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Collection Data
- Description
- An American musicologist, teacher, and editor, Gustave Reese is best known as the author of Music in the Middle Ages (1940) and Music in the Renaissance (1954; rev 1959). Reese divided his time between publishing and academia. He was director of publications for both G. Schirmer (1940-45) and Carl Fischer (1944-55). His teaching at New York University and other institutions helped to shape the direction of American musicology. Reese was one of the founding members of the American Musicological Society, and he subsequently served as its secretary (1934-46), vice-president (1946-50) and president (1950-1952). He was also vice-president of the Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society (1958) and president of the Renaissance Society of America (1971-73). The Gustave Reese papers documents the career of Gustave Reese. The collection was assembled by Reese himself, and includes correspondence, research materials, book drafts, student assignments, organizational papers, offprints of articles, travel information, and a few personal documents. Series 2 includes facsimiles of the music examples that appear in Willi Apel's The Notation of Polyphonic Music, 900-1600. Two reels of audio tape originally with the collection are now housed in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.
- Names
- Reese, Gustave, 1899-1977 (Creator)
- Albrecht, Otto E. (Otto Edwin), 1899-1984
- Alderman, Pauline, 1893-1983
- Apel, Willi, 1893-
- Atlas, Allan W.
- Brown, Charles, 1898-1988
- Bukofzer, Manfred F., 1910-1955
- Carapetyan, Armen
- Clarke, Henry Leland
- Coopersmith, J. M. (Jacob Maurice), 1903-1968
- Cuyler, Louise, 1908-1998
- Edmunds, John, 1913-1986
- Engel, Carl, 1883-1944
- Evans, Roger
- Godt, Irving
- Grainger, Percy, 1882-1961
- Hamm, Charles
- Hannas, Ruth, 1893-1976
- Hill, Richard S. (Richard Synyer), 1901-1961
- Holland, Jeanette B., 1901-
- Jacobs, Charles, 1934-1995
- Karp, Theodore
- Kinkeldey, Otto, 1878-1966
- Kohn, Karl, 1926-
- Lang, Paul Henry, 1901-1991
- Lowinsky, Edward E. (Edward Elias), 1908-1985
- Mendel, Arthur, 1905-1979
- Mennin, Peter
- Meyer, Ernst Hermann, 1905-
- Ness, Arthur J.
- Plamenac, Dragan, 1895-1983
- Reese, Gustave, 1899-1977
- Rokseth, Y. (Yvonne), 1890-1948
- Rubsamen, Walter H. (Walter Howard), 1911-1973
- Seay, Albert
- Sonneck, O. G. (Oscar George), 1873-1928
- Sternfeld, Frederick W. (Frederick William), 1914-1994
- Stevens, Denis, 1922-2004
- Strunk, W. Oliver (William Oliver), 1901-
- Tischler, Hans, 1915-2010
- Truax, Carol
- Tureck, Rosalyn
- Van Tassel, Eric
- Waters, Edward N. (Edward Neighbor), 1906-1991
- Wellesz, Egon, 1885-1974
- Werner, Eric, 1901-1988
- American Music Collection
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1855 - 1978
- Library locations
- Music Division
- Shelf locator: JPB 92-71
- Topics
- Musicologists
- Renaissance Society of America
- New York Pro Musica Antiqua
- International Musicological Society
- American Musicological Society
- American Council of Learned Societies
- Genres
- articles
- Correspondence
- drafts (documents)
- Notes
- Biographical/historical: Gustave Reese was born in New York on November 29, 1899. He studied jurisprudence and music at New York University, earning degrees in both (LL. B., 1921; Mus. Bac., 1930). Although he obtained a license to practice law in 1922, Reese instead devoted his life to music. He began working for the music publisher G. Schirmer in 1924, and joined the faculty of New York University in 1927. For the next thirty years Reese divided his time between publishing and academia: he was director of publications for both G. Schirmer (1940-45) and Carl Fischer (1944-55), and through his skillful and inspired teaching he helped to shape the direction of American musicology. In addition to his fulltime appointment at New York University, which earned him a "Great Teacher Award" in 1972, Reese also taught summer sessions at Harvard University (1959-71), UCLA (1964), the University of Michigan (1965), as well as other institutions. Upon his retirement from New York University in 1974 he became a visiting professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Foremost among Reese's publications are the books Music in the Middle Ages (1940) and Music in the Renaissance (1954; rev 1959). These two volumes, according to James Haar, "gave tremendous impetus to the study of early music and to musicology in general in English-speaking countries." Reese also contributed articles to numerous American and European musicology journals, as well as to music encyclopedias.
Reese was one of the founding members of the American Musicological Society, and he subsequently served as its secretary (1934-46), vice-president (1946-50) and president (1950-1952; thereafter, in an honorary capacity). He was also vice-president of the Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society (1958) and president of the Renaissance Society of America (1971-73). Reese was awarded honorary degrees from the Chicago Musical College (1949) and from Rutgers University (1972).
On Reese's 65th birthday he was honored with the publication of a Festschrift, Aspects of Medieval and Renaissance Music (1966; 2nd ed. 1978). He died on September 7, 1977, while attending the International Musicological Society's congress in Berkeley, California.
References:
"Reese, Gustave." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th edition (New York, 1992), p. 1487.
Haar, James. "Reese, Gustave." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 15 (London, 1980, pp. 668-69.
- Content: The Gustave Reese Collection represents the professional activities and interests of their namesake. The collection accumulated naturally as Reese pursued his career as a scholar, educator, and editor, and is augmented by documents related to the organizations that he served as a board member or officer. The bulk of the collection falls between the 1930s and 1977, the period from early in Reese's teaching career to his death.
The Reese Collection has been organized according to Reese's original plan. Series 1 consists of general correspondence arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Series 2 contains Reese's notes and other research materials, as well as facsimiles of the music examples that appear in Willi Apel's The Notation of Polyphonic Music, 900-1600. Chapter drafts, proofs, and correspondence related to Reese's two most influential books, Music in the Middle Ages and Music in the Renaissance, make up Series 3. Series 4 contains correspondence related to Reese's teaching appointments at New York University, the City University of New York, the University of California at Los Angeles, and other institutions, as well as student projects, papers, and a few dissertations.
Over the course of his lifetime, Gustave Reese was closely associated with organizations devoted to scholarship, musical and otherwise, such as the American Musicological Society (of which he was a co-founder), the American Council of Learned Societies, the International Musicological Society, the Renaissance Society of America, New York Pro Musica, and the National Music Council. As a result, he accumulated correspondence and other papers documenting the workings of these groups. Material related to these professional organizations and conferences constitutes Series 5 of the collection, which is grouped into subseries by organization.
Series 6 of the Reese Collection consists of offprints of musicological articles, most of which have been signed by their authors. Series 7 contains concert, opera, ballet, and theater programs, while Series 8 contains material related to Reese's trips to France, Scandinavia, Greece, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, and the Soviet Union. Finally, Series 9 consists of miscellaneous personal papers, including Reese's license to practice law in New York State.
The Gustave Reese Collection documents the life's work of one of the founding fathers of American musicology. For this reason, the collection should appeal not merely to early music devotees, but to anyone interested in 20th-century musical scholarship.
- Physical Description
- Extent: 42 linear feet, 102 boxes
- Type of Resource
- Text
- Identifiers
- Other local Identifier: JPB 92-71
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b14709031
- MSS Unit ID: 20245
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): bac6f620-8792-013a-9960-0242ac110004
