Collection  |  Manuscript/Mixed Material Andre Kostelanetz collection, 1922-1984

About this Item

Title
Andre Kostelanetz collection, 1922-1984
Summary
The collection, which documents Kostelanetz's life and 50-plus-year career in the United States, contains musical arrangements, correspondence, subject files, business papers, programs, scrapbooks, clippings, scripts, cue cards, and photographs spanning from 1922 to 1984, with the bulk of materials dating from 1935 to 1979. It also includes materials related to the career of Kostelanetz's first wife, soprano Lily Pons. Most scores in the collection are arrangements of popular and symphonic music for Kostelanetz's orchestra that were performed for various radio programs in the 1930s and 1940s and for numerous commercial recordings from 1940 to 1979. Materials in the Orchestral Arrangements subseries include manuscript full scores prepared by an arranger or copyist and annotated by Kostelanetz, as well as complete part sets for orchestra. Some of these folders also contain photocopied or printed scores. The Personal Music Library subseries includes printed scores annotated by Kostelanetz for possible orchestral performance, as well as reproductions of unpublished or rare scores found in his personal library.
The Correspondence series consists of letters, telegrams, and postcards to and from Kostelanetz's personal and professional contacts. Also included are letters from fans of his radio broadcasts and recordings, and from musicians hoping to be featured in his concerts. Notable correspondents include Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Serge Koussevitzky, Eugene Ormandy, Richard Rodgers, Leopold Stokowski, and Arturo Toscanini. Subject files in the collection contain documents from Kostelanetz's professional and personal life. These include programs for concerts not featuring Kostelanetz, correspondence and notes regarding the performance of particular works, documentation of club and union memberships, wardrobe, arrangements, awards, and special events, as well as financial and medical records. Kostelanetz's career as a guest conductor for numerous orchestras around the world and as a regular conductor of the New York Philharmonic is documented in the Concerts and Tours series. Materials include box-office reports, itineraries, program drafts, published programs, newspaper reviews, and contracts, as well as correspondence to and from Kostelanetz's agents.
Kostelanetz was well-known for his radio broadcasts in the 1930s and 1940s. The Radio series contains materials related to Kostelanetz's work as a conductor for programs on the CBS network sponsored by Liggett & Myers Tobacco (The Chesterfield hour), Coca-Cola (The pause that refreshes), Ethyl Gasoline (Tune-up time), and Chrysler (Music millions love). Included are letters between Kostelanetz, radio producers, and sponsors, as well as rosters of orchestra and chorus members, contracts, print advertisements, scripts, and photographs. An additional series, Television and Motion Pictures, contains materials pertaining to Kostelanetz's work for film soundtracks and television broadcasts. These include correspondence, notes on program ideas, cue cards, scripts, shooting schedules, and photographs. The Recordings series contains documentation related to the dozens of studio recordings Kostelanetz made for Columbia Records. The general files include correspondence, royalties, promotional material, contracts, displays for record stores, Columbia Records catalogs, and brochures. Especially noteworthy are letters between Kostelanetz and Columbia Records staff regarding promotion of his albums and the state of the classical music market.
The collection includes substantial material related to Kostelanetz's first wife, soprano Lily Pons. The series bearing her name contains correspondence, financial and legal documents, clippings, and photographs related to Pons from 1935 to 1959, roughly the period of her marriage to Kostelanetz. During the Second World War, Kostelanetz and Pons took two four-month tours for the United Service Organizations (U.S.O.) to entertain American troops. The U.S.O. series contains correspondence, schedules, programs, newsletters, clippings, photographs, and other memorabilia. The Press series includes clippings and advertisements documenting Kostelanetz's career, as well as clippings related to his acquaintances and personal interests. The scrapbooks are large volumes of clippings about Kostelanetz, including press materials from cities where he appeared as a guest conductor. Kostelanetz's corrections, emendations, and notes to musical scores used in recording sessions and concert performances form another series in the collection. Corrections are handwritten on notebook paper and include both musical notation and lists of performance instructions. Most include instructions to Kostelanetz's assistant, Lou Robbins, for incorporating the corrections into the full score. The Photographs series contains both professional photographs and snapshots that document Kostelanetz's career and personal life from approximately 1935 to 1980. Numerous photos are inscribed to Kostelanetz from musicians and other famous acquaintances. A small series of realia rounds out the collection. Among these personal items are an oil painting of Kostelanetz, awards and honors, and three conductors' batons.
Contributor Names
Kostelanetz, Andre, 1901-1980.
Subject Headings
-  Kostelanetz, Andre,--1901-1980
-  Kostelanetz, Andre,--1901-1980--Archives
-  Kostelanetz, Andre,--1901-1980--Autographs
-  Kostelanetz, Andre,--1901-1980--Correspondence
-  Kostelanetz, Andre,--1901-1980--Photographs
