Finding Aid for Stanley Fletcher Papers, 1923-1987 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Carol Berthold, Mandi Goodsett, and Nolan Vallier

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Collection Overview

Title: Stanley Fletcher Papers, 1923-1987

ID: 12/5/55

Primary Creator: Fletcher, Stanley (1910-1988)

Extent: 7.75 cubic feet

Arrangement: Organized in three series: 1) Sound Recordings, 2) Music and Essays, and 3) Professional Records and Correspondence. Series 1 is arranged chronologically and series 2 is arranged by music genre. Series 2 has six subseries: 1) Piano and Vocal, 2) Piano, 3) Manuscripts and Collections, 4) Opera, 5) Small Ensembles and Orchestra, and 6) Memoirs and Essays. Series 3 has four subseries: 1) Essays and Pedagogical Writings, 2) Concert Programs and Publicity, 3) Correspondence and Personal Journals, and 4) Business Records.

Date Acquired: 01/22/2010. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Depression, 1929 United States, Faculty Papers, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Music, Music, School of, Smith Music Hall, Star Course, World War II

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of reel to reel audio tape recordings of performances and lectures by Stanley Fletcher and other members of the music faculty at the University of Illinois between 1950 and 1980. Also includes original music and two essays documenting Fletcher's work as a composer and faculty member at the University of Illinois between 1923 and 1987.

Biographical Note

Stanley Fletcher was born in Manchester, England in 1910 and moved with his parents to Springfield, MA in 1922 where he received his early musical training. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Fletcher studied piano under Guy Maier, later studying with Artur Schnabel in Berlin. In 1935 he won the Kinley Fellowship at the University of Illinois and joined the piano faculty two years later. During his time as a professor he collaborated with fellow School of Music faculty member and violinist Paul Rolland in creating a series of manuals for teaching string techniques to children. Fletcher also composed and arranged several pedagogical collections of piano music to critical acclaim. As a performer, Fletcher was commended as an outstanding exponent of Chopin, Beethoven, contemporary music, and chamber music. He received major honors not only for his work as a concert artist, but also for his scholarly contributions to musical journals on the subject of music education. Upon retirement in 1971, Fletcher devoted himself to composing; the best known of his compositions is his folk opera, the Five Dollar Opera, first performed in El Paso, Texas. Fletcher died in 1988 in Albuquerque, NM.

Subject/Index Terms

Depression, 1929 United States
Faculty Papers
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Music
Music, School of
Smith Music Hall
Star Course
World War II

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals: Sound recordings acquired from April Fletcher on October 26, 2012 and from Jessica Whipple on June 23, 2014 and February 28, 2016. Two additions were also received from Amaryllis Fletcher on May 5, 2016 and September 12, 2017. The second addition is a set of newspaper articles written by Stanley Fletcher during his music studies in Berlin between 1932 and 1933. Addition consisting of personal journals, pedagogical writings, correspondence, concert programs, photographs, and royalty contracts acquired from April Fletcher on June 19, 2018. Two pieces of Christmas music donated by Jessica Whipple in October, 2018.

Acquisition Source: Champaign County Historical Archives

Acquisition Method: Transfer and gift.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Sound Recordings, 1950-1980],
[Series 2: Music, 1923-1987],
[Series 3: Professional Records and Correspondence, 1931-1989],
[All]

Series 3: Professional Records and Correspondence, 1931-1989

Sub-Series 1: Essays and Pedagogical Writings

Box 14

Folder 1: Notes - Guy Maier's class in Interpretation; Fletcher's class in Appreciation, 1931-35
Folder 2: Music journal publications, 1941-57: Includes "Music-Reading Reconsidered as a Code-Learning Problem" from the Journal of Music Theory, 1957; "Preliminary Notes for a Semantics of Music" from Papers from the Second American Congress on General Semantics, 1941; and "The Piano Studio" from Northwest Music Review, 1948.
Folder 3: Writings on teaching, 1943-68
Folder 4: "Music Fun for the Family" essay, 1949
Folder 5: Observational notes on musical interest and learning in children, 1949
Folder 6: Essay on music literacy in schools, 1953
Folder 7: Copies of "Singing Stories" published in Highlights For Children, 1953-54
Folder 8: Course 330A Piano Pedagogy prep notes, 1960
Folder 9: The Scale Series, ca. 1960
Folder 10: The Problems of Hearing in Performance - lecture for Pedagogy class, ca. 1960
Folder 11: Class prep notes, handouts, and quizzes, 1962
Folder 12: Fletcher essays on the University of Ilinois, 1962-66
Folder 13: Teaching notes, 1975
Folder 14: Book draft, undated
Folder 15: Book draft - Chapters 3, 4, and 5, undated
Folder 16: Book draft - Chapters 7, 10, 11, and notes for 12, undated
Folder 17: Rejected book drafts, undated
Folder 18: Book outline, undated
Folder 19: Chord tests, undated
Folder 20: "The Ensemble Road to Music", undated
Folder 21: Essay drafts, undated
Folder 22: Extra pages from Pedagogy course notes, undated
Folder 23: "FIngering, Facility, and Music", undated
Folder 24: "How Well Do You Know Your Keyboard?", undated
Folder 25: Lecture on Spanish music, undated
Folder 26: Notes on Guy Maier's class on technique, undated
Folder 27: Notes - "Schumann and Being up to Date", undated
Folder 28: Reference notes on rhythm, undated
Folder 29: "Rhythm and Touch" draft, undated
Folder 30: "Subjective Hazards" - possible book chapter, undated
Folder 31: Tribute to Gordon Binkerd, undated
Folder 32: Writings on performance and pedagogy, undated

