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Franz C. Bornschein papers

 Collection
Identifier: PIMS-0069

Scope and Contents

Series 1 includes a collection of scrapbooks that contain clippings, concert programs, photographs, and letters relating to the career of Bornschein. Also included are personal items like address books, diaries, and a costume, as well as a catalog of performances. Series 2 contains a large variety of Bornschein's personal papers that include clippings, concert programs, correspondence, certificates, publications, and Bornschein's writings. These papers relate to Bornschein’s professional and personal life. Some documents related to Bornschein were added posthumously. Series 3 contains professional correspondence between Bornschein and various businesses, institutions, and individuals. Series 4 contains various published and manuscript scores composed primarily by Bornschein. Series 5 contains material originating from Hazel Knox Bornschein, Franz Bornschein's wife. These include scrapbooks, poems, one-act plays, and teaching material. Series 6 contains photographs of Bornschein's family, friends, and colleagues, as well as photographs and albums taken by Bornschein during his travels abroad. Series 7 contains sound recordings of some of Bornschein's music.

Dates

  • Creation: 1884-1989

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for use at the Peabody Archives. Contact peabodyarchives@lists.jhu.edu for more information.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or perform materials in this collection must be submitted in writing to the archivist of the Arthur Friedheim Library.

Biographical / Historical

A graduate and faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory, Franz Carl Bornschein was born in Baltimore on February 10, 1879, to Theodore Carl and Ida Philipina (Schoenfeld) Bornschein. Theodore Bornschein was a musician who played the viola in the original Peabody orchestra and also played and taught the flute.

Franz Bornschein studied violin at Peabody with J.C. Van Hulsteyn, theory and composition with Asger Hamerik, and music history, composition, and acoustics with Philip Kahner and Otis Bardwell Boise. He was awarded a diploma in composition and harmony in 1902.

After graduation, Bornschein became a member of the teaching staff of the Peabody Preparatory Department, where he was a violin instructor and coordinator of student orchestras from 1903 to 1919. From 1919 until his death in 1948, Bornschein was a full-time professor at the Peabody Conservatory, where he taught violin, violin pedagogy, harmony, composition, and conducting.

Bornschein wrote more than 200 compositions, which included secular and sacred vocal scores, solo songs, cantatas for large chorus with orchestra, symphonic pieces, and grand operas. For some vocal works, Bornschein wrote his own texts under the pseudonym Frank Fairfield.

On August 12, 1907, Bornschein was married in Hamilton, Maryland, to Hazel Knox, daughter of Julius William Knox. She was a singer and actress who became well known in Philadelphia and New York. She became a member of the Peabody faculty and served as a teacher of voice, dramatics, and diction.

Bornschein gained distinction as a music critic and a writer on pedagogical subjects. He was a music critic for The Baltimore Sun from 1910 to 1913 and served as the Baltimore correspondent for Musical America from 1915 to 1948. Franz Carl Bornschein died on June 9, 1948, in Baltimore.

Extent

22.08 Cubic Feet (4 record center boxes, 2 card file boxes, 3 large flat boxes, 19 medium flat boxes, 16 full size letter boxes, 5 full size legal boxes, 1 half size legal box)

1.05 Gigabytes (2 computer files)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Franz Carl Bornschein (1879-1948) was a composer of more than 200 works, primarily vocal music, and a professor of violin and composition at the Peabody Conservatory. His papers include scrapbooks, clippings, correspondence, photographs, personal papers, manuscript and printed scores, and the personal papers of his wife, Hazel Knox Bornschein.

Other Finding Aids

A detailed inventory of the collection and an index of the scrapbooks exists offline. Please contact the Peabody Archives for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Hazel Skirven in 1990. Deposited by Hazel Skirven between 1981 and 1993.

Processing Information

Processed by Gerry A. Stacey.

Source

Title
Guide to the Franz C. Bornschein papers
Author
Kerri Sheehan
Date
2017
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English
  • TypeCollection

Repository Details

Part of the Peabody Archives Repository

Contact:
Peabody Institute
1 E. Mount Vernon Place
Baltimore MD 21202 USA