Dr. James Benner Oral History Audio and Notes

File

Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository

https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu

Contact:
1549 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown WV 26506-6069 US
304-293-3536
wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.com

Collection organization

A&M 3972: Frances Yeend, Opera Singer, Photographs, Recordings, and Papers

Publicity Photographs of Frances Yeend, undated

Chronological Listing of Yeend's Performances, 1943-1966, undated

Cassettes, undated

Cassettes, CD, and Other Recordings, undated

Cassettes, CDs, VHS, Poster/Handbill, and Rings (Woodburn Circle Society), undated

Cassettes and Scores, undated

Chautauqua Files, undated

Piano-Vocal Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire), undated

Piano-Vocal Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire; this box includes an "Elektra" score [likely by Richard Strauss] with rehearsal markings, apparently the copy that Yeend worked from for her Metropolitan Opera debut; also includes scores to "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Feuersnot" by Strauss), undated

Piano-Vocal Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire), undated

Piano-Vocal Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire; this box includes scores of Mahler's Symphonies No. 2 and No. 4; also includes American scores [without markings] of "Regina" by Blitzstein and "McTeague" by Bolcom), undated

Piano-Vocal Opera Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire), undated

Piano-Vocal Scores with Personalized Binding for Yeend (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire; this box includes Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Missa Solemnis and Verdi's Requiem with inscription by conductor Eugene Ormandy; also includes Mahler's Symphony No. 8), undated

Piano-Vocal Scores with Graphic Interest (includes "Parsifal" by Wagner and two scores by Virgil Thomson), undated

Piano-Vocal Scores (includes photocopy of "The Threepenny Opera" by Brecht, among others), undated

James Benner Papers (includes slides of WVU opera productions, photocopies of piano-vocal scores with Benner's English translations and production notes, and documentation of his English translation work), undated

Scores and Books, Collectible (includes souvenir book given to Yeend by the Israel Philharmonic in 1954 of "Song of Solomon" published in Jerusalem; also includes a two volume edition of a biography of Jenny Lind [1891] and piano-vocal scores to "Dream of a Summer Night" [1850] and "Psyche" [1878, likely first edition] by Ambroise Thomas), 1850, 1878-1891, 1954, undated

Books (includes music related books, such as "Who's Who in Music" [1951], "Pictorial Treasury of Opera in America," etc.), 1951, undated

Scores and Books (includes original manuscript of song "Gypsy Lament" by Yeend, annual artist advertisment issues of Musical America from late 1940s and early 1950s [with advertisements for Yeend]; and orchestrations with parts of excerpts from "La traviata" by Verdi provided to Yeend by Columbia Artists Management]), ca. 1940s-1950s, undated

Programs, undated

Letters, Newspapers, and Pamphlets, undated

Notes, Letters, and Paperwork, undated

Records, undated

Records, WVU Opera Theatre Production Lists, WVU Opera Production Pictures, and Bel Canto Trio File, undated

Framed/Signed Photographs (including soprano Joan Sutherland, soprano Eleanor Steber, soprano Mary Garden, dancers Alexandre Volinine and Anna Pavlova, soprano Helen Jepson, Columbia Grand Opera Quartet [Yeend, Helen Olheim, William Hain, Arthur Kent], mezzo-soprano Mona Paulee, and conductor Thomas Schippers), undated

Framed/Signed Photographs (including conductors Bruno Walter, Eugene Ormandy, Dimitri Mitropoulos, William Steinberg, John Barbirolli, and George Szell; bass-baritone George London and soprano Rosa Ponselle), undated

Piano-Vocal Score of "La traviata" by Verdi (given to Yeend by Rosa Ponselle; includes Ponselle's rehearsal markings), undated

Photos and Christmas Cards, Photographs from her Metropolitan Opera Debut, and Photos of Other Artists (includes a photo with signatures of Bob Hope and Arnold Palmer; also includes a manuscript by American composer David Diamond of song cycle "Love and Time"), undated

