Collections

The collection consists of a wide range of musical compositions composed by Rivard.

This collection documents a wide range of musical compositions composed by Dr. Rivard, 1951-1999. There are compositions for orchestra, band, and small instrumental groups and solos, and these pieces may include conductor’s scores and/or various instrumental parts. While a few of the pieces have been published and copyrighted, most are unpublished. They are in good condition. For processing reasons, the collection has been organized by size, legal-size or oversized materials, and then alphabetically by title. Sometimes because of size differences, the score is physically separated from the musical parts. Boxes 1-2 are legal-sized materials. Boxes 3-4 and oversized materials and are housed in oversized, flat drop-front boxes.

Musicians may prefer the following list organized by musical genre. Orchestra: 1. Cupid and Psyche—Symphonic Poem, M.M. Thesis, 1951, Score; 2. Concerto Sinfonia for chamber orchestra—Ph.D. dissertation project, 1958, Score and Parts; 3. Overture to War of the Comedians—full orchestra, 1956, Score and Parts. Band: 4. Capriccio Concitato, 1955, Score and Parts; 5. Four Jazz Originals, 1976, Score and Parts, copyright 2008 by Nancy Rivard; 6. Concerto for Brass Quintet and Band, 1987, Score and Parts; 7. Echoes from the Twilight Zone, 1997, Score only. Small Instrumental Groups and Solos: 8. Three Biblical Scenes, Brass Choir, 1957, Score and Parts; 9. Sombrero Fallout-Incidental Music, Brass, Woodwind, and Percussion, 1978, Score and Parts; 10. Arioso and Scherzo, Woodwinds and Harpsichord, 1958, Score and Parts; 11. Sonata for Trombone and Piano, 1955, Score and Parts, published in 1969 by Tenuto Press, now G. Schirmer; 12. Set for Alto Saxophone and Piano, 1991, Score and Parts; 13. Quadrivalence, Bass Trombone and Piano, 1990, Score and Parts, to be published 2010; 14. A Lenten Contemplation, Trumpet and Organ, 2007, Score and Parts; 15. Philosophical Hautboy, Oboe, Strings, Percussion, 1953, Score and Parts; 16. Four Songs from the Masques of Ben Johnson, SATB, 1967, Scores; 17. Elizabethan Song Set, Mezzo-soprano and Piano, 1993, Score.

All the material in Acc#72163 was digitized and is available in the CMU digital collections, Scholarly and Creative Works under Rivard Collection of Music Scores.

Acc#76882, is not digitized. It was processed in late 2020-early 2021, and is found in Boxes 2 and Box 5. In the back of Box 2 are five legal-size Rivard original show tunes scores and parts for the CMU Marching Band, mostly pen on manuscript stave4 paper, with some copies and one written in pencil. Box 5 includes Rivard’s eleven Jazz and seven Show Tunes scores and parts and a lead sheet for CMU jazz and marching bands as well as a red Notebook of Show Tune scores. The Jazz scores and parts are all printed ink on cream colored or white paper. Some of the Jazz folders include a photocopy of the piano score by the original composer. The six Show Tunes are photocopies of Rivard’s compositions on white paper with acid stains where the pages were once taped together. Handwritten notations that were on the originals are visible on the copies. The Show Tunes music stave Notebook includes undated scores by Rivard in pencil, most of which have additional notation added by him in pencil and/or ink. The red Notebook scores include: Strike Up The Band, Rockin’ Chair, Caravan, Chicago, Stampin’ at the Savoy, Rhapsody in Blue, Everything’s Turning Up, Jazz My Blues (Segué), ½ Time P-G Fanfare, and ½ Time Pre-Game Fanfare, At some point, the front right lower corner of the red Notebook got wet and bled through pages of the first three scores to varying degrees, although none were rendered illegible or seriously damaged. Researchers with allergies please note: The Notebook has a light musty smell, but does not have mold.

Dr. Albrecht’s Musical Compositions, 1954, 2018, and undated, and her 2020 obituary, 3.5 cubic feet (in 3 boxes, 1 Oversized, flat box) include a wide variety of many of her original musical compositions, scores, and parts.

Dr. Albrecht’s Musical Compositions, 1954, 2018, and undated, and her 2020 obituary, 3.5 cubic feet (in 3 boxes, 1 Oversized, flat box) include a wide variety of many of her original musical compositions, scores, and parts. These are mostly sacred music, in various formats, in English, Latin, German, and Russian. The collection is organized by series, alphabetically by title, and by size. The series are based mostly on a list of her works compiled by Steven Egler and Mary Stewart Kiesgan, her friends and faculty at CMU’s School of Music, and include: Original Choral Works with Organ; Voice and Piano / Harpsichord / Instruments; Hymn Arrangements and Concertatos; Works for Instruments / Instruments and/or Voice and Organ / Piano; Works for Solo Organ; Works for Solo Piano; Works for Orchestra; Transcriptions to Orchestra and Other Media; Descants and Choral Verses. Another series, not in the list, but which was in one of the original oversized folders in which the collection was delivered to the Clarke, is Instrumental Parts. Two other series added by the Archivist are: Unidentified Pieces, all of which are undated, and Music by Other Composers, with various dates. The formats include handwritten pencil or pen on paper, onion skin, ditto copies, and generic computer or Sibellius copies. A few pieces in the collection are incomplete or lack some of the instrumental parts that should be present. Copies were made of items with significant damage and only the copies were retained in the collection.

Processing Note: Numerous pieces were taped in various places and some consisted of stanzas which were generously taped onto larger pieces of paper for playing ease, resulting in much acidification. These were photocopied to prolong their life and only the copies retained. There were also several cases of oversized onion skin copies with extensive rectangular holes, barely attached to each other by peripheral onionskin strips of borders. To prevent further damage and loss of the material, these onionskins were also copied and only the copies were retained in the collection. Ditto copies, mostly pre-1980 versions smell due to their chemical composition, but deterioration is minimal. During processing .5 cubic foot of duplicates and copied acidic or onionskins were withdrawn and returned to the donor as per the donor request.