Damrosch - Tee Van Collection
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2006568217
General International Standard for Archival Description
Music Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding Aid encoded by Library of Congress Music Division, 2007
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Damrosch - Tee Van Collection1856-1969 (bulk 1870-1939)
Damrosch, Leopold, 1832-1885
Biographical History for: Damrosch - Tee Van Collection1856-1969 (bulk 1870-1939)
Biographical Sketch The Damrosch family immigrated to America from Breslau, Germany in 1871. Leopold Damrosch (1832-1885), the family patriarch, was a violinist, conductor, and composer who was educated in Posen, his native city, and in Berlin. In 1857, Franz Liszt appointed him lead violinist in the court orchestra at Weimar. While there, he married the singer Helene von Heimburg. In 1860, he toured with Hans von Bülow and Karl Tausig and, in 1862, organized the Breslau Philharmonic Society. He came to America in 1871 to conduct the Arion Society, a men's choral group. In 1873, he founded the Oratorio Society of New York and, in 1878, the Symphony Society of New York. He introduced Wagner's operas, Berlioz's Damnation of Faust, and other large choral works to New York audiences; many of these were American premieres. In 1880, Columbia College conferred on him the Doctor of Music degree. During the 1884-85 season, he became a manager of the Metropolitan Opera and presented a "German" season which consisted primarily of German operas and some Italian operas sung in German. Six days before the end of the season, he died and his son, Walter, and the chorusmaster, John Lund, conducted the remaining performances. Walter conducted the tour of the Damrosch Grand Opera Company which followed the Metropolitan Opera season. Frank Damrosch (1859-1937), the oldest son of Leopold and Helene, was a conductor and teacher. He began his musical studies as a child in Breslau and continued them in New York City. Later, he left City College and found work in various non-musical jobs. In 1879, he went to Denver, Colorado to see what business opportunities existed there; eventually, he abandoned the business world and devoted himself to music. He became conductor of the Denver Chorus Club, supervisor of music in public schools, and organist and choir director for several churches and a synagogue. After Leopold's death in 1885, he returned to New York City and served as conductor of the Newark Harmonic Society and chorus master and assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera until 1891. In 1892, he organized and conducted the People's Choral Union for which he published a Popular Method of Sight Singing. He founded and conducted the Musical Art Society of New York, a small professional chorus. From 1897 to 1905 he was supervisor of music in the New York City public schools. He succeeded his brother Walter as conductor of the Oratorio Society from 1898-1912. In 1904, he received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University. In 1905, he founded the Institute of Musical Art and was its director until 1926, when it merged with the Juilliard Graduate School to become the Juilliard School of Music of which he served as dean until 1933. Wilda Heiss, Music SpecialistMargaret Collins, Library Technician,July 1994
Scope and Content Note The Damrosch-Tee Van Collection consists of the papers of Frank and Leopold Damrosch and their families. The date span of the collection is 1856-1969, with the bulk of the materials dating from the 1870s to the 1930s. The collection includes biographical materials, correspondence, writings, manuscript and printed music, financial and legal papers, programs, scrapbooks, artwork, and photographs. Included in the collection is a series of biographical materials that relate to various Damrosch family members, chiefly Frank and Leopold Damrosch, and consists of printed articles, manuscript notes, and transcripts of interviews. One item of interest is an autobiographical essay written by Leopold Damrosch as a graduation thesis from the high school at Posen. The papers of Leopold Damrosch consist of correspondence (including a copy of a letter from Liszt,) a few examples of writings, four scores (including Leopold Damrosch's piano-vocal arrangement of the Berlioz Requiem), programs for concerts he conducted and attended, a scrapbook of clippings, and a few other miscellaneous items. This section of the collection is quite small, due in part to a fire in 1887 that destroyed many of Leopold's papers, including much of his correspondence with Liszt, Wagner, von Bülow, and others. Despite this fact, the collection contains important information on Leopold Damrosch. A large part of the collection consists of the papers of Frank Damrosch and other Damrosch family members. The correspondence comprises several hundred letters, with some of the more important correspondents being Harold Bauer, Andrew Carnegie, Edward Elgar, Percy Grainger, Josef Hofmann, Gustav Mahler, and Sergei Rachmaninov. Many of the letters of Frank Damrosch to his family were destroyed in the 1887 fire, mentioned above; there are, however, a long series of letters to his wife Hetty from Europe in 1891. Any letters to or from correspondents who wrote to both Frank Damrosch and other family members are filed together with Frank's correspondence. The correspondence of other Damrosch family includes letters to and from family members. Included are letters from Georges Barrère, Teresa Carreño, Pablo Casals, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek (regarding John Tee Van's zoo pandas), and John D. Rockefeller. Many of these are simply condolence letters received after Frank Damrosch's death while others reveal more familiar relationships. The remainder of the papers of Frank Damrosch and other Damrosch family include manuscript and typescript copies of Frank Damrosch's book Some Essentials in the Teaching of Music; a copy of the libretto for Walter Damrosch's The Scarlet Letter; several printed editions of Frank Damrosch's choral music; programs for concerts the Damrosch family attended or that Frank conducted; original artwork by Frank Damrosch; photographs, and other family memorabilia. Also included are papers of the Institute of Musical Art, the music school which Frank Damrosch founded in 1905. This part of the collection includes catalogs, programs, and other publications produced by that institution.
