Finding Aid for the Alois Reiser Papers PASC-M.0006
Machine- readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2002.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Alois Reiser papers
Creator:
Reiser, Alois
Identifier/Call Number: PASC-M.0006
Physical Description:
8.2 Linear Feet
(4 document boxes, 14 flat boxes and 1 oversize flat box.)
Date (inclusive): 1871-1957
Abstract: This collection consists of the sheet music manuscripts of Czech cellist, composer, and film music director Alois Reiser.
These materials span Reiser's entire career and include his classical compositions, operas, materials from his time as conductor
at New York's Strand Theater, and work as a composer and music director for the film industry in Los Angeles. Also included
are screenplays for various films, newspaper clippings of publicity for Reiser, some published material, and a few photographs.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English, Czech and German.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Property rights to the physical object belong to UCLA Library 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.
Processing Information
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Alois Reiser Papers (Collection PASC-M 6). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Biography
Reiser (born on April 6, 1887) was a Czech composer and cellist. Born in Prague, Reiser studied with Antonín Dvorák at the
Prague Conservatory and received his doctorate of music at the University of Prague. Reiser also took cello lessons and toured
Europe and the United States as a concert cellist with the Bohemian Trio, also performing for a time as a cellist with the
Pittsburgh and New York Symphony Orchestras. Afterward, Reiser reestablished himself in Prague and became conductor Prague
Opera House. Returning to New York in 1918, he worked as a conductor at the Strand Theater until 1929, when he moved to Hollywood
to work as a composer and musical director for film studios. At Warner Bros. and, later, Fox Studios, he worked on films
such as Noah's Ark (1928), Her Private Life (1929), Spring Is Here (1930), The Millionaire (1931), and Caravan (1934). His
classical compositions include the opera Gobi (1912), Concerto for cello and orchestra (1916), String quartet in E minor (1916),
Little Coquette (1918), From Mount Rainier (1926), Slavic Rhapsody (1927), Trio in F major (1931), and Erewhon (1931). He
died on April 4, 1977 in Los Angeles.
Scope and Content
This collection predominantly consists of manuscripts and holographic sketches of Reiser's orchestral, operatic, chamber and
film music. Sheet music includes full scores, miniature scores, parts, vocal scores, and lead sheets. Also included are film
scripts and treatments, some published works, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series: Series 1. Orchestral works; Series 2. Operas; Series 3. Songs for voice and piano; Series
4. Chamber music; Series 5. Film music; Subseries 5.1. Film scores; Subseries 5.2. Scripts and Treatments; Series 6. Personal
materials.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Music -- Manuscripts.
Motion picture music -- Scores.
Composers -- Archives.
Reiser, Alois -- Archives
Orchestral Works Series 1.
1871-1937
Scope and Content
This series contains full scores and individual parts for orchestral pieces composed by Reiser. The scores bear annotations
and corrections, though finished scores are included as well. All scores are manuscripts or manuscript facsimiles, unless
otherwise noted.
box 1, folder 1
Concert for Cello and Orchestra in D, Op. 7, by Johan S. Svendsen (printed sheet music)
1871
box 1, folder 2-5
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in D, Op. 14 (full scores, short scores and parts)
1916, 1933
box 2, folder 1-5
Erewhon: A Symphonic Poem, Op. 19 (full scores and parts)
circa 1931
box 3, folder 1-6
Slavic Rhapsody (full scores and parts)
1927-1937
box 4, folder 1
Summer Evening: A Symphonic Idyll, Op. 8 (full score and parts)
circa 1907
box 4, folder 2-4
Symphony in 3 Parts: Fate, Unknown, Joy (full scores and parts)
undated
box 4, folder 5-6
Symphony No. 1 (parts for violin)
undated
Operas Series 2.
1912-1927
Scope and Content
This series contains full scores, vocal scores, and instrumental parts for various of Reiser's operas. Contents are manuscripts
and manuscript facsimiles, unless otherwise noted. They include rough drafts, sketches, bear annotations and corrections
but also include final scores.
box 5, folder 1-5
Daphne (sketches and finished scores)
undated
box 6, folder 1-5, box 7, folder 1
Gobi and Prelude to Act III of Gobi (sketches, parts, and printed scores)
1912, 1927
box 7, folder 2-6
Prelude to Gobi (Iris) (full scores and parts)
[circa 1912]
Songs for Voice and Piano Series 3.
[circa 1910]-1942
Scope and Content
This series contains drafts, sketches, and finished copies of scores and lead sheets for songs composed by Reiser. All contents
are manuscripts or manuscript facsimiles, unless otherwise noted.
Due to intermixing of titled and untitled manuscripts, no attempt to separate titles has been made for this series. Titles
of works found in each folder have been included under the folder heading.
box 8, folder 1
Manuscripts (1 of 6)
undated
Scope and Content
Includes: Love is All That Matters, When We Truly Love, and Youth.
box 8, folder 2
Manuscripts (2 of 6)
circa 1942
Scope and Content
Includes: Down in the Canary Isles, I Found a Dream, Spanish Blues (Love Song), We're Gonna Collect (includes printed sheet
music), Ye Beauty Shoppe, and various untitled manuscripts.
