Music Library News

January 2, 2006

New Exhibit of American Music

Excerpt from Henry Cowell, Untitled piano composition, [1920s-1930s?] (Northwestern University Music Library, John Cage Notations Collection)In honor of John Adams's residency as the inaugural winner of the School of Music's Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition, the Music Library presents "American Ingenuity: Manuscripts from the Northwestern University Music Library's Special Collections." This exhibit of manuscripts by American composers includes works by early mavericks such as Charles Ives and Henry Cowell, avant-garde figures such as John Cage and Earle Brown, eclectic experimentalists such as Lou Harrison and George Crumb, and minimalists such as Philip Glass and Steve Reich.

These manuscripts exemplify the rich variety of musical styles, techniques, and aesthetics that shaped the development of music in the twentieth century and continue to resonate in the music of today's composers.

"American Ingenuity," located in the Music Library lobby on the second level of Deering Library, will be in place through May 2006.

Featured Manuscripts

  • Charles Ives (1874-1954). Preliminary instrumentation sketch for unknown orchestral composition. [192-?] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Carl Ruggles (1876-1971). Sketch for Evocation No. 4. [1942?] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Edgard Varèse (1883-1965). Sketch for Espace [unfinished composition]. 1947. General Manuscript Collection.
  • Varèse. Untitled; perhaps sketch for Nocturnal II (Nuit) [unfinished composition]. [1961-1965?] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Roger Sessions (1896-1985). The Black Maskers (No. 8: Closing Scene). [1923] General Manuscript Collection.
  • Henry Cowell (1897-1965). Untitled piano composition. [1920s-1930s?] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Cowell. The Train Finale from Les mariés de la Tour Eiffel. [1939] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Cowell. Sketch for Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra. 1958. General Manuscript Collection.
  • Aaron Copland (1900-1990). Overture for School Performance [subsequently titled An Outdoor Overture]. 1938. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Harry Partch (1901-1974). Castor and Pollux (Verse 16). [1952] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • John Cage (1912-1992). First Construction (In Metal). 1939. General Manuscript Collection.
  • Cage. Second Construction. 1940. General Manuscript Collection.
  • Cage. Concert for Piano and Orchestra. 1957-1958. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997). Untitled composition for player piano. [196-?] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Henry Brant (b. 1913). Consort for True Violins. 1965. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Lou Harrison (1917-2003). Praises for the Beauty of Hummingbirds. 1952. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Harrison. Three Pieces for Cirebon Gamelan. 1983. General Manuscript Collection.
  • Leonard Bernstein (1918-1980). Sketch for Psalm XXIII from Chichester Psalms. [1965] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Lukas Foss (b. 1922). Fragments of Archilochos. [1965] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Gunther Schuller (b. 1925). Contrasts. [1961] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Morton Feldman (1926-1987). Sketch for Vertical Thoughts. [1963] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Feldman. Sketch for Piano Piece. 1964. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Feldman. Sketch for Two Pieces for Three Pianos. [1966] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Earle Brown (1926-2002). Sketch for Available Forms II. 1962. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • George Crumb (b. 1929). Sketch for Night Music I. [1963]. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Crumb. Eleven Echoes of Autumn (Echoes I). [1965] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Crumb. Sketch for A Haunted Landscape. 1984. General Manuscript Collection.
  • Christian Wolff (b. 1934). Trio II. 1961. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Terry Riley (b. 1935). Keyboard Studies. [1963-1966?] John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Steve Reich (b. 1936). Piano Phase. 1967. John Cage Notations Collection.
  • Philip Glass (b. 1937). Music in Twelve Parts. [1972?] General Manuscript Collection.
  • Frederic Rzewski (b. 1938). Projector Piece. [1966] John Cage Notations Collection.