The Arthur Waldeck papers related to Heinrich Schenker predominantly document Waldeck's scholarship on and English translations of Heinrich Schenker's works, originally published in German. Included are Waldeck's heavily annotated copies of Schenker's books (much of the marginalia is in Pitman Shorthand), summaries, translations, and notes. Except where noted in the inventory, all references to books are those authored by Heinrich Schenker. Especially prevalent in the collection is Waldeck's work on Kontrapunkt and Harmonielehre, the latter represented by two drafts of a manuscript, heavily annotated by Waldeck and collaborator Oswald Jonas, with whom Waldeck disagreed. Also of note is a manuscript for an English language work on Enrico Caruso, inspired by George Armin's original 1929 work on Caruso in German. Waldeck did not date the bulk of his manuscripts and the processing archivists have consequently dated these materials as "before 1965," the year of his death.

Scholars interested in the early dissemination of Heinrich Schenker's theories in the United States would benefit from the notes and translations included in this collection, as well as original correspondence between Waldeck and Schenker. Also, researchers and translators interested in an alternative English translation from the German can reference Waldeck's original translations and notes on Schenker's major works: Harmonielehrer (Harmony), Kontrapunkt (Counterpoint), and Der Freie Satz (Free Composition). Music theorists may be interested in Waldeck's interpretation of and comments on Schenkerian Analysis, as well.