box 8, folder 3
Manuscripts (3 of 6)
1920s-1942
Scope and Content
Includes: Always Remember, Bersaglieri, Compensation, Don't Wait for Love, Down Where the Wild Desert Blooms, If, In the Garden
At Dawning, It Is Not Always May, It Wasn't Any Business for a Lady, I've an Alibi, Love Can See, Love's Ecstasy, Musical
Comedy, My Heart is Yours!, My Sweetheart, Nerida, Song of the Clock, Tapestry Symphony, Valse Concertante, Valse Romance,
Valse Lente, Waltz With Me Tonight, When You Come Home, Who Do You Love?, and an untitled song typescript.
box 8, folder 4
Manuscripts (4 of 6)
undated
Scope and Content
Includes: Blue Moon (Valsette), Dream, How Could I Know, Jeanette, The Lord is My Shepherd, Love Me Little, Love Me Long,
Maureen, O Dream So Blissful, Something Tells Me, Two Songs (Op.6), Vola (Spanish Romance), Wondrous Ship, and various untitled
manuscripts.
box 8, folder 5
Manuscripts (5 of 6)
undated
Scope and Content
Includes largely untitled manuscripts in a folder titled "Sketches".
box 8, folder 6
Manuscripts (6 of 6)
circa 1910
Scope and Content
Full score for Three Ballads of François Villon by Claude Debussy, arranged by Reiser.
Chamber Music Series 4.
1919-1930s
Scope and Content
This series contains scores for Reiser's chamber music compositions All contents are manuscripts or manuscript facsimiles,
unless otherwise noted. They include rough drafts, sketches, bear annotations and corrections but also include final scores.
box 9, folder 1
Quartet for Strings in E Minor, Op. 16 (printed sheet music)
1919-1920
box 9, folder 2
Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 20 (bound manuscript facsim. with annotations)
undated
box 9, folder 3-4
String Quartet in C, Op. 18 (scores, parts, and facsimiles)
circa 1930
box 10, folder 1-2
String Quartet No.3 (score and parts)
1930s
box 10, folder 3
Trio in E Minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 12 (score and parts)
undated
box 10, folder 4
Trio in F for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 17 (score and parts)
circa 1931
Film Music Series 5.
1920s-1957
Scope and Content
This series includes manuscript scores for films that Reiser worked on, as well as scripts and treatments for later films,
which may or may not have passed into production.
Film Scores Subseries 5.1.
1920s-1940s
Scope and Content
Drafts, sketches, full scores and parts for various films. Include transition and theme music, scene music, and orchestral
works for film. Scores are manuscripts or manuscript facsimiles, unless otherwise noted. Most bear annotations and corrections.
box 11, folder 2
Bali film: compiled scenes and structure notes
undated
Scope and Content
Includes scene lists and scores from a film set in Bali; possibly Man's Paradise, an ethnographic documentary about Bali shot
in 1932 and released in 1938.
box 11, folder 3
Scene: Bali Dance
undated
box 11, folder 4
Scene: Bali Idyll
undated
box 11, folder 5
Scene: Bali Intermezzo
undated
box 11, folder 6
Scene: Bali Temple
undated
box 11, folder 7
Scene: Bali Theme
undated
box 13, folder 1
Scene: The Cockfight
undated
box 13, folder 2
Scene: Cocoanuts Intermezzo
undated
box 13, folder 3
Scene: Dancing Girl
undated
box 13, folder 4
Scene: Denaturing the Evil Spirits
undated
box 13, folder 5
Scene: Dragon Fight and the Puppet Show
undated
box 13, folder 6
Scene: Java Dance
undated
box 13, folder 8
Scenes: Melody, Phili Dance, Pigs, Turtle Soup, and untitled manuscripts
circa 1932
box 14, folder 1
Caravane/ Csardas
circa 1934
box 14, folder 2
Chink Walk (includes printed sheet music)
1929
box 14, folder 3
Die Fledermaus (The Bat), operetta by J. Strauss (script for Reiser's adaptation)
undated
box 14, folder 5
Serenata and Spirit of Spring
circa 1921
box 14, folder 6
Various
circa 1928
Scope and Content
Includes: Love and Passion (Appassionata D'Amour) (printed sheet music), Entre Nous (parts), Six Czech Folk Songs. Manuscript
scores for Careers (1929), The Millionaire (1931), Star Witness (1931), and other unspecified films.
Scripts and Treatments Subseries 5.2.
1930-1957
Scope and Content
Drafts, completed scripts, treatments, and synopses for various films.
box 18, folder 1
Bellevue Is My Home
1957 April 26
box 18, folder 2
By The Night Star
1947 April 16-May 8
box 17, folder 1-6
The Deserter
1950 April 6-1956 May 22
box 18, folder 3-6
The Fatal Wedding
1930 October 20-1931 February 17
box 19, folder 1-2
Modesta
1949 February 22-1950 April 4
box 18, folder 7
That Night At Shepheard's
1945 January 4
Personal Materials Series 6.
1910- 1937
Scope and Content
This series largely includes newspaper clippings and magazine issues in which Reiser is mentioned, as well as a CV and three
photographs.
box 15, folder 1-3
Newspaper clippings about Reiser
1910-1937
box 15, folder 4
Strand Theater program for screening of Charlie Chaplin's The Circus, orch. accompaniment conducted by Reiser
1928
box 15, folder 5
Issue of Musical America with article about Reiser's Quartet for Strings, Op. 16. 1920 November 13.
1920 November 13
box 15, folder 6
Issue of the Musical Observer, Vol. 20
1921 April
box 15, folder 7
Issue of The Brooklyn Standard Union featuring Reiser
1923 March 11
box 15, folder 8
CV and photographs
circa 1936
