Scope and arrangement
Most of the collection consists of scores and parts Thomas Scherman arranged and sometimes composed for his Little Orchestra Society. There is a series of works by other composers that Scherman either hand copied exactly or that he revised. The collection includes a number of scripts and librettos including Red Pony by Aaron Copland, Athaliah by Richard Franko Goldman, Naughty Marietta by Victor Herbert and others. The collection also contains a small amount of correspondence, biographical material and photographs.
The Thomas Scherman papers are arranged in four series:
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1945-1978, undated
This Series is the bulk of the collection, and consists of Scherman's compositions and scores by composers such as Comus by Thomas Arne, Curlew River by Benjamin Britten, The Red Pony by Aaron Copland, Comic Strip by Freda Miller, Things Kids Do by Carl Seale, Brand New Shoes by Toby Tate and others.
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1954-1979, undated
This Series includes scripts and librettos of Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River, Aaron Copland’s Red Pony, Giovanni Draghi’s The Master of Music, Richard Goldman’s Athaliah, Manos Hadjakis’s Opera for Five, Russell Porter’s Early Dawn and others.
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1959-1979, undated
This Series includes citations, publicity, notes, rehearsal schedules, correspondence and an article about Curlew River by Mitchell Donald
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1957-1978, undated
Series IV includes one libretto and several citations