Encoded in 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/2020570175
DACS was used as the primary description standard.
Collection material chiefly in English, with some in Finnish and French.
Purchase from the estate of Charles Wuorinen, 2021
No further accruals are expected.
Stephanie Akau, Emily Baumgart, Anthony Edwards, and Jessica Grimmer processed the Charles Wuorinen Papers in 2022-2023. Akau and Baumgart coded the finding aid in 2023.
Identification numbers for digital materials will be added at a later date.
The Charles Wuorinen Papers contained a significant amount of mold that was remediated in 2022-2023. Researchers with mold sensitivities and allergies are advised to wear a mask when handling the materials. Although moldy materials have been thoroughly cleaned, many are still stained.
Sound and video recordings from the Charles Wuorinen Papers will be transferred to the Library of Congress National Audio-Video Conservation Center (NAVCC). An inventory of this material will be available in the Music Division's collection file.
Columbia University holds the records of the Group for Contemporary Music, which Wuorinen co-founded. He also appears in The State University of New York at Buffalo's Irene Haupt Photographs of June in Buffalo. Other collections pertaining to Wuorinen's membership in professional organizations include the American Composers Alliance (ACA) Records at the University of Maryland, the Century Association Records in New York City, and the Composers' Forum, Inc. Records, and the Composers Recordings, Inc. Records at the New York Public Library.
The McKim Fund Collection and the Serge Koussevitzky Archive include Wuorinen's manuscript compositions commissioned by the Library of Congress. The Randolph S. Rothschild Collection includes documentation about Charles Wuorinen's
The manuscript scores of Wuorinen's commissions from the Serge Koussevitzky Foundation are cataloged separately, including the Chamber Concerto for Oboe and Ten players, Concertino for Orchestra (or, for 15 solo instruments), and Symphony Six.
Materials from the Charles Wuorinen Papers are governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.) and other applicable international copyright laws.
The Business and Financial Papers, as well as
The remainder of the Charles Wuorinen Papers are 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 on using or copying materials may apply.
Digital files were received as part of the Charles Wuorinen Papers. Access to digital content is available onsite only in the Performing Arts Reading Room and requires advance notice. Consult reference staff in the Performing Arts Reading Room for more information.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [item, date, container or digital ID number], Charles Wuorinen Papers, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The Charles Wuorinen Papers span from 1949 to 2020, the bulk of which date from 1965 to 1989. The materials primarily consist of manuscripts and computer-generated sketches of Wuorinen’s music. There is also correspondence, financial papers, subject files, teaching materials, and photographs related to his career as a composer, conductor, and professor of music. Wuorinen was involved with a number of professional organizations that promoted and supported contemporary music. His related activities are documented in records such as form letters, concert publicity, and other correspondence. There are also personal papers from his youth and items pertaining to his interests outside of music.
The Music series dates from 1949 to 2019 and contains three subseries. The first, and largest, contains Wuorinen’s sketches, fair copies, and printed scores for his solo, chamber, orchestral pieces, and operas, many of which are annotated. Beginning in the 1980s, Wuorinen created his sketches using computer notation software and subsequently added manuscript annotations to hard copies, which are referred to as "computer printouts." This subseries also includes compositions he wrote during his childhood, called "miscellaneous early works". The second subseries holds works that Wuorinen arranged, recomposed, or transcribed; examples include the
The Correspondence series consists of both professional and personal communications. Correspondents include Wuorinen’s instructors at Columbia University; collaborators; contemporary conductors, composers, and musicians; commissioning entities; students; family members; organizations; editors and colleagues from the journal
The Subject Files include awards, supplementary documents for Wuorinen’s works and recordings, and information for his teaching and conducting residencies. The Organization Records series consists of correspondence, financial reports, board meeting agendas, and other documentation of organizations for which Wuorinen was a member or held leadership positions. The Music Organizations subseries includes the American Composers Alliance, Meet the Composer, and the Group for Contemporary Music, which Wuorinen co-founded. The Non-music Organizations subseries includes the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Century Association. The Business and Financial Papers document Wuorinen’s income and expenses from 1956 to 2018 and consists primarily of royalty statements, receipts, bank statements, and tax forms. These materials are restricted until 2068.
