Collection Summary
Carreño, Teresa, 1853-1917
Teresa Carreño Papers
1862-1991
1862-1920
4.5 cubic feet (15 boxes)
Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries
Includes musical manuscripts of Carreño and others, such as Edward Macdowell, Amy Beach and Teresita Carreño-Tagliapietra; literary manuscripts of Carreño; letters to and from Carreño and to and from Marta Milinowski, her biographer; and a variety of scrapbooks, diaries and other materials relating to Carreño's life and professional career; Among the correspondents are Frances Macdowell, Gioachino Rossini, Edward Grieg, and Ede Poldini. There are also many articles about Carreño and programs of her concerts.
Biographical Note
Teresa Carreño was born in Caracas, Venezuela on December 22, 1853. She was the granddaughter of the Venezuelan composer Jose Cayetano Carreño. Her father, Manuel Antonio Carreño, was also a musician and composer. He was largely responsible for Teresa Carreño's early musical education and the documentation of the early years of her musical career.
When she was eight years old she was taken to New York where she studied with Gottschalk. Later, she also studied in Paris with Mathias and Anton Rubinstein. Her career was particularly successful in Germany where she lived and taught for over thirty years.
Throughout her life Carreño was recognized as a pianist, composer, conductor, and singer. She wrote many compositions for piano and one String Quartet in B minor. She also spent two years in Venezuela organizing and conducting an opera company in which she also sang.
Carreño died in New York on June 12, 1917.
The source for this brief biography is The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 3. (London: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1980). See also Brian Mann's biographical sketch written for the 2003 Archives and Special Collections Library exhibit, Teresa Carreño: Walküre of the Piano
Scope and Content Note
Includes musical manuscripts of Carreño and others, such as Edward Macdowell, Amy Beach and Teresita Carreño-Tagliapietra; literary manuscripts of Carreño; letters to and from Carreño and to and from Marta Milinowski, her biographer; and a variety of scrapbooks, diaries and other materials relating to Carreño's life and professional career; Among the correspondents are Frances Macdowell, Gioachino Rossini, Edward Grieg, and Ede Poldini. There are also many articles about Carreño and programs of her concerts.
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Librarywithout any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.
Related Materials
In his article on the Carreño Collection, MLA Notes (v 47, no 4), Brian Mann notes that Music Librarian, George Sherman Dickinson "must have been delighted, particularly given the hundreds of volumes of practical music it brought to his library." These hundreds of volumes, which also included books and periodical issues on music, were added to the main collection of the Music Library and are now almost indistinguishable from it save for the identifying stamp "Purchased from the Estate of Theresa [sic] Carreño." Since 2002 the Dickinson Music Library Carreño Collection consists of early published editions of music by Teresa Carreño, published music by other composers and dedicated or inscribed to Carreño, and orchestral music with performance annotations in Carreño's hand. For a listing of the published materials in the Music Library see the register of the George Sherman Dickinson Music Library Carreño Collection.
Register of the George Sherman Dickinson Music Library Carreño Collection
Photocopies of selected original music manuscript materials and correspondence in the Teresa Carreño Collection of the Special Collections Department in the Main Library of Vassar College have been placed in the Dickinson Music Library Carreño Collection in the Treasure Room.
Subject Headings
Names:
Macdowell, Frances
Rossini, Gioacchino, 1792-1868
Grieg, Edvard, 1843-1907
Poldini, Ede, 1869-1957
Milinowski, Marta, 1885-1970
Macdowell, Edward, 1860-1908
Beach, H. H. A., Mrs., 1867-1944
Carreño, Manuel Antonio, d. 1874
Carreño-Tagliapietra, Teresita
Subjects:
Concert programs
Music--Performance
Women composers
Women musicians
Pianists
Document Types:
Drawings (visual works)
Diaries
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Sheet music
VCL Categories
Music
Encoding Information
Encoded by Elizabeth Clarke, February 2007.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Max Benjamin Valerio, October 1990. Last updated August 2002 by Sarah Canino.
