Edwin Franko Goldman papers
Collection
0020-SCPA
Edwin Franko Goldman (1878-1956), a founder of the American Bandmasters Association and its first president, was a composer, scholar, and prominent conductor. In 1911, he formed his own band which began a summer concert series, later know as the Guggenhiem Memorial Concert Series, in New York City in 1918. This tradition continued under other directors, including Goldman's son, Richard Franko Goldman, who led the band from 1956 to 1979. Goldman championed the performance of neglected band music giving the American premieres of a number of important works, including commissioned pieces from many contemporary composers such as Ottorino Respighi, Percy Grainger, Morton Gould, and Virgil Thomson. The collection contains press-books of clippings, programs, press releases, correspondence, memorabilia, and photographs related to the Goldman Band's annual summer concerts in New York City; and correspondence, articles, administrative records, conference programs, committee reports, and memorabilia related to Goldman's tenure as president of the American Bandmasters Association.
Because of the fragile nature of parts of this collection, please consult the curator regarding access and handling.
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. Contact the curator for an appointment: http://www.lib.umd.edu/scpa/contact
18.50 Linear Feet
The Edwin Franko Goldman papers cover the period from 1895 to c.1977; the bulk of the materials date from 1919 to c.1977. The papers contain press-books of clippings, programs, press releases, correspondence, memorabilia, and photographs related to the Goldman Band's annual summer concerts in New York, NY; and correspondence, articles, administrative records, conference programs, committee reports, and memorabilia related to Goldman's tenure as president of the American Bandmasters Association.
Edwin Franko Goldman (1878-1956), a founder of the American Bandmasters Association, was born in Louisville, Kentucky on 1 January 1878. Taken to New York to study music, he was eventually enrolled at the National Conservatory where he studied cornet and was a composition student of Antonín Dvořák. From 1899 to 1909 Goldman was solo cornetist with the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. In 1911 he formed his own band which began a summer concert series in New York City in 1918 and was later renamed the Guggenheim Memorial Concert Series; this tradition continued under other directors including Goldman's son, Richard Franko Goldman, who led the band from 1956-1979. The band ceased operations in 2005.
Goldman championed the performance of neglected band music and gave the American premieres of a number of important works, including Berlioz's Symphonie funebre et triomphale. Goldman believed strongly in the need for new music to enrich the repertoire of the band, and commissioned many contemporary composers including Ottorino Respighi, Percy Grainger, Morton Gould, and Virgil Thomson to write for the medium. He composed over one-hundred marches including On the Mall (1923), and wrote several books, including The Goldman Band System (1935).
In addition to being a founder, Goldman was the American Bandmasters Association's first president, and second honorary life president. He died on 21 February 1956 in New York, leaving behind an unpublished autobiography, Facing the Music, the manuscript of which is in the Library of Congress.
This collection has been divided into nine series.
The bulk of this collection was given to the ABA Research Center by Edwin Franko Goldman's son, Richard Franko Goldman on 13 August 1975.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library