Search Results

1. W.P.A. California Folk Music Project collection, 1936-1991

   7 boxes 4.5 linear feet.. manuscripts: 115 folders.. 239 sound discs (35 hours) : analog, 78 rpm, mono. ; 12 in.. 170 photographic prints : black and white ; various sizes.. 24 drawings.. -- American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   The California Folk Music Project of the California Work Projects Administration (WPA) was conceived and directed by Sidney Robertson Cowell and co-sponsored by the Music Department of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Music Division, Library of Congress from 1938 to 1940. Additional support was provided by the New Music Society of California and the Society of California Pioneers. The resulting collection of sound recordings, photographs, correspondence, field notes, and drawings documents the musical culture, including religious music and folk song, of many ethnic and English-language performers in northern California. The collection includes the documentation of the music of Anglo Americans, Armenians, Assyrians, Basques, Croatians, English, Finns, Hungarians, Icelanders, Italians, Norwegians, Russian Molokans, Scots, Portuguese, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Spaniards and Spanish Americans from 1938 to 1940. The sound recordings were deposited in the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress in 1940. The collection also includes a few instantaneous sound discs made by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Missouri and Iowa for the Farm Security Administration in 1936-1937, and includes folk music research, writing, photographs, and technical drawings and sketches of the musical instruments, generated by Cowell and by the WPA staff who worked for her, plus related documents to 1991.

   Please note:

   Access restrictions apply.

2. Discoteca Pública Municipal de São Paulo collection, 1937-1943

   1184 items; 4 containers; 2 linear feet.. 7 folders (1 box).. 215 sound discs : analog, 78 rpm ; 10 in., 12 in., 16 in.. 359 photographic prints : black and white ; 2 3/4 in. x 1 3/4 in.. 259 photographic prints : black and white ; 3 1/2 in. x 4 3/4 in.. 1 film reel (1445 ft.) : silent, black and white ; 16 mm.. -- American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   An ethnographic field collection of sound recordings, moving images, photographs, and accompanying materials that document religious and secular music, dance, and ritual in the northeastern Brazilian states of Maranhão, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, and also the state of São Paulo. Fieldwork was conducted in northeastern Brazil in 1937-1938, some audio recordings were accessioned in 1950. The collection includes correspondence between Harold Spivacke, then chief of the Music Division of the Library of Congress and Oneyda Alvarenga, Director of the Discoteca Pública Municipal de São Paulo (1941-1943), now Discoteca Oneyda Alvarenga (Centro Cultural São Paulo). Photographs document field research and include images of musical instruments and costumes in the museum in São Paulo. Silent black-and-white 16 mm film is comprised of 14 film rolls including footage of carnaval in Recife, Pernambuco; footage from Belém do Pará; most was filmed in Paraíba.

3. John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax papers, 1907-1969

   approximately 4900 items; 14 boxes; 5.6 linear feet.. -- American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   Collection of correspondence, research notes, transcripts, sheet music, manuscript music transcriptions, song texts, song books, maps, and administrative documents dating primarily from the tenure of John A. Lomax and his son Alan Lomax at the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress, from 1932-1942, but with a few items dating to the 1960s. Correspondents include various staff at the Library of Congress, in particular, Harold Spivacke; and folklorists, musicians, writers, academics, film directors, and others, including Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter and Woody Guthrie; various government agencies including the Works Progress Administration, Federal Writers' Project, and War Department; broadcasting and record companies; publishers; and fans of Alan Lomax's radio shows, who sent in contributions of folk songs and folklore from their childhood and communities. Documents include drafts of speeches, lectures, articles, and drafts of their books for publication.

4. Library of Congress and Fisk University Mississippi Delta collection, 1941-1943

   493 items ; 1 container plus 1 oversize ; 4 linear feet.. 350 manuscript items.. 10 sound discs : analog, 78 rpm, mono. ; 12 in.. 87 sound discs : analog, 78 rpm, mono. ; 16 in.. 46 negative prints : black and white ; 54 x 37 cm and smaller.. -- American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   The collection consists of a portion of the materials generated by a joint field project -- the Coahoma County, Mississippi, field project, 1941-1942 -- undertaken by Alan Lomax, Assistant in Charge of the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress, and Fisk University faculty members including Charles S. Johnson, John Wesley Work, and Lewis Wade Jones. Field recordings were made of secular and religious music, sermons, children's games, jokes, folktales, interviews, and dances documenting the expressive culture of an African American community in Coahoma County, Mississippi. Some audio recordings were made by Alan Lomax and John W. Work at Work's home in Nashville, Tennessee; and a few were recorded by Lomax in Arkansas. The collection includes recording logs, reports, and correspondence related to the project. Also included are negative photostats of song transcriptions by John W. Work (1943), including some songs that were recorded on this project.

5. Serge Koussevitzky archive, 1880-1978

   around 200,000 items. 505 containers. 224 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   Serge Koussevitzky was a Russian-born conductor, composer, and double bassist. The archive includes correspondence, personal and business papers, photographs, writings, clippings, scrapbooks, programs, and other materials which serve as a record of Koussevitzky's life and career, and document some of the most significant aspects of twentieth-century music. Through his work as a conductor and publisher, and his efforts to commission new musical works, Koussevitzky maintained deep ties with many of the finest composers and musicians of the day. These figures are represented in their personal and professional affiliations with the conductor. The collection extensively chronicles periods in the history of organizations such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berkshire Music Center, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, and the American International Music Fund. Material in the collection dates from Koussevitzky's years in his native Russia and also contains material created after Koussevitzky's death, reflecting his widow Olga's continuing work with various organizations and projects. Musical compositions commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky are part of the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation Collection, and are shelved in ML30.3c, ML30.3c2, ML30.3c3, and ML30.3e2.

6. Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation, Sub-Committee on Music papers, 1920-1950

   approximately 9,800 items. 30 boxes. 15 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   The Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation, Sub-Committee on Music was established in 1942 to attend to the morale of military personnel through the provision of music materials and the support of bands at various levels – camp, fort, field unit, and individual performer. Library of Congress Music Division chief Harold Spivacke served as the Sub-Committee chairman. These files document his role and that of his staff in this war effort through correspondence, photographs, memoranda, notated music and lead sheets, reports, songbooks, and technical and training manuals.

7. Harold Spivacke collection, 1923-1984

   approximately 3,900 items. 33 containers. 13 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   Harold Spivacke was a music librarian, administrator, musicologist, and musician. He was chief of the Library of Congress Music Division for thirty-five years, from 1937 until 1972. The collection contains materials relating to his life and career, including correspondence, student notebooks, speeches, his dissertation, photographs, clippings, programs, manuscript and printed music, artwork, awards and honorary degrees, and business papers.

8. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation collection, 1894-1953

   56,680 items. 109 containers. 48.50 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge was a composer, pianist, and patron of music. In 1925, she created the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation at the Library of Congress in support of chamber music. The collection contains Coolidge's correspondence to and from many of the prominent musical artists of the first half of the twentieth century. Extensive correspondence between Coolidge and Library of Congress librarians and administrators is also included. The remaining materials in the collection, including photographs, scrapbooks, business papers, programs, publicity materials, iconography, realia, and clippings, are available for research and will be incorporated into the finding aid at a later date. Music manuscripts of works commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge or the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress comprise a substantial portion of the collection and are cataloged individually.