Custodial History
Vassar Professor of Music, Marta Milinowski, studied with Carreño and wrote the first biography of the musician, Teresa Carreño, "By the Grace of God,"1940. Her connection brought about the purchase of a large number of materials from the Estate of Teresa Carreño through the Peabody Fund. A letter from the assistant Music Librarian, Natalie Mestechin, of 9/17/43 notes: "On August 21, 1941 the Music Department made a purchase from the Estate of Theresa [sic] Carreño which included manuscripts, papers, photographs, music, costumes, etc., etc. and various books." In the mid-1950's selected materials were sent to the National Library in Caracas, Venezuela. At an unknown date other items were removed to the Special Collections Department of the Vassar College Libraries. In 1990, the materials that made up the Dickinson Music Library Carreño Collection at that time were researched and organized by Vassar Professor Brian Mann, assisted by Geoffrey Hills
'91. His article, "The Carreño Collection at Vassar College," MLA Notes, 47 (1991), discusses the collection in detail as it existed at that point. Until 2002 the largest portion of the Teresa Carreño materials resided in the Dickinson Music Library. In 2002 all of the manuscript material and selected other materials were moved to the Special Collections Department of the Vassar College Libraries and integrated with the Carreño materials already housed there. In this process, separated parts were rejoined and additional materials came to light.
Acquisition Information
Transferred from the Dickinson Music Library, Vassar College.
Preferred Citation
Teresa Carreño Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Series List
[ Series I. ](series1) MUSIC MANUSCRIPTS,
(Boxes 1-6)
[Series II.](series2) LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS,
(Box 7)
[Series III.](series3) CORRESPONDENCE,
(Boxes 8-9)
[Series IV.](series4) SCRAPBOOKS AND MEMORABILIA,
(Boxes 10-12)
[Series V.](series5) DIARY, DATE AND ADDRESS BOOK,
(Box 13)
[Series VI.](series6) LEGAL DOCUMENTS,
(Box 14)
[Series VII.](series7) PRINTED MATERIALS AND PROGRAMS,
(Box 14)
[Series VIII.](series8) PHOTOGRAPHS,
(Box 15)
[Series IX.](series9) ARTWORK,
(Box 15)
Container List
SERIES I: MUSIC MANUSCRIPTS
By Teresa Carreño
Compositions with opus numbers
Folder 1.1
Reverie Impromptu Op. 3
Folder 1.2
Caprice Etude Op. 4
Folder 1.3
"Une Larme" Op. 5
Folder 1.4
Caprice-Etude Op. 6
Folder 1.5
Caprice-Etude Op. 7
Folder 1.6
"Souvenirs de mon pays" Op. 10
Folder 1.7
Marche Funèbre Op. 11
Folder 1.8
Prière Op. 12
Folder 1.9
"Sovenirs de L'Angleterre" Op. 16
Folder 1.10
(4éme Elégie) No. 4 Op. 20
Folder 1.11
(5éme Elégie) No. 5 Op. 21
Folder 1.12
(6éme Elégie) No. 6 Op. 22
Folder 1.13
Mazurka Op. 23
Folder 1.14
Vals Gayo Op. 38
Compositions without opus numbers
Folder 2.1
Serenade für Streich Orchester von Teresa Carreño
Folder 2.2
Hymnos al Bolivar
Folder 2.3
Etude-Mazurka
Folder 2.4
La Petite Boiteuse
Folder 2.5
Petite Berceuse
Folder 2.6
Feuillet D'Album. Lamartine (song)
Folder 2.7
[No Title]. "Voga…" (song)
Folder 2.8
Preludio and related sketches/copies
Folder 2.9
Composiciones de Maria Teresa Carreño. 1860-1861
Folder 2.10
"Mi Teresita" (Kleiner Walzer)
Incomplete compositions, with titles and without opus numbers
Folder 2.11
4éme Valse
Folder 2.12
Intermezzo-Scherzoso
Folder 2.13
Valse
Folder 2.14
[Valse Mélancholique]
Folder 2.15
Romance
Folder 2.16
Romance
Sketch material (all presumably the work of Teresa Carreño)
Folder 2.17
1-5. Sketches for String Quartet in B Minor
Folder 2.18
6-17. Unidentified Sketches
Folder 2.19
Harmony and Counterpoint Exercises. [May also be by her students],
(7)
By and about Manuel Antonio Carreño
Folder 3.1
Cours Complet
Folder 3.2
Exercises. Première partie.
Folder 3.3
Deuxième Partie. Rapports proportionnels.
