Maurice Peress papers, 1898-1923, 1950s-2017
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- MS#1853
- Bib ID:
- 12868511 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Peress, Maurice
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 55 linear feet (67 document boxes (Boxes 1-58, 63-70, 79), 2 half-document boxes (Boxes 71-72), 23 tall document boxes (Boxes 59-62, 73-78, 80-97), 3 card file boxes (Boxes 98-99, 131), 25 flat boxes (Boxes 100-124), 6 record cartons (Boxes 125-130), 4 phonograph record boxes (Boxes 132-135), 5 book boxes (Boxes 136-140) for oversized scores)
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
- You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
-
If you would like to use audiovisual materials in Series XXVIII, please contact the library in advance of your visit to discuss access options. A few items have been digitized, but most are not readily accessible in their current formats.
The following boxes are located on-site: 71, 120, 123-124. The following boxes are located off-site: 1-70, 72-119, 121-122, 125-140. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least five business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Description
Scope and Contents
Maurice Peress (1930-2017) was an American orchestra conductor, arranger, author, and educator. The papers includes audio and video recordings, clippings, contracts, correspondence, diaries, memorabilia, notebooks, photographs, posters, programs, research materials, reviews, scores, scrapbooks, sketches, working files, and other materials.
A large portion of the papers consists of records related to Peress' work as an arranger and conductor, and includes a large collection of scores and parts. These include scores and parts for pieces that Peress orchestrated or conducted himself, as well as those related to his concert reconstructions. The files for the three reconstructions at Carnegie Hall – Clef Club (Series X), Antheil's Ballet Mechanique (Series XI), and the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue (Series XII) – include scores and parts, research files, and working files. The papers also include Peress' annotated score for Bernstein's Mass, as well as rehearsal notes, a schedule, and a scrapbook. The papers also document Peress' work as a conductor and director, and include address books, appointment books, clippings, correspondence, contracts, an index of repertoire, notebooks, photographs, posters, press, programs, research materials, reviews, and working files.
There is also material related to Peress' teaching and writing in the papers. Series I includes published articles and books, as well as files related to book projects, lectures, and other subjects. Series I also includes some files on Peress' work at Queens College, but these are not extensive.
The collection also includes audio recordings and video recordings. These recordings include music related to Peress' work as a conductor and performer, as well as interviews, talks, and other recordings featuring him. Some of the commercial recordings document Peress' contributions to liner notes or other portions of the recordings. Other recordings appear to have been collected by Peress for research and other purposes. These recordings include interviews, musical works, interviews conducted by Peress, and a recording of his father playing oud music. The collection includes both commercial and non-commercial recordings, and includes audiocassettes, audiotapes, CDs, DVDs, phonograph records, and videotapes. A few items have been digitized by the Rare Book & Manuscript Library: these are noted in the container list. The collection also includes both audio recordings and video recordings.
There is a small amount of personal material in the collection. These materials include address books, diaries, family correspondence, and passports.
-
Series I: Correspondence, Office Files, Teaching Files, Writings, 1950s-2010s
-
Series II: Conducting and Publicity Files, 1950s-2014
This include some business materials, correspondence, and resumes, in addition to the clippings, publicity, and reviews.
-
Series III: Address Books, Appointment Books, Journals, Passports, 1960s-2015, undated
-
Series VI: Bernstein Mass Scrapbook Materials, circa 1971
Scrapbook has been disbound.
-
Series X: Clef Club Reconstruction, 1989 July
Landmarks of Jazz, Carnegie Hall Concert Series
-
Series XI: George Antheil Reconstruction of US Debut of George Antheil, January 23, 1943, 1989 July
Landmarks of Jazz, Carnegie Hall Concert Series
-
Series XXIII: Samuel Adler, Will Marion Cook, Alberto Ginastera
Arrangement
- Series I: Correspondence, Office Files, Teaching Files, Writings, 1950s-2010s
- Series II: Conducting and Publicity Files, 1950s-2014
- Series III: Address Books, Appointment Books, Journals, Passports, 1960s-2015, undated
- Series IV: Correspondence (Alphabetical)
- Series V: Programs, 1960s-2010s
- Series VI: Bernstein Mass Scrapbook Materials, circa 1971
- Series VII: Photographs, 1950s-2000s, undated
- Series VIII: Historical Materials
- Series IX: Duke Ellington Files
- Series X: Clef Club Reconstruction, 1989 July
- Series XI: George Antheil Reconstruction of US Debut of George Antheil, January 23, 1943, 1989 July
- Series XII: Paul Whiteman Reconstruction of Aeolian Hall Concert 1924 (The Birth of Rhapsody In Blue), 1980s
- Series XIII: Leonard Bernstein
- Series XIV: George Gershwin
- Series XV: Aaron Copeland
- Series XVI: John Lewis, Sergey Prokofiev
- Series XVII: Jimmy Heath
- Series XVIII: Earl Robinson
- Series XIX: John Corigliano, Morton Feldman
- Series XX: Bruce Saylor
- Series XXI: David Amram, Joel Mandelbaum
- Series XXII: Morton Gould, Benjamin Lees, Jan Meyerowitz
- Series XXIII: Samuel Adler, Will Marion Cook, Alberto Ginastera
- Series XXIV: Other Scores
- Series XXV: Other Peress Arrangements
- Series XXVI: Posters
- Series XXVII: Books
- Series XXVIII: Audio and Video Recordings
- Series XXIX: Performance Clothes
- Series XXX: Peress Memorabilia and Other Items
- Series XXXI: Index of Repertoire
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
If you would like to use audiovisual materials in Series XXVIII, please contact the library in advance of your visit to discuss access options. A few items have been digitized, but most are not readily accessible in their current formats.
