Queens College acquired the sketchbook for Die ägyptische Helena in 1996 as part of the Leopold Sachse Collection, donated by Prof. Majorie Navidi of the Queens College Chemistry Department. Sachse was an opera director who came to the United States during the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s. He worked closely with Richard Strauss on Helena.
Courtesy of the Leopold Sachse Collection, Queens College Department of Special Collections
Gabriel Fontrier- Leaf from a hand-drawn birthday card (1970s)
“This is one page from a unique birthday card consisting of eight pages of drawings and signed by five members of the Fontrier family: Gaby and Mary along with their daughters Toni, Suzi and Shelley (Bunny living far away at the time). I estimate the date to be in the early 1970s. I am fortunate to have been so favored!” -Morey Ritt (Professor of Piano)
Courtesy of Morey Ritt
Gabriel Fontrier- Manuscript for Sonata for Two Pianos (1964)
This manuscript was recently rediscovered along with the rest of Fontrier’s manuscript collection in one of the building’s storage areas. The collection will soon be rehoused and processed in the College Archives, providing access to Fontrier’s manuscripts and papers for researchers, much like the papers of his teacher Karol Rathaus.
Courtesy the Aaron Copland School of Music
Karol Rathaus- Three English Songs (1943)
Rathaus, like so many of his contemporaries, immigrated to the US in the late 1930s just before the outbreak of WWII. He eventually settled in New York and was appointed to the Queens College faculty in 1940. Rathaus was key in the establishment of the music department and taught many who would go on to continue to shape the Queens College music department.