TABLE OF CONTENTS
Guide to the Beatrice Witkin Papers, 1949 - 1988
Descriptive Summary |
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| Repository | Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University |
| Creator | Witkin, Beatrice. |
| Title | Beatrice Witkin Papers, |
| Dates | 1949 - 1988 |
| Linear Feet | 5 |
| Archival Boxes | 8 |
| Abstract | Beatrice Witkin (1917-1990) was an accomplished composer and one of the first women to produce electronic music compositions. |
| The materials in the Beatrice Witkin Papers range from her earliest musical compositions to her major works. Notes and secondary literature accompany many of the compositions, and all major works have complete scores. | |
| Call Number | 2006-45 |
| Location | For current information on the location of these materials, please consult Special Collections & Archives staff. |
| Language of Material | Material in English |
Biographical Note
Composer Beatrice Witkin (1917-1990) was born in New York City. She attended Hunter College in New York and did her graduate work at New York University. She studied composition with Mark Brunswick, Roger Sessions, and Stefan Wolpe, and piano with Edward Steuerman. She was also the recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Witkin was one of the first women to work in the electronic music idiom. In 1968, she was invited to work at the Electronic Music Studio at the New York University School of the Arts. Two years later, her electronic composition Glissines was a winner in High Fidelity Magazine's Electronic Music Contest.
In 1963, she helped establish the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, a performing group that commissioned new works. She was a guest composer of the McDowell Colony as well as a longtime member of the Women's Composers Forum and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
Chronology of Major Works |
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| Works with an asterisk (*) have corresponding recordings in Scores and Recordings, Wesleyan University. | ||
| 1960 | Duo for Violin and Piano* | |
| 1960 | Interludes for Solo Flute and Piccolo* | |
| 1963 | Prose Poem | |
| 1964 | Contour for Piano* | |
| 1964 | Parameter for Eight Instruments | |
| 1965 | Combinations for Thirteen Instruments | |
| 1967 | Twelve-tone Variations on Quotes by the Beatles for Young People's Orchestra | |
| 1968 | Fanfare in B and E Flat | |
| 1968 | Chiaroscuro for Cello and Piano | |
| 1968-1969 | Triads and Things for Brass Quintet* | |
| 1970 | Breath and Sounds for Tuba and Stereophonic Tape* | |
| 1972-1973 | Echologie for Flute and Tape | |
| 1977-1978 | Report from the Planet Mars | |
| 1981 | Stephen Foster Revisited Variations for Concert Band | |
| 1985 | Cantillations of the Bible for String Quartet | |
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Collection Overview
The materials in the Beatrice Witkin Papers range from her earliest musical compositions to her major works. Notes and secondary literature accompany many of the compositions, and all major works have complete scores.
Collection Arrangement
The works follow a chronological order in each box.
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Restrictions
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Beatrice Witkin Papers, Collection #2006-45, Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Given by Steve Witkin of Belgrade, Maine, in July 2006.
Processing Information
Processed by Jason Villani, December 2006
Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, February 2007
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