Box 16

Folder 3: "Singing Stories" (for Highlights for Children) drafts, sketches, and storyboard, ca. 1958
Folder 4: "Singing Tommy" draft, undated

Sub-Series 2: Concert Programs and Publicity

Box 14

Folder 33: Concert programs, 1927-1944
Folder 34: Concert programs, 1945-1953
Folder 35: Concert programs, 1954-1959
Folder 36: Concert programs, 1960-1966
Folder 37: Concert programs, 1967-1974

Box 15

Folder 1: Concert programs, 1975-1990
Folder 2: Concert programs, undated
Folder 3: "A Student in Berlin" - Five-part news story in the Springfield Union, 1932-1933
Folder 4: Concert announcements and reviews, 1933-1966
Folder 5: Concert reviews by Marian Lundquist (Fletcher), 1934-1935
Folder 6: Newsclippings and press releases, 1936-1982
Folder 7: The Highway (Northland College Alumni News) article on Fletcher receiving honorary degree, 1980
Folder 8: School performance programs, 1980-1984
Folder 9: Photographs - headshots and performance, undated
Folder 10: Radio spot ads for Fletcher's All Chopin Concert Series, undated

Box 16

Folder 1: Scrapbook - programs and newsclippings, 1936-1944
Folder 2: Photographs, undated: Includes publicity shots of Julius Cohen and Stanley Fletcher

Sub-Series 3: Correspondence and Personal Journals

Box 15

Folder 11: Berlin journals, 1932-1933
Folder 12: England journals, 1933
Folder 13: Journals, 1936-1938
Folder 14: Journals, 1939-1940
Folder 15: Correspondence, 1942-1945
Folder 16: Concert correspondence, 1944-1946
Folder 17: Mailing lists for concert announcements, ca. 1945
Folder 18: Correspondence with Anis Fuleihan, 1946-1959
Folder 19: Gadsen Concert Series correspondence, 1947-1948
Folder 20: Correspondence re: Music Fun for the Family, 1950-1956
Folder 21: Correspondence with publishers, 1951-1954
Folder 22: Correspondence and notes re: Highlights for Children, 1951-1955
Folder 23: Correspondence re: Singing Stories, 1952-1959
Folder 24: Summy-Birchard correspondence, 1955-1967
Folder 25: Correspondence re: String Project with Paul Rolland, 1968-1971
Folder 26: Boosey and Hawkes correspondence and royalties, 1969-1988
Folder 27: Gordon Binkerd correspondence, 1970-1987
Folder 28: Baer Family correspondence, 1971-1987
Folder 29: Boosey and Hawkes correspondence, 1972-1986
Folder 30: Nell Wainwright correspondence, 1980-1982
Folder 31: Correspondence re: lyric rights, 1981-1984
Folder 33: Address cards, undated

Sub-Series 4: Business Records

Box 15

Folder 34: Copyrights (Fletcher and Rolland), 1945, 1968
Folder 35: List of performances, 1927-1983
Folder 36: Royalty contracts, 1950-1979
Folder 37: Illinois Piano Teachers Conference materials, 1952-1960
Folder 38: Summy-Birchard Company contract, 1956-1962
Folder 39: Royalties - G. Schirmer, 1959-1963
Folder 40: Carolyn Powell's writings for Illinois Piano Teachers Conference, 1960
Folder 41: Royalties - Mills Music, 1960-1963
Folder 42: Materials re: Fletcher and Izler Solomon at the Indianapolis Symphony, 1966
Folder 43: Retirement certificate from U of I Board of Trustees, 1971

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Sound Recordings, 1950-1980],
[Series 2: Music, 1923-1987],
[Series 3: Professional Records and Correspondence, 1931-1989],
[All]