Guide to the University of Chicago. Department of Music. Records 1892-2016


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Table of Contents

• Descriptive Summary
• Information on Use
• Access
• Citation
• Historical Note
• Scope Note
• Related Resources
• Subject Headings
• INVENTORY
• Series I: Administrative
• Series II: Publications and Publicity
• Series III: Events
  • Subseries 1: Performances and Programs General
  • Subseries 2: University Ensembles
• Series IV: Notated Music and Libretti
• Series V: Photographs
• Series VI: Oversize
• Series VII: Restricted

Descriptive Summary

Information on Use

Access

The records are open for research except Series VII. The documents in this series are restricted for 80 years from their creation.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago. Department of Music. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Historical Note

Prior to the establishment of a Music Department in 1931, the University had formed its band, chorus, and orchestra and housed multiple music clubs. Numerous music performances had been organized and staged at the University of Chicago since the earliest years of its existence. These events include performances by the University’s own band and chorus, student-led music clubs, or prominent guest musicians and groups, local and international.

In 1903, Leon Mandel Assembly Hall (Mandel Hall) opened its door to listeners for the first time with a concert by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and since became one of the most important historic spaces for music performances at the University. Bond Chapel and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, built in 1926 and 1928 respectively, became other major venues for the University’s music programs. Recitals, chamber concerts, and operas performed in these spaces are well documented in the collection. Of special note is the frequent appearance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which had formerly been named after its founder Theodore Thomas, in Mandel Hall from 1904-1934.

The Department of Music was established in 1931 as part of the Division of Humanities through a special gift from an anonymous donor. Following the department’s establishment, a University symphony orchestra was created during the academic year 1931-1932. The department’s first chair as well as the symphony orchestra director was the music scholar and composer Carl Bricken. In the following years and decades, the Department recruited such leading scholars and composers as Leonard B. Meyer, Edward Lowinsky, Ralph Shapey, and Howard Mayer Brown, and came to prominence in the 1960s as a major center of musical research and composition.

The Department’s Performance Program involves choirs, orchestras, and ensembles, and aims at providing the students with opportunities to participate in a variety of music performances. Since the establishment of the University Symphony Orchestra, several other ensembles were formed within the Department’s Performance Program. They include the Collegium Musicum, Rockefeller Chapel Choir, Motet Choir, Contemporary Chamber Players (later to be named “Contempo”), and New Music Ensemble. The collection contains documents about the musical performances of these ensembles over the decades. Moreover, the Department of Music hosted many other programs featuring visiting musicians and orchestras, as well as lectures and conferences.

The University of Chicago Chamber Music Series, founded in 1943, later grew into “The University of Chicago Presents” concert series with the mission of sharing world-class music through concerts and educational programs with audiences across Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. In the 1960s, the series came under the stewardship of the Department of Music at the University, where it has since resided. The University of Chicago Presents is also represented in the collection.

Scope Note

Series I, Administrative, consists of documents related to the Department’s administrative processes, including departmental reports and correspondence, meeting minutes, the relations with other University units and external parties, such as the Fromm Music Foundation. The folders in this series are arranged chronologically, except when multiple folders formed a thematic group.

Series II, Publications and Publicity, contains the Department’s publications, such as booklets, guides, calendars, and press releases, as well as extensive documentation of the press coverage of music programs. The latter is represented by newspaper clippings. The folders are first grouped thematically and then arranged chronologically. Researchers are also encouraged to consult Series VI for the scrapbooks that contain newspaper clippings about the music programs.

Series III, Events, comprises programs, flyers, posters, and invitation cards for a variety of music performances across decades. The series is divided into two subseries. Subseries 1, Performances and Programs General, brings together materials about miscellaneous performances and programs staged at the University. The folders in this subseries are grouped according to general types of the events or other unifying features. Each folder group is arranged chronologically in itself. Subseries 2, University Ensembles, consists of materials that document performances or performance series by various music ensembles belonging to or affiliated with the University of Chicago. In this subseries, certain folders belonging to the same ensemble are grouped together. The folders and folder groups are arranged chronologically. For more on music events, researchers are encouraged to consult Series VI, Oversize, for the scrapbooks that contain flyers, programs, and posters.

Series IV, Notated Music and Libretti, is arranged chronologically.

Series V, Photographs, consists of photographs of the Department’s faculty and music performances, and is arranged chronologically.

Series VI, Oversize, contains several scrapbooks. The scrapbooks, created over the course of sixty years, bring together newspaper clippings, programs, flyers, and posters of music events. They are arranged chronologically.

Series VII, Restricted, consists of documents that contain evaluative student materials. These documents are restricted for 80 years from the date of creation.

Related Resources

University of Chicago. Office of the President. Hutchins Administration. Records

University of Chicago. Office of the President. Levi Administration. Records

University of Chicago. Band. Records

University of Chicago. Department of Music. Choral Ensembles. Records

Music Relating to the University of Chicago. Records

Shapey, Ralph. Papers

Lowinsky, Edward E. Papers

Meyer, Leonard B. Papers

Subject Headings

• Theodore Thomas Orchestra (Chicago, Ill.)
• Levarie, Siegmund, 1914-2010
• Fromm, Paul, 1906-1987
• University of Chicago. Department of Music
• University of Chicago. Symphony Orchestra
• Contemporary Chamber Players of the University of Chicago
• Rockefeller Chapel Choir (University of Chicago)
• University of Chicago. Department of Music. Motet Choir
• Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Fromm Music Foundation

INVENTORY

The documents in this series are restricted for 80 years from date of creation.