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A Guide to the Papers at the Indiana University Archives

Electronic finding aid encoded by Donald C. Force

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
St. Leger, Frank.

Title
Frank St. Leger papers, 1927-1968,  bulk 1949-1953

Collection no
C318

Extent
1.3 cubic feet
(3 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English.

Abstract
Musician and conductor Frank St. Leger was a professor of music at Indiana University from 1953-1968. Prior to accepting the teaching position at IU, St. Leger held a number of noteworthy positions in the music and entertainment business, including a teaching position at the Royal Academy of Music in London, accompanist for top performers such as Austrialian soprano Nellie Melba, and musical advisor for the Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. Collection focuses largely on St. Leger's music career prior to teaching at Indiana University and includes correspondence, notes and ideas for lectures and musical productions, recorded music lectures, and newspaper clippings. Prominent in the collection is St. Leger's correspondence with Spyros P. Skouras, president of Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, regarding St. Leger's ideas for musical programs.

Access Restrictions

Select files closed to researchers. These are indicated in the folder list.

Advance notice is required for access.

Biographical Note

Frank St. Leger, Professor Emeritus of Music at Indiana University, was born Douglas Francis Warham St. Leger on May 30, 1890 in Madras, India and died on December 26, 1969. In 1913, St. Leger earned an Honorary Associate Degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London where he served as an assistant professor from 1910 to 1912 and where he began his work as a composer. From 1912 to 1925, St. Leger was the professional accompanist for top performers including Australian soprano Nellie Melba. He took two years off from his musical career to serve in the Australian Army, but he returned to join Melba for a tour in 1917.

In the 1920s, St. Leger began conducting for the Covent Garden in London, the British National Opera Company, and the Chicago Civic Opera Company. He later co-founded the American Opera Company and served as its musical director. In the 1930s, St. Leger began working for the Central City Opera House Association in Colorado where he served as producer and music coordinator until 1953. St. Leger also worked for the Metropolitan Opera Association of New York from 1939 to 1951 where he served as conductor, musical secretary, and, later in his career, assistant manager. From 1948 to 1953, St. Leger served as musical advisor for 20th Century Fox Films.

In 1953, St. Leger was appointed Visiting Professor of Music at Indiana University where he continued to work part-time after his retirement in 1960. At Indiana University, St. Leger taught song literature, coached song languages, conducted student performances, served as chairman of the voice department and as an advisor for the Opera Theatre. In 1963, St. Leger was awarded the title Professor Emeritus of Music. He resigned from the university in 1968.

Preceded in death by his wife Katharine Elizabeth Millsbaugh and survived by his son Francis William Hugh, Frank St. Leger died in Bloomington, Indiana on December 26, 1969.

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Frank St. Leger focus largely on his career in music prior to teaching at Indiana University. The earliest records date from 1927 in his personal newspaper clippings and end with correspondence in 1968. The collection is arranged into five series: General correspondence; Music career; Musical scores; Personal materials and other interests; and Teaching files. Each series is arranged alphabetically into folders created at the archives. Restricted materials are filed at the back of Box 1, and some musical scores and legal sized documents are filed in Box 2, a legal sized document case.

The first series in the collection is General correspondence, 1937-1968. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by surname. Individuals with multiple pieces of correspondence are named and filed in separate folders. One folder, titled Unknown, contains anonymous correspondence and correspondence signed with a first name only. Most of the correspondence is incoming and dates from 1949-1952. Included in this series are letters from Charles F. Collison, a newspaper feature writer and music reviewer, and Florence Guarino, St. Leger’s personal secretary.

The next and largest series, Music career, 1930-1967, includes five sub-series: AV materials; Central City Opera House Association; Metropolitan Opera Association; Twentieth Century–Fox Film Corporation; and Other professional papers. The AV materials sub-series consists of 13 undated performances and lectures recorded on analog open reel audio tape at speeds of 3 ¾ and 7 ½ ips. The folder list contains the notations written on the cases of each tape. Within the Central City Opera House Association sub-series are letters to and from various association officers and correspondence regarding a special recognition St. Leger was given in 1948. The Metropolitan Opera Association sub-series includes a copies of St. Leger’s original contracts from 1940 and 1949, and a travel ledger kept by St. Leger during a trip he and his wife took to Europe in 1949. Most of the papers in this series fall into the Twentieth Century–Fox Film Corporation sub-series. Included here is extensive correspondence to and from Spyros P. Skouras, president of the film corporation. A large portion of this correspondence and much of the remaining sub-series concerns St. Leger’s original ideas for musical programs and subjects. The last sub-series, Other professional papers, consists of papers from other music organizations, such as the Chicago Civic Opera Company, and undated handwritten notes and outlines for speeches and lectures about music subjects, predominantly opera.

The Musical scores series, 1943-1955, includes titled and untitled, dated and undated musical scores collected by St. Leger. None of the works are attributed to St. Leger himself, but some may be student work. Some of the scores include lyrics, but most do not. One file from 1943 includes both lyrics and correspondence from a Carina Orasto.

The next series, Personal materials and other interests, 1927-1968, includes newspaper clippings on a variety of subjects and programs for religious services, musical festivals, orchestras, and song recitals attended by St. Leger. Of particular interest in this series are documents and correspondence concerning St. Leger’s petition for United States naturalization, which he was granted in 1942.

The final series in this collection, Teaching files, 1950-1967, includes correspondence, course materials, student work, and programs for graduate recitals during St. Leger’s career at Indiana University. Prominent correspondents in this series include Indiana University President Herman B Wells and Wilfred C. Bain, Dean of the School of Music.

All materials are stored in Box 1 unless otherwise noted in the folder list.

Arrangement

Collection is organized into five series: General correspondence; Music career; Musical scores; Personal materials and other interests; and Teaching files.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Indiana University. School of Music --Faculty --Archives.
  • Indiana University. School of Music --Faculty --Correspondence.
  • Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation --Records and correspondence.
  • Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation --Archives.
  • Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation --History --Sources.
  • St. Leger, Frank --Archives.
  • St. Leger, Frank --Correspondence.
  • Skouras, Spyros Panagiotes, 1893-1971 --Archives.
  • Skouras, Spyros Panagiotes, 1893-1971 --Correspondence.
• • Topics
  • Musicians --Archives.
  • Musicians --Correspondence.
  • Composers --Archives.
  • Composers --Correspondence.
  • Music teachers --Archives.
  • Music teachers --Correspondence.

Separated Material

Two stage set-up drawings, two stage rough sketches, and six musical scores were removed and filed with Oversized material. The six musical scores are stored in a tall legal-sized document case. See Archives staff for more information.
Photographs transferred to Archives Photographs Collection. Photographs pulled include: An envelope of negatives and approximately 85 unmarked and loose photographs of St. Leger’s friends and family, vacations, and scenery from Accession 0913. One photograph of Carolyn Rees which was attached to her 1955 application for graduate school at Indiana University. Several photographs from a 1946 Central City Opera House Association Preview scrapbook. Four professionals photos of Irra Petina, four of Oscar Karlweis, and one of Edmund Johnston.

Administrative Information

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