Finding Aid for Alexander L Ringer Papers, 1921-2002 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Noah Lenstra, Adriana P. Cuervo, Laurie Lee Moses, Rachel Shulman

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Collection Overview

Title: Alexander L Ringer Papers, 1921-2002

ID: 12/5/43

Primary Creator: Ringer, Alexander L. (1921-2002)

Extent: 55.0 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: Papers organized into five series, which are further organized into sub-series based on geography, professional group and Ringer's professional roles. The file are arranged chronologically.

Date Acquired: 06/18/2008

Subjects: Faculty Papers, Folk music - Instruction and study, Ford Foundation, KodÃ¡ly Center of America, KodÃ¡ly Musical Training Center, Music, School of, Music - Instruction and study - Hungary, Music - Instruction and study - Juvenile - 20th century, Music teachers - Scholarships, fellowships, etc., Music teachers - Training of - Israel, Music teachers - Training of - United States

Formats/Genres: Papers

Languages: English, German, Hebrew, French, Hungarian, Italian, Dutch;Flemish, Spanish;Castilian

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Personal and professional papers of Alexander L. Ringer. Includes correspondence, education materials, administrative documents, video and sound recordings, manuscripts of articles, book chapters and lectures, and photographs that document Ringer's career as an educator, academic musicologist, researcher, and administrator at the University of Illinois and in various academic music associations. The papers also document the development of the Kodaly education program in the United States and Israel.

Biographical Note

Alexander L. Ringer was an American research musicologist and educator of Dutch and Polish descent (b. February 3, 1921-Berlin, d. May 3, 2002, Lansing, Michigan). He was a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (1943-44). After the war, Ringer emigrated to New York City in 1947. There he received a M.A. in Sociology and psychology in 1948 from the New School for Social Research and a Ph.D. of Musicology in 1955 from the City College, Columbia University. At Columbia he studied under Paul Henry Lang.

Following the completion of his degree, Ringer then taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Oklahoma, among other places, before coming to the University of Illinois in 1958, where he attained full professor status in 1963. Beginning in 1963, Ringer served as chair of the musicology division for six years. After this period he then directed the school's graduate and professional curricula. Ringer supervised the theses and dissertations of many graduate students, while also teaching many undergraduate courses in musicology. Furthermore, Ringer served on numerous committees at UIUC, including the UIUC-Tehran University partnership, and was active in UIUC's American Professors for Peace in the Middle East, the American Association of University Professors, and the UIUC Philosophy Club (of which Ringer was president for many years). Ringer also founded the UIUC Committee on Jewish Culture and Society. Ringer retired from the university in 1991.

Ringer was also active in other universities, most notably the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he served as Fulbright Visiting Professor in 1962 to 1963 and in 1966 to 1967, in order to found and chair that school's musicology department. Ringer also served as visiting professor at the Eastman Schoolf of Music (1974), Tel Aviv University (1983), and Heidelberg University - Academy for Jewish Studies (1983). Ringer also gave guest lectures at universities, conferences and festivals throughout the world. He was highly active in the American Musicological Society, the College Music Society, the Organization of American Kodaly Educators, the International Kodaly Society, the Music Educators National Conference, the Music Library Association, the German Musicological Society, the World Congress on Jewish Music, the International Schoenberg Society, Society for Ethnomusicology and the International Folk Music Council.

In 1975 Ringer helped found the International Kodaly Society, and earlier Ringer was instrumental in bringing the Kodaly method in elementary music education from Hungary to the United States and Israel. He (with the help of Isaac Stern) received grant funding to launch and direct the Kodaly Fellowship program for many years both in America and in Israel. Ringer also served for many years as artistic adviser for the Jerusalem Music Centre.

Ringer also lead ethnomusicology research projects to study the maqam tradition in the Middle East (1970-1975) and the Hebrew Melodies in the Hungarian Oral Tradition (1977-1990). In addition, Ringer wrote and researched extensively on the life and works of Arnold Schoenberg, Kurt Weill, Ludwig von Beethoven, Gustav Mahler, George Rochberg. Ringer has also researched and written extensively on romantic era, Western European music; eastern influences on Western music throughout time; the history of Jewish music and Jewish influences into Western music; and Music Education. Ringer primarily wrote in English and German, but he also delivered lectures in Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Hungarian, French and Dutch.

Ringer was a member of the editorial board of Musica Judaica and general co-editor of the collected edition of Arnold Schoenberg's writings. He also served as editor of the International Folk Music Council's Yearbook (1968-1970), which he also founded, and edited a volume in the Music and Society series, "The Early Romantic Era - Between Revolutions: 1789 and 1848."

