.
By Thornton Miller, Kendall McFarlin, Nolan Vallier
Collection Overview
Title: Matthew de Lacey Davidson Music and Papers, 1920-2024
ID: 26/20/249
Primary Creator: Davidson, Matthew de Lacey (1964 -)
Extent: 4.65 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: Alumni, Canada, Cartooning, Composers, Compositions-Music, Martirano, Salvatore (1927-1995), Music, School of, Music -- New Zealand, New Zealand, Opera, Orchestra, Piano, Poetry, Ragtime Music
Formats/Genres: Experimental Music, Librettos, Papers, Sheet music, Sound Recordings
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. Of note is correspondence with composers, William Bolcom and Max Morath.
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
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 received from Davidson on March 28, 2024. An additional box of music compositions, programs, CDs, cartoons, correspondence, and contracts were received from Davidson on November 26, 2024. Additional acquisitions were received on May 30, June 26, and July 28, 2025.
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, 1975-2025],
[
Series 2: Creative Writing and Visual Art, 1929-2022],
[Series 3: Personal Papers, 1920-2024],
[
All]
- Series 3: Personal Papers, 1920-2024
- 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 4
- Folder 1: Biographical Notes, Concert Programs, Business Card, and Reviews, 1983-2011
- Folder 2: Concert Programs, 1983-2014
- Folder 3: Correspondence with William Bolcom, 1983-2002
- Folder 4: Davidson's Elementary and High School Report Cards, 1969-1976
- Folder 5: General Correspondence, 1990-2009
- Folder 6: Letters of Recommendation, 1992-2008
- Folder 7: Honeyrock Publishing Catalog, 1992
- Contains an entry for Davidson's Millet Music.
- Folder 8: The (New) Graceful Ghost - CD Track Listing and Liner Notes, 2021
- Folder 9: On the Highwire - CD Tracklist and Liner Notes, 2022
- Folder 10: Reviews of Davidson's Books and Poems, 2018-2020
- Folder 11: Reviews of Davidson's CDs and Performances, 1983-2006
- Folder 12: Scrapbook of Album Covers and Correspondence, 1992-2015
- Folder 13: Sugar's Nightmare - CD Tracklist and Liner Notes, ca. 1997
- Folder 14: Tracklists for CDs, 2023
- Includes tracklists for all CDs assigned a three-digit item code in Series 1 Sub-series 1 and 2.
- Box 6
- Item 15: Biography and Other Sundry Archival Materials, 2014
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, 2012
- Item 17: Thanks for the Melody, Jeff Barnhart and Spats Langham, CD, 2017
- Item 18: We Wish We Were Twins, Jeff Barnhart and Spats Langham, CD, 2015
- Box 7
- Folder 1: Book of Family Photographs Taken in New Zealand, ca. 1920-1984
- Folder 2: Concert Programs, 1983-1999
- Folder 3: Family Papers - Lew Davidson's Acting Career, 1953-2002
- Folder 4: Family Photographs, 1929-1999
- Folder 5: Production Photographs from Don't Let's Have a Revolution Today, V.U.W. Music Society Music Theater Work by Davidson, 1982
- Box 8
- Folder 1: Photo of Maternal Grandmother, ca. 1920
- Item 1: Pewter Photo Frame, ca. 1920
- Accession No. 2024.2620249.001.
- Box 9
- Folder 1: Anne de Lacey Davidson Autobiography, 2004
- Folder 2: Articles, Posters, and Programs, 1981-2017
- Folder 4: Contacts, 1985-2012
- Folder 5: Correspondence with Friends, Relatives, and Colleagues, 1985-2019
- Folder 9: Lew Davidson Autobiography, 2003
- Folder 10: List of Residences, Restricted, 2006
- Sealed until January 3, 2039.
- Folder 17: Political Activism Correspondence, 2002-2024
- Box 10
- Folder 39: Master of Music Paper - The Nazi View of Creative Music, 1989
- Folder 40: Correspondence from Max Morath, 1992-2008
- Folder 41: Beneath the Belly of the Beast - Partial Autobiography, 2005
- Folder 42: Thoughts About the Life of Poet Peter King, ca. 2023
- Folder 43: Reviews and Correspondence, 2024-2025
- Folder 44: Photos and Correspondence, ca. 1988-2009
- Includes candid photos, scrapbook, and postcards.
- Box 13
- Folder 15: CD Reviews, Interviews and Articles of Matthew de Lacey Davidson, 2024-2025
- Folder 16: Concert Programs, Schedules, Correspondence, Peter King Poem, 2006-2010
- Includes Society of Composers, Inc. Region IV Conference (University of North Carolina - Greensboro) schedule, program notes and performer biographies, poems by Peter King and Matthew Davidson's thoughts on King's life and work.
- Folder 17: Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Program for Matthew Davidson, February 17, 1999
- Folder 18: Lew Davidson - Articles, Play Reviews, Actor/Director Credits, ca. 1953
- INcludes Davidson family photographs.
- Folder 19: "Stories Excised from Interview Jeff / Matthew", ca. 2004
- Stories and interview questions that were omitted from Jeff Barnhart's 2024 article about Matthew de Lacey Davidson for reasons of space. "Matthew de Lacey Davidson: 'Success Is To Be Measured'" is an interview with and piece de theatre about Davidson.
- Box 14
- Item 8: "Music from the Land of the Sky" - The 1925 Asheville Sessions, 2025
- Book and CD.
- Box 15
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
- Item 4
- Item 5
- Item 6
- Item 7
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Music Compositions and Research, 1975-2025],
[
Series 2: Creative Writing and Visual Art, 1929-2022],
[Series 3: Personal Papers, 1920-2024],
[
All]
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