Scope and arrangement
The Judith Ren-Lay papers, dating from 1981 to 2005, document the musical portions of Ren-Lay's artistic output. Comprised of notes, scores, lyrics, publicity literature, clippings, programs, and business documents, the collection has files on compositions, recorded compilations, and other projects. These include the compositions Boomerang and The Grandfather Tapes; the scores for the silent films Witchcraft Through The Ages and Girl Of The Rancho; the Soup performing ensemble; and the compilations Strata and Out Of Nowhere. Scores in the collection consist of written notes and narratives, not notated music.
The projects with the most content are Out Of Nowhere and Witchcraft Through The Ages. Files for Out Of Nowhere include CD art, a recording contract, and a score for an unidentified work. The files for Witchcraft Through The Ages contain research notes on silent films, development notes, film editing notes, and the finished score, as well as programs and press releases regarding showings in the United States and at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas.
The collection also holds a substantial collection of audio and moving image recordings dating from 1975 to 2000. These consist of rehearsals; performances; multi-track work and studio recordings; and the original interviews with Ren-Lay's grandfather on which The Grandfather Tapes was based. Other projects represented in the recordings include the Soup performing ensemble, Boomerang, Half A Life, In Consistency, Invisible Evidence Of Our Angelic Residue, Psyche's Crib, raW, Undercurrent Events, Witchcraft Through The Ages, and the CD compilation Out Of Nowhere.
Also present among the recordings are work tapes not clearly associated with particular works or projects. These include early vocal experiments and rehearsals dating from 1979 to 1984; 1990s rehearsals with various musicians; and a poetry performance. The only moving image in the collection is a print of the film Häxan (English title: Witchcraft Through The Ages), edited by Ren-Lay for showings with her live accompaniment.
Arrangement
The papers are arranged by project title or format.