Guide to the Mario Paci Papers M1917
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
August 2015 ; revised 2017
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
Multiple languages
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Mario Paci papers
creator:
Paci, Mario
source:
Zaharoff, Floria Paci
source:
Zaharoff, Alex
Identifier/Call Number: M1917
Physical Description:
3 Linear Feet
: 2 manuscript boxes, 3 flat boxes, 1 map folder
Date (inclusive): 1897-2002
Language of Material: Languages in the collection include in English, Italian, Dutch, French, German, and Chinese.
Abstract: Articles, correspondence, photographs, drawings, programs, newspaper clippings, and musical scores and compositions related
to the pianist and conductor Mario Paci (1878-1946), who founded the Shanghai Symphony orchestra.
Access to Collection
The materials are open for research and must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Mario Paci papers (M1917). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical note
Mario Paci was born in Florence on 4 June 4, 1878. He studied piano at the Conservatorio di Musica S. Pietro a Majella in
Naples, under the tutelage of Giovanni Sgambati in Rome, and conducting and composition at the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe
Verdi in Milan. After winning the Franz Liszt Prize in 1895 he performed frequently on piano throughout Europe. In 1918 on
an Asian tour, he arrived in Shanghai, where he remained several months due to a severe illness. He eventually was approached
to form an orchestra to perform European works for the large community of Western businessmen and government officials living
in Shanghai at the time. He reorganized the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in 1919, augmented by players whom he recruited primarily
from Italy with the support of the Shanghai Municipal Council. The orchestra was the first major introduction of Western music
into the cultural life of China. The audiences and the orchestra were both composed entirely of Europeans, but Paci gradually
opened up membership in the orchestra, and eventually the audience, to native Chinese despite considerable opposition from
local authorities and officials.
Paci also taught music to Chinese living in Shanghai, and also aided Cai Yuanpei to establish the National School for Music
in 1927, which became the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1956. When the Japanese occupied China in World War II, Paci was
forced to resign as conductor, which eventually led to the dissolution of the orchestra. Paci was unable to continue his career
as a musician in China and died on August 3, 1946. Paci was a tyrannical conductor known for his temper in rehearsals, but
he is credited with raising the level of musical performance to a high degree in Asia, where Western music had no tradition
and was generally not known or practiced except by foreigners.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Floria Paci Zaharoff and Alex Zaharoff, 2012-2017.
Scope and Contents
The collection includes correspondence to and from Paci and his family, including his first wife, soprano Elizabeth Mackenzie,
his second wife Sara (Hillen) Paci, and his daughter, Floria (Paci) Zaharoff. There are also articles, concert programs, documents,
photographs, drawings, newspaper clippings, manuscript compositions by Paci, and published musical scores dedicated to Paci
by fellow musicians. There are also drafts for Floria Paci Zaharoff's book "The daughter of the maestro: life in Surabya,
Shanghai and Florence."
Conditions Governing Use
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Conductors (Music) -- Italy -- Biography.
Conductors (Music) -- China -- Biography.
Conductors (Music) -- Biography.
Zaharoff, Floria Paci
Paci, Mario
Shanghai jiao xiang yue tuan
Zaharoff, Floria Paci
Zaharoff, Alex
box 1, folder 2
Mario Paci: correspondence
box 1, folder 3
Floria Paci: correspondence
box 1, folder 4
Floria Paci Zaharoff. Correspondence with Cai and Melvin
2000-2002
box 1, folder 9
newspaper clippings - translations
box 1, folder 10
newspaper clippings, undated
box 1, folder 11
newspaper clippings
1902-1952
flat-box 3, folder 1
newspaper clippings (photocopies)
box 1, folder 12
Mario Paci: fliers, announcements etc.
box 1, folder 13
Academia Santa Caecilia Document
1897
box 1, folder 14
The China Critic (see p. 455: Triumphs of Mario Paci)
1933-05-04
box 1, folder 15
Robert Bickers. "The Greatest Cultural Asset East of Suez." offprint
box 1, folder 16
Floria Paci Zaharoff. Book drafts
box 2, folder 4
Mozart. Piano Concerto no. 20 in D major, K. 466. Cadenza by Mario Paci Piano part, annotated
box 2, folder 5
Mozart. Piano Concerto no. 20 in D major, K. 466. Ms. parts, incomplete
box 2, folder 6
Insulinde for women's chorus and string orchestra
box 2, folder 7
Alla Menuetto for string orchestra
box 2, folder 8
Mario Paci. Alleluja for mixed chorus (4 voices)
box 2, folder 9
Songs for Floria Zaharoff
box 2, folder 10
Mario Paci. "A la triste histoire"
box 2, folder 12
Mario Paci. "Ich bin so miid"
box 2, folder 13
Mario Paci. "Ich heb je lief"
box 2, folder 14
Mario Paci. "Im Volkston"
box 2, folder 18
Mario Paci. "Wier wuszten beide dasz es Sunde war"
box 2, folder 19
The 120th Anniversary Album of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (1879-1999)
flat-box 3, folder 2
Broadsheet-sized announcement (German): April 1, 1910, Leipzig. Performance, with Mario Paci, klavier. (Very fragile).
1910-04-01
flat-box 3, folder 3
Certificate of Qualification, Surabajan Art Society, July 7, 1910, announcing Mario Paci as a member of honour. [In Dutch,
accompanying page has rough translation]
1910-07-07
box 4, folder 1
Correspondence to Mario Paci
box 4, folder 2
Piano pedagogy and technical studies
box 4, folder 4
Carabella, Ezio. Andante con variazioni. Miniature score
box 4, folder 5
Casella, Alfredo. La donna serpente. Miniature score
box 4, folder 6
Parelli, Attilio. Symphony, C minor. Miniature score
box 4, folder 7
Rocca, Lodovico. Interludio Epico. Miniature score
box 4, folder 8
Vlachos, George T. V., Jr. My First Composition, dedicated to Paci
box 4, folder 9
Mario Paci (?) Broeders, vormt den Broeder-Keten. Ms. song
box 4, folder 10
Aaron Avshalomov. Imitations of Bach's Little Preludes and Fuges "in Chinese idiom" Ms
box 4, folder 11
Bach. Suites, cello, no. 3, C major arranged for piano by Leopold Godowsky, dedicated to Paci
box 4, folder 12
Beethoven. Sonatas, piano, op. 26, A-flat major. Dedication by
box 4, folder 13
Chopin. Preludes fingering by Cortot
box 4, folder 14
Lovreglio. 3 Etudes-Impromptu and Dessins Animés. Signed
box 4, folder 15
Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli. Deux Lunaires
box 4, folder 16
Respighi. Notturno and Antiche danze ed arie arranged for piano
box 4, folder 17
Sgambati. Étude Mélodique, op. 21, no. 5
box 2, folder 1
photographs - family & travel
box 2, folder 2
photographs, including some inscribed to Paci
box 6, folder 2
stereographs - 4 small portraits of woman
box 6, folder 3
page from scrapbook with 12 identified photographs
box 6, folder 5
stereographs - Paci and others in Java, Borobudur, Sumatra, etc. (some numbered)
box 6, folder 6
stereographs - one captioned Hong Kong 1921
box 6, folder 8
stereographs - groups of people