Scope and arrangement
The Hughes-Neilson music collection consists of musical settings of the poetry and lyrics of Langston Hughes. Composers represented include David Amram, Leonard Bernstein, W.C. Handy, Hall Johnson, Elie Siegmeister, Hale Smith, Howard Swanson, Kurt Weill, and donor Kenneth P. Neilson. Printed music is composed of song sheets, operatic scores, and anthologies. Included is a copy of singer Rawn Spearman's dissertation, "A Study and Selected Musical Settings for Solo Voice and Piano of the Poetry of Langston Hughes" (1973), and a comprehensive listing of the musical settings of Hughes's works compiled by Neilson, entitled "The World of Langston Hughes' Music" (1982). Additions include similar content, plus printed matter on Hughes and Al Hirschfeld, a comic strip that references Hughes, and a book Hughes's poems with illustrations by a fourth-grade class.
Arrangement
Mostly arranged alphabetically by author's last name, with additions at the end.