The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Leonard B. Meyer Papers 1941-1978
© 2008 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Meyer, Leonard B. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1941-1978 |
| Size: | 12.5 linear feet (21 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Leonard B. Meyer (1918-2007), composer, author and professor of music at the University of Chicago (1946-1974). Papers include correspondence, notes and drafts for published and unpublished works, notebooks, photographs, and recordings. |
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Meyer, Leonard B. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Leonard B. Meyer was a prolific composer, author, and philosopher. Meyer studied at Columbia University, graduating with a B.A. in Philosophy and an M.A. in Music in 1948. He continued at the University of Chicago, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in the History of Culture in 1954, and served as a professor from 1946 until 1975. A composer, he studied under Stefan Wolpe, Otto Luening, and Aaron Copland. In 1975 was appointed professor of music and the humanities at the University of Pennsylvania and became professor emeritus at Pennsylvania in 1988.
His published works include Emotion and Meaning in Music (1957), which paved the way for cognitive psychological research into music and was influential for theorists in music as well as other fields. Other major written works include The Rhythmic Structure of Music (with Grosvenor Cooper, 1960), "Some Remarks on Value and Greatness in Music" (1959), Music, the Arts, and Ideas (1967), and Explaining Music (1973).
The Leonard B. Meyer collection contains correspondence between Meyer and his colleagues, students, and publishers from the 1950s to 1970s, drafts and notes for book publications as well as shorter essays, and materials from Meyer’s participation in professional conferences and organizations. The collection also contains awards, some personal items, and a set of recordings of Meyer’s original compositions. Series I consists of personal and biographical materials, including datebooks, notebooks, and photographs. Series II contains correspondence. Series III contains academic writings and a wide range of notes related to these subjects. Series IV includes materials from conferences, lectures, and other professional activities. Series V contains artifacts, audio visual materials, and oversized items.
Series I: Personal and Biographical Materials |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | "Leonard B. Meyer: A Bibliography" and biographical sketches |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Datebooks, 1966-75 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Notebooks, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | 50th birthday celebration, 1968 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Photographs of Leonard Meyer, undated |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Miscellaneous photographs, undated |
Series II: Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Academic correspondence, 1956-1967 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Academic correspondence, 1968 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Academic correspondence, 1969 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Academic correspondence, 1970 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Academic correspondence, 1971 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Academic correspondence, 1972 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Academic correspondence, 1975 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Academic correspondence, 1975 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | Academic correspondence, 1976-1977 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Correspondence with students, 1970-1973 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Correspondence with students, 1974 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Correspondence with students, 1975 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Correspondence with students, 1976 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Miscellaneous and personal correspondence, 1974 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Business correspondence, 1950-1967 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Business correspondence, 1972-1978 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | Correspondence about The Rhythmic Structure of Music, 1958-1963 |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | Correspondence about Explaining Music, 1972-1973 |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | Correspondence about book translations, 1968-1974 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Correspondence with Frank Kirby, 1970 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Correspondence with Ralph Shapey, 1968-74 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | Correspondence with Eastman School of Music, 1972 |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | Correspondence about Improvisation in Music, 1970-1973 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | Correspondence with Social Science Research Council, 1970 |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | Correspondence about Ernest Bloch Professorship, 1969-70 |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Correspondence about Bradbury Memorial and Funds, 1959-1964 |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Correspondence with Daedalus, 1973 |
Series III: Writings |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Review of In Search Of Cultural History, undated |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | "Critical Analysis" (Ernest Bloch Lectures), 1971 |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | Miscellaneous talks and commentaries, 1948-67 |
| Box 5 Folder 8 | Miscellaneous magazine articles, 1968-74 |
| Box 5 | Emotion and Meaning in Music, 1954 |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | "Forgery and the Anthropology of Art," 1961-1962 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | "On Rehearsing Music," 1961 |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | "Meaning in Music and Information Theory," 1957 |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | "Some Remarks on Value and Greatness in Music," 1959 |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | Review of In Search of Cultural History, History and Theory: Studies in the Philosophy of History, 1970 |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | "Universalism and Relativism in the Study of Ethnic Music," Journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology, 1960 |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | Review of Music as Metaphor, 1963 |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | "Formal Ambiguity in the First Movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet in A Minor," 1962 |
| Box 6 Folder 9 | Miscellaneous notes, undated |
| Box 6 Folder 10 | Notes for Beethoven essay, undated |
| Box 6 Folder 11 | "The Arts Today and Tomorrow," undated |
