The following is a guest post by Vincent J. Novara, Head, Acquisitions & Processing Section, Music Division, Library of Congress.
The Music Division at the Library of Congress is thrilled to announce the publication of many new finding aids to performing arts special collections:
Milton Ager (1893-1979) was an American arranger and composer of popular songs, primarily in the 1920s and 1930s. His notable compositions include the songs “Everything Is Peaches Down in Georgia,” “Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah),” and “Happy Days Are Here Again.” The collection chiefly contains scores of Ager’s compositions, sketches, and lyrics, and some correspondence.
Marvin Hamlisch (1944-2012) was an American composer, pianist, and conductor. He is the recipient of numerous awards—having achieved “PEGOT” (Pulitzer, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) status, including the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his musical on “A Chorus Line.” The material primarily consists of music manuscripts, but also includes photographs, awards, correspondence, clippings, scripts, programs and personal papers. A series on Music contains four subseries: Film and Television Scores, Music for Stage Shows, Individual Titles by Hamlisch, and Music by Others. The first three subseries encompass Hamlisch’s original compositions and contain manuscript and printed scores and parts. Thirty-seven arrangers and orchestrators are represented, the most frequent being Bill Byers, Jack Hayes, Richard Hazard, and Torrie Zito. The Music by Others subseries consists of scores composed by others that Hamlisch used as a performer, conductor, or music director.
Arthur Mendel Correspondence with Igor Stravinsky and Others
Correspondence primarily between Arthur Mendel (1905-1979), an editor at Associated Music Publishers, and celebrated composer Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) concerning publication of works Stravinsky composed between 1941 and 1946. Mendel was a self-taught musicologist specializing in Renaissance and Baroque music who received wide recognition for his scholarship on Johann Sebastian Bach and Josquin des Prez. He held several positions as editor or translator throughout his career, including six years with Associated Music Publishers. In 1952, Mendel was appointed to the faculty of Princeton University, where he served as professor of music and later as department chair until 1973.
Trude Rittmann (1908-2005) was a composer and arranger, known particularly for her Broadway and dance arrangements for the American Ballet Caravan and musicals composed by Frederick Loewe and Richard Rodgers. The collection includes correspondence to and from Rittmann, scores of Rittmann’s compositions and arrangements, business papers, subject files including Rittmann’s writings and reminiscences of productions she worked on, personal papers, photographs, and artwork.
William Schuman Music Manuscripts
Composer William Howard Schuman (1910–1992) taught at Sarah Lawrence College, was president of The Juilliard School and Lincoln Center, and served on several boards of directors. The collection contains holograph scores, sketches, copyist and printed scores, annotated copies, parts, and librettos for his operas; cantatas; film scores; ballets; works for orchestra, band, chorus, and chamber ensembles; and early popular songs. There is a small amount of correspondence and notes.
Robert Wright and George Forrest Papers
The composer-lyricist team of Robert Wright (1915-1999) and George “Chet” Forrest (1914-2005) was active from the 1930s through the 1990s, primarily in the medium of staged musicals, though they also wrote songs for films, club acts, revues, television, and radio. The collection documents their creative output primarily through holograph, manuscript, and printed scores, parts, sketches, and lyric sheets, and to a lesser extent with clippings, contracts, correspondence, notes, programs, schedules, and scripts.
Other Recent Finding Aids
Seymour Barab Music Manuscripts – American cellist and composer
Cyrilla Barr Research Materials on Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge – Research collection on the great benefactor of the Music Division
Hammond Reed Company Correspondence – Historic company records related to organ reeds and parts
John Pierce Langs Papers – American composer, pianist, and lawyer
Newman I. White Papers – American folklorist
For research questions or assistance in scheduling a visit, please contact the Performing Arts Reading Room staff through Ask a Librarian.