of the progressive education movement during the first half of the 20th century.[1] Pioneer orchestra teachers such as Will Earhart, Joseph Maddy, W. Otto Miessner, and Osbourne McConathy created opportunities for students to participate in school orchestras throughout the United States during the first two decades of the 20th century.[2] Their vision, energy, and political shrewdness set the stage for the acceptance of the orchestra in the schools. In fact, according to Birge, the early expansion of the school orchestra had a profound impact on the development of future instrumental music instruction in the schools. The growth of elementary school orchestras, grade and high school bands, and other instrumental class instruction received its foundational beginnings from the acceptance and establishment of the high school orchestra as a viable course of study during the 1900s and 1910s.[3]

The end of World War I provided further catalyst for the proliferation of school orchestra and bands as thousands of musicians trained by the military returned home.[4] Improvements in instrumentation, which changed the musical identity of a school instrumental ensemble, and the contest movement played a large role in the stimulation of instrumental music in the public schools.[5] In spite of these early successes, a philosophical and pedagogical void regarding how to teach stringed instruments remained throughout the 1920s and 1930s. At the center of this void was the dearth of published music and method books for student orchestras.

In 1920, a committee appointed by the Music Supervisors National Conference combed through several thousand works to determine appropriate selections for student orchestras. The results of this survey yielded a list of only 302 selections. A revised study published five years later expanded the list to 582.[6] Prior to 1930, much of the music published proved too difficult for school groups to perform.[7] By 1929, however, teachers began to share a glimmer of optimism. G.F. McKay noted in the 1929 MENC Yearbook, Genius will appear which will give its energy and enthusiasm to the very specific problem of orchestral literature for the schools.[8] This seemingly prophetic statement foreshadowed a change in the musical landscape for school orchestras.

I believe that the genius and enthusiasm McKay spoke of exemplifies the life and works of Merle J. Isaac (1898-1996). Isaac remains to this day a strong influence on the philosophical, curricular, and musical development of public school orchestras. Isaacs prolific output of arrangements, compositions, and method books span sixty years[9] making his name familiar to most school orchestra directors.[10] In addition, Isaacs articles and books provide sage advice on arranging, teaching, string pedagogy, and program management; consequently, providing a pedagogical and leadership model for current music educators. In a time where age appropriate music and method books were in their infancy, Isaac was one of the first string educators to teach string classes in a heterogeneous setting and combine the use of a method book and age appropriate compositions and arrangements to teach musicianship through orchestra performance, a model of instrumental music teaching still prevalent today.

Figure 1. Merle J. Isaac

The purpose of this article is to add to the scant body of knowledge about Isaac, his accomplishments, and contributions to music education. The availability of music and materials had a profound impact on the development and growth of school orchestras between 1930 and 1960. During this period, Isaacs arrangements, compositions, and method books provided a foundation of material that set the stage for the development of todays school orchestra. This article will document Isaacs life and career, analyze his writings, philosophies, and music, and contextualize his contributions and influence with the development of the modern school orchestra. This article will also include personal vignettes of Isaacs colleagues that reflect the admiration and affection that many had for Isaac during his long career.

Rationale

For many years, music education historians have dedicated much of their time and energy to a large-scale view of the contributions of relatively few dedicated educators. The works of historians such as Edward Bailey Birge, Alan Britton, Carol Pemberton, James Keene, Michael Mark, and Charles Gary provide valuable insights about music educations founders, early leaders, organizations, and the effects of music education as a major educational movement in the United States. Valuable as these histories are, Humphreys labels the histories of these scholar-historians as homogenous, with an emphasis on leading individuals, programs, and institutions at the expense of rank-and-file music educators.[11]

According to Rousmaniere, education historians rarely write about the life histories of influential teachers. This narrative vacuum of rank-and-file teachers creates a deafening historical silence on work of teachers; therefore, by neglecting teachers accounts of their experience, historians have often misread the actual conditions of teachers work, and have underestimated their ability to shape schooling in many different ways. [12] Bringing the voices of classroom teachers out of the shadows and telling their life histories provides a method of rescuing this silent history.[13] Consequently, the life histories of teachers may have implications for the training, recruitment, retention, and the continuing professional development of music teachers.[14]

In spite of Isaacs prolific output of compositions and arrangements and his singular influence upon music published for school orchestras, few have written about Isaac and his contributions to string teaching.[15] At the time of his death in 1996, no complete biography or bibliography of his nearly 1000 compositions, arrangements, or writings existed. Laura Reed, editor of the American String Teacher in 1996, writes:

I discovered how little has been written in music education periodicals and books about Merle Isaac and his contributions to string teaching. I hope future students and music education researchers will consider compiling a complete biography and bibliography of Merle Isaac. Such a project would be a welcome addition to the current body of historical literature on string teaching. [16]

Isaacs close friends Alexander and Frances Harley, founders of MENCs Tri-M Music Honor Society, provide rare glimpses into the life of Merle Isaac. The Harleys, along with Isaac, were lifelong music educators serving the profession with distinction together for nearly fifty years. Isaacs association of service and professional collaboration with the Harleys began when Merle and Alexander served together in the In-and-About Music Educators Club (a precursor to state music educators associations) during the 1930s. Prior to his death in 1989, Alexander Harley interviewed Isaac for an article in The Instrumentalist magazine. Eight years later, a year after Isaacs passing on March 11, 1996, Alexander Harleys wife Frances wrote a fitting biographical tribute to Isaac in the American String Teacher entitled Merle, Magical Musician.

