The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Margit Varro Papers 1933-1962
© 2008 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Varro, Margit. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1933-1962 |
| Size: | 4.5 linear feet (7 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Margit Varro (1892-1978), music teacher and author. The Papers document Varro's career as an educator and music historian, and her association with Hungarian composers Bela Bartok and Leo Weiner. |
Open for research. No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Varro, Margit. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Margit Varro graduated from the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music. In 1938 she emigrated from Hungary to the United States and worked as a music educator in U.S. for many years, teaching at Roosevelt University and Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, among other institutions. Varro collaborated and corresponded with the Hungarian composers Bela Bartok and Leo Weiner. She published articles in Hungarian, English and German, including essays in The Musical Quarterly and Journal of the American Musicological Society. Her book Dynamic Piano Teaching was published in 1921 and used widely in Europe and in the United States. Varro continued teaching until age 93. She died in Chicago in 1978 at age 96.
The Margit Varro papers consist of four series. Series I contains teaching materials for courses Varro taught in the 1940s and 1950s, including syllabi, lecture notes, and student work. This series also contains notes for a lecture series on music history that Varro delivered in New York in late 1939 and early 1940. In addition, the series contains musical compositions and drawings by young children. Series II consists of notes, manuscripts, and correspondence having to do with Varro's research on various composers and aspects of music. Materials on Franz Liszt, Bela Bartok, and Leo Weiner make up a large part of this series. Drafts of Varro's book Dynamic Piano Teaching are included, as are research notes and essays on other subjects. Also in this series is a bound compilation of published articles in English, German, and Hungarian. Series III contains some personal materials, including programs for a lecture-recital series by Felix Ganz, a colleague of Varro's at Roosevelt University. Also included is a copy of the carillon from Alfredo Casella's Pezzi Infantili, miscellaneous correspondence, and an expense record book from the 1960s. Series IV contains two oversize items: a composition from the file of Hungarian children's composition (in Series I) and Varro's editions of Haydn piano sonatas.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html
Series I: Teaching Materials |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | History of Music Lectures, New York, 1939-1940 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Notes for Music History Courses, 1941-1942 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Notes for Music History Courses, 1942-1943 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Notes and Student Assignments, Music Pedagogy Course, 1950 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Notes for Studies in Style Courses, 1953-1954 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Notes for Studies in Style Courses, 1954-1955 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Notes for Studies in Style Courses, 1955-1956 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Notes and Student Assignments, Music Pedagogy Courses, 1955-1956 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Notes for Music Literature Course, 1956 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Student Essays and Compositions, 1957 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Notes and Student Assignments, Music Pedagogy Course, 1957 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Notes for Private Music Seminar, 1958 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Notes for Fine Arts Course, 1958 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Notes for Fine Arts Course, 1959 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Hungarian Children's Composition |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Children's Compositions and Drawings |
Series II: Research and Writing |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | "An Unknown Liszt Portrait," Notes and Drafts |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | "Liszt and His Hungarian Friends," Notes and Drafts |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | "A Forgotten Liszt Biography," Notes and Drafts |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Contributions to the Biography of Liszt |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Notes on Liszt, "Talent and Personality" |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Miscellaneous Liszt Research |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Dynamic Piano Teaching, Drafts |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Dynamic Piano Teaching, Drafts |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Reviews of Dynamic Piano Teaching |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | Manuscript on Leo Weiner |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | Correspondence about Leo Weiner
|
| Box 4 Folder 5 | Correspondence with Leo Weiner, 1933-1960 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Photos and Drawings of Leo Weiner |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Research and Notes on Bela Bartok |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | Essays on Bela Bartok
|
| Box 4 Folder 9 | Correspondence about Bela Bartok
|
| Box 4 Folder 10 | Manuscripts on Children
|
| Box 4 Folder 11 | Research and Notes on Child Prodigies and Wunderkind |
| Box 4 Folder 12 | News Clippings about Child Prodigies |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | "A Bach Fugue Analyzed in Poetry," Notes and Drafts |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | Notes for "The Borderlands of Music" |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Notes on Beethoven |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Observations from (to) German Book |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Miscellaneous Notes |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | Miscellaneous Notes |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | Writings by Others
|
| Box 5 Folder 8 | Bound Copies of Published Articles |
Series III: Personal Files |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | Alfredo Casella's Pezzi Infantili |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Felix Ganz's Bach Series, Chicago Musical College, Programs |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Miscellaneous Correspondence
|
| Box 6 Folder 4 | Expense Record Book, 1962-1963 |
Series IV: Oversize Materials |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Margit Varro's Editions of Haydn Piano Sonatas |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | Hungarian Children's Composition |