Finding Aid for the Sven Reher Papers, 1918-1979
Processed by Manuscripts Division staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 1999
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid for the Sven Reher Papers, 1918-1979
Collection number: 1231
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Los Angeles, CA
Contact Information
- Manuscripts Division
- UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
- Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
- Box 951575
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
- Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific
Time)
- Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
- URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
- Processed by:
- Manuscripts Division staff
- Encoded by:
- Caroline Cubé
- Online finding aid edited by:
- Josh Fiala, April 2003
© 1999 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Sven Reher Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1918-1979
Collection number: 1231
Creator:
Reher, Sven
Extent: 47 boxes (19 linear ft.)
1 oversize box
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Sven Reher (d. 1991) was prominent on the Los Angeles music scene as a violist and composer since 1934, when he left his studies
at UCLA to audition for Otto Klemperer and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He was associated with the Evenings on the Roof program
in post-World War II Los Angeles, the Sinfonia Orchestra of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the California Chamber Symphony
Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Brentwood, Huntington Park, Santa Monica, Compton, Glendale, Santa Barbara, and
Pasadena. The collection consists of correspondence, photographs, concert programs, music notebooks, and ephemera related
to Reher's life.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Additional Physical Form Available
A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house
consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
- Public Services Division
- UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
- Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
- Box 951575
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
- Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific
Time)
- Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Sven Reher, 1979.
Gift of Vincent Reher, 1994.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Sven Reher Papers (Collection 1231). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Biography
Sven Reher fled Germany as a young man to continue his musical education in the U.S.; prominent on the Los Angeles music scene
since 1934, when he left his studies at UCLA to audition for Otto Klemperer and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; he and his brother,
cellist Kurt Reher, were members of the Evenings on the Roof program in post-World War II Los Angeles; he composed 12 studies
for viola, a sonata for solo viola, and a rhapsody for flute and viola; he associated with the Sinfonia Orchestra of the Los
Angeles Master Chorale, the California Chamber Symphony Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Brentwood, Huntington Park,
Santa Monica, Compton, Glendale, Santa Barbara, and Pasadena; Reher's recording of the Hindemith solo sonata, Opus 25, no.1,
was nominated for a Grammy award; he died January 31, 1991 of heart failure.
Biographical Narrative
Sven Helge Reher (born Hamburg 1911) came to Los Angeles with his family in 1914. His father, Wilhelm Reher, was a violinist
who had performed under Nikisch, Mahler and others in the Hamburg Philharmonic; in the period 1914 to 1918 he was a member
of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra under Adolf Tandler. Frau Reher (née Callesen) was a pianist who had studied in Leipzig.
After sundry continental and transoceanic peregrinations--during which Wilhelm reorganized the Houston Symphony and served
among the first stands of the Cincinnati Symphony under Reiner--the Rehers settled permanently in Southern California.
Given his family's inclinations it was inevitable that Sven should become a musician; his first violin lessons were under
the supervision of his father. Then, in the mid-nineteen twenties, both Sven and his younger brother Kurt studied at the prestigious
Berliner Hochschule für Musik. Trading his violin for the heftier viola, Sven joined the ranks of the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
then directed by Otto Klemperer, and served eight years (1934 to 1942).
After a stint in military intelligence in the European Theater, Reher returned to Los Angeles where he has ever since been
an outstanding feature in the musical scene: as a member of the Hollywood String Quartet, as a regular performer on the Monday
Evening Concerts, as a soloist with community orchestras, as a much-sought-after studio musician, and as an educator. He is
the dedicatee of works by Walter Piston, Mario Castel-Nuovo-Tedesco, Ernst Kanitz and others; his recording of the Hindemith
Sonata for Viola Unaccompanied was glowingly reviewed in the
New York Times.
The documents in this collection record a rich musical life as it has unfolded on two continents. The collection is supported
by an oral history of Mr. Reher completed in 1979.
Tom Bertonneau
May 1980
Scope and Content
Collection consists of correspondence, photographs, concert programs, music notebooks, and ephemera related to the life of
violist Sven Reher. Includes materials related to concerts in which he and his father, Wilhelm Reher, were involved. Also
includes materials related to musical events in the Los Angeles area and Reher's notes from Arnold Schoenberg's classes at
UCLA (1936-37).
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Reher, Sven--Archives.
Composers--California, Southern--Archival resources.
Violists--California, Southern--Archival resources.
Related Material
We Must Go Farther Yet [oral history transcript] / Sven Reher, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview,
1979-80. Available at Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
Interlochen Music Camp & National High School Orchestra Programs, v.d.
Box 1, Folder 1
1928-1929.
Physical Description: 14 pieces.
Box 1, Folder 2
1929.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 1, Folder 3
1946-1947.
