Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi manuscripts collection
Collection
0087-SCPA
Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi (1877-1944) was a music critic and musicologist in Paris and London during the first part of the twentieth century. He spent much of his career championing Russian music. He was involved with Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) and the early years of the Ballets Russes and fostered a particular interest in the music of Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881). The Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi Manuscripts covers the period from 1877 to 1940, and includes undated materials; the bulk of the materials date from 1902 to 1940. The manuscripts consist of 163 pieces of correspondence and one music manuscript. Much of the correspondence is related to his involvement with Russian music, with people asking his advice about various Russian composers, their works, and how to obtain them. There are also letters from performers of Russian music, telling him of their activities. Notable correspondents include Igor Stravinsky, Léon Bakst, Alexandre Benois, Nadia Boulanger, Gerald Finzi, Constant Lambert, Philip Heseltine, and Leo Ornstein.
There are no restricted files in this collection.
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
0.50 Linear Feet
The Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi Manuscripts covers the period from 1877 to 1940, and includes undated materials; the bulk of the materials date from 1902 to 1940. The collection consists of 163 pieces of correspondence and one music manuscript related to Calvocoressi's work as a critic, author, and musicologist during the first part of the twentieth century. Much of the correspondence relates to his involvement with Russian music, with people asking his advice about various Russian composers, their works, and how to obtain them. There are also letters from performers of Russian music, telling him of their activities. Notable correspondents include Igor Stravinsky, Léon Bakst, Alexandre Benois, Nadia Boulanger, Gerald Finzi, Constant Lambert, Philip Heseltine, and Leo Ornstein.
Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi (1877-1944) was a music critic and musicologist in Paris and London during the first part of the twentieth century. Born of Greek parents in France, he studied harmony with Xavier Leroux (1863-1919) at the Paris Conservatoire, where he also began a life-long friendship with Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). Gifted as a polyglot, Calvocoressi worked as a music critic and correspondent for several international periodicals in England, the United States, Russia, and Germany, and he translated numerous musical texts into French and English. He lived in Paris until 1914, when he relocated to London and continued his professional activities there.
Calvocoressi spent much of his career championing Russian music in France and England, with a particular interest in the music of Modest Mussorgsky. Calvocoressi also worked closely with Sergei Diaghilev from shortly before Diaghilev's introduction of Boris Godunov in Paris in 1908 through the early years of the Ballets Russes. His years in London brought him into contact with many of England's leading musicians, such as Gerald Finzi (1901-1956), Constant Lambert (1905-1951), and Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock, 1894-1930), though he enjoyed greater influence while in Paris.
This collection is organized into one series.
Gifts of Margery Lowens made between 1988 and 1992.
Since the initial processing of the collection, some spelling errors in the names of the correspondents has been discovered. Despite those corrections, the original numbering for the files has been kept, and they have been maintained in their original placement in the collection.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library