.
By Carol Berthold, Mandi Goodsett, and Nolan Vallier
Collection Overview
Title: Stanley Fletcher Papers, 1923-1987
ID: 12/5/55
Primary Creator: Fletcher, Stanley (1910-1988)
Extent: 7.75 cubic feet
Arrangement:
Organized in three series: 1) Sound Recordings, 2) Music, and 3) Professional Records and Correspondence.
Series 1 is arranged chronologically. Series 2, Music is arranged in six sub-series by genre: 1) Piano and Vocal, 2) Piano, 3) Manuscripts and Collections, 4) Opera, 5) Small Ensemble and Orchestral Music.
Series 3 is arranged in four sub-series: 1) Essays and Pedagogical Writings, 2) Concert Programs and Publicity, 3) Correspondence and Personal Journals, and 4) Business Records.
Date Acquired: 01/22/2010. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Composers, Criticism, Faculty, Faculty Papers, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Music, Music, School of, Opera, Orchestra, Piano, Smith Music Hall, Star Course, Vocal music, Walden Quartet
Formats/Genres: Concert Programs, Librettos, Sheet music, Sound Recordings
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Consists of reel-to-reel audio tape recordings of performances and lectures by Stanley Fletcher and other members of the music faculty at the University of Illinois between 1950 and 1980; original music; essays and concert reviews by Fletcher; and memoirs, correspondence, and journals, documenting Fletcher's work as a composer and faculty member at the University of Illinois between 1923 and 1987.
Biographical Note
Stanley Fletcher (1910-1988) was born in Manchester, England. He moved with his parents to Springfield, MA in 1922, where he received his early musical training. Graduating with a bachelor's degree in piano performance from the University of Michigan in 1933, Fletcher studied piano under Guy Maier. Prior to graduating, he briefly studied with Artur Schnabel in Berlin, documenting his experience in the Springfield Union newspaper. After returning to the US, he began a masters degree program at his alma mater. In the summer of 1934, Fletcher taught piano at the National Music Camp at Interlochen. That fall he was a graduate fellow at the University of Michigan, performing as a finalist at the National Federation of Music Clubs and the Naumberg Piano competitions. In 1935 he won the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship at the University of Illinois and joined the piano faculty two years later.
During his time as a professor, Fletcher gave regular concert recitals, performing at New York Town Hall in 1944. He collaborated with fellow School of Music faculty member and violinist Paul Rolland, creating a series of manuals for teaching string techniques to children in a project called the Illinois String Research Project. Fletcher also composed and arranged several pedagogical collections of piano music to critical acclaim. As a performer, Fletcher was commended as an outstanding exponent of Chopin, Beethoven, contemporary music, and chamber music. In 1966, his collaboration with composer Gordon Binkerd led to a recording of Binkerd's Sonata for Piano, which was released by Composers Performing Inc. Throughout his career, he was an active member of the Music Teachers National Association and he received major honors not only for his work as a concert artist, but also for his scholarly contributions to musical journals on the subject of music education.
Upon retirement in 1971, Fletcher devoted himself to composing; the best known of his compositions is his folk opera, the Five Dollar Opera, first performed in El Paso, Texas. Fletcher died in 1988 in Albuquerque, NM.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Accruals:
Sound recordings acquired from April Fletcher on October 26, 2012 and from Jessica Whipple on June 23, 2014 and February 28, 2016. Two additions were also received from Amaryllis Fletcher on May 5, 2016 and September 12, 2017. The second addition is a set of newspaper articles written by Stanley Fletcher during his music studies in Berlin between 1932 and 1933. Addition consisting of personal journals, pedagogical writings, correspondence, concert programs, photographs, and royalty contracts acquired from April Fletcher on June 19, 2018. Two pieces of Christmas music donated by Jessica Whipple in October, 2018.
Acquisition Source:
Champaign County Historical Archives
Acquisition Method:
Transfer and gift.
Related Materials:
Walden String Quartet Records (12/5/50), John Garvey Music and Papers (12/5/38)
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Sound Recordings, 1950-1980],
[
Series 2: Music, 1923-1987],
[Series 3: Professional Records and Correspondence, 1931-1989],
[
All]
- Series 3: Professional Records and Correspondence, 1931-1989
- Sub-Series 1: Essays and Pedagogical Writings
- Box 14
- Folder 1: Notes - Guy Maier's class in Interpretation; Fletcher's class in Appreciation, 1931-35
- Folder 2: Music journal publications, 1941-57
- Includes "Music-Reading Reconsidered as a Code-Learning Problem" from the Journal of Music Theory, 1957; "Preliminary Notes for a Semantics of Music" from Papers from the Second American Congress on General Semantics, 1941; and "The Piano Studio" from Northwest Music Review, 1948.
