Finding Aid for William DeFotis Papers, 1953-2004 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Submit request (Aeon) |

× Locations for this record series:

• Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street

Filter by location: All locationsArchives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street

Filter by box:

Rows will be filtered from the table below as selections are made

Service Location	Boxes
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 01
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 02
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 03
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 04
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 05
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 06
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 07
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 08
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 09
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 10
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 11
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 12
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Box 13

Email us about these papers | Print this information

Collection Overview

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Biographical Note

Subject/Index Terms

Administrative Information

Box and Folder Listing

Series 1: Personal Papers, 1953-2003

Consists of CV, Divorce documents, Scrapbooks, and Diaries. Materials are unarranged.

Box 1

Folder 1: Curriculum Vitae, 1988-2003

Folder 2: Divorce Decree, 1987

Folder 3: Diary: "European Travel and Notes on Compositions and Performance", 1977-1978

Written between June 7, 1977 and March 8, 1978.

Folder 4: Diary: "Composition, Rehearsal, Performance", 1977-1978

Box 2

Folder 1: Scrapbook Album, 1953-1980

Contains birth certificate, elementary school report cards, high school and university grade records, school and university diplomas, newspaper clippings concerning activities and performances, adjudication rating sheets, certificates and honors, concert and recital programs and music for Gabriela's Fantasies.

Box 12

Folder 1: Musical Trifles and Other Juvenalia, 1963-1973

Includes compositions from Middle and High School as well as primary school essays.

Box 14

Folder 1: Scrapbook Album, 1980-2003

Contains programs, reviews, news clippings, driver's license, passport, death certificate, and memorial serivce program.

Series 2: Music, 1971-1998

Consists of orginal scores and arrangements by William DeFotis. Materials are arranged in two sub-series: sub-series 1) Original Compositions and sub-series 2) Arrangements and Orchestrations.

Sub-Series 1: Original Compositions, 1971-1998

Consists of original scores by William DeFotis, including notes about compositions, sketches, drafts, and translations of texts for songs. Materials are arranged chronologically.

Box 3

Folder 1: High School Compositions, ca. 1971-1972

Includes reduction of scores published in Elk Grove High School Arts Magazines, Gabriela's Fantasies for piano and String Quartet (tribute to H. Stanislav); arrangement for Air for the G String by J.S. Bach, parts for Oboe and Alto Clarinet.

Folder 2: Euphoniana, for solo Euphonium, 1972

Premiered by Mark Sikorowski. Sketches, Manuscript, Published Score.

Folder 3: Three Movements for Clarinet Solo, 1973

Premiered by the composer. Manuscript and Published Score.

Folder 4: Variation for Piano and Percussion, 1973

Premiered by the Blackearth Percussion Group. Sketches, manuscript, and published score.

Folder 5: Septet, 1974

For clarinet, bassoon, French horn, tuba, harp, viola, double bass, and off-stage flute. Premiered by the composer. Manuscript, published score, and set of parts.

Folder 6: Tune, for solo flute, 1974

Premiered by John Fonville. Manuscript and published score.

Folder 7: Wind Quintet, 1975

Premiered by the composer. Published Score.

Folder 8: Inconsequences, 1975-1976

For narrator and 12-member chamber orchestra. Premiered 1977, conducted by the composer. Manuscript, published score, and parts.

Box 4

Folder 1: String Quartet, 1977

Premiered October 2, 1979 by the LaSalle Quartet in Cincinatti, Ohio. Publicity, lecture notes, program, manuscript, and published score.

Folder 2: Pre-Quotes, for solo clarinet, 1977

Premiered 1978 in Munich by the composer. Manuscript and published score.

Folder 3: Recitation, 1978

For nine solo speakers and chorus. Premiered by students of Unit One at the University of Illinois. Text and instructions.

Folder 4: Continuous Showing, for three percussionists, 1978

Premiered in 1979 by Percussion Group, Cincinnati. Sketches, manuscript, published score, and parts.

Folder 5: Eclipse, for cello and piano, 1979

Two published scores.

Folder 6: Poem After, for tape, 1979-1980

Includes Notes.

Folder 7: Piece for Flute Solo with Tape Accompaniments, 1980

Premiered in New York by John Fonville. Score and instructions.

