Matthew de Lacey Davidson Music and Papers

Overview

Scope and Contents

Biographical Note

Subject Terms

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

Music Compositions and Research

Creative Writing and Visual Art

Personal Papers



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Finding Aid for Matthew de Lacey Davidson Music and Papers, 1920-2024 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Thornton Miller, Kendall McFarlin, Nolan Vallier

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Collection Overview

Title: Matthew de Lacey Davidson Music and Papers, 1920-2024Add to your cart.

ID: 26/20/249

Primary Creator: Davidson, Matthew de Lacey (1964 -)

Extent: 2.5 cubic feet

Arrangement: Materials are arranged in three series: Series 1) Music Compositons and Research, Series 2) Writings and Visual Art, and Series 3) Personal Papers. Series 1 is further arranged into two subseries: Sub-Series 1) Original Music Recordings and Scores and Sub-Series 2) Music Research and Manuscript Scores by Other Composers. CDs in Series 1 have been arranged first by a three-digit numeric code assigned by Davidson and alphabetically thereafter. Series 2 and 3 have been arranged alphabetically by subject.

Date Acquired: 06/26/2023. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Compositions-Music, Jazz, Music, School of, Piano, University of Illinois Alumni Association

Formats/Genres: Experimental Music

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of recordings and scores of original compositions, recordings of collected LPs, correspondence with composers, original research, poems and visual art, and family records documenting the life and career of Matthew de Lacey Davidson.

Biographical Note

Mathew de Lacey Davidson (b. 1964) is a composer and performer. Davidson was educated at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand; at the University of Toronto; and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied composition with Salvatore Martirano. His oeuvre includes works in musical theater, chamber music, solo piano music (notably rags), as well as orchestral and electronic music. He has also published articles on ragtime and early jazz, and he is a contributor to The Syncopated Times. Davidson’s interests go beyond just music, he has written poetry, novels, short stories, as well as a non-fictional novel on his experiences in social work. His cartoons have been published in New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.

Subject/Index Terms

Compositions-Music
Jazz
Music, School of
Piano
University of Illinois Alumni Association

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals: An additional box of CDs and two scrapbooks were received from Davidson on July 20, 2023. A box of music compositions, programs, CDs, DVDs, books, unpublished short stories, and aticles were receieved from Davidson on March 28, 2024.

Acquisition Source: Matthew de Lacey Davidson

Acquisition Method: gift.

Related Materials: Salvatore Martirano Music, Personal Papers, and Sal-Mar Construction


Box and Folder Listing


Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Music Compositions and Research, 1975-2022],
[Series 2: Creative Writing and Visual Art, 1929-2022],
[Series 3: Personal Papers, 1920-2024],
[All]

