Minna Lederman Daniel Collection
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2009543859
General International Standard for Archival Description
Music Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Music Division, 2009
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Minna Lederman Daniel Collection 1896-1993 (bulk 1960-1990)
Lederman, Minna
Biographical History for: Minna Lederman Daniel Collection 1896-1993 (bulk 1960-1990)
Biographical Note Minna Lederman Daniel (b. 17 March, 1896; d. 29 October, 1995) was a writer and editor on music and dance. She received professional training in music, dance, and drama before graduating from Barnard College in 1917. In 1923, she was a founding member of the League of Composers, a group of musicians and proponents of modern music. In February 1924, she helped launch the League’s magazine, The League of Composers’ Review, which was the first American journal to manifest an interest in contemporary composers. The magazine changed its name to Modern Music in 1925. She served as the sole editor of this magazine from its inception to its demise in late 1946. During this period, she developed the journal’s distinctive literary style and was directly responsible for bringing to readers the literary efforts of significant young composers such as Marc Blitzstein, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, and Virgil Thomson. Equally important were articles written by scholars, critics, and European composers such as Bartók, Berg, and Schoenberg. The journal had the effect of nurturing an entire generation of composer-critics. For over two decades, Modern Music served as a major force within the international music world, chronicling the developments in concert music, jazz, musical theater, film, radio, and dance in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Following the demise of Modern Music, Mrs. Daniel (who wrote under her maiden name of Lederman) continued to write on music and dance. She edited the anthology Stravinsky in the Theatre (1947), and contributed articles to American Mercury, Saturday Review, The Nation, Show, Woman’s Home Companion, and other journals. In 1974, Minna Lederman Daniel established the Modern Music Archives in the Library of Congress. In addition to the documentary archives of the magazine, which consists of correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, drawings, and set-designs, she also submitted her own material: an essay titled "Footnotes" (to the magazine’s history); biographical sketches of individuals represented in the Archive or otherwise connected to the magazine; and other materials, including unpublished photographs. In 1983 she compiled The Life and Death of a Small Magazine, a monograph published by the Institute for Studies in American Music. This compilation of articles, originally written for Modern Music by some of the twentieth century’s most celebrated composers, and combined with commentary contributed by Minna Lederman Daniel, won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for distinguished music criticism in 1984. In a 1983 New York Times article, Joan Peyser wrote that Ms. Lederman “probably shaped pre-World War II American music more than any single composer did.”
Scope and Content Note The Minna Lederman Daniel Collection consists of the papers of this noted writer and editor. The date span of the collection is from 1896-1993, with the bulk of the materials dating from the 1960s to the early 1990s. The collection includes correspondence, writings, financial and legal papers, programs, periodicals, clippings, and photographs. Included in this collection is correspondence with major figures in the fields of music, dance, and poetry. Several of these composers, choreographers, and poets were contributors to the magazine Modern Music, of which Minna Lederman served as sole editor from its beginnings in 1924 to its end in 1946. Of particular significance is the correspondence with composers Aaron Copland, John Cage, and Elliott Carter.
series
Subject Files (Personal Names)
Contains articles, biographical materials, clippings, correspondence, discographies, notes, photographs, programs, writings, and other miscellaneous materials for named individuals.