Walter S. Wolodkin, a friend and colleague of Isaac, offers a sad vignette to this lack of research on Isaac. He laments, I was honored to play in a string quartet for his funeral service in March of 1996 in a suburb of Chicago. Sadly, very few people were there. And, I was not able to find any newspaper stories about himone of the most published arrangers in America.[17]

We Learn by Doing: 1898-1929

Merle John Isaac was born in the rural community of Pioneer, Iowa on October 12, 1898 to William P. and Elizabeth J. Isaac.[18] William was born in 1876 of Welsh parents while Elizabeth, born in 1878, emigrated from Scotland as a child. Serving as a porter, William moved his young family from Iowa to Illinois just prior to 1900.[19] During Merles elementary years, the Isaacs moved to Chicago where Merle would call home for the remainder of his life. Young Merle received his first music lessons after his familys move to Chicago.

When I was a boy, I lived in the country and attended a one-room school. Later, my family moved to Chicago, and I had a fourth grade teacher whose pupils could read music and sing do-re-mi. This was all very new to me. My parents sent me to a church organist to learn about the syllables. The organist however was also a piano teacher. She gave me piano lessons and let me practice on her piano. Sometime later, my parents bought a piano, and I took lessons until I graduated from the eighth grade.[20]

While a student at Crane High School, Isaac began a lifelong pursuit of learning to play all the instruments in the orchestra. The first instrument that he learned to play was the flute.

In my first year of high school, I sang in the glee club, and in my second year, I sang a solo part in a production of H.M.S Pinafore. By my third year, I wanted to play in the orchestra. They already had a pianist, so I bought a wooden flute from Sears and Roebuck and taught myself to play it. Then, for two years, I was the one and only flutist in the Crane High School Orchestra.[21]

Three years after his high school graduation, Isaac enrolled at Crane Junior College taking courses in the morning and practicing on a church organ in the afternoon. Isaac later sought employment as a silent movie organist at local movie theaters in Chicago. Working only on weekends, he became acquainted with a local theater organist during the week and learned the craft of a silent movie organist. Then quite accidentally, a job opened up at a local theater. Isaac registered with one of the organ companies as a theater organist seeking employment. Then, the day after Christmas, he received a call to report to a theater for work. Their organist didnt show up on Christmas Day![22]

Isaac later changed jobs playing at a theater closer to his home that showed daily matinees. During this period, he began to study organ, harmony, and counterpoint with long-time mentor J. Lewis Browne. Isaacs experience as a theatre organist and his relationship with Browne would prove influential in his musical development and future professional career. His experience as a theater organist provided him the sonic perspective needed to create arrangements for the symphonic orchestra later in his career.

It was quite an experience. For the serious dramas, one could play excerpts from operas and symphonies. For comedies, ragtime and jazz were used. Of course, all of the songs that were popular at that time were played. Each feature picture had a cue-sheet that suggested the various kinds of music to be played with the picture, changing every few minutes.

Improvising music to accompany a quiet love scene or a lively chase is quite a valuable experience. One had to provide a suitable melody in the right hand, harmony in the left, and a bass in the pedals. Sometimes I would improvise a countermelody in the left hand along with the harmony. At that time, I learned the truth of (Mr. Brownes) saying, We learn by doing.[23]

As 1927 began, the need for live musicians quickly diminished as talking pictures such as the The Jazz Singer became popular, replacing silent movies.[24] Facing the fact that he would soon have to find another way to make a living and support his wife Margaret and newborn daughter Margrethe, Isaac began to look for alternatives to playing the organ.[25] At about this time, mentor J. Lewis Brown became director of music for the Chicago Public Schools. Planning to develop the school music program in Chicago, Browne encouraged Isaac to become a high school orchestra director. Isaac continued to take counterpoint and orchestration lessons from Browne and violin and trumpet from other private teachers. Isaac remembers practicing for hours and hours and writing pages and pages of exercises. At one of Isaacs lessons Browne exclaimed, Merle, you are a glutton for work! [26] During this time of retraining, Isaac began to develop the skills and work ethic that would make him a prolific composer and arranger of school music.

Throughout his career, Isaac displayed extraordinary knowledge of the technical and musical capabilities of all of the instruments of the orchestra. Isaac continued his professional development, learning all he could about each orchestral instrument by enrolling in weekend classes at the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago.

During my first year [teaching] at Marshall [High School], I realized that I needed to know more about all of the instruments and about teaching students to play them. Fortunately, I had heard about the VanderCook College of Music, and I began to spend my Saturdays there. In classes, I learned to play all the instruments. I played in the band, and I taught piano. During the week, I took private lessons and practiced.[27]

Isaac learned quickly and became proficient enough on these instruments to teach arranging, counterpoint, and piano on the summer faculty of the VanderCook College of Music with distinguished music educators such as William Revelli, H.A.VanderCook, Clifford Lillya, H.E. Nutt, and Forrest Buchtel.[28] Issac eventually earned a Bachelor of Music degree from VanderCook College in 1932, a Bachelor of Science degree from the Illinois Institute of Technologys Lewis Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1936, and a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 1937.[29] By the end of his life, Isaacs daughter Margrethe would later reminisce that her father eventually learned to play all the instruments of the orchestra, leaving the harp for last.[30]

Orchestra Director, Marshall High School: 1929-1943

No students, little music

On Labor Day 1929, the same day as a citywide theater musician strike in Chicago, [31] Brown hired Isaac as the orchestra director of Marshall High School on Chicagos West Side. The first few weeks of the 1929 school year presented difficult challenges, testing Isaacs musicianship, resourcefulness, and flexibility. Isaac would use these challenges as catalyst for his philosophy of teaching, composing, and arranging.

