Richard Stöhr Collection, 1890-1974 | Saint Michael's College Archives & Special Collections

By Elizabeth B. Scott

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Collection Overview

Title: Richard Stöhr Collection, 1890-1974

Predominant Dates:1940-1960

ID: MSS 4/MSS 4

Primary Creator: Richard Stöhr (1874-1967)

Extent: 15.0 Linear Feet

Arrangement: Arranged into four series: I. Instrumental Works. 2. Vocal works. 3. Textbooks and Lectures. 4. Biographical Material.

Date Acquired: 01/01/1974

Subjects: concertos, Orchestral music, Richard Stöhr, 1874-1967 -- Correspondence, Stöhr, Richard, 1874-1967, Symphonies

Forms of Material: Compositions (artistic arrangement), Correspondence, Scrapbooks, Writings

Languages: English, German

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The collection consists of Stöhr’s body of work and biographical materials. The bulk of the collection dates from the mid 20th century. In addition to compositions, diaries, appointment books, guest books and a number of photographs are among the items included. Compositions are in either Manuscript or printed form(in some cases both), and some have been published. There are numerous copies of some of the works, and many include complete scores and parts. Not all of the parts are present for all compositions--available parts are noted on the inventory. For some of the published works more than one edition is available. The guest books and photographs are quite interesting, as Stoehr’s students are often pictured or noted, and many of them were fairly well known at the time.

Collection Historical Note

Richard Stöhr was born in Vienna June 11, 1874. He was educated in Vienna and received a degree in Medicine from the University of Vienna in 1898. Rather than practice medicine, he devoted himself to music and became a professor of music at the Vienna Academy of Music. In the wake of the Nazi takeover of Austria, Stöhr came to the United States. In 1939 he settled in Philadelphia, taking a position at the Curtis Institute of Music. He moved to Vermont in 1941, joining his former student Karl Schwenger, who had recently begun working at Saint Michael’s College. The College sought to hire Stöhr with financial assistance from both the Oberlander Trust and the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars, a committee of the Institute of International Education. The Oberlander Trust was not able to supply funding, but Dr. Stöhr did come to Saint Michael’s as the Director of Musical Activities and as an instructor in German. His academic responsibilities were quite light, and Stöhr was able to devote a significant amount of time to performing and composing. He also taught occasionally at the Vermont Conservatory of Music. He continued working at the college, teaching German and music until 1950, when he retired from teaching. Until 1960, he maintained an office at Saint Michael’s, where he spent time composing. Although it is unclear if the College formally granted him emeritus status, he was referred to as both Emeritus Professor and Composer in Residence until his death on Dec. 11, 1967.

In 1974, the 100th anniversary of his birth, Saint Michael’s College held a Memorial Mass and a memorial concert was held at Trinity College in Burlington. Among his students were Erich Leinsdorf, Walter Hendl, Artur Rodzinski, and Leonard Bernstein, who in 1964 saluted Stöhr during a New York Philharmonic Tribute to Teachers program. In 1964, Vienna Music Academy President Dr. Hans Sittner published a biography of Stöhr entitled Richard Stöhr; Mensch, Musiker, Lehrer. Interest in his work waned following this period, but saw a slight resurgence in the early part of the 21st century.

Subject/Index Terms

concertos
Orchestral music
Richard Stöhr, 1874-1967 -- Correspondence
Stöhr, Richard, 1874-1967
Symphonies

Administrative Information

Repository: Saint Michael's College Archives & Special Collections

Access Restrictions: The entire collection is available to the public. A separate Licensing Agreement exists for Stöhrs compositions. More information is available from the Archives upon request.

Acquisition Source: Richard Stöhr family.

Acquisition Method: The Stöhr collection was donated to Saint Michael’s by Stöhr’s family in 1974.

Separated Materials: Some audio recordings are housed in the AV Collection.

Related Materials:

CDs Richard Stöhr Chamber Music Volume one: the works for cello and piano: Cello sonata in A minor Op. 49, Fantasiestücke, Opus 17. Stefan Koch, Robert Conway.

Richard Stöhr Chamber Music Volume Two Piano trio in e flat major op 16 three songs for low voice and piano with cello accompaniment Opus 21. Laura Roelofs, Stefan Koch, Mary Siciliano, Seth Keeton.

Richard Stöhr Chamber music vol. three violin sonatas volin sonata no. 1 in G Major Opus 27, violin sonata no. 2 in a major Opus 62. Ulrike-Anima Mathe, Scott Faigen.

Masterpieces rediscovered: music from Austria Germany and Russia. David Shostac, Antoinette Perry.

