Yale's Music Archives was founded formally in 1972, though at that time the Music Library already held a few unprocessed archival collections, most notably that of Charles Ives, a gift to Yale by his widow, Harmony Ives, in 1956. Although John Kirkpatrick had published in 1960 his astounding catalogue of Ives's music manuscripts, the papers generally had not received modern archival processing by 1972, when the Music Library's staff studied and adopted the archival methods of the University Library's Manuscripts and Archives Department and became, in essence, the musical branch thereof. Once the archival program was established and publicized, it was not difficult to make significant additions. Musicians or their families would contact the Music Library, Yale doctoral candidates would introduce the music librarian to the subjects of their dissertations, or the music librarian would seek out persons who played significant roles in the development and life of American music.
Seventy-four collections or sets of papers have been acquired over the years, ranging in size from a half foot to an estimated hundred and twenty feet. Fifty-one have been processed to date, and registers of their contents can be purchased. Most of the unprocessed papers have at least a partial inventory of their contents and can be made available for research.
The papers of a composer normally consist of autograph or copyists' manuscripts or photocopies thereof, published works, correspondence, reviews, programs, and photographs, and often financial records and music of other composers. Processing consists of arranging the papers by topic, entering each item in the register, placing the items in acid-free folders, deacidifying and/or encasing fragile papers in Mylar, placing the folders in acid-free boxes, and storing them in a temperature- and humidity-controlled area. The register, serving as a finding tool, identifies the box and folder number of each item. The general content of each archival collection, in some cases with over a hundred subject tracings, is listed in Archival and Manuscript Control (AMC), a file in the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) database.
The main strengths of the Music Library's archival holdings are American music and German music between the two World Wars. Within those groups are composers and performers of classical music, composers for the musical theater, and jazz performers and arrangers.
Individual manuscripts, not part of a collection or a person's papers, are classed separately in a category designated Miscellaneous Manuscripts. They, too, are listed in RLIN.
It has been the generosity of dozens of donors that has made the Music Archives possible. Only a very few collections have been acquired by purchase. Dealings with these donors have often resulted in warm friendships and have been especially rewarding for the staff of the Music Library.
When a library accepts a person's papers, it simultaneously takes on a responsibility to promote the person's works by encouraging research on them. The following brief descriptive paragraphs for the Music Library's seventy-four sets of archival papers have been written for that purpose.
Harold E. Samuel, Music Librarian
New Haven, February 1994
Finding Aids to cataloged collections are available in paper form in
the Music Library from the Assistant Music Librarian for Public Services.
Some are shelved in the Reference Collection. Selected finding aids
may be viewed online from the Yale
University Library Finding Aid Database, or from the hyperlinks below.
The register for the Earl Banquer Papers is available online only through
hyperlink below.
MSS 2 - The
Helen Wright Papers; .25'
Approximately 25 letters and 10 photographs of Myra Hess and Teresa
Carreño addressed to Helen Madeline Wright, a former pupil of theirs.
The material spans the years 1907-1954. A gift of Mrs. Arnold Hall in 1961.
MSS 3 - The
Yale School of Music Papers; 8'
A collection of 550 letters spanning the years 1897-1950 and involving
chiefly Horatio Parker, the New Haven Symphony, and prominent musical personalities
of the day. More extensive papers of the School of Music await processing.
MSS 4 - The
New Haven Music Club Papers; .5'
Three manuscript record books of the Club's activities from 1921 to
1946. The approximately twenty-five members of the Club, mostly local ladies,
were all performers and held monthly recitals.
MSS 5 - The
New Haven Oratorio Society Papers; 5'
Created in 1903 by Horatio Parker, the Society was formed to promote
musical culture, especially choral music, in New Haven and Connecticut.
Included for the Society's ten-year existence are the records of the Secretary
and Treasurer.
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MSS 6 - The
Schneeloch Family Papers; 2'
These are the professional records of two New Haven sisters, Emma and
Emilie Schneeloch, during their concert tours throughout the country from
1886 to 1893. Most of the travels were with the Gilmore Band. Included
are letters, programs, photographs, and two diaries. Additional information
about the sisters is in the Bacon-Schneeloch
Family Papers, Manuscript Group Number 707, in the Manuscripts and
Archives department of Yale's Sterling Memorial Library.
MSS 7 - The
Richard Donovan Papers; 20'
Housed in thirty archival boxes, the Collection contains material from
Donovan's long and active career as a composer, teacher, conductor, and
important musical force in the New Haven area. Included are essentially
all of his musical works (sketches, holographs, and published editions);
about 300 letters, many with important musical personalities of the day;
material dealing with the American Composers Alliance and the Yado festivals,
with which he was highly active; photographs; programs, reviews, classroom
notebooks; and photocopies or holographs of manuscripts of other composers.
Donovan (1891-1970) was on the faculty of the Yale School of Music from
1928 to 1960.
MSS 8 - The
Max Smith Papers; 12'
Smith (1874-1935) was a music critic for the New York Press (1903-1916)
and the New York American (1916-1919, 1923) and a foreign music correspondent
for the New York Herald Tribune. The Papers consist of about 250 letters,
telegrams, and cards addressed to Smith by prominent musical personalities
and about 30 communiques to Arturo Toscanini, with whom Smith had a friendship
and business relationship for many years. Also included are copies of 14
letters by Josef Giehr to his parents during his studies in Rome with Franz
Liszt (1879-80).
MSS 9 - John
Carter Glenn Collection; 5'
A collection of 27 autographs and autograph letters signed, dating
from 1886 to 1912, including letters of d'Albert, Tchaikovsky, Victor Herbert,
Moskowsky, Paderewski, and Scharwenka.
MSS 10 - The
Leo Ornstein Papers; 12'
Leo Ornstein, born in Russia in 1892 or 93, was active as a composer
until shortly before his death 2002. The Papers include all known existing
holographs of his long career as a composer (about 175 titles in a variety
of instrumental and vocal forms), photographs, programs, correspondence,
and reviews. After a highly active career as a composer related to the
Futurist School and as a brilliant piano soloist, he retired from concert
life and founded with his wife the Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia.
