Loading...
Creator
Hitchcock, H. Wiley (Hugh Wiley), 1923-2007
Call number
JPB 09-5
Physical description
29 linear feet (71 boxes)
Preferred Citation

H. Wiley Hitchcock Papers, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Repository
Music Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

H. Wiley Hitchcock, an American musicologist, was influential in advancing the study of American music in the United States. He was a noted scholar of Charles Ives and Henry Cowell, and the founder and longtime director of the Institute for the Studies of American Music (ISAM) at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. His papers document his research, writings and other scholarly activity, and the work done by ISAM during his tenure as director (1971-1993).

Biographical/historical information

H. Wiley Hitchcock was an American musicologist who did much to advance the study of American music in the United States. Born in Detroit in 1923, he received his BA from Dartmouth College in 1944 and his MM from the University of Michigan in 1948, after which he studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He returned to Michigan, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1954 and began his teaching career. In the early 1960s he moved to New York, where he was professor of music at Hunter College, CUNY from 1961-1971.

In 1971 he moved to Brooklyn College, CUNY, where he became professor of music and founder-director of the Institute for Studies in American Music; in 1980 he was named Distinguished Professor. He retired in 1993. He was among the first group of Getty scholars at the J. Paul Getty Center for Art History and the Humanities (1985-6). In 1994 he was made an honorary member of the AMS, and in 1995 Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Hitchcock made significant contributions to the study of 17th-century French and Italian music and music in the United States. His research on the vocal and instrumental music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier led to editions of the music as well as the preparation of a catalogue raisonn, Les oeuvres de Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1982), and the book Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1990). His edition of Giulio Caccini's Le nuove musiche (1970) includes a detailed study and an annotated translation of the original preface.

Among his publications on American music are a study of Ives (1977) and an important survey, Music in the United States (1969), in which he develops the idea of a distinction between vernacular and cultivated traditions in American music, particularly in the period from 1820 to 1920. He was president of the Music Library Association (1966-7), of the Charles Ives Society (1973-93) and of the American Musicological Society (1990-92). He acted as adviser on American music for the sixth edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and was coeditor of The New Grove Dictionary of American Music; he was also editor of the series Recent Researches in American Music (1976-94).

Hitchcock died in New York in 2007.

Source: Paula Morgan. "Hitchcock, H. Wiley." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/13093 (accessed July 26, 2010).

Scope and arrangement

Hitchcock's papers are roughly split between his research and writings and the activities of the Institute for Studies in American Music (ISAM). They consist of correspondence, writings, memos, research notes, manuscripts, teaching materials, and sound recordings. His professional files document his research and editorial work in musicology, particularly his work on Charles Ives and Henry Cowell, and in editing The New Grove Dictionary of American Music; they also reveal his work as a lecturer, critic, writer and educator, both within academia and for the general public.

The ISAM files document the history and activities of that organization, particularly its publications, but also its production of concerts, meetings, symposia, and colloquia on behalf of American music and musicians. Many of ISAM's efforts during Hitchcock's tenure as director focused on Charles Ives, for whom the Institute hosted the first Festival and Conference in 1974, and Henry Cowell. Hitchcock was designated by Cowell's widow, Sidney Robertson Cowell, as the arbiter of the Cowell Collection at The New York Public Library, and both his professional and ISAM files contain discussion of that collection.

The H. Wiley Hitchcock papers are arranged in two series:

  • Series I. Professional Files
    1949-2007
    33 boxes

    Hitchcock's professional files consist of correspondence, writing and editing files, research papers, files documenting special projects and activities with organizations, and sound recordings. Correspondence is found throughout the series, but letters found in series I.A tend to be more general or personal than the letters associated with other files. The writing and editing files, consisting of papers related to Hitchock's articles, notes, lectures, criticism and editing work, comprise about half the series, due mostly to the extensive documentation of Hitchcock's editorship of The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Much of Hitchcock's later career was occupied with Charles Ives and Henry Cowell, and research and editing work on those composers comprise most of the research papers.

  • Series II: ISAM Records
    1960-2002 and undated
    39 boxes

    Hitchcock's ISAM files document the activities of the Institute during his tenure as director. They are in two sub-series, General Administration and Publications.

    General Administration files document the regular activities of ISAM as a research facility and as an academic entity within Brooklyn College. Its research work included an oral history project on Henry Cowell and the first conference on Charles Ives in 1974, as well as many other meetings and symposia. Other files document ISAM's recruitment of research fellows and visiting lecturers, its annual reports, and its development and fundraising activities. These papers include correspondence, memos, publicity materials and photographs. The collection also contains sound recordings of events produced by ISAM.

    The Publication files document the Institute's publishing ventures. These include the ISAM monograph series, the ISAM Newsletter, and the Recent Researches In American Music series, as well as special publications.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by H. Wiley Hitchcock and the Institute for Studies in American Music, Brooklyn College, CUNY in 2007-2008.

Processing information

Processed by Matthew Snyder.

The collection was processed and cataloged in 2009-2010.

Related Material

Henry Cowell Papers, JPB 00-03. Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Using the collection

Location

Music Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Chief, Music Division, The New York Library for the Performing Arts.

Access restrictions

Inquiries regarding audio materials in the collection may be directed to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound (rha@nypl.org). Audio materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.