Updated regularly to reflect new holdings
Contents
Processed Collections
O. S. Adams Scrapbook (SC1998.10)
Location: M2A 3,2
.1 linear feet
The scrapbook relates to musical events in Rochester from 1898 to 1909. The scrapbook holds programs and reviews from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, including the newspaper’s “Musical Matters” and “Amusements” columns. Most of the performances represented were given at Rochester’s Lyceum and Baker Theatres.
Pauline Alpert Collection (SC1995.8)
Location: M1A 1,2
.25 linear feet
The collection contains two scrapbooks documenting the career of classical and popular music pianist Pauline Alpert (b. 1912). The scrapbooks include press clippings, reviews, and concert programs from 1924 to 1935. Ms. Alpert came from a musical family in Rochester and studied piano at the Eastman School of Music. Her career concentrated primarily on popular music venues, including radio, solo concerts, theater, recordings, and nightclub work. She played for motion pictures, made piano rolls, and recorded for RCA Victor and others. She appeared on radio and television, and conducted her own program for WOR radio in New York City.
William Ames Collection (SC1997.5)
Location: M2B 5,6 – 6,5
15 linear feet
The collection is comprised primarily of manuscripts of original compositions by William Ames, together with a limited extent of personal papers generated during the course of his life and professional work. The music manuscripts are represented in sketches, drafts, Ozalid masters, and final copies. In addition, the collection holds numerous sound recordings in various formats (78rpm discs, LP discs, audio-cassettes, and magnetic reels).
Anonymous Scrapbook #1 (SC1998.33)
Location: M2A 6,4
.1 linear feet
A small number of press clippings, mainly reviews of performances and apparently English in origin.
Anonymous Scrapbook #2 (SC1998.34)
Location: M2A 6,5
.1 linear feet
A scrapbook containing mainly press reviews and clippings, with some images of artists, primarily concerning operatic performances in Boston (1897-1901).
Anonymous Scrapbook #3 (SC1998.35)
Location: M2A 6,5
.1 linear feet
A scrapbook containing mainly programs from operatic performances in Germany (1902-11); a few extraneous items of a later date from England are also included.
Antiquarian Library Catalogs (SC1998.58)
Location: M2A 8,5
.25 linear feet
A miscellaneous collection of catalogs of Parisian music antiquarians from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Antique Glass Slides (SC1996.9)
Location: M1B 6,1-3
25 linear feet
The collection contains images of both musical iconography and scores; the sources are unknown but possibly include items from the Sibley Music Library. In addition, the collection includes three boxes of slides documenting the construction and facilities of the Eastman School of Music. The collection gives an insight into the teaching of undergraduate music history at the Eastman School by documenting which works and composers received the greatest emphasis in instruction. It is perhaps most valuable as a means of documenting the construction of and life at the School during its early years.
Josephine Antoine Collection (SC1996.10)
Location: M1B 5,5-6
2.25 linear feet
The collection contains documentary sources chronicling the opera career of Josephine Antoine (1908-71). Miss Antoine was a successful opera singer who performed with the Metropolitan Opera (1935-47), and later taught at the Eastman School of Music (1957-59; 1966-71). She also taught, at various times, at Indiana University, the University of Colorado, Los Angeles Conservatory, the University of Texas, and Arizona State University. Scrapbooks in the collection cover the years 1928 to 1945. Programs from operatic and concert performances by Miss Antoine are included, as well as a few programs from performances by other musicians.
Location: C3B 3,2 – 3,5
11 linear feet
The Mike Arena Collection contains materials from Arena’s musical career, especially his time spent as founder and leader of the Almonte Springs Jazz Ensemble. These include original compositions, arrangements of songs from the Great American Songbook and the standard jazz repertoire, re-orchestrations of standard big band arrangements, and a full-length musical. While most of the music in the collection was written for standard jazz ensemble, many pieces were written for a smaller jazz ensemble or for a jazz ensemble with additional orchestral instruments.
Art Publication Society Collection
Location: M4A 4,2-4
6 linear feet
The collection contains imprints of the Art Publication Society — scores, and also materials relating to music pedagogy. The imprints were donated by Hiram Watson Sibley, who provided financial support to the group.
Avon Rotary Minstrels Collection (SC1998.46)
Location: M2A 6,6
.25 linear feet
The collection contains programs and scripts relating to musical variety shows and musicals produced by Avon Rotary, ca. 1945-70. The shows were directed by Herbert Zahn (see Herbert Zahn Collection and JY Minstrels Collection).
Adrien Barthe Collection (SC1995.12)
Location: M1A 3,1
.5 linear feet
The collection consists of published works, manuscripts and materials relating to a composition text of Adrien Barthe (1828-1898). In addition to a piece for piano four hands and a set of pieces for oboe and piano, the published works also include an autographed copy of Barthe’s prize winning opera La Fiancée d’Abydos. The bulk of the manuscripts consists of songs for voice and piano, and the composition text materials are sketches and entries Barthe used for a composition contest in 1898. The material is of interest to the study of nineteenth-century French opera and especially art song as practiced by a minor but respected composer.
Johann Bauer Collection
Location: M2A 8,2
.25 linear feet
Manuscript copies and published music apparently related to a “German Band”-type group ca. 1900. Origin unknown.
Wayne Barlow Collection (ESMA 2001/9/7)
Location M4B 1,5-7
9 linear feet
The Wayne Barlow Collection represents a near-complete gathering of Dr. Barlow’s original compositions in sketches, manuscripts, manuscript facsimiles, and publications. For purposes of preservation and ease of access, Dr. Barlow’s compositions have been divided between two separate units of the Eastman School of Music:
- The Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections (RTWSC) department of the Sibley Music Library houses all extant Ozalid masters of Dr. Barlow’s original works, and also the scores and parts of those compositions scored for smaller forces (specifically, fewer than eight parts). In addition, RTWSC houses the various sketches, manuscripts, and other documents deemed to be of archival significance.
- The Ensembles Library of the Eastman School of Music houses the performing materials (scores and parts) that had been generated from the Ozalid masters of the larger-scale instrumental and choral works (specifically, those scored for eight or more parts). Those performing materials are available by addressing directly the staff of the Ensembles Library.
Owing to the circumstance that so few of the compositions were published, Dr. Barlow was obliged in most instances to assume personal oversight of the storage and distribution of the performing materials of his works. The legacy of that circumstance is manifest in the unusually high number of manuscript facsimile copies present in this collection, many of them marked with performers’ annotations, all of which would routinely have been returned to Dr. Barlow following performance use.
Bayreuth Fans (SC1998.37)
Location: M2A 6,5
.25 linear feet
Three fans autographed by performers at Bayreuth in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries. Includes an inventory of signatories.
Warren Benson Archive (ESMA 2004/10/12)
Shelf location: M3B 3,6 – 4,1-2
Physical extent: 8 linear feet
The Warren Benson Archive comprises the professional papers of Professor Warren Benson, generated in the course of his career. Professor and Mrs. Benson made an initial gift of papers in the fall of 2004; further papers will be received in the fall of 2006. Most of the materials initially received are published compositions, together with some manuscripts and also working copies bearing the composer’s annotations, corrections, and revisions. There are no restrictions on the use of the collection other than those imposed by the provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law (1976) and its revisions.
Shelf location: C3B 5,6 — 6,5
Physical extent: 20 linear feet
The collection is comprised of three areas of material: original compositions, consisting of manuscript facsimiles and published copies; a variety of personal and professional papers chronicling Mr. Bergsma’s activities; and a collection of sound recordings, the bulk privately made and a smaller number commercially released. Mr. Bergsma’s prominence as a musical academic and as a composer of the second half of the 20th-century render this collection an essential resource.
In addition, other institutions hold material relevant to Mr. Bergsma’s life and work. The Library of Congress is the primary repository of his music manuscripts. (Box 14 of the given collection holds relevant correspondence regarding Mr. Bergsma’s deposit of manuscripts with LC.) In addition, the Juilliard School of the Music and the University of Washington (Seattle) hold material relevant to Mr. Bergsma’s faculty service at each.
Clarence Bilhorn Collection (SC1998.41)
Location: M2A 6,4
.1 linear feet
The collection contains repertoire lists and some notes related to Mr. Bilhorn’s work as a choir director and director of music at East High School in Rochester. Mr. Bilhorn was also choir director at the West Avenue Methodists Church, Greece Baptist Church, and South Avenue Baptist Church. The materials date from ca. 1934 to 1947.
Thelma Biracree Collection (see Thelma Biracree Schnepel Collection)
Ernest Bloch Collection (SC1996.20)
Location: M1B 6,5
1.75 linear feet
The Bloch collection contains pedagogical material generated by Bloch during his career, together with papers pertaining to his own lifelong technical and analytic studies. He hand-copied many of the latter for posterity and use. Among his studies are a series of notebooks containing a record of Bloch’s extensive studies of counterpoint, harmony, fugue, form, and what he termed “configuration.” He also made extensive and detailed analyses of works by Bach, Beethoven, and others. The series of Bloch’s teaching materials include lecture notes, tests, and student papers from his work at the Cleveland Institute and the University of California at Berkeley, including manuscripts of students (Roger Sessions, Henry Elwell, and Randall Thompson, among others). These also include fugal studies in the students’ hands. The collection includes correspondence between Bloch and Elwell, as well as Elwell’s memoirs of Bloch.
Bloch Festschrift Collection (SC 1998.5)
Location: M2A 2,6
.1 feet
The collection contains the prospectus and a few portions of the projected festschrift, along with correspondence and other materials collected in preparation for the volume. The most significant items are the essay by Ernest Bacon on Bloch as a teacher and the correspondence, from among which the letter by Suzanne Bloch is most interesting.
