Scope and arrangement
The Larry Bell papers, dating from 1965 to 2013, document the composer's career through published scores, sketches, programs, clippings, correspondence, subject files, writings, and photographs.
About 130 scores and sketches comprise the majority of the collection. With the exception of two scores by Gregory Kosteck and one by Roger Sessions, all are for music by Bell. Most of the scores, dating from 1970 to 2013, were published by Bell's company, Casa Rustica Publications. Bell's music is arranged by opus number, which roughly matches chronological order. Two scores that do not bear opus numbers are at the end of Bell's score list. Loose sketches and sketchbooks are integrated with the score files, with the exception of sketchbooks containing work on more than one composition. These are arranged chronologically under Sketches at the end of the score list.
Scores for Gregory Kosteck's fourth and fifth string quartets are dedicated to Bell, and the score for the fourth includes Bell's analysis of the work. Roger Sessions' Adagio for Piano Solo (1947) was discovered by Andrea Olmstead in 2006 and published by Casa Rustica.
Clippings and programs cover Bell's career from 1973 to 2013. Bell's correspondence is with musicians such as Ursula Oppens, Ken Frazelle, and Daniel Horn, as well as with orchestras and friends. It also includes contracts. Among the other files are documentation of performances of Bell's Sacred Symphonies; the unpublished manuscript of Larry Bell: Portrait of a Composer as a Young Man, a book by Andrea Olmstead; an article by Bell about Vincent Persichetti titled "Reflections On Reflective Keyboard Technique"; Bell's instructional books on composition and solfége; photographs of Bell; information on commissions; correspondence with the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters; and a list of Bell's compositions.
Arrangement
The papers are arranged alphabetically by subject or format. Scores are arranged by composer. Bell's scores are arranged by opus number.