Howard Stokar was Wuorinen’s husband and manager. The Howard Stokar Papers on Charles Wuorinen document Stokar’s role as manager and largely contain clippings, correspondence, program notes, and materials related to recordings of Wuorinen’s music. The Writings series consists of two subseries: Writings by Wuorinen and Writings about Wuorinen. Wuorinen’s writings consist of his editorials, journal articles, and annotated drafts of his textbook
The Teaching Materials series contains items generated by or pertaining to Wuorinen’s role as professor of music. They include teaching schedules, student assignments, lectures, notes, memos, and correspondence. The Personal Papers contains Wuorinen’s childhood artwork, writings, and schoolwork, as well as diplomas, vital records, and materials related to his interest in astronomy and Chinese calligraphy.
The Clippings series mostly contains concert announcements, reviews, and news about Wuorinen’s career accomplishments. The Programs are from performances of Wuorinen’s music that he conducted or performed from 1922 to 2019, or, from concerts that he may have attended only. The Group for Contemporary Music’s programs are in the Organizational Records series. The Photographs of Wuorinen alone are primarily professional headshots, while most of the photographs of Wuorinen with other people are from concerts or rehearsals. Miscellaneous photographs do not include Wuorinen. Individuals are identified on the folders if known. This series also includes contact sheets, negatives, and slides depicting performances, promotional shots, events, and everyday life.
The collection is arranged in 13 series:
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.
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2020570175
Scores, sketches, and parts for compositions by Wuorinen and others. Materials include holograph and manuscript items, computer printouts of works created with music notation software, printed music, and photoreproductions.
Organized as three subseries.
This subseries contains holograph, reproduction, computer printout, and published print scores, parts, and sketches of Wuorinen’s compositions. He used both "sketch" and "draft" to describe early versions of works; additionally, some items that appear to be final versions were labeled by Wuorinen as "sketch" or "draft." In both cases, the labels that he used have been maintained. Sketches/drafts are numbered to track the progression of each composition. Wuorinen also included the dates and locations where he composed many of his works on their original folders. These folders were not retained, so the information was photocopied and laid in with its corresponding piece. Computer printout items refer to those created with music notation software. Many items contain Wuorinen's annotations.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
This subseries chiefly contains manuscript and published print scores of Wuorinen's arrangements, transcriptions, and recompositions of works by other composers, including Schoenberg.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Manuscript, printed, and reproduction scores of works by other composers comprise this subseries.
Arranged alphabetically by composer and title therein.
Items in this series are primarily professional in nature. Early correspondence is
from Wuorinen’s instructors at Columbia University: Jack Beeson, Vladimir
Ussachevsky, and Otto Luening, with whom Wuorinen stayed in touch throughout his
career. Included are letters from a wide circle of collaborators and
contemporaries, such as conductor Lukas Foss, flutist Harvey Sollberger, cellist
Fred Sherry, pianists Peter Serkin and Ursula Mamlok, composers Nicolas Roussakis
and Raoul Pleskow, and journalist Joan Peyser. There are numerous letters from
Virginia de Blasiis, an accomplished violinist and music educator who, along with
her sister Giovannina, ran a chamber music series in Glens Falls, New York.
Wuorinen performed on this series. Virginia de Blasiis also commissioned
Wuorinen’s
Letters from notable musicians of the twentieth century, including Aaron Copland, Henry Cowell, Nadia Boulanger, and John Cage, are also included. Most are brief but encouraging responses to an inquiry from Wuorinen. This series also includes personal correspondence from family members, the bulk of which is from Charles Wuorinen’s parents, John Sr. and Alfhild, with whom he corresponded regularly, and his maternal grandmother, Ida Kalijarvi. Additional personal correspondence was from peers and primarily date from the 1950s and early 1960s. Another notable correspondent was Arnold Roth, a prominent illustrator who was a fellow member of the Century Association in New York City. Roth’s colorful cartoon of Wuorinen composing features on the homepage of Wuorinen’s website, which can be found in the Library of Congress Commissioned Composers Web Archive; a color slide of the cartoon is in the Photographs series.
The Correspondence series also contains letters from organizations and companies.
Columbia University correspondence begins in 1956 when Wuorinen enrolled as an
undergraduate and continue during his time as a faculty member, a post he held
until 1971. In addition, there is extensive correspondence from editors and
colleagues from the journal
Arranged alphabetically by last name of individual or company name and chronologically therein.
This series contains Wuorinen’s folders of incoming form letters, general correspondence, invitations, and outgoing correspondence. Some materials document his active pursuit of music fellowships and entrance in composition competitions, as well as his own work advocating for performances and publication of his music. Each folder also contains programs from concerts he attended. While most of these concerts featured contemporary music, others featured early music, an interest of Wuorinen’s evident in his arrangements and recompositions of pieces such as
Arranged chronologically.