When Isaac arrived at Marshall High School, he discovered that the previous orchestra director quit before the end of the year and there were no students signed up to take orchestra in the entire school!

During my first week at Marshall, I had no students. I went from room to room and announced that there would be orchestra rehearsals for intermediate and advanced players and classes for first-year students in playing the cello and the bass.[32]

The results of Isaacs impromptu recruiting efforts yielded some fine violinists previously in orchestra and studying privately; unfortunately, Isaac discovered that few students played the viola, cello, and bass. The lack of violists, cellists, and bassists reflected a prevailing preference by parents and students for solo instruments such as the violin, flute, and cornet.[33] Luckily, four members of the second violin section offered to play viola while four other second violins agreed to play the cello. [34] Isaac then recruited members of the Marshall High band into the advanced orchestra to fill out the wind, brass, and percussion sections.

Isaacs frantic recruiting efforts paid off as his advanced orchestra was able to give a concert in the schools assembly hall after only a few weeks. This first accomplishment did not mitigate the fact that much of the music in the Marshall library was unsuitable for a school orchestra. Written for theater orchestras, not symphonic orchestras, the music found in the Marshall library typified most of the music published for orchestra in the first three decades of the 20th century.

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.[35]

Dackow later corroborates Isaacs own words. Composers and arrangers of the earliest selections of music written for school orchestras employed the instrumental and scoring practices of the theater orchestra. [36] Written for an ensemble of 10-20 musicians, the typical instrumentation of music found in many school libraries called for one flute, optional oboe, one or two clarinets, optional bassoon, two cornets, two horns, trombone, drums, strings, and piano. School orchestra libraries also had collections of this style of music published in books. An example of one of the earliest selections written especially for school orchestras was the Carl Fischer Progressive Orchestra Folio.[37] These books also came with instructions regarding the role and purpose of various parts written in many of these collections. Incredulously, an editor notes, Among many things to be condemned in the arranging of our amateur writers is this one of having parts for second violins and violas moving around the staff.[38] Given that many school orchestra programs at the time had collections such as the Progressive Orchestra Folio in their music libraries, string educators such as Isaac questioned the educational value of these collections as second violin and viola players were relegated to play continual off-beat patterns (see figure 3).[39]

Figure 3. A second violin part from the Carl Fischer Progressive Orchestra Folio, circa 1919[40]

The Rise of Progressivism and the Emergence of Materials for Instrumental Music Classes

The emergence of improved class method books and materials for orchestra and band classes paralleled two educational developments during the 1920s: (1) the influence of educational progressivism on music education, (2) and the acceptance of instrumental music as accepted courses in the general curriculum. Prior to World War I, most young string musicians enrolled in a high school orchestra program with skills acquired through private instruction; consequently, there was no need for classroom methods, especially for beginning string students. [41] Birge confirms, The purpose of supervisors who organized these first orchestras did not include teaching instrumental technique or starting an orchestra of beginners.[42]

By 1920, the rise of educational progressivism resulted in the rapid proliferation of school orchestras and bands and encouraged the development of various classroom orchestra and band method books. Progressivisms focus on experiential learning and its pragmatic and egalitarian principles influenced many early 20th century music educators.

Music for every child, and every child for music was the mantra for progressive music education in the 1920s. During this period, "music educators felt sympathetic to education that required physical demonstrations of what students learned."[43] Isaac believed that it is a music teachers job to teach young people that it is more fun to play music than merely to listen to it.[44] The rise of progressivism led to the further legitimizing of music as a course offering in the public schools. From simple instrument experiences of young kindergarten students, to the growth of bands and orchestras in the secondary schools, music making opportunities and course offerings expanded during the first quarter of the 20th century; consequently, new methods and materials such as the Progressive Music Series, Universal Music Series, and the Music Education Series became available during the 1910s and 1920s.[45]

Instrumental classroom methods such as Joseph Maddys and Thaddeus Giddingss Universal Teacher taught all string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments in a heterogeneous setting, while others such as Albert G. Mitchells Class Method for Violin focused on homogeneous teaching of the same instrument in a classroom setting. [46] Many of these method books required the teacher to give instruction in all instruments together with a high degree of executive skill.[47] While many of these early instrumental method books concentrated solely on advanced technical development by using primarily etudes and exercises, subsequent orchestra and band method books used simple melodies and tunes to teach technique and musicianship to beginning instrumental music students. It is not a coincidence that the emergence of method books for beginning orchestras and bands occurred as more elementary and junior high schools offered beginning band and orchestra classes in the 1920s and 1930s. In fact, the development of the beginning orchestra and band method, writes Miller, was the single most progressive innovation in instrumental music education.[48]

The Merle Isaac String Method

As a new orchestra teacher in 1929, Isaac realized that in order to build a strong orchestra program at Marshall he needed to teach younger students how to play string instruments sooner in their school experience. Isaac recognized the efficiency and contribution of the private teacher; however, Isaac believed that many things could be taught just as well, or better, in class. [49] He also understood that it was impossible to develop a good high school orchestra unless players began playing in the elementary school. [50] As music and methods written for beginning string students continued to emerge in the 1930s, Isaac experienced continued resistance from private teachers and more conservative orchestra teachers.