file
Albee, Edward
Clippings
Anderson, Laurie
Ashbery, John
Balanchine, George
Correspondence (1965)
Miscellaneous publications
Notes (Apollo - Raymonda)
Notes (Serenade - Waltz Academy)
Notes (Miscellaneous)
Programs
Barber, Samuel
Clipping; Program (1958)
Bernier, Rosamond
Clippings; Correspondence (1982-1984)
Bernstein, Leonard
Catalog; Clippings; Program
Blitzstein, Marc
Articles authored by Lederman: "Memories of Marc Blitzstein," "Marc Blitzstein Remembered," 1964
Article authored by Oja: "The Cradle Will Rock and Mass-Song Style of the 1930s," 1989
Correspondence - Eric A. Gordon; related papers
Marc Blitzstein Collection: Multmedia Edition Research Grant sheet
Program (1964)
Boulanger, Nadia
Boulez, Pierre
Correspondence (1976-1981)
Notes
1986 U.S. Tour: Clippings
Bowles, Paul
Article authored by Lederman: "The Moroccan Connection," 1980
Correspondence (1979-1991)
Cage, John
MusikTexte 46/47
Article authored by Lederman: "Farewell to John," 1992
Article authored by Lederman: "A View of My Own," related correspondence with Jonathan Brent (1981-1982)
Correspondence
Catalog: Musical Works (Edition Peters); Exhibition brochure: Score and Prints Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA, 1982
Clippings (Obituaries)
Correspondence (Chronological) (1964-1993)
Correspondence (undated)
Correspondence Index (Brent Reidy, Indiana University) (2006)
Discography by Thom Holmes, 1981
Documentary: I Have Nothing to Say and I am Saying It, 1990
Itineraries
Laura D. Kuhn materials: Correspondence; Writings
Notes (Pre-1980)
Writings (Cage): "Anarchy Lecture," 1988; "The First Meeting of the Satie Society," undated; "The Future of Music," 1974; "I Have Nothing Planned . . . " (Harvard Seminar), undated
Writings (Cage): "James Joyce, Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie: an Alphabet," ; "Methodstructureintentin . . . " (Harvard Lecture), 1988; "Series re Morris Graves," 1973
Caltibiano, Ronald
Program (1986)
Carter, Elliott
Correspondence (1971-1992)
Photographs
Programs (1968-1989)
Chanler, Theodore
Clipping
Chávez, Carlos
Copland, Aaron
Article authored by Lederman: "Aaron Copland at Seventy," 1970
Article authored by Lederman: "Copland - Then and Now," 1970
Article authored by Lederman: "It's All the Same Me," 1980
Article authored by Lederman: "To Aaron at Eighty," [1980]
Articles authored by Lederman: early drafts
Biographical brochure
Catalogs: Musical works
Clippings (Newspapers)
Clippings (Periodicals)
Clippings ; Correspondence related to Copland/Perlis book party, (1984)
Correspondence (1944-1980); Correspondence (undated)
83rd birthday honors
Photograph: Inscribed photograph (11 x 14)
Photograph: Aberdeen, August 1974 (10 x 12)
Writings authored by Copland: "Statement on McCarthy," 1953; Claire Reis, (undated)
Cowell, Henry
Crumb, George
Cunningham, Merce
Biographical materials
Correspondence (1964-1993)
Exhibition catalog, 1974
Promotional material
Darrell, R. D.
Book (draft): Phono-musical pioneering (Selected writings of R. D. Darrell)
Denby, Edwin
Article authored by Lederman: "First and Last Glimpses," 1984; related correspondence
Correspondence (1977-1984)
Memorial service speech, (1983)
Foss, Lukas
Frueh, Alfred
Correspondence (1947-1950)
Gershwin, George
Program (1990)
Glass, Philip
Haggin, B. H.
Clippings (1944-1945); Correspondence (1924-1926)
Harris, Roy
Hitchcock, H. Wiley
Clippings; Correspondence (1983-1990) see also Subject Files: General Subjects, Life and Death of a Small Magazine, Correspondence (Hitchcock) ; Subject Files: General Subjects, Music criticism, Correspondence (Hitchcock)
Ives, Charles
Article authored by Lederman: "Some American Composers," 1947
Correspondence (Harmony Ives) (1947)
Jacobs, Paul
Lichtenwanger, William
Correspondence (1965-1978)
Lott, R. Allen
Correspondence (1990-1992); Writings (Lott)
McPhee, Colin
Article authored by Lederman: "Colin McPhee," 1964; Biographical brochure; Clippings; Correspondence (ca. 1949-1964); Program (1982)
Mehta, Zubin
Clippings; Commemorative N.Y. Philharmonic magazine, 1984
Moore, Douglas
Correspondence (1947)
Moseley, Carlos
Correspondence (1985); Notes
Nancarrow, Conlon
Clippings; Correspondence (1970-1993); Programs
Oja, Carol J.
