Abstract

John Adams (1947-) is an American composer, conductor, and writer. He is the winner of five Grammy Awards and recipient of the 2003 Pultizer Prize for his work On the Transmigration of Souls in tribute to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The collection includes music scores by Adams and others, correspondence, business and financial papers, biographical materials, programs and promotional materials, and clippings.

Abstract The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) was founded by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey (1931-1989). Ailey used Lester Horton and Martha Graham technique and added movement expressive of African American culture and social dance to elevate African American experiences through his work. AAADT became one of the most prolific and celebrated American dance companies. The collection contains documentation of the creation and performance of dances for the AAADT, correspondence and...

Abstract Laurindo Almeida was a Brazilian-American guitarist and composer. Often credited for contributions to the development of jazz samba, Almeida was a prolific composer and arranger of music for both classical Spanish guitar and popular guitar. He was an acclaimed recording artist and became the first person to win Grammy Awards for both classical and jazz performances. The collection contains manuscript and printed music, correspondence, publicity materials, photographs, and other items related...

Abstract George Antheil was a composer, pianist, author and inventor. The collection consists of materials related to the professional and personal activities of George Antheil and his wife, Elizabeth (Böske) Antheil. It contains holograph music manuscripts, printed scores, published and unpublished writings, business and personal correspondence, subject files, photographs, programs and promotional materials, scrapbooks, artwork, biographical materials, and memorabilia which document the life of this...

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Lucille "Sweets" Preston (1921-2020), a dancer at the Cotton Club and member of the vaudeville comedic duo Slim & Sweets, was an intimate partner of jazz legend Louis Armstrong beginning in the early 1950s. This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, and other materials formerly owned by their daughter Sharon Preston-Folta. The items document both the relationsip between "Satchmo" and Lucille Preston as well as Preston's colleagues in the entertainment industry.

Abstract The Arnold Volpe Papers contain letters, photographs, music, scrapbooks, posters, and other materials reflecting Volpe's career, from his student days in Russia to his accomplishments as a conductor, composer, violinist, and mentor in the United States. He was founder and director of the Young Men's Symphony Orchestra of New York (1902-1919) and the Volpe Symphony Orchestra of New York City (1904-1914). He is also credited with founding and conducting the initial Lewisohn Stadium Concerts...

Abstract Luiz Heitor Corrêa de Azevedo (1905-1992) was a Brazilian musicologist, folklorist, educator, and music critic. His papers document his life and career through correspondence, writings, teaching materials, notebooks, research and subject files, photographs, and awards. Correspondence, as well as holograph, facsimile, and inscribed scores, illustrate Azevedo's relationships with twentieth-century composers from South America, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. His own...

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Ernst Bacon was an American composer, pianist, and conductor. Largely a self-taught composer, Bacon also became an esteemed administrator and educator, serving as director of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Music Project in 1935 and later as composer-in-residence at Syracuse University from 1947-1963. The collection contains music, writings, correspondence, iconography, programs, clippings, publicity materials, and other miscellaneous items.

Abstract Pearl Bailey was an American singer and actress who established herself as a prominent nightclub entertainer on the East Coast during the mid-twentieth century. She also appeared in several Broadway productions, including House of Flowers and Hello, Dolly! Bailey also starred as Maria in the 1959 filmed production of Porgy and Bess. She later hosted her own televised variety series, the ...

Abstract Chet Baker was an American jazz trumpeter whose early success in the 1950s was due not only to his musical talents, but also to his model good looks. He rose to prominence as a member of baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan's quartet and later established himself as acclaimed vocalist during the 1950s. Baker began an on-again, off-again relationship with Diane Vavra in 1970 and was with her during the last years of his life. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, and other items...

Abstract Samuel Barber remains one of America’s eminent composers, best known for the "Adagio" from his String Quartet, op. 11 in B minor. He composed large and small-scale works for piano, voice and piano, chorus, and orchestra, as well as three operas. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Barber's compositional style remained decidedly tonal. The collection is comprised of correspondence, music from Barber's personal library, printed music, writings,...

Abstract Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson comprised the piano duo Bartlett and Robertson, who were active in the first half of the twentieth century. They met as students at the Royal Academy of Music and married in 1921, forming their piano duo shortly thereafter. The collection includes primarily manuscript music, both newly composed works for piano duet and two-piano transcriptions and arrangements, as well as compositions written by Bartlett and Robertson. Of note are holograph scores of...

