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Finding Aid for the Alex North Collection of Motion Picture Music , 1951-1969
17  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
This collection consists of holograph scores with occasional holograph music notes
Background
North was born on Dec. 4, 1910, in Chester, PA; attended the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and Moscow Conservatory; became music director of the German Theater Group and the Latvian State Theater, and the only American member of the Union of Soviet Composers; returned to the US in 1935; studied with Ernst Toch and Aaron Copland in NY, and composed ballet scores for Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, and Agnes de Mille; composed for the NY stage, including scores for Life and death of an American (1939), Of V we sing (1942), and Death of a salesman (1949); wrote music for some 50 documentary shorts between 1937-50; in 1939 went to Mexico as music director for the Anna Sokolow dance troupe and studied with Silvestre Revueltas; served as a captain in the US Army in World War II; his Revue for clarinet and orchestra was performed by Benny Goodman and the NY Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein in 1946; began scoring feature films in the early 1950s, becoming a leading Hollywood composer; his musical language encompasses dissonance and lyricism, and ranges from chamber to symphonic proportions; he was nominated for 15 Academy Awards but did not win one until 1986, when the Motion Picture Academy presented him with an honorary life-achievement award; died in 1991.
Extent
83 boxes (41.5 linear ft.)
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Performing Arts Special Collections. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Performing Arts Special Collections Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Performing Arts Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained.
Availability
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.