La Violette, Wesley music manuscripts and papers
Content Description
A collection of music manuscripts and scores for orchestra, chamber music ensembles, opera, voice and solo instruments by composer and former Northwestern University School of Music professor Wesley LaViolette. The colleciton also includes a small amount of La Violette's papers including three books.
Dates
- 1913 - 1978
Creator
- La Violette, Wesley, 1894-1978 (Person)
Biographical / Historical
Wesley La Violette (1894-1978) was an American composer, teacher and author. Born in St. James, Minnesota, but raised in Spokane, Washington, he graduated from Northwestern University in 1917 with a degree in music having completed the four-year program in only two years. He served with the U.S. Army in France during World War I and subsequently attended the Chicago Musical College where he earned a doctorate in music in 1925. He was later appointed dean and head of the department of theory and composition there. La Violette later taught at De Paul University’s School of Music from 1933 to 1940 and served as director of the De Paul University Press– founded for the publication of American music. He also served as president of the Chicago chapter of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) during this time.
La Violette later settled in southern California where he taught music privately and at the Los Angeles Conservatory where he also lectured on philosophy, religion and the arts. He authored, Music and its Makers (1938) and several books on religious mysticism including The Crown of Wisdom (1949) which was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
La Violette composed operas, symphonies and chamber works which have been noted as, “frequently atonal and contrapuntal,” but “nevertheless conservative and straightforward, with broad lines and marked rhythms” (Meckna, 2001).
While not writing in the jazz idiom, some of his most prominent student were jazz musicians including Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, John Graas and Frank Patchen. This has led some to cite La Violette as an influence on the development of west coast jazz. Other students of note include Roger Chapman, Boris Kremenliev, Frank Denke, Dan Morehouse and Frank Asper.
Extent
21 Boxes (Located in Deering 201, Aisle I: C2-C4)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
A collection of predominantly music manuscripts and scores with some papers by composer and former Northwestern University School of Music professor Wesley La Violette.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series: 1. Music manuscripts and scores and 2. Non-musical papers.
Series 1 is arranged into sub-series by instrumentation of the work and then alphabetically by title of work.
Series 2 consists of one box of documents including programs, certificates, press releases and clippings, 3 books, a typescript, an article and 2 photographs.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by the composer between 1974 and 1975.
Processing Information
Processed by Alan Akers, 2018.
Finding aid by Alan K. Akers, August 2018.
- Title
- Guide to the Wesley La Violette music manuscripts and papers
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Alan Akers
- Date
- 08/02/2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Repository Details
Part of the Music Library Repository
Deering Library, Level 3
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston IL 60208-2300 US
847-491-3635
specialcollections@northwestern.edu