Framed Certificates, Doctorate (Yeend), and Biographical Information, undated

Framed Certificates and Posters/Handbill (includes large color poster for Yeend published by Columbia Artists Management for her concerts), undated

"Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe" Edition of Bach's Works, Edwards Music Reprints, 1947; box 36 contains the book "J.S. Bach, The Modern Composer" by Augusta Rubin, including inscription by the author, ca. 1947, undated

Verdi Edition (incomplete), University of Chicago Press [1 of 3], undated

Verdi Edition (incomplete), University of Chicago Press [2 of 3], undated

"114 Songs By Charles E. Ives" (first edition), 1922

Paray's "Mass for the Fifth Centenary of the Death of Joan of Arc" (rehearsal score for Yeend), 1931

Verdi Edition (incomplete), University of Chicago Press [3 of 3], undated

Sound Recordings of Yeend (includes 1 tape and 1 compact disc), undated

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition, and other assorted books, 1906

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1st Edition, 1980

Books regarding Music (includes material regarding composers, conductors, and performers) and Other Material, undated

Cassettes, undated

Piano-Vocal Score of "Foolish Fathers" by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari with English Translation by James Benner [this piece is likely a unique translation of "I quattro rusteghi," often translated as "The Four Curmudgeons," "The Four Ruffians," or "School for Fathers"], undated

Piano-Vocal Scores (includes early edition of "Norma" [by Bellini], and Yeend's rehearsal score for "Peter Grimes" [by Britten], for which she sang Ellen Orford in the American premiere of the opera in 1947), undated

Piano-Vocal Score of "The Turn of the Screw" by Britten (photocopy with rehearsal markings by Benner), undated

Scrapbook (includes postcards of European scenes and program for "Turandot" by Puccini starring Yeend in title role at the Verona Arena in the 1950s), undated

Framed Opera Poster for WVU Production of "Foolish Fathers" by Wolf-Ferrari [this production is likely of a unique translation of "I quattro rusteghi," often translated as "The Four Curmudgeons," "The Four Ruffians," or "School for Fathers"], undated

Popular Sheet Music (before moving to New York, Yeend performed popular songs on the radio; this is the music she worked with), ca. 1920-1950

Yeend Scrapbook 2 (scrapbook of clippings documenting Yeend's career compiled by clipping service for Columbia Artists Management; in flat storage box), 1949–1950

Yeend Scrapbook 3 (scrapbook of clippings documenting Yeend's career compiled by clipping service for Columbia Artists Management; in large paige records carton), 1950–1953

Clippings Scrapbook, 1944-1950s

Clippings Scrapbook (includes clipping regarding gift of Verdi score to Yeend from Ormandy [see box 15]), 1953–1957

Clippings Scrapbook, 1947–1952

Clippings Scrapbook, 1944–1956

Clippings Scrapbook, 1946–1953

Published art songs of various genres and composers, including miscellaneous (including a cover with Yeend's photo), old German lied, Elizabethan songs, Amy Beach, Arthur Farwell, American opera arias, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, David Diamond, Gerald Finzi, Frederick Delius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Arnold Bax, undated

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th Edition, 1961

Yeend Scrapbook 1 (scrapbook of clippings documenting Yeend's career compiled by clipping service for Columbia Artists Management), 1947–1949

Yeend Scrapbook 4 (scrapbook of clippings documenting Yeend's career compiled by clipping service for Columbia Artists Management), 1954–1955

"Turandot" Poster, Verona, 1958

"Elektra" Poster from Yeend's Debut at the Metropolitan Opera, 1961

Framed Opera Poster for Production of "The Secret Marriage" [frequently known as "Il matrimonio segreto"], undated

3972_loaned_01: Wilhemine Schroder-Devrient Note and Photograph

Dr. James Benner Oral History Audio and Notes

Dr. James Benner Oral History Audio and Notes

Digital Material

Repository Details

Repository Details

Collection organization