The Aaron Copland Collection consists of published and unpublished musical scores by Aaron Copland and other composers, correspondence, writings, biographical material, datebooks, journals, professional papers including legal and financial material, photographs, awards, art work, and books. The collection spans 1841 to 1991 and covers six aspects of Copland's life -- composer, performer, teacher, writer, conductor and administrator for various organizations -- from about 1911, when he penned his first musical composition I'm On My Way to Mandalay , to 1990, the year of his death. The collection has been organized into thirteen major categories -- Music, Writings & Oral Presentations, Diaries, Correspondence, Professional Papers, Subject File, Scrapbooks, Biography, Awards, Art, Photographs, Victor Kraft Material and Books.

The Music by Aaron Copland represents almost all of the entire musical creation of Copland beginning with the early, youthful student works and ending with the short piano pieces in the seventies and eighties. The Music Manuscripts and Printed Editions by Aaron Copland cover the years from 1920 through 1982 in a numerical order established by Copland, designated as ARCO numbers, which total 100 assignments. After each ARCO number, a numerical or alphabetical suffix is assigned that represents the type of material. Holograph manuscripts of Martha Graham's ballet Appalachian Spring , the popular pieces El Salón México and Fanfare for the Common Man (which was used later in his Third Symphony ), represent just a fraction of available riches in this collection. At the end are three Published Compilations of Music by Copland -- two adaptations by Clare Grundman, A Copland Portrait and Sounding Success , and the third work, Piano Album , which is a collection of Copland solo piano pieces. The last category consists of Music Composed by Copland Not Assigned an ARCO Number which includes music culled from or later developed into well-known Copland works and which were not assigned a number by Copland or his staff. Among these pieces are sketches for The Ballad of Ozzie Powell , which served for Music for Radio , music composed for a unfulfilled musical, Tragic Ground , and sketches for a string quartet, composed between 1965-1968. See Appendix: Identification Numbers in the Aaron Copland Collection for additional information.

The Juvenilia: Works by Copland represent his early compositions and arrangements. Created between 1911 and 1926, the manuscripts encompass Copland's adolescent years studying with Rubin Goldmark in New York City through his student years and under the tutelage of Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau and Paris. Besides original holograph scores and sketches, these early works include compositional and piano exercises and scores and sketches of transcriptions and arrangements of other composers' works.

The Music By Other Composers includes manuscripts, fascimiles, and printed music which were part of Copland's extensive collection of music. Most contain holograph annotations either in Copland's hand, especially his conducting scores, or signed by the composer or donor. These scores and the other published works from his collection, which became part of the Performing Arts Library at the New York Public Library, illustrate a broad, composite spectrum of composers in the Western Hemisphere.

The Writings & Oral Presentations series represent over fifty years (c. 1925-1988) of written and oral commentary on music and musicians during the lifetime of Copland. The writings by Aaron Copland contain the different venues that Copland employed to communicate his thoughts and ideas on music -- the growth of American music and commentary on the people or organizations that fostered composers and their music through the 1960s -- beginning in 1925 with his second published article, What Europe Means to the Aspiring Composer , after his return from three years of musical study in France. The numerous cross references reflect Copland's penchant to borrow from himself and indicate the relationship of articles as they were discovered during processing. See Appendix: Identification Numbers in the Aaron Copland Collection for additional information.

In most cases, the evolution of the final printed words for Copland's published books can be traced, though difficult at times because of his revisions, from the handwritten manuscript to the final typescript, beginning with the 1939 first edition of What to Listen for in Music and ending with The New Music , the 1968 revision of Our New Music (1941). Also, the correspondence and notes exist for a sixth book, the first volume of the projected two volume autobiography.

Copland's earliest lectures began at the New School for Social Research with Aesthetics of Modern Music (1927) and ended with What to Listen for in Music . The complexity of Copland's borrowing from one medium to the other is demonstrated by the lecture, Music of the 20s , given in 1940, which probably became a source for the 1952 Harvard lectures of the same name which in term was incorporated in the published book, Music and Imagination , and finally became the source for the 1965 television special, Music in the 20s . Some of the earlier lectures also became the source for a 1947 series of lectures, Panorama of American Composers , which Copland delivered in Brazil. Two numbering systems by Copland were discovered on some lectures. See Appendix: Identification Numbers in the Aaron Copland Collection for additional information.

Copland quickly embraced the new mediums of radio and television. His radio talks apparently began in the United States in 1936 for the CBS "Modern Music" series and continued until the 1976 statements for the BBC at the time of Benjamin Britten's death. He also frequently spoke on radio stations while on tour in various foreign countries. In the United States, he presented a series of fifty-two programs on WNCN, Aaron Copland Comments from 1968-1971. Fifteen years of television appearances began in 1965 with a program, Copland on Copland on the British Broadcasting Company, and, in the United States, with the production of Music in the 20s . Other appearances included the Bill Moyer's Journal Aaron Copland and the 1980 birthday tribute, A Copland Celebration!