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 1, Folder 4
Programs of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in performance in New York, 1919-1920; Programs of the Philharmonic Society of New York, 1918-1933.
Physical Description: 24 pieces.
Programs of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Concerts, v.d.
Box 1, Folder 5
1925-1927.
Physical Description: 15 pieces.
Box 1, Folder 6
1927-1929.
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 2, Folder 1
Programs of the Los Angeles People's Orchestra, 1915; Programs of the Los Angeles Symphony, 1915-1916.
Physical Description: 17 pieces.
Box 7, Folder 1
Programs of the Beverly Hills Chamber Orchestra, season 1974.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Programs of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in the Hollywood Bowl, v.d.
Box 2, Folder 4
1931-1932.
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 2, Folder 5
1933.
Physical Description: 10 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
(Includes program of Nicolas Slonimsky's conductorial appearance)
Box 2, Folder 6
1934.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 2, Folder 7
1934.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 3, Folder 1
1935.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 3, Folder 2
1935.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 3, Folder 5
1936.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 3, Folder 6
1936.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 4, Folder 1
1937.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 4, Folder 2
1937.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 4, Folder 3
1938.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 4, Folder 4
1938.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 4, Folder 5
1939.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 4, Folder 6
1939.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 5, Folder 1
1940.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 5, Folder 2
1940.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 5, Folder 3
1941.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 5, Folder 4
1941.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 6, Folder 1
1942.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 6, Folder 2
1942.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 2, Folder 2
Programs of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra, 1915-1916.
Physical Description: 16 pieces.
Programs of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, v.d.
Box 2, Folder 3
Miscellaneous programs, 1922-1930, winter and summer seasons.
Physical Description: 11 pieces.
Box 3, Folder 3
Winter 1935/36.
Physical Description: 7 pieces.
Box 3, Folder 4
Winter 1935/36.
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 5, Folder 5
Winter season 1941/42.
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 5, Folder 6
Winter season 1941/42.
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 6, Folder 3
Winter season 1943/44.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 6, Folder 4
Winter season 1944/45.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 6, Folder 5
Winter season 1945/46.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 6, Folder 6
Miscellaneous programs, 1960s-70s.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 6, Folder 7
Miscellaneous programs, 1960s-70s.
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
Also, World Tour booklet, 1967.
Programs of the Pasadena Symphony, v.d.
Box 7, Folder 2
47th and 48th seasons, 1974-1976.
Physical Description: 7 pieces.
Box 7, Folder 3
49th season, 1976/77.
Physical Description: 7 pieces.
Box 7, Folder 4
Gala 50th season, 1977/78.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 7, Folder 5
51st season; and other miscellaneous items.
Physical Description: 9 pieces.
Box 7, Folder 6
Programs of the Pacific Chamber Orchestra and Compton Civic Symphony, 1970-1975.
Physical Description: 7 pieces.
Box 7, Folder 7
Programs and miscellaneous documents of the California Chamber Symphony, late 1960s-early 1970s.
Physical Description: 32 pieces.
Box 7, Folder 8
Programs and miscellaneous documents of the UCLA Baroque ensemble.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 7, Folder 9
Programs of the annual Ojai Music Festival 1973, 1977 and 1979. Plus, announcement of festival, 1979.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 8, Folder 1
Programs of the Westwood-Brentwood Symphony and various concert announcements, 1965-1973.
Physical Description: 15 pieces.
Box 8, Folder 2
Programs of the Westwood-Brentwood Symphony, 1973-1978.
Physical Description: 14 pieces.
Box 8, Folder 3
Programs and diverse announcements of concerts of the UCLA Chamber Orchestra, 1967-1977.
Physical Description: 39 pieces.
Box 8, Folder 4
Programs and diverse announcements of concerts of the UCLA Chamber Orchestra, 1979; miscellaneous announcements and programs of on-campus musical events.
Physical Description: 13 pieces.
Box 8, Folder 5
Programs of the Glendale Symphony Orchestra and of the Valley Symphony Orchestra (1979).
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 8, Folder 6
The Pavilion of the Music Center commemorative booklet, 1964.
Box 8, Folder 7
Program of the ASCAP first annual presentation of Music from Hollywood, 1960.
Box 8, Folder 8
Booklet: The Music Center Story: a decade of achievement 1964-1974.
Box 8, Folder 9
Programs and announcements of the Burbank Symphony and of the Santa Monica Symphony, 1949-1970.
Physical Description: 13 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 1
European appearances of
Wilhelm Reher--announcements, programs, etc.
Physical Description: 41 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 2
Early Los Angeles appearances of
Wilhelm Reher--announcements, programs, brochures.
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 3
Programs of the original
Reher Quartet in concerts at the Raymond Hotel, Pasadena; at UCLA and elsewhere.