Finally, as a conductor, Ringer held choral positions in New York, Philadelphia, Berkeley, and Norman, Oklahoma. At UIUC he presented works by Mozart, Beethoven and Bruckner, in addition to coaching a number of recitalists.

Subject/Index Terms

Faculty Papers
Folk music - Instruction and study
Ford Foundation
KodÃ¡ly Center of America
KodÃ¡ly Musical Training Center
Music, School of
Music - Instruction and study - Hungary
Music - Instruction and study - Juvenile - 20th century
Music teachers - Scholarships, fellowships, etc.
Music teachers - Training of - Israel
Music teachers - Training of - United States

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Alternate Extent Statement: 55.0 cu. ft.

Acquisition Source: Ringer Family

Acquisition Method: Donation

Processing Information: Series 1 completed 7/18/2008. Remaining series completed 3/16/2009.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: KodÃ¡ly method (music education), 1966-1997],
[Series 2: University committees, faculty correspondence, teaching and campus engagement, 1955-2000],
[Series 3: Research notes, drafts and correspondence],
[Series 4: Academic associations and professional travel],
[Series 5: Personal material],
[All]

Series 5: Personal material

Box 18: Oversized material

Folder 8: Dragan Plamenac, Trois Poemes de Ch. Baudelaire, Chant et Piano, Zagreb., 1915: Sheet music.
Folder 10: Posters of G. Rossini and A.E.M. Gretry, undated

Box 129: Articles and book chapters of colleagues

Folder 1: Hans Rudolf Vaget articles and correspondence, 1995-1996
Folder 2: Ernest May, "Breitkopf's Role in the Transmission of Bach's Works" manuscript
Folder 3: Articles by Irving Godt
Folder 4: Wilhelm Fischer, "On the Evolution of the Vienna Classic Style"
Folder 5: Rudolf Vig, Indian Folk Music Ethnomusicology UNESCO report, 1966-1969
Folder 6: Anselm Gerhard correspondence and articles, 1998
Folder 7: William Kay Archer, Ethnomusicology papers "On the Ecology of Music" and "Memorandum on Ethnomusicology", 1962
Folder 8: Israeli publications in Hebrew and English: Includes "The Leningrad Branch of the RSFSR Union of Composers" by Don Ogen, Sacred Jewish Music, published by Israel Institute for Sacred Music, edited by Avigdor Herzog
Folder 9: Articles and book chapters, many personally addressed to Ringer (1 of 2): Includes "Spiegeltanz" by Yehuda Yannay; Edwub Seroussi article; Halasz Peter "Szabolsci Bence, A Magyarszagi Zsido Zene Kutatoja; "Greatness in Music"; Vines in Paris by Elaine Brody; Susan Parisi, 'Licenza alla Mantovana' Frescobaldi and the Recruitment of Musicians for Mantua, 1612-15; and photocopied book chapters
Folder 10: Articles and book chapters, many personally addressed to Ringer (2 of 2): Includes Music in Time, Rubin Academy of Music and Art; Netherlands Composers; Claude Palisca, "The 'Camerata Fiorentina' A Reappraisal; John Lynn, "French Opinion and the Military Resurrection of the Pike, 1792-1794."; and photocopied articles.
Folder 11: Material on Spertus College of Judaica for Mid-West Jewish Studies Association meeting, Chicago, 1989
Folder 12: 'Souvenirs' folder, music programs and brochures from travels, 1972: Includes letters from Mrs. Ringer
Folder 13: Miscellaneous postcard correspondence, 1960s-1980s

Box 130: 1959-1992

Folder 1: S.S. Waterman - Cruise Ship - Ringer serves as musical director on ship, 1959: Includes "The Masthead" on-board publication of the cruise-ship and correspondence, Netherlands Office for Foreign Student Relations.
Folder 2: Personal correspondence, 1963-1974
Folder 3: Personal material, 1997-2002: Includes tax information, driver's license copy, pet registration, Jewish material claims against Germany forms, drawings of children,
Folder 4: European furniture purchase, related correspondence, 1961-1962
Folder 5: Robbery in Tel Aviv, 1987
Folder 6: Addresses in Europe for Travel, 1987/1994
Folder 7: Fulbright orientation packet, 1962
Folder 8: Travel vouchers, receipts and regulations, 1967-1973
Folder 9: Newspaper clippings and newsletters, 1981-2002
Folder 10: Concert and lecture programs, 1955-1992

