Overview
Autograph manuscript music compositions of American organist and composer, George Albert Burdett.
Dates
- Creation: 1881-1943
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
4 linear feet (15 boxes)Primarily autograph manuscript original musical compositions by Burdett, or arrangement of works of others. Also includes printed materials he collected and some additional materials by others, including a manuscript compilation of children's verses by his wife, Ellen S. Strong Burdett.
Biographical / Historical
George Albert Burdett (1856-1943) was born in Boston in 1856, the son of Horatio S. and Melvina Martin Burdett. He received an A.B. in 1881 from Harvard College. He was an organist who also composed organ works, piano pieces, and anthems. He was a frequent contributor to musical periodicals and a founding member of the American Guild of Organists. In 1887 he married Ellen S. Strong of Brookline and they had three children: Elizabeth Martin Burdett Birch, Ellen Moore Burdett Shaw, and Sylvia Strong Burdett Dunham.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Music compositions, short works
- II. Music compositions, other materials
- III. Other papers
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
70M-135. Transfer from the Loeb Music Library, 1970.
Much of this material is in poor condition due to brittle paper and fading pencil annotations.
General note
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
Part of the MS Storage project, 2008-2009.
- Title
- Burdett, George A. (George Albert), 1856-1943. George A. Burdett papers, circa 1881-1943: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02032
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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