Collections in Music Division

Correspondence (chiefly 1905-1958) including ca. 1000 autograph letters collected by Mr. Abell; mss. of articles and book chapters; concert programs; newspaper and magazine clippings; calling cards; photographs and other pictures including more than 150 portraits of musicians, many of them autographed; and other material. Includes extensive correspondence from Leopold Auer, Max Bruch, Serge Koussevitzky, Isidore Philipp, Xaver Scharwenka; and 6 or more letters each from Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler, Willy Burmester, Carl Flesch, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Rudolf Ganz, Etelka Gerster-Gardini, Arthur Hartmann, Hugo Heerman, Ernst Hutcheson, Hugo Kaun, Juan Manén, Robert Schauffler, Arnold T. Schwab, Christian Sinding, Theodore Spiering, Richard Strauss, Amadeo von der Hoya, and Anton Witek. less

John Allison was an American singer, composer, lyricist, and collector of folk songs. Folk songs, chiefly lyrics only, including songs for Space way ballads and Katonah; correspondence, radio scripts, clippings, scrapbooks, brochures, and published music with markings by Allison. less

Maryanne Amacher (1938-2009) was an experimental sound artist, musician, and composer best known for her site-specific sound installation work and audio research. Amacher's collection dates from the 1890s to 2009 (bulk dates 1960s-2009), and contains her working files, as well as sound and video recordings related to her installations, music compositions, and sound research. The collection details the entirety of Amacher's five-decade music career, illustrating her creative process, research methods, and expansive musical output. less

The American Music Center was a non-profit organization which aimed to promote the creating, performing, and enjoying of new American music. The American Music Center was founded in 1939 by composers Aaron Copland, Otto Luening, Marion Bauer, Harrison Kerr, and Quincy Porter. The center's mandate was to make the music of its composer members available to potential performers and conductors, and to act as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of information vital to its membership. Until that time, American composers had not been able to firmly establish themselves or their music as a unique American commodity that was of both high quality and in great demand. As their music came of age, these composers began to organize themselves into a substantial power base that would not only get their music heard but also make assurances for appropriate representation, promotion and compensation. The American Music Center was one of the leading organizations in this campaign. A partnership with the New York Public Library, initiated in 1978 led to cooperative cataloging initiatives and eventually to an agreement that the center's entire collection of scores would over time be transferred to the library. The American Music Center's score library, now housed at the Music Division, numbered close to 60,000 items. While the center's physical collection of printed and recorded music was the backbone of this remarkable institution, the mandate and activities of the center were relevant not only to music scholars, but to those in other areas of research. The center's activities have been responsible for creating a vast worldwide cultural resource for the dissemination of American music. Approximately 60,000 orchestral, chamber, solo instrumental, vocal and choral scores, solo parts and libretti placed in the AMC library by their composer members. Virtually all genres of notated music are represented in the collection, including many forms of orchestral concert music (overtures, symphonies, suites, etc.), chamber music for winds, strings, keyboard, percussion, electronics, alone and in combination, vocal music, solo and choral, and staged works (opera, ballet, musicals). The collection includes many published scores. A large portion of these are self-published reproductions of composer's manuscripts. Conventionally notated scores predominate, but there are also many representatives of various forms of graphic notation. less

Donna K. Anderson (1935-2018) was an American musicologist who dedicated her career to researching the life and music of Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920). The Donna K. Anderson research files on Charles Tomlinson Griffes hold scores, research files, and recordings compiled or created by Anderson in her role as executor of the Griffes estate, and in the preparation of her books, Charles T. Griffes: An Annotated Bibliography-Discography, The Works of Charles T. Griffes: A Descriptive Catalog, and Charles T. Griffes: A Life In Music. less

Holograph musical scores by various composers including extensive sketches and drafts of Chausson's Symphony in B♭ major and single pages from works by Dukas, d'Indy, and Montemezzi; Toscanini's own works composed as a student, ca. 1882-1884, including holographs, photocopies of holographs, and copyists' manuscripts; arrangements, transcriptions, and reductions in Toscanini's hand of works and parts of works by various composers including extensive passages from Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony; letter, note, and rehearsal schedule in Toscanini's hand; clippings of 2 articles about Toscanini; flyer including Toscanini's portrait; 2 photographs; commemorative Italian stamps and coins with Toscanini's portrait. less