Series 1: Music Compositions and Research, 1975-2022Add to your cart.
Consists of original music scores and recordings, research conducted by Davidson, programs featuring performances of Davidson's music, correspondence with composers including Stephen Sondheim and William Bolcom, and biographical information on Davidson, documenting his career as a pianist, composer, and researcher. Materials are arranged into two subseries: 1) Original Scores, Recordings, and Programs and 2) Biography, Correspondence, and Research.
Sub-Series 1: Original Music Recordings and Scores, 1975-2016Add to your cart.
Consists of recordings and scores of original music by Davidson. Materials are arranged by material type. Recordings are arranged first using a three digit-code assigned by Davidson and then alphabetically. NOTE: The dates listed for the burned CDs frequently correspond to the last modfied date of the file on the CD, which may or may nor correspond to the work's publication date or of the performance date. Scores are arranged alphabetically by title.
Box 1Add to your cart.
Item 1: 001 - The Graceful Ghost, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 2: 002 - Voodoo Queen, CD, 1995Add to your cart.
Item 3: 003 - Sugar's Nightmare, CD, 1996Add to your cart.
Item 4: 004 - I Had 5 Long Years, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 5: 005 - Quatre mélodies québécoises, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 6: 006 - KGNU Interview, CD, 1992Add to your cart.
Item 7: 007 - Symphony No. 1 in 20 Keys, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 8: 008 - The Singing Lesson, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 9: 009 - Le poème inattendu, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 10: 010 - Quartetto dell'Arte, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 11: 011 - R. Schumann, Quintet for Piano and Strings, orchestrated by Davidson; Music for Viola and Orchestra by Davidson, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 12: 012 - Trois œuvres de Rameau; Menuet; Nicklettes; and Music for Piano with Orchestra, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 13: 013 - Trio Sonata for Flute, Violin, and Harp; and Bergamasques, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 14: 014 - Davidson Performances, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 15: 015 - Dekalb, IL Concert, CD, 1991Add to your cart.
Item 16: Études, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 17: The Graceful Ghost: Contemporary Piano Rags, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Recorded by Mastersound.
Item 18: The Graceful Ghost: Contemporary Piano Rags, CD, 2007Add to your cart.
Recorded by Capstone Records.
Item 19: I Had 5 Long Years, world premiere, CD, 2009Add to your cart.
Item 20: New Zealand Music and Early Works, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 21: On the Highwire: Piano Rags, Waltzes and Tangos by Donald Ashwander, performed by Davidson, CD, 2000Add to your cart.
Recorded by Capstone Records.
Item 22: Pianoforte Anachronisms, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 23: Quatre mélodies québécoises, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 24: Space Shuffle and Other Futuristic Rags, CD, 1992Add to your cart.
Recorded by Stomp Off Records.
Item 25: Stolen Music: Chamber and Electronic Music, CD, 1996Add to your cart.
Recorded by Mastersound.
Item 26: Stolen Music, CD, 2000Add to your cart.
Recorded by Capstone Records.
Item 27: Sugar's Nightmare: Piano Rags to Jazz, 1898-1995, CD, 1996Add to your cart.
Recorded by Mastersound.
Item 28: Syncopated Lady, CD, 1999Add to your cart.
Recorded by Capstone Records. Featuring Tomoko Deguchi on piano. Tracks include Davidson's Etude Book 1.
Item 33: Talencourt: Music for Voice, Piano, and Strings, CD, 2008Add to your cart.
Recorded by Capstone Records.
Item 31: Voodoo Queen: Piano Rags, Jazz and Blues, CD, 1995Add to your cart.
Recorded by Mastersound.
Item 32: Whippin' the Keys: 75 Years of Novelty Piano Ragtime, CD, 2001Add to your cart.
Recorded by Capstone Records.
Box 2Add to your cart.
Folder 1: 5 Vignettes for Piano, 1982-1984Add to your cart.
Folder 2: After Brahms: Nine Concert Tangos, for one piano-four hands, 2000Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Aliens Disguised as Elvis Kidnapped by Grandmother's Appendix..., Theater Piece for Seven Performers, 1990Add to your cart.
Full Title: Aliens Disguised as Elvis Kidnapped my Grandmother's Appendix in a Previous Life After Having Been Sucked Through a Black Hole Singularity on a Sunday Afternoon Picnic in the Park with Aunt Jemima Puddleduck While Discussing the Simultaneity of States of Sub-Atomic Particles, K. 666
Folder 4: Deux Plaisenteries, for Eb Alto Sax and Piano, 1989-1993Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Etudes Book I, for Piano Solo, 1993Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Etudes Book II: A Ragtime Odyssey, five rags for Solo Piano, 2022Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Fragments for Woodwind Quintet , 2020Add to your cart.
American Composers Edition (BMI).
Folder 8: I Had Five Long Years, 1991Add to your cart.
Folder 9: In the Land of Wonderful Dreams: A Suite of Five Piano Rags, 2021Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Magyar Rondo, for Solo Viola, 1985Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Á la manière de Borodine, by Maurice Ravel, arranged for Woodwind Quintet by Matthew Davidson, 2020Add to your cart.
American Composers Edition (BMI).
