This series consists primarily of musical compositions written by Peter G. Davis, mostly in the form of autograph manuscript scores and recordings. Davis undertook a MA in composition at Columbia University from 1959-1962, and many of the materials in this series were likely produced during this time. This series also contains various materials (annotated scores, annotated and autographed parts, reel-to-reel tapes) relating to the 1964 performance of Davis's opera, Zoe, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. A number of musical genres are represented in this series in various forms, including opera (Zoe and its predecessor The Catalyst), string quartet (the String Quartet on E-flat), art song (the song cycle Shards and its predecessor Sherds, various lieder), orchestral music (Changes for orchestra), operetta (settings of two different W.S. Gilbert libretti), and cabaret (the musical revue Miss Informed). This series contains notebooks, sketches, rough drafts, fragments, lyric sheets, and correspondence relating to many of these pieces, in addition to complete manuscript scores, manuscript vocal scores, and other performing materials in Davis's hand. This series contains a significant audio component, including reel-to-reel tapes, long-playing records, and a number of cassette tapes.
Box 9 Folder 1
Texts set by Davis: Shards by Richard Ringler; Zoe by Lewis Steel and Snick Wilson, circa 1950s-1960s
Including Zoe (Lewis Steel and Snick Wilson) and Shards (Richard Ringler); also contains Davis's curriculum vitae from the early 1960s and a program for the Columbia-Barnard Arts Festival, 1961.
Box 9 Folder 2
Loose manuscript vocal score: a setting of W.S. Gilbert's Thespis (operetta), undated
Manuscript: likely set to music by Davis himself.
Box 15 Folder 1
Bound manuscript vocal score: His Excellency (operetta), text by W.S. Gilbert, circa 1959-1962
Manuscript with typed dialogue taped onto pages: hardcover bound.
Box 15 Folder 2
String Quartet (on E-flat), circa 1959-1962
Full score of the autograph manuscript (loose, numbered pages), sketches, parts (violin I, violin II, viola).
Box 15 Folder 3
Manuscript of an orchestral arrangement of Leoš Janáček's Zápisník zmizelého (1919), undated
Manuscript: likely arranged by Davis himself.
Box 15 Folder 4
Sketches and fragments, circa 1959-1962
Fragments of works for piano and voice, for orchestra, for piano solo; fragments of musico-dramatic works; sketches for Shards; sketches of tone rows.
Box 15 Folder 5
Performing copies of Shards (song cycle), texts by Richard Ringler, circa 1959-1962
Loose pages: some contain annotations.
Box 15 Folder 6
Sketches and fragments; material relating to Shards, "Robert" (art song/song cycles), circa 1959-1962
Includes various drafts of Shards, photocopies of the Shards manuscript, other sketches and fragments for voice and piano (possibly also from Shards); also includes page 54 of Eliot Carter's Piano Concerto.
Box 15 Folder 7
Art song manuscripts: "Sänge eines Fahrenden Spielmanns," "Friedensabend" (texts by Stefan George); "Poem"; "Robert", circa 1959-1962
May also include material from Shards.
Box 17 Folder 1
Material relating to Zoe/The Catalyst (opera): correspondence with librettist Snick Wilson, pencil sketches, full manuscript of The Catalyst in ink, circa 1959-1962
The full manuscript is written in ink and is hardcover bound. Correspondence is tucked in the cover of the manuscript.
Box 17 Folder 2
Two wirebound notebooks containing sketches for the String Quartet (on E-flat), Zoe/The Catalyst (opera), and others, circa 1959-1962
Box 17 Folder 3
Annotated, spiralbound vocal scores of Zoe (opera), text by Lewis Steel and Snick Wilson, circa 1964
The first copy has annotations and corrections in all parts (including corrections taped into the manuscript); the second copy is labeled "Tenore" in pencil in the front cover and has annotations for the role of Asa; the third copy has annotations for the role of Zoe. These are likely from the recording session at La Scala in 1964.
