Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2003561025
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
Gift; Richard Rodgers; 1956-1979.
Gift; Dorothy Rodgers; 1979?-1995.
Gift; Rogers & Hammerstein Organization; to 1995.
No further accruals are expected.
The Richard Rodgers Collection was processed by Mark Eden Horowitz and Albert Tucker in 1995. The finding aid was originally created using Word Perfect 5.1 software. In 2002, Michael A. Ferrando coded and edited the finding aid for EAD format.
Correspondence: Richard Rodgers Papers, 1914-1989, Billy Rose Theatre Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10023-7498 USA
Materials from the Richard Rodgers Collection are governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.) and other applicable international copyright laws.
The Richard Rodgers Collection is open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Music Division prior to visiting in order to determine whether the desired materials will be available at that time.
Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [item, date, container number], Richard Rodgers Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The Richard Rodgers Collection at the Library of Congress consists predominantly of Rodgers' music holographs -- sketches, piano-vocal scores (many with lyric sheets included) and short scores. In addition, the collection includes the full scores for eight of the Rodgers and Hammerstein shows (
Series I -- Show Music -- has been divided into Rodgers' manuscripts and the full scores; each of these sections has been organized alphabetically by show title and by song title within each show. In the instances when a Broadway musical either was revised, subsequently filmed, or a film musical was re-made, the materials for subsequent productions have been interfiled with the materials for the earlier production. When there are collections of sketches for a show, they are at the end of the materials for that show. Where a collection of sketches contains material from more than one show, the sketches are listed with the show which appears most often; cross-references have been provided for other shows appearing within these sketches. Other collections of sketches, representing a variety of shows, are placed in the Miscellaneous Sketches series; they are listed in chronological order (as nearly as can be determined), and are designated M.S. 1 (i.e., Miscellaneous Sketches 1), etc. Known song titles from these sketches are also cross-referenced in the appropriate shows. When most sketches in a collection are identifiable, the occasional "unidentified" item is listed in the order in which it appears; when most of the sketches in a collection are unknown, there is only a general reference to the fact that unidentified sketches are included. When a portion of a song title is crossed through on the music, it is also crossed through in this guide. The appendix at the end of this guide is an alphabetical list of all of Rodgers' songs represented in this collection and where they can be found. This appendix does not include the full scores.
The music for
The full scores contain many examples of show material that was deleted or replaced with new orchestrations. In a few cases, well known selections are conspicuously absent, most notably, "Carousel Waltz" and "Soliloquy" from
This collection is an exquisite representation of the working life of a composer in both the breadth and the depth of the material it encompasses: close to 1,000 known song titles (some in various stages of composition), over 80 shows, and hundreds of untitled sketches are represented, primarily as holographs. The assembled materials span approximately sixty-two years (1917-1979), encompassing both Rodgers' amateur and professional life. Rodgers later works are most completely represented, but almost all significant early works are represented as well. There are also a number of lyric sketches for those works on which Rodgers acted as his own lyricist.
Rodgers' melodic prodigiousness is evidenced in the collection by page after page of his sketches. They reveal intricacies of his working methods, for instance, there are lyric sheets with annotations by Rodgers indicating which syllables to accent, some have rhythms notated in the margins, or a melody may be scrawled on the back. There are series of sketches which show the evolution of a song -- giving three or four alternative themes, often with different time signatures and in different styles.
The
Mark Eden Horowitz, 1995
The Richard Rodgers Collection is organized in five series:
Series I -- Show Music -- has been divided into Rodgers' manuscripts and the full scores; each of these sections has been organized alphabetically by show title and by song title within each show. In the instances when a Broadway musical either was revised, subsequently filmed, or a film musical was re-made, the materials for subsequent productions have been interfiled with the materials for the earlier production. When there are collections of sketches for a show, they are at the end of the materials for that show. Where a collection of sketches contains material from more than one show, the sketches are listed with the show which appears most often; cross-references have been provided for other shows appearing within these sketches. The full scores contain many examples of show material that was deleted or replaced with new orchestrations.
Note: The show
The Show Music has been divided into Rodgers' manuscripts and the full scores; each of these sections has been organized alphabetically by show title and then by song title within each show.
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The Non-Show titles range from "Aida" to "[Unidentified]".
Arranged by title.
Unidentified sketches. Each is given a brief description.
Arrangement is by designated group number. These sketches have been processed into 14 groups. Each group has been designated as [M.S. 1], [M.S. 2], etc.
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The Photographs are contained in three folders. They span the years 1920-1979.
Arrangement is chronological.
The Miscellany series contains Camp Paradox materials, Carbon copies of correspondence with the Library of Congress (1964, 1965), a typed lists of the items in the collection, Memorbilia, and related items from Richard Rodgers 65th birthday tribute.
Arrangement is by folder heading.