Scope and Content Note
Materials from the Harold Bauer Collection span the period 1886 to 1951, with the majority dating between 1920 and 1951. The collection contains manuscript and printed scores, correspondence, writings, clippings, programs and publicity materials, awards, photographs, artwork, and other items. The Music series chiefly consists of several holograph arrangements, transcriptions, and editions prepared by Bauer and a variety of printed scores for works by other composers. Some of the most significant material in the collection is found in the Correspondence series, which includes Bauer's communications with many notable musical figures, including: Ernest Bloch, Nadia Boulanger, Pablo Cassals, Gabriel Fauré, Percy Grainger, Jascha Heifetz, Josef Hofmann, Gustav Holst, Vincent d'Indy, Fritz Kreisler, Charles Martin Loeffler, Pierre Monteux, Moritz Moszkowski, Vladimir de Pachmann, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Isidore Philipp, Henry Prunières, Carl Ruggles, Carlos Salzedo, Gustave Schirmer, Leopold Stokowski, and Efrem Zimbalist.
Bauer's memoirs and thoughts on musical topics are vibrantly captured in the Writings series, a modest collection of his speeches, articles, and manuscript materials for his autobiography, Harold Bauer, His Book. Also included are articles about Bauer by others and assorted printed materials pertaining to his scholarly interests. The Iconography series includes both photographs and artwork, with the former largely depicting Bauer alone or in the company of notable performers such as Fritz Kreisler, Bronisław Huberman, Leopold Auer, Jose Iturbi, and others. There are also a handful of inscribed photographs of interest from Ernest Bloch, Claude Debussy, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Leopold Stokowski, and Rabindranath Tagore. The remaining series contain additional materials that document Bauer's life and career from different angles, including programs and publicity materials, clippings, awards, financial and legal documents, and a small quantity of artifacts.