Enid Knapp Botsford Collection
Location: M3B 8,2-4
7.5 linear feet
The collection contains musical scores of various ballets, annotated with choreographic markings, from the working collection of the Botsford School of Dance. Enid Knapp Botsford was the originator and organizer of the Eastman Theatre Ballet in 1923, which was housed in the facilities of the Eastman School.
Burke Sheet Music Collection (SC1995.16)
Location: M1A 3,2
1.5 linear feet
The collection represents a very fine private “piano bench” collection of popular sheet music of the first half of the twentieth century as compiled by Hazel Munger Burke (1900-1989), a talented amateur pianist and native of Rochester. It is representative of the tastes of the era and includes a typical selection of a variety of vocal and instrumental music. An area of particular interest is the period of World War I and the 1920s. Piano rags and dances are also prominent. Most of the literature in the collection was originally purchased at Neisner’s Five and Dime Store on Main St. in Rochester where a full-time pianist played all the latest hits, and where Ms. Burke regularly stopped on her way home from school and work.
Frances J. Buxton Collection
Location: M4B 7,6
.5 linear feet
The collection contains microform and photocopy reproductions and research notes on Spanish Baroque violin music. Buxton served on the faculty of Stetson University.
Cadenza Collection (SC1995.13)
Location: M1A 3,1
.25 linear feet
The collection includes forty-two imprints of cadenzas for violin concertos published predominantly during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The cadenzas are for many major works in the instrument’s repertoire. The composers of the cadenzas include many first rank and historically important virtuosos of the time. The collection will be particularly useful for the historical study of violin performance practice during the late nineteenth century.
Children’s Music Books
Location: M4B 2,1
1 linear feet
A small collection of miscellaneous music books for children, dating from the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. The collection was apparently compiled by the Sibley Music Library staff from gifts to the Library.
Frances Copthorne Collection (SC2006/8/22)
Location: M2B 5,1
.25 linear feet
The collection contains music manuscripts and other documents pertaining to the career of American composer Frances Copthorne (1894-1945). Ms. Copthorne, who was also a vocalist and pianist, was active in the musical life of Chicago from the 1920s through the early 1940s. An active member of the National League of American Pen Women, she collaborated regularly with fellow NLAPW member Francesca Falk Miller, a poet whose verse Ms. Copthorne set to music. Two highlights of her career were her 1934 White House performance before First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and her composition studies under Nadia Boulanger in 1937. The Frances Copthorne Collection was the gift of Louise Copthorne Kirtland, the sole surviving child and heiress of Frances Copthorne; the gift was facilitated by Ms. Copthorne’s nephew, Mr. Copthorne Macdonald.
Alexander Courage Collection (SC1995.10)
Location: M1A 3,4-7,8
33 linear feet
The collection contains materials from the professional and personal lives of composer Alexander Courage, including scores, scripts, sketches, notes, and recordings for films and television productions (both Courage’s original scores and his arrangement for other composers), arranged scores for pops orchestras and awards broadcasts, sheet music, personal papers, and photographs (both professional and personal). The scores in the collection are identified by type: conductor’s scores (the short or reduced scores used by orchestrators and during recording session), manuscript scores, sketches, and lead sheets (melodic line with chord symbols). Many of the scores are annotated with arranger’s markings, composer’s corrections, cuts, and references to the films.
Alexander Cringan Collection (SC1997.2)
Location: M2A 3,4
.5 linear feet
The collection contains mainly biographical information on Cringan’s life and professional career. Also included are some of his publications and genealogical material relating to the Cringan family.
Czerny Collection (SC1995.3)
Location: M1A 1,1
.75 linear feet
The collection contains numerous proof copies of piano solo works, and also chamber works with piano, of Carl Czerny (1791-1857). A number of them are annotated by the composer with corrections and marginal remarks; in addition, the collection includes many first and early editions. In addition to knowledge of the printing of Czerny’s music, specifically, the collection offers insight into early nineteenth-century music printing in Vienna.
Leon Dallin Collection (SC 1997.1)
Location: M2A 2, 4-5
6 linear feet
The Leon Dallin Collection consists of materials related to Dallin’s career as a composer — sketches, scores, parts, transparencies, and published versions of many of his works have been included to the extent possible.
Location: C3B 12,1-4
10 linear feet
The Robert Delaney Collection comprises the extant personal and professional papers of the composer and teacher Robert Delaney.
David Diamond Correspondence
Location: M3B 8,2
.5 linear feet
Correspondence between David Diamond and various persons, mostly related to music.
Dealers’ Catalogs Collection
Location: M4A 3,4-5
5 linear feet
A variety of publishers’ and dealers’ catalogs, dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Jan DeGaetani Collection
Location: A3B 1,1—2,4 (music library); A3B 2, 1-3 (vocal chamber music); A3A 4,6—5,4 (papers)
Extent: 43.5 linear feet
The Jan DeGaetani Collection is comprised of three distinct components: Ms. DeGaetani’s working library of vocal music; her collection of vocal chamber music, maintained separately; and her personal papers. The working library of solo vocal music represents Ms. DeGaetani’s personal performing and teaching collection, containing scores of oratorios and other choral works, works for orchestra with vocal soloist, operas, and songs with piano accompaniment. Many of Ms. DeGaetani’s scores are copiously annotated with performance markings; frequently, the scores bear annotations that transmit the her personal insights or preferences regarding interpretation. In addition to standard repertory, the collection includes works composed expressly for Ms. DeGaetani by colleagues, students, and admirers. The collection of vocal chamber music represents an extensive sequence of vocal music used by Ms. DeGaetani in teaching and performance, and apparently used particularly in teaching vocal chamber music at the Eastman School. The collection of personal papers includes numerous printed programs from Ms. DeGaetani’s performances (including those given at the Tanglewood Music Festival throughout her long tenure there), press clippings, recital and recording reviews, contracts, and text translations for works that she performed. Also notable among the personal papers are manuscripts of songs by the renowned composers with whom Ms. DeGaetani worked prior to her terminal illness in the late 1980s.
Carl Dengler Scrapbooks (SC1996.16)
Location: M2A 7,1
2.5 linear feet
Twelve scrapbooks compiled by native Rochesterian Carl Dengler (born Dec. 16, 1914). The scrapbooks contain press clippings, photographs, memorabilia, and ephemera. The material relates to the dance band era on the local and national level, centering on Dengler’s own activity as a dance band leader in Rochester (1927-90). Dengler started his first band in 1927 while in junior high school, and went on to become the foremost bandleader in Rochester, achieving national recognition as well. He presented a regular radio program on the local station WHAM and was also broadcast nationally. His activity centered around the Peacock Room in the Hayward Hotel in Rochester during the 1930s and 1940s. Dengler was a close associate of Alec Wilder, Howard Hanson, and many other locally and nationally prominent musicians. He maintained an informal but close relationship with Eastman School by employing many of its students and launching their careers, especially in popular and studio music. On a cassette tape included in the collection Dengler recollects many of his former bandsmen. The collection is a unique and extremely valuable resource for the study of the dance band era, local musical life, and the history of the Eastman School.
R. Nathaniel Dett Collection
Eastman School of Music Archives 000.47
Shelf location: A3A 2,3
Physical extent: 2 linear feet
The collection holds printed music composed or arranged by Nathaniel Dett, manuscript scores by Dett, and printed scores and manuscripts of works by other composers. The collection also contains ephemera including publicity flyers, printed programs, imprints from Dett’s personal library, and a published history of Niagara Falls.
Shelf location: M3B 3,5
Physical extent: 3 linear feet
The scope and significance of this collection greatly transcend the collection’s physical extent. The documents attest to the professional relationship of a mentor and his student; to the life and career of a prominent European performing artist of a now-bygone era that was extinguished by World War II; and finally, in the collection’s survival and
transmittal, to a pupil’s devotion to her mentor as embodied in her lifelong efforts to promote his legacy.
The collection contains numerous musical imprints and several manuscripts from the library of Artiss de Volt, some of which may have been owned by Alfred Holý. The scrapbooks, documents, photographs, and correspondence all reflect the illustrious career of Alfred Holý as an orchestral harpist and solo performer. With respect to the history of the harp as a solo performance instrument, perhaps the single most remarkable item in the collection is the scrapbook (box 4) that was maintained by Alfred Holý, preserving many, many press items on matters harpistic that were published in German, English, French, and Czech newspapers between 1866 and 1937. (A microfilm of the scrapbook was placed in the American Harp Society Repository, as reported by Mark Palkovic in the winter, 1981 issue of the American Harp Journal.)
Dossenbach Orchestra Collection
Location: M2A 3,6
.25 linear feet
This collection contains programs of the Dossenbach Orchestra from 1904 to 1911, and of the Rochester Orchestra from 1912 to 1919. Hermann Dossenbach was the director of both orchestras. Most performances took place in the Lyceum Theatre and Convention Hall in Rochester. See also “Rochester Conservatories” under Eastman Archives.
Henry B. Ellwanger Collection (SC1996.11)
Location: M1A 3,3
.5 linear feet
The collection contains mainly music composed by Henry B. Ellwanger (1850-1883), local Rochester executive in the Ellwanger-Barry nursery business. In business life, Mr. Ellwanger was an internationally known authority on the rose. He was also an organist and the music director of St. Andrew’s church in Rochester. The majority of the collection relates to his work as a church musician. It also includes church service bulletins, memos, and newsletters relating to St. Andrew’s. Mr. Ellwanger was also the vice-president and one of the original founders of the Rochester Oratorio Society.
Location: M3B 6,7 — 7,7
24 linear feet
The Rolande Falcinelli Archive comprises the largest body of Mme Falcinelli’s papers extant anywhere in the world, embracing the manuscripts of her creative work and also the documents reflecting the administrative aspects of her professional work. Also among the documents are pedagogical materials that she developed for use at the Paris Conservatoire; manuscripts of her unpublished works and of some of her published works; and both professional and personal correspondence. A special component of the Archive are those documents reflecting her longtime association with Marcel Dupré, attesting to their collegial relationship.
