Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Clough, John (John L.)
- Abstract:
- Chiefly secondary materials such as articles and symposium papers collected by John Clough, many with correspondence.
- Extent:
- 17 boxes and (407 folders)
- Language:
- Collection material in English.
Background
- Scope and Content:
The collection comprises 407 folders in 17 boxes. The majority of the material (296 folders) consists of writings by authors in the field in which John Clough specialized: mathematics as it applies to music. Many of the articles and papers are accompanied by notes or correspondence by John Clough or other scholars. The group of scholars represented in the collection includes noted music theorists, Etyan Agmon, Jay Rahn, David Lewin, David Clampitt, Stephen Soderberg, Jack Douthett, Charles J. Smith, Norman Carey, John Chalmers, Richard Cohn, and many others. The collection also includes Clough's own writings, research notes, and musical analyses.
Correspondence in the collection is almost entirely work-related and very subject-specific. Therefore, correspondence located with articles was left with the article rather than creating a separate correspondence series. Folders that contain only correspondence have been placed in the same series with articles by other authors. These correspondence folders are placed before any other folders of items by the same author. As a result, it is important to note that correspondence by any single author may be scattered throughout many folders in the collection. John Clough's original subject-oriented arrangement was deemed more significant than collation by personal name.
- Biographical / Historical:
John Clough was born in Dover, Delaware in 1930. He graduated from Dover High School in 1947, earned his bachelor's degree in music at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and earned his Master's degree in music at Yale University in 1955. He taught at Oberlin 1955-70 and at the University of Michigan 1970-81. He was the Slee Professor of Music Theory at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York from 1981 until his retirement in 2002.
John Clough was one of the major music theorists during the second half of the twentieth century. He produced two music theory text books: Scales, Intervals, Keys, and Triads (1964; expanded edition, 1983; 3rd edition, 1999) and Basic Harmonic Progressions (1984). Clough was also the author of at least eighteen published articles, seven published reviews, and more than two dozen conference papers and lectures. He served as editor of Music Theory Spectrum 1985-55 and on the editorial boards of The Journal of Music Theory and Music Theory Online. His special area of expertise was the interaction of music and mathematics. His influence in the field of music theory extends beyond his own research and findings. He also shaped the field through his teaching and support he demonstrated for the work of other colleagues.
John Clough died September 3, 2003 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of the estate of John Clough, 2003.
- Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in nine series, with subseries as indicated:
- I. Personal documents
- II. Writings
- A. Articles and lectures
- B. Writings with others
- C. Analyses: pre-20th century
- D. Analyses: 20th century
- III. Research notes
- IV. Articles and papers by other authors
- V. Subject and conference files
- VI. Grant applications
- VII. Publications
- VIII. Bibliographies
- IX. Annotated books
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard ).
Access
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
- CONTACT:
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716-645-2924