Vivian Perlis, in her research of 20th-century American music, brought
Ornstein and his music back to the mainstream of concert life. The Music
Library also has several sealed boxes of sketches that are not to be opened
in Ornstein's lifetime. See also the Poon
Hill Press website for Ornstein's music available on the web.
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MSS 11 - The Ralph Kirkpatrick Papers;
22'
During his lifetime Ralph Kirkpatrick gave Yale two collections of
material:
MSS 12 - The
Sidney Rose Collection of Gilbert and Sullivan; 12'
The sixteen boxes of material were collected by Rose, who intended
to write a history of Gilbert and Sullivan production in America. Included
are newspaper and periodical articles pertaining to specific productions,
revivals, and artists; production pictures; librettos, scores, and sheet
music; and posters. Additional material concerning Gilbert and Sullivan,
not a part of Rose's Collection, is in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript
Library.
MSS 13 - The
Yale School of Music D.M.A. Papers; 81'
The confidential files and supporting evidence of successful Doctor
of Musical Arts recipients from the School of Music are retained by the
Music Library.
MSS 14 - The Charles Ives Papers; 51'
The Ives Papers are in two parts:
MSS 15 - The
Quincy Porter Papers; 43'
Quincy Porter (1897-1966) was involved with the American Composers
Alliance, the National Institute of Arts & Letters, the American Music
Center, and the Yaddo festivals in addition to his professorships at the
Cleveland Institute, Vassar College, the New England Conservatory, and
Yale University (1946-66). He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for musical
composition in 1954. In addition to his musical works, the Papers include
an extensive correspondence, programs, scrapbooks, classroom papers, published
articles, photographs, and music of other composers.
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MSS 16 - The
Galeazzi Collection; 4.5'
The Collection was purchased from Marchesa Novella Castiglioni in Falconara
(near Ancona) in 1971 by Harold E. Samuel while on sabbatic leave in Italy.
It consists of 130 manuscripts and some printed material (added to the
Rare Book Collection). Among the few dated manuscripts, the earliest is
1806, the latest 1898, thus spanning several generations of the Galeazzi
family. The most prominent musician in the family was Francesco Galeazzi
(1758-1819), the author of Elementi teorico-practici di musica (Rome,
1791-96), 2 volumes, which is important for its early description of sonata
form. The Collection of manuscripts is rather evenly divided between vocal
and instrumental music. Operatic excerpts, especially those of Donizetti,
Rossini, and Verdi, make up the major portion.
MSS 17 - The
Duane A. Davidson Papers; 4'
Davidson (1935-64), a pupil of Quincy Porter, won several awards for
his compositions and enjoyed performances of his works in the United States
and Europe during his short life. Other than reviews and programs, the
Papers contain his musical works for a variety of media.
MSS 18 - The
Zo Elliott Papers; 10'
"Zo" Elliott (1891-1964) was the composer of "There's a Long, Long
Trail a Winding." The bulk of the Papers consists of sketches, scores,
and material for his opera Top Sergeant. Also included are manuscripts
of several popular songs, literary writings of Elliott, and small numbers
of correspondence, clippings, and photographs. Elliott was especially interested
in the history of John Brown.
MSS 19 - The
Marie Corelli Collection; .5'
Corelli (1855-1924) was Great Britain's leading poetess and melodramatic
authoress of her age. She was also a pianist and composer. The collection
consists of eight holographs of her songs, twenty song settings of her
texts by various composers (several are manuscript copies), and miscellaneous
items. Corelli's literary works and correspondence are in the Beinecke
Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
MSS 20 - The
Armin Loos Papers; 6'
Loos (1904-1971) immigrated to the United States from Dresden in 1928.
He was an evening and weekend composer, living much of his life in New
Britain, Connecticut. Few of his works were performed during his lifetime.
His widow has been successful in promoting them after his death. The bulk
of the Papers consist of his musical works, including five string quartets
and four symphonies. The Library has tapes of performances of thirteen
of Loos's works. An early encouragement to Loos was the award of second
prize in a WPA-sponsored choral competition in 1938, in which William Schuman
received first prize, David Diamond third, and Elliott Carter fifth.
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MSS 21 - The
J. Rosamond Johnson Papers; 8'
John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) and his brother, James Weldon Johnson,
composed and wrote the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing," considered
to be the "black national anthem." The two brothers and Bob Cole collaborated
on more than two hundred songs during their seven years of existence as
the Cole and Johnson Brothers. Rosamond had a remarkable career. He studied
at the New England Conservatory, was a conductor in London, an officer
in the United States Army, a founding member of ASCAP, toured as a pianist
with Taylor Gordon, played in movies, was active in vaudeville, and created
the role of Lawyer Frazier in Porgy and Bess. His Papers include
musical manuscripts, published works, correspondence, programs, clippings,
and photographs. James
Weldon's Papers are in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
MSS 22 - The
H. Leroy Baumgartner Papers; 3'
Baumgartner (1891-1968) taught composition and music theory in the
Yale School of Music from 1919 to 1960. His collection consists almost
entirely of his music, most of which was written for the church: works
for solo voice, solo organ, and chorus.
MSS 23 - The Camp Collection of the music of
Louis Spohr; 4.5'
Charles Lewis Nichols Camp, a New Haven bibliophile, amassed an extensive
collection of the works of Louis Spohr (1784-1859), in early printed editions
and in copyists' hands. The collection came to Yale as a bequest after
Camp's death in 1922.
MSS 24 - The
Marshall Bartholomew Papers; 11'
Marshall Bartholomew (1885-1978) was director of the Yale Glee Club
and of undergraduate musical activities at Yale from 1921 to 1953. He founded
the International Student Musical Council in 1931 to promote international
good will through singing, and he served in various relief capacities during
both World Wars. All of his life he was especially active as a composer
and arranger of songs for singing groups. His final major project was research
into the history of music at Yale in preparation for a book on the subject,
which was not completed. All of these activities are represented in his
Papers. (Partially processed)
MSS 25 - The
Leonard Burkat Papers; 3'
Leonard Burkat (1919-1992) was active as an assistant to Charles Munch,
an administrator for Tanglewood, and head of the Columbia Records Masterworks
label. The collection consists of correspondence with well-known musicians
accumulated during his career. The largest correspondences are with Samuel
Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Henri Dutilleux, Lukas Foss,
Charles Munch, and Francis Poulenc.