Folder 12: Menuetto from Symphony No. 5 in Bb Major D. 485, by Franz Schubert, arranged for piano by Matthew Davidson, 2008Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Millet Music , 1992Add to your cart.
Folder 14: Music for Viola and Piano, 2006Add to your cart.
Folder 15: Nicklettes: A Children's Suite of Seven Piano Pieces, 1996Add to your cart.
Folder 16: Nonsense Music: Five English Songs, for Mezzo Soprano and Piano, 2006Add to your cart.
Folder 17: One for Max, piano rag, 2021Add to your cart.
Dedication: For Max Morath on the occasion of his 95th birthday.
Folder 18: The Owl and the Pussy Cat, 2007Add to your cart.
Folder 19: A Rag Suite for Piano Solo: Three Elusive Rags, 1989-1990Add to your cart.
Manuscript Score
Folder 20: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, 2019Add to your cart.
Box 5Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Sonatine Pastorale, pour le piano, 2008Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Six Chorale Preludes, for Piano Solo, 2002Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Stolen Music, for a Flute Player, 1993Add to your cart.
Folder 4: String Quartet: Im Stil von Haydn, 2022Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Sylvan Catch, 1987Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Three Elusive Rags, 1989-1990Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Trois Oevres de Rameau, arranged for Orchestra by Matthew Davidson, 1999Add to your cart.
Folder 8: Winnsboro Cottonmill Blues, by Frederic Rzewski, arranged for One Piano-Four Hands by Matthew Davidson, 2016Add to your cart.
Box 6Add to your cart.
Item 1: 4 CD Projects - Data Disc, CD, 2024Add to your cart.
Contains audio recordings and liner notes.
Item 2: 4 CD Projects - Data Disc, DVD, 2024Add to your cart.
Item 3: Davidson - Music Videos, CD, 2020-2024Add to your cart.
Contains video files for performances of: Magyar Rondo; Twin Muse After Brahms; Papillons III, VI, X, XIII, XV; Prelude No. 2; Prelude No. 6; Schubert Menuetto; Schumann; Sonatina.
Item 4: De Lacy Davidson Music Scores, CD, 2024Add to your cart.
Contains PDF, MP3, and WAV files of the following original compositions: After Brahms, Etudes Book I, Five Vignettes for Piano, Menuetto, Nicklettes, Papillons, Sonatine Pastorale, Three Elusive Rags, Etudes Book II, In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, One for Max, Six Chorale Preludes for Piano Solo, Rzewski Arrangement, Clarinet Sonata, Lithuanian Melodies for Flute and Guitar, String Quartet im Stil von Haydn, Serendipity, Ravel a la maniere de Borodine, Wind Quintet, Rameau for Orchestra, The Singing Lesson, Chamber Works, Deux Plais, Le Poeme Inattendu, Nicklettes for Orchestra, Robert Schumann Symphony, I Had Five Long Years, Music for Viola and Orchestra, Music for Viola and Piano, The Owl and the Pussy Cat, Quatre Melodies Quebecoises, Zwei Motetten, Nonsense Music, Quartetto Dell-Art, Symphony No. 1, and Three Songs.
Item 5: Ghost Disc 1, Master CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 6: Ghost Disc 2, Master CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 7: Grand Piano Radio Program CD and DVD Performance, 2001Add to your cart.
Includes a CD "The Grand Piano" radio program about the music of Davidson by Leslie Gerber for WMHT-FM, and a DVD of  performances of music by Davidson that are played by himself and Rudolf Haken that can obly be viewed at the Sousa Archive.
Item 8: On the Highwire, Master CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 9: Sugar's Nightmare, Master CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Sub-Series 2: Music Research and Manuscript Scores by Other Composers, 1982-2022Add to your cart.
Consists of original research (which includes sound file examples on CD and written drafts), correspondence with major composers, and manuscript scores sent to Davidson by other composers. Materials are arranged by material type. Recordings are arranged first by a three-digit numeric code that was assigned by Davidson and then alphabetically. Paper records and scores are arranged alphabetically.
Box 1Add to your cart.
Item 32: 016 - Swanee Smiles, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 33: 017 - Aunt Hagar, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 34: 018 - Stomp Off, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 35: 019 - Stardust, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 36: 020 - 78 RPM Record Collection, CD, 2017-2018Add to your cart.
Item 37: 78 RPM Record Collection, CD, 2017-2018Add to your cart.
Item 38: Aunt Hagar's Children Blues, 78 RPM Reord Collection, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 39: Stardust etc, 78 RPM Record Collection, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 40: Stomp Off, Let's Go, etc., 78 RPM Record Collection, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 41: Swanee Smiles, etc., 78 RPM Record Collection, CD, 1994Add to your cart.
Box 3Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Research - The Effort Before the Prize, 2022Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Research - Moonlight Memories: Brunswick Hot Dance Bands on the Early 1920s, c. 2022Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Research - "The Remarkable Robert I. Pinsker Meets the Extraordinary Lemuel Fowler", 2022Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Research - Society of Composers, Inc., 2012Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Research - The Syncopated Times, 2021-2022Add to your cart.
Box 5Add to your cart.
Folder 9: Compositions - Ashwander, Donald, 1971-1988Add to your cart.
