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By Kelly Carlson
Collection Overview
Title: Virginia Root Collection, 1847-1945
ID: 12/9/55
Primary Creator: Root, Virginia (1894-1980)
Extent: 4.5 cubic feet
Arrangement: by type of material and alphabetically thereunder
Subjects: Concerts, Sousa, John Philip, Vocal music
Formats/Genres: Papers
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
On Tuesday, 22 August 2000 the personal papers and performance collection of Sousa Band vocal soloist Virginia Root were acquired by the Sousa Archives for Band Research from Dr. John and Dr. Joan Dudd of Three Rivers, Michigan. Sousa biographer Paul E. Bierley provided a summary appraisal of the collection, which on accessioning comprised ca. 3 cubic feet. of materials including: manuscript and published vocal/piano music, much of which bears Root's signature and performance practice markings (381 published songs, vocal collections, and libretti) 5 published Sousa songs and the piano/vocal score to El Capitan inscribed by Sousa to Root a Sousa holograph (piano/vocal score, 2 p.; complete), a setting of "The Milkmaid" titled, "Hey, Dolly" [words from the song] photographs (i.e., Root; Sousa, his daughter Helen, Root, and other Sousa Band members in South Africa; Sousa Band at Willow Grove Park, and several other images) post cards of the Sousa Band in Willow Grove Park Sousa Band concert programs and route sheets (1915) numerous clippings (announcements and reviews of performances) two scrapbooks (clippings, concert programs) assorted concert and recital programs several volumes of the Musical Courier and Musical America that include journal articles related to Root.
Biographical Note
Eleanor Virginia Root, descendant of entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt and American composer and music publisher George Root, studied voice and held leading roles in opera productions in Italy and the United States following her graduation from P.S. 157 (St. Nicholas Ave and 157th Street) in New York City on 25 June 1900. Miss Root toured with the Harry Lauder All Star Company, using the stage name, Virginia Vervelle, prior to serving as vocal soloist for the Sousa Band from 1909 through 1917. She was in demand as a soloist in the New York Hippodrome shows in 1916 and 1917, as well as in sacred and secular performances throughout her professional career. Root performed in the "Chapman Concerts" in 1905; those concerts are frequently addressed in clippings and represented by concert programs. Works by artistic director and conductor William Grafton Chapman are among the works in Root's performance collection. Virginia Root married New York Times columnist George T. Macadam. The family, including a son, George, lived in Scarsdale, New York. Root died at the age of 96 on June 2, 1980 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Accruals:
8/22/2000
Acquisition Method:
Gift
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Music],
[
Series 2: Memorabilia],
[All]
- Series 1: Music
- Choral Music, Libretti and Collections, Vocal/Piano Sheet Music
- Box 1: Octavo Choral Music, Libretti, and Collections (Donizetti-Koven)
- Folder 1: Octavo Choral Music
- Folder 2: One Hundred Folksongs of All Nations, 1911
- Editor: Bantock
- Folder 3: Carmen, 1879
- Composer/Arranger: Bizet
- Folder 4: Fifteen Vocalises for Soprano or Mezzo-Soprano, op. 12, 1894
- Composer/Arranger: Concone
- Folder 5: Fifty-eight Spirituals for Choral Use, 1924
- Editor/Arranger: Dann/Loomis
- Folder 6: Fifty Mastersongs by Twenty Composers, 1903
- Editor: Finck
- Folder 7: Faust and Gallia, 1906
- Composer/Arranger: Gounod
- Folder 8: Vocal Album Vol. 3, 1882
- Composer/Arranger: Grieg
- Folder 9: Album Leaves for the Young, op. 101, 1895
- Composer/Arranger: Gurlitt
- Folder 10: The Creation
- Composer/Editor: J. Haydn/Novell
- Folder 11: Gems from the Opera Robin Hood, 1891
- Composer/Arranger: De Koven
- Box 2: Libretti and Collections (Leoncavallo-Sousa)
- Folder 1: Pagliacci (Punchinello), 1906
- Composer/Arranger: Leoncavallo
- Folder 2: Die Kunst der Kehlfertigkeit vol. 1, 1902
- Composer/Editor: Lutgen/Spicker
- Folder 3: Elijah
- Composer/Arranger: Mendelssohn
- Folder 4: Bastien and Bastienna, 1941
- Composer/Editor: Mozart/Guenther
- Folder 5: Tosca, 1899
- Composer/Arranger: Puccini
- Folder 6: In Sunshine and Shadow: Six Songs, 1905
- Composer/Arranger: Ronald
- Folder 7: Stabat Mater
- Composer/Arranger: Rossini
- Folder 8: Bride Elect, 1897
- Composer/Arranger: Sousa
- Folder 9: El Capitan, 1896
- Composer/Arranger: Sousa
- Folder 10: The Last Crusade, 1920
- Composer/Arranger: Sousa
- Folder 11: Sousa Songs, 1910
- Composer/Arranger: Sousa
- Box 3: Libretti and Collections (Spinetti-Weckerlin)
- Folder 1: Treize Poesies de Ronsard, 1897
- Composer/Arranger: Spinetti
- Folder 2: Aida
- Composer/Arranger: Verdi
- Folder 3: Requiem, 1895
- Composer/Arranger: Verdi
- Folder 4: Rigoletto, 1895
- Composer/Arranger: Verdi
- Folder 5: Lohengrin, 1897?