Correspondence (1979-1992)
Writings (Oja): "Colin McPhee: a Composer Turned Explorer," 1984; "The Copland-Sessions Concerts and Their Reception in the Contemporary Press," (undated); "COS COB Press and the American Composer," 1988; "Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock and Mass-Song Style of the 1930s," 1989; "Stravinsky in the Journal of Modern Music (1924-1946)," 1981
Perlis, Vivian
Correspondence (1975-1990)
Oral history interviews of Minna Lederman, conducted by Vivian Perlis, Oct. 25, 1972; Mar. 21, 1979
Peyser, Joan
Clippings; Correspondence (1974-1982)
Reich, Steve
Clippings; Program (1980)
Rieti, Vittorio
Rorem, Ned
Ruggles, Carl
Sacher, Paul
Satie, Erik
Program (1974)
Schiff, David
Opera: Gimpel the Fool
Writings (Schiff): "Night Fantasies," 1980; "Musical Time in Elliott Carter's Night Fantasies," [1980]; "In Sleep, In Thunder: Elliott Carter's Portrait of Robert Lowell," undated; "Carter for Winds," 1980; "Carter in the 1970s," 1979; "Elliott Carter: A Mirror on Which to Dwell," 1977; "The Century May Already Be At an End," 1991
Schoenberg, Arnold
Catalog Musical Works; Clippings; Opera: Moses und Aron
Schuman, William
Sessions, Roger
Clippings; Notes; Program (1982)
Shapero, Harold
Shirley, Wayne
Correspondence (1975-1991)
Siegmeister, Elie
Correspondence (1972); Writings (Siegmeister): "The Council of Creative Artists, Libraries, and Museums," 1971
Sondheim, Stephen
Clippings; Programs
Stockhausen, Karlheinz
Program (1971)
Stravinsky, Igor
Article authored by Lederman: "Brief Encounters," undated
Article authored by Lederman: "Fleeting Glimpses - Fragments from an Unpublished memoir," undated
Article authored by Lederman: "Igor Stravinsky 1882-1971 - A Modest Memorial," [1971]
Article authored by Lederman: "Lunch at Virgil's, Tea at the Ambassador," 1989
Article authored by Lederman: "Stravinsky in the Theatre Symposium - Dance Index
Catalog: Musical Works
Homage to Stravinsky Collection, 1947-1949 (Collection gift to the New York Public Library, Lincoln Center Music Library), Sept. 1972
1982 Anniversary events - Correspondence
Stravinsky in Modern music (1924-1946), 1982 reprint - Correspondence
Stravinsky in the theatre, Clippings
Stravinsky in the theatre, Contracts; Business papers
Stravinsky in the theatre. Correspondence: Arthur Berger (1947; 1972); George Balanchine (1972); Leonard Bernstein (1972); Carlos Chávez (1972); Robert Craft (1948-1949; 1972); Ingolf Dahl, via Lawrence Morton (1972); Alexei Haieff (1972); Lincoln Kirstein (1972); Paul Magriel (1949); Darius Milhaud (1972); Nicolas Nabokov (1972); Walter Piston (1972); Press: New York Philharmonic (1972); Vittorio Rieti (1972); William Schuman (1972); Louise Varèse (1972)
Stravinsky in the theatre. 1975 Da Capo Press, Inc. edition. Correspondence: (1975-1976)
Stravinsky in the theatre: Drafts
Stravinsky in the theatre (Exhibition: NY Public Library - Library and Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center): Correspondence
Stravinsky issue - Dance Index: Correspondence (1947-1953)
Thompson, Tazewell
Correspondence (1983-1993)
Opera: The Second Hurricane - Aaron Copland/Edwin Denby commentaries
Opera: The Second Hurricane - Reviews
Opera: The Second Hurricane - Aaron Copland/Edwin Denby - text (1937 Production)
Opera: The Second Hurricane - Sarah Caldwell (1984 Production)
Opera: The Second Hurricane - Correspondence (Aaron Copland) (1984-1985 Production)
Opera: The Second Hurricane - Correspondence (1985 Production)
Opera: The Second Hurricane - Programs (1985 Production)
Script: The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Bertolt Brecht)
Thomson, Virgil
Article authored by Lederman: (Untitled)
Auction catalog (Sotheby's) Virgil Thomson Estate Sale (1990)
Correspondence (1972-1987); Correspondence with Jay Sullivan, assistant to Mr. Thomson (1989-1990)
Opera: The Mother of Us All - Libretto; Program (1947); Review (1947)
Writings (Thomson): "A War's End," 1947
Tommasini, Anthony
Correspondence (1988-1991)
Writings (Tommasini)
Tucker, Mark
Correspondence (1991); Writings (Tucker)
Walker, David
Correspondence (1980-1990); Program (undated)
Wuorinen, Charles
Young, La Monte
Subject Files (General Subjects)
Contains clippings, correspondence, financial papers, an Instrument of Gift document, magazines, notes, photographs, press releases, publicity, and writings.
