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Special collections accessed through the Performing Arts Reading Room consist of the papers of individuals, organizations, and collectors significant to research in music, theater, and dance. Special collections materials can include:
The Music Division holds over five hundred named special collections in music, theater, and dance. Collections vary in size from fewer than a dozen items to more than half a million. Many of these collections are processed and have finding aids online. Others are in varying stages of processing and may have guides, inventories, or print finding aids available on-site.
Find materials in special collections relevant to Webern by searching with the Finding Aids Tool or by browsing the Music Division's list of Special Collections. Collections with no finding aids or other guides are described by brief catalog records in the Online Catalog.
The Music Division also has a number of manuscripts and other materials related to Webern's fellow composer, Alban Berg, and their composition instructor, Arnold Schoenberg. See the "Related Resources" page of this research guide.
Although not part of a special collection, the Music Division also has a portrait bust of Webern made from a plaster cast sculpted from life in 1928 by Austian artist Josef Humplik. The bust was painted black and mounted on a wooden pedestal. The bust is on display and may be viewed on-site in the Performing Arts Reading Room.
The largest and most significant collection of Webern material in the Music Division is in the Moldenhauer archives, which include music manuscripts (see the "Music Manuscripts" section of this research guide), manuscript writings, print scores, and other ephemera related to Webern and his music.
The following finding aids describe some special collections with Webern-specific materials.
The Music Division also has the music manuscripts of composer Ludwig Zenk. Zenk studied composition with Webern, and the collection consists of Zenk's holograph music manuscripts, sketches, and printed scores.
Some collections are housed off-site and require advance notice to retrieve. Contact us through Ask-A-Librarian if you have questions about researching a specific collection.
Collections with materials relevant to Webern may exist in several divisions within the Library of Congress. Search across multiple divisions' finding aids using the Library's Finding Aids Tool.