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MSS 26 - The
Carl Ruggles Papers; 39'
The relatively small output of Ruggles (1876-1971) is represented in
his Papers by fourteen songs, seventeen other works, and hundreds of pages
of sketches. There are also several works by other composers; a large amount
of correspondence to and from Ruggles, including correspondence with Henry
Cowell, Lou Harrison, Charles Ives, and Edgard Varese; a vast number of
programs and clippings; photographs; and Ruggles's paintings.
MSS 27 - The
Gustav Jakob Stoeckel Papers; 3'
The composer and first Professor of Music at Yale, Gustav Jakob Stoeckel
(1819-1907), was born in Bavaria. His association with Yale began in 1855
as "Organist and Chapel Master." His appointment as Professor of Music
did not occur until 1890, a few years before his retirement and near the
time when Yale began offering a degree in music. The Papers include Stoeckel's
six operas and other musical and non-musical works.
MSS 28 - The
Hershy Kay Papers; 17'
In addition to original compositions of Hershy Kay (1919-81), the papers
include Kay's arrangements of compositions by George Gershwin, Noel Coward,
Carl Maria von Weber, Joseph Haydn, J.S. Bach, Claude Debussy, and several
15th - and 16th-century composers. Seventeen ballets document Kay's collaboration
with choreographers Joe Layton, George Balanchine, and Eliot Feld. Supplementing
the music manuscripts are programs, clippings, photographs, and writings.
There is no correspondence.
MSS 29-MSS 29A - The
Virgil Thomson Papers; 183'
The Thomson Papers are in two sections: 72 linear feet of his music
manuscripts, correspondence, and financial records given by Thomson (1896-1989)
from 1978 to 1984 (cataloged as MSS 29), and about the same amount bequeathed
to Yale University (cataloged as MSS 29A). Essentially all of Thomson's
music (sketches, holographs, and publications) is included, as is his extensive
correspondence (over a hundred archival boxes) with American and French
artists in a variety of media, financial records beginning with his student
days at Harvard, prose writings about Thomson, hundreds of photographs,
and numerous works (published and copies of manuscripts) of other composers.
The two parts have separate registers. See also the Virgil
Thomson Foundation's website.
MSS 30 - The
Papers of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya; 47'
The Papers of Kurt Weill (1900-1950) and Lotte Lenya (1898-1981) were
the gift of the latter in 1980 and by bequest in 1981. The inclusive dates
of the Papers are 1890-1984, from their years in Germany through their
careers in the United States. Few holograph scores from Weill's European
years are included, though his publisher at that time, Universal Edition,
gave Yale copies of the original manuscripts held by Universal, which are
now on deposit at the Sibley
Library of the Eastman School of Music. The American works are
essentially complete and are supplemented by correspondence, programs,
clippings, photographs, and personal documents representing the careers
of Weill and Lenya. The Kurt
Weill Foundation for Music, Inc., maintains a Weill/Lenya Research
Center in New York City, which is an information center for conductors,
performers, and producers. The Foundation has materials not included in
the Yale collection.
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MSS 31 - The
David Stanley Smith Papers; 21'
A pupil of Horatio Parker, the composer Smith (1877-1949) was in the
class of 1900 at Yale College and began teaching at the School of Music
in 1903. He succeeded Parker as Dean in 1920. The bulk of the Papers comprise
his musical works, covering a broad range of genres. Small amounts of correspondence,
clippings, programs, photographs, and writings by and about Smith complete
the collection.
MSS 32 - The
Horatio Parker Papers; 33'
Parker (1863-1919) was the first Dean of Yale's School of Music, serving
from 1904 until his death. The bulk of the Papers were a gift of his widow
in 1923. Parker's output as a composer is essentially complete in the Papers,
which include holographs as well as manuscripts in other hands and published
works. The remainder of the papers contain correspondence, programs, clippings,
writings by Parker, and biographical information.
MSS 33 - The
Lowell Mason Papers; 9'
The core of the Music Library's Rare Book Department is the Lowell
Mason Library, which was a gift to Yale by Mason's family in 1873, a year
after Mason's death. The Papers contain holograph and manuscript music
by Mason (1792-1872) and others, correspondence, programs, clippings, writings,
biographical information, and memorabilia. Included are some papers of
Mason's son, William (1829-1908).
MSS 34 - The
Parker Bailey Papers; 3'
Parker Bailey (1902-1982) came to Yale College in 1919 to study with
Horatio Parker, who died that year. He studied instead with David Stanley
Smith from 1920 to 1925, with Quincy Porter from 1925 to 1930, and with
Roger Sessions. Following his musical studies he received an LL.B degree
from the Cornell Law School in 1934 and practiced law the remainder of
his life. His Papers contain correspondence, contracts, literary writings,
programs, clippings, photographs, and his holograph and published musical
works.
MSS 35 - The
Henry Gilbert Papers; 37'
Henry Gilbert (1868-1928) achieved distinction not only as a composer
and lecturer, but also as an editor and writer whose articles appeared
in many journals. The inclusive dates of his Papers are from 1821 to 1980,
though the bulk of material dates between the late 19th century and Gilbert's
death in 1928. They contain holograph, manuscript and published music by
Gilbert and others, correspondence with leading musicians of the day, clippings,
programs, scrapbooks, diaries, financial and legal items, musical games,
and writings by him and others. There is also music of his father, Benjamin
Franklin Gilbert (1828-1894), and his uncle James L. Gilbert. Gilbert worked
extensively with Arthur Farwell in the Wa-Wan Press. Folk songs, and in
particular Afro-American music and Indian music, were sources of inspiration
to Gilbert.