Arthur Farwell Collection (SC1995.2)
Location: M1A 1,3-2,5
21.25 linear feet
The collection contains materials from the entire range of interests of composer Arthur Farwell (1877-1952): music in both manuscript and published form by Farwell and by other composers; correspondence; diaries; literary manuscripts and libretti; study notes; drawings; and sketches, photographs, and papers relating to the Wa-Wan Press and to Farwell’s later venture with a lithographic press. The collection holds considerable value in a variety of areas on account of the breadth of Farwell’s interests, his retention of his working papers, and his important role in American music. Those areas of interest include: the music of Farwell and his protegés; the national music movement of the early twentieth-century; community music production in the U.S.; and Native American and traditional music’s influence on American music. The personal papers present interesting insights into the musical milieu of the time. His notes and writings on theosophy and spiritualism offer an example of these mystical movements on an early twentieth-century artist. The collection also contains diaries and articles written by Farwell’s mother Sara Wyer Farwell, who lectured on child education.
Fitch/Finley Collection
Location: M4A 2,6-3,2
12 linear feet
The collection contains manuscripts, publications, and recordings relating to Theodore Fitch and Lorraine Finley-Fitch of Rochester. Theodore Fitch was a member of the theory and composition faculty at the Eastman School of Music from 1928 to 1932. Lorraine was active in the preparation of song translations for publication.
Fleischer Notation Collection
Location: M2B 4,5-6
.5 linear feet
A collection of manuscript leaves from medieval and Renaissance sources, illustrating the development of musical notation. Compiled by Oskar Fleischer in the course of writing a book on notation. The collection is an outstanding teaching tool for the study of the history of musical notation from ca. 1000 to 1500.
Martin Fleming Scrapbook
Location: M2A 6,4
.25 linear inches
A scrapbook of press clippings pertaining to the violin, assembled by Martin J. Fleming in the 1880s and 1890s. cf. Fleming MSS.
Sam Forman Dance Orchestra Collection (SC1999.2)
Location: M3A 7,1-2
3 linear feet
The Sam Forman Dance Orchestra Collection contains full and partial sets of performance parts for nearly 200 popular compositions published between1910 and 1960. The sets were used by Jeno Bartal and his orchestra during their New York City performances. Most of the imprints are French or Spanish in origin.
Charles Warren Fox Collection (SC1998.76)
Location: M4A 3,6
2 linear feet
A collection of research papers, notes, manuscript transcriptions, microfilms, and other materials emanating from the work of C. W. Fox, first chairman of the department of musicology at the Eastman School of Music.
Malcolm Frager Collection (SC1995.17)
Location: M1A 8,1-M1B 3,4
63 linear feet
The collection represents a superb documentation of the career of a major twentieth-century concert artist, Malcolm Frager (1935-91). It contains two broad types of materials. The first embraces personal papers relating to Frager’s life and concert career, including programs, reviews, interviews, business contracts and correspondence, research papers and related materials. The second group of materials constitutes the early musical editions from Frager’s private library. There are approximately 1000 items, including many first and rare editions. The music is primarily from the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and for solo piano, but many chamber and orchestral works are also present. The collection is particularly strong in Schumann, Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart. The personal papers provide researchers with material for the study of the business side of a performing artist’s career. The library presents an extensive body of materials for the study of nineteenth-century piano repertoire, and especially for the study of textual traditions in music editing.
Harold L. & Ruth Garner Frank Collection (SC1996.19)
Location: M1B 6,5-6
20 linear feet
The collection contains materials from the first half of the twentieth-century pertaining to husband and wife, Harold Leslie Frank and Ruth Garner Frank, of Rochester. It contains a wide variety of Mr. Frank’s printed music and manuscripts, which are either signed or dedicated to Mrs. Frank or to her mother, Mrs. Charles Garner. In addition, the collection contains press clippings, programs, and miscellaneous ephemera. Apart from Mr. Frank’s compositions, the bulk of the collection’s material is comprised of services bulletins from various churches. Some material is related to Ruth Garner’s work as a singer. In addition, the collection contains compositions by others, primarily women from the eastern U.S.. It therefore might be of interest to those studying the works of women composers in the early 1900s.
Gannett Photograph Collection
Location: M2A 5,2
1.5 linear feet
A collection of Rochester Gannett papers’ photographs relating to musicians; the scope is ca. 1930-60. Subjects are not mainly local. Items are identified, and some are autographed.
Location: M3B 6, 1-7
14 linear feet
The collection constitutes the bulk of the creative papers of composer D. Lee Gannon, comprising his music manuscripts, sketches, publicity materials and concert programs, and other original writings.
J.C. Gebauer collection
Location: M2A 8,1-2
2.5 linear feet
A collection of published works of the Danish composer, J.C. Gebauer. The collection was compiled by and purchased from Danish agent Dan Fog.
Leopold Godowsky Collection
Location: M2A 2,6
.25 linear feet
A collection of manuscript reproductions of works by composer Leopold Godowsky.
Jacques Gordon Collection (SC994.1)
Location: M2B 8,1-2
4 linear feet
This collection is the remainder of a number of musical items purchased from Mrs. Jacques Gordon in May 1967. Much of the collection has been catalogued and is now either in circulation or among the Rare Books holdings. The remaining items comprise published scores and manuscripts of music for solo violin, string quartet, and other ensembles. A section of these are arrangements of other works for solo violin and string quartet, some of which were made by Jacques Gordon himself. Many of the items in this collection contain markings which are most likely those of Jacques Gordon and members of the Gordon String Quartet, and are evidence of musical interpretive decisions made by these musicians. The collection also contains a small box of ephemera.
Anna Walker Goss Scrapbook (SC1998.14)
Location: M2A 6,4
.25 linear feet
The collection contains one scrapbook containing press clippings and also programs of musical events in Rochester from 1912 to 1921. Ms. Goss studied piano and organ at the Eastman School of Music and served as church organist at Lake Avenue Baptist, First Unitarian Church, and First Baptist Church in Rochester. She also worked as an accompanist of silent films at Rochester’s Piccadilly Theatre in .
Percy Grainger Program Collection
Location: M2A 6,3
.5 linear feet
A collection of programs of concerts and recitals with Percy Grainger as composer, conductor, or else performer.
Earl Groner Collection
Location: M2A 8,3
.1 linear feet
A collection of photocopies of letters by famous composers, and also a photocopy of a manuscript leaf with the first sketch of Tannhäuser. The letters often refer to interesting points of musical text or interpretation.
Location: M1B 7, 5-7
3.25 linear feet
This collection mainly consists of eighteenth and nineteenth-century harp music formerly belonging to Nan Gullo. Most of the music is written for the double-action harp, an instrument which allowed for much greater virtuosity and variation than earlier harps could provide. The collection contains etudes, method books, exercises, duets, arrangements, and pieces, thereby providing any harp player with a wealth of literature and with an insight into the musical interests of society during these two centuries. It should also be noted that several of the binders collections consist of piano music which may be of interest to pianists, especially those interested in “salon” music.
Accession No. 992.6
2.0 linear feet
Ruth Hannas (b. 1893), Ph.D. 1934 from the Eastman School of Music, served as Professor of Music and as Head of the Department of Music Theory at the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina. The author of numerous published works, she was also active in several social musical projects in the 1930s and 1940s, including the Composer’s Forum and the WPA. The collection contains manuscripts and typescript drafts of original poetry, prose, novels, and articles. In addition, manifestations of two books in various stages of completion (sketches, drafts, and final manuscripts) are present.
Arthur Hartmann Collection (SC1995.4)
Location: M1A 1,2
.1 linear feet
A collection of correspondence between Arthur Hartmann (1881-1956) and numerous notable composers and performers of his time. The content of the correspondence ranges from casual personal messages to significant discussions of interpretation and performance. The musical significance of some of the correspondence is considerable, for Hartmann was a personal friend of many of the individuals as well as a very active promoter of modern music. Many American composers of the day are represented. Two significant letters in the collection were written by Arnold Schoenberg and Anton von Webern, respectively. The latter discusses some issues of performance of his Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, op. 7. (See also Arthur Hartmann Music.)
Hartmann Music Collection
Location: M2A 8,3
.25 linear feet
A collection of published arrangements and original compositions by Arthur Hartmann for violin and piano. Hartmann was an early twentieth-century violin virtuoso and, briefly, teacher at the Eastman School of Music (1921-22). (See also Arthur Hartmann Collection.)
Walter Hassler Scrapbook
Location: M2A 6,4
.25 linear feet
A scrapbook compiled by German-born pianist Walter Hassler on items of musical interest during the first four decades of the twentieth-century.
D. G. Hastings Scrapbooks (SC1998.16)
Location: M2A 3,5-6
3 linear feet
A collection of scrapbooks documenting musical events in Rochester (ca. 1875 until 1931). The scrapbooks contain programs (mostly from Rochester and Boston), newspaper articles on music, music reviews, concert announcements, and other items of general music interest.
Accession No. 9925
0.8 linear feet
Eastman faculty member Frederick Haywood (served 1924-1954) was a pioneer in voice class instruction. His Universal Song, first published in 1917, was a three-volume text on voice culture for high school students that won endorsements from many public school music educators. The collection includes press clippings, press notices, recital programs, and correspondence documenting Mr. Haywood’s career as a teacher of voice and vocal pedagogy. The collection also contains notes on vocal technique, a song index, a publication in Braille, and Mr. Haywood’s bibliography. There is also some material on the careers of Mr. Haywood’s students, many of whom became well-known artists in the 1920s and 1930s.
