Collection Manuscript/Mixed Material George and Ira Gershwin collection,

Title

• George and Ira Gershwin collection,

Summary

• The George and Ira Gershwin Collection contains music manuscripts, handwritten and typewritten lyric sheets, printed music, correspondence, photographs, programs and publicity materials, legal and financial documents, and thirty-one scrapbooks, which present nearly a complete record of the Gershwins' lives and work as they were chronicled in the contemporary press.
• The Music series contains manuscript and printed scores, sketches, and instrumental parts, as well as manuscript and typescript lyric sheets. These range from George's first hit, "Swanee" (1919), through the end of George and Ira's career and form the centerpiece of the collection. The first and largest series of music materials is that relating to stage and screen musical shows: revues, book musicals, operettas, "Porgy and Bess," film musicals, and films with musical numbers. The compositional and production processes are documented with musical sketches, lyric sheets, short scores, piano-vocal scores, full scores, and orchestral parts. Many of the music manuscripts are in George's hand, with others in the hand of orchestrators, arrangers, editors, copyists and, in some instances, other composers. Most of the lyric sheets are Ira's work, holograph and/or typescript. Some shows are more extensively documented than others, with the earlier works (particularly those prior to 1923) less well represented. Smaller in quantity, but of great interest nonetheless are the music materials for George's concert works, chiefly sketches, short scores, and full scores. Also present are musical sketchbooks, many of which contain material relating to the musicals and/or concert music, as well as the famous so-called "Song File" and an assortment of miscellaneous musical material.
• The Correspondence series contains chiefly correspondence of George (much of it written by him), with a lesser quantity to and by Ira, and a small amount with other members of the Gershwin family and Alexander Smallens. Of particular note is the correspondence between George and Ira, remarkable for the fact that the brothers lived and worked together, therefore it was rare for them to be apart and need to write one another. Also included is correspondence with theor friends and colleagues, Merle Armitage, Benjamin and Henry Botkin, Walter Damrosch, Aileen Pringle, Albert Sirmay, Selma Tamber, Rosamond Walling Tirana, and Kurt Weill.
• The Scrapbooks series contains the earliest materials that present information about the pastimes of George and Ira from their teenage years and include clippings, programs, and scattered early publications. From about 1920 on, however, the scrapbooks are devoted almost entirely to press coverage of the Gershwins and their work in the form of clippings and lengthier articles.
• The Iconography series includes approximately 180 photographs of George and Ira and their friends, in addition to a self-portrait oil painting of each brother, several drawings by George, and three water colors by Henry Botkin.
• The remaining series contain Publicity Materials, printed Programs, Financial Documents and Legal Documents (including an extensive file of contracts for stage and screen musicals and other commercial projects), and Artifacts: George's piano, desk, and metronome, Ira's typing table, typewriter, and fountain pen, and the Congressional Gold Medals struck in honor of the Gershwins.

Names

• Gershwin, George, 1898-1937
• Bennett, Robert Russell, 1894-1981
• Daly, William Merrigan, 1887-1936
• DePackh, Maurice, 1896-1960
• Heyward, DuBose, 1885-1940
• Kaufman, George S. (George Simon), 1889-1961
• Ryskind, Morrie, 1895-1985
• Saddler, Frank
• Sirmay, Albert
• Spialek, Hans
• Swift, Kay, 1897-1993
• Gershwin, Ira, 1896-1983

Headings

• -  Gershwin, George,--1898-1937
• -  Gershwin, George,--1898-1937--Archives
• -  Gershwin, George,--1898-1937--Correspondence
• -  Gershwin, George,--1898-1937--Photographs
• -  Gershwin, Ira,--1896-1983
• -  Gershwin, Ira,--1896-1983--Archives
• -  Gershwin, Ira,--1896-1983--Correspondence
• -  Gershwin, Ira,--1896-1983--Photographs
• -  Musicals--Scores
• -  Musicals--Vocal scores with piano
• -  Gershwin, George,--1898-1937.--Porgy and Bess
• -  Composers--United States
• -  Composers--United States--Autographs
• -  Composers--United States--Correspondence
• -  Lyricists--United States
• -  Lyricists--United States--Correspondence
• -  Armitage, Merle,--1893-1975--Correspondence
• -  Botkin, Benjamin Albert,--1901-1975--Correspondence
• -  Botkin, Henry Albert,--1896-1983--Correspondence
• -  Corbett, Rosamond Walling Tirana,--1910-1999--Correspondence
• -  Damrosch, Walter,--1862-1950--Correspondence
• -  Gershwin, Rose--Correspondence
• -  Pringle, Aileen,--1895-1989--Correspondence
• -  Sirmay, Albert--Correspondence
• -  Tamber, Selma--Correspondence
• -  Weill, Kurt,--1900-1950--Correspondence
• -  Musicals
• -  Musical films
• -  Revues

Genre

• Scores
• Vocal scores
• Parts (Music)
• Art music
• Musical films
• Musicals
• Popular music
• Correspondence
• Scrapbooks
• Programs (Documents)
• Financial records
• Legal documents
• Artifacts (Object genre)
• Photographic prints

Notes

• -  Organized into the following series: I. Music (1913-1954), II. Correspondence (1915-1976), III. Biographical Materials (1913-1986), IV. Scrapbooks (1913-1986), V. Iconography (1894-1991), VI. Publicity Materials (1925-1984), VII. Programs (1918-1988), VIII. Financial Documents (1919-1977), IX. Legal Documents (1898-1975), X. Artifacts (1910-1988), XI. Miscellany (1923-1973).
• -  Composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) and his lyricist brother Ira (1896-1983) wrote some of the most significant American popular songs of the first half of the twentieth century. Working with novelist and poet DuBose Heyward, they created the great American opera Porgy and Bess. Additionally, George Gershwin composed several singularly American concert works, including An American in Paris and Rhapsody in blue, and both brothers produced many distinguished songs working with other collaborators.
• -  Collection materials in English.
• -  Gift; Gershwin family and other; 1939-2023.
• -  Purchase; Gershwin Fund; 1991-2024.
• -  Purchase; Library of Congress; 1990-2023.
• -  The Ira Gershwin files from the law office of Leonard Saxe, housed in the Library of Congress Music Division, relate primarily to Ira's personal legal affairs and the activities of the Rose Gershwin Testamentary Trust from 1948 to 1968.
• -  Other special Music Division collections containing related material are: The Ferde Grofé Collection (materials for 'Rhapsody in Blue,' including Grofé's holograph score for his original jazz band scoring), The Serge Koussevitzky Archive, The Moldenhauer Archives at the Library of Congress, The Rose Marie Grentzer and Harold Spivacke Fund Collection, The Vernon Duke Collection, and The Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection.
• -  Materials concerning Porgy and Bess; DuBose Heyward Papers (SCHS# 1172.00); Also available at the; South Carolina Historical Society; 205 Calhoun St. Charleston, SC 29401 USA.
• -  Research and publication materials for The Gershwin Years; Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart Collection of Gershwin Research Materials; Also available at the; Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas in Austin; 300 West 21st Street Austin, Texas 78712 USA.
• -  Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room and at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu010014
• -  George and Ira Gershwin Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

Medium

• 60,705 items (145 boxes, 8 mapcase folders, 71 linear feet)

Call Number/Physical Location

• ML31 .G38

Repository

• Library of Congress Music Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.home

Library of Congress Control Number

• 2010561028

Rights Advisory

• Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.

Access Advisory

• Open to research.
• Not all materials in this collection may be readily accessible; please request accessibility information well in advance of your visit https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/2010561028

Additional Metadata Formats

• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record