-  Conductors (Music)--United States
-  Arrangers (Musicians)--United States
-  Pons, Lily,--1898-1976
-  Pons, Lily,--1898-1976--Correspondence
-  Pons, Lily,--1898-1976--Photographs
-  Popular instrumental music--United States
-  Orchestral music
-  Orchestral music, Arranged
-  Orchestral music--Scores
-  Orchestral music--Scores and parts
-  Motion picture music, Arranged
-  Motion picture music--Excerpts, Arranged
-  Musicals--Excerpts, Arranged
-  Music--Manuscripts--United States
-  Radio programs, Musical
-  Radio programs--United States
-  Radio programs--United States--Planning
-  Television programs--United States
-  Sound recording industry--United States
-  Sound recordings--Production and direction--United States
-  Concert television programs
-  Arlen, Harold,--1905-1986--Correspondence
-  Berlin, Irving,--1888-1989--Correspondence
-  Bernstein, Leonard,--1918-1990--Correspondence
-  Copland, Aaron,--1900-1990--Correspondence
-  Gershwin, Ira,--1896-1983--Correspondence
-  Gould, Morton,--1913-1996--Correspondence
-  Hovhaness, Alan,--1911-2000--Correspondence
-  Kern, Jerome,--1885-1945--Correspondence
-  Koussevitzky, Serge,--1874-1951--Correspondence
-  Michener, James A.--(James Albert),--1907-1997--Correspondence
-  Nash, Ogden,--1902-1971--Correspondence
-  Ormandy, Eugene,--1899-1985--Correspondence
-  Rodgers, Richard,--1902-1979--Correspondence
-  Sandburg, Carl,--1878-1967--Correspondence
-  Schuman, William,--1910-1992--Correspondence
-  Stokowski, Leopold,--1882-1977--Correspondence
-  Thomson, Virgil,--1896-1989--Correspondence
-  Toscanini, Arturo,--1867-1957--Correspondence
-  Walton, William,--1902-1983--Correspondence
-  Andre Kostelanetz Orchestra
-  Columbia Broadcasting System, inc
-  Columbia Records, Inc
-  New York Philharmonic
-  United Service Organizations (U.S.)
-  Copland, Aaron,--1900-1990.--Lincoln portrait
-  Kern, Jerome,--1885-1945.--Mark Twain suite
-  Chesterfield hour (Radio program)
-  Pause that refreshes (Radio program)
-  Tune up time (Radio program)
-  Music millions love (Radio program)
-  Concerts
-  Concert tours
-  Columbia Artists Management, Inc
-  Fan mail--United States
Genre
Address books
Artifacts (Object genre)
Awards
Clippings (Information artifacts)
Contracts
Correspondence
Financial records
Photographic prints
Posters
Programs (Documents)
Promotional materials
Scores
Scrapbooks
Scripts (Documents)
Writings
Notes
-  Organized into the following series: I. Music, 1930-1979, II. Correspondence, 1931-1980, III. Subject Files, 1924-1984, IV. Concerts and Tours, 1922-1980, V. Radio, 1932-1964, VI. Television and Motion Pictures, 1935-1975, VII. Recordings, 1937-1979, VIII. U.S.O., 1941-1975, IX. Lily Pons, 1935-1976, X. Press, 1936-1980, XI. Edits to Scores, 1941-1969, XII. Photographs, 1930s-1979, XIII. Realia, 1934-1979.
-  Collection material in English.
-  Andre Kostelanetz (b. Dec. 22, 1901, in Saint Petersburg, Russia; d. Jan. 13, 1980, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) was an American conductor, arranger, and pianist. He was known for juxtaposing popular and classical repertoire in radio broadcasts and concert performances with some of the world's leading orchestras.
-  Orchestral scores; Gift; Andre Kostelanetz; 1980.
-  Remaining materials; Gift; Robert Frank; 2008.
-  The corresponding orchestral parts were given to the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1980 and were later transferred to the Library of Congress in 2009.
-  Sound recordings transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
-  Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division holds Andre Kostelanetz audio and video materials.
-  Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room and at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu016011
-  Andre Kostelanetz Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.
Medium
approximately 150,000 items (1287 boxes, 400 linear feet)
Call Number/Physical Location
ML31 .K65
Repository
Library of Congress Music Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.home
Library of Congress Control Number
2006560769
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 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact
Language
English
Online Format
pdf
web page
Description
Andre Kostelanetz was a conductor, arranger, and pianist known for juxtaposing popular and classical repertoire in radio broadcasts and concert performances with some of the world's leading orchestras. He also commissioned several compositions which have since become staples in the orchestral repertoire, including works by Aaron Copland, William Schuman, and Jerome Kern. The collection consists of his musical arrangements, correspondence, business papers, programs, photographs, clippings, and scrapbooks, documenting his 50-plus-year career in the United States. It also includes materials related to the career of Kostelanetz's first wife, soprano Lily Pons.
LCCN Permalink
https://lccn.loc.gov/2006560769
Additional Metadata Formats
MARCXML Record
MODS Record
Dublin Core Record

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Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Kostelanetz, Andre. Andre Kostelanetz collection, -1984. 1922. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu016011.

APA citation style:

Kostelanetz, A. (1922) Andre Kostelanetz collection, -1984. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu016011.

MLA citation style:

Kostelanetz, Andre. Andre Kostelanetz collection, -1984. 1922. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu016011>.

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