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Creator
Harris, Dale, 1916-1996
Call number
JPB 13-34
Physical description
1.05 linear feet (3 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Dale Harris music papers, JPB 13-34. Music Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Music Division
Access to materials
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Dale Harris (1916-1996) was a writer, critic, and lecturer on dance, music, art, and literature. The Dale Harris music papers (1967-1994) hold notes for Harris's lectures on opera; writings in the form of manuscripts, typescripts, and clippings; and correspondence with editors.

Biographical/historical information

Dale Harris (1916-1996) was a writer, critic, and lecturer on dance, music, art, and literature. He was the dance critic of The Wall Street Journal, a music critic at The New York Post, and a contributor to High Fidelity, Opus, Opera Canada, Opera News, The Guardian, Opera magazine, and over 30 other magazines and journals in the United States, Europe, and Australia. From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, Harris delivered lectures on opera, ballet, and cultural history at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where recordings of his opera talks sold well; he also gave talks at the Opera Leagues of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Harris taught courses on the history of dance and opera at New York University, and conducted seminars on ballet, art, opera, and cultural history at the Smithsonian Institution in the 1980s. He delivered the Mozart Bicentennial lecture at the Salzburg Festival in 1991. Harris died of AIDS in 1996.

Source: Dunning, Jennifer. "Dale Harris, Arts Lecturer and Critic, 67." The New York Times, March 16, 1996, p. 49.

Scope and arrangement

The Dale Harris music papers (1967-1994) hold notes for Harris's lectures on opera; writings in the form of manuscripts, typescripts, and clippings; and correspondence with editors.

Notes for about 90 lectures on individual operas or opera styles comprise the majority of the collection. Some have associated course syllabi. They date from 1968 to 1978, but many are undated and are likely from 1979 to the early 1990s, when Harris was lecturing on opera at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A few lecture notes can also be found with Harris's writings.

The remainder of the collection documents Harris's career as a writer and critic, and dates from 1967 to 1994. It is made up of articles, performance reviews, recording reviews, recording liner notes, program notes, and correspondence with editors. Articles and reviews are in the form of written and typed manuscripts, as well as published clippings. The writings include articles published in High Fidelity, Opus, Opera News, and Notes; program notes written for Stagebill, the San Francisco Opera Guild, and other opera companies; and liner notes for opera recordings.

Arrangement

The collection is in two divisions: lecture notes and writings. Lecture notes are arranged by opera title, and writings by publication.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by the estate of Dale Harris in 1997.

Processing information

Compiled by Matthew Snyder, 2013

Related Material

Dale Harris papers, (S) *MGZMD 201. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.

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, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.