Pan-American Exposition Sheet Music Collection 1899-1909, 1899-1909
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Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- State University of New York at Buffalo. Music Library
- Abstract:
- Thirty-five titles of sheet music related to the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo and one title related to an exposition held in 1905 in Buffalo. All but nine of the titles are photocopies of works in the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library.
- Extent:
- 1 box (36 items)
- Language:
- Collection material in English.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains thirty-five pieces of music, thirty-four of which are related to the Pan-American Exposition. The one exception is a work written for the Exposition held in Buffalo in the summer of 1909. Nine of the pieces are in original form; 26 are photocopies. There are songs in the collection and works for solo piano (some of the marches were also available in arrangement for band). There are also works in the collection that commemorate the death of President McKinley.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo in 1901 was one of a series of world expositions that were mounted at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, including the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia , the Paris Exposition in 1889, the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis in 1904. Like the other expositions, the Pan-American provided an opportunity to showcase the latest developments in technology and industries. It also provided a showcase for the arts, including music. Most of the musical display was in the form of performance, be it by renowned bands like those of John Philip Sousa or Thomas Preston Brooke, or by any of the seventy-one organists who performed on the Emmons Howard organ installed in the Temple of Music.
Music composed for the Exposition was predominantly in the form of popular pieces that drew on the celebrity of the event in order to sell music. For this reason, most of the music is ephemeral in nature, much like other Exposition memorabilia. Music that stands out is that composed by John Philip Sousa and the other band leaders who performed at the Exposition, Thomas Preston Brooke (Chicago Marine Band) and Francesco Fanciulli (71st Regiment Band). Victor Herbert, who conducted the Pittsburgh Orchestra at the Exposition, composed his PanAmericana especially for the Exposition and it reputedly won a gold medal for composition, though no record of any other entrants exists. The assassination of President William McKinley at the Exposition was also memorialized in music.
Sheet music at the turn of the century was still prevalently issued in a larger format with illustrated title pages. The illustrations include portraits of band leaders and dignitaries, views of Exposition buildings and scenes, and general boosterism for the Exposition and the city of Buffalo.
- Acquisition information:
- The Buffalo & Erie County Library graciously loaned their collection of sheet music related to the Pan-American Exposition to the Music Library in 2001 in order to have preservation copies made and to have the music digitized. Other titles came from other sources, including the University Archives and individual donors, Brenda Battleson, Kerry Grant, and John Bewley.
- Arrangement:
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The collection is arranged in one series.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard ).
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
- Contact:
- 716-645-2924