Finding Aid to Eric A. Gordon's Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein Collection, 1850-2011
Coll2012.121
Finding aid prepared by Loni Shibuyama
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California, 90007
(213) 741-0094
askone@ONEarchives.org
(c) 2012
Title: Eric A. Gordon's
Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein Collection
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2012.121
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
6.0 linear feet.
5 archives boxes + 1 archive binder box + 1 archive flat box.
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1980-1991
Date (inclusive): 1850-2011
Abstract: Correspondence, playbills, programs, clippings, photographs, notes, grant proposals and other research material collected
for the book,
Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein (St. Martin's Press, 1989), by Eric A. Gordon. An American composer and gay man, Marc Blitzstein is perhaps most well-known
for his 1937 musical,
The Cradle Will Rock. The collection includes materials documenting Blitzstein's musical works, as well as correspondence files between biographer
Eric A. Gordon and Blitzstein's family, friends and collaborators.
creator:
Gordon, Eric A., 1945-
Biography on Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein was born in Philadelphia, March 2, 1905. At the age of 6, he played his first solo piano recital in public;
at 16, he performed a piano concert with the Philadelphia Symphony. He went on to study with teachers such as Nadia Boulanger
in Paris. While in Europe, Blitzstein came to be influenced by modernists like Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
Upon returning to the United States, he began writing his own political operas, notably the pro-union musical,
The Cradle Will Rock (1936), and
No For An Answer (1940). The same year in which
The Cradle Will Rock was produced, Blitzstein's wife, Eva Goldbeck, died after three years of marriage.
In 1942, Blitzstein enlisted in the Air Force and spent three years in the military. Out of this experience came his Airborne
Symphony (1946). After the Air Force, Blitzstein wrote for films and theater, including
Regina,
Juno, and adaptations of
Mother Courage and
The Threepenny Opera. He was commissioned to compose an opera based on the Sacco and Vanzetti case of the 1920s. He completed two acts and outlined
a third when, while on vacation in Fort-de-France, Martinique, Blitzstein got into a physical confrontation with three merchant
seamen and subsequently died of a brain injury on January 22, 1964.
Source: Box 3, folder 30, Eric A. Gordon Collection on Marc Blitzstein, Coll2012-121, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives,
Los Angeles, California
Biography on Eric A. Gordon
Born in 1945, Eric A. Gordon is a graduate of Yale University, and holds both an M.A. (in Latin American studies) and a Ph.D.
(in history) from Tulane University. In the 1980s, he worked as a publicity manager for the music publishing house of G. Schirmer.
Beginning in 1995, Gordon was the director of the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring, Southern California District.
A member of the National Writers Union, he served on the board of the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research,
on the Western Region Administrative Committee of the Jewish Labor Committee, and on the editorial advisory board of
Jewish Currents magazine. In the late-1970s, Gordon began his research for a biography on American composer Marc Blitzstein,
Mark the Music, which was published in 1989. In addition to
Mark the Music, Gordon is the co-author of
Ballad of an American (Scarecrow Press, 1997), as well as hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles.
In 2012, Eric Gordon continues to live in Los Angeles, CA.
Source:
(last accessed October 25, 2012.)
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Eric A. Gordon, April 12, 2011.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Eric A. Gordon's
Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein Collection, Coll2012-121, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Processing Information
Collection processed by Kyle Kaplan and Loni Shibuyama, November 2012.
Scope and Contents
The collection comprises correspondence, playbills, programs, clippings, photographs, notes, grant proposals and other research
material collected for the book,
Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein (St. Martin's Press, 1989), by Eric A. Gordon. An American composer and gay man, Marc Blitzstein is perhaps most well-known
for his 1937 musical,
The Cradle Will Rock, his opera
Regina, as well as his adaptation of
The Threepenny Opera. The Marc Blitzstein Resource Material Series includes photocopied and original materials documenting Blitzstein's life and
musical works. The bulk of the Correspondence and Research Series includes correspondence (and related notes) between biographer
Eric Gordon and Blitzstein's family, friends and collaborators. The Publication Records Series includes grant proposals, photographs,
promotional material, permissions and other administrative records in the publication and promotion of Gordon's biography
on Blitzstein.
Separated Materials
Following items have been separated from the collection:
Denson, Joan.
