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Humanities and Social Sciences Library > Collections > Manuscripts > Finding Aids Alec Wilder Collection, 1939-2000
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SummaryTitle: Alec Wilder Collection, 1939-2000 Size: 2/3 linear foot (two archival boxes). Source: Gift of William Engvick, 1994-1995; 1998-2000 Finding Aid: Compiled by Laura K. O'Keefe, January 1996; revised 1998; 2000 Biographical Note: Alec Wilder (1907-1980), the composer and songwriter, lived at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City for most of his life. He wrote several hundred popular songs, composed sonatas, operas, a concerto, and a ballet, and was the author of one book and co-author of another. Description: Incoming letters to Alec Wilder from fifty-eight friends and acquaintances, including John Cheever, Harper Lee, S. J. Perelman, and Frank Sinatra; letters from Wilder to his friend and collaborator William Engvick; correspondence between Engvick and Wilder's biographer, Desmond Stone and James Dean's biographer, Val Holley and others; and printed matter concerning Wilder.
Biographical NoteAlexander LaFayette Chew Wilder was born on February 16, 1907, in Rochester, New York. He grew up in New Jersey, Long Island, and New York City, and attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, where he studied composition and counterpoint. His career as a composer began in 1930, when he was one of the co-writers of the song "All the King's Horses" for the musical revue Three's a Crowd. Over the next fifty years, Wilder wrote several hundred popular songs, among them "It's so Peaceful in the Country," "I'll Be Around," and "All the Cats Joined In." (Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Marlene Dietrich, and Anita O'Day are among the artists who recorded Wilder songs.) He also composed sonatas for the bassoon, flute, and tuba, works for the piano, a concerto for saxophone and chamber orchestra, five operas, and a ballet; and published two books: Letters I Never Mailed (1975), and, with James T. Maher, American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950 (1972). Wilder lived at the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan for nearly fifty years. He died of lung cancer in Gainesville, Florida, in December 1980. Scope and Content NoteThis collection consists of about 200 letters, and several folders of printed matter, mostly clippings of articles and newsletters by and about Alec Wilder . Series 1 consists of incoming letters from various people to Wilder, preserved by William Engvick; Series 2 contains letters from Wilder to Engvick; Series 3 is printed matter; Series 4 consists of the correspondence between Wilder and Stone, and Engvick and Holley; and Series 5 contains letters to Engvick from Stone, Dudley Frasier, Ronald Prather, and Thomas M. Hampson.
Provenance NoteAlec Wilder's collaborator of many years, William Engvick, not only saved and gave to the New York Public Library his correspondence from Wilder, but was also primarily responsible for the preservation of the letters to Wilder that comprise Series 1 of this collection. As Engvick recalled it in a letter to the New York Public Library:
Engvick donated these letters to Wilder to the Library in October 1994. In 1995, he added to the collection over thirty letters from Alec Wilder to him, and a folder of printed items. Since 1998, he has donated his correspondence about Wilder with Desmond Stone, Val Holley, and others. Related Materials NoteAdditional Alec Wilder materials can be consulted in the Alec
Wilder Archive, Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections, Sibley
Music Library, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York. Series DescriptionSeries 1. Letters to Alec Wilder. Folders 1-8 The nearly 100 letters in this series were written between 1947 and 1972, with the bulk of them dating from 1955 to 1972. (There is also a clipped New York Times obituary from 1992 for the actress and director Margaret Barker.) Many of these letters, such as those from Harper Lee and Muriel Spark, are brief, polite acknowledgments of fan letters from Wilder about their work; others, such as the correspondence from Peter DeVries and Frank Sinatra, are more substantive, lengthy, and personal. In most cases, the letters concern the correspondents' or Wilder's achievements in the fields of literature, music, and drama. Series 2. Letters from Alec Wilder to William Engvick. Folders 9-12 These letters date from 1939 to 1979, and mainly concern their musical
collaborations and related topics. Engvick has also included his comments
on them, on separate typed sheets of paper. Series 3. Printed Matter. Folder 13 Folder 13 contains clippings of articles by and about Alec Wilder, 1941-1994. Materials created after Wilder's death include Vols. 1-6 of the newsletter Friends of Alec Wilder. Series 4. Desmond Stone/Val Holley materials Correspondence between Engvick and Wilder's biographer, Desmond Stone, 1986-1997 (ten folders); copies of two letters from Alec Wilder to a fan, Donald Velsey, 1977 and 1980; correspondence between Engvick and Val Holley, 1992-1993; and printed matter, including a copy of Edward Gorey's The Bug Book, signed by Gorey and given to Wilder. Series 5. Additions to the Collection Letters from Dudley Frasier, 1963-1965; additional letters from Desmond Stone, 1996-1997 (including copies of his correspondence with others); letters from Ronald E. Prather regarding his work on an article "The Popular Songs of Alec Wilder" and a bio-bibliography of Wilder, 1990-1992; and a letter from Thomas M. Hampson enclosing a letter containing biographical information about Wilder. Contents ListThese papers are contained in two boxes. Series 1, letters to Wilder from various people, are filed alphabetically by correspondent; Series 2, letters from Wilder to William Engvick, are filed chronologically; Series 3, clippings and other printed items concerning Wilder, is also arranged chronologically, as is the correspondence in Series 4 and 5. Series 1. Letters to Alec Wilder:
Series 2. Letters from Alec Wilder to William Engvick :
Series 4. Desmond Stone/Val Holley Materials
Series 5. Additions
revised, November 2000 |
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