Samuel P. Warren collection
Published: 1840
Language: eng
Number of pages: 14000
Subjects: Correspondence; Concert programs; Archives; Opera programs; Sources; Sacred music
Description: The collection consists of correspondence, concert and recital programs, church service programs, and related materials that were either collected by Warren himself or given to him by his students, colleagues and others in the New York City and throughout the United States. The letters in the collection, all addressed to Warren, are from a variety of sources, including Warren's pupils who later received some fame in their own right, for example William Crane Carl, Gerrit Smith, William C. Macfarlane, Frederick T. Steinway, and W.C. Hammond, and from colleagues and friends such as Dudley Buck, H. Clarence Eddy, H.E. Krehbiel, and Horatio Parker, Gustave Schirmer, and C. M. Widor. Among the programs in the collection are a chronological series (1874-1914) of church service bulletins that outline Warren's work at Holy Trinity Church and Grace Church in New York and First Presbyterian Church in East Orange, New Jersey; many of these items are annotated. The collection also contains important concert and recital programs from New York's major concert halls of the period. Noteworthy programs include those from: Carnegie Hall, featuring concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Manuscript Society of New York, the Musical Art Society of New York, the Russian Symphony Society, and recitals by Paderewski; Chickering Hall, with programs featuring Hans von Bülow, Vladimir de Pachmann, the Mendelssohn Glee Club, and the New York Vocal Union; and the Metropolitan Opera House, with performances by the Philharmonic Society of New York and the Damrosch Opera Company. Various other items are cataloged and classified separately: ML96.M97; ML96.L465; ML96.W36; and ML44.N3W17.
Notes: Open to research.

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Samuel P. Warren Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

Certain restrictions to use materials may apply. Many of the items in this collection are brittle and care in handling is required. Photocopying of materials from this collection is not permitted.

Purchase; Oct. 16, 1916.

Purchase; Mrs. Joan Southward; 1939.

Samuel Prowse Warren was born in Montreal on Feb. 18, 1841, the son of organ builder Samuel Russell Warren (1809-1882). At the age of 12, he had shown enough musical ability to give his first organ recital at St. Stephen's Chapel in Quebec and to be appointed as organist at the American Presbyterian Church, a position that he held until he went to Berlin at age 20 to study organ and theory with Karl August Haupt, piano with Gustav Schumann, and instrumentation with Wilhelm Wieprecht. After returning to Montreal, he moved to New York, where he gave his first public recital in Jan. 1866. In New York he was organist at All Souls Unitarian Church (1866-1868), Grace Episcopal Church (1868-1874 and 1876-1894), and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (1874-1876). While at Grace Church, Warren took an active part in the musical life of New York City, especially in the realm of organ and both sacred and secular vocal music. He established a weekly series of organ recitals and was organist for Leopold Damrosch's Oratorio Society from 1874 to 1879. He conducted the New York Vocal Union from 1880-1888. In 1895 Warren accepted a position as organist at the First Presbyterian Church in East Orange, New Jersey, and one year later participated in the founding of the American Guild of Organists, becoming an honorary president of the Guild in 1902. He died in East Orange on Oct. 7, 1915.

Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room and at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu002010