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MSS 36 - The
Seymour Shifrin Papers; 26'
Seymour Jack Shifrin (1926-1979) studied composition with William Schuman,
Otto Luening, and Darius Milhaud, and taught composition at the University
of California at Berkeley and at Brandeis University. His Papers include
his holograph, manuscript, and published music, correspondence, programs,
clippings, his writings, photographs, and two manuscripts of Roger Sessions.
MSS 37 - The
Samuel Gardner Papers; 4'
Gardner (1891-1984) studied with Charles Martin Loeffler, Felix Winternitz,
Fritz Kneisel, and Percy Goetschius. He had a prominent career as a violinist
in the well-known Kneisel Quartet, as a recitalist, and as a soloist with
leading orchestras in the United States and Europe. Among his compositions
are a Violin Concerto, which he premiered in 1918 with the Boston Symphony
under Pierre Monteux, the Second String Quartet, for which he received
a prize from the Pulitzer Foundation, and "From the Canebrake," his most
familiar composition and still a standard encore piece for violinists.
The Papers contain his music, correspondence, photographs, programs, and
clippings.
MSS 38 - The
Charles Shackford Papers; 10.4'
After bachelor and master degrees at Yale, where he studied with Paul
Hindemith and Ralph Kirkpatrick, et al., Shackford (1918-1979) received
a Ph.D. at Harvard, where he studied with Walter Piston and A. T. Davison
and was a research fellow in acoustics. His longest teaching experience
was at Connecticut College from 1964 to 1979, when he was killed in an
automobile accident. The Papers include his compositions, correspondence,
programs, photographs, and a body of writings on music theory and history
and musical perception.
MSS 39 - The Papers of Lehman Engel; ca.45'
Lehman Engel (1910-1982) was a major figure in the American musical
theater -- writing for it, conducting performances, and writing about it.
Near the end of his career he led the BMI Workshops, training many aspiring
Broadway musical composers. His Papers are a special enrichment of the
archival holdings of Virgil Thomson, Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, Harold
Rome, and Charles Ives, with all of whom he had close contacts. A list
of his correspondents is a who's who of the musical theater. His compositions
cover a variety of media, though he was most attracted to theatrical works.
(Partially
catalogued).
MSS 40 - The
Ernest Trow Carter Papers; 18'
To support himself, the composer and organist Ernest Trow Carter (1866-1953)
had a career in law, during which he continued to compose and perform.
He had a B.A. ('88) and an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Princeton,
where he taught briefly at the turn of the century and served as editor
of Princeton's song book, Carmina Princetonia, from 1887 to 1940.
He composed a variety of vocal and instrumental works, including two operas
and a ballet-pantomime. One of the operas was performed in Osnabrück,
Germany, in 1927. In addition to his published and unpublished music, his
Papers include correspondence, programs, clippings, photographs, articles
by Carter, and financial documents.
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MSS 41 - The Papers of Alec Templeton; ca.24'
The blind Welsh-born pianist and composer Alec Templeton (1909-1963)
was a well-known radio performer and a frequent guest of symphony orchestras,
especially for fund raisers. He was remarkably successful with improvisation
and humorous parodies, "Bach Goes to Town" being his best-known work. His
Papers include his compositions (chiefly instrumental), his correspondence,
photographs, awards, secretarial diaries, and financial records. (Not
yet catalogued)
MSS 42 - The Leo Schrade Papers; ca.6'
The Papers of the German musicologist Leo Schrade (1903-1964) consist
almost exclusively of his tenure on the Yale faculty from 1938 to 1958,
when he returned to Europe and was appointed to the music faculty of the
University of Basel. They include lectures, research notes, committee minutes,
and correspondence. (Not yet catalogued)
MSS 43 - The Karl Young Papers; 7.5'
The Collection consists chiefly of notes and photocopies of sources
collected for Young's (1879-1943) lifelong study of medieval drama. A Professor
of English at Yale from 1923 until his death, he is the author of the well-known
two-volume study The Drama of the Medieval Church (Oxford University
Press, 1933). (Not yet catalogued)
MSS 44 - The Papers of Hilde Somer; ca.9'
The pianist Hilde Somer (1922-1979) came to the United States from
Austria as a child prodigy and studied with Rudolf Serkin, Moritz Rosenthal,
Wanda Landowska, and Claudio Arrau. She had an active career as recitalist
and as a soloist with orchestras in Europe and America and gave première
performances of piano concertos of John Corigliano, Alberto Ginastera (his
Second Piano Concerto is dedicated to her), and Henry Brant. She often
performed Scriabin's music with the accompaniment of colored laser lights
projected onto a screen, as prescribed by Scriabin. The Papers include
photocopies of composers' manuscripts with extensive performance instructions,
correspondence, video tapes, scrapbooks, and clippings. (Not yet catalogued)
MSS 45 - The Papers of Dragan Plamenac; ca.6'
The entire library of the Yugoslavian musicologist Dragan Plamenac
(1895-1983) was acquired by the Music Library. It consisted of about 5,000
volumes: 3,500 monographs, 700 volumes of practical music, 600 reels of
microfilm and 500 rare books. These have been incorporated into the Music
Library's collections. The Papers consist of correspondence, research notes,
and classroom lectures and notes. (Not yet catalogued)
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MSS 46 - The
Thomas de Hartmann Papers; 15'
Thomas de Hartmann (1886-1956) studied with Anton Arensky and Serge
Taneieff in Russia before going to Munich to study conducting with Felix
Mottl. In Munich he collaborated with Vasily Kandinsky in the composition
of Der gelbe Klang. He left Russia permanently during the revolution
and after many years in Paris immigrated to the United States in 1950.
He was an ardent follower and collaborator of the philosopher Georges Ivanovitch
Gurdjieff. His Papers include essentially all of his extant manuscript
and printed music, as well as correspondence, programs, sketches, and literary
writings.
MSS 47 - The
Paul Hindemith Collection; 27'
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) was Professor of Music at Yale from 1940
to 1953. Fourteen of Hindemith's autograph manuscripts are included in
the Papers as gifts from his widow, Gertrude, and from friends and students.