Newton Hoffmann Collection
Location: M4B 1,5-6
2 linear feet
A collection of personal correspondence, programs, and teaching materials of Newton Hoffman (ca. 1920-70). Hoffmann apparently was a college music teacher in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and also served as choir director for an undetermined period at the University of Bridgeport (Bridgeport, Connecticut). The bulk of the material appears to date from the 1940s.
Location: M3B 5, 1
1.5 linear feet
An open collection of materials relating to Sir Henry Bishop, together with imprints of various arrangements and paraphrases of “Home, Sweet Home”, the song which originated in the third act of Bishop’s opera Clari, or, The Maid of Milan. The collection complements the autograph manuscript of the opera, which the Sibley Music Library holds.
Paul Horgan Collection (SC1995.6)
Location: M1A 1,1
1.75 linear feet
A collection of drafts and other documents from the professional and personal life of novelist Paul Horgan (1903-95). Significantly, the collection contains manuscript drafts of his novel The Fault of Angels, a novel based on musical life (albeit thinly disguised) in and around the Eastman School of Music during Horgan’s student days at Eastman (1923-26) and his involvement thereafter with the Rochester American Opera Company. The collection traces the novel’s development, from the first draft to the author’s galleys, which bear publisher’s annotations. The collection also contains excised and revised passages from earlier drafts. The series of congratulatory telegrams in Box 6 offers insight into Horgan’s personal life and associates at the time of the book’s publication. An ancillary collection of student newsletters and concert programs provides information about Horgan’s involvement with the School and his activities, which later influenced the novel.
Henry James Hudson Collection
Location: M2A 6,4
.25 linear feet
Papers relating to the invention and patenting (1849) of the enharmonic organ by Hudson.
Robert D. Hudson Collection (Accn. no. 2007/6/5)
A collection comprised of fourteen documents, primarily music manuscripts of the Belgian-born music director, teacher, and violinist Henri Appy, together with several picture postcards of Maestro Appy and his family. Appy settled in Rochester, New York in the late 19th-century, setting up a teaching studio and becoming active in the region’s expanding musical life. In addition to his work in teaching and performing, he wrote a technical book for singers, the Vocal method for daily practice to acquire execution, flexibility, and the use of the registers, for soprano, mezzo soprano or alto (Boston: Giles, 1879). The given collection includes manuscripts of both original works and transcriptions; most are for the violin, and the earliest is dated 1851. Some published instrumental parts are also present, stamped “Henri Appy’s Musical Studio, Rochester, NY”. The collection was purchased from Mr. Robert D. Hudson (Hendersonville, North Carolina) in 2007. Acquisition of the collection was facilitated through the gracious efforts of Ms. Kathleen Holt (Rochester, New York) working with an anonymous benefactor who provided the means for the purchase.
Illustrated Music Covers
Location: M2A 7,1
.25 linear feet
A collection compiled by a dealer of illustrated covers detached from their music. Most are apparently late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century.
Inter-War European Scrapbooks
Location: M2A 6,3-4
2 linear feet
A collection of scrapbooks of musical events relating mainly to Vienna and Prague in the 1920s and 1930s. Provenance not indicated.
Italian Arrangements Collection (SC1996.13)
Location: M1B 4,3-5,1
14 linear feet
A collection of Italian origin and unknown provenance, consisting of early twentieth-century manuscript arrangements of mainly Italian vocal music of the high Renaissance and early Baroque, with a substantial amount of material from the choral, symphonic, and operatic work of well-known composers from later periods. The arrangements are for an ensemble based on piano and harmonium, with violin and cello appearing frequently. The collection is valuable both for the study of editorial and arrangement, and for possible performance.
Italian Vocal Manuscripts (SC1996.12)
Location: M1B 3,5-4,2
8 linear feet
A collection of several hundred late eighteenth-century manuscript copies of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century vocal works (mainly Italian). The collection includes entire works as large as operas and smaller works or individual arias from larger works. The genres represented are operas, solo and ensemble cantatas, and arias. The collection is particularly valuable for performance and for the study of Italian vocal music of the period.
Italian Vocal Manuscripts II (SC1997.4)
Location: M2A 1, 4 – 5
3 linear feet
This collection of some 120 items consists of early nineteenth-century scribal manuscripts. Many of these include items from copyists’ shops contemporary with the earliest editions, including arias and romanze by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Crescentini, Gazzaniga, Paisiello, Jommelli, Mercadante, Pavesi, Buzzola, and others. It also includes autograph manuscripts of Carlo Pedrotti’s opera La Fiorinna and R. Zardo’s Aci e Galatea and parts of N. Zardo’s La vedova scaltra. Some items were originally bound together and originate from the collections of Amalia Astori Duodo and Matilda Murari Brà. Most of the manuscripts are for one or two voices with keyboard accompaniments. A few are in full orchestral score and have been indicated as such. The scores are largely unmarked.
J Y Minstrels Collection
Location: M2A 6,6
.1 linear feet
This collection contains music and programs related to the Rochester musical group J Y Minstrels. The shows were produced by Mark and Edwyn Ruda, with Herbert Zahn acting as music arranger (see Herbert Zahn Collection and Avon Rotary Minstrels Collection).
David James Photographs (SC1998.51)
Location: M2A 8,2
.25 linear feet
Photographs collected by David James of famous musicians of mid-twentieth century, mostly autographed.
Accession No. 992.3
6 linear feet
Gomer Jones (1911-1977), composer and teacher, was educated at the University of Wales and later at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned the degree M.M. in composition (1936). He served on the faculty of Michigan State University. His papers are comprised of the sketches, final copies, and (in some instances) published copies of his original works. In addition to the latter, the collection contains a library of his books, scores of works by other composers, notes on various projects, and materials from his university courses.
Milan Kaderavek Collection (SC 2003/5/25)
Shelf location: M2B 3,3
3 linear feet
The collection contains scores of original instrumental, vocal, and choral works by Dr. Kaderavek. The collection also holds photographs, programs, publicity and personal documents. The latter offer insight not only into Dr. Kaderavek’s own career, but also into the broader field of composition in the U.S. from the mid-twentieth century to the present.
Harry Kaufman Collection
Location: M4B 2,3
1 linear foot
A collection of printed and manuscript arrangements of music representing the working library of Harry Kaufman, cantor of a Rochester-area synagogue.
Bernhard Kaun Collection (SC1998.56)
Location: M2A 8,4
1 linear foot
Manuscripts and manuscript reproductions of works by Kaun, including his Romantic Symphony, Sinfonia Concertante for solo horn, and other pieces. The collection also contains three LP recordings of the Romantic Symphony.
Location: M3A 6
14 linear feet
The manuscripts and personal papers of composer Homer Keller (d. 1996), a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (BM 1937, MM 1938). Keller went on to serve on the faculties of the University of Michigan and the University of Oregon.
Accession No. 994.4
7 linear feet
Jessie Hoskam Kneisel (1904-1992), Ph.D., a native of Rochester, New York, was educated at the University of Rochester and at Columbia University. During her forty years’ service on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music, she taught courses in beginning German, German diction, German literature, and German opera. Her papers are a rich assembly of professional and personal documents, including her student notes and papers, her course materials, professional and personal correspondence, datebooks, papers from her extensive travels abroad, and articles that she retained for reference. Of special interest, her papers include the correspondence that preceded the founding and naming of the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Prize at the Eastman School of Music.
Krehbiel Pamphlet Collection
Location: M2B 4,4
.75 linear feet
The collection consists of miscellaneous pamphlets remaining from the library of H.E. Krehbiel, which the Sibley Music Library purchased in the early 1920s. The majority of the pamphlets are ethnological in content, particularly on the subject of Native American music.
Boris Kremenliev Collection (SC1996.18)
Location: M4A 4,1 – M4B 3,3
100 linear feet
A collection of music manuscripts, research notes and papers, tapes, books, and other materials documenting the ethnomusicological studies of Bulgarian-born ethnomusicologist Boris Kremenliev (1911-88), an alumnus of the Eastman School of Music (PhD 1942). The materials relate principally to native Bulgarian music, while a smaller body of materials is concerned with other Slavic musics. The collection also contains numerous original compositions in the classical tradition, as well as folk-song arrangements.
Friedrich Kuhlau Collection
Location: M2A 5,3-6,1
9 linear feet
Several hundred first and early editions of F. Kuhlau, compiled by and purchased from Danish agent Dan Fog. Includes a catalog printed by Fog.
Paul Henry Lang Articles (SC1996.6)
Location: M1B 6,1
1 linear foot
The scrapbooks include reviews of musical life in New York City during 1954-1963, and essays by Paul Henry Lang (1901-1991), primarily on music and its place in civilization. Particularly interesting are the letters to the editor from readers concerning their positive and negative opinions of Lang’s work, together with Lang’s responses to them
Richard Lansing Collection
Location: M2A 6,3
.25 linear feet
The collection holds the manuscript and revised manuscript of Richard Lansing’s History of Music in Rochester, which was completed ca. 1909. The history extends back to the first half of the nineteenth-century. A family autograph album relating to musicians from the late nineteenth-century is also included. Mr. Lansing (1849-?) was born in Rochester and worked as the official stenographer in the county court. He had a variety of musical interests.
Dorothea Dix Lawrence Collection
Location: M3A 3,4
.70 linear feet
A collection of programs, photographs, press clippings, and music imprints from the papers of American soprano and folklorist Dorothea Dix Lawrence (1899-1979). Also included is a copy of her published collection Folklore-Songs of the United States, with its accompanying Folklore Music Map of the United States, and a CD-format service copy of a talk on Miss Lawrence’s career, given by her son Morgan Lawrence at the Eastman School of Music on August 3, 2000.