Except for One Little Problem: Memoir of a Life in Hiding. Fort Lee, NJ.: Barricade Books, 2001. (signed copy to "Susan")
The Making of "From Walls to Roses" [sound recording], produced by Eric A. Gordon, 1978. (1/4 in. open reel audiotape)
Show: The Magazine of the Arts. New York: Hartford Publications, Inc. Vol. IV, No. 6 (June 1964)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Blitzstein, Marc
Gay and lesbian writers
Gay composers
Gay musicians
Jewish gay men
Musical theater
Opera
Marc Blitzstein resource material Series 1.
1905-2011
Physical Description:
3.0 linear feet.
Series Description
This series comprises playbills and programs, photographs, clippings, notes, manuscripts, correspondence, flyers, an FBI report
and photocopies of Blitzstein's personal papers, compiled by Eric Gordon, documenting Blitzstein's life (1905-1964) and creative
works. Materials document Blitzstein's compositions, theatrical and concert productions (contemporary and posthumous), his
activism in the Jewish community, his interpersonal relationships, his political activities and his murder in 1964. In particular,
this series includes annotated photographs of Blitzstein throughout his life.
Arrangement
Photographs and a file about Marc Blitzstein's parents have been placed at the end of this series. The remaining files are
arranged chronologically.
Box 1, Folder 2
Chronology of activities, compositions and writings; miscellaneous contracts, letters, royalties
1905-1983
Box 1, Folder 3
Research outline notebook
circa 1905-1989
Box 1, Folder 4-5
1920s
1924-1987
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 1, Folder 6
Piano Sonata (1927)
1979-1981
Box 1, Folder 8
Guggenheim fellowships
1929-1940
Box 1, Folder 9-22
1930s
1930-1988
Physical Description:
[14 folders]
Box 1, Folder 24
Piano Concerto (1931)
1931-1988
Box 1, Folder 25
Surf and Seaweed (1931)
1931-1980
Box 1, Folder 27
Orchestra variations
1934-1988
Box 1, Folder 29
Send for the Militia--Parade (1935)
1935-1988
Box 1, Folder 30
Chesapeake Bay Retriever (1936)
1984-1985
Box 1, Folder 31-42
The Cradle Will Rock
1936-2001
Box 1, Folder 31-34
The Cradle Will Rock (1937)
1936-2000
Physical Description:
[4 folders]
Box 1, Folder 35
The Cradle Will Rock (1947-8)
1947-2001
Box 1, Folder 36
The Cradle Will Rock (1960)
1960
Box 1, Folder 37
The Cradle Will Rock recording (1964-5)
1964-1965
Box 1, Folder 38
The Cradle Will Rock TV
1983-1986
Box 1, Folder 39
The Cradle Will Rock film
1984-1988
Box 1, Folder 40
The Cradle Will Rock (Recklinghausen)
1984
Box 1, Folder 41
The Cradle Will Rock (London)
1985
Box 1, Folder 42
The Cradle Will Rock (other productions)
1979-2001
Box 1, Folder 43
I've Got the Tune
1937-1970
Box 1, Folder 44
Mercury Theater
Julius Caesar and
Danton's Death (1937)
1937-1981
Box 1, Folder 45
Theater Arts Committee
1939
Box 2, Folder 1-5
1940s
1940-1989
Physical Description:
[5 folders]
Box 2, Folder 7
Federal Theater Project
AAA Plowed Under
1941-1987
Box 2, Folder 8-9
World War II
1942-1989
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 2, Folder 11-12
No For An Answer (1942)
1942-2002
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 2, Folder 13
No For An Answer (1989)
1988-1989
Box 2, Folder 14-16
Airborne Symphony
1943-1991
Box 2, Folder 14
Airborne Symphony (1946)
1943-1945
Box 2, Folder 15
Airborne Symphony (London, 1986)
1986
Box 2, Folder 16
Airborne Symphony (Seattle, 1991)
1990-1991
Box 2, Folder 17
American-Soviet Music Society (1946-1947)
1946-1981
Box 2, Folder 18
The Guests (1949)
1949-1987
Box 2, Folder 20
Regina (92nd St. Y, 1952)
1952
Box 2, Folder 21
Regina (New York City Opera, 1953)
1953
Box 2, Folder 22
Regina (New York City Opera, 1958-1959)
1958-1985
Box 2, Folder 23
Regina (recording)
1958-1959
Box 2, Folder 24
Regina (Encompass, NY, 1977)
1977
Box 2, Folder 25
Regina (Detroit, 1977)
1977
Box 2, Folder 26
Regina (Colorado, 1980)
1980
Box 2, Folder 27
Regina (Houston, 1980)
1980
Box 2, Folder 28
Regina (Kansas City, 1981)
1981
Box 2, Folder 29
Regina (Wolf Trap, 1982)
1982
Box 2, Folder 30
Regina (Opera Ensemble, NY, 1984)
1984
Box 2, Folder 31
Regina (Augusta, 1985)
1985
Box 2, Folder 32
Regina (Baton Rouge, 1986)
