Folk & Traditional Music
"American" music includes much more than the western classical music that has traditionally dominated music study in the United States. The AMRC is working to reflect that diversity in our collections. The AMRC holdings include field recordings and research materials from scholars of a variety of music traditions, including cowboys in Wyoming, miners, and local native peoples.
Manuscripts and personal papers of Thomas D. Brosh (b.1946), composer, music theorist; graduate of the University of Kansas, University of Colorado Boulder, Banff School of Fine Arts, University of Denver, Catholic University; professor and dean emeritus, Community College of Aurora (1980-2001), formerly assistant professor of theory and composition, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (1972-1980). Includes manuscripts, correspondence, programs and publicity, and audio recordings.
Library and personal papers of Alan C. Buechner, Professor of Music, Copland School of Music, City University of New York, Queens College; previously on faculty of Harvard University, University of Texas, University of Hartford; founder and officer of the Sonneck Society for American Music; Recipient of the Sonneck Society Distinguished Service Citation. Includes 132 tune books and hymnals (housed in Special Collections, University of Colorado Boulder), correspondence, and research and teaching materials on American music, folklore, and psalmody.
Collegiate song books collected by Walter S. "Wally" Collins (1926-1997), including extensive research materials on the Yale Song Book.
Song lists and notebooks from Carrie M. Cramer and Grace Cramer Small, pioneers, folk singers, folk song collectors. Includes tape recorded interview.
Ballad operas collected by AMRC founder Sister Mary Dominic Ray, including research and teaching materials about actors and operas, articles about comic operas in the United States, and an index of opera titles.
Recordings, transcriptions, and research materials collected by Joe Buzzard at the request of William Kearns, professor emeritus of music, University of Colorado, Boulder. Includes reel-to-reel tapes recorded by Buzzard from 700 hillbilly and cowboy records from the 1920s and 1930s, primarily in the Blue Ridge Mountains, northern Georgia, western North Carolina, and southwestern Virginia; duplicates of originals on Digital Audio Tape (DAT); transcriptions of recorded songs; and research materials.
Papers and field recordings of Ben Gray Lumpkin (1901-1982), folklorist, professor of English (1946-1969). Papers and recordings relate specifically to Lumpkin's work in collecting the folk songs of Colorado, especially in hillbilly songs; papers related to his career in the University of Colorado Department of English are housed separately in the University Archives. Includes documentation and biographical information on informants, correspondence, index files, and teaching and writing resources