The collection consists of scores and sketches, and ozalid reproductions of music for the stage and other compositions by Friml, as well as many sound recordings, and personal and business papers. The collection is currently being processed. Updates to the finding aid will be made periodically.

Charles Rudolf Friml was born on Dec. 7, 1879 in Prague, Czechoslovakia; studied composition with Antonfn Dvorßk and piano with Josef Jirßnek at the Prague Conservatory (1900-3); was accompanist for the violinist Jan Kubelfk on tours of Europe and the US (1900-6); settled in the US in 1906, performing his First piano concerto with Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony Orchestra; gained a reputation for his keyboard improvisations, character pieces, lyrical salon dances, etudes, violin and cello pieces and songs, some written under the pseudonym Roderick Freeman; wrote 30 operettas and revue scores; moved to Hollywood in 1925, adapting his works and writing new scores for films; compositions include The firefly (1912), Rose Marie (1924), The vagabond king (1925), and The three musketeers (1928); he died on Nov. 12, 1972 in Los Angeles.

ca. 200 boxes

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