Holdings Fine Arts and Applied Arts School of Music Kenneth Gaburo Papers Finding Aid Holdings Fine Arts and Applied Arts School of Music Kenneth Gaburo Papers Finding Aid By Bethany R. Cooper and Nolan Vallier
Title: Kenneth Gaburo Papers, 1940-2006
ID: 12/5/33
Primary Creator: Gaburo, Kenneth (1926-1993)
Other Creators: Polansky, Larry (1954-2024)
Extent: 37.7 cubic feet
Arrangement:
The Kenneth Gaburo Papers are arranged into two distinct series:
Series 1) Kenneth Gaburo Music and Papers, 1940-2006. Series 1 was arranged and described by Bethany Cooper in 2003, who arranged the content into 39 subseries that were organized first at the box level and secondarilly by material type. Sub-series 1-10 are as follows: sub-series 1) Personal Papers; sub-series 2) Drafts of Publications and Manuscripts; sub-series 3) Libretti; sub-series 4) Concert Programs; sub-series 5) Lingua Press Records; sub-series 6) Apogee Press Records; sub-series 7) World Library of Sacred Music files; sub-series 8) New Music Choral Ensemble (NMCE) Records; sub-series 9) Concert Tour Records; and sub-series 10) Permissions.
Sub-series 11-20 are as follows: sub-series 11) Project for Music Experiment; sub-series 12) Requests for Gaburo Scores and Texts; sub-series 13) Residencies;sub-series 14) Grants and Fellowships; sub-series 15) Production Records; sub-series 16) Universities and Employment Records; sub-series 17) Conference Materials and Service Records; sub-series 18) Publisher Correspondence; sub-series 19) General and Professional Correspondence; and sub-series 20) Teaching Materials.
Sub-series 21-30 are as follows: sub-series 21) Original Scores; sub-series 22) Musical Sketches of Untitled Works; sub-series 23) Musical Sketches of Titled Works; sub-series 24) Unidentified Sketches; sub-series 25) Source Materials and Performance Audiotapes; sub-series 26) In the Can Audiovisual Materials; sub-series 27) Audio Recordings of Seminars, Lectures, Panels, and Radio Broadcasts; sub-series 28) Audio Tapes of Original Compositions; sub-series 29) Audio Tapes of Testimony Project; and sub-series 30) Recordings of New Music Choral Ensemble (NMCE).
Sub-series 31-39 are as follows: sub-series 31) Compositions by New Music Choral Ensemble; sub-series 32) Audio Visual Recordings of New Music Choral Ensemble; sub-series 33) Videos of Testimony Project; sub-series 34) Compositions from the Testimony Project; sub-series 35) Video Recordings and LPs of Original Compositions; sub-series 36) Oversized Materials; sub-series 37) Photographic Slides; sub-series 38) Photographs; and sub-series 39) Audio Tape Cassettes.
and Series 2) Larry Polansky Lingua Press Records, 1975-1991. Series 2 was arranged and described by in 2013 and was arranged into two separate subseries: Business Records and Correspondence. Materials in Series 2 were arranged in two sub-series: sub-series 1) Business Records and sub-series 2) Correspondence.
Date Acquired: 05/27/1999. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Alumni, Brün, Herbert (1918-2000), Cage, John (1912-1992), Choirs, Composers, Compositions-Music, Computer Music, Conductors (Music), Electronic Music, Faculty, Faculty Papers, Graphic Notation--Music, Hamm, Charles (1925-2011), Hiller, Lejaren (1924-1994), Martirano, Salvatore (1927-1995), Multimedia Performance, Music-Theory, Music Publishers, Partch, Harry, University of California San Diego, University of Illinois, University of Iowa
Formats/Genres: Business Records, Correspondence, Experimental Music, Librettos, Papers, Sheet music, Sound Recordings
Languages: English
Consists of correspondence, published and manuscript musical compositions, sound recordings, motion picture and video recordings, and photographs relating to Gaburo’s compositions and performances, Lingua Press music publishing business, and his New Music Choral Ensemble performance group, University of California San Diego Electronic Music Studio (1968-75), University of Iowa Electronic Music Studio (1970-91). Of note are the conductors score and rehearsal tapes of Harry Partch's "The Bewitched," which Gaburo conducted.
Kenneth Gaburo (1929-1993) was born in Somerville New Jersey. In 1943, he began his studies in composition at the Eastman School of Music with Bernard Rodgers. In 1949, he received master's degrees in composition and piano performance from Eastman. Between 1954 and 1955 he studied at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Goffredo Petrassi. Soon after he began his doctoral studies with Burrill Phillips and Hubert Kessler at the University of Illinois where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts in 1962. While completing his doctorate, he joined the faculty of the composition department at the University between 1955 and 1968. In 1967 he was named an associate fellow of the University of Illinois Institute for Advanced Study and received several grants to research the confluence between musical composition and linguistics at both the University's of Illinois and California.
In the summer of 1965, Gaburo established the New Music Choral Ensemble I, a summer workshop that performed contemporary music that explored pitch, duration, timbre, indeterminacy, extended vocal techniques, and the integration of the voice and electronic instruments. In 1968, Gaburo left the University of Illinois to accept a teaching position at the University of California at San Diego, here he established the New Music Choral Ensemble II. By 1970 he had established the New Music Choral Ensemble III in order to more fully explore musical linguistics and dance. In 1972, he established the New Music Choral Ensemble IV to explore mime and acting. In 1975, Gaburo resigned from the University of California at San Diego and began touring professionally. Shortly after this, Gaburo accepted a position at the University of Iowa where he worked until his death in 1993.
While maintaining an active career as a composer, Gaburo also acted as a music publisher founding the Lingua Press in 1975, which he managed until his death in 1993. After Gaburo died the company continued to publish music under the Lingua Press title until it was changed to Frog Peak Music by Gaburo's Business Partner Larry Polansky.
Gaburo was also an active conductor and promoter of new music conducting his four New Music Choral Ensembles as well as the European premiere performance of Harry Partch's The Bewitched in 1979.
Alumni
Brün, Herbert (1918-2000)
Cage, John (1912-1992)
Choirs
Composers
Compositions-Music
Computer Music
Conductors (Music)
Electronic Music
Faculty
Faculty Papers
Graphic Notation--Music
Hamm, Charles (1925-2011)
Hiller, Lejaren (1924-1994)
Martirano, Salvatore (1927-1995)
Multimedia Performance
Music-Theory
Music Publishers
Partch, Harry
University of California San Diego
University of Illinois
University of Iowa
Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Accruals: The Kenneth Gaburo Papers were initially acquired by University Archives on May 27, 1999. Additional materials were acquired from Larry Polansky by the Sousa Archives on August 9, 2013.
Acquisition Source: gift
Related Materials: See also the Experimental Studio Records, the Harry Partch Estate Archive, the Music and Performing Arts Library Harry Partch Collection, the Salvatore Martirano Papers, the Paul Martin Zonn Papers, the Scott Wyatt Papers, the William Brooks Papers, the Music Library Administrative Records, and the School of Music Audio Recordings Festival of Contemporary Arts Series. For further information about other Lejaren Hiller sound recordings and personal papers please visit the University at Buffalo's Lejaren Hiller Papers. For more information please see https://research.lib.buffalo.edu/hiller.
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