ContentsOrganization of the Belle Brown Collection Container List |
Belle Brown CollectionProcessed by the Music Division of the Library of Congress2010
Biographical NoteThough little biographical information exists concerning Belle G. Brown, the contents of her collection document her relationships with prominent and respected European performers at the turn of the twentieth century. Miss Brown was born in Massachusetts to Joseph and Maria Brown and, aside from her studies in Europe, remained a Bostonian until at least the early 1900s. During the decade leading up to 1900, Miss Brown enjoyed the privilege of studying with such celebrated performers and pedagogues as Désirée Artôt, Pauline Lucca, and Jean and Edouard de Reszké. In 1893, Bronsart von Schellendorf (General Intendant of the Court Theatre at Weimar from 1887-1895) offered a five-year contract to Miss Brown to perform for the Court Theatre. Two years into her contract, on December 15, 1895, the Boston Globe printed an announcement that “Miss Belle Brown of Newbury Street [had] received by cable an offer of an engagement at the opera house in Weimar.” Both her contract signed by Schellendorf and the cable offer to perform in Weimar reside in this collection. There is also a limited amount of information available concerning Miss Brown’s professional opera career abroad as well as the remainder of her life, which was presumably spent in Boston (correspondence indicates that she resided in Boston’s Hotel Puritan when she gifted her materials to the Music Division in 1933 and 1934). Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Content NoteThe Belle Brown Collection spans the years 1865-1912 and includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, Miss Brown’s contract with the Court Theatre in Weimar, a program of Anton Rubinstein concerts, and iconography related to Miss Brown’s vocal training abroad as well as her brief opera career in Weimar. The collection also documents Miss Brown’s professional and personal associations with influential European artists. The “Correspondence” series spans 1865 to 1912 and includes letters and cards from performers and pedagogues, most notably Désirée Artôt and Pauline Lucca. There are also eight letters to Miss Brown and Lucca from Bronsart von Schellendorf dated 1893-1894, reflecting the first years of Miss Brown’s contract with the Weimar Court Theatre. Other significant musicians whose correspondence appears in the collection include Frieda Hempel, Arnold Rosé, and Anton Rubinstein. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then by topic. The second series, “Miscellaneous Documents,” is comprised of a small number of newspaper clippings and obituary notices concerning musicians, most significantly Lucca. In addition, there is a program of Anton Rubinstein concerts and the contract Bronsart von Schellendorf offered to Miss Brown in 1893. This series is organized alphabetically by the subject of the document. Finally, the “Iconography” series, which is the largest series of the collection, offers 114 prints and photographs of influential figures in European musical society around the turn of the century. Nineteen photographs are autographed by the subject of the photograph or inscribed to Miss Brown; most impressive of these signatures are those of Lola Artôt de Padilla, Leschetizky, and Liszt. The majority of these photographs are also annotated by Miss Brown, often indicating the person and his/her relationship to Miss Brown’s music career. Iconography is arranged alphabetically by subject of the photograph. Return to the Table of Contents Selected Search TermsPeople
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Return to the Table of Contents Organization of the Belle Brown CollectionThe Belle Brown Collection is organized into three (3) series: Return to the Table of Contents Container ListCorrespondence, 1865-1912Arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Artôt, Désirée, 1890-1892to Miss Belle Brown (4)to Mr. and Mrs. Brown (3)Bronsart von Schellendorf, Hans August Alexander, 1893-1894to Miss Belle Brown (6)to Pauline Lucca (2)Brown, Belle, undatedEhrenstein, Gisela von, 1892Hempel, Frieda, 1912Krebs, Maria, 1893Kullak, Franz, 1897Leisinger, Elisabeth, undatedLeschetizky, Theodor, 1887Lucca, Pauline, 1865-1900Palmer, Nevada, undatedReszké, Marie de, 1912Rosé, Arnold Joseph, undatedRubinstein, Anton, undatedSchönheit, Wilhelm, 1893Miscellaneous Documents, circa 1873-circa 1908Arranged alphabetically by subject of the document. Brown, BelleContract with the Deutsches Nationaltheater in Weimar. Signed by Bronsart von Schellendorf May 8, 1893Cable invitation to perform at the Deutsches Nationaltheater, 1895Lucca, PaulineNewspaper clippingsObituary cardMarchesi, MathildeNewspaper clippingRubinstein, AntonProgramme of the Rubinstein concerts, 1873Seidl, AntonObituaryIconographyArranged alphabetically by subject of the photograph. Arnoldson, Sigrid2 photographs (1 autographed)Artôt de Padilla, Lola4 photographs (2 autographed)1 postcardBach, Johann Sebastian1 photograph of Toby E. Rosenthal’s painting “Morgen andacht bei Sebastian Bach” () 1870Barblan, Otto1 photographBeethoven, Ludwig van2 photographs [portraits]1 photograph of Beethoven’s Geburtszimmer1 photograph of painting by Stieler1 photograph of Beethoven’s death maskBeethoven, Ludwig VanPhotograph of painting by RödigBernhardt, Sarah2 photographsBrahms, Johannes1 photograph1 photograph of painting by EichhornBrown, Belle3 photographsChopin, Frédéric1 photograph of Félix Barrias’s painting “La Mort de Chopin” () 1885Czesek1 photographFuchs, Frau Robert1 photographFuchs, Robert1 photographGadski, Johanna Emilia Agnes2 autographed photographsGoetschius, Percy1 photographGounod, Charles François1 photographKrakauer, Alexander1 tintypeLebert, Sigmund2 photographsLehmann, Lilli1 photographLeschetizky, Theodor2 photographs (1 autographed)Liszt, Franz2 photographs (1 autographed)Löwe, Adele2 photographsLucca, Pauline10 photographsMalten, Therese2 photographsMaterna, Amalie Friedrick3 photographsMead, Olive2 autographed photographsMelba, Nellie, Dame1 autographed photographMeriam, Alice1 photographMozart, Wolfgang Amadeus1 photograph of Mozart’s GeburthausPhotograph of painting by RödigNilsson, Christine1 photographPadilla y Ramos, Mariano2 autographed photographsPatti, Adelina1 photograph1 photograph with Patti's niecePetzner1 photographPlank, Fritz1 photographRosé, Arnold Josef3 photographs (2 autographed)1 postcardRosé String Quartet1 photograph1 photograph with Anton DoorRubinstein, Anton1 photographSan Carlo Theatre [Naples]1 photographScheidemantl, Karl2 photographsSchmerling, Mme. Pessiack1 photograph1 photograph with Belle and Bessie BrownSchumann, Clara1 photographSchumann, Robert1 photographSchwarz, Franz Josef1 autographed photographSinger, Edmund1 autographed photographSpeidell, Wilhelm1 photographStaudigl, Gisele Koppmayer1 photographStepanoff, Varette4 photographs (2 autographed)Sucher, Rosa Hasselbeck2 photographsTchaikovsky, Peter Ilich1 photographTua, Maria Felicita1 photographVan Dyck, Ernest Marie3 photographsVerdi, Giuseppe2 photographs1 postcardVogl, Heinrich1 photographWagnertheaterWallhoffen, Emil Maria1 autographed photographWeber, Carl Maria von1 photographGroup photographPhotograph of Désirée Artôt, Carmen Artôt de Padilla, Lola Artôt de Padilla, and Belle Brown (2 copies)Unidentified6 photographsReturn to the Table of Contents |
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