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|| About the Collection ||
Otto Klemperer is known predominantly for his artistry as a conductor, particularly in performances of contemporary music and operas during the 1920s and 30s, and of orchestral music by Beethoven, Bruckner, Mozart and Mahler. Little, however, is known about him as a composer of six symphonies, nine string quartets, songs, piano solos, choral works, an opera (“Das Ziel”), and arrangements of Bach, Mendelssohn and Mozart. During his period with the Kroll Oper in Berlin, he produced Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex” and “Mavra,” as well as “Fidelio” and “Don Giovanni.” Later he conducted the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Klemperer’s outstanding achievement is particulary evident in his recordings of the Beethoven symphonies, “Fidelio” and the “Missa Solemnis” made with the Philharmonia of London.
|| Collection Details ||
General
- Span Dates
- 1792-1984
- Bulk Dates
- 1920-1970
- Major Language(s)
- English, German, Russian
- Repository
- Music Division, Library of Congress
Physical Collection
- Number of Items
- 20000
- Number of Containers
- 111
- Linear Feet
- 29
- Contents
- The collection contains holograph sketches of the composer's compositions both, published and unpublished, and copyist’s and printed instrumental scores and parts. Poems written by Goethe, Heine, and others set to music by Klemperer are included in the archive, as well as arrangements of Bach, Mendelssohn and Mozart. The family papers included materials from his ancestors. The collection includes, correspondence writings and lectures, as well as interviews from 1914-1981. The archive also contains legal and financial papers, including the Kroll Oper series of information, clippings, programs, iconography, and miscellaneous printed matter, and sound and video matter in different formats. The Klemperer Film Materials includes production resource materials, typewritten scripts, background materials for the film, and interviews which include discussions about Ernst Block, Pierre Boulez, and many others. There are also109 books included in the collection including those about Otto Klemperer, which he and his daughter Lotte annotated, and with errata sheets clarifying inaccuracies in the text. A bust of Otto Klemperer was donated to the Library by the sculptress Anna Mahler Joseph.
- Processing History
- Materials in finding aid are processed; material received 2003 is not processed.
- Provenance
- All material from Lotte Klemperer
Access/Copyright
- Access Permissions
- Restricted to processed part of archive, contact librarian at
- http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ask-perform.html
- Copyright Info
- http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html
- Preferred Citation
- Otto Klemperer Archive, Music Division, Library of Congress
