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Solomon Pimsleur Papers, 1918-1970

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Pimsleur, Solomon
Title
Solomon Pimsleur Papers
Dates
1918-1970 (inclusive)
Quantity
7 containers., (8 linear feet of shelf space.), (4100 items.)
Collection Number
Cage 478
Summary
Correspondence and other papers, musical sketches and scores, recordings and microfilms, also paintings and drawings.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Solomon Pimsleur was born in Paris, France, in 1900 and emigrated to the United States with his parents at an early age. Completing both his undergraduate and graduate studies at Columbia University he was the recipient of a Julliard Fellowship in 1926 and studied at the Summer Institute of the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria, in 1929. An honorary D. Mus. was awarded to him by the Boguslawski College of Music in Chicago in 1940. He died in New York City in 1962. With over 120 compositions to his credit, Pimsleur can be considered a prolific composer. His work aroused some early attention, but he gained little recognition later in his life. Nor did he ever succeed in securing an academic position. A performance of his Symphonic Ballade by the Philharmonic Society of New York at Lewisohn Stadium in 1933 marked the sole performance of any of his works by an established professional ensemble. Subsequent performances of his compositions were in large part due to his own persistent efforts. While his compositions drew praise for the craftsmanship they exhibited, Pimsleur's self-declared conservative style put his music outside the mainstream of contemporary development. A posthumous concert of his music was arranged by his wife Meira in 1965 and was presented in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York City.

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Content Description

Most of the correspondence is of a personal nature, primarily family material. Pimsleur's widow continued to add to it after her husband's death in 1962. The Press Book, included in the papers, contains clippings pertaining to Pimsleur's career as well as a few letters of interest, notably from Vincent d'Indy, Rubin Goldmark, Dmitri Mitropoulos and Willem Mengelberg. The musical sketches provide a mass of fragments and scraps of paper, with little apparent order or identification. There are virtually no complete scores in the second series, but a number of scores are included on microfilm in series III. Series IV encompasses a set of paintings and drawings by an unknown hand.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 478, Solomon Pimsleur Papers . Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

As acquired, the collection had no inherent order. The current arrangement was imposed by the processor. The collection is arranged in four series: Correspondence and Papers, Sketches and Scores, Tapes and Microfilms, and Oversize.

Acquisition Information

The papers of Solomon Pimsleur were placed by Dr. Hans Moldenhauer, of Spokane, in the Moldenhauer Archives at Washington State University Libraries in August 1982.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Composers--United States--Correspondence

Personal Names

  • Moldenhauer, Hans (donor)
  • Pimsleur, Solomon, 1900-1962--Archives (creator)

Finding aid prepared by John Mueter
2012

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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