Box 131: 1985-2001

Folder 9: Personal material and handwritten notes, 1985-2001

Box 134: 1969-1995

Folder 3: Off-print articles by colleagues (many signed by authors) (1 of 2), 1964-1995: Includes articles by Marianna Danckwardt, William M. Calder III, Henry Kahane, Edith Gerson-Kiwi, Walter Salmen, Elaine Brody, L. Dobszay, I. Kecskemeti, Amnon Shiloah, Erik Cohen, Lois W. Roth, Allen S. Weller, Albrecht Riethmuller, Lawrence Gushee, Maud Karpeles, Peter Crossley-Holland, Kurt von Fischer, Carl Dahlhaus, Dalia Cohen, and Paul Collaer,
Folder 4: Off-print articles by colleagues (many signed by authors) (2 of 2), 1964-1995: Includes articles by Marianna Danckwardt, William M. Calder III, Henry Kahane, Edith Gerson-Kiwi, Walter Salmen, Elaine Brody, L. Dobszay, I. Kecskemeti, Amnon Shiloah, Erik Cohen, Lois W. Roth, Allen S. Weller, Albrecht Riethmuller, Lawrence Gushee, Maud Karpeles, Peter Crossley-Holland, Kurt von Fischer, Carl Dahlhaus, Dalia Cohen, and Paul Collaer,
Folder 5: Programs for conferences, festivals, concerts, 1966-2002: Includes programs for XIXe Congres van de Internationale Raad Voor Volksmuziek; XVIIe Concours International D'Orgue Grand Prix de Chartres; Dean's Day '95 - Columbia University; Vortragsreihe Russische Musik im 20. Jahrundert, 1999; International Musicological Society Intercongressional Symposium, 2000, Budapest; 17th Congress of the IMS, Leuven; 19th Conference of IFMC, Ostend; 18th Conference of IFMC, Legon; Music and German Literature, UIUC, 1989; 14th Congress of the IMS, Bologna, 1987; Eighth Congress of the IMS, New York; Sixth meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association, UIUC, 1977; Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, 2002; Dvorak Sesquicentennial Festival, New Orleans, 1991; Rheingau Musik Festival, 2000
Folder 6: Programs for festivals, conferences and concerts, 1966-2000: Includes various conference programs for International Musicological Society, International Folk Music Council, special festivals and UIUC conferences.

Box 135: 1951-2000

Folder 1: Concert Programs, directories and periodicals, 1951-2000: Includes Carl Dahlhaus article "Adornos Strawinsky-Kritik; Sonorities 2000, with information on Ringer's appearance at Musical Intersections, Toronto; Current Anthropology 1966; Ringer's article "A propos du developpement de l'instrumentation au debut du XIXe siecle," Acta Musicologica; International Directory of Folk Music Record Libraries, 1963; Directory of Institutions and Organisations concerned wholly or in part with folk music, 1964; Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1971-1972; Paul Vermel and Paul Martin Zonn perform George Crumb, 1981; Krannert program, 1992; Concert of Central Javanese Music and Dance, 1995, UIUC; 1951 Fall Season, New York City Opera Company; Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1996.
Folder 2: Shorthand notebooks of Ringer's dictation to Pat Young (1 of 5), 1981-1989
Folder 3: Shorthand notebooks of Ringer's dictation to Pat Young (2 of 5), 1981-1989
Folder 4: Shorthand notebooks of Ringer's dictation to Pat Young (3 of 5), 1981-1989

Box 136: 1981-1989

Folder 1: Shorthand notebooks of Ringer's dictation to Pat Young (4 of 5), 1981-1989
Folder 2: Shorthand notebooks of Ringer's dictation to Pat Young (5 of 5), 1981-1989
Folder 3: Berlin Museum Calendar, 1996, designs for Danish Summer Opera House, 1993, 1993/1996
Folder 4: "Ben-Zion Orgad: The Old Decrees, A Passion in Five Testimonies", 1971: From Testimonium festival, 1971
Folder 5: Harrison Kerr, "Sonata for Violin and Piano", 1973
Folder 6: Hanoch Avenary, off-print from Encyclopedia Judaica, "Music-Jewish"
Folder 7: Edwin Franko Goldman, "On the Pier March" for piano solo, 1927
Folder 14: Water-color drawing, undated

Box 150: Medetarranean vacation slides

Item 1: Medetarranean vacation slides