The Writings by Others extends to material written about Aaron Copland and material written about other composers, musicians, and critics or other subjects. The articles reflect the views and opinions of a wide range of notable people. The interviews almost span his entire life from 1928 to 1988 and comprise dialogues with substantive and substantial quotes by Copland. The ballet scripts contain an intriguing scenario, Memorial Day, Dances for Democracy in Crisis , which identifies the collaborators -- conceived by Lincoln Kirstein, Lew Christensen as the general stage director, music by Copland, choreography by Lew Christensen, Erick Hawkins, Eugene Loring, and the costumes by Jared French. Evidently, the ballet never developed beyond this scenario which includes forty-eight watercolor drawings.

The Diaries are divided into two sections, Datebooks and Journals. The datebooks range from 1935 to 1985, except for the year 1954, and were generally used to briefly record his daily activities. The desk size books from 1942 to 1969 also enumerate the commissions offered to him by individuals and/or organizations. The pocket size books were apparently used during domestic or foreign trips.

The Journals consist of notebooks which record activities, list items and report on events and trips. The material dates from his 1910 reminiscences and extends to comments about his 1973 European trip. The journal dated from 1941-1973 includes family genealogy charts. Two journals describe the creation of the music scores for two films, The Red Pony and Something Wild. The date spans represent the actual span of year dates noted in the journal. Because of the fragile nature of some journals, the originals and archival photocopies will not be served to researchers. Photocopies of the journals, which are placed in binders, will be available to researchers. Copland assigned numbers to twelve of the volumes. See Appendix: Identification Numbers in the Aaron Copland Collection for additional information.

The Personal Correspondence (1911-1991) contains letters to and from Copland with his family, teachers, fellow composers, literary figures, personal friends and acquaintances. Of particular interest are the letters with Nadia Boulanger, which extent over 50 years, and the letters with his long-time friend, Harold Clurman. Other significant correspondents are Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, Carlos Chávez, David Diamond, Roy Harris, Claire Reis, Roger Sessions, Charles Ives, Arnold Schoenberg, and Virgil Thomson.

The General Correspondence (1935 to 1991) comprises a variety of day-to-day mail, which Copland reviewed, from individuals and businesses. The letters include requests to lecture and conduct and for permissions, birthday and holiday greeting cards from family, friends and school children, and fan mail.

The Professional Papers are divided into two sections, Business Organizations and Engagements. The Business Organizations include records that pertain to Copland's affiliation with and service for various private, public, and governmental agencies, organizations, and councils, at the local, national, and international level and material that relate to numerous publishers, agents and foundations. Voluminous records exist for the Arrow Music Press (formerly, Cos Cob Press), for which Copland served as Treasurer, and for Boosey & Hawkes, his music publisher, which include letters about score corrections for his music. Other significant material are the Copland-Sessions Concerts of Contemporary Music, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, the League of Composers, Modern Music, the Edward MacDowell Association, and Tanglewood which includes material on the Berkshire Music Center and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Engagements represent correspondence and other material between organizations for which Copland performed, spoke or conducted, or from whom he was bestowed an award or honor. The organizations include orchestras, universities and colleges, festivals, museums, and societies. The most notable events are his trips to Latin America in 1941 and 1947 and his frequent appearances with the London Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and National Symphony orchestras.

The Subject File is a composite of printed matter and material on special subjects that Copland kept. The largest and most extensive is the Composition section which consists of published clippings, magazine articles, promotional material, annotated programs and other miscellaneous items relating to performances of his compositions. In May of 1953, Copland was summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee and respond to a list of alleged "communist" affiliations. The United States Congress section documents Copland's correspondence, notes, statements and evidence during this period. Also, an annotated copy of the Congressional Record of January 16, 1953 in which the affiliations were first recorded and a transcript of the hearing are included.

Three of the four scrapbooks focus on specific undertakings by Copland -- the Copland-Sessions Concerts from 1924 to 1931, the Yaddo Festivals from 1932-33, and the 1978 Australian tour for which he conducted and lectured. The other scrapbook represents the beginnings of Copland's clipping file from 1924 to 1942. All, but the Australian tour scrapbook, have been preserved on microfilm because of their fragile condition (Microfilm 93/20002 Mus); the original of these three volumes will not be served to the public.

The Biography series consists of divergent materials, some of which is biographical and others personal. The biographical material includes autobiographical notes, a notebook and assorted lists that pertain to Copland's activities and compositions, and two birthday albums. The 70th birthday album comprises "An album of composers' tributes" which contains congratulatory letters, musical salutes, poems and ink drawings from 116 composers. The 80th birthday album was presented by the National Symphony Orchestra from friends and includes congratulatory letters from President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Walter Mondale, conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, Roger L. Stevens (chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), and international musical luminaries.

