Finding Aid for the Luigi Silva Collection, 1920-1962

Descriptive Summary

Creator

Luigi Silva, 1903-1961

Title

Luigi Silva Collection, 1920-1962

Extent

7.5 linear feet (13 boxes and 1 oversize box); 5 discs of sound recordings

Abstract

This collection includes Silva's research notes, files of reviews of performances, photographs, newspaper clippings, publicity materials, programs, and correspondence.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Copyright Notice

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Luigi Silva Collection, Special Collections and Rare Books, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased by the Friends of the Library, from the Estate of Luigi Silva, 1963. Items in Box 12 were added at a later date after being donated by various individuals and sources.

Processing Information

Processed by Special Collections Staff

Biographical Note

Born in Milan, Italy, Luigi Silva came from a musical family. In addition to taking cello lessons with Arturo Bonucci in Bologna, he also studied composition with Ottorino Respighi in Rome. Silva received a degree in cello from the Bologna Conservatory, and a master's degree in music pedagogy (cum laude) in 1921.

Silva performed throughout Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. He was cellist in the Rome Opera Orchestra, and won the Boccherini Prize at the First National Contest for young concert artists in Rome in 1933. He was a cellist in the Quartetto di Roma, and taught at the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence.

In 1939 Silva immigrated with his wife and father to the United States. From 1941 to 1949 he was head of the cello and chamber music departments at the Eastman School of Music. From 1949, he taught at the Juilliard School of Music, Mannes College of Music, and Yale University School of Music He was cellist of the Mannes-Gimpel-Silva Trio from its inception in 1950 to its dissolution in 1956.

Collection Arrangement

Silva's manuscripts are arranged according to subject. Oversized items, audio recordings, and later donations are listed at the end of the collection.

Series 1: Vademecum
Series 2: La Tecnica Violoncellistica & Storia
Series 3: Method Bibliographies
Series 4: Manuscripts and Typescripts, Silva
Series 5: Manuscripts and Typescripts, Others
Series 6: Notes on Students/Teaching Notes
Series 7: Papers by Silva's Students
Series 8: Articles and Clippings
Series 9: Microfilm
Series 10: Performace Programs
Series 11: Biographical Materials
Series 12: Gifts to the Collection

Separated Materials

Oversize Materials
Audio Recordings

Detailed Description of Collection

Series 1: Vademecum

Silva's own method which he proposed to include especially in sections on thumb position technique and 6ths.

Box 1

Folder 1 - Indice / Prefazione / Bibliografia

Folder 2 - Independenza elementare

Folder 3 - Independenza assoluta

Folder 4 - Independenza nel raggruppamento delle dita in posizione di capotasto

Folder 5 - Escercizi ginnastici di flessibilita delle dita

Folder 6 - Trillo

Folder 7 - Scale diatoniche maggiore e minori

Folder 8 - Terze e Decime / Arpeggi / Ottave

Folder 9 - Capitolo I-II notes

Folder 10 - Capitolo I-III notes

Folders 11-15 - Notes and early draft

Series 2: La Tecnica Violoncellistica & Storia

A project for an encyclopedia of bowed string instruments. First is a clean typescript draft identified as "La Tecnica" and a second draft identified as "Storia" is a duplicate with holograph corrections, deletions and additional material in typescript and holograph. The full title of Folders 3-11 is "Storia della 'tenuta' della mano sinistra nelle posizioni del manico del Violoncello secondo la 'naturale' conformazione di esse; e conseguente sistemi di diteggiature." (Translation: A history of the "posture" of the left hand in the neck positions of the violoncello in accordance with the "natural" conformation of the hand, and resulting systems of fingering.)

Box 2

Folder 1 - Technica - part 1 (some pages missing)

Folder 2 - Technica - part 2 (some pages missing)

Folder 3 - Storia - Cap. 1 and 2

Folder 4 - Storia - Cap. 3, pt. 1

Folder 5 - Storia - Cap. 3, pt. 2

Folder 6 - Storia - Cap. 3, pt. 3

Folder 7 - Storia - Cap. 4

Folder 8 - Storia - Cap. 5

Folder 9 - Storia - Cap. 6

Folder 10 -Storia - Cap. 7

Folder 11 -Storia - Cap. 8

Folder 12 - Project for publication of an encyclopedia of bowed string instruments (see also Box 3, Folder 11) Here are some more words to see if that code worked. Will it? Probably not. If it does, I'll be all like =-O

Series 3: Method Bibliographies

Bibliographies of cello methods in collaboration with Joan Mack and Elizabeth Cowling / Performance practice / Pedagogy / Notes on History, technique and performance.

