Guide to the William Ames Collection
ARS.0072
Finding aid prepared by Franz Kunst
Archive of Recorded Sound
Braun Music Center
541 Lasuen Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, California, 94305-3076
650-723-9312
soundarchive@stanford.edu
© 2011
The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: William Ames Collection
Dates: 1947-1966
Collection number: ARS.0072
Creator:
Ames, William T.
Collection size:
1 box:
22 open reel tapes
Contributing Institution:
Archive of Recorded Sound
Abstract: Tape recordings of works by composer William Ames.
Language of Material: English
Access
Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive for
assistance.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound.
Preferred Citation
William Ames Collection, ARS-0072. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
Sponsor
This finding aid was produced with generous financial support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Biography
American composer William Thayer Ames (1901-1987) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and wrote his first compositions while
attending Harvard in the early 1920s. After graduating with a degree in music, Ames studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris,
and returned to the United States to teach at the Eastman School of Music. In 1940 Harvard awarded Ames a masters degree,
and he lived for a time in New York. It was during this period that a program of his works was performed at Carnegie Hall.
In 1954 Ames was appointed to the faculty at Cornell's dance department (pieces for dance and theater were almost as important
to him as his chamber music, orchestral works and operas). Following spells in New Hampshire and New York, Ames retired to
the peaceful setting of Mendocino, California in 1965, where he spent the rest of his life writing music.
Scope and Contents
The William Ames Collection consists of twenty-two tape reels of performances of Ames compositions, some with Ames' own involvement.
Documentation of these performances is limited; all information from the tape boxes has been transcribed. Some performers
are identified, including sopranos Barbara Troxell and Antonia Lavanne, tenor Earl Rogers, violinist Max Pollikoff and 'cellist
George Finckl. Nine of the reels are professional transfers from instantaneous discs by Stone Sound Studio in Woodstock, New
York. It is likely, however, that all reels are copies and that the originals exist elsewhere.
Related Collections
Special Collections at the Eastman School of Music holds the William Ames Collection, which contains the composer's papers,
music and recordings.
Box 1
Augurs: opera in one act for two sopranos and baritone. Ames on piano, with Suzy, Marilyn, Dino
1959
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Concerto for clarinet and orchestra ; Prologue for flute, horn and strings
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Improvisation
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Junk ; Summer Elegy
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
folders
Box 1
Piece for flute and piano ; Trio for flute, violin and viola ; Improvisations for piano ; Piano-percussion sketches
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and 'cello ; Two movements for bassoon quartet
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Quest ; Mad woman of Chaillot
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Sixth string quartet ; Piano quartet
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Sonata for violin and piano ; Composition for 10 instruments
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Songs: Earl Rogers, Antonia Lavanne
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Trio for flute, oboe and 'cello. Two performances: Carnegie Hall recital 1958, Town Hall 1964
1958-1964
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Trio for piano, violin and 'cello
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Trio for violin, viola and 'cello ; Waltz "Spring song"
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
2. Numbered reels (disc transfers)
Box 1
Reel 1. Tree of bane ; two preludes for piano (1948-05-01) ; Rhapsody for piano, American Festival (1952-02-18) ; The darkness
rolls upward / Barbara Troxell
1948-1952
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Reel 3. Music for film, "Philip Evergood" ; The jester
Physical Description:
1 5" open reel tape
Box 1
Reel 4. Composition for modern dance 1-4 (same as reel 2 but other pressings)
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Box 1
Reel 5. Movement for woodwind quintet ; Trio for violin, 'cello and piano
1956-1957
Physical Description:
1 5" open reel tape
Box 1
Reel 6. Composers Forum concert. Song group #1 ; Song group #2
Physical Description:
1 5" open reel tape
Box 1
Reel 7. Song cycle, "Pygmalion" (songs 1-6)
1946-03-24
Physical Description:
1 5" open reel tape
Box 1
Reel 8. 1966 Bennington Composers Conference
1966
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Scope and Contents
Rigamarole - Among the gods - Bereft - Stopping by the woods - A blue butterfly day - A peck of gold - A minor bird / Earl
Rogers, tenor ; Sketch for violin and piano / Max Pollikoff, violin ; 5 songs / Ethel Leuning
Box 1
Reel 9. American Festival, etc.
1947-1958
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
Scope and Contents
Patch of old snow - Meeting - Rapid and vansit - Now close the window - Star moss / Ethel Luening, soprano ; 1958 American
Festival (1958-02-18): No city - Dream pang / Barbara Troxell ; 1947 American Festival WNYC (1947-02-21): Twilight - Winter
apples - Sand paintings - Outwitted - Nocturne from suite for 'cello and piano ; 1952 American Festival (1952-02-18): Rhapsody
for piano - The darkness rolls upward / Barbara Troxell ; No city ; Dream pang
Box 1
Reel 10. Suite for 'cello and piano (Prelude, Nocturne, Scherzo, Epilogue) / George Finckel, cello
Physical Description:
1 7" open reel tape