Other materials were collected by Luther Noss from former students and
colleagues and consist of programs, reviews, student papers and compositions,
correspondence, photographs, classroom papers, and published compositions
and writings. See also the Papers of Kurt Stone (MSS 71) and the
Hindemith Foundation's website.
MSS 48 - The Red Norvo Papers; 18'
The Papers of the percussionist Red Norvo (b. 1908) consist chiefly
of arrangements for his big band in the 1930s. Most of the three-hundred
arrangements are by Eddie Sauter (see MSS 64), who was Norvo's staff arranger
at the time and played trumpet in the band. Some programs, reviews, letters,
and photographs make up the remainder of the Papers. Norvo's wife, Mildred
Bailey (1907-1951), is represented among the material. (Partially catalogued)
MSS 49 - The
Harold Rome Papers; 46'
Harold Rome (1908-1993) is the composer and lyricist of the well-known
musicals Pins and Needles, Call Me Mister, Fanny,
Destry Rides Again, and I Can Get It for You Wholesale. These
and other works, printed and in manuscript, are included in his Papers,
along with numerous lyrics, correspondence, clippings, photographs, and
seventy-five oil paintings and water colors.
MSS 50 - The
Paul Bekker Papers; 27'
The Papers of the critic and writer on music Paul Bekker (21882-1937)
include about 5,000 letters from seemingly everyone connected with the
arts in Germany between the two world wars: composers, conductors, cultural
organizations, concert and theatrical agents, publishers, and editors of
newspapers and journals. Also included are copies of all of Bekker's books
and articles, photographs, and correspondence with his family.
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MSS 51 - The Franz Schreker Collection; ca.12'
The main holdings of Schreker's papers are in European libraries. Yale's
Papers were a gift of Schreker's daughter, Mrs. Haidy Schreker-Bures of
Argentina. They include Schreker's personal copies of the scores of his
last four operas, some manuscript music, his literary writings, personal
documents, photographs, and clippings. Universal-Edition in Vienna has
sent copies of the autograph manuscripts of four of Schreker's operas,
and the Music Library has purchased numerous letters as they have come
on the market. (Not yet catalogued.)
MSS 52 - The
Frederick and Rose Plaut Papers; 28'
This collection consists of 35,688 photographs of recording artists,
actors, writers, and statesmen taken by Fred Plaut (1907-1985) while he
was a Recording Engineer for Columbia Records from the mid-1940s through
the 1970s. Most of the negatives have contact sheets, and there are 3,591
enlargements. Each shot is listed with a unique number in the register.
An additional 23,256 negatives (most with contact sheets), 2218 enlargements,
and several hundred slides taken during travels, are not catalogued. There
is also correspondence to Fred and Rose Plaut (d. Feb. 1, 1992), a singer,
from Francis Poulenc, Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Aaron Copland, et al.,
and publications that have reproductions of Plaut photographs. Recording
artists (musical and spoken) frequently requested Fred Plaut to do their
recording. He would bring his camera to a recording session and request
permission to shoot a role of film. All in all 657 persons have been identified,
many in significant numbers (e.g., Leonard Bernstein 1,170 photographs,
Robert Casadesus 437, Glenn Gould 393, Eugene Ormandy 387, Rudolf Serkin
1,283, and Igor Stravinsky 1,343).
MSS 53 - The Benny Goodman Papers; ca.120'
Benny Goodman (1909-1986) bequeathed to the Music Library all of his
master tapes, his library of about 1500 arrangements, about 5,000 photographs,
40 scrapbooks and numerous other clippings, programs, awards, and memorabilia.
The bequest includes the rights to unreleased recordings in the master
tapes and to the arrangements. Selections from the tapes are being released
on the Musicmasters label (ten volumes as of 2006, a total of twelve
is anticipated). A register
of the arrangements has been made, and copies of the arrangements can
be purchased. (Partially catalogued) See also the Benny
Goodman Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing
Arts for 500 arrangements.
MSS 54 - The
E. Robert Schmitz Papers; 12'
The French-born Elie Robert Schmitz (1889-1949) immigrated to the United
States in 1918 after studies in Paris, service in the French army and a
successful career as pianist and conductor. In the United States he and
his wife, Germaine, founded the Franco-American Society in 1920, which
was renamed Pro-Musica, Incorporated, in 1923. The aim was to promote new
music, which it did through Pro-Musica's forty international chapters,
offering concerts, lecture-recitals, and publications. Schmitz brought
Ravel, Bartók, and Respighi to the United States for tours of the
chapters and sponsored a variety of composers for American concerts and
lectures, e.g., Hindemith, Schoenberg, Honegger, Milhaud, Roussel, Tansman,
and Prokofiev. Pro-Musica sent the American composers Marion Bauer, Charles
Tomlinson Griffes, and Louis Greenberg to its Paris chapter and the tenor
Roland Hayes to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Papers include correspondence
and manuscript music by many of these persons, as well as business files
of Pro-Musica and documentation of Schmitz's remarkable career as pianist
and teacher.
MSS 55 - The
Papers of Vladimir and Wanda Toscanini Horowitz; 69'
Mr. and Mrs. Horowitz began their gifts to the Music Library in August
1986, and Mrs. Horowitz continued the presentations until her death in
1998. The register lists all of the material dealing with the career of
Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) and Mrs. Horowitz's holdings of materials
dealing with the career of her father, Arturo Toscanini. The latter includes
many photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, and memorabilia. The former
includes correspondence, programs and program notes, photographs, clippings,
contracts, schedules, financial documents, awards, and items from the library
of Vladimir Horowitz, including autograph manuscripts of Robert Schumann
and Felix Mendelssohn, and autograph letters of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann,
and Tchaikovsky.
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MSS 56 - The
John Kirkpatrick Papers; 40'
Noted for his performances of American music, especially that of Charles
Ives (see MSS 14) and Carl Ruggles (see MSS 26), pianist
John Kirkpatrick (1905-1991) edited the music of and corresponded with
many of the nation's composers, such as Henry Cowell, Roy Harris, Ross
Lee Finney, Aaron Copland, and Elliott Carter, who are well represented
in the vast correspondence. As a close friend of Ives and Ruggles and an
authority on their music, Kirkpatrick collected information about them.
