http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt8489p1gp No online items Guide to the Mildred Couper papers PA Mss 45 Processed by David Seubert and Jeff Gordon; student assistant: James Maiello, 2003; revisions by Nadine Turner and Zachary Liebhaber, 2017. UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara 93106-9010 [email protected] URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/special-collections 24 February 2003 Guide to the Mildred Couper PA Mss 45 1 papers PA Mss 45 Title: Mildred Couper papers Identifier/Call Number: PA Mss 45 Contributing Institution: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections Language of Material: English Physical Description: 10.42 linear feet(3 document boxes, 10 oversize flat boxes, 27 audio discs) Date (inclusive): 1897-1974 Abstract: Papers of Santa Barbara-based composer Mildred Couper an early proponent of quarter-tone music. The collection includes musical scores, photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence (including correspondence with her Husband Richard Couper and grandfather Thomas Ball), personal writings, financial documents, concert programs, recordings and other documents. Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library Access Restrictions The collection is open for research. Use Restrictions Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained. Preferred Citation [Identification of Item], Mildred Couper papers, PA Mss 45. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara. Acquisition Information Donated in 2002 by Greta Couper and Lisa Merryman (PA2002-012) and in 2003 by Richard Nordli (PA2003-003). Biographical Note Mildred Couper was born in 1887 in Buenos Aires to British parents. She began her formal musical training at the age of 13 as a pianist at the Williams Conservatory in Buenos Aires. Couper graduated from the Karlsruhe Conservatory in Baden, Germany in 1907. She also studied with piano with Moszkowski, Sgambati, and Alfred Cortot in Paris, Rome, and New York, respectively. Couper studied art in Paris at the Grand Chaumiere and at another private art school run by Beronneau, where she met her husband, artist Richard. The couple was married in 1910 and lived in Rome until 1915, when World War I brought them to New York. Mr. Couper died there of influenza in 1917. Mrs. Couper taught piano at the Mannes School of Music. In 1927, Mrs. Couper moved, with her children Clive and Rosalind, to Santa Barbara, California. She began teaching at the Cate School and the Santa Barbara School for Girls, as well as maintaining her own private piano studio. Couper was also influential in founding the Music Academy of the West, where she taught theory and harmony courses. In addition, she remained active as a solo and chamber pianist and served as a critic for the Santa Barbara News-Press for 16 years. As a composer, Mildred Couper is best known for her experiments with quarter-tone music. Her quarter-tone music was first heard in Xanadu, incidental music for the Santa Barbara performances of Eugene O'Neill's play Marco Millions. Other quarter-tone works by Couper include Rumba, Dirge, and Anacapa. Couper's orchestral arrangement of her Variations on "The Irish Washerwoman" was performed by the Werner Janssen Symphony. Ingolf Dahl also conducted some of her works at the "Evenings on the Roof" concerts in Los Angeles. Couper's ouvre includes chamber works, piano duets, solo piano pieces, vocal works, and several orchestral works. She died in Santa Barbara in 1974. Scope and Content Papers of Santa Barbara-based composer Mildred Couper an early proponent of quarter-tone music. The collection includes musical scores, photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence (including correspondence with her Husband Richard Couper and grandfather Thomas Ball), personal writings, financial documents, concert programs, recordings and other documents. Arrangement The collection is organized into the following series: Series I, Scores; Series II, Photographs; Series III, Newspaper Clippings; Series IV, Correspondence; Series V, Miscellany; Series VI, Sound Recordings. Subjects and Indexing Terms Women composers Photographs Guide to the Mildred Couper PA Mss 45 2 papers PA Mss 45 Sound recordings Microtonal music Composers -- Archives Scores Couper, Richard Ball, Thomas Scores Scope and Contents note Series I, Scores contains manuscript, vellum, and photoreproduced scores and parts to many of Couper's works from her personal collection. Sketches have also been included when available. Most compositions are undated, but most were probably composed between 1930 and the 1950s. Box-Folder 1: 1 Anacapa for Two Pianos (parts) (incomplete), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 1: 2 Anacapa for Two Pianos (parts) (incomplete), Mss Box-Folder 1: 3 Anacapa, Prelude to, for Two Pianos (parts) (incomplete), Mss Box-Folder 1: 4 Anacapa and Prelude