Until recently [1950], this [learning from a private teacher] has been the only method of teaching and learning instrumental music. Even today, there are many teachers of instrumental music in the public schools who are private teachers at heart, and who are not sold entirely on the class method.[51]

Isaac believed that string teachers could teach string performance skills traditionally taught in a private lesson as effectively in a class setting. [52] Committed to the class method of teaching beginning string students, in 1938, Isaac wrote and published one of the first published classroom methods for all four stringed instruments, the Merle Isaac String Class Method. [53] String teachers used the Isaac method for the teaching of the violin, viola, cello, and bass, separately or together in classes.[54] Many early method books were written for more popular melodic instruments such as the violin, cornet, and flute; consequently, the development of young violists, cellists, and bassists lagged behind violinists. Isaac realized a need for a method written for all four stringed instruments that a teacher could use in a large classroom of mixed stringed instruments. He recalls the early success of the class method of teaching string instruments, During the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, we saw good results obtained by means of the class method that could not have been achieved in any other way. [55] Student participation in school orchestra increased because of improved materials and methods for class instruction in the instrumental music classroom. Isaacs commitment to the class method book, coupled with his use of age appropriate compositions and arrangements set the stage for the current pedagogical model of teaching musicianship through performance in band and orchestra classes.

Isaacs Arrangements for the Symphonic and String Orchestra

Because of the inadequacy of the music available for school orchestras, out of necessity, Isaac began to compose original works and arrange classical standards for performance by the Marshall High School Orchestra. Throughout his years at Marshall, Isaac wrote or arranged a special piece for performance at nearly every concert.[56] For example, Isaac composed special pieces that featured sections of the orchestra during daytime concerts at elementary schools whose students would eventually attend Marshall.

Once, when I attended a concert given by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the entire first violin section stood up and played Perpetual Motion by Paganini. I wanted Marshalls first violin section to do something equally spectacular, but the Paganini was much too difficult. A violin teacher suggested Perpetual Motion by Bhm. The Bhm Perpetual Motion was my first published arrangement and it is still being played today [1989].[57]

Throughout his career, Isaac made the symphonic and string orchestra repertoire accessible to the school orchestra through carefully edited arrangements and abridgements. Isaac was methodic and pragmatic as he honed and perfected his craft.[58] He carefully considered each note included or eliminated in each arrangement often testing an arrangement by inviting a school orchestra to read and comment on a new piece.[59] Alexander Harley notes, Isaac possessed an instinctive sense for balancing musical instruments in his orchestra and band arrangements to bring out the best sounds in young groups.[60] His arrangements maintained the musical sonority and integrity of the larger symphonic orchestra, differing greatly from the thinner sounding theater orchestra arrangements he found in the Marshall library. Isaac arranged music keeping in mind the musical role and limitations of each instrument, while maintaining the sonic interest of the student and the audience.[61]

Isaac articulated these beliefs throughout his writings. He taught, If you cant sing it, you cant play it. Of course what is melodic for the flute and what is melodic for the tuba are not the same.[62] Regarding intonation Isaac wrote, If the bass section in a school orchestra plays well in tune, the entire orchestra plays in tune.[63] Isaac also understood the musical interests and abilities of the student. He sought to write parts that were interesting, performable by students, while maintaining the musical sonority and integrity of the symphonic orchestra sound.

The violas need not to have the principal melody, but should have a melodic part whenever possible. Viola players dont 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.[64]

Traditionally, the bassoon is the bass of the orchestral woodwinds, and the bass clarinet is used for special effects only. The bass clarinet blends well with other instruments and ably assists bassoon and string bass sections. There is no musical or educational reason why the bass clarinet should not be accepted as a regular member of the school orchestra.[65]

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.[66]

An analysis of many Isaac arrangements reflects his philosophy and strategies of arranging for school orchestras. A specific musical example written during his tenure at Marshall is his arrangement of Haydns andante movement of the Surprise Symphony.[67] In this arrangement, Isaac uses instruments not used in the original composition, such as the trombone and bass clarinet, and carefully redeploys each part reinforcing original voices such as the horn and bassoon respectively. According to Dackow, the Surprise Symphony exhibits careful scoring throughout the arrangement while maintaining the stylistic integrity of the original.

The arranger [Isaac], when re-scoring a classical work of a composer such as Haydn, is confronted with the conflicting challenges of rendering the new arrangement with as little stylistic departure for the original as possible, while at the same time engaging all of the players in a reasonable amount of musical activity. In the instance of this particular arrangement, maintaining the stylistic integrity of the Haydn original was obviously a priority during the scoring process.[68]

Although Isaacs arrangement maintains the basic classical style of Haydns original work, an analysis of this arrangement reveals omissions of harmonic material characteristic with the compositional practices of the classical period. Isaac omits two of Haydns four thematic variations in his arrangement resulting in a piece playable by young string musicians but omitting important harmonic tensions provided in the original. Dackow rationalizes Isaacs omission because of the inexperience of young string players and the challenge to perform flat keys in tune; however, calls the loss of harmonic stress and interest regrettable.[69]

Throughout his writing career, Isaac provided school orchestras a glimpse into the classical orchestral literature by abridging various pieces, editing or eliminating altogether difficult sections of an orchestral work. He would remove developmental sections of works, eliminating the need for students to negotiate difficult key changes. For example, in his arrangements of Beethovens Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Mozarts Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and J.S. Bachs Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Isaac removed the entire development section each of these pieces. The abridgement of standard orchestral works by Isaac and other arrangers generates discussion and criticism regarding a balance between providing an accessible piece for young students to perform and maintaining perceived difficult passages by the arranger, often rendering the arrangement unsatisfying. Critics of abridged arrangements of orchestral standards lament that educational arrangements usually are watered down, with the guts taken out of it.[70] This criticism of educational abridgments usually stem from the harmonic simplicity resulting from the editing or elimination of sections of a work written in a difficult key.

