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Creator
Wickham, Florence, 1880-1942
Call number
JPB 84-418
Physical description
2 linear feet (8 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Florence Wickham scores, JPB 84-418. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Music Division
Access to materials
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Florence Wickham (1880-1962) was a vocalist and composer active in the United States primarily between the 19130s and 1950s. The collection includes scores, librettos, sketches, and synopses for her compositions.

Biographical/historical information

Florence Wickham (1880-1962) was a contralto and composer. Her operatic debut took place in 1900 at the Wiesbaden Royal Court Theater, where she performed in Meyerbeer's Le Prophete. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1909. After 1911, she retired from singing and focused on composing operettaas, ballets, and songs. Her first operetta, Rosalind, was based on Shakespeare's As You Like it; its 1938 premiere in Carmel, California was sponsored by Eleanor Roosevelt, an acquaintance of Wickham's. Wickham went on to compose two more operettas, three ballets, and many songs.

Scope and arrangement

The collection primarily includes scores, librettos, and synopses for Florence Wickham's compositions between the years 1930 and 1957, including her operettas Rosalind and The Legend of Hex Mountain. The scores include a combination of holographs and photocopies. The librettos are primarily typescript. Also includes some of Wickham's musical sketches as well as press notices regarding the 1938 premiere of Wickham's operetta Rosalind.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged alphabetically by title of composition.

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