for Two Pianos (parts), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 1: 5 Arullo del Burrito for Flute and Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 1: 6 Arullo del Burrito for Flute and Piano (score), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 1: 7 Arullo del Burrito for Flute and Piano (score), Vellum Box-Folder 1: 8 B.G. for Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 1: 9 Barnyard Cogitations for Voice and Piano (score), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 1: 10 Barnyard Cogitations for Voice and Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 1: 10A Barnyard Cogitations for Voice and Piano (score) (cop. 2), Mss Box-Folder 1: 11 Beggar Boys for Voice and Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 1: 12 Childhood for Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 1: 13 Consolation for Right Hand Alone (Piano) (score), Mss Box-Folder 1: 14 Consolation for Right Hand Alone (Piano) (score) (cop. 2), Mss Box-Folder 1: 15 Dancing Bears for Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 1: 16 Days of Our Years, The, for vln., ob., pno. (bound parts), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 1: 17 Days of Our Years, The, for vln., ob., pno. (bound score), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 1: 18 Days of Our Years, The, for vln., ob., pno. (bound score) (cop. 2), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 1: 19 Days of Our Years, The, for vln., ob., pno. (bound sketchbook), Mss Box-Folder 1: 20 Days of Our Years, The, for vln., ob., pno. (parts), Vellum Box-Folder 1: 21 Days of Our Years, The, for vln., ob., pno. (score), Vellum Box-Folder 1: 22 Days of Our Years, The, for vln., ob., pno. (sketches), Mss Box-Folder 2: 1 Debussy Songs for Two Pianos (bound score), Mss Box-Folder 2: 2 Debussy Songs for Two Pianos (score), Mss Box-Folder 2: 3 Dirge for Two Pianos (score), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 2: 4 Dirge for Two Pianos (sketches), Mss Box-Folder 2: 5 Dirge for Violin and Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 2: 6 Dirge for Violin and Piano (violin part), Mss Box-Folder 2: 7 Elegy for String Quartet (score), Mss Box-Folder 2: 8 Elegy for String Quartet (score) (cop. 2), Mss Box-Folder 2: 9 Epithalaneum for String Quartet (score) (incomplete), Mss Box-Folder 2: 10 Fantasy for Cello and Piano (part), Mss Box-Folder 2: 11 Fantasy for Cello and Piano (part), Vellum Box-Folder 2: 12 Fantasy for Cello and Piano (parts), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 2: 13 Fantasy for Cello and Piano (score), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 2: 14 Fantasy for Cello and Piano (score), Vellum Box-Folder 2: 15 Fantasy for Cello and Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 2: 16 Fantasy for Cello and Piano (score) (cop. 2), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 2: 17 Fantasy for Cello and Piano (score) (cop. 2), Mss Guide to the Mildred Couper PA Mss 45 3 papers PA Mss 45 Scores Box-Folder 2: 18 Four Old French Carols for Voice and Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 2: 19 Four Old French Carols for Voice and Piano (score) (incomplete), Mss Box-Folder 2: 20 Four Old French Carols for Voice and Piano (sketches), Mss Box-Folder 2: 21 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 2: 22 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score) (cop. 2), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 2: 23 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score) (cop. 3), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 2: 24 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score) (fragment), Mss Box-Folder 2: 25 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score) (incomplete), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 2: 26 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score) (incomplete), Negative Box-Folder 2: 27 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score) (incomplete), Mss Box-Folder 2: 28 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score), Negative Box-Folder 2: 29 Fur and Feathers for Voice and Piano (score), Mss Box-Folder 3: 1 Gitanesca for Two Pianos (score), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 3: 2 Gitanesca for Pno., vln., vcl. (parts), Mss Box-Folder 3: 3 Introduction and Scherzo for String Quartet (score), Mss Box-Folder 3: 4 Introduction and Scherzo for String Quartet (sketches), Mss Box-Folder 3: 5 "Irish Washerwoman, The," Variations on for 2 Pianos (score), Vellum Box-Folder 3: 6 "Irish Washerwoman, The," Variations on for 2 Pianos (score), Photo reproduction Box-Folder 3: 7 "Irish Washerwoman, The," Variations on for 2 Pianos (score) (cop. 2), Photoreproduction Box-Folder 3: 8 "Irish Washerwoman, The," Variations on for 2 Pianos (score) (cop. 3), Photoreproduction Box-Folder 3: 9 "Irish Washerwoman, The," Variations on for 2 Pianos (score) (cop.