Papers of Robert Erickson (1917-1997), American composer and co-founder of the Music Department at UC San Diego.
Robert Erickson Papers, 1940 - 1996 (MSS 96)
Extent: 24 Linear feet (28 archives boxes, 13 flat boxes, 3 cassettes boxes, 1.5 oversize boxes, 1 records carton and 3 map case folders)
Born in Marquette, Michigan on March 7, 1917, Erickson studied composition with Austrian composer Ernst Krenek at Hamline University in St. Paul and graduated in 1943. After three years in the Army, he returned to Hamline, receiving an M.A. in music in 1947.
Erickson began his career teaching composition at the College of St. Catherine's in St. Paul. He then taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, before becoming one of the founders of the Department of Music at the University of California, San Diego, in 1967.
Erickson is known for his use of the 12-tone system, sounds recorded on tape, and self-made instruments. His works have been performed and commissioned by the Minneapolis, San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles Symphony Orchestras, the American Composers Orchestra, and ensembles including the Arch Ensemble, Continuum, the Kronos Quartet, the Sequoia Quartet and SONOR.
In addition to receiving the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Yaddo fellowships, Erickson has been the recipient of numerous awards including the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the Drew Prize in Music Composition, and, in 1985, the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award for excellence in chamber music for his string quartet, Solstice.
Throughout his career, Erickson published numerous articles and authored two books: The Structure of Music: A Listener's Guide in 1957 and Sound Structures in Music in 1975.
Erickson died on April 24, 1997.
The Robert Erickson Papers document Erickson's career as a composer, musician and faculty member at UC San Diego. The collection is comprised of correspondence, holograph music scores, materials relating to Erickson's teaching and his work with the Center for Music Experiment, and recordings of performances and appearances on several media formats including audiocassette, VHS, Beta, and reel-to-reel.
The papers are arranged in six series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) MUSIC, 4) UC SAN DIEGO MATERIALS, 5) WRITINGS and 6) MEDIA.