series
Biographical Materials, 1879-1939, undated
The Biographical Materials series contains manuscript, typewritten and printed biographies and typewritten poem.
file
Damrosch, Dorothea
Damrosch, "Uncle Juju," n.d. (poem)
Damrosch, Frank
Conversation with Randall Thompson, 1937
Manuscript notes for autobiographical article, [1934]
On leaving the opera, 1891-92
Damrosch, Hetty Mosenthal
Notes about F[rank] D[amrosch], n.d.
People's Choral Union
To Frank Damrosch from the People's Choral Union, n.d.
Frank Damrosch in memoriam, n.d.
Rice, Edwin T.
A tribute to Frank Damrosch, n.d.
A tribute to Frank Damrosch, reprinted from The Musical Quarterly, 1939 Apr.
Richardson, A. Madeley
Presentation of the portrait of Dr. Frank Damrosch, 1929 Oct. 22
Unidentified author
Article "Frank Damrosch: A biographical sketch" from The Musical Times, 1904 Dec. 1
Unidentified author, n.d.
Rough notes about summers abroad and elsewhere; also about various activities in New York, etc., n.d.
Damrosch, Leopold
100th anniversary of birth
Typescript of WOR broadcast, 1932
Four newspaper articles, 1932
Dictations to Helen Tee Van in reply to questions asked about old times, n.d.
Manuscript in pencil written by Frank Damrosch about various episodes left out of typed story, n.d.
Short biography of Leopold Damrosch by Frank Damrosch, n.d.
Autobiography of Leopold Damrosch, written when he was eighteen years old as a graduation thesis from the high school in Posen, n.d. [translation]
Lists of Compositions
Compositions of Dr. Leopold Damrosch, 1879
List of the compositions of Dr. Leopold Damrosch for violin, n.d.
Personal recollections of Dr. Leopold Damrosch, reprinted from The Musical Quarterly, 1942 July
Damrosch, Walter
Gilbert, Douglas
Three newspaper articles from the New York World-Telegram, 1946
Seymour, Ellie Damrosch
Papers of Leopold Damrosch
The Papers of Leopold Damrosch series consist of correspondence (including a copy of a letter from Liszt,) a few examples of writings, four scores (including Leopold Damrosch's piano-vocal arrangement of the Berlioz Requiem), programs for concerts he conducted and attended, a scrapbook of clippings, and a few other miscellaneous items. This section of the collection is quite small, due in part to a fire in 1887 that destroyed many of Leopold's papers, including much of his correspondence with Liszt, Wagner, von Bülow, and others. Despite this fact, the collection contains important information on Leopold Damrosch.
subseries
Correspondence
Beaulieu-Marconnay, Baron von, 1856
Heimburg, Marie von, 1874, 1883
Lichtenberg, Theodor, 1871
Liszt, Franz, 1857 [photographic reproductions and negatives of letter and translation]
Miscellaneous, 1856-81 [typewritten transcript of handwritten letters in German; originals filed under author's name]
New York Sun, 1876 [rolled]. Letters from Leopold Damrosch in Bayreuth [facsimiles from New York Sun, dated 1876 Aug. 13, 18, 23, 26, and Sept. 3)
Philharmonic Society of New York, 1875-1877, n.d.
