Scope and Content Note
In addition to being a renowned composer, Vernon Duke was an author, poet, translator, gourmand, businessman, bon vivant, and an intellectual. Duke's eclecticisim is well-documented in the Vernon Duke Collection. As a result, the collection is rich in research potential for a wide variety of topics. The music holographs cover the entire length of Vernon Duke's career--from compositions dating from his student days in 1918 (Morceaux pour piano, op. 1, composed when he was fifteen) to works from 1968 (the revised version of his ballet Entr'acte)--a year before he died. The collection represents the dual nature of Dukelsky/Duke as a composer of twentieth-century European/Russian influenced "serious" or "classical" music, and a composer of jazz-influenced American popular and show music. Documenting his position as an international professional in the world of music, the collection contains voluminous correspondence between Duke and prominent composers, conductors, scholars, producers, lyricists, journals, universities and performers.
Music from the Vernon Duke Collection is arranged in seven subseries:
- 1. Stage Music: music for musicals, operas, operettas, ballets, films and background music and songs for plays.
- 2. Vocal Music: art songs, song cycles, and popular songs.
- 3. Choral Music.
- 4. Instrumental Music, which includes works for solo instruments.
- 5. Sketchbooks.
- 6. Music by Other Composers.
- 7. Lyric Sheets.
When a page count appears within square brackets, the pages are not numbered and the count was supplied by the author of this Guide. When an item is described as manuscript as opposed to Copyist's manuscript, the hand is believed to be that of an orchestrator or arranger. Ozalids, unless otherwise noted, are typically believed to have been prepared from a copyist's manuscript. Numbers in parentheses are item counts. When there were multiple copies of a musical item, we always retained at least two. If there were variant annotations, more than two copies of an item may have been retained.
When a song title in the Stage Music subseries is followed by "#" and a number or combination of numbers and letters, that designation appears on all or most of the items listed below that title, indicating its position in the running order of the stage work. These numbers are supplied here for purposes of differentiating multiple versions of the same song title or to indicate songs that at least appear to have made it into the rehearsal process for a production of the show. When a portion of a song title is crossed through on the music, it is also crossed through in the Guide.
Because of the quantity of music from Zenda, the music from that show has been divided into three sets of boxes: piano-vocal scores, piano-conductor scores, sketches; parts; and full scores. Although this Guide lists song titles alphabetically within a show, the box/folder numbers are not consecutive because of the division of types and sizes of material. Thus, if a reader wishes to consult all parts from Zenda in alphabetical order, boxes 57-72 should be requested. For every song title in Zenda, the first time a lyricist is credited (rarely on full scores or parts) his name is given in the description of that item and not again unless there is a change in the lyricist for that title. When a song title includes designations such as: "pno. cond.", "vocal", or "vocal choir", that is how it appears on the item. Unless it grossly misleads in describing the item, we have let the original designation stand.
The correspondence in the Vernon Duke Collection is extensive--approximately 4,500 items. There are some details about the organization and makeup of those items that will be useful to the researcher:
- 1) Not all correspondence in the collection is in the Correspondence series--some correspondence may be found in: Writings, Subject Files, and Scrapbooks; these items are not cross-referenced, but, with some familiarity with Duke's career, the researcher should be able to determine where such correspondence is likely to be found. For instance, much of the correspondence with collaborators--lyricists, librettists--may be found in the Show files; and responses to a questionnaire Duke sent to major musical figures for inclusion in his book Listen Here may be found in the Writings series.
- 2) Correspondence includes: letters, telegrams, postcards, notes, cards, and invitations; in some cases photographs are either laid in or affixed to a piece of correspondence.
- 3) A large portion of the correspondence is from Duke, in the form of carbons, photocopies, rough drafts, and letters marked "not sent". In some cases--where this Guide lists correspondence with a given individual--the only item(s) in the collection are from Duke, to the individual listed.
- 4) We have retained, to the degree possible, Vernon Duke's organization of the correspondence. This has caused some letters from prominent people to be filed with the correspondence of a certain organization. For instance, the "ASCAP" file contains letters from Arthur Schwartz, Stanley Adams, Irving Caeser, and L. Wolfe Gilbert, among others. These items are not cross-referenced. This is also true of topics; for instance, correspondence on Zenda can be found in a variety of places within the collection.
- 5) Correspondence in the "Miscellaneous" sections is from less-prominent people for whom we have five or fewer letters.
The researcher studying Vernon Duke's biography should note that the Writings series includes the original manuscripts for Duke's autobiography, Passport to Paris, including entire chapters that were deleted prior to publication.
Appendix I is an alphabetical list of all songs from Stage Music (including Zenda) that also lists the show that the song is from. The only titles that are not included are generic ones such as: "Overture," "Opening," "Exit music," and "Finale."
Appendix II is a list of the recordings ( vinyl discs, 7 in. reel-to-reel tapes, 5 in. reel-to-reel tapes ) that are a part of the Collection, but have been transferred to the custody of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.
Mark Eden Horowitz, September 1994