Baden-Baden Music Festival Program, July 25-28, 1929
Dance. The Ballet Society. Programs
Dance. Clippings; Journals
Dance. Notes
Dance. Personalities, A-Z
Dance. Programs
Dance. Article authored by Lederman: "On Dancing," 1978
International Composers' Guild. Programs; Publicity materials
League of Composers. Correspondence : Clare R. Reis (1944)
League of Composers. Correspondence : Clare R. Reis (1945)
League of Composers. Correspondence : Clare R. Reis (1946-1965)
League of Composers. Publicity materials, 1945-1947
Life and Death of a Small Magazine. Correspondence, A-Z
Life and Death of a Small Magazine. Correspondence: Financial and promotional
Life and Death of a Small Magazine. Correspondence: H. Wiley Hitchcock (1979-1983)
Life and Death of a Small Magazine. Correspondence (Legal): John J. Kominski, Library of Congress (1980-1984)
Life and Death of a Small Magazine. Correspondence: Permissions
Life and Death of a Small Magazine. Correspondence: Permissions (Photographs)
Life and Death of a Small Magazine. Photographs
Miscellaneous clippings
Modern Music. Articles authored by Virgil Thomson (1940-1947)
Modern Music. Clippings (1933-1947)
Modern Music. Correspondence files: List (arranged in alphabetical order)
Modern Music. Proposal/Resolution for a Cumulative Index to Modern Music , Feb. 3, 1947
Modern Music. Financial papers (1943-1945)
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Clippings
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Correspondence: Nathan R. Einhorn; John J. Kominski; Wayne Shirley; Ed Waters
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Correspondence: Photographs
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Instrument of Gift (1975); Amendment of Instrument of Gift (1980); related papers
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Photographs (A-G)
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Photographs (H-Z)
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Photographs - Guides
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Photographs - Library of Congress Exhibition (1975)
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Photographs - Negatives
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Photographs - Scene designs
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Press releases - Library of Congress Exhibition (1975)
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Writings (Lederman): Biographical sketches
Modern Music Archives at Library of Congress. Writings (Lederman): "The Files of Modern Music Correspondence" [miscellaneous writings]; [Promotional writings]; "Modern Music 1924-1946: Footnotes to Its History"
Music criticism. Articles: "On Being Tasteless," 1982 (William Brooks); "From a Composer's Notebook," 1929 (Aaron Copland); [Several newspaper articles], (Kyle Gann); "Expanding Century," 1979 (David Hamilton); [Several newspaper articles], (Donal Henahan); "Reporter in Europe," 1980 (Jane Kramer); "Little Magazines and Music Criticism," 1946 (Minna Lederman); [Several newspaper articles], (John Rockwell); "Modern Music in Retrospect," 1964 (Eric Salzman); [Several newspaper articles], (Harold Schonberg)
Music criticism. Clippings
Music criticism. Correspondence: Lederman (1979); H. Wiley Hitchcock (1979)
Music press. Clippings
Possible future projects. Army notes, 1943-1944 , Army town, Anniston, AL; "Summer People - a Maine idyll," Correspondence: 1941-1942, other related materials; "Sunken Living-Room"
Publishers and publishing. Clippings
Publishers and publishing. Correspondence: Bea Friedland, Da Capo Press (1979-1984); Peter Garland, Soundings (1980); Jeffrey Miller, Cadmus Editions (1979); Helen A. Stephenson, Author's Guild, Inc. (1980-1981)
Magazines
Includes complete magazines, containing articles written by Minna Lederman.