Physical Description: 75 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 4
Early Los Angeles appearances of
Sven Reher--programs.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 5
Programs of the second
Reher Quartet in concert at UCLA and elsewhere 1932-1934.
Physical Description: 14 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 6
Programs of the
Noack Quartet in Los Angeles: 1935-1937.
Physical Description: 20 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 7
Programs of the
Los Angeles String Trio in concert: 1939-1942.
Physical Description: 10 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 8
Programs of the
Los Angeles Piano Quartet in concert, 1950-1960.
Physical Description: 10 pieces.
Box 9, Folder 9
Programs, announcements and miscellaneous pieces, 1939-1972.
Physical Description: 24 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re Evenings on the Roof and the Monday Evening Concerts.
Box 10, Folder 1
Programs, announcements and miscellaneous documents, 1952-1958.
Physical Description: 43 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re concerts at Marymount College.
Box 10, Folder 2
Programs, announcements and documents, 1955-1969.
19 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re concerts and recitals at Immaculate Heart College
Box 10, Folder 3
Programs of concerts given under the auspices of the La Jolla Musical Arts Society, 1961-1962.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Box 10, Folder 4
Church-related concerts and sacred recitals. Los Angeles area churches, 1932-1969.
Physical Description: 8 pieces.
Box 10, Folder 5
Programs and descriptive booklets issued by the Los Angeles Bach Festival (the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles),
1952-1973.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Box 10, Folder 6
Programs, announcements and miscellaneous documents, 1949-1972.
Physical Description: 30 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re the Los Angeles County Museum Chamber Concerts series.
Box 10, Folder 7
Programs and announcements of various college and university sponsored recitals, 1931-1978.
Physical Description: 32 pieces.
Box 10, Folder 8
The Performing Arts at UCLA (3 issues): March 1968; January 3-18, 1969; and March 1969.
Box 10, Folder 9
Programs of the Brand Library Concerts, 1974-1975.
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Box 10, Folder 10
Publications, v.d.
Scope and Content Note
The Coleman Chamber Concerts 1904-1944 by Alice Coleman.
The New Friends of Music Program Book: 1943/44.
Franz Waxman presents his new Goyana for piano & strings [to celebrate the opening of Jean Delacour Auditorium, April 3, 1960].
Box 10, Folder 11
Programs of concerts given under the auspices of the Arizona Friends of Music, 1949-1951.
Physical Description: 44 pieces.
Box 11, Folder 1
Papers, 1944.
Physical Description: 53 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re interrogation training. Camp Ritchie, Maryland.
Box 11, Folder 2
Military Training brochures. Camp Ritchie, Maryland, 1944.
Physical Description: 2 pieces.
Box 11, Folder 3
Military training brochures and various letters and documents. Camp Ritchie, Maryland, 1944.
Physical Description: 11 pieces.
Box 11, Folder 4
Personal effects and souvenirs.
Physical Description: 12 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re Sven Reher's military service World War II.
Box 11, Folder 5
Personal effects and souvenirs.
Physical Description: 13 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re immediate post-war concerts and G.I. life in occupied Europe.
Box 11, Folder 6
Photographs and postcards.
Physical Description: 72 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re Reher's personal activities in post-war occupied Europe.
Box 11, Folder 7
Wartime newspaper clippings.
Physical Description: 51 pieces.
Box 11, Folder 8
Wartime newspaper clippings.
Physical Description: 18 pieces.
Box 12, Folder 1
Brochures and travel guides, 1920-1950.
Physical Description: 33 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re the movements of the Rehers.
Box 12, Folder 2
Personal photographs; concert photographs and group portraits, etc.
Physical Description: 35 pieces.
Box 12, Folder 3
Miscellaneous brochures, concert programs and announcements, 1935-1979.
Physical Description: 13 pieces.
Box 12, Folder 4
Individual unassociated copies of various musical journals.
Physical Description: 6 pieces.
Box 12, Folder 5
Correspondence.
Physical Description: 40 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
Includes letters from Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and others.
Box 12, Folder 6
Correspondence of Sven and Kurt Reher with Composer Walter Piston, 1948.
Physical Description: (Photocopies) 8 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re commission and composition of the Duo for Viola and Cello.
Box 12, Folder 7
Clippings.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re Kurt Reher.
Box 12, Folder 8
Clippings.
Physical Description: 10 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re investigation of Los Angeles area Musicians by the House (McCarthy) Committee on Un-American activities.
Box 12, Folder 9
Wilhelm Reher's attempts to found a symphony in Los Angeles, 1915-1935.
Box 12, Folder 10
Hamburg and the early years of California residency. Publications, brochures.
Box 13, Folder 1
Clippings from the
Los Angeles Tidings: music criticism by Sven Reher.