[Praller, Friedrich?], 1870
Ritter, F. L., n.d.
Unidentified, 1857-1871
Writings
Manuscript notebook, 1862 [Poetry for possible settings; some notes on music]
On Beethoven's Egmont overture, n.d.
Music
Berlioz, Hector
Requiem
Piano-vocal score with Leopold Damrosch's annotations (G. Schirmer, 1880)
Bar not up the heart too closely
Melodie für Franz
Mother dear, this cavalier
Financial
Receipts [3 items]
Programs
Arion Society of New York, 1879
Beethoven's grosses Musikfest, 1870
Breslauer Orchester, 1871
The Damrosch Concert, St. Joseph Gazette, 1883 May 26
Scrapbooks
"Nachlass" scrapbook, 1871-1879, n.d.
Loose clippings from "Nachlass" scrapbook, 1876-1879, n.d.
Miscellany
Envelopes with notes on materials [copies of these are in corresponding folders]
Lock of Leopold's hair
Obituary notice of Leopold Damrosch, 1885
Papers of Frank Damrosch and other Damrosch Family
A large part of the collection consists of the papers of Frank Damrosch and other Damrosch family members. The correspondence comprises several hundred letters, with some of the more important correspondents being Harold Bauer, Andrew Carnegie, Edward Elgar, Percy Grainger, Josef Hofmann, Gustav Mahler, and Sergei Rachmaninov. Many of the letters of Frank Damrosch to his family were destroyed in the 1887 fire, mentioned above; there are, however, a long series of letters to his wife Hetty from Europe in 1891. Any letters to or from correspondents who wrote to both Frank Damrosch and other family members are filed together with Frank's correspondence.
Correspondence of Frank Damrosch
"A-C" miscellaneous
Auer, Leopold, 1927-29
Barrymore, Ethel, n.d.
Bauer, Harold, 1923-37
Bispham, David, 1901, n.d.
Bloch, Ernest, 1917.
Budanzky, Artur, n.d.
Boericke & Tafel see People's Choral Union
Bonci, Alessandro, 1910
Brandt, Marianne, 1889-1921
Brewer, Horatio, 1905
Brockway, Howard, 1912
Bülow, Marie von, 1930
Campanini, Italo, 1888
Carl, William C., 1929
Carnegie, Andrew, 1892-1912, n.d.
Chadwick, George Whitefield, 1929
Christians, Rudolph, 1914
Cooper Union, 1893-1900
"D-G" miscellaneous
Dalmores, Charles, 1918
Damrosch, Clara, 1929
Damrosch, Helene, 1893-1904
Damrosch, Hetty Mosenthal, 1887, 1891, 1901
Damrosch, Jeannette, n.d.
Damrosch, "Uncle Juju," 1887
Damrosch, Walter, 1936
Dessoff, Margarete, 1929
Dickinson, Clarence, 1917
Dippel, A., 1901, n.d.
[Dunham?], 1913
Elgar, Edward, 1904-17, n.d.
Elwes, Gervase and Winifred, 1914, n.d.
Erskine, John, 1935-36
Feurstel, Meta, 1888
Finley, John H., 1907
Fischer, Emil, 1908
Fischer, Karl, 1901
Flagler, Harry Harkness, 1906-42, n.d.
Friedberg, Carl, 1929-1934
Frohman, Daniel, 1933
Gabrilowitsch, Ossip, 1908-29
Ganz, Rudolph, 1929
Gericke, Wilhelm, 1920-25
Gifford, R. Swain, 1897
Glazunov, Alexander, 1929
Gluck, Alma, n.d.
Goetschius, Percy, 1934-37
Goodale, John M. see People's Choral Union
Goodson, Katharine see Hinton, Arthur and Katharine
Gordon, Jacques, 1929
Gorgoza, Emilio de, 1899
Grainger, Percy, 1914-38, n.d.
Greene, Plunket, 1901-05
Grenfell, Wilfred, n.d.
"H-M" miscellaneous
Hadley, Henry, n.d.
Hadow, William Henry, n.d.
Hampton, Wade, 1927
Hanna, C. Augustus, n.d.
Henderson, William James, 1933
Henschel, George, 1905
Hewitt, Abram S. see Cooper Union
Higginson, Henry L., 1896
Hinton, Arthur and Katharine, 1908-09
Hofmann, Josef, 1908-18
Hoover, Herbert, 1921
Hutcheson, Ernest, 1929-36
Indy, Vincent d', 1921
Joachim, Joseph, 1898, n.d.
