Scope and Content Note
The John Alden Carpenter Collection spans the years 1891 to 1961 and contains music materials, correspondence, writings, photographs and artwork, certificates and honors, programs, clippings and scrapbooks. The bulk of the collection consists of musical materials, primarily holograph manuscripts of Carpenter's songs, orchestral pieces, and dramatic works. The holograph manuscripts of Carpenter's songs are perhaps the most remarkable feature of the collection, as they include not only his better-known works but also many that have never been published. Notable among these are numerous unpublished youthful works, such as "Brother," "My Red Hair," and "My Horror," as well as several songs from the cycles Gitanjali and Water-Colors. Carpenter's chamber and orchestral works are well represented also. For many works that Carpenter later arranged or revised, the collection contains both the original and at least one revision. The materials for Birthday of the Infanta, for example, consist of three full scores, including both the 1918 original and a revised version from 1949, as well as holograph changes to the 1949 revision; a holograph arrangement for piano, 4 hands (1938); the composer's reduction of the first movement vocalise, with harp and piano accompaniment; and numerous sketches. A number of the printed scores of Carpenter's music in the collection feature holograph annotations or alterations.
Carpenter's musical compositions include both songs and orchestral concert and stage works. His earliest orchestral work, Adventures in a Perambulator, was written in 1914 and was the first of many successes. The ballet Skyscrapers(1923-24), performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1926, was one of the first attempts at a literal depiction of modern American urban life, and thus has been accorded a certain historical significance. Other stage works include a "jazz pantomime" entitled Krazy Kat (1921), based on the comic strip by George Herriman, and a ballet-pantomime with Spanish overtones, The Birthday of the Infanta (1917). Carpenter was also considered an outstanding composer of songs; of particular note are the song cycles Gitanjali (1913, orchestrated 1934), a setting of a collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore, and Water-colors (1916, orchestrated 1918), based on the writings of Confucius and other Chinese poets. Carpenter's commissions include Song of Faith (1932) for the George Washington Bicentennial in 1932, and the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge commissions of his String Quartet (1927) and Piano Quintet (1934).
Selected scores are cataloged and shelved under ML96.C274, ML96.5.C33, ML96.N22c, ML29c.C3, and ML96.D42 and are indicated as such in this finding aid.
The bulk of the correspondence in the collection consists of letters from Carpenter to Ellen Borden (Mrs. John Borden, also addressed as Mrs. Waller Borden), who became Carpenter's second wife in 1933. This twenty-five year correspondence dates from approximately 1910 to 1935, and although the letters are largely personal in nature, they do contain mention of various compositions and productions. The remaining correspondence contains items to Carpenter by various colleagues and friends, including George Whitefield Chadwick, Percy Grainger, Frederick Stock, Leopold Stokowski, and Walter Damrosch. There is also considerable correspondence from the 1940's between Carpenter and his publisher, G. Schirmer.
Carpenter's writings in the collection consist primarily of his program notes for works such as Adventures in a Perambulator, Skyscrapers, The Seven Ages, and the song cycle Gitanjali, as well as the stage works Krazy Kat and The Birthday of the Infanta. Many of the typescript texts for songs and dramatic works include emendations in Carpenter's hand. Other writings include a typescript entitled The Art of the Theatre by designer Robert Edmund Jones, who worked with Carpenter on a number of his stage productions, and a humorous illustrated book by Deems Taylor entitled Moments Mousical (1949), with drawings by Walter Kumme.
Of particular note are the numerous photographs and watercolors of the sets and costumes of Carpenter's stage productions. These include photographs of the shadow puppets from Krazy Kat and of both stage designs and stagings for the Birthday of the Infanta. In addition, there are numerous ink and watercolor sketches of costume designs by Robert Edmund Jones for the Birthday of the Infanta. Two charcoal drawings of Carpenter in the collection are also by Jones.
The remainder of the collection consists of certificates and honors, a variety of biographical materials, programs, and clippings. Three large scrapbooks include not only clippings and programs but also photographs from stage productions and letters received by Carpenter.
Claudia J. Widgery, March 1993