Franko Goldman Family Papers
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2010563515
General International Standard for Archival Description
Music Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Music Division, 2010
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Franko Goldman Family Papers circa 1886-1972 (bulk 1931-1963)
Goldman, Richard Franko, 1910-1980
Biographical History for: Franko Goldman Family Papers circa 1886-1972 (bulk 1931-1963)
Biographical Note Violinist and conductor Sam Franko was born January 20, 1857 in New Orleans and died May 6, 1937 in New York. His parents were German Jews who immigrated to New Orleans where Sam's father, Hamman Franko, worked as a jeweler. When the Union Army occupied New Orleans in 1862, the family fled to Germany where all eleven of the Franko children received musical training. Sam studied violin with several teachers including Joseph Joachim. Upon returning to America, several of the Franko children, Sam, Nahan, Selma, Jeanne, and Rachel caused a sensation by performing as the Franko Family on September 17, 1869 at Steinway Hall in New York. The concert was repeated in several cities, including Washington, D.C. where a young John Philip Sousa heard them and would later recall his admiration of their talent. By 1880 Sam was playing in orchestras in New York under Theodore Thomas and Walter Damrosch. He founded the New York String Quartet in 1881. In the mid-1880s he played violin with several different organizations and from 1891-1897 he played viola for the New York Philharmonic Society. Franko began conducting in 1891. He founded the American Symphony Orchestra in 1894, in order to demonstrate that non-Europeans could be good musicians. Between 1900 and 1914 he conducted a program both at home and abroad entitled ‘Orchestral Concerts of Old Music.’ Upon returning to America in 1915, he became involved in several endeavors, including teaching the violin, leading the orchestra for the Ballets Russes tour, and conducting his ‘Old Music’ concerts. He arranged numerous orchestral works and composed works for piano and for violin and piano. Nahan Franko, also a conductor and violinist, was Sam’s brother. He was born July 23, 1861 in New Orleans, Louisiana and died May 7, 1930 in Amityville, New York. He made his debut in 1869 at the age of eight and later toured the world as a child prodigy with Adelina Patti. After playing the violin for leading American and European orchestras, he was made concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He held this position from 1883 to 1907. On November 30, 1904, he made his conducting debut with the company in a production of Le Nozze di Figaro— making him the first American-born conductor of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Frank started his own orchestra in 1908 and was famous for his open-air concerts in Central Park. He stayed with the orchestra for almost two decades. He died at the age of 68. Pallbearers included Theodore Steinway and John Philip Sousa. Bandmaster and composer Edwin Franko Goldman was born January 1, 1878 in Louisville, Kentucky and died February 21, 1956 in New York. He was the son of Selma Franko (Sam and Nahan's sister) and her first cousin David Henry Goldman, who was a fine amateur violinist. Beginning at the age eight, Goldman studied cornet and composition (with Dvořák) at the National Conservatory of Music in New York. From 1899 to 1909 he was solo cornetist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He formed his own band (the New York Military Band, later known as the Goldman Band), in 1911 and was known for championing new and forgotten band music. They played all over New York and were heard regularly on the radio. Goldman composed over 100 marches, including On the Mall and Kentucky March. In addition, he founded the American Bandmasters Association. His band had a continuous history of performance under his name from 1918 until 1979 and was known for musical proficiency and the breadth of its repertoire. In addition, Goldman was a teacher and writer of the following books: Foundation to Cornet or Trumpet Playing, Band Betterment, and The Goldman Band System. Edwin Franko Goldman’s son, Richard Franko Goldman, was born on December 7, 1910 in New York and died January 19, 1980 in Baltimore. He was a bandmaster, composer, educator, music critic and writer. He graduated from Columbia University in 1930 and studied music privately with Nadia Boulanger, Wallingford Riegger and others. In 1937 he became associate conductor (under his father) of the Goldman Band; eventually succeeding Edwin as conductor after his death in 1956. During Goldman’s tenure with the band, he commissioned and performed from among the foremost American composers and restored many historic band works from the 18th and 19th centuries to the active band repertory. He disbanded the ensemble and retired its name in 1979. Goldman was on the faculty of the Juilliard School from 1947 to 1960. In 1968 he was appointed director of the Peabody Conservatory and in 1969 he became president of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. He held both positions until his retirement in 1977. As principal New York critic for the Musical Quarterly from 1948 to 1968, he was quite influential, particularly in his early recognition of such composers as Henry Cowell, Elliott Carter, and Riegger. Goldman composed vocal and chamber music, one orchestral work, and several works for band. He received numerous honors, including the Juilliard Music Foundation award (1955) and the Alice M. Ditson Award (1961).
