Scope and Content Note
The John Pierce Langs Papers consist of materials that primarily document his life as a composer and pianist. The papers span the years 1896 to 2001 with the majority of them dating between 1896 and 1957.
The Music series comprises the bulk of the collection. It contains manuscript scores for Langs's earliest compositions in 1896 through his later works in the 1950s. While Langs wrote some chamber music, the roughly 100 compositions represented here are largely pieces for solo piano and songs for voice and piano, with most of them dating from 1898 to 1930.
A series of Biographical Materials contains nine of Langs's diaries dating from 1904 to 1909, covering the period he was studying piano and composition with Edward MacDowell in New York City. Other subjects chronicled are Langs's time studying law, MacDowell's failing health, and the pivotal event of MacDowell's passing in 1908. There are also materials about Langs and his family, including Steven A. Bianchi's thesis "The Life and Works of John Pierce Langs" (1989).