In the case of Isaacs abridgement of the first movement of Mozarts Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the exposition and recapitulation sections of the original remain relatively unaltered.[71] Isaacs edition assists students by providing clear and accessible fingerings and writing out many of the ornamental trills and mordents normally abbreviated in the original score. Critics of this particular abridgement may question why Isaac eliminated the relatively short development section of the first movement. The elimination of the development section removes the aesthetic experience associated with the expected tonal stress provided in the development section of the classical sonata form. A teacher may wonder why Isaac removed such are relatively short section of the Mozart; in fact, some directors have included the deleted material, taking advantage of the ornamental and fingering edits of the Isaac arrangement, while performing the developmental material deleted in the arrangement.[72]

Isaac, like many other arrangers, often struggled with what harmonic material to remove from an original work while maintaining the aesthetic and musical integrity of the original. Often times the dissonance occurs with educators familiar with a particular work who have difficulty reconciling the arrangers edition. In his arrangement of J.S. Bachs Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Isaac reduces Bachs original by half while simplifying various passages of the remaining sections. Dackow provides a summary analysis of Isaacs arrangement of the Brandenburg.[73]

Isaac avoids the harmonic instability, distant key areas and frequent diminished chord outlines that make the middle section of the Bach quite technically demanding. Although the basic harmonic scheme of what remains does not venture far from the tonic, there is enough variety to make the remaining segments satisfying in a manner consistent with the arrangements length.[74]

In spite of Isaacs simplifications, his abridgement of the Brandenburg Concerto remains a very popular selection among string teachers throughout the United States.[75] The popularity of his abridgement of the Brandenburg Concerto poses an often-asked question about Isaacs work, Although simplified and only offering a portion of the original work, what is it about Isaacs abridgments that continue to resonate with teachers and students? I believe there are two reasons for Isaacs success: (1) Teachers and students enjoy performing Isaacs arrangements because it offers each player an interesting and challenging part to play, and (2) In many of Isaacs arrangements, his attention to detail renders portions of his work indistinguishable from the original.[76] Many of his arrangements maintain the original rhythmic and harmonic energy that made an original orchestral standard popular. Although lacking the harmonic tension of the original piece, teachers and students enjoy Isaacs abridgment of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 because of its rich texture, busy contrapuntal writing, and rhythmic energy.[77]

After Marshall: 1943-1996

Principal of Talcott Elementary School: 1943-1964

During his tenure at Marshall, Isaacs orchestras gained acclaim throughout the city of Chicago and at various Midwest regional and national orchestra competitions.[78] As the 1942-1943 school year began, Isaac marked fourteen productive years as director of orchestras at Marshall. In spite of his success in the classroom, by end of the 1942-1943 school year, an administrative certificate from Northwestern University in hand, Isaac decided to leave the classroom to pursue an administrative career. [79]

In the Harley interview and in Isaacs writings and letters, Isaac does not elaborate why he left a successful teaching career. One could speculate that his reputation as an able leader coupled with the graduation of his only child Margrethe from Marshall High School may have influenced his decision to leave teaching in 1943.[80] Throughout his tenure at Marshall, colleagues admired Isaac for his sound educational philosophy, genuine love of children, leadership qualities, and organizational ability.[81] This respect for his administrative abilities may have prompted Chicago school administrators to appoint Isaac principal of Talcott Elementary School in 1943.

During this time, Isaac continued his incredible pace of composing, arranging, and contributing articles on various topics in many music education journals such as The Instrumentalist, Etude, School Musician, and the National School Orchestra Association (NSOA) Bulletin. For example, in an article entitled Memo to Teachers from the Principals Office, Isaac dispenses advice to music teachers regarding successful management of their music programs and the resources that administrators and other colleagues have to offer. The rights and feelings of other teachers and of students are just as important as music. Successful teachers endeavor to understand children, parents, and administrators.[82]

The Mid-West Clinic: 1947-1986

Although no longer teaching in the classroom after 1943, Isaacs influence and contribution to music for the school orchestra increased with the advent of the Mid-West Clinic. On December 7, 1947, Isaac and 120 other band and orchestra directors from the Chicago area attended the first Mid-West Clinic held at a YMCA gymnasium on Chicagos west side for a six-hour music clinic and reading session.[83] An active participant and attendee for many years, Isaac exerted a profound influence on the direction of the Mid-West Clinic. Primarily an event for band directors, Isaac succeeded in including orchestra sessions and performances as part of the Mid-West Clinic. He also organized and conducted many sight-reading orchestras and appeared as a guest conductor with various orchestras invited to perform at Mid-West.[84]

Isaac attended every Mid-West Clinic from 1947 to 1981.[85] Through his association with the Mid-West Clinic, Isaac collaborated with many influential music educators of the mid-twentieth century such as H.E. Nutt, William Revelli, and Fredrick Fennell.[86] Throughout this period, Isaac also developed fond memories associated with the Mid-West Clinic and considered his associations at Mid-West as some of the great motivating forces of his life. He enjoyed seeing and hearing the bands and orchestras, and talking with teachers, writers, and publishers.[87] In 1981, the board of directors of the Mid-West Clinic rewarded Isaac for his achievements and contributions to the Mid-West Clinic by awarding Isaac the Mid-West Clinic Medal of Honor.

Service, Awards, Recognition, Affection

Throughout the remaining years of his life, Isaac served in many leadership roles in state and national music education professional organizations. He served on the executive boards of the National School Orchestra Association (NSOA), the Illinois American String Teachers Association, the Illinois Music Educators Association, 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 American String Teachers Association (ASTA) Distinguished Service Award in 1970, an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the VanderCook College of Music in 1990, the National School Orchestra Associations inaugural Merle J. Isaac Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, and induction into the Music Educators National Conferences (MENC) 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 the benefit of school orchestra programs.