Box 18 Folder 1
Pencil sketch (orchestral); pencil sketch (chamber or orchestral), circa 1959-1962
Box 18 Folder 2
Manuscript orchestral score of Zoe (opera), text by Lewis Steel and Snick Wilson. Three volumes: Scene 1, Scene 2, and Scene 3, circa 1959-1962
Box 18 Folder 3
Orchestral parts for Zoe (opera), signed and annotated by players of the La Scala Orchestra, circa 1964
Likely from the recording session at La Scala in 1964. Parts labeled: corno inglese, corno in fa, trombone, trumpet in do, piano, oboe, fagotto, violino 2, flauto, contrabasso, violoncello, timpani, violino 1, clarinetto basso in si bemolle, clarinetto in si bemolle. Viola (alto) part seems to be missing.
Box 18 Folder 4
Orchestral manuscripts: Changes for orchestra, circa 1959-1962
Three manuscripts: two labeled "Changes for orchestra" and one that is unlabeled but may also be part of Changes for orchestra.
Box 18 Folder 5
Sketches and fragments: primarily material relating to Zoe/The Catalyst (opera), circa 1959-1962
A number of pencil manuscripts (loose and in volumes), mostly relating to the opera Zoe and its predecessor The Catalyst. There are also a number of unlabeled sketches.
Box 18 Folder 6
Complete manuscripts for Shards and Sherds (song cycles), texts by Richard Ringler, circa 1959-1962
Sherds is a shorter version of Shards. Also contains a program from the Barnard-Columbia Arts Festival, Columbia Composers concert on April 12th (circa 1961), in which Sherds was performed.
Box 18 Folder 7
Onionskin manuscript of the vocal score for Zoe (opera), text by Lewis Steel and Snick Wilson, 1961 December 22
Box 18 Folder 8
Onionskin manuscript of the orchestral score for Zoe (opera), text by Lewis Steel and Snick Wilson, 1961 December 22
Box 18 Folder 9
Vocal parts for The Four Chaplains (in two volumes: parts 1 and 2); fragment of His Excellency (operetta), text by W.S. Gilbert, undated
The Four Chaplains appears to be a musico-dramatic work; it was likely either composed or transcribed by Davis himself. His Excellency is a new setting of a W.S. Gilbert libretto: the fragment here is from the number "Now all that we've agreed upon-o."
Box 20 Item 195
The cabaret Miss Informed, text by Margot Dennes and Al Jacobs, produced by Rockwell Films Inc, Cambridge MA, 1957
Two sides. The recording series title is given as "Drumbeats and Songs 1957." Side 1: 8 bands (Overture, "Teen-age Square Dance," "Study-Time Madrigal," "Intellectual Song," "Dear John," "Miss Informed," "Society Song," "You're in Love." Side 2, 7 bands: "Professorial Polka," "Section Man's Lament," "Priscilla-Fred Duet," "Flat on a Brattle Street," "I've Got A Lot to Learn," "Why Do You Keep Us On a String?," "Women Were Made for Men," "How Do You Do?," "Finale."
Box 21 Item 28
Zoe (opera) with both voices and orchestra, libretto by Lewis Steel, conducted by Dennis R. Burk, La Scala orchestra, 1964, 1 open reel audiotapes
Recorded by the Professori dell'orchestra della Scala di Milano, conducted by Dennis Burk (1964).
Box 21 Item 29
Zoe (opera) with orchestra only, libretto by Lewis Steel, conducted by Dennis R. Burk, La Scala orchestra, 1964, 1 open reel audiotapes
Recorded by the Professori dell'orchestra della Scala di Milano, conducted by Dennis Burk (1964).
Box 21 Item 30
Sherds (song cycle), text by Roger Ringer, Leyna Gabriele (soprano), Norman Curtis (piano), March 1961, 1964, 1 open reel audiotapes
Full track copy. Only songs 2, 4, and 6 recorded ("Iphigenia," "Helen," "Penelope"). .