| Box 6 Folder 12 | "The Arts Today and Tomorrow," lecturers, 1967, 1969 |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | "Art and Accident," drafts, research, notes, 1958 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | "The End of the Renaissance?" drafts and notes, undated |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | "The End of the Renaissance?" reprint, 1963 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, research materials,1964-1966 |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, correspondence and reviews, 1967-1970 |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, Part II, draft, undated |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, Part II, drafts, undated |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, Part III, draft, undated |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, Part III, drafts, undated |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, early drafts and notes ("The Future is Now"), undated |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, draft of "The Aesthetics of Stability," undated |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, draft of "Total Serialism and the Musical Experience," undated |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, Part I, manuscript for production, 1968 |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, Party II, manuscript for production, 1968 |
| Box 10 Folder 1 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, Part II, draft, undated |
| Box 10 Folder 2 | Music, the Arts, and Ideas, edited draft, undated |
| Box 11 Folder 1 | "Concerning the Sciences, Arts, and Humanities," draft, undated |
| Box 11 Folder 2 | "Sciences, the Arts, and Humanities," manuscript by Joseph Margolis, undated |
| Box 11 Folder 3 | Notes for "Concerning the Sciences, Arts, and Humanities," undated |
| Box 11 Folder 4 | Correspondence about "Concerning the Sciences, Arts, and Humanities," 1973 |
| Box 11 Folder 5 | "Concerning the Sciences, Arts, and Humanities," reprints from Critical Inquiry, 1974 |
| Box 11 Folder 6 | Grammatical Simplicity, drafts, notes, correspondence, 1976 |
| Box 12 Folder 1 | "Problems in Style Analysis and Style History," drafts, 1976 |
| Box 12 Folder 2 | Explaining Music, undated |
| Box 12 Folder 3 | The Future Is Now, microfilm, undated |
| Box 12 Folder 4 | "Music, Connotation and Cultural History," undated |
| Box 13 Folder 1 | "The Arts Today and Tomorrow?" Coe College lecture, drafts, undated |
| Box 13 Folder 2 | Explaining Music, drafts, undated |
| Box 13 Folder 3 | Lectures and notes on style, undated |
| Box 13 Folder 4 | "Commentary on William Webster’s ‘The Changing Role of the Musical Performer’," undated |
| Box 13 Folder 5 | "A Pride of Prejudices," undated |
| Box 13 Folder 6 | "Thoughts about Unity in Music," undated |
| Box 13 Folder 7 | "Response to Professor Arnheim’s Paper," undated |
| Box 13 Folder 8 | "A Theory for the Structure of Music," with Henry L. Cady, Richard H. Hoppin, Janet M. McGaughey, and William Thomson, 1969 |
| Box 13 Folder 9 | Article on McLuhan, drafts and notes, undated |
| Box 14 Folder 1 | Notes on octave displacement, undated |
| Box 14 Folder 2 | Miscellaneous notes and drafts, 1960-1978 |
| Box 14 Folder 3 | Course outline and notes, "Analysis," undated |
| Box 14 Folder 4 | Untitled manuscript on ballet music, undated (from Box X, vinyl records) |
Series IV: Professional Materials |
| Box 14 Folder 5 | Loyola Symposium on Values, 1970 |
| Box 14 Folder 6 | University of Rochester, Joseph C. Wilson Day, 1971 |
| Box 14 Folder 7 | University of Toronto Colloquium, 1971 |
| Box 14 Folder 8 | Social Science Research Council, 1973-1974 |
| Box 14 Folder 9 | Correspondence re miscellaneous conferences and lectures, 1973-1975 |
| Box 14 Folder 10 | Aesthetics Institute, Boulder, 1975-1978 |
| Box 14 Folder 11 | Kent State Conference on Medicine and the Humanities, 1975 |
| Box 14 Folder 12 | Duke University lecture, 1976 |
| Box 15 Folder 1 | University of Michigan Distinguished Professorship, 1971-1972 |
| Box 15 Folder 2 | National Humanities Faculty and Green Mountain Union High School, 1970-1971 |
| Box 15 Folder 3 | School of Criticism and Theory, 1974-1978 |
| Box 15 Folder 4 | Publicity materials for miscellaneous lectures |
| Box 15 Folder 5 | Bard College Honorary Degree, 1976 |
| Box 15 Folder 6 | Wesleyan, 1960-1961 |
| Box 15 Folder 7 | Award from American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Box 15 Folder 8 | University of Chicago Press, royalty documents |
| Box 15 Folder 9 | University of Chicago, faculty appointments and status changes, 1955-1976 |
| Box 15 Folder 10 | University of Chicago, faculty committees and departmental memos, 1974 |
| Box 15 Folder 11 | University of Chicago, music department events, 1969-1970 |
| Box 15 Folder 12 | Rockefeller Foundation grant, 1965 |
| Box 15 Folder 13 | International Chronosophical Society, 1966 |
| Box 15 Folder 14 | Honeywell Oscillograph manuals, 1959 |
| Box 15 Folder 15 | Miscellaneous notes, articles, receipts, 1953-1973, undated |
Series V: Artifacts, Audio-Visual, and Oversize |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives addressed to Leonore F. Malakoff, July 11, 1941 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives, "To Mom," processed July 2, 1948 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives processed June 21, 1949 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives processed March 25, 1950 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives processed August 11, 1955 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives, August 12, 1955 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives, summer 1956 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives processed February 5, 1958 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives processed August 4, 1958 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives processed September 2, 1958 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives, Florida, 1958 |
| Box 16 | Photographic negatives of house, Hartsdale, NY, undated |
| Box 16 | Miscellaneous photographic negatives, undated |
| Box 16 | Miscellaneous photographic negatives, undated |
| Box 16 | Loyola University Medal, 1970 |
| Box 17 | Grinnell College Honorary Doctorate Diploma, 1967 |
| Box 17 | Photo album, January 1968 |
| Box 17 | Loyola University Honorary Doctorate Diploma, 1970 |
| Box 17 | Gordon J. Laing Prize (for Music, the Arts, and Ideas), 1969 |
| Box 18 Folder 1 | Articles about Meyer, 1957, 1971, 1974 |
| Box 18 Folder 2 | Articles about Meyer, 1968-1973 |
| Box 19-20 | Notes for "Music, the Arts, and Ideas: Patterns and Predictions in Twentieth-Century Culture" |
| Box 21 | Untitled, LP |
| Box 21 | "Sonata for Violin and Piano," LP |
| Box 21 | "Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano," LP |
| Box 21 | "Heat," "Oread," "Pear Tree," LPs |
| Box 21 | "Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano," LP |
| Box 21 | "Heat," "Pear Tree," "Oread," LPs |
| Box 21 | "Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano," LP |
| Box 21 | "Sonata for Violin and Piano," LP |
| Box 21 | "Heat," "Pear Tree," "Oread," LP |