The papers also document Kirkpatrick's outstanding career as a performer.
MSS 57 - The John Hammond Papers; ca. 12'
The legendary record producer and talent scout John Hammond (1910-1987)
bequeathed papers to Yale as selected by his executors. What Yale received
was a large amount of office correspondence and memoranda, dealing largely
with the times, places, and contents of recording sessions at Columbia
Records and the arrangements for and financing of the sessions. While the
memos might document scouting visits, they normally do not include Hammond's
evaluations. His Papers, combined with those of Fred Plaut (MSS 52),
Leonard
Burkat (MSS 25), and Goddard Lieberson (MSS 69), offer extensive
information about the important activities of Columbia Records. (Partially
catalogued)
MSS 58 - The
James G. Barnett Papers; 5'
James G. Barnett (d. 1885) was active as a composer, conductor, and
organist in Connecticut during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
His Papers consist of his manuscript music (chiefly sacred vocal), a few
programs, two of his essays and published compositions of John F. Barnett
(two works) and John Barnett (one work), whose relationship with James
G. is not known.
MSS 59 - The Slam Stewart Papers; 9'
Leroy Elliott "Slam" Stewart (1914-1987) was one of America's pre-eminent
performers on double bass, appearing with Art Tatum, Billy Taylor, Erroll
Garner, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, et al. The Papers
include his well-known composition "Flat Foot Floogie," a few arrangements,
programs, photographs, clippings, correspondence, awards, contracts, and
financial materials.
MSS 60 - The Ted Lewis Collection; ca.6'
The career of Ted Lewis (1891-1971) spanned six decades with performances
in vaudeville, musical comedy, and films and on records, radio, and television.
The bulk of text and pictorial material is in seven large scrapbooks. There
are seventeen manuscript arrangements, numerous commercial recordings,
and 27 half-hour radio programs that were never aired. (Not yet catalogued)
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MSS 61 - The
Leroy Anderson Papers; 16'
While Leroy Anderson's (1908-1975) undergraduate and graduate work
at Harvard University emphasized German and Scandinavian languages, he
became involved early on with music in the Boston area, especially the
Harvard University Band and the Boston Pops Orchestra. As a composer he
excelled in melody and orchestration and created such well-known works
as Sleigh Ride, The Typewriter, Plink, Plank, Plunk, Blue Tango, and The
Syncopated Clock. His Archives contain the manuscripts and published versions
of these works and hundreds of others, his Broadway musical Goldilocks,
scrapbooks, photographs, and private and commercial recordings. Some materials
have not yet been received from his estate. See also the Leroy
Anderson official website.
MSS 62 - The Dance Archives: Stanley Dance and
Helen Oakley Dance; ca.30'
The prominent jazz critic and author Stanley Dance (1910-1999) wrote
for the leading jazz journals of England, France, and the United States.
His monthly column "Lightly and Politely" appeared in Jazz Journal from
1948 to 1976. He worked especially closely with Duke Ellington and Earl
Hines and wrote books about both of them, as well as about Count Basie.
The Collection consists of his correspondence and writings, about 6,000
photographs of black jazz musicians, about 7,000 LP jazz recordings, his
collection of jazz journals, and tapes of his interviews with over a hundred
black jazz performers. Many of the papers of Helen Oakley Dance (1913-2001)
are included in the above account. In addition there is the material collected
for her book on T-bone Walker, her extensive writings in Downbeat and other
jazz journals, and photographs and correspondence with prominent figures
in the jazz and blues worlds during her long career. (Partially catalogued)
MSS 63 - The Marian McPartland Papers; ca.15'
The English-born Marian McPartland (b.1920) has been a major contributor
to the Jazz world as a performer, composer, and writer, and with her popular
program Piano Jazz, which has been a feature of National Public
Radio for over fifteen years. She married the trumpeter Jimmy McPartland
during World War II and immigrated to the United States in 1946. In New
York City she had long stays at the Embers Club and the Hickory House.
Her Papers include a collection of recordings of women jazz pianists, her
own performances, her compositions, and photographs, correspondence, programs,
and reviews.
(Not yet catalogued)
MSS 64 - The Eddie Sauter Papers; ca.15'
Eddie Sauter (1914-1981) arranged for "Red" Norvo, Benny Goodman, and
the Sauter-Finegan bands, among others, and did the arranging of the Broadway
musicals 1776 and Superman. His original compositions included the movie
score Mickey One, Focus Suite, and the Tanglewood Concerto. To date Yale
has received from his estate the movie and Broadway scores, his original
compositions, and fifteen dance-band arrangements, all autograph manuscripts.
This material, combined with Sauter arrangements in the Library of "Red"
Norvo (MSS 48) and the Benny Goodman Papers (MSS 53), comprise
an unusually large collection of a jazz arranger's output. (Not yet
catalogued)
MSS 65 - The
Kay Swift Papers; 15'
Kay Swift (1897-1993) is perhaps best remembered for her musical Fine
and Dandy, which ran on Broadway in 1930 for 236 performances, and
for her close relationship with George Gershwin. The Papers consist of
everything in her possession at the time of her death: manuscripts of her
music, private tapes and commercial recordings, correspondence, financial
records, programs, reviews, and photographs.
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MSS 66 - The Deems Taylor Papers; ca.15'
Deems Taylor (1885-1966), the composer, critic, and writer on music,
and President of ASCAP, was among America's most prominent musicians from
the 1920s until his death. As intermission commentator for the popular
Sunday radio broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1936
to 1943, his name became a household word. Research notes relating to the
broadcasts, as well as his reviews for the New York World (1921-25)
and the New York American (1931-32), are included in the Papers.
They also contain the autograph manuscripts of most of his works (not his
two operas The King's Henchman and Peter Ibbetson), extensive
correspondence, a large number of photographs, and some recordings. With
this acquisition Yale also received the papers of Taylor's second wife,
the poet and playwright Mary Kennedy. They are in Yale's Beinecke Rare
Book and Manuscript Library.
