Scope and Content Note
Materials in the Ernst Bacon Collection span the better part of his life. The Music series contains holographs, copyist manuscripts, printed scores, and photo-reproductions of Bacon's compositions. Among these are manuscripts for songs, solo instrumental pieces, and works for small ensembles, with and without voices. There are also untitled holographs and photocopies of sketches and music workbooks with annotations. Works are arranged alphabetically by title and cross-referenced where appropriate. There are also thirty pages of undeveloped titled sketches that come from what Bacon called his "woodpile." These have been alphabetized and foldered together.
The Writings series consists of two subseries, Poetry and Prose. Both contain published and unpublished works written by Bacon. Included in the Prose subseries are many of his highly expository letters to various editors that resemble prose rather than typical correspondence. This series also contains many notebooks that he used for such writings. Although music does not comprise the main content of these notebooks, there are some musical jottings.
The Correspondence series is divided into two subseries, Family and General. Family Correspondence contains all letters between Bacon and his family members. Letters of his son Paul include materials from and about his estate. The bulk of the correspondence is found in the General Correspondence subseries. Notable correspondents include Ernest Bloch, George Whitefield Chadwick, Vincent Persichetti, Carl Sandburg, and Thornton Wilder.
The Iconography series contains photographs, artwork, and posters. Among the photographs are portraits of Bacon, images of him with his father and mother, and other photographs of family members. Some of the artwork is in Bacon's hand. One notable piece is an original caricature of Bacon by the artist Antonio Sotomayor. This series also contains posters for Bacon's 1918 performances.
The Miscellany series comprises academic material dating from hiss undergraduate years, two appointment books, a Who's Who certificate, clippings, financial and legal papers, lists, a radio interview transcript, programs, publicity releases, and writings by others.