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Call number
*L (Special) 21-01
Physical description
2 linear feet (4 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Mapleson Cylinders research files, Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library
Repository
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Mapleson Cylinders are a set of brown wax cylinder recordings of Metropolitan Opera rehearsals and performances, as well as home recordings of family members, that were recorded by Lionel Mapleson between 1901-1909 and acquired by the New York Public Library between 1939-1962. The cylinders were transferred to analog tape in 1981 and released as a five-LP set by New York Public Library in 1985. The Mapleson Cylinders research files collection includes correspondence among various previous owners of the cylinders, documentation of early attempts by the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, and others, to reformat them prior to the 1985 LP set. Also included are research notes of the New York Public Library's audio engineer Tom Owen who transferred the cylinders, as well as notes of Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound Curator David Hall conducted in preparation of the liner notes for the 1985 release.

Biographical/historical information

Between 1939 and 1962, the Music Division of the New York Public Library acquired a collection of 124 brown wax cylinders recorded by Lionel Mapleson between 1901 and 1909. The recordings contained primarily performances and rehearsals by singers and orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. Some cylinders were re-recorded by Mapleson in 1909 with sounds of his children. In the late 1970s, David Hall, the Curator of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, along with the library's sound engineer, Tom Owen, Hall initiated a project to transfer the cylinders to magnetic tape. A custom cylinder machine was built by Art Shifrin and installed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Between 1981-1985, Hall, Owen, and various other collaborators produced an LP boxed set, published by the New York Public Library in 1985.

Scope and arrangement

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into four series: Mastering notes, Correspondence, Subject files, LP set files. These series maintain David Hall's arrangement of files, assembled during preparation for the Mapleson cylinders boxed set. Mastering notes includes photocopies of sheet music and librettos for the works performed on particular cylinders, with annotations used by engineer Tom Owen during the transfer of those cylinders to magnetic tape. The Correspondence series primarily includes letters written to and from the cylinders' previous owners and library staff. The Correspondence series also includes letters describing previous efforts to reformat the audio from the cylinders, the copyright status of the cylinders, as well as extant documentation of Lionel Mapleson and the singers with whom he worked. The Subject files series contains research files gathered by David Hall relative to specific primary sources on the cylinders. The LP set files include files specifically related to the production and release of the 1985 boxed set of LPs of Mapleson cylinder recordings. David Hall's folder titles were maintained.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The collection was assembled by David Hall during the years 1962-1982, with additions from Don McCormick between 1982-1986, in the course of their respective tenures as Curator of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.

Processing information

Processed by Rebecca Chandler in 2012. Additional materials incorporated by Jessica Wood in 2019-2022.

Using the collection

Location

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
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