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Béla Bartók was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. The Etelka Freund Collection on Béla Bartók consists chiefly of correspondence between the composer and pianist Etelka Freund (1879-1977), and printed music for his early works, some of which are annotated. Additional materials include photographs, clippings, programs, publicity materials, and journal articles that document Bartók’s professional activities.

Abstract Harold Bauer was an English violinist and pianist, teacher, and music editor who corresponded with many musical luminaries of his day, including Ernest Bloch, Nadia Boulanger, Pablo Casals, Gabriel Fauré, Percy Grainger, Jascha Heifetz, Josef Hofmann, Gustav Holst, Vincent d'Indy, Fritz Kreisler, Charles Martin Loeffler, Pierre Monteux, Moritz Moszkowski, Vladimir de Pachmann, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Isidore Philipp, Henry Prunières, Carl Ruggles, Carlos Salzedo, Gustave Schirmer, Leopold...

Abstract Irwin "Bud" Bazelon (1922-1995) was an American composer of both concert and film music, as well as a conductor and author. His compositional output includes symphonies, chamber music, music for documentaries and television commercials, and other works. His Knowing the Score: Notes on Film Music, first published in 1975, was one of the early scholarly texts on film music. The collection consists of Bazelon's music, writings (especially pertaining to...

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Alban Berg (1885–1935) was an Austrian composer and member of the Second Viennese School, along with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, who together advanced atonal and twelve-tone music. The Willi Reich Collection on Alban Berg consists of correspondence between the composer and musicologist Willi Reich (1898-1980), articles and clippings, and printed music for Berg's vocal and instrumental works.

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Milton Berle (1908-2002) was an American vaudevillian, comic, actor, lyricist, producer, and author. Nicknamed "Mr. Television," Berle transitioned from a successful career in radio to become host of NBC's Texaco Star Theatre. The collection contains comedic writings, scripts, correspondence, business papers, photographs, music, and other materials that document his life and career in entertainment.

Abstract Irving Berlin was an American lyricist and composer of over 1,200 songs. He was also a music publisher, theater owner, and a founding member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). The collection, which documents all aspects of his life and career, contains music scores, Berlin's handwritten and typewritten lyric sheets, publicity and promotional materials, personal and professional correspondence, photographs, business papers, legal and financial records,...

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Correspondence, labanotation scores and other choreographic notes, business records, playbills, production material, writings by Franz Boas, artwork, and other papers chiefly documenting the life and career of pioneering dancer and teacher Franziska Boas.

Abstract Anthony Braxton (b. 1945) is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher known for his innovative work in avant-garde music, improvisation, and jazz. His papers contain scores and parts for his musical compositions beginning in 1968, including the completed portions of the Trillium opera complex, as well as extensive writings that detail the philosophical frameworks of his music. The collection also contains materials from courses that Braxton...

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Dudley Buck (born Dudley Buck Jr.) was an American composer, pianist, and organist, as well as founder and director of the Apollo Club, a men's chorus and organization in Brooklyn, New York. This collection consists of correspondence, manuscript and printed music, and biographical materials related to Buck's personal life and career.

Abstract

Herbert L. Kirk (1926-1994) was a writer, editor, and publishing consultant. The collection chiefly consists of material relating to his book, Pablo Casals, a Biography (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974). It includes his extensive research material on Casals, his research notes and business papers, correspondence, photographs, programs, drafts and proofs of the book, clippings, articles, posters, and a scrapbook.

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Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was an Italian composer. The collection, which consists of materials related to his professional and personal activities, includes holograph music manuscripts, printed scores, libretti, writings, correspondence, business papers, photographs, programs, and clippings.

Abstract José María Castro was an Argentine composer, conductor, and cellist. He was a member of the Sociedad del Cuarteto and a co-founder of Grupo Renovación, an avant-garde musical youth movement in Argentina that became the International Society for Contemporary Music’s Argentine Section in 1932. The collection includes musical compositions, arrangements, and transcriptions by Castro; music by others; correspondence; writings; programs; clippings; scrapbooks; personal papers; photographs; and...

Abstract Harry Chapin (1942-1981) was an American singer-songwriter and philanthropist. Primarily active in the 1970s, he was known for songs written in a narrative style, such as "Cat's in the Cradle" and "Taxi." Chapin was also one of the founders, along with Bill Ayres, of the World Hunger Year organization, now known as WhyHunger. This collection consists of interviews, writings, photographs, song and poetry books, scrapbooks, and clippings pertaining to Chapin's personal...