The Awards series contain the artifacts that Copland received from the numerous and myriad honors and awards bestowed on him during his lifetime. Copland accepted his first honorary doctorate in music from Princeton University in 1956, and almost every year thereafter he approved another one either in humane letters or in music. The last one was a Degree of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa , from the New School for Social Research in 1983. Other tributes conferred on Copland from 1947 to 1982 include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and the Kennedy Center Honors' medal in 1979. In most cases, programs, invitations, and letters accompany the actual degree, award or medal.

The Art Works section is divided into Of Aaron Copland, Other Works, Poetry, and Posters that include drawings, caricatures, and portraits of Aaron Copland and other artistic renderings which consist of special editions of illustrated poems by various artists in different mediums. The two most illustrious artists represented are a numbered print by Pablo Picasso and an engraved color print by Marc Chagall which was part of an invitation from the Prince and Princess of Monaco for a 1967 program to honor Nadia Boulanger.

The Photographs series contain approximately 12,000 images and date from c. 1889-1985. The largest section is the portraits of Copland alone, both formal and informal, professional and amateur. Noteworthy subjects include many rarely-seen early portraits of Aaron Copland and the majority of the photographs reproduced in Copland's two volume autobiography, Copland, 1900-1943 (Volume I) and Copland Since 1943 (Volume II). Photographs from these books are identified with a Roman numeral I or II, designating the volume in which it was reproduced, followed by an Arabic numeral designating the page on which the photograph is found.

A large portion of the photo images were taken by Copland's life-long friend, the professional photographer, Victor Kraft (1915-76). Among the images produced by Victor Kraft are luminaries of the American music scene from the first half of the twentieth century, including Leonard Bernstein, Marc Blitzstein, Paul Bowles, David Diamond, Lukas Foss, Serge Koussevitzky, Walter Piston and the Tanglewood Music Festival during the 1940s. In fact, a significant amount of items correspond or overlap between this series and the Victor Kraft Materials series. Illustrious photographers represented include Margaret Bourke-White, Irving Penn, Gordon Parks and Carl Van Vechten, among others. If photographic credits are not given, the photographer is, as yet, unidentified. See Appendix: Identification Numbers in the Aaron Copland Collection for additional information.

The Victor Kraft Materials contain approximately 40,000 items and span the years c. 1918-1976. Victor Kraft (1915-76) was a professional photographer and life-long friend of Aaron Copland. They first became acquainted in the early 1930's and maintained close contact until Kraft's death. Copland was the godfather of Kraft's only child Jeremy, a son from his second wife Rheba. Kraft's photographs appeared in such prominent publications as Life Magazine , Harper's Bazaar , Junior Bazaar , and the French art journal L'Oeil , among others.

The bulk of the photoprints and negatives document Kraft's travels in Mexico in the 1930s [and/or 1950s?] and in Brazil from 1951-53. Notable subjects include formal and informal portraits of Aaron Copland, and portraits from the 1940s and 1950s of numerous composers and performers of the American music scene, including Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, Edwin Denby, Lukas Foss, Erik Johns, William Kapell, Dmitri Mitropoulos, and Robert Shaw. The Tanglewood Music Festival during the 1940s is also well represented with many historically interesting images to be found in the photoprints, as well as the contact sheets and negatives. Photoprints by other prominent photographs are represented -- Cecil Beaton (portraits of Victor Kraft and a self-portrait photocard), Ronny Jaques (a signed portrait of Carson McCullough), and Carl Van Vechten (1935 portraits of Victor Kraft). All other images are assumed to have been created by Victor Kraft unless otherwise noted. Of other interest are the series of letters to Kraft from Paul Bowles, and a sampling of Kraft's original negative sleeves which reveal insights into his systematization and methodology. See Appendix: Identification Numbers in the Aaron Copland Collection for additional information.

The Copland Library series comprises selected books on a wide range of musical and general subjects from Copland's personal library. Most are signed, usually by the author, or contain annotations or information about Copland. The books reflect Copland's wide and varied interests and include those books written by Copland and translated into various languages. Many books concentrate on Copland's interest in French culture after his years of study in Paris.

Wilda Heiss and Lloyd Pinchback, April 1995

Wilda Heiss and Lloyd Pinchback, Music Specialists, Revised 2000

Processed by: Virginia Chang, Carol Lynn Flanigan, Wilda Heiss, Albert Jones, Jonathan Kulp, Melchor de Medinaceli, Peggy Monastra, Lloyd Pinchback, Loras Schissel and Deanna Whitsitt.

Formatted by: Stefan Patejak (1995) and Michael A. Ferrando (1995, 2000)

Acknowledgment: A special thank you to Daniel Mathers for his invaluable assistance during the editing of the Music Manuscripts and Printed Editions by Aaron Copland.