(Not yet catalogued)
MSS 67 - The Newell Jenkins-Clarion Society
Papers; ca.35'
The Society was founded in New York in 1957 by Newell Jenkins (1915-1996).
Most of the music performed by the Society was in editions prepared by
Jenkins from primary sources. Among the composers whose little-known works
have been performed are Steffani, Cavalli, Monteverdi, Banchieri, Brunetti,
and Sammartini. The Papers include several hundred microfilms of primary
sources, photocopies prepared from the films, over 300 editions (scores
and parts) prepared by Jenkins, and the correspondence and business files
and programs of the Society. (Partially catalogued)
MSS 68 - The
Isidor Achron Papers; 1.5'
The composer and pianist Isidor Achron (1892-1948) studied composition
in St. Petersburg with Liadov before immigrating to the United States.
From 1922 to 1933 he was accompanist to Jascha Heifetz. Achron performed
his Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic in 1937. The Papers include
many of Achron's compositions, his correspondence, programs, photographs
(including many with Heifetz), and recordings, various papers of his wife,
the singer Lea Karina, and two compositions of his brother, Joseph Achron
(1886-1943). Among the music of other composers are holograph manuscripts
of Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Nicolas Slonimsky.
MSS 69 - The Goddard Lieberson Papers; ca.35'
As President of Columbia Records, the composer Goddard Lieberson (1911-1977)
was among the nation's most influential musical personalities from the
1940s to his death. His Papers, the gift of his widow, Vera Zorina, include
essentially every Columbia LP recording issued during his tenure, twenty-five
file drawers and nineteen additional boxes of correspondence, photographs,
scrapbooks, and the holograph manuscripts of his compositions. Lieberson
engaged authors, poets, and public figures to do spoken recordings; their
correspondence combined with that of musicians comprise one of the most
remarkable correspondence files in the Yale Music Archives. Among the major
correspondences are those with Samuel Beckett, Sir Thomas Beecham, Irving
Berlin, Fanny Brice, Noel Coward, Henry Cowell, Nelson Eddy, Edna Ferber,
Jose Ferrer, Ira Gershwin, John Gielgud, Sir Alec Guiness, Paul Hindemith,
Jerome Kern, Andre Kostelanetz, Lotte Lehman, Lotte Lenya, Groucho Marx,
W. Somerset Maugham, Darius Milhaud, Eugene Ormandy, Egon Petri, Gregor
Piatigorsky, Cole Porter, Basil Rathbone, Fritz Reiner, Richard Rogers,
Artur Rodzinski, William Saroyan, Arnold Schoenberg, Dame Edith Sitwell,
Osbert Sitwell, Rudolph Serkin, Rise Stevens, Leopold Stokowsky, Igor Stravinsky,
George Szell, Joseph Szigeti, Virgil Thomson, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Bruno
Walter. Most of these persons are also represented in the photographic
archives of Fred Plaut (MSS 52). (Not yet catalogued)
MSS 70 - The
Mel Powell Papers; 14'
Born in 1923 in New York City, Mel Powell had remarkable careers in
both jazz and classical music, the latter highlighted by a Pulitzer Prize
in 1990 for his Duplicates. His Papers, which are gradually being transferred
to Yale, consist to date chiefly of the holograph manuscripts of his music
(or copies thereof), correspondence, and photographs. Forty-two of his
arrangements are in the Benny Goodman Papers (MSS
53).
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MSS 71 - The Kurt Stone Papers; ca.6'
The music editor Kurt Stone (1911-1989) worked closely with Elliott
Carter and Paul Hindemith while employed at Associated Music Publishers.
The bulk of the Papers are the letters of Elliott and Helen Carter to and
from Stone, covering the years 1955-1980, and of Hindemith to and from
Stone, covering the years 1953-1962. Some letters include musical notation
of Carter and Hindemith. Also included is the autograph manuscript score
of Heitor Villa-Lobos's String Quartet No. 7. (Not yet catalogued)
MSS 72 - The Clarence Watters Papers; ca.6'
The Papers contain the organist Watters's (1902-1986) compositions,
tapes of his recitals, programs, photographs, and correspondence. The last
named includes 89 letters from Marcel and Jeanette Dupré, dating
from 1926 to 1978. Watters was a pupil of Dupré's and a frequent
performer of his works. (Not yet catalogued)
MSS 73 - The
Karl Weigl Papers; 15'
The Austrian composer Karl Weigl (1881-1949) immigrated to the United
States in 1938. His Papers contain copies of his manuscripts, reviews,
programs, scrapbooks, photographs, and an extensive correspondence, including
letters of Pablo Casals, Aaron Copland, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Myra Hess,
Heinrich Schenker, Arnold Schoenberg, Bruno Walter, Felix Weingartner,
and Alexander von Zemlinsky.
MSS 74 - The New York Brass Quintet Papers;
ca.15'
The New York Brass Quintet was the prime mover in gaining acceptance
of this medium for concert performances. Various composers wrote music
expressly for the Quintet. The Collection includes a library of 440 works
for various combinations of brass instruments. Also present are programs,
reviews, and numerous tapes of performances. (Partially catalogued)
MSS 77 - The David and Fanny Opochinsky
Collection of Music Manuscripts; 3.5'
This collection contains about 300 musical manuscripts, letters, and
other documents written by prominent musicians. Born in the Polish city
of Lódz in 1900, David Opochinsky was trained as a violinist at
the Moscow Conservatory, but later became successful in the business world;
his company, Titra-Film, provides subtitles and dubbing for the movie industry.
