Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998

Variant names

Hide Profile

Composed for dedication ceremonies of the murals at Station WNYC. First performance under the title, Overture for an abstract mural, in a broadcast by WNYC Concert Orchestra, 2 August 1939, the composer conducting.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Overture for an American mural / by Herbert Haufrecht. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 52206065

Composed 1934. First performance New York, 27 April 1934, the Juilliard Graduate School String Orchestra, Edgar Schenkman conductor.--Cf. Fleisher Collection.

From the description of Suite for string orchestra / Herbert Haufrecht. [19--] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 52206093

Herbert Haufrecht (1909-1998) was a composer, pianist, folklorist and music editor. He was born in New York City and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where his teachers included the composers Herbert Elwell and Quincy Porter, and at the Juilliard School, where he studied composition with Rubin Goldmark. He also studied piano with Severin Eisenberger and chamber music with Arthur Loesser.

Soon after he completed his studies, he was hired as a field representative in West Virginia for the Resettlement Administration of the Federal Department of Agriculture. During his four years there, he collected folk songs and stories, organized square dances, and began an oral history project that occupied him for nearly four decades.

When he returned to New York in 1939, Haufrecht became a staff composer and arranger for the Federal Theater and composed incidental scores for several plays. In 1940, he organized the annual Folk Festival of the Catskills, in Phoenicia, New York, and composed several stage works for it, including a musical theater work, We've Come From the City, and a folk opera, Boney Quillen. He worked with several folk singers, including Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, the Weavers, and Judy Collins.

Haufrecht developed educational materials based on folk music and wrote several publications, including Folk Songs in Settings by Master Composers (Funk and Wagnalls, 1970) and Folk Songs of the Catskills (State University of New York Press, 1982), a three-volume work, on which he collaborated with Norman Cazden and Norman Studer.

Haufrecht's symphonic music reflected his interests in folk music and jazz. Among his works are Fantastic Marches, which was given its premiere by Leopold Stokowski on an NBC Symphony broadcast in 1939; Symphony for Brass and Timpani; Blues and Fugue for viola; two string quartets, and several works for children. His final work was a setting of Mark Twain's War Prayer, which had its premiere in Kingston, New York, in 1995.

Source: Kozinn, Allan. "Herbert Haufrecht, 88, Pianist, Composer, Folklorist and Editor." New York Times, June 3, 1998.

From the guide to the Herbert Haufrecht collection, 1930-2000, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. Sicilian suite : for piano / Herbert Haufrecht. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. Strange lullaby / music by Herbert Haufrecht ; poem from German text by G. van Wangenheim ; translated by J. Shapiro. Peabody Conservatory, Arthur Friedheim Library
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. Oh! li'l lamb / by Herbert Haufrecht. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn The Virgil Thomson Papers, 1804-1990 (inclusive) Irving S. Gilmore Music Library
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. Three songs after poems by Phil Garfield / by Herbert Haufreucht. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. Suite for string orchestra / Herbert Haufrecht. Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central Library
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. The old woman / by Herbert Haufrecht ; poem by Joseph Campbell. Peabody Conservatory, Arthur Friedheim Library
referencedIn Nicolas Slonimsky Collection, 1873-1997, (bulk 1920-1990) Library of Congress. Music Division
creatorOf Goguen, Kristen. Chamber music [sound recording] University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. Overture for an American mural / by Herbert Haufrecht. Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central Library
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. O li'l lamb ; for voice and piano / music by Herbert Haufrecht ; adapted from a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990. Aaron Copland letter to Herbert Haufrecht, 1967 June 27. Library of Congress
creatorOf Catskill Folklife Archives, 1943-1981. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990. Aaron Copland letter to Herbert Haufrecht, 1971 May 20. Library of Congress
creatorOf Thomson, Virgil, 1896-1989. [Letter] 1941 October 22, New York, [to] Herbert Haufrecht, Camp Woodland, Phoenicia, New York / Virgil Thomson. University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, Sibley Music Library
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. Correspondence with Marian Anderson, 1940. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Haufrecht, Herbert, 1909-1998. Go ploughman, plough / Herbert Haufrecht ; [poem by] Joseph Campbell. Peabody Conservatory, Arthur Friedheim Library
creatorOf Herbert Haufrecht collection, 1930-2000 The New York Public Library. Music Division.
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Campbell, Joseph person
associatedWith Campbell, Joseph, 1879-1944 person
correspondedWith Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990. person
associatedWith Dumbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906 person
associatedWith Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906. person
associatedWith Garfield, Phil person
associatedWith Shapiro, J. person
associatedWith Slonimsky, Nicolas, 1894-1995 person
associatedWith Studer, Norman. person
associatedWith Thomson, Virgil, 1896- person
associatedWith Thomson, Virgil, 1896-1989. person
associatedWith Wangenheim, G. von. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Ulster County (N.Y.)
New York (State)--Phoenicia
New York (State)--Catskill Mountains
Camp Woodland (Phoenicia, N.Y.)
Subject
Singers
Artists
Blacksmithing
Camps
Choruses, Secular (Mixed voices (4 parts)), Unaccompanied
Folk dancing
Folk music
General stores
Healing
Hunting
Lumber trade
Music
Natural history
Overtures
Piano with string orchestra
Songs (High voice) with piano
Songs (Medium voice) with piano
Story tellers
Suites (Piano)
Suites (String orchestra)
Trapping
Occupation
Collector
Activity

Person

Birth 1909-11-03

Death 1998-06-23

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z32pgv

Ark ID: w6z32pgv

SNAC ID: 54221867