Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Becker, John J.
2. Cage, John
3. Chávez, Carlos, 1899-1978.
4. Cowell, Olive Thompson, 1887-1984.
5. Cowell, Sidney Robertson
6. Dixon, Clarissa, 1851-
7. Grainger, Percy, 1882-1961.
8. Harrison, Lou, 1917-2003.
9. Ives, Charles, 1874-1954.
10. Riegger, Wallingford, 1885-1961.
11. Ruggles, Carl, 1876-1971.
12. Seeger, Charles, 1886-1979.
13. Slonimsky, Nicolas, 1894-1995.
14. Varian, John
15. California State Prison at San Quentin
16. New Music Society of California

Description

1. 82. 3 linear feet (203 boxes)

Summary

1. The Henry Cowell papers cover every aspect of Cowell's life and career in great detail.

Uniform title

1. New music.

Alternative title

1. Henry Cowell collection.

Subject

1. Pianists
2. Music teachers
3. Composers
4. Bisexual men > United States > Sexual behavior
5. Lecture notes
6. Posters
7. Pianists > United States > 20th century
8. Music teachers > United States > 20th century
9. Music publishers
10. Financial records
11. Chávez, Carlos, 1899-1978 > Correspondence
12. Becker, John J > Correspondence
13. World music > History and criticism
14. Manuscripts
15. Composers > United States > 20th century
16. Clippings
17. Bisexual men > United States > Social conditions
18. Ives, Charles, 1874-1954 > Correspondence
19. Dixon, Clarissa, 1851- > Correspondence
20. Cowell, Sidney Robertson
21. Prisoners > California > San Quentin > Correspondence
22. Slonimsky, Nicolas, 1894-1995 > Correspondence
23. Music critics
24. Varian, John > Correspondence
25. Correspondence
26. Notebooks
27. Cage, John > Correspondence
28. Grainger, Percy, 1882-1961 > Correspondence
29. Ruggles, Carl, 1876-1971 > Correspondence
30. Folk music > History and criticism
31. Cowell, Henry, 1897-1965 > Imprisonment
32. Scrapbooks
33. Scores

Genre/Form

1. Clippings.
2. Correspondence.
3. Financial records.
4. Lecture notes.
5. Manuscripts.
6. Notebooks.
7. Posters.
8. Scores.
9. Scrapbooks.

Call number

1. JPB 00-03

Note

1. The Henry Cowell papers originally were substantially processed in 1999-2000 as the Henry Cowell collection; when processing was completed in 2006, it was decided to change the name of the collection to the Henry Cowell papers.

Additional formats (note)

1. Also available on microfilm as part of the Henry Cowell papers;

Reproduction (note)

1. Microfilm.

Biography (note)

1. Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, educator, lecturer, and publisher.

Processing action (note)

1. Microfilmed;

Author

1. Cowell, Henry, 1897-1965.

Title

1. Henry Cowell papers, 1851-1994.

Additional formats

1. Grainger letters. Also available on microfilm as part of the Henry Cowell papers; service copy classmark: *ZB-4336.

Reproduction

1. Grainger letters. Microfilm. New York : New York Public Library, 2008. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. (MN *ZZ-41175)

Biography

1. Henry Cowell (1897-1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, educator, lecturer, and publisher. Initially schooled at home by his mother, Clarissa Dixon Cowell, he began music studies as a child in the San Francisco Bay area. Among his earliest mentors were Charles Seeger, with whom he began studying in 1914 at the University of California at Berkeley and the Irish Theosophist poet John Varian. Following a stint in the army in 1918-1919 and further study, Cowell embarked on an extensive series of tours throughout the United States, Europe, as well as the USSR, performing his own music and attracting publicity for his use of tone clusters and experimental keyboard techniques. A tireless advocate for contemporary music, Cowell formed the New Music Society of California, helping to promote such composers as Charles Ives, Carlos Chávez, John Becker, Carl Ruggles and Wallingford Riegger through the quarterly journal, New Music. Cowell's music defined many of the major developments of twentieth-century music, and he was among the earliest composers to endorse the view that the musical materials of the whole world, not just Western Europe, should be available to composers and inform their musical and cultural outlook. To this end, he studied comparative musicology in Berlin early on and he would continue these explorations with his wife, ethnomusicologist Sidney Robertson Cowell, (who, along with his stepmother Olive Cowell and composer Percy Grainger were instrumental in helping Cowell to gain early release from his imprisonment on a morals charge). Cowell taught at many institutions, most notably the New School for Social Research, where his students included John Cage and Lou Harrison. He also was a prolific writer, whose output included the books, New Musical Resources (1930), an exploration of modern compositional methods, and Charles Ives and his Music (1955), the first monograph about the composer (co-written with his wife).

Location of other archival materials

1. See also John J. Becker papers (JPB 04-27), Frank Wigglesworth papers (JPB 97-44), Wallingford Riegger papers (JPB 91-18) and Hugo Weisgall papers (JPB 00-43) in the Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and Henry Cowell collection of non-commercial recordings (*L(Special) 88-33) in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Music & Recorded Sound Division Special Collections material
2. NYPL Digital Collections
3. Finding Aid

Occupation

1. Composers.
2. Music critics.
3. Music publishers.
4. Music teachers.
5. Pianists.

Added author

1. Becker, John J.
2. Cage, John.
3. Chávez, Carlos, 1899-1978.
4. Cowell, Henry, 1897-1965. Charles Ives and his music.
5. Cowell, Henry, 1897-1965. New musical resources.
6. Cowell, Olive Thompson, 1887-1984.
7. Cowell, Sidney Robertson.
8. Cowell, Sidney Robertson. Chapbook of cheer.
9. Cowell, Sidney Robertson. Many nations.
10. Dixon, Clarissa, 1851-
11. Grainger, Percy, 1882-1961.
12. Harrison, Lou, 1917-2003.
13. Ives, Charles, 1874-1954.
14. Riegger, Wallingford, 1885-1961.
15. Ruggles, Carl, 1876-1971.
16. Seeger, Charles, 1886-1979.
17. Slonimsky, Nicolas, 1894-1995.
18. Varian, John.
19. California State Prison at San Quentin.
20. New Music Society of California.

Other title

1. Formerly known as : Henry Cowell collection.

Added title

1. New music.

Research call number

1. JPB 00-03 [Text]
2. *ZB-4336 [Microfilm]