Research Catalog

Title

Otto Harbach Papers, 1870-1990, (bulk 1895-1963).

Author

Harbach, Otto, 1873-1963.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Found In

p1bc Otto Harbach papers, scores and sound recordings. (CStRLIN)NYPW94-A173.

Description

12 lin. ft. (37 boxes and 1 oversized folder)

Subjects

• Hammerstein, Arthur, -1955
• Composers
• Photographs
• Kern, Jerome, 1885-1945
• Musical theater > United States
• Lyricists
• Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967
• Stothart, Herbert, 1885-1949
• Youmans, Vincent, 1898-1946
• Harbach, Otto, 1873-1963
• Scores
• Scripts
• Hoschna, Karl L., 1877-1911
• De Rose, Peter, 1900-1953
• Friml, Rudolf, 1879-1972
• Whitman College
• Hammerstein, Oscar, II, 1895-1960
• American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
• Oral histories
• Contracts
• Harbaugh family
• Theater > United States
• Poulton, Avern
• Poulton, Sadie
• Knox College (Galesburg, Ill.)
• Librettists
• Musicals > Librettos
• Harbach, William O
• Romberg, Sigmund, 1887-1951
• Hauerbach family
• Harbach, Ella
• Caesar, Irving, .1895-1996

Genre/Form

• Contracts.
• Oral histories.
• Photographs.
• Scores.
• Scripts.

Access (note)

• Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Source (note)

• William O. Harbach

Biography (note)

• Otto Harbach, librettist and lyricist, was born Otto Hauerbach in Salt Lake City.

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

• Finding aid available in repository and on Internet.

Linking Entry (note)

• Forms part of the Otto Harbach Papers, Musical Scores and Sound Recordings.

Processing Action (note)

• Accessioned
• Processed

Call Number

*T-Mss 1993-038

OCLC

NYPW93-A258

Author

Harbach, Otto, 1873-1963.

Title

Otto Harbach Papers, 1870-1990, (bulk 1895-1963).

Restricted Access

Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Summary

The Otto Harbach Papers include correspondence, business papers, scripts, scores, lyrics, personal papers, photographs, and printed matter documenting his personal life and career, and also a particular period in the American musical theater, from ca. 1908-1938, when Harbach created most of his works. Correspondence is mainly between Harbach and his family in Salt Lake City, and later with his son William. Family members include his brothers, Arthur, James, Julius, and William Hauerbach, and his sister and brother-in-law, Sadie and Avern Poulton. Included in the small amount of correspondence from friends and colleagues are several interesting letters from Arthur Hammerstein, Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, and Carl Sandburg. The collection is particularly strong in covering the business aspects of Harbach's work, documented with contracts, copyright, and royalty information. Scripts form the largest series and include copies of most of Harbach's works. The scores are mostly for HAYFOOT-STRAWFOOT (music by Jerome Kern) and COUNTER MELODY (music by Peter De Rose) and are notable for the holographs that make up part of the scores for HAYFOOT-STRAWFOOT. There is also a good collection of photographs, including family, colleagues, ASCAP events, friends, and a selection of production photos. Personal papers include genealogical information, writings other than scripts, ephemera and a long oral history interview conducted by William Harbach shortly before his father's death.

Linking Entry

Forms part of the Otto Harbach Papers, Musical Scores and Sound Recordings.

Biography

Otto Harbach, librettist and lyricist, was born Otto Hauerbach in Salt Lake City. He was educated at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and went on to teach English at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Moving to New York in 1901, Harbach (who changed the spelling of his name in 1917) began writing for the theater. In 1908 he produced his first hit, THREE TWINS, in collaboration with Karl Hoschna. Over the course of his career, Harbach had over 50 works produced on Broadway; for most of them he wrote both the book and the lyrics. Among his collaborators were the composers Karl Hoschna, Rudolf Friml, Jerome Kern, Louis Hirsch, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans and Sigmund Romberg, and the lyricists Oscar Hammerstein, Irving Caesar, Frank Mandel, and John Murray Anderson. Harbach's most well-known works include the songs Love Nest, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Indian Love Call, One Alone, Rose Marie, The Night Was Made For Love, and the plays THE FIREFLY, ROBERTA, ROSE MARIE, NO, NO, NANETTE, The DESERT SONG and THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE. Harbach was a charter member of The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). He was married to Ella Smith Dougall, with whom he had two sons, Robert and William.

Indexes

Finding aid available in repository and on Internet.

Connect to:

Finding Aid

Occupation

Librettists.

Lyricists.

Found In:

p1bc Otto Harbach papers, scores and sound recordings. (CStRLIN)NYPW94-A173.

Research Call Number

*T-Mss 1993-038