Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Letters to and from Nicolai Berezowsky documenting his career and covering his development as violinist, conductor, and composer. The profession is well represented in the correspondence, with 63 letters from David Diamond, 22 from Serge Koussevitsky, 72 from Nicolai Lopatnikoff, and 31 from Eugene Ormandy; others in the collection are Leon Barzin, Aaron Copland, Henry Cowell, Vladimir Golschmann, Eugene Goosens, Alex Grechaninov, Ernest Hutcheson, Douglas Moore, Paul Nordoff, Wallingford Riegger, Artur Rodzinski, Roger Sessions, Harold Spivacke, Leopold Stokowski, and Olga Samaroff Stokowski. Organizations, such as the WPA music program, League of Composers, Juilliard School of Music, and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, are represented. There are also 15 volumes of music scores.

This collection of autographed inscriptions and letters from noted 19th century musicians was assembled by Mason. The material includes the signatures of 85 composer, performers, and other musical people, most of whom were Dr. Mason's contemporaries and personal friends. There are 103 items the majority of which are bits of music in script with signatures, and a few autograph letters to Mason. Among those represented are Berlioz, Jenny Lind, Franz Liszt, MacDowell, Paderewski, Rubinstein, Saint-Saens, Samaroff, and the Schumanns.