These files collate topical materials related to Wuorinen’s professional work. The items include many of the awards that Wuorinen received for his compositions, beginning when he was a teenager. Examples of the awards represented are the Pulitzer Prize, Rockefeller Foundation grant, Guggenheim Fellowship, MacDowell Colony residency, and BMI youth composition awards. Relevant correspondence from the awarding organization, when available, is included. This series contains travel information and schedules from Wuorinen’s conducting and university residencies. There are also schedules and publicity from music festivals where he studied or had works performed, such as the Bennington Composers Conference, Aspen Humanities Institute, and contemporary music conferences. Papers he gave at conferences may be found in the Writing Series. Documents from recordings, such as publicity and edit lists, are found here, organized alphabetically by album title. Liner notes are also present, though more can be found in the Howard Stokar’s Papers on Charles Wuorinen series. The Works file unit is made up of correspondence, performance publicity, and premiere information for more than 30 of his compositions, with the operas
Arranged alphabetically and chronologically therein.
Wuorinen was an active participant in contemporary music organizations and held leadership positions within these groups. This series documents the activities of the organizations along with Wuorinen’s activities and primarily includes correspondence, meeting minutes, and concert publicity, when relevant.
Organized as two subseries.
Represented in this subseries are the American Composers Alliance (ACA), American Composers Orchestra (ACO), American Music Center, American Orchestra for Contemporary Music, Composers Forum, Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI), Group for Contemporary Music (GCM), the League of Composers - International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), Meet the Composer, and the San Francisco Symphony.
ACA is a non-profit publisher of American composers founded in 1937; Wuorinen served on the board. ACA’s records include bulletins, Wuorinen’s ACA music library checkout slips, and correspondence.
Composers Francis Thorne and Dennis Russell Davies founded the American Composers Orchestra in 1975 to celebrate ACA’s 40th anniversary; Wuorinen served as president. The ACO supports the work of American composers. The ACO file unit contains extensive correspondence from long-serving president Thorne, financial records, and board agendas.
The American Music Center also supported the creation and performance of American music. Their records include correspondence, newsletters and meeting minutes from the board of directors, on which Wuorinen served.
Wuorinen was president of the American Orchestra for Contemporary Music, also known as the New Orchestra, an ensemble that he co-founded with Arthur Weisberg. The orchestra performed from 1973 to 1978 to promote orchestral music by living composers. The ensemble’s records include the original proposal for the group, tax forms and other financial records, and correspondence.
The Composers Forum records consist of correspondence and the organization’s New Music News monthly mailing promoting new music concerts.
Wuorinen was one of hundreds of American composers whose music was captured by Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI). Otto Luening, Wuorinen’s instructor at Columbia, was one of the label’s co-founders. Wuorinen's first work on a CRI album was "Janissary Music" in 1968. Board and executive committee meeting agendas, press releases, and correspondence concerning recordings of Wuorinen’s music, which constituted more than a dozen albums before CRI stopped recording in 2003, constitute the CRI records.
Wuorinen co-founded the Group for Contemporary Music in 1962 at Columbia University to perform contemporary chamber music. He continued as artistic director after leaving Columbia in 1970; consequently, GCM’s records are the most comprehensive of this series. They include board meeting minutes and agendas, clippings, correspondence, financial papers, recording information, publicity, and programs, which date from 1962 to 2009.
The League of Composers - International Society for Contemporary Music (ICSM) file unit contains publicity for members’ concerts, correspondence, and press releases.
Wuorinen served as a composer in residence through the Meet the Composer Orchestra Residencies Program, first in Louisville from 1984 to 1985 (ending with the orchestra’s strike), then with San Francisco Symphony from 1985 to 1989. He also served on their board of directors in the 1990s. Meet the Composer’s organizational records include correspondence, information about the residencies program, and reports from Wuorinen and other composers about their activities with their respective orchestras. The San Francisco Symphony records provide more detailed information about Wuorinen’s residency. In addition to composing new works for the orchestra, Wuorinen also vetted submissions for the New and Unusual Music Series, which featured performances of works by living composers. Correspondence and program information comprise the resulting documents.
Arranged alphabetically by organization name, record type if applicable, and chronologically therein.
