Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
David Ewen collection
Date(s)
- circa 1900s-1980s (Creation)
Extent
146 document letter boxes and 67 reel-to-reel audiotapes in 5 archival boxes (62 linear feet).
Name of creator
Biographical history
David Ewen (1907-1985), was a prolific writer, editor and Associate Professor at the University of Miami’s School of Music. Ewen conducted research in all areas of music, both serious and popular. He was particularly noted for his works on American musical theatre and the history of American popular music.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The David Ewen Collection consists of materials which pertain to several aspects of music, ranging from composers to opera houses and festivals, as well as his personal life and work. The papers follow the original order established by David Ewen.
The bulk of the collection contains information and some correspondence pertaining to American and foreign composers and serious and popular performers such as George Gershwin, Charles Ives, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Mahler, Maria Callas, Bing Crosby, and other notable 20th century composers and performers.
System of arrangement
The collection is made up of 13 different series. The first eight series are composed of magazines and newspaper clippings, correspondence, playbills, programs, pamphlets, pictures, and rough drafts of musicians with comments and corrections.
The next three series are found in boxes 134-142. These boxes contain correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, postcards, brochures, bulletins, playbills, and typescripts. The correspondence, much of it related to Ewen's books, is arranged chronologically. Some of these letters are from noted composers such as George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and P.S. Wodehouse. The boxes contain information on many topics, such as Ewen's books, the Salzburger Festival, and universities as well as others.
The last two series contain an alphabetical index on different musicians and other music related themes.
David Ewen's collection of books were extracted from the archival collection and added to the catalog, July 2022.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
This collection is open for research.
Physical access
This collection is kept in an off-campus storage facility. Please contact Special Collections at asc.library@miami.edu with the boxes you are interested in prior to your visit, and allow up to 1 week for delivery of materials.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
David Ewen Collection Finding Aid © 2010 University of Miami. All rights reserved. Requests to reproduce or publish materials from this collection should be directed to asc.library@miami.edu.
Languages of the material
- English