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Creator
Chávez, Carlos, 1899-1978
Call number
JOB 93-4
Physical description
0.5 cubic feet (2 boxes)
Language
Correspondence mostly in English with several in French, and a few replies in Spanish; English
Preferred Citation

Correspondence and Scores Belonging to Carlos Chávez, JOB 93-4, Music Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.

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

This collection partly documents Chávez's career as a conductor, composer, and as a leading musical figure in Mexico.

Biographical/historical information

Carlos Chávez was born June 13, 1899, in Calzada de Tacube (near Mexico City). As a child he studied piano with Pedro Luis Ogazon, and harmony with Juan B. Fuentes and Manuel Ponce. He was already composing elaborate works in his teens. In 1922-23 he traveled in France, Austria, and Germany, and became acquainted with modern musical developments. He returned briefly to Mexico where he introduced works of contemporary composers, among them Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Varese. From 1926-28 he lived in New York City, returning in 1928 to create the Orquesta Sinfónica de Mexico. (In 1949 it was renamed Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional.) From 1928-35 Chávez was the director of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música, and was general director of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes from 1946 to 1952.

Chávez published his Toward a New Music (New York: Norton, 1937). His second book, Musical Thought (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961) was an outgrowth of his Charles Eliot Norton lectures, given at Harvard University in 1958-59.

Carlos Chávez died on August 2, 1978, in Mexico City.

Scope and arrangement

This collection offers a partial view of Chávez's career as the leading musical figure in Mexico -- as conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Mexico and as a composer. The correspondence contains letters from Béla Bartók, Leonard Bernstein, Nadia Boulanger, Aaron Copland, Rudolf Firkusny, Darius Milhaud, Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varèse. The many letters from Copland are particularly fascinating as they reveal a friendship based on mutual respect and concern for each others' lives. Nearly all scores are inscribed by their composers, and in several cases (particularly those by Varèse) Chávez's conductor-markings are entered in red pencil. Holograph scores by Orbón, Revueltas, and Ponce are included.

Most of Chávez's holograph musical scores and sketches are located in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. They are cataloged individually in CATNYP, the library's online catalog (http://catnyp.nypl.org).

The Correspondence and scores belonging to Carlos Chavez is arranged in two series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

This collection was a gift from the composer's daughter, Ana Chávez in September 1993. It complements her previous gifts to the Music Division of Chávez's music manuscripts.

Processing information

Robert Kosovsky.

Related Material

The bulk of Carlos Chavez's papers resides in the Biblioteca Nacional in Mexico City.

Chavez's music manuscripts are cataloged individually and may be found in the online catalog CATNYP: http://catnyp.nypl.org.

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 copy or publish please contact the Music Division.