Guide to the Hall Clovis Papers, ca. 1920-1970(bulk 1930s)

Processed by David Seubert;
Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
© 2002
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Guide to the Hall Clovis Papers, ca. 1920-1970(bulk 1930s)

Collection number: PA Mss 30

Department of Special Collections



Davidson Library

University of California, Santa Barbara

Contact Information:

  • Department of Special Collections
  • Davidson Library
  • University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Santa Barbara, CA 93106
  • Phone: (805) 893-3062
  • Fax: (805) 893-5749
  • Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
  • URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html
Processors:
David Seubert
Date Completed:
10/21/02
Encoded by:
David Seubert
© 2002 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

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.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

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.

Access

The collection is unrestricted.

Preferred Citation

Hall Clovis Papers, PA Mss 30, Department of Special Collections, University Libraries, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Douglas Hall, 1999 and 2001.

Biography

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.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Tenors (Singers)
Singers--United States.
Schoen-René, Anna Eugénie, 1864-1942.

Genres and Forms of Material

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.

Material Cataloged Separately

Commercial sound recordings are cataloged separately.

 

Family History

Scope and Content Note

Series I, Family History, contains a small amount of biographical and family information on Hall's family as well as some biographical information on Steele's family, who's father was a partner in the J.P. Morgan firm.
Box 1: 1

Family history information, n.d

 

Clippings, Reviews and Programs

Scope and Content Note

Series II, Clippings Reviews and Programs, contains newspaper clippings of reviews of their performances and programs for their concerts.
Box 1: 2

Clovis-Steele clippings, 1930s

Box 7: 2-3

Oversize clippings and reviews, 1930s

Box 1: 3

Clovis Steele Concert Programs, 1930s

Box 1: 4

Other concert programs, 1930s

 

Photographs

Scope and Content Note

Series III, Photographs, is primarily photographs of productions of operettas that Clovis performed in New York. The collection includes one box of publicity photos for the productions, including photos for the first staging of Ernest Trow Carter's Blonde Donna, or The Fiesta of Santa Barbara. There are also some photos of their European tours, publicity photos for the Four Bachelors and later snapshots of Clovis after moving to Santa Barbara with his partner Charles Lee and also with friends, including Lotte Lehmann.
Box 1: 6

Clovis in Omaha, 1920s

Box 1: 7

Anne-Marie Schoen Rene, 1920s

Box 1: 8

Steele Family and House, 1920s

Box 1: 9

Snapshots of HC and ES, 1930s

Box 1: 10

Snapshots of HC and Charles Lee, 1970s

Box 1: 13

Snapshots of HC and Lotte Lehmann in Badgastein, 1965

Box 1: 12

Tour Photographs, 1930s

Box 1: 12

Recording Session, n.d.

Box 2: 1-2

Four Bachelors publicity photos, 1920s

Box 2: 2

Hall Clovis publicity photos, 1930s

Box 7: 4

HC Oversise publicity photos by George Maillard Kesslere, n.d.

Box 2: 6-9

Clovis-Steele, 1930s

Box 7: 5

Clovis-Steele publicty photos, n.d.

Box 2: 10

The Beggar Student, 1920s

Box 2: 11

Blonde Donna, 1920s

Box 2: 12

Chocolate Soldier, 1930s

Box 2: 13

Marriage of Figaro, 1930s

Box 2: 14

Orpheus in Hades, 1930s

Box 2: 15

La Vie Parisienne, 1930s

Box 2: 16

Waltz Dream, 1930s

Box 2: 17

Unknown production, 1930s

Box 2: 17

Publicity photos of others, 1930s

Box 2: 17

Misc Photos, 1930s

 

Scores

Scope and Content Note

Series IV, Scores, includes manuscripts scores of pieces the duo commissioned from several composers, including Six Scottish Songs and Three Shakespeare Duets by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, four Elegies Darius Milhaud, commissioned arrangements of negro spirituls by H.T. Burleigh, Four Chinese Lyrics by Jeno Takacs and several songs by Katherine Ruth Heyman and Fannie Charles Dillon. The collection includes the manuscripts, usually the full score, a vocal score and a set of parts for most of the works. Some pieces, including works by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Burleigh and Heyman are autograph manuscripts, others are in the hand of copyists but are usually have a written dedication to the duo. There is also a collection of arrangements they had commissioned and a folder of published sheet music signed by the composers to the duo.
 

Burleigh, H. T., Negro Spirituals, arranged for Soprano and Tenor. (Two bound folders with mss copies of 8 songs.), n.d.

Box 5: 1

Sometimes I feel like motherless Child

Box 5: 1

Joshua Fit de Battl' Ob Jericho, Mss

Box 5: 1

Scandalize my Name

Box 5: 1

Were you there

Box 5: 1

Joshua Fit de Battl' Ob Jericho

Box 5: 1

Deep River, Heav'n Heav'n

Box 5: 1

Swing Low, Sweet chariot

Box 5: 1

De Gospel Train

Box 5: 1

Little David Play on yo' Harp

 

Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario. Six Scottish Songs., 1939

Box 3: 1

Full score, Mss, 62 pages.