Box 3

Folder 1 - Bibliographies of cello methods

Folder 2 - Performance practice draft: Old music and old instruments; some ideas about Bach's own bowings in the violoncello suites / Commento alla Suite I

Folder 3 - Performance practice draft - Boccherini Sonatas Preface

Folder 4 - Performance practice draft - Bow vibrato and portato

Folder 5 - Performance practice draft - 18th-cent. instrumental technique

Folder 6 - Performance practice draft - Ornamentation

Folder 7 - Performance practice draft - Trills

Folder 8 - Performance practice draft - Shape, color and integration of composition in performance

Folder 9 - New mechanical and psychological approach to the teaching of the string instruments to beginners (see also: Box 12, Folder 2)

Folder 10 - Testi per "interorgagioni del program d'esame per il corso superiore di violoncello / String pedagogy

Folder 11 - Notes on history, technique, performance: Nomenclatura (see also "La technica violoncellistica", Box 2, Folders 1 & 2)

Folder 12 - History, technique, performance: Quartett (notebook)

Folder 13 - History, technique, performance: Composers and performers

Folder 14 - History, technique, performance: Versuch einer grundlichen violinschule, Leopold Mozart, 1756: Baumgartner, 1922; Georg Muffat: Florilegium Secundum (1698); Trendelenberg: "The natural position of the hand"; Becker: Mechanics and aesthetics of violoncello playing

Folder 15 - History, technique, performance: Exercises

Folders 16-17 - History, technique, performance: Miscellaneous notes

Series 4: Manuscripts and Typescripts, Silva

Silva's manuscript and typescript notes taken from various music treatises and methods.

Box 4

Folder 1 - Pleyel, Maglioni, Romberg, Duport and others

Folder 2 - Silva's early notes on music, musicians

Folder 3 - Silva's early notes on music, musicians

Folder 4 - Misc. notes on playing, phrasing

Folder 5-9 - Misc. notes on music topics

Series 5: Manuscripts and Typescripts, Others

Index and catalog of cellists/typescripts and manuscripts in various hands.

Box 5

Folder 1 - Indexes

Folder 2 - A-B

Folder 3 - C-E

Folder 4 - F-H

Folder 5 - I-M

Folder 6 - N-S

Folder 7 - T-Z

Series 6: Notes on Students/Teaching Notes

Silva's notes on students and teaching notes, 1950s-1960s.

Box 6

Folder 1 - Class records, 1955-1956 and 1957-1959

Folder 2 - Class records, 1959-1960 and 1961-1962

Folder 3 - notes on students and teaching 1957-1960

Folder 4 - notes on students and teaching 1958-1961

Folder 5 - notes on students and teaching 1954-1961/62

Folder 6 - notes on students and teaching 1956-1961/62

Folder 7 - notes on students and teaching 1952-1953 (these folders are divided in the groups established by Silva)

Folder 8 - Miscellaneous notes evidently related to teaching

Folder 9 - Music schools - Italy and U.S. - Mannes and Eastman Schools

Folder 10 - Hartt College of Music 1961

Series 7: Papers by Silva's Students

Box 7

Folder 1 - Class records, 1955-1956 and 1957-1959

Folder 2 - Class records, 1959-1960 and 1961-1962

Folder 3 - notes on students and teaching 1957-1960

Folder 4 - notes on students and teaching 1958-1961

Folder 5 - notes on students and teaching 1954-1961/62

Folder 6 - notes on students and teaching 1956-1961/62

Folder 7 - notes on students and teaching 1952-1953 (these folders are divided in the groups established by Silva)

Folder 8 - Miscellaneous notes evidently related to teaching

Folder 9 - Music schools - Italy and U.S. - Mannes and Eastman Schools

Folder 10 - Hartt College of Music 1961

Series 8: Articles and Clippings

Box 8

Folder 1 - student papers A-B

Folder 2 - student papers B-C

Folder 3 - student papers E-G

Folder 4 - student papers H-N

Folder 5 - Myers, William: Techniques for teaching violoncello at the elementary level (1960)

Folder 6 - student papers P-R

Folder 7 - student papers R-S

Folder 8 - Slonimsky, Nicolas: Thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns

Folder 9 - Stiles, Elizabeth Helen: Master's Thesis: History of the Bow: Its form and technique. Eastman School of Music, 1947 - typescript with manuscript corrections

Folder 10 - student papers T-Z and unidentified

Series 9: Microfilm

Box 9

Reel 1 - Boccherini concertos, sonatas, trios

Reel 2 - Kellner and Westphal mss.

Reel 3 - Silva's Vademecum

Reel 4 - Breval, Jean Baptiste, Traite du Violoncelle

Reel 5 - Metodo per violoncello, Lezzioni

Reel 6 - Wenzinger, August, Gambenubung... 1938

Reel 7 - Grummer, Paul, Viola da Gamba-Schule... 1928

Series 10: Performace Programs

Box 10

Folder 1 - 1924-1932

Folder 2 - 1933-1935

Folder 3 - 1936

Folder 4 - 1936-1939

Folder 5 - 1940-1942

Folder 6 - 1943-1944

Folder 7 - 1946-1956

Folder 8 - 1958-1961

Folder 9 - undated

Folder 10 - press comments on Silva performances

Series 11: Biographical Materials

Box 11

Folder 1 - Biographical, vita, diploma (Liceo Musicale, 1923)

Folder 2 - letters written by Silva 1943-1953 and n.d. - 4 items (source of letters unknown)

Folder 3 - miscellaneous correspondence 1924-1960 and n.d.