Opochinsky came to the United States in 1942 and began collecting rare
music documents in 1950. He died in 1974, and in 1986 his heirs generously
donated his collection to Yale University. It includes compositions, letters,
and autographs by C.P.E. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini, Weber,
Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorák,
Grieg, Paderewski, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Kreisler, Casals, Bartók,
Stokowski, Stravinsky, Berg, Prokofiev, Copland, Rodgers, Serkin, and other
eminent composers and performers. Opochinsky and his wife Fanny had each
item framed along with a picture of the musician; their New York apartment
was described as a musical museum. After the collection came to Yale, the
contents were removed from the frames and transferred to archival folders
and boxes, to insure their preservation for future researchers. (Partially
catalogued)
MSS 79 - The
David Kraehenbuehl Papers; 11'
David Kraehenbuehl (1923-1997) studied at the University of Illinois,
the Yale School of Music (under Paul Hindemith), and the Schola Cantorum
Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland. In addition to his work as a composer,
from 1950 to 1960 Kraehenbuehl held faculty positions at Colorado College
and at Yale. He was a founder and the first editor of the Journal of
Music Theory. Kraehenbuehl left academia in 1960 and devoted the rest
of his life to raising the standards of piano pedagogy in the United States.
He was also instrumental in composing and editing sacred music for Roman
Catholic services following the dictates of the Second Vatican Council
(1962-1965). The David Kraehenbuehl Papers were the gift of Marie Kraehenbuehl
in 1999.
Please see also The
David Kraehenbuehl Society's website.
MSS 80 - The
Earl Banquer Collection; 1.5'
The Earl Banquer Collection consists of musical arrangements of numerous
classical, folk, and popular works, arranged for flute, three clarinets,
and bass clarinet. The majority of arrangements in the collection were
made by Banquer himself, to provide repertroire for his Earl Banquer Ensemble
in New Haven. In addition to Banquer's own arrangements, the collection
holds musical works which Banquer commissioned from composers Thomas Duffy,
Michael Horvit, Collier Jones, and Yehudi Wyner.
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MSS 82 - The
Cole Porter Collection; 54'
Cole Porter (1891-1964) bequeathed his papers to his alma mater: several
hundred manuscripts and copies of published and unpublished songs, both
in his handwriting and in that of his long-time copyist, scrapbooks devoted
to his Broadway shows; photographs of his shows, trips, friends, and homes;
travel journals, musical notebooks, librettos of shows, and his extensive
collection of recordings (included in the Historical Sound Recordings Collection)
and they have been supplemented by materials discovered by Robert E. Kimball
in Porter's publisher's warehouse,. Earlier the composer had donated a
large collection of his published music. The Cole Porter Musical and Literary
Property Trusts have contributed photocopies of manuscripts held elsewhere,
and Porter's friends and classmates have provided lyrics and recordings
of unpublished songs from his days at Yale. Several groups of papers and
letters have been received, as well as a group of college course notebooks
found in the home of one of his classmates. Send inquiries about
this collection to Richard Warren,
Curator of the American Musical Theatre Collection.
MSS 83 - The
E. Y. Harburg Collection; 30'
E. Y. Harburg (1898 - 1981) donated his manuscripts: light verse, notes,
scripts, songs for political benefits, and lyrics for musicals and films,
as well as various speeches, articles, and testimonials, which form the
larger portion of the collection. A smaller section called "Harburgiana"
includes correspondence, publicity, reviews, programs, scrapbooks, and
memorabilia. Send inquiries about this collection to Richard
Warren, Curator of the American Musical Theatre Collection.
MSS 84 - The
Eric Simon Papers; 1'
The papers of the Austrian-American clarinetist and composer Eric Simon
(1907-1984) consist of scores and parts of manuscript and photocopied music,
the majority of which are Simon's own musical compositions and arrangements.
A short pedagogical work co-written by Simon is also included.
MSS 86 - The Robert Shaw Papers; ca. 200'
Robert Shaw was the most influential American choral conductor of the
20th century. Born in Red Bluff, California in 1916, Shaw was educated
at Pomona College and in private studies with Julius Herford. Over the
course of his long career, he directed the Fred Waring Glee Club, the Collegiate
Chorale, the Robert Shaw Chorale, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the
Cleveland Orchestra (as associate conductor under George Szell), and from
1967 to 1988, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Shaw died in New Haven in
1999. The Shaw Papers include the conductor's personal library of over
annotated 1,600 musical scores and parts, as well as correspondence, files
on musical topics, general files, writings, speeches, programs, clippings,
photographs, sound recordings, videos, annotated books, and other materials.
(Partially catalogued)
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MSS 87 - The
South Before the War Company Papers; 3'
The South Before the War Company was a minstrel show owned and managed
by Herman Wallum (alias Harry Martell) that toured the United States in
the late 1890s (and possibly before and after that time as well).
The papers include scripts, orchestral parts, published and unpublished
sheet music, publicity and other ephemera. Send inquiries about this collection
to Richard
Warren, Curator of the American Musical Theatre Collection.
MSS 91 - The Daniel Asia Papers; ca. 20'
The American composer Daniel Asia was born in Seattle in 1953. He studied
at Hampshire College and received his Master of Music degree from the Yale
School of Music, where his teachers included Jacob Druckman and Krzysztof
Penderecki. Since 1988 Asia has been Professor of Composition and head
of the composition program at the University of Arizona. He has received
numerous awards and fellowships, and his music has been performed orchestras
and chamber ensembles throughout the United States and abroad. From 1991
to 1994 Asia was the Meet the Composer / Composer in Residence with the
Phoenix Symphony. The Daniel Asia Papers were purchased by the Music Library
in 2005. (Partially catalogued)
MSS 93 - The Howard and Helen Boatwright
Papers; ca. 20'
Howard Boatwright (1918-1999) was a composer, violinist, student of
Paul Hindemith, professor at Yale, and for many years Dean of the School
of Music at Syracuse University. Helen Boatwright is a soprano who throughout
her career has won acclaim for her interpretations of the song repertoire
of the twentieth-century. Among her notable performances are definitive
recordings of the songs of Charles Ives with John Kirkpatrick at the piano.
The Boatwright Papers document both Howard's and Helen's careers through
manuscript and printed music, writings, programs, clippings, pedagogical
and biographical materials, and documents relating to the Hindemith Music
Centre in Blonay, Switzerland, which the Boatwrights founded and directed
in its early years. The Boatwright Papers were the gift of Helen Boatwright
in 2002. (Partially catalogued)
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