Box 3: 2

Vocal score, Mss.

Box 3: 3

Parts, Mss

 

Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mario. Three Shakespeare Duets., 1938

Box 3: 4

Full score, Mss.

Box 3: 5

Vocal score, Mss.

Box 3: 6

Parts, Mss.

 

Milhaud, Darius. Prends cette Rose, n.d.

Box 4: 1

Full Score, Mss.

Box 4: 2

Vocal Score, Mss.

Box 4: 3

Parts, Mss.

 

Milhaud, Darius. Les quatre Elements, 1938

Box 4: 4

Cantate pour soprano, tenor et orchestre. Full Score, Mss.

Box 4: 5

Vocal Score, Mss.

Box 4: 6

Parts, Mss.

Box 5: 2

Chequer, John D. Indian Love Song, n.d.

 

Dillon, Fannie Charles, Songs, n.d.

Box 5: 3

A Song of Rain.

Box 5: 3

Indian Cradle Song, Op 106.

Box 5: 3

Fount of the Titans.

Box 5: 4

Gaines, Samuel Richards. There is a music, Score, Mss., 1936

 

Heyman, Katherine Ruth, Songs, 1934

Box 5: 5

Navajo Rain Song

Box 5: 5

Perhaps

Box 5: 5

Revelation

Box 5: 5

In London Town

Box 5: 5

Spear Not of Beauty Lightly

Box 5: 5

NOW!

Box 5: 5

Revelation

Box 5: 5

Navajo Rain Song

Box 5: 5

Night Clouds

 

Smith, Brooks. Songs and Arrangements., n.d.

Box 5: 6

Night and Stars

Box 5: 6

Sweetly She Sleeps, My Alice Fair (Stephen Foster).

Box 5: 6

The Mystery

Box 5: 6

I Dream of Jeanie (Stephen Foster)

Box 5: 6

La Golondrina

Box 5: 6

The Fountian

 

Takacs, Jeno von. Three Chinese Lyrics, Op 44., 1938

Box 5: 7

Full Score, Mss

Box 5: 8

Parts, Mss

 

Misc. Scores, n.d.

Box 5: 9

Deming, Roger, On Moon-White Shore.; Gainza, Jose. Madrileña.; Goldsworthy, W.A., Go Not Alone.; [unknown], David. Lonesome Song of the Plains.

Box 6: 1

Brahms, Johannes. So laa uns wandern. Mss score and parts, arr by Alfred Roth, n.d

Box 6: 2

Haydn, Franz Joseph Jahreszeiten. Mss score and parts, arr C. Molinari, München, n.d

Box 6: 3

Haydn, Franz Joseph. O, lass mich holder wissen, Op 102. Mss score and parts, arr. C. Molinari, München, n.d

Box 6: 4

Mozart, Wolfgang, Amadeus. Wie durufst mich. Mss score and parts, arr. C. Molinari, München, n.d

Box 6: 5

Schubert, Franz. Nur dir will ich gehoren. Mss score and parts, arranged., n.d

Box 6: 6

Schubert, Franz. Sie ist's Er ist's! Mss score and parts, arranged., n.d

Box 6: 7

Tchaikovsky, Peter. La passion ne brule plus mon ame. Mss parts, arranged., n.d

Box 7: 1

Autographed sheet music given to Clovis, n.d

Box 1: 5

Operetta Scripts, 1930s

 

Recordings

Scope and Content Note

Series V, Recordings, contains eight instantaneous recordings of Clovis-Steele recorded mostly in the 1930s.
item A2580/D12

Jeannie/Night and Stars, Oct 28, 1937

item A2581/D12

I dream of Jeanie/Pleurs d'or, May 18, 1937

item A2582/D12

So Wahr Die Sonne Scheinet/So Lass Uns Wandern, Oct 28, 1937

item A2583/D12

You're Just in Love/Baby It's Cold Outside, n.d.

item A2584/D12

Selige Nacht, n.d.

item A2585/D12

German Song/I Wonder as I wander, n.d.

item A2586/D12

These Wild Things/Clouds Adrift, n.d.

item A2587/D12

2 French Songs, n.d.

 

Films

Scope and Content Note

Series VI, Films, contains thirteen 16mm color films shot in Europe between 1933 and 1940. Includes footage of Nazi occupied Eastern Europe.
item V0490/F1

Europe 1933, no 1, 1933

item V0491/F1

Europe 1933, no 2, 1933

item V0492/F1

Europe 1933, no 3, 1933

item V0493/F1

Europe 1933, no 4, 1933

item V0494/F1

Europe 1933, no 5, 1933

item V0495/F1

Europe 1934, no 1, 1934

item V0496/F1

Europe 1934, no 2, 1934

item V0497/F1

Europe 1935, 1935

item V0498/F1

Europe 1938, no 1, 1938

item V0499/F1

Europe 1938, no 2, 1938

item V0500/F1

Europe 1939, no 1, 1939

item V0501/F1

Europe 1939, no 2, 1939

item V0502/F1

Europe 1940, 1940