Collection Manuscript/Mixed Material Notated Music Photo, Print, Drawing Aaron Copland Collection Copland collection,

Title

• Aaron Copland Collection

Other Title

• Copland collection,

Summary

• The Aaron Copland collection consists of published and unpublished music by Copland and other composers, correspondence, writings, biographical material, datebooks, journals, professional papers, including legal and financial material, photographs, awards, art work, and books. Of particular interest is the correspondence with Nadia Boulanger, which extend over 50 years, and with his long-time friend, Harold Clurman. Other significant correspondents are Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, Carlos Chávez, David Diamond, Roy Harris, Charles Ives, Claire Reis, Arnold Schoenberg, Roger Sessions, and Virgil Thomson. The photographic collection of Copland's friend and confidant Victor Kraft, a professional photographer, forms part of the collection.
• The Music series is divided into to two subseries. The Music by Aaron Copland subseries represents almost all of the entire musical creation of Copland beginning with the early, youthful student works and ending with the short piano pieces in the seventies and eighties. The Music by Othe Composers subseries includes manuscripts, fascimiles, and printed music which were part of Copland's extensive collection of music. Most contain holograph annotations either in Copland's hand, especially his conducting scores, or signed by the composer or donor. These scores and the other published works from his collection, which became part of the Performing Arts Library at the New York Public Library, illustrate a broad, composite spectrum of composers in the Western Hemisphere.
• The Writings & Oral Presentations series represent over fifty years (c. 1925-1988) of written and oral commentary on music and musicians during the lifetime of Copland. The writings by Aaron Copland subseries contains the different venues that Copland employed to communicate his thoughts and ideas on music -- the growth of American music and commentary on the people or organizations that fostered composers and their music through the 1960s -- beginning in 1925 with his second published article, 'What Europe Means to the Aspiring Composer,' after his return from three years of musical study in France. The Writings by Others subseries extends to material written about Aaron Copland and material written about other composers, musicians, and critics or other subjects. The articles reflect the views and opinions of a wide range of notable people. The interviews almost span his entire life from 1928 to 1988 and comprise dialogues with substantive and substantial quotes by Copland. The ballet scripts contain an intriguing scenario, Memorial Day, Dances for Democracy in Crisis, which identifies the collaborators -- conceived by Lincoln Kirstein, Lew Christensen as the general stage director, music by Copland, choreography by Lew Christensen, Erick Hawkins, Eugene Loring, and the costumes by Jared French. Evidently, the ballet never developed beyond this scenario which includes forty-eight watercolor drawings.
• The Diaries series is subdivided into two subseries, Datebooks and Journals. The Datebooks subseries ranges from 1935 to 1985, except for the year 1954, and were generally used to briefly record his daily activities. The desk size books from 1942 to 1969 also enumerate the commissions offered to him by individuals and/or organizations. The pocket size books were apparently used during domestic or foreign trips. The Journals subseries consists of notebooks which record activities, list items and report on events and trips. The material dates from his 1910 reminiscences and extends to comments about his 1973 European trip. The journal dated from 1941-1973 includes family genealogy charts. Two journals describe the creation of the music scores for two films, The Red Pony and Something Wild. The date spans represent the actual span of year dates noted in the journal. Because of the fragile nature of some journals, the originals and archival photocopies will not be served to researchers. Photocopies of the journals, which are placed in binders, will be available to researchers. See the Index for Journals with AC Numbers for an explanation and list of the journals in numeric order.
• The Correspondence series is subdivided into two subseries. The Personal Correspondence subseries contains letters to and from Copland with his family, teachers, fellow composers, literary figures, personal friends and acquaintances. Of particular interest are the letters with Nadia Boulanger, which extent over 50 years, and the letters with his long-time friend, Harold Clurman. Other significant correspondents are Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, Carlos Chávez, David Diamond, Roy Harris, Claire Reis, Roger Sessions, Charles Ives, Arnold Schoenberg, and Virgil Thomson. The General Correspondence subseries comprises a variety of day-to-day mail, which Copland reviewed, from individuals and businesses. The letters include requests to lecture and conduct and for permissions, birthday and holiday greeting cards from family, friends and school children, and fan mail.
