The papers of David Lewin (1933-2003) span the years 1945-2011 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1960 to 2003. The collection is the result of Lewin's career as a teacher, writer and scholar of music theory; and of his activities as an adviser, composer and musician. Extensive course materials from his tenures at the University of California at Berkeley, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Yale University, and Harvard University document Lewin's analyses of the construction of musical compositions and the evolution of his theories, which revolutionized the discipline of music theory. His writings and interactions with students and colleagues, which span his entire career, illuminate his work to construct a mathematical theory of musical composition, often drawing on fields in higher mathematics.

The collection is arranged in seven series: Writings (1952-2003), Course Materials (1966-2002), Music (1945-1991), Correspondence and Other Papers (1961-2011), Computer Music Materials (1967-1992), Biographical Materials (1952-2007), and Conference Materials (1983-2001).

Lewin often used the classroom to work out theories and ideas that he would later write about or discuss with colleagues. Certain areas of his research and study will thread through the collection with the same topics appearing across series. For instance, Lewin's Schoenberg analysis materials appear in the Writings, Course Materials, and Music series, as well as in his correspondence with Schoenberg scholar Oliver Neighbour, which is found in the Correspondence and other Papers series. There may also be duplication of materials across series.

The Writings series contains a wide variety of Lewin’s published and unpublished work and ranges from his student days in the early 1950s to his death in 2003. Early documents include his undergraduate thesis and his own student notes from Harvard that show his mulling over of issues that would flower in his later years. “An approach to classical 12-tone music” is a set of notes for a 1960 lecture which summarizes his conception of what dodecaphonic music is and how it works. Lewin’s frequent contributions to scholarly journals are here, sometimes accompanied by drafts, correspondence and other materials that show the progression of Lewin’s thoughts. The materials relating to his influential books on transformational theory and analysis: Generalized Musical Intervals and Transformations (1987) and Musical Form and Transformation: 4 Analytic Essays (1993), include drafts, proofs, correspondence and reviews. Lewin’s typewritten essays that formed the basis for his last book, Studies in Music with Text (published posthumously in 2006), are in this series, along with numerous drafts, correspondence and Lewin’s narrative statement. Other rare items of interest include the unpublished “A set-theoretic approach to serialism and partial ordering,” and "Mosaics in Webern, opus 24," a work-in-progress from late in his career. The latter item is accompanied by handwritten notes, diagrams, and music examples. The miscellaneous fragments, scraps of paper, doodles and notes that Lewin kept in envelopes or bound together contain mathematical or musical analyses and the working out of problems that occupied him. These are in boxes 15-16 and remain in the order in which Lewin had kept them.

The bulk of the materials in the Course Materials series are arranged in four subseries according to the four main topics that Lewin taught: Counterpoint, History of Tonal Theory, Math and Music, and Texts and Musical Structure. Within the subseries, items are arranged by school and course number; and by subject when it was impossible to determine such information. Lewin reused materials over his academic career and it was sometimes difficult to ascertain to which school and course the materials belonged. Course materials include Lewin's lecture notes, assignments, exams, assigned readings, essay prompts, exercises, and handouts. One of his readings is a discussion of "Morgengruss" from Die schöne Müllerin , which contains a more detailed description of the kind of reductions he employed in his 1982 paper “Auf dem Flusse: image and background in a Schubert song." Lewin's Probability and Communication Theory Textbook , in the Math and Music subseries, was written around 1973-1974 and applies the ideas of probability and information theory to the study of (mostly serial) music. Lewin refers to it in his correspondence with Oliver Neighbour. This series also contains various copies of the "Led Zeppelin Fake Book," the set of notes he used to supplement his species counterpoint course. These contain Lewin's annotations, and are accompanied by notes, examples, exercises and assignments.

The Music series contains Lewin's holograph manuscript and photocopied scores and sketches, as well as printed scores and librettos by others that contain Lewin's notes and annotations. Lewin was less well-known as a composer, and his output is small. His compositions generally date from the earlier part of his career and include, Four Short Pieces for String Quartet , Sonata for Viola and Piano , Classical Variations on a Theme by Schoenberg for Violoncello and Piano , and Fantasy-Adagio for Violin and Orchestra . Some of Lewin's works contain analytical notes, background information, performance instructions, and precompositional planning and sketches. The printed scores by other composers, including Babbitt, Bach, Berg, Schoenberg, Wagner, and Webern, contain his extensive analytical notes. Lewin also made analytical descriptions of operatic works using librettos alone, without a single use of notated music. Several annotated librettos are held in the collection, including those for Wagner's Ring cycle and Mozart's Marriage of Figaro . The music by others also includes a few items by contemporary composers, including Augusta Read Thomas, whose holograph score is dedicated to Lewin on his 60th birthday.

Lewin was a teacher and mentor who was generous with his time, knowledge and advice; and the quantity and scope of materials in the Correspondence and Other Papers series attests to this fact. It contains correspondence between Lewin and his students, friends, colleagues, family and organizations, as well as materials sent to Lewin for his comments and advice. The correspondence is chiefly professional, and often delves into theoretical detail. The print materials by students, colleagues and friends include published articles, typewritten papers and essays, dissertations and theses, project descriptions, prospectuses and journal submissions. Many items contain Lewin’s annotations and are accompanied by additional materials and notes. A particular highlight of this series is the correspondence between Lewin and Schoenberg scholar Oliver Neighbour. In these letters, which provide a glimpse into Lewin's theoretical workings, he lays out his ideas regarding three of the Schubert songs and his critical views about many major composers of the German tradition. Other correspondents of note include Milton Babbitt, Anton Vishio, Greg Dorter (on z-pairs), Rick Cohn (on Bartok’s octatonic strategies), Carl Schachter (on his Phrygian interpretation of the Schumann song "Auf einer Burg"), and Curtis Roads (description of his work at Bell Labs in computer generated sound experiments). In addition, there are materials from organizations, including the American Brahms Society of which Lewin was a founding member.

Lewin experimented with computer music and became the first professional musician to compose a computer-generated piece at Bell Laboratories. The Computer Music Materials series includes computer and programming printouts with annotations and handwritten notes by Lewin, Computer Music Association printed materials, reference manuals for computer music language, a computer music tutorial, project proposals, compositional sketches, digital files, and an orchestra program for Barry Vercoe, from 1974. Sound recordings containing Lewin's computer music have been transferred to the Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Division. For information, contact a reference librarian in the Recorded Sound Reference Center, Library of Congress.

The Biographical Materials series contains items relating to Lewin personally as well as professionally, such as clippings, curricula vitae, honorary degrees, and remembrances from friends and colleagues. Of particular interest are programs and flyers that document the performance history of Lewin's compositions. These also include programs from concerts and events at which Lewin performed or was honored.

The Conference Materials series contains items relating to conferences and meetings that Lewin attended as a participant or registrant. Several meetings of the Society for Music Theory and the New England Conference of Music Theorists are represented, as well as single events, such as the 1983 International Festival and Conference on the Occasion of the Sesquicentenary of the birth of Johannes Brahms, at the Library of Congress. In addition to programs, handouts, and abstracts, materials include draft papers with Lewin’s annotations and his handwritten notes.