Stan Harper

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Stan Harper
Birth nameStanley Theodore Wisser
BornSeptember 2, 1921
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedJune 29, 2016(2016-06-29) (aged 94)
New Jersey, U.S.
GenresClassical, pop, jazz
Occupation(s)Musical artist
Instrument(s)Harmonica
Years active1935–2016
LabelsCoral
Decca
EuClEd
apollo

Stanley Harper (né Stanley Theodore Wisser; 2 September 1921 – 29 June 2016) was an American virtuoso classical harmonica artist, arranger, and composer.[1][2] He died June 29, 2016, in a home for the elderly in New Jersey. He raised the popularity of classical harmonica by influencing composers to write for the instrument and by transcribing serious classical works, himself. Through his virtuosity, he widened the recognition of classical harmonica in solo, chamber, and major orchestral settings.

Career history[edit]

Harper began his professional harmonica career in 1935, at age 14.[3][4] In 1941, he went professionally for a short while by the name Ted Stanley. He went on to perform and record nationally on radio, television, record, theaters, and film until 2015. In the mid to late 1930s, Harper performed with The Harmonica Scamps and Three Harpers, both based in New York City. He apparently only began using the name Stan Harper after World War II. Over the years, he performed with other renown harmonica players and a range of entertainers and artists, including Eddie Shu (Shulman), Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Hal David, Werner Klemperer, Sam Wanamaker, and Leon Kirchner.[5]

Up until the death of Charley Leighton, Harper was a regular member of a harmonica jam session held every Tuesday at 3 PM at Charley Leighton's apartment in New York City. In addition to Leighton, regulars included Charles Spranklin (Charles Edward Spranklin; born 1932), William Galison, Randy Weinstein, Stanley Silverstone, Gregoire Maret, Phil Caltabelotta, and Rob Paparozzi.

Selected discography[edit]

LPs and CDs[edit]

  1. The Artistry of Stanley Harper (released after 1966)

    Side A:

    1. "Serenata"
    2. "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby"
    3. Medley
    4. "Southern Medley"
    5. "Charade"
    6. "That Haunting Theme"
    7. "I Don't Want to Walk Without You"
      Harper plays all the parts
    8. Medley from Fiddler on the Roof

    Side B:

    1. Duke Ellington Medley
    2. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"
    3. "Brahm's Lullaby"
      Harper plays a duet with a tiny music box
    4. "Tiger Rag"
    5. "Tosselli's Serenade"
      Enrico Toselli
      (solo on a 1 inch harmonica)
    6. "Peg O' My Heart"
    7. "Poet and Peasant Overture," Von Suppé
  2. Stan Harper Plays Bach and Vivaldi
    Musical Heritage Society MHS 4947T (1984)
    OCLC 17229517, 11583632; LCCN 84-743123
    Recorded at JAC Studios, New York City
    1. "Suite no. 2 in B minor for flute, strings, and basso continuo"
      S. 1067," Bach
      Transcribed for flute and piano by Lambros D. Callimahos
    2. "Violin concerto in A minor"
      S. 1041, Bach
      Arrangement and fingering by Eduard Herrmann (1850–1937)
    3. "Flute concerto in D major, op. 10, No. 3: Il cardellino"
      Vivaldi
      Edited by Waldersee and Zanke
  3. Stan Harper Plays Mozart and Farnon
    1. Clarinet Concerto in A
      K622, Mozart (with symphony orchestra)
    2. "Prelude and Dance for Harmonica"
      Robert Farnon
  4. Stan Harper Plays Fritz Kreisler
    EuClEd, European Classic Editions EC 06 (2009)
    Don Smith, piano
  5. Stan Harper Plays the Great Novelettes
    EuClEd, European Classic Editions EC 07 (2009)
    Don Smith, piano


Audiocassettes[edit]

"Stan Harper Plays Mozart and Farnon" (privately published)

Side A: Concerto for Clarinet K622 • W.A. Mozart • First and Second Movements • The Aeolian Orchestra - Dr. Anton Delbec, Conductor • Charles Leighton: Recording Engineer

Side B: 1) Concerto for Clarinet • W.A. Mozart - Third Movement with Orchestra; 2) Prelude and Dance for Harmonica • Robert Farnon • Stan Harper, Harmonica; Don Smith, Piano

