General information
Type of the document Letter
SenderMerritt, Arthur Tillman
Sender (corporation)
Sender‘s locationCambridge, Massachusetts
Note on Sender‘s location[Cambridge, Massachusetts]
Send date26.09.1946
RecipientDame, Lawrence
Recipient (corporation)
Recipient‘s locationCambridge, Massachusetts
LanguageEnglish
AcquiredIsham Memorial Library, Cambridge, USA
Owner of the sourceHarvard University, Cambridge MA
Owner‘s call numberMs. Coll. 100, box 1
Call number at IBMMer 1946-09-26
Content and physical description
ContentSince Arthur Tillman Merritt cannot reach Lawrence Dame by telephone, he informs him in writing. For the Symposium's first concert - chamber music - Walter Piston and Bohuslav Martinů write string quartets and Arnold Schoenberg a string trio. The ensemble that will perform the works has not yet been chosen, but it will probably be a well-known quartet.
The second concert will be a choral concert featuring the Collegiate Chorale from New York under the direction of Robert Shaw. Paul Hindemith is composing the choral and brass works for this occasion. There will also be an a cappella work by Aaron Copland and a piece for choir and organ by Francesco Malipiero.
The last concert will be a dance concert performed by Martha Graham and her ensemble. The music is composed by William Schuman, director of the Juilliard School of Music in New York, and Carlos Chávez. The latter's piece is not directly commissioned by the Symposium, but has so far had only one performance last winter in New York.
The main reason for the letter, however, is the question of mentioning Bohuslav Martinů in the press release. A certain French composer [Olivier Messaien, see ID 5654] was originally asked to compose a chamber work, but had declined by the time the first press release was completed. ATM therefore approached Martinů, who confirmed the commission shortly after the press release appeared. His name was therefore not published in connection with the Symposium, to which BM objected. ATM now asks LD to announce the full list of collaborating composers to the newspaper. As soon as he has completed the list of referees, he will forward it to him also.
Total number of leaves1
Number of pages bearing text1
Notea carbon copy of the sent letter
Fixationtypescript
Digitisation
Quality of digitisationNot professional colour
Digitized atIsham Memorial Library, Cambridge, USA
Date of digitisation11/2016

Preview only available at the Institute.

Person as subject
Chávez, Carlos
Copland, Aaron
Graham, Martha
Hindemith, Paul
Malipiero, Gian Francesco
Martinů, Bohuslav
Piston, Walter
Schönberg, Arnold
Schuman, William
Shaw, Robert
Corporation as subject
Collegiate Choral, New York
New York Times
Composition as subject
String Quartet No. 6, H 312
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