Lederman, Minna. "Composers in Revolt," The Nation 146, no. 7 (1938 Feb. 12)
Lederman, Minna. "Music and Monopoly," The Nation 151, no. 126 (1940 Dec. 28)
Lederman, Minna. "France's Turncoat Artists," The Nation 155, no. 9 (1942 Aug. 29)
Lederman, Minna. "Composer Tells All," The New Republic 102, no. 13 (1940 Mar. 25) (Review of The State of Music by Virgil Thomson)
Lederman, Minna. [Book review] The Saturday Review of Literature 29, no. 47 (1946 Nov. 23) (Review of A House in Bali by Colin McPhee)
Lederman, Minna. "Memories of Marc Blitzstein, Music's Angry Man," Show 4, no. 6 (1964 June) (copy 1)
Lederman, Minna. "Memories of Marc Blitzstein, Music's Angry Man," Show 4, no. 6 (1964 June) (copy 2)
Lederman, Minna. "Memories of Marc Blitzstein, Music's Angry Man," Show 4, no. 6 (1964 June) (copy 3)
Lederman, Minna. "American Future: The Music Theatre," U.S. Lines: Paris Review (undated)
Lederman, Minna. "School Declares an Extra Dividend," Woman's Home Companion (1937 Nov.)
Personal Papers of Minna Lederman Daniel and other Daniel Family Members
Contains correspondence, financial and legal papers, miscellaneous writings, speeches, and family photographs.
Address/Telephone books
Appointment calendars: 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993
Auction: Household furniture and furnishings papers, Sept. 1967
Auction: Art and book auction, Sept. 1977
Autobiographical notes
Burglaries: Apartment robberies, 1983, 1992
Correspondence: Family (1966-1991)
Correspondence: Ferncliff Cemetery (1952-1978); related papers
Correspondence: Re. Mell Daniel's paintings (1975-1977); related papers
Financial papers: Annuities, 1980s-1994
Financial papers: Annuities, Life Insurance, 1980s-1994
Financial papers: Annuities, Pension, 1980s-1994
Financial papers: Bank statements, 1980s-1994
Financial papers: Credit card statements, etc., 1980s-1994
Financial papers: Current year's bills, expenses, 1993-1994
Financial papers: Tax papers, 1978-1986
Financial papers: Tax papers, 1987-1988
Financial papers: Tax papers, 1989
Financial papers: Tax papers, 1990
Legal papers: Appraisal papers (furniture/furnishings), Dec. 1975
Legal papers: Birth certificates; Marriage certificate; Passport; Handgun receipt
Legal papers: Power of Attorney papers 1981; 1986-1987
Legal papers: Trust papers, May 1981
Legal papers: Wills, Nov. 22, 1964 (Mell Daniel); Oct. 16, 1975; Mar. 21, 1981 (Minna Lederman Daniel); related correspondence (1978-1981)
Medical records, bills, 1980s-1994
Mortgage, property documents, 1959-1977
Photographs: Vassar College (1914)
Photographs: Family photographs; negatives
Photographs: Mell Daniel World War II photographs; Mell Daniel (early); Wedding photographs of Minna and Mell Daniel (1934)
Rental leases; related papers, 1978-1994
Social Security papers, 1975-1979
Travel: Germany, 1967 - brochure; postcards; Holland, 1967 - maps; postcards
Travel: Israel 1968 - brochures; clippings; correspondence; notes; postcards
Travel: Israel - Greece - Holland, 1968: papers
Travel: Riga, Latvia, 1967 - brochures; postcards
Travel: Rome, Italy, (undated) - postcards
Travel: U.S.S.R., 1967 - art catalog; brochures; clippings; correspondence; maps; miscellaneus papers; notes
Travel: U.S.S.R., 1967 - postcards; suggestions/travel tips sheets
Writings: (Lederman): Dance Forum, Y.W.H.A., Nov. 1946 [Speech]
Writings (Lederman): "The Cause of Modern Music From the Point of View of the Editor of Modern Music," MacDowell Club of New York City Dinner, Nov. 27, 1927 [Speech]
Writings (Lederman): Miscellaneous writings
Writings (Lederman): NBC [Unknown program] (radio broadcast) March 1, 1935 [Speech delivered by Lederman]
Writings (Lederman): NBC Program of League of Composers (radio broadcast) April 16, 1936 [Speech]
Writings (Lederman): "Modern Music as the Editor Thinks of It," Sorosis Social Day, Jan. 1928 [Speech]