Gottfried Galston Music Collection and The Galston-Busoni Archive
The Gottfried Galston Music Collection and The Galston-Busoni Archive includes manuscripts (musical and literary), letters, photographs, programs, musical scores, newspaper clippings, and other items of memorabilia documenting the lives and careers of both Gottfried Galston and Ferruccio Busoni. The materials making up of the Galston-Busoni Archive were collected by Galston and cover a period from 1897 to 1927. Included in the Busoni memorabilia are sixteen musical manuscripts and four literary manuscripts, as well as an extensive collection of letters and photographs. Some items in the collection of Galston memorabilia are truly unusual, such as the two silver medals awarded to Galston for his performances at the Paris Conservatory in 1907 and 1909, and the plaster casts of the hands of pianists - Anton Rubenstein, Ferruccio Busoni, and Gottfried Galston. Other items of significance to students of piano and music history are the Studienbuch, Galston's musical and literary record of his five historical programs of Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, and Chopin, and his manuscript edition of 140 of Johann Sebastian Bach's works, called Helen Galston's Klavierbuchlein. Prepared during the last years of his life, this work represents the culmination of Galston's lifelong devotion to the music of Bach.
The Galston Music Collection consists of about 1500 scores for piano (including some for two pianos and piano with orchestra), plus 102 miniature scores and thirty-one books on musical subjects. The large collection of piano music covers the major repertoire for virtuoso pianists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including many first editions of music by composers of this period. Heavily emphasized are the works of Bach, Liszt, and Busoni, with both original works for piano and transcriptions by Liszt and Busoni.
(These excerpts are from Pauline Shaw Bayne's book, The Gottfried Galston Music Collection and the Galston-Busoni Archive, which serves as an introduction and preliminary catalog for this collections. Researchers may wish to refer to this book, available in Rare Books, for a complete description of the collection's contents.)
The contents of this collection and finding aid have been updated as 2018-2019. All missing or omitted items noted at that time have been marked with [missing].
Dates
- 1759-1978
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Conditions Governing Use
The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Extent
40.5 Linear Feet (65 boxes)
Abstract
The Gottfried Galston Music Collection and The Galston-Busoni Archive includes manuscripts (musical and literary), letters, photographs, programs, musical scores, newspaper clippings, and other items of memorabilia documenting the lives and careers of both Gottfried Galston and Ferruccio Busoni.
Biographical/Historical Note
Gottfried Galston, born in Vienna in 1879, completed his studies under Schenner at the Vienna Conservatory at the age of fifteen and then became a pupil of Theodore Leschetizky with whom he remained for five years. It was in Leipzig in 1900 that Galston made his piano debut. In 1903, he was appointed Professor at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin where he taught until 1907. At this time Galston also received significant honors, the title of Professor Extraordinary at the Imperial Conservatory in St. Petersburg and an invitation to perform at the Conservatory in Paris without the customary written application. In 1927, Galston settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where he taught at the St. Louis Institute of Music. He resided in St. Louis until his death in 1950.
The Italian-born pianist, composer, and conductor, Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni was born April 1, 1866, in Empoli, Italy. He performed as a child prodigy at the piano beginning at the age of nine, although he had not studied with any well-known teacher at that time. His studies in composition began with Wilhelm Meyer-Remy at Graz and continued at the Leipzig Conservatory beginning in 1886. Busoni was an intellectual who wrote his own opera libretti as well as essays on the philosophy and aesthetics of music; he was a virtuoso pianist who possessed impressive technical skill; he was a conductor who supported the new composers of his day by programming unknown works; he was a composer of a wide range of works for piano, voice, orchestra, organ, chamber ensembles, and the stage.
(Excerpts from Pauline Shaw Bayne's book: The Gottfried Galston Music Collection and the Galston-Busoni Archive)
Arrangement
This collection consists of 65 boxes divided into five series: Musical scores, Miniature scores, Busoni memorabilia, Galston memorabilia, and Books. The arrangement follows the arrangement and identifiers found in Pauline Shaw Bayne's book, The Gottfried Galston Music Collection and the Galston-Busoni Archive.
I. Musical scores are arranged in alphabetical order by composer's last name.
II. Miniature scores are arranged in alphabetical order by composer's last name.
III. Busoni memorabilia are arranged by materials, as detailed in the written finding aid.
IV. Galston memorabilia are arranged by materials, as detailed in the written finding aid.
V. Books are arranged by the written finding aid identifier.
Acquisition Note
This collection was a gift of Mrs. Helen Galston Tibbe, given in 1974.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository