The Morton Feldman Papers consist predominantly of secondary materials, including eight boxes of programs and clippings, two boxes of Feldman's published writings, and another box of writings for or about Feldman. Other than a small number of musical fragments, it contains none of Feldman's scores, printed or manuscript.
There are two prose manuscripts and six typescripts by Feldman in the collection. These are primarily brief (the longest is 5 leaves) and fragmentary in nature. Feldman's published writings are represented by thirty-two articles in the collection. The list includes articles translated into German, Swedish, Italian, and French. Eighteen interviews and conversations with Feldman are also included in the collection, almost all of them available in published versions.
The correspondence in the Morton Feldman Papers reveals little of a personal nature about Feldman. The letters in the fifty-three folders of General Correspondence include letters of appreciation from students, invitations to appear at functions, letters regarding details of upcoming events, and letters of thanks from presenters of concerts and lectures.
There are only three letters from Feldman included in the General Correspondence. They are filed by name of the addressee. One of these, a photocopy of a letter sent to soprano Joan La Barbara along with the score of Feldman's composition Three Voices, is perhaps the only letter in the collection with any musical content. Feldman's other two letters were to University at Buffalo colleagues, James Coover and Maria Runfola.
There are an additional eleven folders of correspondence related to awards received by Feldman, commissions, contracts for appearances, and royalty statements. Feldman served as a consultant for the Mark Rothko Foundation's Mark Rothko Fund, which granted funds to older artists, writers, and musicians. Correspondence received from applicants with backgrounds in music was sent to Feldman for his recommendation. The correspondence is addressed to the treasurer of the foundation, Bernard J. Reis.
There are more than five hundred programs and announcements in the collection and approximately four hundred clippings and reviews. Together these provide substantial documentation of Feldman's career and the critical reception of his music. The collection of sixty-one photographs contains candid snapshots, as well as some formal portraits of Feldman taken while he was at Darmstadt in 1986.
The principal collection of material related to the life and career of Morton
Feldman is located at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, Switzerland.
| October 2001
Music Library Staff musique@acsu.buffalo.edu http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/music/spcoll/feldman/aid/mfscope.html |
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