1986
Box 2, Folder 33
Regina (Boston, 1991)
1991
Box 2, Folder 34
Regina (other productions)
1968-2000
Box 2, Folder 35-40
1950s
1950-1989
Physical Description:
[6 folders]
Box 3, Folder 1-3
Threepenny Opera
1952-2008
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 3, Folder 4
Reuben Reuben (1955)
1955-1985
Box 3, Folder 6
This is the Garden (1957)
1956-1983
Box 3, Folder 7
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
1958-1970
Box 3, Folder 8-9
Juno (1958)
1958-2008
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 3, Folder 10
Juno (Vineyard)
1991-1992
Box 3, Folder 11-12
1960s
1960-1981
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 3, Folder 13
Italy 1960-1961
1960-1987
Box 3, Folder 14-15
Sacco and Vanzetti
1960-2001
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 3, Folder 17-18
Martinique and death
1962-1987
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 3, Folder 19
Tales of Malamud
1963-1991
Box 3, Folder 21
Blitzstein! (1966)
1965-1966
Box 3, Folder 22
Among Marc Blitzstein's papers
1983
Box 3, Folder 23
Composers' Showcase, April 28, 1985
1985-1988
Box 3, Folder 24
Soho Rep Blitzstein Evening
1987-1988
Box 3, Folder 25
The Informer, Agnes De Mille (American Ballet Theater)
1988
Box 3, Folder 26
A Blitzstein Cabaret
1990
Box 3, Folder 27-29
1990-1992
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 7, Folder 1
Posters
circa 2000-2011
Physical Description:
[1 oversize folder]
Box 3, Folder 31
Sam and Anna Blitzstein (parents)
1975-1983
Box 5, Folder 28-29
Photocopies of Blitzstein images
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 7, Folder 3
Photograph
Undated
Physical Description:
[1 oversize photograph]
General Physical Description note: [1 photograph: b&w.]
Box 6
Photographs
circa 1850-1964
General Physical Description note: [74 photographs: b&w, col.]
Correspondence and research Series 2.
1921-1992
Physical Description:
2.5 linear feet.
Series Description
This series comprises correspondence, interview notes, clippings and other material related to Eric A. Gordon's research for
his book,
Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein. The bulk of the material is Gordon's correspondence with individuals who knew or worked with Blitzstein.
Arrangement
This series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent's last name.
Box 4, Folder 2-3
B
1958-1989
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 4, Folder 4
Bernstein, Leonard
1946-1990
Box 4, Folder 5-6
C
1979-1992
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 4, Folder 8-9
D
1979-1989
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 4, Folder 10
Davis (Christopher, Josephine, and Stephen)
1978-1989
Box 4, Folder 12-13
G
1978-1989
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 4, Folder 19-20
Lehrman, Leonard
1979-1989
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 5, Folder 5
Simon, Louis and Stella
1927-1989
Box 5, Folder 3
Skildelsky, Berenice
1921-1988
Publication records Series 3.
1850-1991
Physical Description:
0.5 linear foot.
Series Description
This series comprises correspondence, grant proposals, notes, bibliographies, permissions and releases, financial records,
promotional and other administrative material from the publication of Gordon's biography on Blitzstein,
Mark the Music (1989). This series includes Gordon's various project proposals sent to potential funders and information regarding archives
of Blitzstein's sound recordings.
Arrangement
This series is arranged alphabetically.
Box 5, Folder 18
Boosey and Hawkes
1986-1987
Box 5, Folder 11
Dictionary of Opera
1980-1982
Box 5, Folder 12
Grove Dictionary
1983-1989
Box 5, Folder 19
Mark the Music correspondence
1990
Box 5, Folder 24
Mark the Music records
1991
Box 5, Folder 23
Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture
1980
Box 5, Folder 15
National Endowment for the Humanities
1980
Box 5, Folder 21
Performing Arts, "The Roots of Regina"
April 1980
Box 5, Folder 25-26
Permissions signed
1988
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 5, Folder 17
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
1981-1989
Box 5, Folder 10
Miscellaneous notes
Undated