Folder 8: Two Pieces for String Quartet, 1981

Funded by the Illinois Arts Council. Manuscript and published score.

Folder 9: Wind and Percussion Music, 1984

Commissioned by the Baylor University Bands. Premiered by Michael Haithcock and the Baylor Wind Ensemble on February 14, 1985. Manuscript and published score.

Box 5

Folder 1: Against that time, 1981-1982

Ten songs on familiar texts for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and orchestra. Commissioned anonymously through the University of Iowa Foundation with additional grants from the Hancher Circle Fund. Premiered by the Cincinnati College-Conservatory Philharmonia on December 3, 1982, Gerhard Samuel conducting. Manuscript, sketches, and published score.

Folder 2: Against that time, 1981-1982

Parts.

Box 6

Folder 1: Percussion and String Octet, 1983-1985

Premiered on July 4, 1988 by the Percussion Group, Cincinnati. Manuscripts, sketches, drafts, and published score.

Folder 2: Percussion and String Octet, 1983-1985

Parts.

Box 7

Folder 1: e.e. cummings bagatelles, 1986

For mezzo soprano and piano. Premiered November 8, 1987 in Williamsberg, VA by Constance DeFotis. Manuscript, notes, correspodence, and published score.

Folder 2: Openers, for orchestra, 1987

Premiered February 3, 1988 by the William and Mary Orchestra. Manuscript, notes, and published score.

Folder 3: Breaking Up Immediately Recognizable Units of Significance is Hard to Do , 1988

For electronic tape. Notes and text.

Folder 4: In the Cracks, for piano, 1989

Premiered by Stefan Litwin in Williamsberg, Virginia on January 23, 1991. Revisions, correspondence, notes, and published score.

Folder 5: How Many Times Had We Found Ourselves..., 1989

Full title of piece: How Many Times Had We Found Ourselves Mouthing Received Opinions, Using the Language of Oppression, Before We No Longer Had Any Claim to Be Oblivious to Our Having Become Both Victim and Perpetrator of Injustice?, for women's chorus. Premiered and conducted by Constance DeFotis and the Wellesley College Choir. Manuscript, correspondence, notes, and published score.

Folder 6: Solo with Snare Drum, 1991

Premiered by Allen Otte, 1992. Score.

Box 8

Folder 1: 14 Satirical Songs, for voice and piano, 1992-1994

Recorded by Christine Williams. Manuscripts, correspondence, and texts.

Folder 2: I am a Composer, 1998

Recitation and Text.

Folder 3: The Range for Disorder, 2003

Unfinished dramatic work. Includes instructions and sketches.

Sub-Series 2: Translations and Orchestrations by DeFotis, 1991-1997

Consists of translations of texts and libretti as well as score orchestrations of Bach Fugues by William DeFotis. Materials are arranged chronologically.

Box 4

Folder 10: Zeitungsausschnitten, Op. 11 by Hans Eisler, translations by DeFotis, ca. 1981

Premiered in English by Constance DeFotis.

Box 7

Folder 7: 14 Ways to Describe the Rain, by Hans Eisler, translated and arranged by DeFotis, ca. 1985-1987

Synchronized with the silent film Rain. Annotated parts and score.

Folder 8: The Three Penny Opera, by Kurt Weill, translated by DeFotis, 1988

Annotated conductor's score from William and Mary performance.

Box 8

Folder 4: Prelude and Fugue in C# Major, Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 by J.S. Bach, arranged by DeFotis, 1990

Premiered by the Cincinnati College-Conservatory Philharmonia. Score and Parts.

Folder 5: Prelude and Fugue in C# Minor, Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 by J.S. Bach, arranged by DeFotis, 1991

Premiered by the Cincinnati College-Conservatory Philharmonia and the Percussion Group Cincinnati. Score and parts.

Folder 6: Prelude and Fugue in Ab Major, Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 by J.S. Bach, arranged by DeFotis, 1995

For Orchestra. Score and Parts.

Folder 7: Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 by J.S. Bach, arranged by DeFotis, 1997

For Orchestra. Score and Parts.

Series 3: Audio and Audio Visual Recordings, 1975-2004

Consists of Reel to Reel tapes, DAT tapes, Cassette Tapes, CDs, and VHS Tapes, documenting original works by Defotis and performance ensembles that Defotis played in or conducted. Materials are arranged in three sub-series: sub-series 1) Audio Recordings of Original Music, sub-series 2) Audio Recordings of Performance Ensembles, and sub-series 3) Films of Performance Ensembles.