Alexander Leventon Collection (SC1995.11)
Location: M1A 2,7-3,1
5.1 linear feet
A collection of prints and negatives by internationally recognized photographer Alexander Leventon (1896-1950). The collection contains 42 original prints, the majority of which are signed by Mr. Leventon and mounted. Also included are 53 original negatives, 140 copy prints and 96 copy negatives. The subjects of the portraits are primarily musicians associated with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Eastman School of Music. In 1922 Mr. Leventon immigrated from Russia to the U.S., where he worked as a violinist with the New York Symphony. A year later he moved to Rochester to assume the position of concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic, a post he held until 1944.
LC Music Classification Materials
Location: M2A 6,6
.25 linear feet
Papers relating to the development of the M classification at the Library of Congress, ca. 1920. Possibly originated with Oscar G. Sonneck.
Librettos
Location: M4A 3,3
5 linear feet
A collection of opera librettos of primarily American origin, dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. New York Metropolitan Opera imprints comprise a large proportion of the collection.
Local History Scrapbook #1
Location: M2A 3,3
.1 linear feet
Covering the years 1904-12, the scrapbook includes programs and clippings from newspapers and magazines, as well as programs, predominantly of concerts in Rochester.
Local History Scrapbook #2
Location: M2A 3,2
.1 linear feet
Covering the years ca. 1900-15, the scrapbook includes programs and newspaper clippings relating to musical events primarily in Rochester, and also in New York City, Boston, and Chicago.
Local History Scrapbook #3
Location: M2A 3,4
.1 linear feet
Covering the years 1871-79, the scrapbook contains items relating to musical events primarily in Rochester, and also in New York City and Boston. Several items relating to the early concerts of the Rochester Philharmonic Society are included.
Accession No. 000.65
.5 linear feet
Canadian-born Ethel Codd Luening (1906-1979) received a full three-year scholarship to attend the Eastman School of Music during Vladimir Rosing’s stint as opera director. After receiving a Certificate in Opera, Mrs. Luening appeared as a recitalist and operatic performer throughout the USA and Canada; she later performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Town Hall (New York City), the Yaddo Music Festival, and the Bennington Festival (Bennington College, Vermont). She was a leading soprano in performances of Mozart operas under such conductors as Eugene Goossens, Guy Fraser Harrison, and Otto Luening. In 1927 she married German-born composer and conductor Otto Clarence Luening (1900-1996); the marriage ended in divorce in 1959. Her papers are comprised of recital programs and opera programs; copies of reviews of performances and recordings; press photographs and advertisements; copies of press articles; correspondence; and color reproductions of some of Mrs. Luening’s paintings. Mrs. Luening’s added handwritten annotations lend an added autobiographical narrative to the documents.
Accession No. 000.11
2 linear feet
Composer W. Francis McBeth (1933-2012) was educated at Hardin-Simmons University, at the University of Texas, and at the Eastman School of Music. He served on the faculty of Ouachita University (Arkadelphia, Arkansas), where he was both Resident Composer and Chairman of the Department of Theory and Composition. From 1969 until 1973 he was conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. As composer, Dr. McBeth chiefly wrote for band and for wind orchestra. He was the author of Effective Performance of Band Music (1972), and New Theories of Theory (1979). The collection is comprised of bound manuscript copies of approximately half of Dr. McBeth’s numbered works. The collection also contains a number of published copies, as well as a series of recordings under the title McBeth Conducts McBeth.
Accession No. 992.1
6.25 linear feet
Allen Irvine McHose (1902-1986) served the Eastman School of Music in several capacities: professor (served 1927-1967), associate director, and director of the summer session. These papers pertain primarily to his career as a professor of music theory, consisting of articles, theory papers, class lectures and notes, history papers, correspondence, biographical information, compositions, and books. A large portion of the collection demonstrates McHose’s interest in the so-called quantitative approach to music theory that was current in the 1950s. Several papers show the literal counting and charting of chord types and non-harmonic tones in McHose’s works, as well as in those of his students and colleagues. In addition, there is considerable material on the stylistic traits of 18th- and 19th-century Russian composers, a number of classroom lectures and exercises, and unpublished compositions and arrangements by McHose and by others.
Accession No. 991.2
.5 linear feet
Educated at Syracuse University (B.M., 1921), George MacNabb (1899-1960) taught piano and piano pedagogy at the Eastman School of Music from 1923 until his death. Alongside his Eastman School service, he also served for 15 years as head of the piano department of the David Hochstein School of Music (Rochester, New York). As a public speaker, he gave lectures to many groups, clubs, colleges, and national music organizations. As a performer, he made solo appearances and concerto appearances in numerous cities in the USA and in Canada, and was also a member of the duo Weiss and MacNabb. As a writer, he was author of a book on piano pedagogy, and also a regular contributor to such journals as Etude, Musical Courier, and Southwestern Musician. The collection contains the texts of class lectures and of speeches on various aspects of piano playing and teaching; chapters for his book on piano pedagogy; and lists of graded teaching materials. Most of the materials are in typescript with annotations added in Professor MacNabb’s hand in ink or in pencil.
Holon Matthews Collection (SC1996.15)
Location: M4A 1,2-5
5 linear feet
The collection contains manuscripts of composer Holon B. Matthews (1904-93). Matthews studied with Eugene Goossens, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson at the Eastman School, where he received the Ph.D. in 1948. He taught piano at several institutions and subsequently served as professor at Western Michigan University (1948-73). The music included is in the classical tradition and includes works for large and small ensemble.
Musical Autographs Collection
Location: M2B 4,7
.5 linear feet
Autographs of musicians, mainly composers, from nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Most are signed first page of holograph manuscript.
Music Periodicals
Location: M4B 1,6-7
2.5 linear feet
Random issues of music periodicals, primarily American imprints from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Nazi Imprints Collection
Location: M2A 7,2-6
12 linear feet
Music imprints originating in Germany during the years of the Third Reich. Material of this kind was collected by the Library of Congress after the end of WWII; duplicate copies were thereafter distributed to other libraries, by which means the Sibley Music Library received this collection.
Henry B. Neejer Collection (SC1996.23)
Location: M1B 7,7
.5 linear feet
A collection of music by the upstate New York harpist Henry B. Neejer. The collection also includes a recording of Neejer playing.
Jerome Neff Collection
Location: M2A 6,6
.25 linear feet
Manuscripts by Jerome Neff, possibly a Rochester-area composer.
Carl Nielsen Collection (SC1998.1)
Location: M2A 3,1-2
1.5 linear feet
Miscellaneous music imprints, books, clippings, and other items from the Carl Nielsen collection compiled by and purchased from Danish agent Dan Fog. The bulk of the Nielsen collection was cataloged and dispersed throughout the Sibley Music Library’s circulating collection. This smaller collection includes a catalog of the collection by Fog.
Arne Oldberg Collection (SC1996.22)
Location: M1B 6,6-7
1.75 linear feet
The collection includes imprints and reproductions of music by composer and pianist Arne Oldberg (1874-1962), together with scrapbooks, clippings, reproductions of programs, and related materials. The collection is of particular interest to those studying American composers in the first half of the twentieth-century. It contains scores of 49 of Oldberg’s works, many of them published, and also contains the music for works for piano, orchestra, violin, cello, and horn. Also included are concert programs featuring performances of Oldberg’s works.
Ottolenghi-Clivio Collection (SC1998.2)
Location: M2A 4,1
1 linear feet
The collection constitutes an excellent group of photographs of both major and minor opera singers and conductors from the tum-of-the century. The ephemera also include interesting memorabilia relating to opera of the time.
Louis Ouzer Photographs (SC1998.21)
Location: M2A 4,5-6
.75 linear feet
A selection of photographic prints, mainly portraits, by Rochester photographer Louis Ouzer, who served for decades as the de facto photographer of the Eastman School of Music. Many of the prints relate to Eastman or are of famous musicians.
John Rowe Parker Collection (SC1995.14)
Location: M1A 3,2
.5 linear feet
The collection contains correspondence and documents relating to the business activities and personal life of John Rowe Parker (1777-1844), who was a merchant, music dealer, and publisher active in Boston. The material provides an excellent overview of an early nineteenth-century music merchant. It is pertinent to the study of early American music and early American history in general. Items of particular significance are letters from Lowell Mason, Thomas Hastings, Gottlieb Graupner, and Stewart and Chickering.
Edith May Parks Scrapbook
Location: M2A 3,4
.1 linear feet
A scrapbook containing programs and press clippings relating to musical events in Rochester from 1889 to 1919. Many of the programs bear critical annotations by Ms. Parks on the performances.
Richard Pearlman Collection
Location C4A 16,1—17,7
42 linear feet
The Richard Pearlman Collection is comprised of the working papers of Mr. Pearlman (1938-2006), Artistic Director of Eastman Opera Theater (served 1976-95) pertaining to the numerous operatic productions that he directed at the Eastman School of Music. The collection contains detailed production notebooks, photographs and slides from many of the productions, and annotated piano-vocal scores of the numerous operas that he directed. The production notebooks are an especially detailed source of production-specific information, containing notes on plot revisions, technical staging and lighting information, set designs, copies of press reviews, translations of libretti, correspondence, and Mr. Pearlman’s director’s notes. In addition to the documentation of Mr. Pearlman’s directorial work, the collection is especially valuable as a source of photographic coverage of Eastman operatic productions for nearly two full decades.
Alfred Phillips Scrapbook (SC 1998.61)
Location: M2A 8,6
.1 linear foot
Scrapbook of Alfred Phillips, late nineteenth-century English music publisher. The scrapbook served as an autograph album and is noteworthy for its inclusion of several letters from Charles Gounod.
