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David Diamond papers, 1915-2003
approximately 48,450 items. 279 containers. 125 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
David Diamond was an award-winning American-Jewish composer and prominent symphonist of the mid-twentieth century. A former student of Roger Sessions and Nadia Boulanger, Diamond ultimately composed eleven symphonies and countless other chamber and vocal works, such as his influential Symphony no. 4 (1945), Elegy in memory of Maurice Ravel (1938), and Rounds (1944). His social circle of musical personalities included Leonard Bernstein, Serge Koussevitzky, Lukas Foss, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and other prominent composers, many of whom are represented in the collection. As a longtime faculty member of The Juilliard School, Diamond also shaped and inspired subsequent generations of American composers. The collection includes music manuscripts, correspondence, writings, photographs, financial and legal documents, and other materials that document his private and professional life.
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Les Paul papers, 1904-2003
6,300 items. 44 containers. 22.5 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
Les Paul was a Grammy-winning musician and inventor known for his virtuosic guitar playing, pioneering of multitrack recording, and invention of the solid-body electric guitar. His inventions left an indelible impact on the music industry. In addition to live concerts he performed on the radio and on television, notably with his second wife, singer and guitarist Mary Ford. The Les Paul Papers contain music arranged for Les Paul's ensembles by himself or others and printed sheet music of popular songs. The collection also contains publicity materials, business papers, schematics, scripts, brochures, photographs, and correspondence.
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John Herbert McDowell papers, 1908-1983
7,000 items. 56 containers. 30 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
John Herbert McDowell was an avant-garde dance, theater, film, and concert music composer. The collection contains his holograph scores and sketches, as well as programs, scripts, correspondence, photographs, and an Ampex 620 suitcase amp and speaker.
Leonard B. Smith papers, 1859-2001
approximately 202,260 items. 739 containers. 9 mapcase folders. 301 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
Leonard B. Smith (1915-2002) was an American cornetist, concert band conductor, and band music publisher. Smith is primarily known as the leader of the Detroit Concert Band (1946- circa 1990), and the approximately 3,200 titles in the concert band library comprise the largest portion of the collection. Also included is a portion of the Ford Sunday Evening Hour Orchestra music library, method books, chamber music, cornet and trumpet solos, clippings, correspondence, photographs, programs, and writings.
Music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans, 1930s-1980s
approximately 1,600 items. 22 containers. 8 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
Latin jazz musician and band leader Machito, formally known as Francisco "Frank" Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, (circa 1908-1984) was active on the New York City jazz scene with his innovative band the Afro-Cubans from 1940 to the early 1980s, forming an influential legacy that includes salsa music and Afro-Cuban jazz. The collection contains approximately 150 manuscript and published compositions and arrangements performed by the ensemble, as well as clippings, papers, a concert poster, and maracas.
Robert Evett collection, 1942-2001
approximately 1,450 items. 9 containers. 6.5 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
Robert Evett (1922-1975) was a composer, arts editor, and critic who made his home primarily in the Washington, D.C., area. This collection contains several scores, sketches, and instrument parts for works composed by Evett; biographical information collected by Evett's family after his death; and his published book and music reviews for the "Atlantic Monthly," "New Republic," and "Washington Star-News."
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John Raitt papers, 1930-2009
approximately 10,000 items. 86 containers. 2 mapcase folders. 37 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
John Emmet Raitt (1917-2005) was a singer and actor, performing as a leading man during Broadway's Golden Age. Though he is best remembered for originating the role of Billy Bigelow in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel (1945), he sustained a six-decade career in various stage roles along with a prolific concert calendar. The collection documents Raitt's theatrical and concert career and includes scripts, programs, photographs, correspondence, clippings, and scrapbooks. It also includes full scores and parts for the arrangements made for Raitt's album recordings and concert appearances.
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Henry Mancini papers, 1930s-2000s
approximately 206,000 items. 940 containers. 393 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
Henry Mancini (1924-1994) was an award-winning American composer of music for film, television, and commercial recordings. Throughout his career, he amassed four Academy Awards, twenty Grammy awards, one Golden Globe Award, and two Emmy Award nominations in addition to many other accolades. Mancini was a prolific conductor who collaborated often with prominent directors, performers, arrangers, and lyricists. The Henry Mancini Papers contain original scores and printed music for his films, television shows, recordings, and concert music. Other materials include project files, business papers, photographs, correspondence, scripts, writings, programs, promotional materials, scrapbooks, clippings, biographical materials, and other items that document his life and career.
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Some or all content stored offsite.
Henry Cowell music manuscripts, 1909-1965
approximately 1,100 items. 37 containers plus bound scores. 18 linear feet . 10 microfilm reels. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
Henry Cowell was an American composer, theorist, writer, pianist, and teacher. A member of the 1920s "ultra-modernists," Cowell's experimental compositions explored a myriad of unusual instrumental techniques and non-Western musical sounds. Works such as The Aeolian Harp (1923), The Banshee (1925), and Mosaic Quartet (1935) are seminal examples of his exploration of 'tone clusters,' or secondal harmonies, for expanding the musical sound palette. Cowell was also a prolific writer and editor who founded The New Music Quarterly in 1927 as an outlet for the musical works of modern composers. This finding aid collates classed holograph manuscript scores, sketches, and parts by Cowell that were donated to the Music Division beginning in the 1950s.
Elliott Carter music manuscripts and other papers, 1933-1971
approximately 18,900 items. 55 containers plus bound scores. 19 linear feet. 22 microfilm reels. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Summary:
Among other accolades, American composer Elliott Carter was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his second and third string quartets. A student of Nadia Boulanger, his works combined American and European styles of modernism, and his compositional style, based around collections of pitches, was later described as musical set theory. Carter was also known for his use of proportional tempo changes, which is referred to by scholars as metric modulation. Carter composed in a wide variety of genres, including symphonies, concertos, chamber music, ballets, and choral music. This finding aid collates classed holograph scores, sketches, and parts by Carter that were donated to the Music Division beginning in the 1960s. Additional music materials, programs, and a small amount of photographs and other papers will be added to this document in the future.