Putnam Aldrich

Putnam Calder Aldrich (July 14, 1904 – April 18, 1975) was an American harpsichordist, musicologist and Professor of Music at Stanford University. He is credited with creating the Ph.D. music program at Stanford University, for "establishing the first union of the disciplines of musicology and performance technique" and for developing the first graduate program in Early music in the country.

In the introduction to 1978 reprint of Aldrich's Ornamentation in J. S. Bach's Organ Works (1951), Rosalyn Tureck wrote that

Putnum Aldrich was among the first American scholars actively concerned with the art of embellishment. He made a major contribution in underscoring its indispensability.

Among his students were Daniel Pinkham, Erich Schwandt (Eastman School of Music and University of Victoria), musicologists George Houle (Stanford University), William Mahrt (Stanford University), Newman Powell, Don Franklin (University of Pittsburgh), Carol Marsh (University of North Carolina - Greensboro), and Margaret Fabrizio. See: List of music students by teacher: A to B#Putnam Aldrich.

Born in Massachusetts in 1904, Putnam Aldrich grew up in a large family. He was educated at the Moses Brown Preparatory School in Providence, Rhode Island and played in the high school jazz band. In 1926, he graduated from Yale College with a Bachelor of Arts in French literature and received a certificate from the Yale School of Music. He went to England in 1926-27 to study the piano with Tobias Matthay.

Aldrich began studying piano in Paris in 1929 with Wanda Landowska. He soon thereafter switched to playing the harpsichord, despite it being an obscure and obsolete instrument at the time. Aldrich remained Landowska's student and research assistant for 5 years.

After his studies with Landowska, Aldrich moved to the United States. He performed as soloist with the Boston Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. He also performed as a recitalist and chamber music performer.

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