Throughout his life and career, Isaac remained a soft-spoken and humble advocate for the school orchestra. Most of his colleagues cannot remember having a conversation with him that did not involve his love of music and children.[88] According to Sandra Dackow, an accomplished arranger in her own right, Isaac avoided competition among fellow colleagues and professionals. For example, during the final Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic attended by Isaac, both Dackow and Isaac attended a concert where the orchestra performed an arrangement of Dackows.

At this concert, the arrangement of mine being performed was of a work that Merle had also arranged and published. I felt a little awkward about this, watching the orchestra perform this while seated next to him. When the piece was over, he (the man of a thousand arrangements and compositions) turned to me and said, You know, we dont need to both arrange the same pieces, why dont you just let me know what you plan to work on and Ill choose something else. What a guy![89]

Colleagues admired and respected Isaac for his tireless service and contributions to music education. As Isaac made frequent appearances at festivals, workshops, and conferences, colleagues and friends affectionately greeted him. Shirley Mullins shares and awkward but touching moment:

The first time I met Merle Isaac was in the Exhibition Hall at the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic, many years ago. Catching a sight of his famous name on his lapel, I spontaneously embraced him on the spot. Immediately embarrassed by my own outrageous behavior, I loosened my bear hug and started to apologize. Merle simply laughed and quipped, Dont be silly, just do it again![90]

This type of affection seemed to follow Isaac wherever he went. Don L. Mills records such a moment during a presentation given by Isaac to a group of teachers and students at the 1981 NSOA summer workshop in Holland, Michigan. Isaac concluded the workshop with a prepared text that he precisely timed at four-and-a-half minutes. This now famous speech summarizes a lifetime of teaching, composing, and arranging for school orchestras. The reaction of the participants illustrates the love and respect they had for Isaac. Mills recalls,

His simple words expressed complicated meanings so clearly, and he delivered them with such sincerity that the orchestra directors soon found themselves standing and applauding. The emotional display, including some tears, was at once a symbol of love and respect for this man as well as a reaffirmation of faith in the profession whose highest aims his words had expressed so well.[91]

Conclusion

Merle Isaacs unique contribution and influence to music written for the school orchestra are a result of his prodigious body of work, the artisanship of his music, and his tireless work ethic and passion for music education. Blessed with good health most of his life, Isaac spent much of his retirement years working seven days a week writing and arranging.[92] Hundreds of Isaacs works span the formative decades of the school orchestra movement in the United States. During his early career, the rise of progressivism in education and its influence on music education became a catalyst for a lifetime of writing and teaching that provided three generations of orchestra students an interactive experience with great orchestral music. His philosophy of combining a class method and age appropriate music to teach musicianship continues to influence teaching in the school orchestra; consequently, todays authors of string class methods correlate the content of their method books with original music arranged and composed for the school orchestra. For sixty years, Isaac provided students with quality music and learning materials suitable for their abilities. He believed that selecting the right music for an orchestra is one of the most important responsibilities of the orchestra director. The right music along with the right teacher will light a fireto make music come alive. It is not enough to have the notes walk across the stagethey must sing and dance.[93]

Implications for Further Research

Although this article has provided additional insight about Isaac and his accomplishments and contributions to music education, gaps remain in the present story of people, places, and ideas[94] associated with Merle Isaac. As more is known about Merle Isaac, there are implications for further research that may benefit music teaching and learning. The first includes a history of the school orchestra in the United States. Given Isaacs long career, an in-depth study of any section of his life may offer fascinating insights regarding other people, philosophies, and developments in music education history, especially regarding music arranged for the school orchestra. Current and future string educators and researchers would benefit from a methodical investigation of the evolution of school orchestra materials.[95]

Future research regarding Isaacs work and contributions should also include a complete bibliography of his compositions, arrangements, articles, and books. Much of Isaacs work is out of print and a bibliography of Isaacs works would provide a valuable reference for analysis and implementation of Isaacs philosophies on composition, arranging, teaching, and leadership. Much of the comments and analysis of his work come from colleagues who provide laudatory praise of his life and work. Given that Isaac is a seminal figure in the history and development of the school orchestra in the United States, a complete bibliography will provide a baseline of comparison with other representative works from each decade of the 20th century. This comparison may provide a more critical analysis of Isaacs contribution and inform us on how others since Isaac have improved upon his philosophy and techniques of arranging for the school orchestra.

Epilogue

Colleagues recognize Merle J. Isaac as the dean of school orchestra arrangers.[96] His arrangements and compositions forever changed the musical landscape for school orchestras. Dackow speculates that American school orchestras would even today resemble theater orchestras were it not for several unique historical occurrences that changed the course of school music.[97] McKays seemingly prophetic statement in the 1929 MENC Handbook suggests Isaacs life and career occurring at the perfect time during the early history of school orchestras in the United States. Further investigation into Isaacs life may yet reveal a fulfillment of McKays words. Frances Harley may have stated it best. Merle J. Isaac was born in the rural community of Pioneer, Iowaa prophetic name for the place of birth of someone who would become a pioneer in building school orchestras.[98]

References

Birge, Edward Bailey. History of Public School Music in the United States. Washington D.C.: Music Educators National Conference, 1928.

Cox, Gordon. Transforming Research in Music Education History. In The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, ed. Richard Cowell and Carol Richardson, 73-94. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Dackow, Sandra K. Arranging for the School Orchestra: An Analysis of Selected Works with Recommended Guidelines for Teachers and Arrangers. (Volumes i and ii). Ph.D. diss., The University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, 1987.

