Music Library

H. C. Robbins Landon Collection

Description

A portion of the collection is housed in the Music Library. It contains photocopies of manuscripts and early editions, primarily of the work of Joseph Haydn, printed scores used in Landon's preparation of critical editions, and nearly 200 microfilms of manuscripts collected by Landon from archives around the world. An inventory of these items, prepared by Paula Bishop, is ready for consultation. To request an item from this inventory, please inquire at the Reserve Window in the Music Library, 2nd floor, Mugar Memorial Library or contact us by phone or email.

Many additional items, such as original manuscripts, are maintained in the Howard Gottlieb Archival Research Center. The HGARC staff assist with inventory and access inquiries for this portion of the Landon documents.

Biography

H. C. Robbins Landon (b. 1926, Boston) attended Boston University from 1945-7, studying with Karl Geiringer and Hugo Norton. After completing his studies, he settled in Europe where he was a music critic for American newspapers in England, France, the Netherlands, and Austria. Utilizing contacts made while serving in the U. S. Army, Landon gained access to archives throughout Europe and pursued his interest in the work of Joseph Haydn.

As one of the foremost scholars on Joseph Haydn, Landon edited and published the complete Haydn symphonies as well as the five-volume Haydn: Chronicle and Works (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976) and numerous other monographs and articles concerning the composer (for a complete bibliography of the writings of Landon, see Studies in Music History: Presented to H. C. Robbins Landon on his Seventieth Birthday, edited by Otto Biba and David Wyn Jones, London: Thames and Hudson, 1996). In 1949 he founded the Haydn Society in Boston and Vienna; the society produced numerous recordings of the works of Haydn and others, many of which are available in the music library at Boston University.

Among Landon's many numerous awards, he received an honorary doctorate from Boston University in 1969. His memoirs are published in Horns in High C: A Memoir of Musical Discoveries and Adventures (London: Thames and Hudson, 1999).

Inventory

The inventory of the collection is divided into the following categories:

• Paper items related to Joseph Haydn, including scores, photocopies of scores, photocopies of manuscripts, photocopies from microfilm, etc.
• Paper items related to other composers
• Microform items
• Miscellaneous items

To search this inventory, use the Find function in your browser. If you wish to examine any item in this collection, copy down the File Number and inquire at the Music Library window. All items in this collection must remain in the Music Library.

Access Restrictions

This collection contains many photocopies and microfilm copies of items which belong to other libraries and archives. Photocopies of materials gathered from other repositories by H. C. Robbins Landon may require permission of the owner institution to further reproduce or publish. Also, in the collection there are unmarked photocopies of materials from other repositories that Landon made from restricted microfilm (in the Music Series, Microfilm Subseries). Users making further copies for their own research do so at their own discretion. Before publication of any such materials, it is up to the user to identify the original source and obtain permission.