Folder 3.4
Deuxième Partie. Tierces brisés.
Folder 3.5
Troisième Partie
Folder 3.6
Quatrième Partie
Folder 3.7
Cinquième Partie
Folder 3.8
Cours Complet
Folder 3.9
Partie Supplementaire. Exercises.
Folder 3.10
Observations Générales written by M. Marmontel
Folder 3.11
Gymnastique vocale.
Folder 3.12
An untitled set of theoretical writings, with music examples, paginated 1-23.
Folder 3.13
Various studies in piano technique
Folder 3.14
L'absence Valse pour piano
Folder 3.15
Etude Mazurka pour piano
(2 copies)
Teresita Carreño-Tagliapietra
Folder 4.1
[No Title] "Allegro energico"
Folder 4.2
Berceuse per Teresita Tagliapietra (Incomplete)
Folder 4.3
Elegie
Folder 4.4
Minuetto in Stilo Antico
Folder 4.5
Notturno,
(fragment)
Folder 4.6
Tristesse
Edward MacDowell
Folder 4.7
Autograph for Op. 18. [sic] Op. 17.
Folder 4.8
Autograph for Op. 19. [sic] Op. 18.
Folder 4.9
Autograph for Op. 23.
Folder 4.10
Autograph for Op. 23.
Folder 4.11
Autograph for Op. 24.
Folder 4.12
Autograph for Op. 36.
Amy Beach
Folder 5.1
Concerto for piano and orchestra, op. 45. Score.
Folder 5.2
Concerto for piano and orchestra, op. 45. Parts.
Various composers
Folder 6.1
d'Albert, Eugene. Annotated proofs: Der Mensch und das Leben, op 14. (parts) [Orch. B. 949], Zweites Quartet [Bote & Bock 13749], Der Rubin [20305; Breitkopf & Härtel]
Folder 6.2
Chopin, Frederic. Concerto in E minor for piano and orchestra, op 11, dedicated to Carreño and arranged by A. Munckheimer
Folder 6.3
Fielten? Fielsen? Firlten? Rigadoon (Rigandon) for Pianoforte T. P. "Oxford 1908"
Folder 6.4
Jordan, Pierre. Klavierstukker op. 3 no. II Grokeske
Folder 6.5
Schindler, Kurt. Letztes Wiegenlied Eine Romanze von Emmy Destinn,
1899
Folder 6.6
Stow, G.G. " A few lines of welcome to Mme Teresa Carreño,"
17 April 1914
Folder 6.7
Tagliapietra, Giovanni. Los lindos ojos de Y. Ferrer
Folder 6.8
Watson, Regina. Bourée l'antique
Folder 6.9
Watson, Regina. Cradle Song
Folder 6.10
Watson, Regina. Sérénade orientale
SERIES II: LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS
Folder 7.1
Extracts from Caracas -- Childhood and Visit,
(6 items)
1885-1886
Folder 7.2
Extracts from Caracas -- Childhood and Visit,
(7 items)
1885-1886
Folder 7.3
Carreño's manuscript, Possibilities of Tone Color and 2 clean, unbound proofs,
n.d.
Folder 7.4
Typescript of Carreño's wartime experien ces,
n.d.
Folder 7.5
Unpublished writings about Carreño,
(8)
n.d.
Folder 7.6
Literary materials Honoring Teresa Carreño
Folder 7.7
Geneology of Carreño by Rafael Mirabal Ponce
SERIES III: CORRESPONDENCE
Outgoing Correspondence
Folder 8.1
From Teresa Carreño,
(2 letters)
1909, 1916
Folder 8.2
From Teresa Carreño
(15 letters)
Folder 8.3
From Teresa Carreño
(28 letters)
Incoming Correspondence
Folder 8.4
Gottschalk, Maurice,
(1 letter)
1862
Folder 8.5
Grieg, Edward,
(2 letters)
1902, n.d.
Folder 8.6
Lehmann, Lilli,
(3 letters)
1899, 1916, n.d.
