Materials are open to research without restriction.
Permission to examine this collection will be granted to any qualified researcher upon completion of an application form. The original documents do not circulate and may only be used in the Reading Room of the Manuscripts Division.
The author retains copyright to these memoirs.
Ray Fitch Memoirs (PA 12 I), Minnesota Orchestra Archives, Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
Transferred to the archives in the mid 1990s.
The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Leslie Czechowski in April 2001.
Ray Fitch studied the bass with musicians from the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra during his youth in St. Paul. He began his career with the M.S.O. in 1925 as a bass player at the young age of 17. He also played first saxaphone in the Symphony. In 1938-39 he became principal bass player, a post he retained until 1970. He retired from the Orchestra in 1972.
These memoirs were written by Fitch's son, Raymond W. "Bill" Fitch and are subtitled, "A Musical Biography." In this 481-page, double-spaced typescript (unpublished), Fitch recorded anecdotes and recollections of his father's career arranged chronologically by conductor. In addition to telling his father's story, Fitch also sought to "humanize" musicians and to show a glimpse of their "fascinating and diversified personalities."
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.