This subseries documents Wuorinen’s memberships in the American Academy of Arts & Letters, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and American Academy in Rome. The awards Wuorinen received from these associations are located in the Subject Files series. He was involved in the academies’ activities after receiving recognition by serving on selection committees and actively submitting potential new members for consideration. The records primarily consist of form letters and correspondence. Wuorinen attended several of the award ceremonies of the American Academy of Arts & Letters; group photographs from these events are in the Photographs series. This subseries also includes records from The Century Association, a private club of artists and scholars in New York City. The Century Association records chiefly consist of form letters and mailings sent to all members. Also present are programs from performances on their concert series that Wuorinen performed on and directed, and correspondence from his nominations of candidates for membership.
Arranged alphabetically by organization name and chronologically therein.
This series contains check registers, invoices, and receipts that Wuorinen used to track his income and expenses. There are extensive contracts and royalty statements from both Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and C. F. Peters for recordings, performances, rentals, and purchases of his compositions. There are also federal tax forms along with bank and money market account statements from the 1960s through the 1980s. Some bank statements were too moldy to be salvaged and were disposed.
Materials in this series are restricted until 2068.
Arranged alphabetically by document type or subject and chronologically therein.
Howard Stokar and Charles Wuorinen first met through their work with the San Francisco Symphony in the 1980s. Stokar later became Wuorinen’s manager and husband. Consequently, the bulk of the materials in this series date from the 1980s through the 2000s. These materials include program notes and biographical summaries that Stokar sent to ensembles performing Wuorinen’s music. Correspondence between Stokar and various companies and ensembles about topics such as concert scheduling and fees are present, as are contracts. This series also contains clippings, most of which are reviews of performances of Wuorinen’s music. Some of the clippings predate Stokar and Wuorinen’s acquaintance. Liner notes from recordings of Wuorinen’s music made in the 1990s and 2000s are also found here.
Some financial papers in this series are restricted until 2068.
Arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically therein.
This series consists of writings by and about Wuorinen, primarily articles, concert reviews, opinion pieces, and interviews.
Organized in two subseries.
Writings by Charles Wuorinen include his
Arranged alphabetically by publication type and chronologically therein.
This subseries contains concert reviews, dissertations or theses about Wuorinen’s works, articles in serial publications, and interviews. The interviews may include drafts or proofs in addition to the final, published version. The articles include those published in peer-reviewed journals and magazines.
Arranged alphabetically by publication type and chronologically therein.
Charles Wuorinen held teaching positions at Columbia University, the Manhattan School of Music, the New England Conservatory, the State University of New York – Binghamton, and Rutgers University. The materials in this series include department information such as phone lists, internal memos, and teaching schedules. There are also notes and notecards that Wuorinen used for lectures, though they were retained sporadically and do not cover all of the coursework from any single class. Student assignments make up a small portion of this series.
Rosters with grades are restricted until 2080.
Arranged by alphbetically by university name and document type, and alphabetically therein.
This series contains materials pertaining to Wuorinen’s personal life. They include schoolwork, early writings, childhood artwork, Chinese calligraphy, and vital records.
Arranged alphabetically by topic.
This series primarily consists of concert reviews of Wuorinen’s music and press about his awards or upcoming concerts that appeared in newspapers. There are also feature articles about him from publications by his alma maters Trinity School and Columbia University. Only one copy of each clipping was retained, though there may be duplication between clippings across the Subject Files series in the "Charles Wuorinen: Materials compiled by Alfhild Wuorinen" folders and the clippings in Howard Stokar’s Papers on Charles Wuorinen series. Newspaper articles were photocopied to preserve their physical integrity, with date and publication name included when known. Wuorinen’s editorials may also be found in the Writings series.
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains programs and other promotional materials featuring Wuorinen’s music and/or featuring him as a performer or conductor. Programs from the Group for Contemporary Music performances can be found in the Organization Records series in the Music Organizations subseries.
Arranged chronologically.
Photographs in the collection are organized in three groups: Wuorinen alone, Wuorinen with Others, and Miscellany. Those of Wuorinen are mostly portraits or headshots, with the exception of one baby picture from 1938. Photographs of Wuorinen with Others are candids taken at events and during everyday life. Individuals were identified to the extent possible and include Elliott Carter, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Fred Sherry, Harvey Sollberger, Peter Serkin, Leonard Raver, Mary Sharp Cronson, and Josef Marx. This series also holds group photographs taken at annual American Academy of Arts and Letters ceremonies that include past and present awardees. There are also contact sheets, negatives, and large slides.
Arranged by subject and chronologically therein.