The following boxes are located on-site: 71, 120, 123-124. The following boxes are located off-site: 1-70, 72-119, 121-122, 125-140. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least five business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Maurice Peress Collection; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Related Materials
Leonard Bernstein Collection, Library of Congress.
Ambassador Auditorium Collection, Stanford University.
Aaron Copland School of Music Library , Queens College Libraries. Some of Peress' unmarked scores were added to the collections of the Aaron Copland School of Music Library.
Accruals
No additional material is expected.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2017.2018.M045; 2017.2018.M120; Gift of Maurice Peress, 2017.
2019.2020.M025: Source of acquisition--Maurice Peress's office in Queens College, Aaron Copland School of Music. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--2019-08-22.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in summer 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative.
Processed by Jennifer B. Lee, 2023. Finding aid written by Jennifer B. Lee, Yingwen Huang, and Catherine C. Ricciardi, 2023.
Revision Description
2023-07-03 Finding aid revised, and container list added. CCR.
2023-11-13 Placed five oversized scores in permanent book boxes (Boxes 136-140) and updated container list. CCR.
Biographical / Historical
Maurice Peress (born March 18, 1930 in New York City, died December 31, 2017, also in New York City) was an American orchestra conductor, arranger, educator and author. After serving as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein beginning in 1961, Peress went on to be conductor of the orchestra in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1962. In 1970, he also became conductor for two years of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. In 1974, he left Texas to take over the Kansas City Philharmonic, where he remained until 1980.
As a conductor, he was especially proud to have conducted a number of world premieres, including Leonard Bernstein's Mass, that opened the Kennedy Center in 1971, Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel, and David Amram's Autobiography for Strings.
In 1984, he became a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, teaching conducting and leading the college orchestra to great acclaim, and establishing a Master of Arts degree in conducting there. He remained on the faculty until his death in 2017.
In addition, he conducted orchestras internationally, including the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1980, the Vienna State Opera in 1981, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia of Rome in 1988, the Brno Orkester of the Czech Republic in 1997, the FOK Orkester at the Prague Spring Festival in 1988, the Shanghai Radio and Television Orchestra in 1996-97, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1998, and the Barbican Centre Orchestra in London in 1999. In the 2000s, he toured extensively in China, leading the Shanghai Opera Orchestra, the China National Symphony in Beijing and the Shenzhen Symphony. From 2010 to 2014 he served as the music director and conductor of the New Britain Symphony Orchestra in New Britain, Connecticut.
Peress was the author of Dvorak to Duke Ellington: A Conductor Explores America's Music and Its African American Roots, published in 2004 by Oxford University Press, and a memoir, Maverick Maestro, published in 2015. The archive includes some notes for a third unpublished book on conducting. As he wrote, "All the stories in my book are about the transfer of the center of creative power from Europe to America, Dvorak being the prophet and Ellington its fulfillment."
Maurice Peress worked extensively with Duke Ellington, orchestrating and revising a number of works including "Black, Brown and Beige," "Harlem," "New World A'Comin," and "Queenie Pie," a musical that remained unfinished at Ellington's death in 1974.
In July 1989 for Carnegie Hall's Landmark Jazz Concerts series he recreated the 1943 Carnegie Hall debut concert of Ellington and his orchestra, James Reese Europe's Clef Club Orchestra Carnegie Hall concert from May 2, 1912, the first all-Black concert given in Carnegie Hall, and George Antheil's Carnegie Hall concert from April 10, 1927 that included Antheil's "Ballet Mecanique" for eight pianists, pianola player, and percussion battery. In February 2014, at Town Hall, Peress marked the 90th anniversary of the Aeolian Hall concert which had included the world premiere of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" by restaging it.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.