The 123-piece collection of rare letters, documents, photographs and manuscripts spanning three centuries of musical history was collected by Miklos Rozsa. Most of the correspondence relates to the composition, performance and business of music. Other writings deal with the mundane realities of daily life, such as the payment of debts, the climate, and social amenities. Most of the letters in the collection are handwritten, though some of the more recent ones are typed. In a 1949 letter, which Rozsa said was his favorite, Richard Strauss attempts--in German--to explain to actor Lionel Barrymore the nature of his relationship with the Nazi party. In addition to writings by musicians, the collection contains a 1670 letter from France's Louis XIV. Rosza collected these notes and letters over the course of a lifetime. Some he bought at auction; others he received as gifts.

Miklós Rózsa was born in Budapest on April 18, 1907. He was raised in Budapest, and on his father's rural estate in nearby Tomasi he was exposed to Hungarian peasant music and folk traditions from an early age. He studied the piano with his mother, a classmate of Bartok at the Budapest Academy, and the violin and viola with his uncle, Lajos Berkovits, a musician with the Royal Hungarian Opera. By the age of seven, Rozsa was composing his own works. Later, as a student at the Realgymnasium, he championed the work of Bartok and Kodaly, keeping his own notebook of collected folktunes.

1.42 Linear feet 2 boxes

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