Search Results

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Society for the Preservation of the American Musical Heritage collection, 1792-1969

   approximately 475 items. 16 containers. 6.25 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   Karl Krueger was an American conductor, best known as the first American-born conductor of a major United States orchestra. He founded the Society for the Preservation of the American Musical Heritage in 1958 with the goal of collecting and recording music by American composers. The collection primarily consists of musical scores and parts with a small amount of business papers.

4. Alan Hovhaness music manuscripts, 1939-1969

   approximately 925 items. 6 containers plus 23 bound scores. 3 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   Alan Hovhaness was an American composer, researcher, and organist of Armenian descent. He is predominantly known for works heavily inspired by non-European traditions and for drawing on exotic rhythmic, melodic, and instrumental resources founded in his own Armenian ancestry, other Middle Eastern styles, and, in his later years, Japanese and Korean instruments and styles. This finding aid collates classed holograph scores, parts, and sketches by Hovhaness that he donated to the Music Division from 1959 to 1970.

5. Irwin Bazelon papers, 1913-2009

   approximately 2,500 items. 39 containers. 17.75 linear feet. -- Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   Irwin "Bud" Bazelon (1922-1995) was an American composer of both concert and film music, as well as a conductor and author. His compositional output includes symphonies, chamber music, music for documentaries and television commercials, and other works. His Knowing the Score: Notes on Film Music, first published in 1975, was one of the early scholarly texts on film music. The collection consists of Bazelon's music, writings (especially pertaining to Knowing the Score), correspondence, business papers, programs and promotional materials, and clippings.