Physical Description: 12 pieces.
Box 13, Folder 2
Clippings and other documents.
Physical Description: 4 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re Bruno Walter.
Box 13, Folder 3
Documents, v.d.
Physical Description: 5 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re Arnold Schoenberg: clippings, etc.; and notes taken by Sven Reher (in manuscript) in Schoenberg's formal analysis classes
at UCLA, 1936-1937.
Box 13, Folder 4
Shipboard documents and travel papers, 1931/32.
Physical Description: 12 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re transatlantic excursions.
Box 13, Folder 5
Documents, 1925-1937.
Physical Description: 16 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re Sven Reher's (domestic and foreign) education (at Seal Beach Grammar School, Berliner Hochschule für Musik and UCLA).
Box 13, Folder 6
More education-related material; boy-scout material.
Physical Description: 8 pieces.
Box 13, Folder 7
Rolf Hoffman suicide: clipping.
Physical Description: 1 piece.
Box 13, Folder 8
Papers and brochures, 1960-1973.
Physical Description: 3 pieces.
Scope and Content Note
re the Allegro Ball.
Box 16
Publications: music books, etc.
Box 17
Diaries and day and cash books: 1932, primarily 1970s-80s.
Box 18
Incoming letters in envelopes: 1983, 1984.
Box 19
Greeting and Christmas cards, 1980s, Trip to Spain 1989 ephemera.
Box 20
Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo symphony etc. programs, ephemera.
Box 21
Letters in envelopes, other notes: primarily late 1980s.
Box 22
Expenses 1977, contracts, 1981 tribute to SR, programs and announcements UCLA, etc.
Box 23
Mailings, programs Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Humboldt State.
Box 24
Class notes (American history, class taken by SR).
Box 25
Family letters? (1920s), UCLA items, mailings 1980s, etc.
Box 26
Programs Ashland Chamber workshop, SLO Mozart, International Viola Conference Redlands 1989, etc.
Box 27
SR class papers, 1930s-40s, tax items.
Box 28
Letters World War II from family, letters to family, college notes[?], 1940.
Box 29
KUSC interview about Klemperer, programs, Spain 1982,
Los Angeles Times article 1981, Santa Barbara items, Consortium recordings publicity, UCLA oral history items, programs and announcements 1980s?.
Box 30
Articles pertaining to Cuenca (composition by SR), items about children, grandchildren[?].
Box 31
Party for SR 1981, U.S. Army correspondence (appearances?), Nancy 1982.
Box 32
SR important papers.
Scope and Content Note
(Honorable discharge, birth certificate, U.S. (citizenship, etc.), programs 1987-88, correspondence with musicians, father, union items.
Box 33
College class notes[?].
Physical Description: In spiral binders.
Scope and Content Note
Primarily for classes in music history, etc.
Box 34
Audio and video cassette recordings.
Box 35
Letters late 1920s, 1980s, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo programs, family? letters early 1930s, postcards received from Europe, etc. 1930s[?]- .
Box 36
Copyright and family documents.
Note
(Previously unfoldered and unidentified)
Box 37
Audio cassettes, 8mm film.
Box 38
John Kennedy button, photos of earlier years, other photos.
Box 39
Disney material, photocopies of letters from Schoenberg, etc., letter and card received 1964, diary 1943-44, UCLA Baroque ensemble, 1979-1980.
Box 40
Printed copies of compositions by Sven Reher.
Scope and Content Note
Cuenca, Twelve studies for viola, Music for viola, Sonata for violin, etc.
Box 41
Recordings (LP).
Scope and Content Note
Hindemith, Levitch, one Temianka.
Box 42
Viola transcriptions.
Scope and Content Note
Probably by SR, in manuscript.
Box 43
Viola parts.
Scope and Content Note
Primarily printed music, but some manuscript.
Box 44
Manuscripts (?) of Beethoven, Bach.
Physical Description: Mounted on slick paper with portraits. Glue bleeding through paper.
Box 44
Sven Reher program.
Physical Description: Mounted with masking tape.
Box 44
William Reher clipping and poster.
Physical Description: (Mounted photographs on brown paper).
Box 44
A - Z by Agustin Gonzalez Acilu (blueprint copy of score).
Box 44
Miscellaneous publications and copies, diplomas and
letters of commendation, etc.
Scope and Content Note
Includes UC Master of Arts in Music diploma (1948).
Box 45
Manuscript copies of Cuenca, compositions by Mac Lean, etc.
Box 46
Notes and bibliographical information.
Physical Description: On index cards.
Box 47
Duplicates of printed SR music.
Scope and Content Note
Sonata for violin, Cuenca, etc.
Box 48
Duplicates of recordings.
Physical Description: (Without sleeves, but sleeved in one album).