Johnson, Edward, 1935
Juilliard School of Music, 1929
Kennedy, Edith Wynne see Matthison, Edith
Kilpatrick, William D. see People's Choral Union
Kipling, Rudyard, 1896
Knott, Stuart, 1892, n.d.
Lehmann, Lilli, 1881-26, n.d.
Loeb, James, 1900-29
MacDowell, Edward, 1896, n.d.
Mackintosh, Sarah May see People's Choral Union
Mail and Express, 1897-98
Mahler, Gustav, n.d.
Mannes, David and Clara, 1929
Marteaux, Henri, n.d.
Matthison, Edith Wynne Kennedy, 1917
Melba, Nellie, n.d.
Mendelssohn Glee Club, N.Y., 1904
Mosenthal, Joseph, 1891
Moszkowski, Moritz, n.d.
Mottl, Felix, 1903-04
Muck, Karl, 1908
"N-R" miscellaneous
Nansen, Fridtjof, 1917
New York City, 1889-1912
Nikisch, Arthur, n.d.
Nordica, Lillian, 1898, n.d.
Parker, Horatio, 1913
Peabody, George Foster, 1900
People's Choral Union, 1895-1937
People's Singing Classes see People's Choral Union
Philipp, Isador, 1915
Pierné, Gabriel, 1906-30
Poincaré, Gustave, 1904
Prince, Benj[amin] see Mendelssohn Glee Club
Rachmaninoff, Sergei, n.d.
Randolph, Harold, 1905, n.d.
Riddle, George, 1901
Röntgen, Julius, 1904-05
Rooy, Anton Van, 1906
"S-V" miscellaneous
Safonoff, Wassily, 1905
Schumann-Heink, Ernestine, 1920, n.d.
Scotti, Antonio, 1929
Seymour, Charles see Yale University
Sgambati, Giovanni, n.d.
Sousa, John Philip, 1907
Spalding, Albert, n.d.
Sternberger, Maurice, 1929
Stock, Frederick A., 1929
Stokes, Anson P. see Yale University
Stokowski, Leopold, 1929
Swift, Samuel see Mail and Express
Talbot, Horace, 1927
Tee Van, Helen Damrosch, 1929
Ternina, Milka, 1910, n.d. (includes etching by A. Siebert, München Alterhof)
Thomas, Blanche K., 1928
Thompson, Randall, 1937-42
Thun-Hohenstein, Marie, 1936-37
Tiffany, Louis, 1900
Unidentified
United States, 1910-1934
"W-Z" miscellaneous
Wanamaker, Thomas B., n.d.
Warburg, Felix M. see Juilliard School of Music
Warburg, Nina, n.d.
Warburg, Paul M. see Juilliard School of Music
Washington, Booker T., 1904
Webb, Creighton, 1912
Weir, J. Alden, 1912
Wells, Carolyn, n.d.
Weiner, Edward F., 1879-81
Werle, Katherine see People's Choral Union
Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 1909
Wolf-Ferrari, Ermanno, 1908
Wolle, J. Fred, 1900
Wüllner, Franz, 1908
Yale University, 1904-37
Ysaÿe, Eugène, n.d.
Correspondence of other Damrosch Family
Adams, Frank S. see New York Times
Aiken, Robert, 1919
Aldrich, Markska, 1908
Alten, Bella, 1905
Barrère, Georges, n.d.
Bornn, Hugo, 1937
Carreño, Teresa, 1910
Casals, Pablo, n.d.
Chiang Kai-Shek, Madame, 1947
Clark-Kerr, Archibald, 1947
Damrosch, Frank Jr., 1912
Damrosch, Helene, 1888, 1889, n.d.
Damrosch, Hetty Mosenthal, n.d.
Damrosch, Walter, 1929-34, n.d.
Dethier, Edouard, 1937
Engel, Carl, 1937
Fremstad, Olive, 1910, n.d.
Goodrich, Wallace, n.d.
Heimburg, Marie von, n.d.
Koussevitzky, Serge, 1942
Krehbiel, Henry Edward, n.d.
Leschetizky, Theodore, 1906
Mannes, Clara Damrosch, 1888-89, n.d.