Compositions by Donald Ashwander include "Empty Porches;" "Mobile Carnival rag-tango;" "Perdido Bay Moon Rag;" "Waterloo Rag;" "On The Highwire;" "Saratoga Rag;" "Summer Garden;" "October;" "Old Streets;" "Forgotten Ballrooms." Used by Davidson for recordings and performances at the University of Illinois.
Folder 10: Compositions - Ashwander, Donald - The Brooklyn Stop and Start and Sunday Night, Manhattan, 1975-1984Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Compositions - Ashwander, Donald - Daybreak in Alabama, Phases of the Moon, The Locust, and Yardsale Rag, 1962-1992Add to your cart.
Folder 12: Compositions - Bolcom, William - Epithalamium: A Rag, 1993Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Compositions - Morath, Max - In Seperate Rooms (An American Song Cycle), 1990Add to your cart.
This score was the first performance given by Davidson (piano) and Rebecca Toon (soprano) at the University of Illinois in 1992.
Folder 14: Compositions - Rzewski, Frederic - Winnsboro Cottonmill Blues for two pianos, undatedAdd to your cart.
Arranged by composer Frederic Rzewski and sent to Davidson in 1992. May only be viewed at the Sousa Archives.
Folder 15: Correspondence - Ashwander, Donald, 1991-1994Add to your cart.
Folder 16: Correspondence - Morath, Max, 1992-1994Add to your cart.
Folder 17: Correspondence - Sondheim, Stephen, 1982Add to your cart.
Folder 18: Concert Program from Max Morath's Stage Show, 1993Add to your cart.
Folder 19: Research - The Syncopated Times, 2023-2024Add to your cart.
Box 6Add to your cart.
Item 10: Moonlight Memories, CD 1, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 11: Moonlight Memories, CD 2, 1994Add to your cart.
Item 12: Brunswick I and II, CDs, 1994Add to your cart.
Two Discs.
Item 13: Davidson - Book, CD Project, and Scores, CD, 2023Add to your cart.
Contains digital records for research projects Moonlight Memories, The Effort Above the Prize, and Lemuel Fowler Article
Series 2: Creative Writing and Visual Art, 1929-2022Add to your cart.
Consists of original poetry, novels, short stories, cartoons, and stop-motion animation by Davidson. Materials are arranged alphabetically.
Box 3Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Book - A Barren Stage: Collected Poems, Essays, Short Stories, and Novels, 2021Add to your cart.
Signed by Davidson.
Folder 7: Book - Please Don't Forget Me Poems, 2017Add to your cart.
Signed by Davidson.
Folder 8: Book - What Souls Might Bear Poems, 2017Add to your cart.
Signed by Davidson.
Folder 9: Poems - "Ars Longa, Vita Brevis," "Serendipity," and "Portrait of the Poet as a Young Man," in Open Heart Forgery Journal , 2018-2022Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Poem - "Reluctance" in Grammateion, St. Michael's College Journal of the Arts, 1990Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Poem - "Empty Resturants," in Open Heart Forgery: 10th Anniversary Anthology, 2020Add to your cart.
Signed by Davidson.
Folder 12: Short Story - "A Day in the Life of 960-43-xxx", 1987Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Short Story - "Mute Inglorious Milton", 1992Add to your cart.
Folder 14: Stage Play - Waiting for Beckett, a consumate irritation in one complete act, 2023Add to your cart.
Originally written in 1983, revised in 2023.
Folder 15: Visual Art - Advertisement for His Reputation Precedes Fun by Ephraim Kishon, Cartoon Sketches by Matthew Davidson, 2009Add to your cart.
Box 6Add to your cart.
Item 14: Cinéma d'animation amateur, 2006Add to your cart.
Contains a collection of stop-motion animation videos by Davidson.
Series 3: Personal Papers, 1920-2024Add to your cart.
Consists of biographical information on Davidson, including memoirs and family photographs; correspondence; concert programs, reviews, and publishing catalogs of Davidson's music; digital surrogates of biographical materials, research, creative writing, visual art, and master sibelius files of Davidson's original music compositions; and CDs from Davidson's personal collection.
Box 4Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Biographical Notes, Concert Programs, Business Card, and Reviews, 1983-2011Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Concert Programs, 1983-2014Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Correspondence with William Bolcom, 1983-2002Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Davidson's Elementary and High School Report Cards, 1969-1976Add to your cart.
Folder 5: General Correspondence, 1990-2009Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Letters of Recommendation, 1992-2008Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Honeyrock Publishing Catalog, 1992Add to your cart.
Contains an entry for Davidson's Millet Music. 
Folder 8: The (New) Graceful Ghost - CD Track Listing and Liner Notes, 2021Add to your cart.
Folder 9: On the Highwire - CD Tracklist and Liner Notes, 2022Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Reviews of Davidson's Books and Poems, 2018-2020Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Reviews of Davidson's CDs and Performances, 1983-2006Add to your cart.
Folder 12: Scrapbook of Album Covers and Correspondence, 1992-2015Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Sugar's Nightmare - CD Tracklist and Liner Notes, ca. 1997Add to your cart.
Folder 14: Tracklists for CDs, 2023Add to your cart.
Includes tracklists for all CDs assigned a three-digit item code in Series 1 Sub-series 1 and 2.
Box 6Add to your cart.
Item 15: Biography and Other Sundry Archival Materials, 2014Add to your cart.

