HENRY COWELL IN THE FLEISHER COLLECTION By GARY GALVÁN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2007 1 © 2007 Gary Galván 2 To the memory of Edwin Adler Fleisher. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply indebted to Kile Smith, Curator for the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music. He carries on the noble ideas established by Edwin Fleisher and Arthur Cohn and inherently understands that “the best thing we can be about is access to these works … that’s the whole point in writing the music, so that it can be performed.” To that end, he has generously opened the seemingly boundless archives of the Fleisher Collection to me and proved an endless source of information on former Fleisher copyists and curators. His encyclopedic knowledge and ardent support have been instrumental in making this dissertation possible. Thanks go to my supervisory committee, David Z. Kushner, Jennifer Thomas, Welson Tremura, Raymond Chobaz, James Oliverio and Susan Read Baker, for their sage counsel and guidance for my project. My supervisory committee chair, the eminent Dr. Kushner, stands out as a persistent font of inspiration and a shining example of what a musicologist can and should be. Through his encouragement, I have had many fine opportunities to present my research in regional, national, and international venues. He is a real mensch. Richard Teitelbaum and Hiroko Sakurazawa of the David and Sylvia Teitelbaum Fund, Don McCormick, Curator for the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at the New York Public Library of Performing Arts, and Alyce Mott, Artistic Administrator at the Little Orchestra Society, granted the necessary permissions to acquire a recording of Cowell’s Symphony No. 13 – Madras L848 and attain a deeper appreciation for and understanding of Cowell’s work in the “whole world of music.” Valuable support came from the Music Library Association with the 2007 Carol June Bradley Award for my research on Henry Cowell. The welcome news of the very generous prize came from Bonna J. Boettcher, Music Librarian and Adjunct Professor of Music, of Cornell University, and Rick McRae, Chair of the Carol June Bradley Award Committee. 4 My dear friend and mentor from the University of Central Florida, the wondrous composer Stella Sung, prompted my journey to Gainesville and research under Dr. Kushner. Her encouragement and friendship continue to inspire. Joscelyn Godwin candidly shared his memories of his dissertation and the story of how he wound up in Sidney’s attic with the “mess of manuscripts.” His pioneering work continues to help devoted Cowell scholars everywhere. Christopher Shultis has helped validate the usefulness of the virtual Cowell Files and my appendix of annotations in his own research at Fleisher. His encouragement has provided me the opportunity to delve into my next big project – the WPA Music Copying Project at Fleisher. Mary Louise Fleisher, Edwin’s first cousin once removed, provided a singular source on family history and kindly took the time to entertain my inquiries. I appreciate her good humor and insights. Closer to home, my niece, Tehya Allen Duckworth, facilitated genealogic research on the Fleisher family and the quest for biographical details on otherwise obscure figures by sharing access to Ancestry.com. Librarians and archivists from across the United States have extracted countless details from their respective archives. University of Florida music librarians, Robena Cornwell and Michelle Wilbanks-Fox, kept me updated whenever relevant new materials arrived at the university and readily responded to requests to expand the library’s CD and score collections with works by Cowell. I appreciate their kind attention. Information has also come from an ever- growing list of contributors who have been kind enough to answer the dozens of e-mails I have sent over the past five years. Help with research on Cowell’s awards and activities came from such great people as Patti Kinsinger, Head of the Reference Department at the Watson Library of Wilmington College; Jeff Rankin, Director of Communications and Lois Cook, Director of Advancement Records and Research, at Monmouth College; Maryalice Mohr, 5 Archivists/Records Manager of the Spalding Library of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston; James Kortz, Orchestra Librarian for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Craig Doolin, Office Assistant at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Bridget P. Carr, Archivist, Boston Symphony Orchestra; Cantor Stephen Richards; and maestro Sandor Salgo. A special expression of gratitude goes out to David Gansz, former director of Watson Library at Wilmington College in Ohio, who was particularly helpful with Cowell’s elusive Symphony No. 8. The following people proved pivotal with details of Edwin Fleisher’s biography: Librarian Liza Vick and Researcher Robin Carlaw from Harvard University; Sara J. MacDonald, Public Services Librarian of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia; Sarah Sherman of the Philadelphia Jewish Archives; Miriam Seidel of the Gershman Y; Claire Schweriner of Temple Keneseth Israel Archives; Kerey and Gorman Ruggierio of the Philadelphia Mental Health (former home of the Symphony Club); Robert Capanna, Executive Director of the Settlement Music School; and Allan Brown, Director of Archives, and Judith Hill, Director of Libraries, of Penn Charter School. Aaron and Cari Keebaugh kindly hosted my stay during the defense of this document and joined me along with Christopher “C. Wiley” Cary, Dilek Göktürk and David Goldblatt for post- defense festivities at the Swamp. I greatly appreciate their support and encouragement and that of all my friends in the musicology department, Jacaré Brazil and around the MUB. Go Gators! Finally, Tammy Rowe and Geddy Rowe Galván have supported me faithfully throughout this project. They have waited patiently as I have wrestled with the dissertation and deadlines. They are my family and my foundation. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...........................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................9 LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................10 ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................12 Purpose..............................................................................................................................12 Literature Review and Biography.......................................................................................13 Cowell the Pianist .......................................................................................................14 Cowell as Champion of New Music and World Music ................................................18 Cowell in Posthumous Print ........................................................................................22 2 THE EDWIN A. FLEISHER COLLECTION OF ORCHESTRAL MUSIC .......................29 The Fabulous Philanthropic Fleisher Family ......................................................................32 In the Beginning..........................................................................................................32 Edwin’s Father............................................................................................................34 Edwin Adler Fleisher ..................................................................................................38 The Colossal Collection .....................................................................................................44 The WPA Years: An American Dream........................................................................46 After the War ..............................................................................................................50 The Legacy Lives........................................................................................................56 3 DIGITIZING THE COWELL FILES.................................................................................60 Why Digital Preservation? .................................................................................................60 Preserving an Archival Treasure Trove ..............................................................................63 Selection of a Collection .............................................................................................64 Preparation of Documents...........................................................................................65 Digitizing Materials ....................................................................................................66 Naming and Cataloging Files ......................................................................................68 Observations and Considerations .......................................................................................70 7 4 DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................73 Fleisher and the Future.......................................................................................................73