Burrill Phillipps Collection
Location: M4A 4,4-6,2
22 linear feet
Music manuscripts, recordings, notes, press clippings, and programs documenting the career of composer and Eastman School alumnus Burrill Phillipps (1907-88).
Pougin Iconography Collection
Location: M2A 5,2
1 linear foot
Iconography compiled by Arthur Pougin, separated from his library when that was purchased by the Sibley Music Library. Includes prints of nineteenth-century musical personages.
Pougin Pamphlet Collection
Location: M2A 3,2
.25 linear feet
A collection of pamphlets and offprints in French — apparently from the Pougin collection — treating musical subjects. From the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
RPO Press Releases
Location: M4A 2,3
.25 linear feet
A collection of press releases, miscellaneous programs, and some historical materials relating to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (ca. 1920-85).
Channing Robbins Collection (SC1997.7)
Location: M2A 1,5
.5 linear inches
Channing Robbins taught cello at the Juilliard School of Music and studied with Demeterius Dounis, a cellist renowned for instruction in bowing technique. The collection includes twenty manuscript leaves of notes taken by Robbins while studying with Dounis during the period 1947-48. The previous owners believed that the manuscript music illustrations are in the hand of Dounis himself. Also included are three items of correspondence between Robbins and Nadia Boulanger.
Rochester Civic Music Association Scrapbooks (SC1996.4)
Location: 3OSL AA4B 1,1-2,8
9 linear feet
The collection consists mainly of annual scrapbooks of the Civic Music Association, which sponsored both the Civic Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. The materials cover the period from the beginnings of the Rochester Philharmonic, 1923, to approximately 1975. The clippings comprise concert announcements, articles on performances and performers, performance reviews, and CMA-related issues (fundraising, society events, contract disputes with the orchestra, etc.). Several of the scrapbooks are dedicated in large part to specific issues. See also “Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Inc. Scrapbooks.”
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Inc. Scrapbooks (SC1996.5)
Location: OSL AA3B 5,1-9
1.5 linear feet
A collection of annual scrapbooks of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, containing press clippings (1975-86). The clippings comprise concert announcements, articles on performances and performers, performance reviews, and RPO-related issues (fundraising, board issues, etc.). The collection effectively represents a continuation of the Rochester Civic Music Association [CMA] scrapbooks.
Rochester Philharmonic Society Collection
Location: M2A 4,1
.1 linear feet
A collection of programs and clippings of the Rochester Philharmonic Society (ca. 1866-81). The Society’s performances featured one of Rochester’s earliest orchestras under the direction of conductor and violinist Henri Appy. Most of the programs pertain to performances given in Rochester’s Corinthian Hall; a few programs are from a tour to Toronto in 1881.
J. C. Rodenbeck Collection
Location: M2A 7,6
.1 linear feet
The collection contains imprints and music manuscripts of J. C. Rodenbeck (1867-1954), who was by profession a banker but who also played the violin and piano, and composed music. A phonograph record was made of his Dorothy Waltzes. His Fredrica Waltzes, which were dedicated to his mother, were left unpublished at his death. Two of his songs, “Eyes of Azure Blue” and “Dark Eyes”, were based on poems by Rochester poet T. T. Swinburne. The collection also contains a few items of ephemera, including two notices of singing schools dated 1776 and 1837, respectively.
Richard Rodgers Collection
Location: M2A 8,4
.1 linear foot
Manuscripts for two songs, probably in the hand of Richard Rodgers while serving as camp counselor at Camp Paradox at age 18. Also included are some reproductions.
Bernard Rogers Collection (SC1998.64)
Location: M2B 4,4
1 linear foot
Composer Bernard Rogers (1893-1968) served on the composition faculty of the Eastman School of Music from 1929 until 1967. He studied at the Institute of Musical Arts in New York and was a pupil of Ernest Bloch and Nadia Boulanger. He composed orchestral and chamber works, works for chorus, and operas. This collection contains numerous printed miniature scores of other composers’ music – primarily orchestral works, many annotated with Rogers’ analytical markings.
John Leman Rogers Collection (SC1996.3)
Location: M1B 5,2
1 linear feet
The collection contains 25 holograph manuscripts of works by English composer John Leman Rogers (1780-1847). It includes madrigals and glees, psalms and anthems, and a few pieces of service music; it also includes 31 music imprints, 30 of which are works by other composers and either inscribed or dedicated to Rogers. The collection is of particular interest for those studying nineteenth-century English choral music.
Robert Rosevear Collection (SC1997.9)
Location: M1B 8,1
1 linear foot
The collection represents in large part the material used by Rosevear during the course of his years of study prior to and at Eastman School of Music. As such, it provides a good documentation of the pedagogical material and solo repertoire typical of instruction in the horn at a major music school in the United States during the mid-twentieth century.
Lucile Johnson Rosenbloom Collection (SC1998.27)
Location M2A 6,1-2
1.5 linear feet
The collection contains harp music imprints and manuscripts from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The repertory represented includes etudes, concertos, character pieces, and methods. Some of the collection items are known in only a few copies. The collection represents music from the library of Lucile Johnson Rosenbloom, and also items purchased by the Sibley Music Library with donations from her.
Peter Sacco Collection (SC1996.17)
Location: M8A 1,1-2
1 linear foot
Reproductions of manuscripts and some tape recordings of compositions by P. Peter Sacco, alumnus of the Eastman School of Music.
Katy Jane Schantz Scrapbook
Location: M2A 3,2
.1 linear feet
One scrapbook (covering ca. 1930-50), containing general musical ephemera and some items of local Rochester connection. Many of the clippings highlight famous performing artists of the day.
Ludwig Schenck Collection
Location: M2A 3,6
.25 linear feet
The collection contains programs of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra (or Symphony Orchestra) from 1901 to 1925 with Ludwig Schenck as conductor. A few programs are of performances in which Mr. Schenck performed as violinist. See also “Rochester Conservatories” under Eastman School of Music Archives.
Thelma Biracree Schnepel Collection (SC1995.9)
Location: M1A 1,2
.5 linear feet
The collection contains 34 ballet scores used as a part of Howard Hanson’s Festivals of American Music at the Eastman School of Music. Most of the scores are annotated in pencil with choreographic notes by Thelma Biracree Schnepel. In addition to her work in the Festivals, Ms. Biracree Schnepel oversaw the Thelma Biracree School of Ballet in association with the Eastman School of Music during the Eastman School’s early years.
Location: M2B 3, 5-6
5 linear feet
The manuscripts of composer and Eastman School alumnus John LaMontaine (b. 1920), together with numerous manuscript reproductions and recordings of LaMontain’s compositions. John LaMontaine was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1959 for his Piano Concerto No. 1. The collection was given to the Sibley Music Library by LaMontaine’s business associate Paul J. Sifler.
The John F. Sengstack Archives of Music Publishing
Location: M2B 1,1-3,5
30 linear feet
An extensive collection of files and microfilms documenting the activities and publications of the Birch Tree Group of music publishers, which included Summy-Birchard, Southwestern, A. P. Schmidt, and others, as well as artistic management services and Folkways Records. In 1989 the Birch Tree Group was sold to Warner/Cappell Music. (A more detailed description and Finding Aid are available on-site in the Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections.)
Sheet Music Project (SC1996.2)
Location: M2A 8,5
2 linear feet
The sheet music addressed by this project represented some 300 to 400 items selected from the Library’s popular sheet music collection. Those items were cataloged in a pilot sheet music cataloging project, and have been maintained as a separate collection.
Donald J. Shetler Collection
Eastman School of Music Archives 000.114
Location: A3A 1,3
A collection of writings by Eastman School of Music Professor Emeritus Donald J. Shetler, retired Professor of Music Education (1965-88) and former chair of the Music Education Department. Active in performance, conducting, and research, Dr. Shetler is internally recognized for his research in pre-natal musical response, and was one of the pioneers in the use of computer data analysis in music. The given collection contains texts of numerous of Dr. Shetler’s published articles, together with a certain amount of unpublished material, including typescript reports, reports of symposia, and grant proposals.
Oscar G. Sonneck Collection
Location: M2A 8,4
.1 linear feet
A small number of sheet music imprints signed by O. G. Sonneck
Alfred Spouse Albums (SC1998.25)
Location: M2A 6,6
.5 linear feet
Two scrapbooks relating to the 1955 retirement of Alfred Spouse, director of music education for the Rochester School district for 35 years. The scrapbooks contain congratulatory notes from colleagues, friends, and others from the music community, accompanied by photographs.
Charlotte Stafford Collection (SC1995.15)
Location: M1A 3,2-3
l.5 linear feet
Represents the working collection of Charlotte Stafford (1886-1970), an accompanist of silent film in Rochester during the 1920s, the collection consists mainly of sheet music. Included are vocal and piano imprints, anthologies of dance tunes, ukulele songs, war songs, and pedagogical books. The bulk of the music dates from 1910 to 1927, with the majority of items published in New York. Miss Stafford compiled some of the material into silent-film cue books.
String Antiquarian Catalogs
Location: M2A 8,6
.25 linear feet
A small collection of catalogs of dealers in antiquarian string instruments, dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Olga Tremelli Collection
Location: M4B 2,3
1 linear foot
A collection containing primarily sheet music performed by opera singer Olga Tremelli (1880-?). The collection also contains a small amount of photographs, press clippings, programs, and ephemera.
Tuesday Musicale Collection
Location: M2A 3,342
2 linear feet
The collection contains programs, correspondence, and clippings of the local Rochester Tuesday Musicale, covering the years ca. 1890 through 1925. The Tuesday Musicales were organized and run by a committee of Rochester women. The performances began as social activities in various homes, and eventually grew to become an annual concert season that was scheduled in various Rochester theaters. Correspondence includes requests for engagements from various artist management bureaus, with promotional brochures on contemporary artists.