• The Professional Papers series is subdivided into two subseries, the Business Organizations and the Engagements. The Business Organizations subseries includes records that pertain to Copland's affiliation with and service for various private, public, and governmental agencies, organizations, and councils, at the local, national, and international level and material that relate to numerous publishers, agents and foundations. Voluminous records exist for the Arrow Music Press (formerly, Cos Cob Press), for which Copland served as Treasurer, and for Boosey & Hawkes, his music publisher, which include letters about score corrections for his music. Other significant material are the Copland-Sessions Concerts of Contemporary Music, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, the League of Composers, Modern Music, the Edward MacDowell Association, and Tanglewood which includes material on the Berkshire Music Center and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Engagements subseries represents correspondence and other material between organizations for which Copland performed, spoke or conducted, or from whom he was bestowed an award or honor. The organizations include orchestras, universities and colleges, festivals, museums, and societies. The most notable events are his trips to Latin America in 1941 and 1947 and his frequent appearances with the London Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and National Symphony orchestras.
• The Subject File series is a composite of printed matter and material on special subjects that Copland kept. The largest and most extensive is the Composition section which consists of published clippings, magazine articles, promotional material, annotated programs and other miscellaneous items relating to performances of his compositions.
• The Scrapbooks series includes four scrapbooks. Three of the four scrapbooks focus on specific undertakings by Copland -- the Copland-Sessions Concerts from 1924 to 1931, the Yaddo Festivals from 1932-33, and the 1978 Australian tour for which he conducted and lectured. The other scrapbook represents the beginnings of Copland's clipping file from 1924 to 1942. All, but the Australian tour scrapbook, have been preserved on microfilm because of their fragile condition (Microfilm 93/20002 Mus); the original of these three volumes will not be served to the public.
• The Biography series consists of divergent materials, some of which is biographical and others personal. The biographical material includes autobiographical notes, a notebook and assorted lists that pertain to Copland's activities and compositions, and two birthday albums. The 70th birthday album comprises "An album of composers' tributes" which contains congratulatory letters, musical salutes, poems and ink drawings from 116 composers. The 80th birthday album was presented by the National Symphony Orchestra from friends and includes congratulatory letters from President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Walter Mondale, conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, Roger L. Stevens (chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), and international musical luminaries.
• The Awards series contains the artifacts that Copland received from the numerous and myriad honors and awards bestowed on him during his lifetime. Copland accepted his first honorary doctorate in music from Princeton University in 1956, and almost every year thereafter he approved another one either in humane letters or in music. The last one was a Degree of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, from the New School for Social Research in 1983. Other tributes conferred on Copland from 1947 to 1982 include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and the Kennedy Center Honors' medal in 1979. In most cases, programs, invitations, and letters accompany the actual degree, award or medal.
• The Art Works series is divided into Of Aaron Copland, Other Works, Poetry, and Posters that include drawings, caricatures, and portraits of Aaron Copland and other artistic renderings which consist of special editions of illustrated poems by various artists in different mediums. The two most illustrious artists represented are a numbered print by Pablo Picasso and an engraved color print by Marc Chagall which was part of an invitation from the Prince and Princess of Monaco for a 1967 program to honor Nadia Boulanger.
• The Photographs series contains approximately 12,000 images and dates from c. 1889-1985. The largest section is the portraits of Copland alone, both formal and informal, professional and amateur. Noteworthy subjects include many rarely-seen early portraits of Aaron Copland and the majority of the photographs reproduced in Copland's two volume autobiography, 'Copland, 1900-1943' (Volume I) and 'Copland Since 1943' (Volume II).
• The Victor Kraft Materials series contains approximately 40,000 items and span the years c. 1918-1976. Victor Kraft (1915-1976) was a professional photographer and life-long friend of Aaron Copland. They first became acquainted in the early 1930's and maintained close contact until Kraft's death. Notable subjects include formal and informal portraits of Aaron Copland, and portraits from the 1940s and 1950s of numerous composers and performers of the American music scene, including Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, Edwin Denby, Lukas Foss, Erik Johns, William Kapell, Dmitri Mitropoulos, and Robert Shaw.
• The Copland Library series comprises selected books on a wide range of musical and general subjects from Copland's personal library. Most are signed, usually by the author, or contain annotations or information about Copland. The books reflect Copland's wide and varied interests and include those books written by Copland and translated into various languages. Many books concentrate on Copland's interest in French culture after his years of study in Paris.

