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Guide to the Hall Clovis Papers, ca. 1920-1970(bulk 1930s)
PA Mss 30
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Title: Hall Clovis papers,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1920-1970
Date (bulk): (bulk 1930s)
Collection number: PA Mss 30
Creator:
Clovis, Hall
Extent:
5 linear ft.
(7 boxes)
8 sound recordings
13 films
Repository:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Library.
Dept. of Special Collections
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Abstract: Singer Hall Clovis (b. 1900) began his career in Omaha singing operettas. He later moved to New York where he sang the lead
in the premier of Ernest Trow Carter's Blonde Donna, recorded for Gennett records with the vocal quartet the Four Bachelors
and performed widely in the 1930s as the vocal duo Clovis-Steele with his wife soprano Eleanor Steele. Clovis-Steele commissioned
and sang pieces by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Darius Milhaud, H.T. Burleigh, Samuel Richards Gaines, Jeno Takacs, Fannie Charles
Dillon and Katherine Ruth Heyman. The collection includes manuscripts of works written for Clovis-Steele, copies of recordings,
programs, clippings and photos and color films of their travels in Europe in the 1930s.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials,
please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
The collection is unrestricted.
Hall Clovis Papers, PA Mss 30, Department of Special Collections, University Libraries, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Donated by Douglas Hall, 1999 and 2001.
Hall Clovis was born in 1900 in Nebraska. He attended Grinnell College, graduating in 19xx. He studied singing with noted
teacher Anna Eugenie Schoen-Rene and began his singing career in Omaha in local operetta productions. He then moved to New
York singing in operetta productions and sang the lead in the premier of Ernest Trow Carter's Blonde Donna, a musical set
in Santa Barbara. He also began singing with a group called the Four Bachelors, which later made several discs for Gennett
Records of Richmond, Indiana.
Clovis married Eleanor Steele in 1930, the wealthy daughter of Charles Steele, a partner in the J.P. Morgan firm. He and his
wife, a soprano formed the duo Clovis-Steele and performed widely in the 1930s, touring Europe several times. Clovis-Steele
commissioned and sang pieces by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Darius Milhaud, H.T. Burleigh, Samuel Richards Gaines, Jeno Takacs,
Fannie Charles Dillon and Katherine Ruth Heyman. Clovis and Steele moved to Santa Barbara and were later divorced. Clovis
lived in Santa Barbara until his death with Charles Lee in the former Summerland home of Leopold Stokowski.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The collection is divided into six series: Series I: Family History; Series II: Clippings, Reviews and Programs; Series III:
Photographs; Series IV: Scores; Series V: Recordings; Series VI: Films.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Tenors (Singers)
Singers--United States.
Schoen-René, Anna Eugénie, 1864-1942.
Sound recordings.
Photographs.
Home movies.
Index Terms Related to this Collection
Steele, Eleanor.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario, 1895-1968.
Milhaud, Darius, 1892-1974.
Heyman, Katherine Ruth.
Takács, Jenõ, 1902-
Burleigh, H. T., (Harry Thacker), 1866-1949.
Four Bachelors (Musical Group)
Carter, Ernest, 1866-1953.
Gaines, Samuel Richards, 1869-1945.
Dillon, Fannie Charles, 1881-1947.
Commercial sound recordings are cataloged separately.