Accession No. 992.2
6 linear feet
Violist and pedagogue Francis Tursi (1922-1991) was educated at the Curtis Institute of Music (Diploma) and at the Eastman School of Music (B.M. in composition; B.M. in viola performance). He served as professor of viola at the Eastman School from 1947 until 1987. In 1976 he received the Eastman School’s Eisenhart Awarded for Excellence in Teaching. During his Eastman tenure he was the violinist in several resident ensembles: the Kilbourn Quartet, the Eastman String Quartet, the Eastman Trio, the Eastman Piano Quartet (of which he was the founding member), and the New England Piano Quartet (founding member). The collection constitutes a body of published string music that was owned and used by Professor Tursi, all bearing his performance markings. Most of the music is for the viola, with a smaller number of items for the violin. Numerous items are accompanied by program notes, correspondence, or other documents.
Universal Edition-Kurt Weill Archives (SC1998.4)
Location: M2A 4,7-5,1
3 linear feet
A collection of original manuscripts in the hand of Kurt Weill, placed on deposit at the Sibley Music Library by Universal-Edition (Vienna). The collection includes the autograph manuscript of his Dreigroschenoper (Threepenny Opera).
Lillian Utz Scrapbook
Location: M2A 6,5
.25 linear feet
A scrapbook compiled by Lillian Utz, documenting musical events in Germany between 1900 and 1910.
Accession No. 991.3
.5 linear feet
Born in Arad, Hungary (now Romania), pianist and pedagogue Sandor Vas (1884-1972) studied at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig, Germany, where he received the Diploma. In 1906 he was appointed to the faculty of the Conservatory in Budapest, where he served as principal piano teacher. In 1923 he was appointed to the faculty of the Eastman School of Music, serving until his retirement in 1954. Throughout his teaching career he remained active as a performer, appearing as a chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and soloist in recitals and orchestral concerts throughout Europe, Russia, the USA, and Canada. The rank of Professor Emeritus was conferred on him upon his retirement from the Eastman School faculty. He died in Rochester, New York. The collection is comprised of many programs from Vas’ concerts between 1904 and 1940. In addition, numerous press clippings and press notices, photos, and some other documents are also present. N.B. The RTWSC Letter File contains one dozen letters to Mr. Vas from musical luminaries of the early 20th century, including Hamilton Harty, Bela Bartok, and Josef Szigeti.
William L. Viner Collection (SC1996.1)
Location: M1A 3,3
.5 linear feet
The collection contains two bound manuscript volumes, one consisting of organ music copied and compiled by William L. Viner (1790-1867), and the other containing vocal service music composed by Viner. The rest of the collection consists of keyboard and vocal music – in individual autograph manuscripts, or smaller unbound manuscript collections – and ten imprints. The bulk of this material was composed by Viner. Viner was a church organist in England, primarily at Bath and at Penzance; he studied with Charles Wesley, Jr. The collection is of special interest to those researching Anglican service music and keyboard music in the cycle of keys.
A. J. Warner Collection (SC1996.7)
Location: M1B 5,2-5
5 linear feet
The collection includes scrapbooks and papers of A. J. Warner (1884-1965), a journalist and also theater and music critic for the Rochester Times-Union. The collection includes Mr. Warner’s personal scrapbooks containing clippings featuring his reviews (1923-38). A significant number of scrapbooks contain reviews by other authors of performances in Rochester and New York from around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection also contains a group of loose programs, mostly from Rochester and New York; a significant amount of those programs are from Rochester’s Lyceum Theatre, which was owned by Mr. Warner’s grandfather. Mr. Warner was also a personal friend of Wallis Warfield Simpson, later to become the Duchess of Windsor, and several items of their correspondence are included.
Frank Warren Collection
Location: M2A 8,2-3
.1 linear feet
A collection of scrapbooks and loose press clippings dating from ca. 1920-1950, relating to musical events in New York City. The press clippings originate in a variety of sources; for the most part, the scrapbooks contain programs. Mr. Warren was apparently music reporter for New York Evening World.
Edward N. Waters Collection
Location: M1B 6,7-7,5
21 linear feet
The collection includes primary sources of Edward Waters (1906-1991) documenting his research on Franz Liszt. Waters, a musicologist, served as chief of the Music Division, Library of Congress, from 1972 to 1976. In addition to photocopies and reproductions of letters and compositions, the collection contains Waters’ own transcriptions and translations of portions of the correspondence. Of the latter, most significant are those relating to Liszt’s correspondence with Countess Sayn-Wittgenstein. Waters’ working papers constitute significant secondary resource material. A bibliographic file of editions of Liszt’s music is of potential value for the study of chronology and publication history. Correspondence between Waters and Liszt’s relatives, as well as with other scholars, offers a significant body of information pertinent to the field. The collection also includes typescripts of Waters’ articles and essays, and a card file bibliography on Liszt research which includes some material not generally found in the literature. (Finding Aid Available)
Location: C1B 13, 5-8
7 linear feet
The Frederick Westphal Papers are comprised of a large extent of documents that attest to Dr. Westphal’s professional contributions to music through his teaching, arranging, and editing. The most extensive series within the collection is that which contains manuscripts, most of which are manuscripts or facsimiles of manuscripts of band arrangements. The collection also contains much of the correspondence that Dr. Westphal maintained, in his capacity as a Consulting Editor for W. C. Brown Publishing Company, with the authors of various textbooks as they were in production. In addition, other documents shedding light on aspects of Dr. Westphal’s life and work are photographs, correspondence, awards, press items, program notes, and concert programs.
Accession No. 993.12
3 linear feet
Composer Donald H. White (b. 1921) was born in Narberth, Pennsylvania and studied at Temple University and at the Philadelphia Conservatory. He served in World War II as a B-17 navigator and received the Air Medal and two Oak Leaf Clusters for “exceptionally meritorious achievement while participating in 15 separate bomber combat missions over enemy occupied continental Europe.” On March 26th, 1944, his plane was shot down while he was serving his 19th mission over Germany and France; he was captured and was held in a prison camp for 13 months. After the War’s end he completed his studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied composition under Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers (M.M., 1947 and Ph.D., 1952). Dr. White served on the faculties of De Pauw University (1947-1981) and Central Washington University (1981-1990). The collection is comprised of masters, holographs, and sketches of many of his original compositions scored for various performing forces, including works for band, for orchestra, for chorus, and for various types of chamber ensembles.
Edna White Collection (SC 2003.1)
Shelf location: M3B 2,1-2
Extent: 6 linear feet
The Edna White Collection comprises the professional and personal papers of the trumpeter, composer, and author Edna White (1892-1992). The bulk of the collection is divided between manuscripts of White’s musical compositions and literary works and recordings of performances by White and other artists. White’s career as a woman trumpeter-unusual at that time-is well documented in a series of articles spanning the years 1916-1992. The Edna White Collection was placed on deposit at the Sibley Music Library in February, 2003 by Susan Fleet, to whom Edna White’s heirs-Ret. Col. Edward White, Cynthia (White) Dixon and her husband Thomas Dixon-bequeathed White’s papers and effects. Edward and Cynthia are the children of H. (Herbert) Edward White, Edna’s only brother, and Ida (Bisbee) White, New England Conservatory graduate and trombonist in the Edna White Brass Quartet. Use of the collection is restricted to research purposes, and the provisions of the United States Copyright Law (1976) and its revisions do apply. The written permission of the Depositor must be obtained for citation and for photocopying.
Fred Wilbur Collection
Location: M4B 2,2
1.5 linear feet
Diagrammed analyses of operas, for the most part operas by Wagner. The analyses reflect an idiosyncratic method of motivic and structural analysis. The collection also contains two scrapbooks of theatrical programs from the early twentieth-century, mostly from the Buffalo area.
Alec Wilder Archive [In progress]
The Alec Wilder Archive constitutes an open collection of manuscripts, printed music, recordings, and other materials documenting the life and work of composer Alec Wilder (1907-80). Mr. Wilder composed in a wide variety of musical genres, from pop tunes to chamber music to opera. He was a native Rochesterian, born into an family whose wealth is evidenced by the Wilder Building located in downtown Rochester. Mr. Wilder studied at the Eastman School of Music in the 1920s, but left without finishing his degree; the University of Rochester eventually awarded him an honorary degree in 1973. He was a longtime friend of Rochester photographer Lou Ouzer. Mr. Wilder’s writings include the book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950 (1972). His book Letters I Never Mailed (1975) contains his observations on the Eastman School of Music. (Finding Aid Available)
E. Maude Wilson Collection (SC1996.14)
16 linear feet
Approximately 250 volumes of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century music for piano solo and piano four-hands. The bulk of the collection dates from the half-century between 1850 and 1900, and many imprints are first and early editions. The collection includes extensive representation of the works of many major composers and a very wide variety of minor composers. The collection was received as a gift of E. Maude Wilson in 1969, but further provenance is unknown.
Women Composers Collection (SC1995.5)
Location: M1A 2,5-7
8.5 linear feet
This collection resulted from a project by students at Rowe Elementary School (Rowe, Massachusetts), who solicited scores and recordings of original works from a number of women composers. The collection contains a number of scores (mostly reproductions from the composers’ manuscripts), many with accompanying recordings on tape, CD, videotape, or LP. Also included are the composers’ biographical data, resumés, and letters sent in response to the elementary school students who solicited the materials. In addition to providing access to the music of these composers, the collection offers information about their careers, training, and compositional processes.
Women Composers Collection II (SC2004/8/23)
Shelf location: M2B 3,4
3 linear feet
Directly following on the experience reflected in the Women Composers Collection, this second collection is a manifestation of the interest of the students of composer and music instructor Edward J. Hines. Mr. Hines’ students wrote to numerous composers to solicit copies of their music, and the given collection embodies the composers’ responses in both scores and audio recordings of compositions. The collection was the generous gift of Mr. Hines in 2004.