Scope and Content Note The Franko Goldman Family Papers are chiefly related to the professional lives of brothers Sam and Nahan Franko, their nephew Edwin Franko Goldman and his son Richard Franko Goldman. The Correspondence series is the largest portion of the collection and includes letters to and from Percy Grainger, Henry Cowell, including several letters he wrote from San Quentin, Wallingford Riegger, Yehudi Menuhin, Aaron Copland, Darius Milhaud, Douglas Moore, Leo Sowerby, and Edgard Varèse. The Writings series includes a typescript of the unpublished autobiography of Edwin Franko Goldman, two holograph manuscripts written by Edwin on building band programs and starting a band school, and several articles by Richard Franko Goldman. The Photographs series contains photographs of Richard Franko Goldman, the Goldman Band, and various composers and musicians. Many in this latter category are inscribed to members of the Franko Goldman family and include the following individuals: Sergei Rachmaninoff, Moritz Moszkowski, Mischa Elman, Ottorino Respighi, Yehudi Menuhin, and Carlos Chávez. The Scrapbook series contains six scrapbooks belonging to Sam Franko that contain manuscript notes and commentaries, programs, clippings, letters, photographs and other ephemera relating to his life and career. The Autograph Book is a velvet-coated album compiled by Richard Franko Goldman's great-aunt Lybia Franko, and contains seventy-four inscriptions and autographs of prominent musical and theatrical figures.
series
Correspondence, 1920-1972
file
Bořkovec, Pavel
Conrad, Heinrich
Copland, Aaron
Cowell, Henry, 1938-1940 March
Cowell, Henry, 1940 July-1965
Cowell, Henry, undated
Dallapiccola, Luigi
Damrosch, Walter
Falk, Richard
Franko, Nahan
Golschmann, Vladimir
Gould, Morton
Grainger, Percy, 1931-1938
Grainger, Percy, 1939-1940
Grainger, Percy, 1941-1944
Grainger, Percy, 1946-1947
Grainger, Percy, 1948-1955
Grainger, Percy, 1956-1960
Grainger, Percy, holograph envelopes
Hadley, Henry
Herbert, Victor
Holst, Gustav
Kindler, Hans
Kreisler, Fritz
McArthur, Edwin D.
Mason, Daniel Gregory
Menuhin, Yehudi
Milhaud, Darius
Moore, Douglas
Moszkowski, Moritz
Paur, Emil
Riegger, Wallingford
Rodzinski, Artur
Rudhyar, Dane
Scott, Cyril
Sevitzky, Fabien
Sousa, John Philip
Sowerby, Leo
Stoessel, Albert
Varèse, Edgar
Volpe, Arnold
unidentified
Writings, 1932-1972
Article on building band programs by Edwin Franko Goldman
Athaliah, libretto for an opera in two parts, by Richard Franko Goldman, 1963-1964
"Facing the music" by Edwin Franko Goldman
Typescript of unpublished autobiography; 290 p.
typescript of unpublished autobiography; 290 p.
"History, information, and art," 1966
Ideas for band clinics and a band school
"Jacques Barzun" by Richard Franko Goldman 1972
L&M XX [class notes], 1954
Poetry, 1932-1970
Portugal onward: an exchange, 1962
"The seven deadly arts," 1963
Photographs, 1887-circa 1950
Photographs of Richard Franko Goldman and the Goldman Band
Photographs of various composers and musicians
Scrapbooks, 1902-1937
The Scrapbook series contains six scrapbooks belonging to Sam Franko that contain manuscript notes and commentaries, programs, clippings, letters, photographs and other ephemera relating to his life and career.
Autograph Book, 1886-1900
The autograph book is a velvet-coated album compiled by Richard Franko Goldman's great-aunt Lybia Franko, which contains seventy-four inscriptions and autographs of prominent musical and theatrical figures.