John J. Becker was the only Midwestern member of a group of ultramodernist American composers known as the “American Five”. He was known for his use of difficult techniques of counterpoint and harmony. Becker’s most important works include Symphonia Brevis (1930-1931), A Marriage with Space (1935), and Privilege and Privation (1939). The bulk of the collection consists of scores, correspondence, and papers relating to his professional life as a composer, conductor, and educator. less

Lillian E. Bradley was a singer, entertainer, and producer. This collection consists of Bradley's photographs, one scrapbook of recital programs and thank you letters from various groups she entertained, and one folder of loose clippings, programs, correspondence, and her single musical composition. less

Letters to various recipients from John Francis Barnett, Julius Benedict, François Coppée, Edward Dent, Theodore Dubois, François-Joseph Fétis, Judith Gautier, Théophile Gautier, Sir George Grove, Stephen Heller, Ferdinand Hiller, Luigi Illica, and Isidore Philipp. Chiefly in English ; some letters in German, French, or Italian. Many letters are accompanied by explanatory notes and bills of sale to Dr. Brody. less

The Patricia Brooks papers (1867, 1897-2009) document the professional vocal career of the artist, focusing on her operatic performances. The papers contain professional and personal correspondence; reproductions of photographs documenting her operatic career, including photographs of Brooks with Placido Domingo and Frank Corsaro; financial records and advanced ticket sales regarding Brooks' recital in 1977; as well as correspondence, notes, ticket lists, and potential performers relating to the New York City Opera's tribute to Brooks in 2008. Annotated, published scores make up the majority of the collection. less

John Cheshire, harpist and composer, was born in Birmingham England on March 28, 1839. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and became internationally famous as a viruoso touring the Scandinavian countries and South America. He wrote orchestral works, songs, piano music and pieces for harp. He was married to famed pianist Mathilda Frances Cheshire. His collection includes the papers of his daughter Zoe Cheshire, famed harpist. less

Helen Crane, composer and pianist, was born in New York in 1868. While in New York, she studied with German composers Philip and Xaver Scharwenka, and later moved to Berlin (1906-1917). Her composition Elegy for violoncello and pianoforte, op. 57 (1919) received an award from the National Federation of Music Clubs in 1944. The collection consists chiefly of manuscript music scores. A small group of other papers includes correspondence, ephemera, a catalogue of compositions, and programs for concerts of Helen Crane's works at the Mozartem Salzburg in 1928 and 1930. less

William Hayman Cummings was an English organist, composer, singer and writer, author of Purcell (1881), a biographical dictionary (1892) and other works about English music. 29 ALS from 17 correspondents commenting about Cummings's book, Purcell, then sending more information about Henry Purcell and his family and contemporaries. Other papers includes notes on these subjects, some probably in the hand of Cummings and some probably originally enclosed with the correspondence. Correspondents include William Chappell and G.A. Crawford. Removed from the W.H. Cummings scrapbooks after microfilming. less

Frank Damrosch was born Franz Heino Damrosch in Breslau, the son of Leopold Damrosch. A choral conductor, composer, and educator, he founded the Musical Art Society of New York and the Institute of Musical Art which became affiliated with the Juilliard School of Music. Drafts of autobiographical and other writings and lectures; published articles by and about Frank Damrosch; letters received; programs; clippings; scrapbooks; minutes of meetings of the Musical Art Society; material from the People's Choral Union; copies of The Baton, a publication of the Institute of Musical Art and The Juilliard School; and published scores of 10 choral works composed or arranged by Frank Damrosch and of 3 songs composed by Frank Damrosch. less

Norman Dello Joio is a pianist, organist, educator and a Pulitzer Prize winning composer. The collection contains materials related to his work; including business related correspondence (from individuals and institutes), personal papers (financial, biographical, some photographs, speeches and writings), performance files (programs and other related items), musical scores, clippings, ephemera, and scrapbooks. less

An American banker and philanthropist, Joseph Drexel collected an extensive library of music, including manuscripts and autographs. The Drexel Collection became the foundation of the Music Division of the New York Public Library. 11 autograph letters, chiefly concerning orders and purchases of music, literature, and art works ; and 22 leaves of itemized bills. Many items are on paper printed: J. Sabin & Sons, Book and Print Sellers, 35, Hart Street, Bloomsbury. less