Singles[edit]

  1. Coral 62388 (45 rpm) (1963)
    Harmonica solo with chorus and orchestra
    Directed by Henry Jerome
    Featuring Stan Harper
    Side 1 (matrix – 114130): "Charade"
    Henry Mancini (music)
    Johnny Mercer (words)
    Side 2 (matrix – 114131): "I Don't Want to Walk Without You"
    Jule Styne (music)
    Frank Loesser (words)
  2. Decca 31597 (45 rpm) (1963)
    Harmonica solo with chorus and orchestra
    Henry Jerome & His Chorus & Orchestra
    Featuring Stan Harper
    Side A (matrix – 113858): "That Haunting Theme"
    Mark Cooper (aka Milton Grant) (w&m)
    Lee Reyab (aka Eleanor Jerome) (w&m)

Publications[edit]

Stan Harper's Harmonica Repair Manual (For Chromatic and Diatonic) (undated)

Notable broadcast and live performances[edit]

  • Television – Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, solo appearance, May 7, 1951
  • Television – Today, hosted by Hugh Downs, solo appearance, November 24, 1963
  • Convention for World Records, New York City, 1977 – Following a performance by Morris Samskin (1924–2000) performing on a 2-inch violin, the world's smallest, Harper performed on a 1-inch harmonica, also the world's smallest. The two performances were chronicled as world records by Ripley's Believe It or Not[6]
  • Carnegie Recital Hall, harmonica & piano, Helen Wheaton Benham (born 1941) (piano),[a][7][8] Saturday, November 6, 1980, 2:30[9]
  • Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., solo appearance, 1991, demonstrating his skills using 5 to 6 different sized harmonicas

Filmography[edit]

  • ...One Third of a Nation..., 1939, harmonica player (uncredited) (A clip is shown in "If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast". See below.)
  • [Uncredited performances in bands appearing in movies from 1940s until the 1960s. He appeared in five or six movie shorts, one including “Pinky” Perelmuth (later known as the celebrated singer Jan Peerce (1904–1984)), who was a violinist then.]
  • "Pocket Full of Soul: The Harmonica Documentary" 2013, Omni-Harmonic, LLC (http://pocketfullofsoulmovie.com)
  • "If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast" (An HBO documentary film where 95-year-old comedy legend Carl Reiner tracks celebrated people in their '90s. Started airing on June 5, 2017. http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/if-youre-not-in-the-obit-eat-breakfast)

Harper's surname as a hamonica namesake[edit]

Hering Harmonicas, hand maker of diatonic and chromatic harmonicas, located in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil, started producing in 2009 a popular model bearing Harper's name: The Stan Harper Chromatic 56, a three-octave, 14-hole instrument with 56 brass reeds sealed by a pearwood body bolted to a hardwood comb with chrome-plated cover plates, mouthpiece and slide assembly. The Hering Harmonica Company worked with Stan to produce a 3.5 octave chromatic harmonica (14 holes). It is unique in that once can play classical music on it easily, since it starts with a “G” note; that unique element was Stan Harper’s idea.

Selected published music[edit]

  • "Baby Sitter Polka," music by Stan Harper, Dana Music Co.,[10] 115 W 45 St., New York, New York, © May 2, 1952
  • "Mosquito Polka," music by Stan Harper, Dana Music Co. © April 28, 1952
  • Composed the musical score for "And Now Miguel" (1966).[11]

Popular culture[edit]

  • The Guinness Book of World Records, 1978 edition (p. 222), 1979 edition (p. 223), and the 1982 edition (p. 232)-and possibly also the years in between, show a photograph of Stan Harper playing the largest harmonic, the Hohner 48 Chord Harmonica, which, when separated, measures 4 feet long. it has 384 separate holes and can play in a total of 48 major, minor and diminished chords.

Family[edit]

Stanley Theodore Wisser grew up in a Jewish home and was the youngest of six born to a Ukrainian-born American father, Abraham Wisser (né Konvisser) (1879-1955), and Moldovan-born American mother, Rose (née Kramer; 1885-1950) — his father was born in a village near Nizhyn, Ukraine, and his mother in Briceni, Moldova. His mother came from a family of cantors.