Folder 8.7
MacDowell, Edward (to TC and others),
(4 letters)
1897, 1899, 1901, 1902
Folder 8.8
MacDowell. Fannie,
(17 letters)
1907-1916
Folder 8.9
MacDowell, Fannie,
(14 letters)
1895-1909
Folder 8.10
MacDowell, Frances,
(1 letter)
1908
Folder 8.11
MacDowell, Frances,
(11 letters)
1892-1908
Folder 8.12
MacDowell, Frances
(10 letters)
Folder 8.13
MacDowell, Marian,
(4 letters)
1907-1908, n.d.
Folder 8.14
MacDowell, Marian
(4 letters)
Folder 9.1
Paur , Emir,
(3 letters)
1895-1897
Folder 9.2
Poldini, Ede,
(3 letters)
1908-1910
Folder 9.3
Saint-Saens, Camille,
(3 letters)
1894-1914
Folder 9.4
Miscellaneous,
(5 letters)
1869-1898
Folder 9.5
Miscellaneous,
(19 letters)
1901-1909
Folder 9.6
Miscellaneous,
(6 letters)
1910-1912
Folder 9.7
Miscellaneous,
(6 letters)
1912-1915
Folder 9.8
Miscellaneous,
(5 letters)
1916
Folder 9.9
Miscellaneous,
(2 letters)
n.d.
Folder 9.10
Miscellaneous,
(6 cards)
n.d.
Folder 9.11
Various authors, Recipients include A. Tagliapietra and G. Novaes,
(13 letters)
1918-1920, 1931
Folder 9.12
Various authors. "Letters quoted."
(43 letters)
Letters about Teresa Carreño
Folder 9.13
Rossini, Giaocchini,
(3 letters)
1862-1866
Folder 9.14
de Sola ,Vincent,
(7 letters)
1938, 1939
To and from Marta Milinowski
Folder 9.15
Calcaño y Calcaño, José Antonio
Folder 9.16
Corson, James
Folder 9.17
Dodge, Rudolf
Folder 9.18
Guerra, Alirio Diez
Folder 9.19
Harris, Teresita
Folder 9.20
Weber, Hertha
Folder 9.21
Miscellaneous
SERIES IV: SCRAPBOOKS AND MEMORABILIA
Folder 10.1
Autograph album including Carreño's signature,
n.d.
Folder 10.2
Guest book: 11 entries from include G. Sonneck, Marion Bauer,
1911-1915
Folder 10.3
"Important Papers" (Passenger list, Marriage announcement, Written account, Last words)
Folder 10.4
Commendation,
1893
Folder 11.1
Scrapbook I (red, leather bound),
May 1862-July 1868
Folder 12.1
Scrapbook II (card board and leather),
1872-1885
Folder 12.2
Scrapbook " To Mme Teresa Carreño from Sadie Gottlieb"
SERIES V: DIARY, DATE, AND ADDRESS BOOKS
Folder 13.1
Address book (in black leather clutch), includes calling cards with brief notes
Folder 13.2
Appointment book (removed from black leather clutch) concerts, lessons, and other appointments,
1917?
Folder 13.3
"Prontuario,"
1897/1898-1911/1912
SERIES VI: LEGAL DOCUMENTS
Folder 14.1
Birth records,
1894
Folder 14.1
Concert contract,
1899
Folder 14.1
Deposition for her daughter,
[1913?]
Folder 14.1
Official document,
1915
SERIES VII: PRINTED MATERIALS AND PROGRAMS
Folder 14.2
Articles about Carreño,
(12)
[1867?]-1991
Folder 14.3
Articles about Carreño,
(15)
n.d.
Folder 14.4
Articles about Carreño in German,
(8)
n.d.
Folder 14.5
Articles about Carreño's death,
(15)
1917
Folder 14.6
Articles and anecdotes
Folder 14.7
"Articles of exceptional interest; sources"
Folder 14.8
Concert programs various years,
1863-1918
Folder 14.9
Concert programs: printed and handwritten,
n.d.
Folder 14.10
News clippings: Milinowski's groupings.
Folder 14.11
Programs for Carreño's concerts,
(6)
n.d.
Folder 14.12
Teresita Blois and Eugen D'Albert: concert programs and articles
SERIES VIII: PHOTOGRAPHS
Folder 15.1
Photos
Folder 15.2
Photos of Teresita Blois
Folder 15.3
Marta Milinowski's photo layouts
Folder 15.4
Marta Milinowski's photo layouts
SERIES IX: ARTWORK
Folder 15.5
Drawings,
(3 items)