- Composer/Arranger: Wagner
- Folder 6: Siegfried, 1903
- Composer/Arranger: Wagner/Klindworth
- Folder 7: Bergerettes
- Composer/Arranger: Weckerlin
- Folder 8: Treasury of Modern Song: 35 Songs for Soprano or Tenor, 1902
- Editor: Baker
- Box 4: Libretti and Collections (Items Lacking Attribution)
- Folder 1: American Patriotic Songs, 1893
- Folder 2: Collection of Opera Excerpts
- Folder 3: Collection of Traditional and Patriotic Songs, ca. 1899
- Folder 4: Catologue of Vocal Music, Part 1, 1929
- Folder 5: Tindale Music Cabinet: Suggestions for Filing and Keeping Music by a New and improved Method, 1910
- Box 5: Vocal/Piano Sheet Music Composers A-E
- Folder 1: A -- Composers
- Folder 2: B -- Composers
- Folder 3: C -- Composers (1 of 2)
- Folder 4: C -- Composers (2 of 2)
- Folder 5: D -- Composers
- Folder 6: E -- Composers
- Box 6: Vocal/Piano Sheet Music Composers F-L
- Folder 1: F -- Composers
- Folder 2: G -- Composers
- Folder 3: H -- Composers
- Folder 4: J -- Composers
- Folder 5: K -- Composers
- Folder 6: L -- Composers
- Box 7: Vocal/Piano Sheet Music Composers M-Speaks
- Folder 1: M -- Composers
- Folder 2: N -- Composers
- Folder 3: O -- Composers
- Folder 4: P -- Composers
- Folder 5: R -- Composers
- Folder 6: Saint-Saens -- Soderberg
- Folder 7: Sousa -- Speaks
- Box 8: Vocal/Piano Sheet Music Spilman-Z, Piano Music Collection
- Folder 1: Spilman -- Sullivan
- Folder 2: T -- Composers
- Folder 3: U -- Composers
- Folder 4: V -- Composers
- Folder 5: W -- Composers
- Folder 6: Y -- Composers
- Folder 7: Songs without Words, vol. I, 1893
- Composer/Arranger: Mendelssohn
- Folder 8: Piano Scores
- Composer/Arranger: Sousa
- Series 2: Memorabilia
- Scrapbooks, Newspaper Clippings, Photographs, Concert Programs, Correspondence
- Box 9: Concert Programs, Correspondence, Journals
- Folder 1: Concert Programs (1 of 3), 1905-May 1908
- Composer/Arranger: Mendelssohn
- Folder 2: Concert Programs (2 of 3), Nov 1908-1937
- Composer/Arranger: Mendelssohn
- Folder 3: Concert Programs (3 of 3) -- Maine Music Festival, 1905
- Folder 4: Correspondence
- Folder 5: Journals (1 of 3) -- The Mentor, Jan 1923
- Folder 6: Journals (2 of 3) -- Pittsburgh Auto/Truck Expo, Feb 1912
- Folder 7: Journals (3 of 3) -- Musical America, Musical Courier, Pittsburgh Bulletin, Oct 1905-Dec 1912
- Box 10: News Clippings, Photographs, Scrapbooks
- Folder 1: News Clippings, 1905-1939
- Folder 2: Photographs
- Folder 3: Small Scrapbook
- Folder 4: Large Scrapbook
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Music],
[
Series 2: Memorabilia],
[All]
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