Richard Stöhr Christine Lavant Quartett (2 copies).

Preferred Citation: Richard Stöhr Papers, Saint Michael’s College Archives, Colchester, VT.

Processing Information: Mrs. Dorothy B. Hunt, music professor at nearby Trinity College, a friend of Stoehr and his wife, arranged the materials and created the inventory. Karl Raab, another family friend has further identified some compositions.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[Box 9],
[Box 10],
[Box 11],
[Box 12],
[Box 13],
[Box 14],
[Box 15],
[Box 16],
[Box 17],
[Box 18],
[Box 19],
[Box 20],
[Box 21],
[Box 22],
[Box 23],
[Box 24],
[Box 25],
[All]

Box 20

Folder 1: Die Kennzeichen der Klassischen Musik und ihre Wandlung zur modernen. 286 pages, complete. no date. Text in German with musical examples (from the printed book of examples) pasted in. There are many corrections, in pencil, some in early shorthand. Many loose sheets of notes. The examples correspond, in general, with those in the printed Literatur-- Beispiele (1931) for Die Kennzeichen der Kiassisehen Musik und ihre Wandlung im XIX Jahrhundert. N.B. Re: discrepancies in paging: a) Page 126 occurs twice, the second crossed out and re-marked page 128. Page 127 not so marked. However, no material seems to be omitted. b) Two pages are marked Page 102, but this error noted by the compiler (Seitenzahl) so no material omitted.
Folder 2: Die Kennzeichen der Klassischen Musik und ihre Wandlung seit im 19 Jahrhundert. 1929. 105 pages. Soft cover bound. N.B. Original typed title= “Die Kennzeichen der Klassischen Musik und ihre Verfall”. Changes written in: “Verfall” changed to “Wandlung” and addition of “Seit im 19 Jahrhundert”. Many notes in early shorthand in text.
Folder 3: Characteristics of Classical Music and its Change Since the 19th Century. Written in English, as translation of Items No. 1 and 2.With this text goes the bound volume of examples (with corrections and additions, some in pencil) titled “Die Kennzeichen der Klassischen Musik und ihre Wandlung in 19 Jahrhundert.Literatur-- Beispiele. N.B. Re. paging: Incomplete copy having only pages 1 to 37 (p. 29 missing), plus two pages labelled page 77. Paging in this edition differs from the other edition, from p. 25 onward.
Folder 4: The Characteristics of Classical Music and Their Gradual Change to the Modern. English text, complete. 141 pages. N.B. The typed original title = “The Characteristics of Classical Music and its Change Since the 19th Century”. The changes from this original title were pencilled in, typed words crossed out. Typed, loose pages, unbound. / “The Origins of Modern Music”, English text, complete. 141 pages. N.B. Below this title in brackets is “The Characteristics of Classical Music and its Gradual Transformation to the Modern.” N.B. Items 4A and 4B are identical as to text. Item 4B has an index. These are the English translation of the German text listed as Items No. 1, 2 and 3 in Carton No. 20. In the introduction to the English translation, Dr. Stoehr pays tribute to the three persons who did the translating: 1) Dr. Keisei Sakka of Tokyo who translated the German text into Japanese. 2) Mr. Walter Schoeder 3) Mr. Karl Buchmann, who did the English translation. The original typed listing names Margaret Kollisch as No. 3. This later crossed out and Karl Buchmann substituted. N.B. Perhaps of interest in this connection: Mrs. Kollisch is a poet, long--time friend of Dr. Stoehr in Vienna, now living in New York. She came to Burlington for the Stoehr Memorial Concert, 1974.
Folder 5: Die Kennzeichen der Klassischen Musik und ibre Wandlung im XIX Jahrhundert. Literatur-- Beispiele, 1931. Bound, hard cover. These are musical examples to accompany the textbook listed as Items 1, 2 and 3 in Carton No. 20. This book of musical examples was reprinted for classes at the Curtis Institute. This reprinted edition exists in quantity and is located in Cartons no. 18 and 19.
Folder 6: Die Bausteine der Klassischen Musik. 4 pages only.Musical examples (4 pages only) for a lecture or a textbook.
Folder 7: Miscellaneous lecture material (handwritten in English) Subjects: music, Vienna, memories of Wagner, et al. /Set of glass slides to illustrate lectures (probably the series given at the Fleming Museum in Burlington, Vermont)
Folder 8: Musical examples (32 mimeographed c.) to illustrate “Music, an International Language”, given at Howard University. These 32 c. are of the revised version. One copy of original version included for comparison.