- Folder 3: Writings on teaching, 1943-68
- Folder 4: "Music Fun for the Family" essay, 1949
- Folder 5: Observational notes on musical interest and learning in children, 1949
- Folder 6: Essay on music literacy in schools, 1953
- Folder 7: Copies of "Singing Stories" published in Highlights For Children, 1953-54
- Folder 8: Course 330A Piano Pedagogy prep notes, 1960
- Folder 9: The Scale Series, ca. 1960
- Folder 10: The Problems of Hearing in Performance - lecture for Pedagogy class, ca. 1960
- Folder 11: Class prep notes, handouts, and quizzes, 1962
- Folder 12: Fletcher essays on the University of Ilinois, 1962-66
- Folder 13: Teaching notes, 1975
- Folder 14: Book draft, undated
- Folder 15: Book draft - Chapters 3, 4, and 5, undated
- Folder 16: Book draft - Chapters 7, 10, 11, and notes for 12, undated
- Folder 17: Rejected book drafts, undated
- Folder 18: Book outline, undated
- Folder 19: Chord tests, undated
- Folder 20: "The Ensemble Road to Music", undated
- Folder 21: Essay drafts, undated
- Folder 22: Extra pages from Pedagogy course notes, undated
- Folder 23: "FIngering, Facility, and Music", undated
- Folder 24: "How Well Do You Know Your Keyboard?", undated
- Folder 25: Lecture on Spanish music, undated
- Folder 26: Notes on Guy Maier's class on technique, undated
- Folder 27: Notes - "Schumann and Being up to Date", undated
- Folder 28: Reference notes on rhythm, undated
- Folder 29: "Rhythm and Touch" draft, undated
- Folder 30: "Subjective Hazards" - possible book chapter, undated
- Folder 31: Tribute to Gordon Binkerd, undated
- Folder 32: Writings on performance and pedagogy, undated
- Box 16
- Folder 3: "Singing Stories" (for Highlights for Children) drafts, sketches, and storyboard, ca. 1958
- Folder 4: "Singing Tommy" draft, undated
- Sub-Series 2: Concert Programs and Publicity
- Box 14
- Folder 33: Concert programs, 1927-1944
- Folder 34: Concert programs, 1945-1953
- Folder 35: Concert programs, 1954-1959
- Folder 36: Concert programs, 1960-1966
- Folder 37: Concert programs, 1967-1974
- Box 15
- Folder 1: Concert programs, 1975-1990
- Folder 2: Concert programs, undated
- Folder 3: "A Student in Berlin" - Five-part news story in the Springfield Union, 1932-1933
- Folder 4: Concert announcements and reviews, 1933-1966
- Folder 5: Concert reviews by Marian Lundquist (Fletcher), 1934-1935
- Folder 6: Newsclippings and press releases, 1936-1982
- Folder 7: The Highway (Northland College Alumni News) article on Fletcher receiving honorary degree, 1980
- Folder 8: School performance programs, 1980-1984
- Folder 9: Photographs - headshots and performance, undated
- Folder 10: Radio spot ads for Fletcher's All Chopin Concert Series, undated
- Box 16
- Folder 1: Scrapbook - programs and newsclippings, 1936-1944
- Folder 2: Photographs, undated
- Includes publicity shots of Julius Cohen and Stanley Fletcher
- Sub-Series 3: Correspondence and Personal Journals
- Box 15
- Folder 11: Berlin journals, 1932-1933
- Folder 12: England journals, 1933
- Folder 13: Journals, 1936-1938
- Folder 14: Journals, 1939-1940
- Folder 15: Correspondence, 1942-1945
- Folder 16: Concert correspondence, 1944-1946
- Folder 17: Mailing lists for concert announcements, ca. 1945
- Folder 18: Correspondence with Anis Fuleihan, 1946-1959
- Folder 19: Gadsen Concert Series correspondence, 1947-1948
- Folder 20: Correspondence re: Music Fun for the Family, 1950-1956
- Folder 21: Correspondence with publishers, 1951-1954
- Folder 22: Correspondence and notes re: Highlights for Children, 1951-1955
- Folder 23: Correspondence re: Singing Stories, 1952-1959
- Folder 24: Summy-Birchard correspondence, 1955-1967
- Folder 25: Correspondence re: String Project with Paul Rolland, 1968-1971
- Folder 26: Boosey and Hawkes correspondence and royalties, 1969-1988
- Folder 27: Gordon Binkerd correspondence, 1970-1987
- Folder 28: Baer Family correspondence, 1971-1987
- Folder 29: Boosey and Hawkes correspondence, 1972-1986
- Folder 30: Nell Wainwright correspondence, 1980-1982
- Folder 31: Correspondence re: lyric rights, 1981-1984
- Folder 32: Correspondence re: First Perpetual Motion copyright, 1983-1985
- Folder 33: Address cards, undated
- Sub-Series 4: Business Records
- Box 15
- Folder 34: Copyrights (Fletcher and Rolland), 1945, 1968
- Folder 35: List of performances, 1927-1983
- Folder 36: Royalty contracts, 1950-1979
- Folder 37: Illinois Piano Teachers Conference materials, 1952-1960
- Folder 38: Summy-Birchard Company contract, 1956-1962
- Folder 39: Royalties - G. Schirmer, 1959-1963
- Folder 40: Carolyn Powell's writings for Illinois Piano Teachers Conference, 1960
- Folder 41: Royalties - Mills Music, 1960-1963
- Folder 42: Materials re: Fletcher and Izler Solomon at the Indianapolis Symphony, 1966
- Folder 43: Retirement certificate from U of I Board of Trustees, 1971
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Sound Recordings, 1950-1980],
[
Series 2: Music, 1923-1987],
[Series 3: Professional Records and Correspondence, 1931-1989],
[
All]
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