Scope and Content Note
The George L. Tracy Collection of Music Manuscripts spans the years 1877-1920 and primarily consists of sheet music. The collection also contains a small assortment of lyric sheets and a one-page typescript catalog list of his works. The bulk of the collection contains manuscripts written in Tracy’s hand. The remaining portion consists of print scores issued by such well-known music publishers as G. Schirmer and Oliver Ditson and Company, of North America, and the Milanese institution G. Ricordi & Co, acclaimed for its association with some of the most influential Italian composers of the 19th century.
The collection is housed in 188 folders in nine boxes. Nearly all of the documents are undated, with only a few containing specific dates.
Among the assortment of works, 195 titles have been determined while the remaining contents consist of unidentified scores and parts categorized as “Miscellaneous.” Included in the collection is an opera which is considered one of Tracy’s most notable compositions: “Uncle Tom” (labeled “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in the collection). Of the 130 pieces of music with named composers, George Tracy accounts for roughly a third, which indicates that the majority are his arrangements of other musicians’ compositions.
Pamela Murrell, June 2015