Sub-Series 1: Audio Recordings, 1975-2004

Consists of Reel to Reel Tapes, DAT cassettes, tape cassettes, and CDs, documenting original music by DeFotis and performances of his pieces. Materials are arranged by media type. Reel to Reel Tapes and CDs are arranged chronologically. DAT Tapes and Cassette Tapes are arranged alphabetically.

Box 9

Item 1: Serenade Op. 24 by Arnold Schoenberg, May 4, 1980

10" Polyester Reel 15 IPS, Tail Out, A.

Item 2: Poem After, Tableau, and Erasers, February 14, 1985

10" polyester and acetate reel, 2-channel. Dolby A Masters.

Item 3: Ives Symphony No. 2, May 1, 1984

Tape Cassette. DeFotis conducting Baylor Symphony Orchestra.

Item 4: William Defotis UCSD Departmental Seminar on Hans Eisler, February 28, 1985

Tape Cassette.

Item 5: Hans Eisler 14 Ways to Describe Rain, May 1985

Tape Cassette, Type 2 Cryo 2. Recorded in LaJolla. Defotis Conductor.

Item 6: In the Cracks, premiere by Stefan Litwin, 1989

Tape Cassette, metal tape type IV, Dolby B.

Item 7: J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue in C# Minor, from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1, ca. 1990

Tape Cassette, type II No Dolby. Recorded by the Cincinnati Philharmonia, Gerhard Samuel, conducting.

Item 8: Prelude and Fuge in C# minor and C# Major, by J.S. Bach, ca. 1991

Tape Cassette, type II no Dolby. Recorded by the Cincinnati Philharmonia, Gerhard Samuel, conducting.

Item 9: Directions for Orchestrating Prelude and Fugue in Ab Minor, ca. 1995

Tape Cassette.

Item 10: DeFotis Septet, two performances, undated

Tape Cassette.

Item 11: DeFotis, Short Talk on L'Historie du Soldat, undated

Tape Cassette.

Item 12: William DeFotis Introduction and Program Notes to String Quartet and Against that time, undated

Tape Cassette, Cr02, No noise red.

Item 13: William DeFotis Kenneth Star, undated

Tape Cassette. Annotation reads: Like to Be, Kenneth Star, Simon Harns, Piano and Harmonica.

Item 14: William DeFotis Conducting Movements by Mahler, Webern, Debussy, Purcell, and Schoenberg, undated

Tape Cassette.

Item 15: William DeFotis Instrumental Music, undated

Tape Cassette. Annotation reads: Wind Quintet (very bad performance), Septet (ok performance), Cello and Piano Piece (so-so performance), Variation for Piano and Percussion (good performance).

Item 16: Schoenberg Serenade, May 4, 1980

DAT Tape. Conducted by William DeFotis. Has Been Digitized.

Item 17: DeFotis Continuous Showing, undated

DAT Tape.

Item 18: DeFotis Continuous Showing, undated

DAT Tape.

Item 19: Bill's CD Master (#19/20), undated

DAT Tape. Annotation reads: e.e. cummings bagatelles, Honey it Aint Postmodern.

Item 20: Flute and Tape Piece, undated

DAT Tape.

Item 21: Berg 4 pieces for Clarinet and Piano and Brahams Sonata op. 120 no. 2, undated

DAT Tape. William DeFotis, clarinet; Stephen Blum, piano.

Item 22: Bill's CD 5/94, undated

DAT Tape.

Item 23: New Graduate Works from the Experimental Music Studios at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1990

CD. Denon Digitial. Includes the following tracks: 1) Choi - Later, the Runaway, leaving no trace, not even a trace of misfortune, 2) Mizma - DSP, 3) Preissing - excerpts from Enigmatic Game, 4) Cohen - Drum Machine, 5) Feller - This Appearance, 6) Hinkle-Turner - Insurrection I, 7) Krause - Dead Aria, 8) DeFotis - Breaking Up Immediately Recognizable Units of Significance is Hard to Do, 9) Bargar - Business as Usual.

Item 24: Satire is Serious Business, 1995

CD. Centaur Records.