Mason, Daniel Gregory, 1937
Mitchell, Grant, n.d.
New York Times, 1959
Paderewski, Ignacy Jan, 1908
Pendleton, Lillian Blauvelt, 1903
Powell, John, 1915
Pratt, Waldo Selden, 1937
Reese, Gustave, 1939
Reszke, Jean de, n.d.
Rockefeller, John D. Jr., 1910-37
Rodin, Auguste, 1901
Scharwenka, Xaver, 1910
Schuman, William, 1946
Seymour, Elizabeth Damrosch, 1888-89, 1929
Sheridan, Frank 1937
Thompson, Oscar, 1937
Unidentified, n.d.
Westminster Choir College, 1942
Williamson, John Finlay see Westminster Choir College
Hail orpheus... [poem]
Some essentials in the teaching of music
Scarlet Letter [libretto] (Transatlantic, 1906)
Her answer
Right makes might (mixed voices, 4 parts)
Right makes might (women's voices, 3 parts)
Sea, mountain, and prairie (mixed voices, 4 parts)
Song of New York (unison voices, optional second part)
Guilmant, Alex
Trope ou séquence en l'honneur de Ste. Cecile
Receipt, Museum of the City of New York (1 item)
Legal Papers
Birth certificate, Helene Damrosch, 1836
Colorado National Guard certificate, 1885
Passport: Damrosch, Frank, 1897
Passport: Damrosch, Frank and Walter, 1891
Passport: Damrosch, Helen, 1914
Wedding announcement, Frank and Hetty Damrosch, 1888
Chamber Orchestra of Boston, 1931
Walter Damrosch, Golden Jubilee, 1935
Denver Chorus Club, 1883
Dinner given in honor of Signor Giulio Gatti-Casazza and Signor Arturo Toscanini, 1908
Festival of the Trinity Choirs, 1867
Fourth Symphony Concert for Young People, 1906
Kneisel Quartet, 25th anniversary supper, 1885
Kreisler's fiftieth birthday dinner, 1925
Mendelssohn Glee Club, 1906
Metropolitan Opera House, The man without a country, 1937
New York Symphony, n.d.
Oratorio Society of New York, 90th anniversary dinner, 1963
People's Choral Union of New York, 1908, 1917, 1928 [Reunion dinner], 1929, 1941
Seidl, Anton, memorial services, 1898
Sembrich, Marcella, 25th anniversary dinner, 1909
Frank Damrosch scrapbook [fragments and loose clippings], 1904-1935, n.d.
Obituary scrapbook [fragments and loose clippings], 1937
Artwork by Frank Damrosch
Central Park, n.d. (pencil sketch)
City of Chicago, n.d. (ink sketch)
Unidentified, 1874 (pencil sketch)
Photographs
Adams, Maude, 1906
Bohemians' New York Musician's Club Dinner for Frank Damrosch, 1929 [rolled]
Burgstaller, Alois, n.d. (reproduction on postcard)
Damrosch, Frank, California, 1895
Damrosch, Frank, Leopold, and Walter, n.d. (reproduction)
Damrosch, Frank (portraits), 1884, n.d. [6 items]
Damrosch monument, Woodlawn Cemetery, n.d.
Institute of Musical Art, n.d.
Hofmann, Josef, reception by Frederick T. Steinway, 1925 [rolled]
Jever - Einst und jetzt - Schloss und Markplatz mit Hof von Oldenburg, n.d. (reproduction on postcard)
Launching of the Liberty Ship Leopold Damrosch, n.d. [3 items]
Mozart, n.d. (reproduction on postcard)
St. Cecilia dinner, n.d. (positive and negative)
Seal Harbor, Maine, n.d. (reproduction on postcard)
Visit to Andrew Carnegie in Scotland, 1891 [3 items]
Subject File
Calling card, Damrosch, Frank, n.d.
Damrosch Park, dedication, 1959-1969
New York Symphony Society, n.d.
Parnassus Club, 1940
Peoples' Singing Classes, article in Harper's Weekly, 1892 Nov. 5
Wagner and our mentors in music, article in The Illustrated American, 1895 Mar. 2
Papers of the Institute of Musical Art
The Baton, 1922-30
Catalogs, 1906, 1927
Dinners, 1926-30
Programs, 1937, 1939