Dyson, William. Quinto-Quinto Suite: Merle Isaac (1898-1996). In Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra, vol. 2, ed. David Littrell, 303-311. Chicago, Illinois: GIA Publications, 2003.

Gordon, Edgar B. The Birth of School Bands and Orchestras. Music Educators Journal 43 (November-December 1956): 34-36, 43-45.

Harley, Alexander. Arranged by Merle Isaac. The Instrumentalist 43 (June 1989): 13.

Harley, Frances. Merle, Magical Musician. American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 25-30.

Heller, George N., Wilson, Bruce D. Historical Research. In The Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, ed. Richard Cowell, 102-114. New York: Schirmer, 1992.

Hubbard, Preston J. Synchronized Sound and Movie-House Musicians, 1926-29. American Music 3 (Winter 1985): 429-441.

Humphreys, Jere T. Some Notions, Stories, and Tales about Music Education in Society: The Coins Other Side. Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 23 (April 2002): 137-157.

Isaac, Merle J., Papers. H.E. Nutt Archives. VanderCook College of Music Library, Chicago.

________. Merle Isaac's Comments to Students in 1976. The Instrumentalist 52 (June 1998): 79.

________. Merle's Famous Four-and-a-Half-Minute Speech. American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 31-32.

________. School Orchestras-Past, Present, Future. The Instrumentalist 25 (August 1970): 31.

________. Practical Orchestration. New York: Robins Music Company, 1963.

________. Memo to Teachers from the Principal's Office. The Instrumentalist 7 (January 1953): 14-15, 26.

________. How to Build an Orchestra (part 1). The Instrumentalist 5 (November 1950): 10-12.

________. How to Build an Orchestra (part 2). The Instrumentalist 5 (January 1951): 26-27, 34.

Keene, James A. A History of Music Education in the United States. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1982.

Mark, Michael L., Gary, Charles L. A History of American Music Education. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference, 1999.

Miller, Thomas W. The Influence of Progressivism on Music Education, 1917-1947. Journal of Research in Music Education 14 (Spring 1966): 3-16.

Mills, Donn L. 4 Minutes with Merle J. Isaac. In String Anthology: A Compendium of Articles on String Playing and Teaching from The Instrumentalist from 1946-1997, 711. Northfield, Illinois: The Instrumentalist Publishing Co., 1997.

Reed, Laura. Editors Note. American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 31.

Rousmaniere, K. City Teachers: Teaching and School Reform in Historical Perspective. New York: New York Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1997.

Sunderman, Lloyd F. Chicagos Centennial of School Music. Music Educators Journal 28 (April 1942): 28-30, 63-64.

United States Census Bureau. 1930 United States Federal Census: Chicago, Cook, Illinois. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. Roll 469; Page 8A.

_________. 1910 United States Federal Census: Chicago, Cook, Illinois. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1910. Roll T624_255; Page 13A.

________. 1900 United States Federal Census: Chicago, Cook, Illinois. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1990. Roll T623_260; Page 14B.

Wilson, Gilbert Edwin. H.A. VanderCook: The Teacher. Chicago, Illinois: The VanderCook College of Music, 1971.

Zajec, Victor. The First 50 Years: Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic. Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing, 1996.

[1]Thomas W. Miller, The Influence of Progressivism on Music Education, 1917-1947, Journal of Research in Music Education 14 (Spring 1966): 12.

[2]Edward Bailey Birge, History of Public School Music in the United States (Washington D.C.: Music Educators National Conference, 1928), 181.

[3]Ibid., 185.

[4]Ibid., 205.

[5]James A. Keene, A History of Music Education in the United States (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1982), 303-304.

[6]Sandra K. Dackow, Arranging for the School Orchestra: An Analysis of Selected Works with Recommended Guidelines for Teachers an Arrangers (Volumes i and ii), (Ph.D. diss., The University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, 1987), 23.

[7]G.F. McKay, The Outlook for School Orchestra, MENC Yearbook (1929), 433, quoted in Dackow, 24.

[8]Ibid.

[9] Isaacs first arrangement was of Bhms Perpetual Motion published in 1936. His final work was a collection of melodies for strings entitled Melody Book for Strings published in July of 1996, five months after his death.

[10]Frances Harley, Merle, Magical Musician, American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 25.

[11]Jere T. Humphreys, Sex and Geographic Representation in Two Music Education History Books, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education 131 (1997), cited in Gordon Cox, Transforming Research in Music Education, in The New Handbook of Research in Music Teaching and Learning, eds. Richard Cowell and Carol Richardson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002): 75.

[12] K. Rousmaniere, City Teachers: Teaching and School Reform in Historical Perspective (New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1997): 5.

[13]Cox, 88.

[14]Ibid.

[15]Don Widmer, H.E. Nutt Archives, VanderCook College of Music, to Samuel Tsugawa, 16 November 2006, electronic mail, in possession of author, Provo, UT.

[16]Laura Reed, Editors Note, American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 31.

[17]Walter S. Wolodkin, We Like the Isaac Book, American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 27.

[18]Frances Harley, 25.

[19]Ancestory.com, 1900 United States Federal Census [on-line database] (Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc), accessed 14 November 2006.

[20]Alexander Harley, Arranged by Merle Isaac, The Instrumentalist 43 (June 1989): 14.

[21]Ibid.

[22]Ibid.

[23]Ibid.

[24]Preston J. Hubbard, Synchronized Sound and Movie House Musicians, 1926-29, American Music, 3 (Winter 1985), 437.