Harper had been a widower of Era Maria Tognoli (1919–2011),[12][13][14] a 1940s opera soprano who, in 1959, founded the Metro Lyric Opera Company in Allenhurst, New Jersey, and for 52 years (until her death), directed it. Harper and Tongoli were married March 17, 1964, in Asbury Park, New Jersey.[15]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Helen Wheaton Benham, who earned her PhD from Rutgers in 2001, is a concert pianist and music educator; she is the daughter of Charles Mead Benham (1890–1959), who in the 1930s, was head master of the Saint Thomas Choir School in New York City

General references[edit]

Inline citations[edit]

  1. ^ Be of Good Cheer: Memories of Harmonica Legend Pete Pedersen, by Jaine Rodack (born 1944), AuthorHouse (2006); OCLC 136773114; ISBN 9781425960063; ISBN 1425960065
  2. ^ Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers: The Evolution of the People's Instrument, by Kim Field, First Cooper Square Press (1993), pps. 9, 15, 61, 55, 93, 245, 286, 297–300 (bio), 342; OCLC 28292843
  3. ^ "Blow Me Down, It's Father! The Best Harmonica Player," New York Post, August 26, 1937, pg. 8
  4. ^ "Stan Harper: Believes the Harmonica is Much Misunderstood," by Cheryl A. Kosturko (born 1960; later known as Cheryl Holbert), Asbury Park Press, October 14, 1984, Sec. G, pps. 1–2 (retrieved July 19, 2016, via www.newspapers.com)
  5. ^ "Rex Weber Discovers Ex-GI Harmonicist," Brooklyn Eagle, December 19, 1945, pg. 11
  6. ^ "Music Men," Ripley's Believe It or Not, King Features Syndicate (distributor), Tyrone Daily Herald (Tyrone, Pennsylvania), January 13, 1989, pg. 14
  7. ^ International Who's Who in Music and Musicians' Directory: In The Classical and Light Classical Fields (12th ed.), 1990–1991 ("Helen Wheaton Benham"), David Michael Cummings & Dennis Keith McIntire (born 1944) (eds.), International Who's Who in Music, Cambridge, England (1990); OCLC 28065697
  8. ^ Who's Who in American Music: Classical ("Helen Wheaton Benham"), Jaques Cattell Press (ed.), R.R. Bowker (1983); OCLC 10206087
  9. ^ "Music & Dance: Stan Harper," New York Magazine, October 22, 1984, pg. 189
  10. ^ "Polka Label Head Walter Dana Dies," Billboard, March 25, 2000, pps. 10 & 85
  11. ^ Verso from the LP, The Artistry of Stanley Harper (recorded after 1966)
  12. ^ Who's Who in America ("Tognoli, Era M." is in Vol. 2), Marquis Who's Who; ISSN 0083-9396
    53rd ed., 1999 (1998); OCLC 40048997
    54th ed., 2000 (1999); OCLC 42920692
    55th ed., 2001 (2000); OCLC 45204099
    56th ed., 2002 (2001); OCLC 48556900
    58th ed., 2004 (2003); OCLC 53934007
    59th ed., 2005 (2004); OCLC 56976043
    60th ed., 2006 (2005); OCLC 62401678
  13. ^ Who's Who of American Women ("Tognoli, Era M."), Marquis Who's Who; ISSN 0083-9841
    26th ed., 2007 (2006); OCLC 429406965
  14. ^ Who's Who in the East ("Tognoli, Era M."), Marquis Who's Who; OCLC 0083-9760
    26th ed., 1997–1998 (1996); OCLC 36144490
    27th ed., 1999–2000 (1998); OCLC 40493812
    28th ed., 2000–2001 (2000); OCLC 47808981
    29th ed., 2002 (2001); OCLC 48860498
  15. ^ "Era Tognoli Married to Harmonica Artist," Red Bank Register (New Jersey), March 18, 1964, pg. 23 (retrieved July 19, 2016; newspaper digitization jointly by the Middletown Township and Red Bank Public Libraries (rbr.mtpl.org/rbr/); webpage hosted by the New Jersey State Library)

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