Folder 4 - Silva's Kreutzer Preface

Folder 5 - portrait photographs of Luigi Silva

Folder 6 - paintings and sketches of Silva (photos and originals)

Folder 7 - informal photos of Silva with family, friends

Folder 8 - photographs of the Mannes-Gimpel-Silva Trio

Folder 9 - photographs of the Quartetto di Roma

Folder 10 - miscellaneous photographs, partially identified

Folder 11 - Giulio and Carlo Silva

Folder 12 - photos of other musicians-autographed to Silva

Folder 13 - unidentified photos of other musicians

Folder 14 - images of historic musicians

Folder 15 - miscellaneous unidentified photographs

Folder 16 - photos of busts of Baron and Baroness Canconi

Folder 17 - Silva's address books, map of the world, NY Central RR time table

Folder 18 - Programmes pour Recital- 2 page typescript in French

Series 12: Gifts to the Collection

Box 12

Folder 1 - Memorial Recital, Juilliard Concert Hall, April 11, 1962. Gift of the Juilliard School of Music, 1962.

Folder 2 - "New mechanical and psychological approach to the teaching of the string instruments to beginners" -[paper by Luigi Silva delivered by Marie De Rungs in Stockton, California in 1953. Gift of Marie De Rungs, 1978.]

Folder 3 - Vademecum - notes taken by Vance Beach with correspondence between Beach and Margery Enix, March-April, 1980. Gift of Vance Beach and Margery Enix, 1980. N.B.: Vance Beach was a student of Silva's in the 1940s. Beach took notes in English while Silva translated from his Italian text. These notes were given to Margery Enix who turned them over to the Silva Collection. Mr. Beach had a long and distinguished career as a cellist and was a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for many years.

Folder 4 - Materials about Giulio Silva, Luigi Silva's father. Gift of John Silva, 1980.

Folder 5 - Letters to Tom Akeley from Luigi Silva, July-Oct. 1949. Gift of Tom Akeley, 1983.

Folder 6 - Musical Courier, April 1, 1941, with letter from Charles Wendt. Gift of Charles Wendt, 1984.

Folder 7 - Luigi Silva tapes (2 cassettes) with a list of contents. 10 photographs of Luigi Silva and Silva with his father, son Roy Silva and numerous musicians. Taken by Charles Wendt in 1956. Gift of Charles Wendt, May and October 1987.

Folder 8 - Photocopies of letters to Rudolf Matz from Luigi Silva, May 16, 1954 to Nov. 23, 1957. (Original letters are in the Rudolf Matz Collection). Gift of Margery Enix, 1993.

Oversize Materials

Box 13

Folder 1 - Workbook for a cello method in collaboration with Rudolf Matz, ca. 1954-57. Includes typed ad for magazine "Etude": NEW PEDAGOGIC EDITIONS FOR VIOLONCELLO...; letter from Matz to Silva, October 3, 1957; Matz's 1950 Zagreb edition of "30 Etuda za violoncello solo" and manuscript of positions.

Folder 2 - Vademecum-ESERCIZI

Folder 3 - Vademecum-synoptic chart of scales

Folder 4 - Vademedum-synoptic chart of scales - original and copies; scales in two octaves - original ms.

Folders 5-10 - Silva's exercises as a student [192_?]

Folder 11 - unidentified music mss. in Silva's hand.

Audio Recordings

Box 13

Disc 1 - Instrumental music in colonial America. New Records 2004. [195-?] 33 1/3 rpm, 10in. Luigi Silva, violoncello; Arthur Loesser, piano. Program notes by Carleton Sprague Smith on slipcase. Contents: Taylor, R. Sonata IV in D major. Onata VI in C major. Leaumont, M.R. Duo concertant (1787).

Disc 2 - Columbia Records Collectors Series. Virgil Thomson. CBS Records. 1973. AML 4468. 33 1/3 rpm, 12 in. Contents: Concerto for violoncello and orchestra. Luigi Silva, 'Cello, with Janssen Symphony of Los Angeles, Werner Janssen, Conductor. The Mother of Us All - Suite for Orchestra. Janssen Symphony of Los Angeles, Werner Janssen, Conductor.

Disc 3 - Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. CB 166, CB 167. 33 1/3 rpm, 12 in. Contents: Villa-Lobos. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1 for 8 violoncelli. Milhaud. Protée - Symphonic Suite No. 2.

Disc 4 - Mannes Gimpel Silva Trio. Robert Schumann. Trio No. 1 in D minor, op. 63 for piano, violin, cello. Franz Schubert. Nocturne in E flat major, op. 148 for piano, violin, cello. Decca Gold Label Series. DL 9604. [195-?] 33 1/3 rpm, 12 in. Gift of John Silva, October 1980.

Disc 5 - Villa-Lobos conducts The Violoncello Society in his Fantasia Concertante for Orchestra of Violoncellos + J.S. Bach: Preludes and Fugues from "The well-tempered clavier" transcribed for orchestra of violoncellos by Villa-Lobos. Belock Recording, Division of Belock Instrument Corporation. LPBR-6024. 1959. 33 1/3 rpm, 12 in. Gift of Tom Minor, February 1980.