[25] Ancestory.com, 1930 United States Federal Census [on-line database] (Provo, Utah: MyFamily.com, Inc), accessed 14 November 2006.

[26]Alexander Harley, 15.

[27]Ibid.

[28] Gilbert E. Wilson, H.A.VanderCook: The Teacher. (Chicago, IL: The VanderCook College of Music, 1971), 31.

[29]Merle Isaacs academic records, 1942, H.E. Nutt Archives, VanderCook College of Music Library, Chicago.

[30]Chicago Tribune, Obituary, Merle J. Isaac, 14 March 1996.

[31]Hubbard, 437.

[32]Alexander Harley, 15.

[33]Birge, 183.

[34]Alexander Harley, 15.

[35]Ibid.

[36]Dackow, 20.

[37]G. Saenger, School Orchestra Music, The Metronome 31 (December 1915): 17, cited in Dackow, 20.

[38]W.H. Dana, J.W. Peppers Practical Guide and Study to the Secret of Arranging Orchestra Music (Philadelphia, PA: 1906): 15, 18, cited in Dackow, 21.

[39]Isaac, Merle J. How to Build and Orchestra (pt. 2), The Instrumentalist 5 (January/February 1951): 27, 34.

[40]Cited in Dackow, 36.

[41]Birge, 178.

[42]Ibid., 179.

[43] Michael L. Mark, Charles L. Gary, A History of American Music Education (New York: MENC, 2007), 223.

[44] Merle J. Isaac, Merle's Famous Four-and-a-Half-Minute Speech. American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 31-32.

[45]Birge, 175-176.

[46]Edgar B. Gordon, The Birth of School Bands and Orchestras, Music Educators Journal 43 (November-December 1956): 43.

[47]Birge, 197.

[48]Miller, 12.

[49]Merle J. Isaac, How to Build an Orchestra (pt. 1), The Instrumentalist 5 (November/December 1950): 10.

[50]Ibid., 12.

[51]Ibid.

[52]Ibid.

[53]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): 307.

[54]Merle J. Isaac, The Merle J. Isaac String Class Method, (Chicago: M.M. Cole Publishing, 1938), i.

[55]Isaac, How to Build an Orchestra (pt. 1), 12.

[56]Frances Harley, 26.

[57]Alexander Harley, 16.

[58]Ibid.

[59]Wolodkin, 27.

[60]Frances Harley, 27.

[61]Dackow, 175.

[62]Alexander Harley, 16.

[63]Merle J. Isaac, Practical Orchestration (New York: Robbins Music Co., 1963), 20.

[64]Ibid., 10.

[65]Ibid., 36.

[66]Alexander Harley, 16.

[67] Franz Joseph Haydn, Andante from Symphony in G Major (The Surprise Symphony), arr. Merle J. Isaac (New York: Carl Fischer, 1941).

[68]Dackow, 173.

[69]Dackow, 158.

[70] National School Orchestra Association, Composing and Arranging for the School Orchestra, a session of the Music Educators National Conference Biennial National In-service Conference (Anaheim, CA: 9 April 1986), cited in Dackow, 40.

[71]Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, arr. Merle J. Isaac (Elgin, IL: Forest R. Etling, 1978).

[72]Dackow, 42.

[73]Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, arr. Merle J. Isaac, (Elgin, IL: Forest R. Etling, 1976).

[74]Dackow, 224.

[75]National School Orchestra Association, Readers Poll, NSOA Bulletin 27 (4), cited in Dackow, 224.

[76]Dackow, 241.

[77]Ibid.

[78] Aces of 1933, a newspaper article and picture given to Merle Isaac by J.H. Beckerman, 14 January 1976, original located at the H.E. Nut Archives, VanderCook College of Music, Chicago.

[79]Merle Isaacs academic records, 1942.

[80]Marshal High School concert programs, 1939-1943, originals located at the H.E. Nutt Archives, VanderCook College of Music, Chicago.

[81] Frances Harley, 27

[82]Merle J. Isaac, Memo to Teachers from the Principals Office, The Instrumentalist 7 (January 1953): 14-15.

[83]Victor Zajec, The First 50 Years: Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic (Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing, 1996), 19.

[84]Ibid, 19, 21, 313.

[85]Merle J. Isaac to Richard E. Brittain, 31 December 1981, letter, original located at the H.E. Nutt Archives, VanderCook College of Music, Chicago.

[86]Zajec, 396.

[87]Issac to Brittain.

[88]Pamela Tellejohn-Hayes, Why Do You Steal My Music? The American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 28.

[89]Sandra Dackow, Too Soon We Get Old, Too Late We Get Smart, The American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 26.

[90]Shirley Mullins, Just Do It Again!, The American String Teacher 47 (Spring 1997): 27.

[91]Don Laurence Mills, 4 Minutes with Merle J. Isaac, in String Anthology: A Compendium of Articles on String Playing and Teaching from The Instrumentalist from 1946-1997 (Northfield, IL: The Instrumentalist Publishing Co., 1997), 711.

[92]Merle J. Isaac to H.E. Nutt, 15 January 1965, letter, original located at the H.E. Nutt Archives, VanderCook College of Music, Chicago.

[93]Isaac, Merles Famous Four-and-a-Half Minute Speech, 31.

[94] George N. Heller and Bruce D. Wilson, Historical Research, in The Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, ed. Richard Cowell (New York: Schirmer, 1992), 102.

[95]Dackow, 287.

[96]Francis Harley, 27.

[97]Dackow, 21.

[98]Frances Harley, 25.