Tracks: 1) Some of My Best Friends Are Women, 2) How Many Times Had We Found Ourselves Mouthing Received Opinions Using the Language of Oppression Before We No Longer Had Any Claim to Be Oblivious to Our Having Become Both Victim and Perpetrator of Injustice?, 3) Happy Earth Day, 4) Family Values, 5) You'd Better Not, 6) Homophobia, 7) e.e. cummings bagatells, 8) Sex in Space, 9) Don't Dare Call me a Lefty, 10) Continous Showing, 11) What's in a Name, 12) Currency Crisis, 13) We Won the Cold War, 14) The PC Tango, 15) In the Cracks, 16) Piece for Flute Solo with Tape Accompaniment, 17) Election Bailed, 18) Televangelists in the Closet, 19) Honey, It Aint Postmodern to be Hankering for You, 20) Breaking Up Immediately Recognizable Units of Significance is Hard to Do, 21) Poem After, 22) String Quartet.

Item 25: I am a Composer, July 2, 1998

CD. Paradise Mountain Recording Studio.

Item 26: Works by William DeFotis (copy 1), undated

CD. Tracks: 1) The Charm of Trivia, 2) Erasers, 3) Tableau, 4) Continuous Showing, 5) Piece for Flute Solo with Tape Accompaniment (tape part), 6) Poem After, 7) Breaking up Immediately Recognizable Units of Significance is Hard to Do.

Item 27: Works by William DeFotis (copy 2), undated

CD. Tracks: 1) The Charm of Trivia, 2) Erasers, 3) Tableau, 4) Continuous Showing, 5) Piece for Flute Solo with Tape Accompaniment (tape part), 6) Poem After, 7) Breaking up Immediately Recognizable Units of Significance is Hard to Do.

Box 10

Sub-Series 2: Films, 1973-1985

Consists of VHS tapes, documenting performance ensembles that Defotis played in or conducted. Materials are unarranged.

Box 10

Item 28: Haydn Symphony No. 104, movements 1 and 2, undated

VHS. Rehearsal with the Baylor University Symphony Orchestra.

Item 29: 14 Ways to Describe Rain, synchronization with film screening of Joris Ivens' Rain, undated

VHS.

Item 30: Prelude and Fugue in C# Major, Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1, undated

VHS. Performance tape.

Series 4: Research and Correspondence, 1973-1998

Sub-Series 1: Research Files, Publications, Lectures, and Notes, 1975-1998

Consists of Dissertation, Articles by DeFotis, Lectures by Defotis, Essays, and Research Notes, documenting DeFotis's career as an academic and music theorist. Materials are arranged chronologically by subject.

Box 11

Folder 1: DMA Dissertation, "A Comparative Analysis of the Orchestration in Stravinsky's Firebird and Firebird Suite", 1984

Folder 2: DMA Dissertation, Notes and Correspondence, ca. 1983-1984

Folder 3: Lectures, ca. 1990-1991

Folder 4: Published Articles, 1978-1996

Includes: "Berg's Rehearsal Instructions," Perspectives of New Music (1978); "Wolf Rosenberg der Lehrer," Essays in honor of Wolf Rosenberg's 70th Birthday (1985) [in German]; "How do we fit in?" Perspectives of New Music (1988); "Excerpts of Correspondence with Gaburo" Perspectives of New Music (1995); "Mahler's Symphony No. 9" The Musical Quarterly (1996); Draft for Musical Quarterly Article (ca. 1996).

Folder 5: Student Paper, David Schumacher "Breaking Up Immediately Recognizable Units of Significance is Hard to Do", ca. 1988

Box 12

Folder 2: "Bad" Essays on Mahler [by DeFotis], undated

Folder 3: Composition Ideas and Statements of Plans, 1988-1998

Folder 4: Conducting Class Notes, 1981

Folder 5: Copyright Correspondence and Materials Related to the Pudction of the CD Satire is Serious Business, 1988-1993

Folder 6: Fourteen Ways to Describe the Rain by Hans Eisler, Essays, notes, rough drafts, correspondence, and outline of lectures, 1981-1986

Folder 7: Heterosexuality as a Subject in My Music with Original Texts and drafts, ca. 1993

Also includes review of "Kontradance Theatre," "Essays Before a Collaboration Self-Exploitation: the Most Reliable Terror," and "Texts are Pretexts" by Ben Johnston.

