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: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2006568221
Collection material in English, French, German, Italian
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.
Acquired from the Tams-Witmark Music Library in 1969.
No further accruals are expected.
The Tams-Witmark (Original Library of Congress Collection) was processed by junior fellows, Gail A. Miller and Linda B. Fairtile, under music specialist Robert Saladini's supervision in August 1992. Additional materials were located and added to the finding aid in 1994. George Kipper, music specialist, coded the finding aid for EAD in 2010.
The Tams-Witmark Music Library dispersed a large part of its older materials among five U.S. libraries: the Library of Congress, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Princeton University, the Eastman School of Music, and Westminster Choir College. Cataloging information for Tams-Witmark materials in these other libraries can be found in box 791 of the Tams-Witmark (Original Library of Congress Collection). The University of Wisconsin's holdings have also been catalogued in OCLC.
Materials from the Tams-Witmark (Original Library of Congress Collection) are governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.) and other applicable international copyright laws.
The Tams-Witmark (Original Library of Congress 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], Tams-Witmark (Original Library of Congress Collection), Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The Tams-Witmark Music Library was established in 1925 by a merger between the Arthur W. Tams Music Library and the rental library of M. Witmark & Sons. The Arthur W. Tams Music Library began in 1883 as a rental library of sacred music and opera, and by the 1920's had grown to be one of the largest libraries of its kind. The Witmarks had entered the music publishing business in 1885, but started a rental library comparable to and in competition with that of Arthur Tams in 1898. The Tams library continued to acquire mostly sacred music, while the Witmark library handled popular operas and musicals, including those of Victor Herbert, Reginald DeKoven, and George M. Cohan, all of whom had publishing contracts with Witmark. After a merger between the two libraries was negotiated in 1925, the publishing firm, M. Witmark & Sons, retained separate status until it was acquired by Warner Brothers in 1928 as a part of its Music Publishers Holding Corporation. The Witmark name remained in use until 1941.
The Tams-Witmark Library holdings reflect what was being performed in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The scope of the collection ranges from eighteenth century operas of Handel and Glück to a musical by George M. Cohan. The bulk of the materials are nineteenth century operas and operettas, the majority in full score, but there are also instrumental parts, particularly for those works from the latter half of the nineteenth century. Most of the scores have been annotated with cuts and performance markings, and some, such as Bizet's
Early nineteenth century opera is represented chiefly by Italian composers such as Cimarosa, Cherubini, and Rossini. In keeping with Italian practice, the vast majority of these full scores are in manuscript form. French composers are represented by comic and serious works in equal proportion, with manuscript and printed scores by Auber and Meyerbeer being the most numerous. German Romantic operas from the first half of the nineteenth century are few, but mid- to late-nineteenth century opera is well represented, with seven works by Verdi, virtually the entire operatic output of Wagner, and operas by such lesser-known composers as Ignaz Brüll, Filippo Marchetti, and Ernest Reyer.
Operettas constitute a large proportion of the collection. Jacques Offenbach is the most represented composer here, but also included are many Viennese operettas from the last decades of the 19th century, particularly those by Franz von Suppé, Johann Strauss, Jr., and Karl Millöcker. The phenomenally successful debut of
Reginald De Koven, Julian Edwards, and Victor Herbert, all of whom gained tremendous fame during the last two decades of the nineteenth century, are well represented in this collection. The materials of De Koven and Herbert are particularly significant because they include not only finished manuscripts but also sketches and scores for numbers cut from various productions. Of special interest are the numerous scores, parts, and holograph sketches of Victor Herbert's 1912 opera
Musical comedies from the early twentieth century are not well documented in the Library of Congress' portion of the Tams-Witmark collection, as most musical comedy materials from Tams-Witmark are housed at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. And, operetta composers from this period, such as Karl Hoschna, Franz Lehar, and Joseph Bayer, are marginally represented.
Concert music constitutes a small portion of the Library of Congress' Tams-Witmark Collection. Although several eighteenth and nineteenth century "masters" are represented, works by lesser-known composers are more numerous, with secular choral works such as Felix Weingartner's
In the following container list, all titles are recorded as they appear in the collection; translations and non-standard spellings reflect the originals. A uniform title in brackets is supplied when there is a question about the title as it appears on the item itself. Other information appearing in brackets has been derived from secondary sources. An asterisk (*) after a title signifies that the composer's name does not actually appear on the item, but was supplied, based on external bibliographical information. All printed scores are assumed to have been engraved, unless followed by the designation "(lith.)," which indicates the lithograph transfer process. Although every item in the collection shows some sign of deterioration due to age, those marked [Fragile] should be handled with special care, and may not be served, at the discretion of library staff. Individual song titles are so indicated by quotation marks.
The collection is arranged in one series: