Inventory of the Winifred Bliss Howe Papers, 1922-1986
Processed by Judy S. Tsou; machine readable finding aid encoded by
Judy S. Tsou
Music Library
Hargrove Music Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-2623
Email: music_reference@berkeley.edu
URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/music_library_archives
© 1997
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Inventory of the Winifred Bliss Howe Papers, 1922-1986
Collection number: ARCHIVES HOWE 1
The Music Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Contact Information
- Hargrove Music Library
- University of California, Berkeley
- Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
- Phone: (510) 642-2623
- Email: music_reference@berkeley.edu
- URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/music_library_archives
- Processed by:
- Judy S. Tsou
- Date Completed:
-
November, 1991
- Encoded by:
- Judy S. Tsou
© 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Winifred Bliss Howe Papers,
Date: 1922-1986
Collection number: ARCHIVES HOWE 1
Extent: Number of containers: 2 cartons
Linear feet: 2.7
Repository: The
Music Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Shelf location: For current information on the location of these
materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Acquisition
March 1991
Donors
Barbara Scherrer and Philip Scherrer
Access
Unrestricted
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Winifred Bliss Howe Papers, Archives Howe 1, The Music Library,
University of California, Berkeley
Biography
American pianist, critic, and educator. Winifred Bliss
Howe(1904-1990) was the daughter of Henry Warren Howe and
Katherine McFarland Howe . At the age of one, her father committed
suicide, leaving her mother to bring up her sister, Katherine Howe(later Jones, 1894-1971), and Winifred. A brother, Warren, died at the age of
10 (1900-1910). Her uncle left money for the two sisters for college. Winifred attended
Mills Collegefrom 1922 (August) to 1924 (May). She then went to
England to study with Tobias Matthay (1858-1945) and to Paris to
study with Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) between 1924 and 1927. She
met and fell in love with the noted musicologist, Arthur Mendel(1905-1979), who was then a fellow student of Nadia Boulanger.Their romance lasted until the early 1930s even though Mendelwas living in New York, and she was in living in California most of that
period.
After her studies abroad, she taught at the Colorado Woman's
Collegein Denver for a year (1927-28) before moving back to California. She
became Ernest Bloch's (1880-1959) assistant in 1928 while he was
teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory. Howeand Arthur Mendel arranged Bloch's
America for a 4-hand piano
version which Blochperformed with Howe. (The
arrangement was apparently never published. The manuscript is at the possession of Howe's
grandnephew, Philip Scherrer). Between 1934 and 1936, she was music
critic for the
Monterey Peninsula Herald.She was also very much involved with the Carmel Bach festival ,serving as accompanist and publicist manager when it started in 1935, and was
still an active participant in the 1960s. She obtained both bachelor's and master's
degrees (AB, 1940, MA, 1941) from the University of California (Berkeley)and taught in the Music Department until 1959, retired at the rank of
assistant professor. After her retirement, she and some close friends, including
Alice Harwood (Topsy) and Helen Poindexter(Poindie) embarked on a world tour from October 1959 to June 1961.
Although Howe never married, she had a three-decade on-and-off
affair with Ernest Bloch. Much of her mature musical career involved
Bloch. They performed together, and she was the support and advisor
of his many performances including the premiere of his opera,
Macbeth in Rome. She was probably considered part of his family as
Bloch's daughters, Suzanne and Lucienne, had contact with Howe until her death. After her
retirement, Howe moved to Carmel area with close friend (and Mills College roomate)
Alice Harwood. Howe died in 1990 in Walnut Creek
(Rossmoor).
Scope and Content Note
The materials in this archive span the years 1922 and 1986. The majority of the
materials, however, are from the 1920s and 1930s. Correspondence made up the bulk of the
archive; they are letters between Howe and her mother, and letters between
Arthur Mendeland Howe. Other materials include
some photographs, letters and telegrams from Bloch (many other
letters from Bloch were donated to the library by Howe in 1987 but are sealed until the
year 2000). There are also writings by Howe when she was a music critic for the
Monterey Peninsula Herald in the 1930s.
The collection is divided into four series as follows:
Box 1
Series I: Correspondence.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Letters from relatives, Arthur Mendel, Ernest Bloch, and other friends. Also includes
letters from Howe to her mother and sister. There are a few letters that are not included
here; they are a card from Nadia Boulanger, some letters with
clippings from Suzanne and Lucienne Bloch. These are in Series IV.
Box 2
Series II: Tapes.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Full-and half-track tapes from concerts of some of Bloch's compositions. A recording of
Howe and Bloch playing Bloch's 4-hand composition,
Helvetia
is included in the collection. There are two cassette tapes, copies of some of the
original tapes.
Box 2
Series III: Photographs.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Many photographs of Bloch, of Howe, of Bloch and Howe, as well as pictures of
Arthur Mendel and other friends.
Box 2
Series IV: Miscellaneous Materials.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Includes biographical materials on Howe (some collected later, IV:8), Bloch memorabilia,
reviews written by Howe for the Monterey Peninsula Herald, and
various newspaper clippings.
SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE.
Subseries A: To Mother (Katherine McFarland Howe)
Box Box 1, Folder 1
August 1922 -May 1923
(Mills College)
Folder 2
August 1923 -May 1924
(Mills College)
Subseries B: To Alice Harwood (Topsy)
Subseries C: To Sister (Katherine Howe Jones)
Folder 13
January - April 1960 (World Tour)
Folder 14
May - September 1960 (World Tour)
Folder 15
October - December 1960 (World Tour)
Subseries D: From Mother (Katherine McFarland Howe)
Subseries E: From Other Relatives
Subseries F: From Arthur Mendel (Christopher Robbins, CR)
2/22/29 letter on
America:
Subseries G: From Ernest Bloch
Additional Note
O ther letters from Bloch are in the Bloch/Howe
Collection, sealed until January 1, 2000.
Subseries H: From Franz Lischauer
Subseries I: From Lischauer Family
Box Box 2, Folder 1
Meggie Teyte (from first Bach Festival?)
Folder 3-4
Bloch,
Macbeth (parts 1 and 2)
Folder 5-6
Bloch,
America (parts 1 and 2)
Folder 7
Bloch,
Helvetia (piano, 4 hands; Howe and Bloch); copy on cassette (1991)
Arthur Mendel, Helen Poindexter, and Howe
Nadia Boulanger's class, 1920s
Howe and Bloch with Lillian Hodgehead, Ada Clement, and an unidentified San Francisco Conservatory person
SERIES IV: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS.
Box Box 2, Folder 1
Bloch, Ernest -- arrticles on Bloch
Folder 2
Bloch, Ernest -- discography, articles on Bloch
Folder 3
Bloch, Lucienne and Suzanne -- letters and pamphlets from E.'s daughters
Folder 4
Boulanger, Nadia -- card, article,
Folder 5
Carmel Bach Festival -- article from
Monterey Peninsula Herald
Folder 6
Ernest Bloch Society Bulletin, 1982-1985
Folder 7
Hodghead, Lillian -- article on LH
Folder 8
Howe, Winifred -- biographical materials
Folder 9
Pedagogy -- grarde sheet for Bloch's course, 1941
Folder 10
Pedagogy -- lecture notes
Folder 12-13
Reviews by Howe for the
Monterey Peninsula Herald, 1934-1936, some undated