Names

• Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990
• Kraft, Victor, 1915-1976

Headings

• -  Copland, Aaron,--1900-1990
• -  Copland, Aaron,--1900-1990--Autographs
• -  Copland, Aaron,--1900-1990--Portraits
• -  Copland, Aaron,--1900-1990--Correspondence
• -  Boulanger, Nadia--Correspondence
• -  Clurman, Harold,--1901-1980--Correspondence
• -  Bernstein, Leonard,--1918-1990--Correspondence
• -  Bowles, Paul,--1910-1999--Correspondence
• -  Britten, Benjamin,--1913-1976--Correspondence
• -  Chávez, Carlos,--1899-1978--Correspondence
• -  Diamond, David,--1915-2005--Correspondence
• -  Harris, Roy,--1898-1979--Correspondence
• -  Ives, Charles,--1874-1954--Correspondence
• -  Reis, Claire R.--(Claire Raphael)--Correspondence
• -  Schoenberg, Arnold,--1874-1951--Correspondence
• -  Sessions, Roger,--1896-1985--Correspondence
• -  Thomson, Virgil,--1896-1989--Correspondence
• -  Musicians--Correspondence

Genre

• Scores
• Art music
• Albums (Books)
• Art
• Biographies
• Business correspondence
• Diaries
• Personal correspondence
• Photographs
• Records (Documents)
• Autographs (Manuscripts)
• Awards
• Financial records
• Legal documents
• Writings (Documents)

Notes

• -  Organized into the following series: I. Music (1841-1988), subdivided: Music by Aaron Copland (1911-1985), Music by others (1912-1988), II. Writings and Oral Presentations (1925-1988), subdivided: Writings by Aaron Copland (1925-1988), Writings by Others (1925-1988), III. Diaries (1910-1985), subdivided Datebooks (1935-1985), Journals (1910-1973), IV. Correspondence (1911-1991), subdivided: Personal Correspondence (1911-1991), General Correspondence (1935-1991), V. Professional Papers (1917-1990), VI. Subject File (1923-1990), VII. Scrapbooks, VIII. Biography (1921-1988), IX. Awards (1934-1985), X. Art Works (1944-1983), XI. Photographs (1889-1985), XII. Victor Kraft Materials (1918-1976), XIII. Copland Library (1908-1988).
• -  Aaron Copland (b. Nov. 14, 1900, Brooklyn, N.Y. - d. Dec. 2, 1990, North Tarrytown, N.Y.) was an American composer, writer, and conductor. From 1921-1924 he studied composition and orchestration with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Copland was the recipient of the 1925-1926 Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, the first in music. Many awards followed throughout his life. He was the author of articles and books and of oral presentations on music. He was also active as an administrator, founding festivals and concert series and in publishing contemporary music.
• -  Collection material in English.
• -  Some mss.; Gifts; Aaron Copland; ca. 1940-1970.
• -  Bulk of the collection; Gift; Aaron Copland; 1989.
• -  Some mss.; Gifts; Nadia Boulanger estate; 1980/07/18, 1981/03/06.
• -  Libretto material for The Tender Land; Gift; Erik Johns.
• -  Some mss.; Gift; Bennett Lerner.
• -  Digitized images along with identifying information and a narrative introduction are also available through the Library of Congress Web site under the title: The Aaron Copland Collection: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/collmus.mu000006
• -  Sound recordings and moving images; Aaron Copland Collection (MAVIS collection no. 9416); Transferred to the; Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.
• -  Books from Copland's library; Transferred to the; Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
• -  1154 published scores by North and South American composers (not including Copland); Also located in the; New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023 USA. Microfilm is available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room: Microfilm 93/20010.
• -  Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room and at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu002006
• -  Aaron Copland Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

Medium

• approximately 400,000 items (567 boxes, 306 linear feet)

Call Number/Physical Location

• ML31 .C7

Repository

• Library of Congress Music Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.home

Library of Congress Control Number

• 2003561015

Rights Advisory

• Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.

Access Advisory

• Open to research.
• Not all materials in this collection may be readily accessible; please request accessibility information well in advance of your visit https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/2003561015

Additional Metadata Formats

• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record