Irwin Heilner papers
Collection
0360-SCPA-HEILNER
Irwin Heilner (b. New York City, May 8, 1908; d. January 18, 1991) was an American composer of contemporary art music. During the 1930s, Heilner was a member of the Young Composers’ Group, founded by the composer Elie Siegmeister, which met regularly at the home of Aaron Copland. In 1932, Heilner briefly studied with Nadia Boulanger. He also studied with Roger Sessions and Rubin Goldmark. Heilner earned a BS and MA in music and a MS in Library Service from Columbia University. His compositions feature song, chamber music, and larger form works. The Irwin Heilner papers include one box containing correspondence, photographs, programs, and clippings sent from Heilner to Sarah Waldstein Cohn and the artist Max Arthur Cohn between 1931 and 1985.
All letters were received folded in their original envelopes. Otherwise, all items of correspondence are stable and legible. One of two tintypes is degrading.
There is one restricted file in this collection. Consult with the curator regarding the termination of restrictions. The remainder of the materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
Copyright was not transferred to the University of Maryland with the physical gift of the papers. The donors retain any copyright possessed in the collection. The University of Maryland Libraries is granted permission for the use in scholarly research by the Libraries’ patrons under fair use in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
0.5 Linear Feet (one box)
108 Items : Correspondence (83 ALS, 22 TLS, 2 APS, and a telegram)
3 Items : Playbills/programs
2 Items : Fliers
2 Photographs : Tintypes
English
Irwin Heilner (1908-1991) was a notable American composer who lived in the New York City metro area and was once a member of the American Composers Aliance. The papers include one box containing correspondence, photographs, programs, and clippings sent from Heilner to Sarah (Waldstein) and Max Arthur Cohn between 1931 and 1985.
Sarah Waldstein Cohn (1900-1994) was was a longtime friend of Heilner. She married artist Max Arthur Cohn in 1934 and died in New York City at the age of 93.
Max Arthur Cohn remains one of the notable American painters from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) era. He was born in London, England in 1903. His family emigrated to the United States and he became a naturalized American citizen. In the late 1920s he studied at the Art Students League in New York City. During the 1930s he was an easel painter and served as an executive board member of the New York WPA Artists Association. He co-founded the National Serigraph Society and wrote the book Silk Screen Stenciling. He was a member of many art associations and his art is represented in several prominent collections, such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Topics covered in the collected correspondence include music, contemporaneous composers and musicians, international travel, Nadia Boulanger, performances and reviews of Heilner's music, family life, and art.
Irwin Heilner (b. New York City, May 8, 1908; d. January 18, 1991) was an American composer of contemporary art music. He lived in Brooklyn for his early years, settling in 1952 in Clifton, New Jersey, with his family. He was married to Florence, with whom they had two children – the musicians Eric Heilner and Deborah Holland (best known for her work with Animal Logic).
During the 1930s, Heilner was a member of the Young Composers’ Group, founded by the composer Elie Siegmeister, which met regularly at the home of Aaron Copland. Other members of the group included Arthur Berger (1912-2003), Henry Brant (1913-2008), Israel Citkowitz (1909-1974), Lehman Engel (1910-1982), Vivian Fine (1913-2000), Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975) and Jerome Moross (1913-1983).
Heilner studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the spring of 1932, with a recommendation from Copland, but the two did not get along and his planned three years of study lasted merely three months. Heilner and Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991) challenged the French influence that pervaded American music via the influence of Boulanger.
Heilner's other notable teachers include Roger Sessions and Rubin Goldmark. Though he attended the Juilliard School, he earned a BS and MA in music and a MS in Library Service from Columbia University. His compositions feature song, chamber music, and larger form works. William Strickland championed and recorded Heilner’s music.
SOURCES:
"Irwin Heilner." American Composer Alliance website. https://composers.com/irwin-heilner, last accessed 18 September 2019.
Concert program, The Nutley Symphony Orchestra (of Northern New Jersey). Sunday, October 25, 1981.
Composer with a Conscience: Elie Siegmeister in Profile Author(s): Carol J. Oja Source: American Music , Summer, 1988, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer, 1988), pp. 158-180 Published by: University of Illinois Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3051547
The Music of Aaron Copland Author(s): Arthur V. Berger Source: The Musical Quarterly , Oct., 1945, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Oct., 1945), pp. 420-447
Gift of Eric Heilner, 21 May 2019. Accruals are anticipated. These letters were returned from Sarah Cohn to the Heilner family upon Irwin's death.
All letters were received folded in their original envelopes. Otherwise, all items of correspondence are stable and legible. One of two tintypes is degrading.
All materials were kept in their original order as donated. Folded items were unfolded and kept with the associated envelope. In a few instances the envelope is missing. The materials were received in small plastic bags containing batches of correspodnence arranged by year, each bag with a note indicating the year or range. In two cases the notes were retained when they contained additional information beyond the year.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library