Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Biography / Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Belva Kibler and Donald Morgan Collection
Dates: 1926-1995
Collection number: ARS-0009
Creator:
Belva Kibler
Creator:
Donald Morgan
Collection Size:
14? (23 boxes, 1 poster tube)
Repository:
Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, California 94305-3076
Abstract: The Kibler-Morgan collection contains their annotated scores, photographs, programs, scrapbooks, correspondence, newspaper
clippings, books and recordings.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
Collection is open for research. Listening appointments may require 24 hours notice. Contact the Archive Operations Manager.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound.
Preferred Citation
Belva Kibler and Donald Morgan Collection, ARS-0009. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biography / Administrative History
The mezzo-soprano Belva Kibler (1914-1983), was born in California and trained at the Cincinnati Conservatory. Her early
appearances in Los Angeles included the West Coast premiere of Prokofieff?s Alexander Nevsky under the baton of Otto Klemperer.
In New York she was consistently successful as a soloist with Arthur Mendel?s Cantata Singers with whom she performed Bach?s
St. Mathew and St. John Passions, the Christmas Oratorio and the Mass in B minor. In 1951 she undertook a recital tour through
Germany and Austria, and was very favorably received. Kibler was the chosen performer for several productions of contemporary
works such as Benjamin Britten?s Rape of Lucretia in which she sang the coveted role of Lucretia for the American premiere
and as Ann in Virgil Thomson?s Mother of us all. She also appeared in the film of Gian Carlo Menotti?s The Medium as Mrs.
Gobineau and performed and recorded Schoenberg?s F?nfzehn Gedichte aus Das Buch der h?ngenden G?rten.
The bass-baritone Donald Morgan was born in Pomona, California in 1911. After receiving his B.A. degree from Stanford University
(1933) he embarked on five years of graduate study in German literature and combined it with singing lessons at the universities
of Cologne, Bonn and Munich. Back in the US he became a German professor at the University of Minnesota. He continued his
musical career by doing solo work with the University?s Bach Society and the St. Paul Opera Company. The latter?s production
of Smetana?s Bartered Bride led to an invitation to sing in Brahms? Requiem with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra under
Dimitri Mitropoulos. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Morgan responded to a call from the War Department to do censorship work
in Florida, Puerto Rico and England. Later he was transferred to the U.S Military Government in Germany where he was engaged
in post-war work with the industrial leaders of Germany. During those years he gave many performances for the German public
and the U.S. Armed Forces. In 1949 he was invited by the British Goethe Festival Society in London to perform a concert of
Goethe songs. A year later he was chosen for the role of Mr. Gobineau in Menotti?s The Medium. The tragic opera was filmed
in Rome with Menotti as composer, director and writer. Donald Morgan and Belva Kibler met during The Medium?s filming, and
married shortly thereafter. Morgan died in 1995.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection?s largest component consists of scores. The most interesting being the special Bach renditions of Belva Kibler
under Arthur Mendel, and eight vocal manuscripts by Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco, two of which are dedicated to Belva Kibler.
Among the photographs of Kibler and Morgan on stage there is an extensive set of photos from the filming of Menotti?s The
Medium. Their collection of programs dates from 1926 to 1971. Most of the publications and documents deal with the US involvement
in the reconstruction of Germany?s industry after the war. Among the newspaper clippings there is a set of reviews of Kibler?s
recital tour of Germany and Austria in 1951.
Arrangement
1. Personal documents; 2. Correspondence; 3. Photographs; 4. Programs;
5. Opera materials; 6. Publications; 7. Documents; 8. Scrapbooks; 9. Newspaper clippings; 10. Books; 11. Scores; 12. Music
manuscripts; 13. Pedagogical materials; 14. Recordings; 15. Posters; 16. Miscellaneous.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Kibler, Belva
Morgan, Donald
Vocal music