Raymond Huntington Woodman Collection (SC1995.1)
Location: M1A 2,5
.25 linear feet
The collection contains correspondence and some other ephemera, pertinent to the professional life of Raymond Huntington Woodman (1861-1943), organist at the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn. The documents provide an insight into the daily routine of an active professional musician during the first half of the twentieth-century.
World War Two Sheet Music Collection (SC1995.7)
Location: M1A 1,1-2
1.25 linear feet
The collection contains over 500 items of popular sheet music published during World War II. Thematically, all relate specifically to the war or are of a general patriotic tenor. The material bears on American popular music, as well as music in society; it is further of value for the study of that period in history.
Herbert Zahn Collection
Location: M2A 6,6
.5 linear feet
A former president of RG&E in Rochester, Mr. Zahn was also a pianist and director of the RG&E chorus. This collection contains a variety of materials from Mr. Zahn’s musical activities, including engagement books for various ensembles in which he participated, and music performed by the RG&E chorus. Mr. Zahn also participated in the Avon Rotary shows and JY Minstrals productions (see under Special Collections, Organizations).
Unprocessed Collections
Gordon Binkerd Papers
Location: M4A 2,5-6
6 linear feet
The manuscripts and personal papers of composer Gordon Binkerd (b. 1916), who studied composition at the Eastman School of Music under Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers. Much of Binkerd’s professional life was spent in service on the music faculty of the University of Illinois (1949-71).
Eve Corker Collection
Location: M4A 7,3 – M4B 1,4
51 linear feet
The collection contains reel-to-reel and audio-cassette recordings of interviews conducted by Eve Corker with numerous musicians, which were broadcast via Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio. The collection also contains papers relative to the interviews.
Carl Dengler Collection
Location: M4A 1,6-2,2
8 linear feet
Dance band arrangements of popular music from the 1940s and 1950s, arranged especially for the Carl Dengler Orchestra, which was active in Rochester. The collection also includes sheet music and memorabilia.
Fleischer Iconography
Location: M4A 1,2
.25 linear feet
Iconography related to music mainly clipped from published sources.
Boris Kremenliev Library
Location: M4B 2,4-8,6
90 linear feet
The library and working papers of Bulgarian-born ethnomusicologist Boris Kremenliev, documenting his research and studies in the area of Slavic ethnic music.
Beatrice McMullen Collection
Location: M4A 2,4-5
7 linear feet
Recordings and two small notebooks relating to classical jazz. Mostly tape copies of Buffalo Jazz Festivals in the 1960s.
Photostat Collection
Location: M4A 1,1
2 linear feet
Photostats of music imprints from the rare books holdings of the Sibley Music Library, and possibly from other collections, as well. The origin of this material is unknown, but could perhaps relate to the Library’s early reprographics operation.
Gardner Read Collection
Location: [in process]
An open collection of papers, recordings, manuscripts, and published music documenting the career of composer and Eastman School alumnus Gardner Read.
Paul J. Sifler Collection
Location: M8A 1,3-4
4.5 linear feet
The manuscripts of composer and Eastman School alumnus John LaMontaine (b. 1920), together with numerous manuscript reproductions and recordings of LaMontain’s compositions. John LaMontaine was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1959 for his Piano Concerto No. 1. The collection was given to the Sibley Music Library by LaMontaine’s business associate Paul J. Sifler.
OTHER COLLECTIONS
Binders Collections
Location: M5A 1,1-6,6
50 linear feet
Compiled by the Sibley Music Library, a collection of several hundred “binders collections” containing several thousand items of mainly popular, but also some classical, sheet music. The music ranges from the late eighteenth- through the mid-nineteenth-century and later. Volumes of this kind were a fashion of the period whereby individual owners would bind miscellaneous items of sheet music into volumes. The almost universal procedure was to identify the owner by a name label on the spine or front cover. Each volume has been given a cutter number according to the owner’s name and filed in that order. An inventory of the collection has been compiled, but not updated, listing each volume with a brief description of its contents. The material is an extremely valuable resource for the study of popular music and society. (Inventory Available)
ESM Concert Programs
Location: A5B 4,1
37 linear feet
This represents a compilation of programs from the beginning of the school to the present and ongoing. The programs are almost exclusively of major recitals sponsored by the School. In earlier years, the collection included only recitals and concerts presented in Kilbourn Hall, Eastman Theatre programs being maintained separately and cataloged under a distinctive call number.
ESM Ephemera File
Location: Rear of Vault
This file was begun in 1996 and includes ephemera relating to the history of Eastman School as discovered prior to that year. It also includes an ongoing collection of ephemera from that date, including recital programs and posters, flyers, newspaper clippings, advertisements, notices of special events, etc.
ESM Subject File
Location: Vertical file in rear of Vault
This file was begun in 1996 and includes material as discovered and compiled on subjects relating or of interest to Eastman School. The file retrospective and includes material of earlier date.
General Ephemera File
Location: Vertical file in rear of Vault
This file was organized in 1996 and contains a highly selective amount of material, primarily from the nineteenth century. Most relates to New York City or Boston. Some special subjects, such as Theodore Thomas Orchestra, have been identified and filed separately. The collection is not added to.
Location: Rear of Vault
Extent: 6500+ images
This collection was begun in spring 1996 and is still in process of organization. Eventually it will contain all iconography (photograph and graphic) owned by Sibley Library and not associated with a distinct special collection. The index for it will include both the inventory of the Iconography Collection proper and selected items from other distinct special collections, such as an inventory of the Ouzer and Leventon collections. At present between between 2000 and 3000 photographs in the Eastman School Photo Archive have been indexed. The card index is housed in Watanabe Special Collections in a public catalogue. (Partial Inventory)
Vault-in-process Collection
Location: M3B 1,3-M9A 8,6
160 linear feet
Representing the cataloging backlog of the Sibley Music Library’s vault, this collection contains several thousand items, including manuscripts, books, and music imprints. Full cataloging of backlogged vault items, which had been discontinued in the late 1980s, was resumed in 1999, with bibliographic control established over American-imprint songbooks, full scores of operas (M1500), piano-vocal scores of operas (M1503), piano-solo scores of operas (M33), and string quartets (M452). The cataloging of backlogged items is an on-going task overseen by the Special Collections Librarian in co-operation with the Sibley Music Library’s cataloging department. Brief bibliographic records of approximately 3000-5000 items (or 120′ of the total number of shelved items) are entered under author/title in the Vault-in-process list, which is kept in the Watanabe Special Collections department’s public-access card catalog containing the vault shelflist.
Vault-in-process Manuscripts
Location: M8B 1,1-2
6 linear feet
A component of the vault’s cataloging backlog, this collection contains a small number of manuscripts, including both autograph and manuscript copies from the 18th through the 20th centuries
Location: Vertical file in rear of Vault
3 linear feet
This collection contains several hundred letters written, for the most part, by composers and musicians ranging from the famous to the moderately obscure. A few letters relating to the Eastman School and/or the Sibley Music Library have been included. An index to the collection is housed in the public-access card catalog which contains the vault shelflist, standing just outside the Watanabe Special Collections department. The index does not include correspondence filed within individual special collections, and at present only those letters acquired individually are added to it. (Inventory)
Local History Ephemera
Location: Vertical file in rear of Vault
4 linear feet
This file represents a desultory collection of programs, bills, clippings, etc. related to musical performances in the greater Rochester area. The materials are filed chronologically, beginning in 1858 and ending around 1980, the bulk pre-dating the 1920s. The Special Collections department does not systematically acquire materials for this file, but rather, adds pertinent items to it as they are received. The collection was begun in the 1970s or 1980s, brought together from a variety of sources.
Local History Subject
Location: Vertical file in rear of Vault
1.5 linear feet
This file was begun in summer 1996 and brings together materials originally dispersed through a variety of discrete sources. It documents subjects related to music in the greater Rochester area, including people, organizations, institutions, etc. and is to be distinguished from the Ephemera collection, which deals with single events.
Miscellaneous Manuscripts
Location: Vertical file in rear of Vault
4 linear feet
This file contains a varied assortment of manuscript materials including letters, sketches, and musical manuscripts which have not been cataloged individually. Begun early in the Library’s history as a kind of in-process collection for manuscripts, the collection grew into a repository for smaller manuscripts not easily handled by usual cataloging procedures. It is intended that many of the items contained in the collection will eventually receive full cataloging. A preliminary folder-list inventory of the collection is available.
Sheet Music Collection
Location: M5B 1,1-M7A 8,7
ca.300 linear feet
Approximately 75,000 items of mainly popular and light classical or salon music from the late eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. The organization is somewhat idiosyncratic, being divided first into American and European imprints, with each of those sub-divisions being sub-divided into vocal and instrumental genres, and then further sub-divided by chronological period in approximately quarter-century increments. Each individual item is then filed by composer’s surname. The bulk of the twentieth-century material has been file alphabetically by title. In addition, numerous special subject sub-divisions have been created, including “State Names”, “World War I”, and “World War II”; a finding aid was prepared for several of those special subject areas. Items appearing in both the Wolf and Sonneck-Upton bibliographies have been identified and arranged separately. The material holds great potential for the study of popular music (especially American) in the nineteenth-century, together with the study of music and society. (Special Subjects Guide Available)
Rochester Association Sheet Music
Location: M6B 5,3-6
6 linear feet
This is a special subject area sub-collection of the Sheet Music Collection, containing about 1,500 items. It includes items published in Rochester, New York from virtually the beginning of music publishing in the city (ca. 1840s) through the end of music publication in the early twentieth century. The collection is a large and invaluable source for the study of music publishing in upstate New York.
