Jerry Bock papers

id
3176
origination
Bock, Jerry
date statement
1942-2008
key date
1942
identifier (local_mss)
18256
org unit
Music Division
call number
JPB 02-10
b-number
b15986416
total components
1253
total series
5
max depth
5
boost queries
(none)
component layout
Default Layout
Extended MARC Fields
false
Extended Navigation
false
created
2013-04-01 15:04:41 UTC
updated
2026-01-20 20:48:58 UTC
status note
(missing)
Display Aeon link
true

Description data TOP

unitid
{"value"=>"JPB 02-10", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"18256", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b15986416", "type"=>"local_b"}
unitdate
{"value"=>"1942-2008", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1942/2008"}
date_inclusive_start
1942
date_inclusive_end
2008
keydate
1942
date_start
1942
date_end
2008
unittitle
{"value"=>"Jerry Bock papers"}
physdesc
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"22.31 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"72 boxes, 1 oversized folder", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
repository
{"id"=>"MUS", "value"=>"Music Division"}
abstract
{"value"=>"The Jerry Bock papers primarily document the professional activities of the prime twenty years of his composing career, as well as his later works, and do not offer much, if any, insight into his personal life. Vocal scores, lead sheets, and sketches for all of his musical productions produced on Broadway, including <span class=\"title\">The Apple Tree</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Body Beautiful</span>, <span class=\"title\">Fiddler on the Roof</span>, <span class=\"title\">Fiorello!</span>, <span class=\"title\">Mr. Wonderful</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Rothschilds</span>, <span class=\"title\">She Loves Me</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Tenderloin</span> are represented in the papers. Also present are a significant number of pop songs that Bock wrote with Sheldon Harnick and Larry Holofcener in addition to many for which he supplied his own lyrics. Business correspondence can be found within the production it relates to; many productions also include documents such as notes, cast information, ticket stubs, ephemera, and photographs. The collection does not contain Bock's personal correspondence; the few personal papers here are either work or school-related."}
prefercite
{"value"=>"<p>Jerry Bock papers, JPB 02-10. Music Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
origination
{"value"=>"Bock, Jerry", "type"=>"persname", "role"=>"creator"}
bioghist
{"value"=>"<p>Jerry Bock, songwriter and composer of some of Broadway's most successful musicals, was born in 1928. His musical talent was well known by the time he graduated from high school in June 1945. He wrote the score and some of the lyrics for Flushing High School's production <span class=\"title\">My Dream</span>, and his class voted him \"Most Likely to Succeed.\" Then came <span class=\"title\">Big As Life</span>, an amateur musical he helped write while at the University of Wisconsin, which was a large enough hit to tour around the state of Wisconsin and run in Chicago. By 1950 Bock was collaborating with Larry Holofcener, composing music for early television shows, and spending the summer at the Tamiment Playhouse camp in the Poconos. The three seasons he spent at Tamiment under the guidance of producer Moe Hack gave him the ability to churn out songs for musicals. His Broadway debut came in 1955 with three songs for the unsuccessful revue <span class=\"title\">Catch a Star</span>. Bock and Holofcener quickly garnered a hit the following year with two songs for the Broadway production <span class=\"title\">Mr. Wonderful</span> (starring Sammy Davis Jr.). During this time Bock supplemented his income by working as a staff writer for the music publisher Thomas Valando. Music he wrote made its way to the big screen in a Columbia Pictures short called <span class=\"title\">Wonders of Manhattan</span>. In 1958, Bock joined forces with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, with whom he would write seven musicals in the next twelve years. While their first production, <span class=\"title\">The Body Beautiful</span>, ran for less than three months, their work attracted the attention of producer Harold Prince and director George Abbott. They invited Bock and Harnick to do the music for <span class=\"title\">Fiorello!</span>, a Pulitzer Prize-winning production about the former mayor of New York City. Other Bock-Harnick musicals had varying levels of success, but none can compare to <span class=\"title\">Fiddler on the Roof</span>, which ranks up against the most significant works of the twentieth century.</p>"}
scopecontent
{"value"=>"<p>The Jerry Bock papers primarily document the professional activities of the prime twenty years of his composing career, as well as his later works, and do not offer much, if any, insight into his personal life. Vocal scores, lead sheets, and sketches for all of his musical productions produced on Broadway, including <span class=\"title\">The Apple Tree</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Body Beautiful</span>, <span class=\"title\">Fiddler on the Roof</span>, <span class=\"title\">Fiorello!</span>, <span class=\"title\">Mr. Wonderful</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Rothschilds</span>, <span class=\"title\">She Loves Me</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Tenderloin</span> are represented in the papers. Also present are a significant number of pop songs that Bock wrote with Sheldon Harnick and Larry Holofcener in addition to many for which he supplied his own lyrics. Business correspondence can be found within the production it relates to; many productions also include documents such as notes, cast information, ticket stubs, ephemera, and photographs. The collection does not contain Bock's personal correspondence; the few personal papers here are either work or school-related.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Jerry Bock papers are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/18256#c1110931'>Series I: Scores</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1945-2003</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series covers a majority of the scores Bock composed, and the following two subseries, Productions and Songs, break his work into two distinct groups - formal productions versus pop songs.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/18256#c1111487'>Series II: Production Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1945-2007</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains all of the materials from Bock's theatrical and other productions that are not scores. The first level of organization is an alphabetical arrangement by title of production, and each production is further broken down into the following groups: correspondence; lyrics; libretti; programs; clippings; and production materials. Some of the smaller productions (<span class=\"title\">Big As Life</span>, <span class=\"title\">Man in the Moon</span>, benefit events) include scores because there were not enough pieces to justifiably separate them from the other materials. An item of interest is a diary that Bock kept during the early brainstorming days of <span class=\"title\">Fiddler on the Roof</span>. Also note that the number of songs written for each production often greatly exceeded the number actually used (this is demonstrated in the lyrics for each production, as well as the scores in Series I).</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/18256#c1112049'>Series III: Song Lyrics</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>circa 1956-circa 1991</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The lyrics found in this series are primarily by Bock, although there is a group of songs written by Harnick, and another group of other lyricists. Drafts of Holofcener's lyrics are not found in this series; the few drafts that exist are within the songs subseries of Series I. The majority of songs match a score found in Series I, and many lyrics have handwritten drafts in addition to a typescript version.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/18256#c1112163'>Series IV: Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1942-2008</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>These folders contain Bock's high school yearbook, college scrapbook and other early literary work, as well as a children's book prototype based on his son George's name. Also included are articles written by Bock; awards honors and tributes; general correspondence; and contracts and agreements; and photographs.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mus/18256#c1112192'>Series V: Oversized Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1971-2004</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Includes oversized <span class=\"title\">Fiddler on the Roof</span> materials (notes and photographs), and an award from the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
acqinfo
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of Jerry Bock.</p>"}
processinfo
{"type"=>"processing", "value"=>"<p>Compiled by <span class=\"name\">Diana Bertolini</span>, <span class=\"date\">2015</span></p>"}
userestrict
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Chief, Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
dsc_type
combined
extent_statement
22.31 linear feet (72 boxes, 1 oversized folder)

Update Collection TOP

Update from EAD XML File

Resources TOP

PDF finding aid

No PDF finding aid attached.

File attachments

No files attached.

Repository Assets

No UUIDs attached.

Living at NYPL Archives

Sign in to add or edit a living at feature for this collection.

Export Collection to ArchivesSpace