Folder 8: Memorabilia from the University of Illinois "Notice Group" Student Organization, 1975-1976

Folder 9: Notes on e.e. cumming's bagatelles and Wind and Percussion Music , 1986-1988

Folder 10: Notes in Preparation for a Lecture on Igor Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat, undated

Folder 11: Notes on The Charm of Trivia, 1975-1979

Sub-Series 2: Tenure Portfolio, 1981-1991

Consists of Tenure application documents. Materials are organized by section number for the tenure application.

Box 11

Folder 6: Tenure Portfolio - Table of Contents and CV, 1991

Folder 7: Tenure Portfolio - Five Annual Merit Evaluations, 1987-1991

Folder 8: Tenure Portfolio - Sample Syllabi, 1987-1991

Folder 9: Tenure Portfolio - Sample Assignments and Exams, 1986-1991

Folder 10: Tenure Portfolio - Published Artciles, 1978-1991

"Musical Offerings to Alexander L. Ringer From His Students" (1991); "The Music in Barthes' A Lover's Discourse" Semiotics (1989); "How Do We Fit In?" Perspectives of New Music (1988); "Mahler's Symphony No. 9" The Musical Quarterly (1996) and Musik-Konzepte Sonderband: Gustav Mahler (1996); "Letter to Michael Kowalski" Perspectives of New Music (1985); "Rehearings: Mozart, Quartet in C, K. 465" 19th Century Music (1982); "A Musical Refutation of Susan Sontag's 'Against Interpretation'" Allos: Other Language (1980); "Berg's Op. 5 Rehearsal Instructions" Perspectives of New Music (1978); "Excerpts from a Correspondence with Gaburo" Perspectives of New Music (1995); "Vier Stuke fur Klarinette und Klavier, Op. 5" Musik-Konzepte, 9: Alban Berg (1978).

Folder 11: Tenure Portfolio - Introduction to Swing Time, Festival of American Film, 1990

Folder 12: Tenure Portfolio - [CD] New Graduate Works from the Experimental Music Studios at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1990

Folder 13: Tenure Portfolio - Unsolicited Letters of Support, 1986-1991

Folder 14: Tenure Portfolio - Elwell Concert Series Programs, 1991

Folder 15: Tenure Portfolio - BMI Magazine, 1988

Sub-Series 3: Correspondence, 1973-1998

Consists of correspondence, documenting DeFotis's career as a student, composer, and academic. Materials are organized by subject.

Box 12

Folder 12: Herbert Brün, Ben Johnston, and Wolf Rosenberg, 1982-1989

Folder 13: Herbert Brün, 1972-1986

Folder 14: Kenneth Gaburo, 1977-1993

Folder 15: Letters about performances and publications, 1986-2001

Folder 16: Letters to editors and politicians, 1979-1992

Folder 17: College of William and Mary Colleagues and Students, 1988-1999

Folder 18: Conductors, 1978, 1984-1988, 2002

Folder 19: Graduate School, Conducting, and Academic Postion Appointments, 1978-1984

Box 13

Folder 1: Steven Blum, Richard Herbert Howe, Theodore May, and Mark Sullivan, 1973-1985

Folder 2: John Fonville, Zae Munn, Lesley Olsen, Mark Sikorowski, and Steve Whiting, 1974-1989

Folder 3: Constance DeFotis, 1977-1998

Folder 4: Correspondence from Susan Motycka (1 of 2), 1977-1981

Folder 5: Correspondence from Susan Motycka (2 of 2), 1977-1981

Folder 6: Correspondence to Susan Motycka, 1977-1978

Folder 7: Perry Goldstein and William Brooks, 1977-1985

Folder 8: Composers and Performers, 1978-1988

Folder 9: Saula Ostrowsky, Robin Peller, and Claire Preston, 1977-1982

Folder 10: Kathleen Otte, 1973-1978

Folder 11: Robert and James Rebitzer, 1978-1986

Folder 12: Historians, 1979-1990

Folder 13: Allen Otte and Percussion Group Cincinnati, 1977-1981, 1992

Folder 14: Martha Houle, 1987-1998

Folder 15: Lily Kreywich Niel Immelman, Christine, Pia, and Hermoine Lee, 1989-1990

Folder 16: Friends and Colleagues, 1977-1990