Julia Smith Collection (Music), 1920-1989Add to your cart.

By Katie Buehner and Maristella Feustle

Collection Overview

Title: Julia Smith Collection (Music), 1920-1989Add to your cart.
ID: 06/ 021
Primary Creator: Smith, Julia (1905-1989)
Extent: 67.0 Boxes
Date Acquired: 00/00/1989
Subjects:
Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The collection consists of approximately 67 boxes of music books, scores, correspondence, memorabilia, manuscripts, photographs, and recordings relating to the career of composer and University of North Texas alumna, Julia Smith (1905-1989), as well as Smith's handwritten transcriptions of more than a dozen scores by Aaron Copland.

Biographical Note

Julia Smith was born in Denton, TX in 1905 and took her first piano lesson from her mother.  She later studied piano with Harold von Mickwitz of Dallas while she was a student at North Texas State Teachers' College.  She graduated in 1930 with a degree in English and went to New York to study piano performance at the Juilliard School of Music.  Her teacher, Carl Friedberg, encouraged her to pursue composition at the School.  Smith became a composition fellow and spent five more years at Juilliard studying with Rubin Goldmark and Frederick Jacobi. In 1938, Smith married architect Oscar Veilehr.  The following year, Smith's first opera, Cynthia Parker, received its premiere at her alma mater.  The opera was based on the legendary Texas abduction and recapture of its title character.  Cynthia Parker enjoyed a much-publicized premiere.  Smith's next opera, The Stranger of Manzano, was also premiered at NTSTC (1945).  Best known for her six operas and biography of Aaron Copland (1955), Smith spent over fifty years as a composer, pianist, and advocate of American music.

Subject/Index Terms

Access Information

Access Restrictions:

Access to this collection is provided only by special arrangement. Please contact the Music Library for more information.

Use Restrictions:

Reproduction and publication of materials in this collection are subject to the policies of the UNT Music Library. Copyright restrictions may apply.

Physical Access Note:

Collection is housed in the UNT Music Library. Advance notice for use is required. Please contact the Music Library for further information.

Reading Room or Duplication Requests

Depending on any access restrictions noted above, you may be able to request items be delivered to our reading room, or that we make reproductions for you. Just click on either the or icons in the listings below to be routed to our request form.

Administrative Information

Repository: Music Library
Acquisition Source: Gift
Related Materials: See also: the Carl Friedberg Collection.
Finding Aid Revision History:

This finding aid was initially compiled by Katie Buehner, and adapted for this finding aid platform by Maristella Feustle.

Item-level description added in Series 18 on January 22, 2019.

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