CD Data disc with master folder labeled "Davidson Memoirs," containing Finale files of original compositions; digital master files of compositions; digital master files of original research and writing, including memoire "My Time Has Come;" and digital surrogates of biographical memoires, photographs, and family papers.

Finale files include: Rzewski arrangement, 4 Dances 4 String Quartet, After Brahms, Bergamasques Violin Solo, Das Lied Ohne Worte, Etudes Book 1, Five Vignettes, Le Poeme Inattendu, Magyar Rondo, Menuetto, Music for Piano with Orchestra, Music for Viola and Orchestra, Nicklettes, Nicklettes (orchestra version), Papillons, Quartetto Dell-Arte, Quatre Melodies Quebecoises, Rameau, Schumann Symphony No. 5, Six Chorale Preludes, Sonatina Pastorale, Symphony No. 1, The Singing Lesson, Three Elusive Rags, Trio for Flute Viola and Harp, Trois Melodies Quebecoises, Zwei Moteten, and Love or Money.

Item 16: Doorways: The Entertainer, vol. 1. by Jeff Barnhart, CD, 2012Add to your cart.
Item 17: Thanks for the Melody, Jeff Barnhart and Spats Langham, CD, 2017Add to your cart.
Item 18: We Wish We Were Twins, Jeff Barnhart and Spats Langham, CD, 2015Add to your cart.
Box 7Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Book of Family Photographs Taken in New Zealand, ca. 1920-1984Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Concert Programs, 1983-1999Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Family Papers - Lew Davidson's Acting Career, 1953-2002Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Family Photographs, 1929-1999Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Production Photographs from Don't Let's Have a Revolution Today, V.U.W. Music Society Music Theater Work by Davidson, 1982Add to your cart.
Box 8Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Photo of Maternal Grandmother, ca. 1920Add to your cart.
Item 1: Pewter Photo Frame, ca. 1920Add to your cart.
Accession No. 2024.2620249.001.

Browse by Series:

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[Series 2: Creative Writing and Visual Art, 1929-2022],
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