This collection contains musical scores and recordings of works by De la Vega (b.1925), an art music Cuban exile composer, along with other documents and his published and unpublished writings. It also includes concert programs, reviews, newspaper articles, interviews, photographs, flyers, press releases, and memorabilia. A remarkable feature of this collection is the 1974-77 series of hand-colored scores that de la Vega elaborated in pictorial music notation. An interesting complement to this collection can be found in the Gaston Baquero papers (CHC5033): "Magia e Invenciones" a composition by de la Vega on five poems by Baquero.
The papers document professional activities of Wilfredo Fernandez, a famous Cuban singer who was described as "the romantic voice of Cuba." The materials include 4 scrapbook albums, 46 photographs, 10 music records, 2 CDs, 3 cassettes, 14 manuscript musical scores arrangements composed for Wilfredo Fernandez by important Cuban composers.
The Dr. John Bitter collection contains materials documenting Bitter's career as a conductor and composer. The collection includes sheet music for several compositions by Bitter, as well as publications about the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and a 1953 photograph of the University of Miami Orchestra at the Miami Beach Auditorium. Also included are numerous programs from the 1940s-1960s, including ones from the UM Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Miami Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic.
The Kenneth Close Collection contains a number of prints from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and elsewhere, sheet music for "The Death of Minnehaha" by Longfellow and Ch. C. Converse, and several insurance policies from the 19th century (some which are photocopied).
Frederic H. Ashe was the nephew of the first University of Miami President Bowman Foster Ashe. Frederic H. Ashe was a composer and student of the school of music at the University of Miami. The Frederic H. Ashe collection consists of sheet music written by Frederic H. Ashe.
The Band of the Hour collection contains photograph albums, photographs, programs, certificates, sheet music, cards, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, plaque, posters, and other ephemera pertaining to University of Miami Frost School of Music's Band of the Hour.
Dr. José Agustín Balseiro (1900-1991) was an award-winning author, poet, and scholar of Latin American Studies and Hispanic literature. He was also a professor of Hispanic Literature at the University of Miami from 1946 to 1967.
Throughout his career, Dr. Balseiro exhibited a strong interest in Latin American and Hispanic-American studies, Latin American and Spanish literature, and Puerto Rican history and literature. His papers, donated to the University of Miami, reflect all of these interests and range in date from his earliest activities as a writer in Spain to his final days working as a consultant to the University of Miami Libraries starting in 1974. Much of the content consists of correspondence, clippings, typescripts, and periodicals in which Balseiro’s writings were featured. Also included is sheet music belonging to his father, Rafael Balseiro, who was a Puerto Rican composer.
Of special note are three bronze medallions: (1) from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, commemorating el primer Centenario del Natalicio de Luiz Muñoz Rivera (the centennial of the birth of Luiz Muñoz Rivera); (2) from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, commemorating el Centenario de la Abolición de la Esclavidud in Puerto Rico (the centennial of the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico); and (3) from the University of Panama commemorating the first 25 years of the University’s existence.
Dr. William F. Lee was Dean of the School of Music at the University of Miami. The William F. Lee papers consists manuscripts of sheet music by Dean Lee.
The Abraham Schwaczkin collection consists primarily of Jewish cantorial sheet music and lyrics.
Also included are a birth certificate and marriage certificates of Schwaczkin, a 1953 copy of the B'nai B'rith messenger newspaper, a catalog, several yearbooks from Jewish congregations, a photograph, and a series of letters between Schwaczkin and a Mrs. Morrison from 1940.
The Elizabeth Wright collection predominantly contains materials relating to Richard Wagner and family members. The materials cover a wide range, including memorabilia, such as a Wagner-themed card game and a ceramic plaque of Richard Wagner, an original note by Siegfried Wagner and facsimiles of letters by Wagner, original photographs of Wagner family members as well as facsimiles and prints of Richard Wagner and others, original advertisements and programs of Wagner's operas, a radio transcript and a typescript about Wagner's composition and staging, and a series of prints depicting scenes from Wagner's operas.
There are also several items not related to Wagner. These are a letter from W. Somerset Maugham, an autographed print of mezzo-soprano Mariana Paunova, and prints of other composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Liszt, and Richter.
A copy of American composer Jack Beeson's sheet music with corrections for the opera, "Hello out there" (1953). The papers also include a letter from the composer.
The Johann Heinrich Hesse Papers contains a 1791 manuscript of Johann Heinrich Hesse (1712-1778)'s "Anweisung zum General-Baß," or "Guide to Thorough-Bass."
Irma Goebel Labastille was a composer and writer interested in Latin American folk music. Her work culminated in a series of scores titled Recuerdo Latino-Americano. The Irma Goebel Labastille collection consists primarily of sheet music, notebooks of sheet music, clippings, poetry, photographs, notes, and manuscripts.
The papers document activities of Pepe Delgado (1917-1990), a Cuban musician and composer of popular music. He left Cuba in the early 1960s and settled in the United States, dying in Miami in 1990. He was well known as a composer in Miami, New York, and throughout Latin America. The bulk of materials in this collection consist of manuscript and published music scores composed by Pepe Delgado. Various genres are represented in his compositions, such as waltzes, boleros, salsas, and merengues. The papers also include scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence, clippings and awards.
The papers document professional activities of Manuel Ochoa, Cuban exile musician and choral and orchestra conductor who founded the Miami Symphony Orchestra. The materials consist of correspondence, published and unpublished musical scores, photographs, concert programs and pamphlets, clippings, writings about classical music, minutes of the meetings, concert papers, memorabilia, diplomas, magazines, scrapbooks and working papers of Miami Symphony Orchestra.
The Carlos Surinach collection contains a bound, autographed photocopy of the score to Symphonic Melismas by composer Carlos Surinach. Symphonic Melismas had its world premiere at the Festival Miami of 1993, sponsored by the University of Miami School of Music. Also included is a photograph of Surinach, two copies of the 1993 program, and a photocopy of a biography of Surinach.
Alfred Reed was a composer and conductor who later became a professor and music director at the University of Miami. The Alfred Reed Papers contains condensed scores, full scores, conductor and scores of J. S. Bach's music, all by Alfred Reed. Also included is an autographed score by Brazilian composer Hector Villa-Lobos.
