Guide to the Michael C. Viens Papers, 1967-2018
Gift of Michael C. Viens, 2003-2021.
Michael C. Viens Papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine.
Michael C. Viens, composer and pianist, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on August 3, 1953. Encouraged by his father, Normande, to pursue music at a young age, Viens attended St. John's Preparatory School and then Bowdoin College (Class of 1975). Viens studied composition and theory with Elliott Schwartz at Bowdoin and then completed his Masters in Music at the University of Illinois School of Music. Following his graduate work in Illinois, Viens spent five years in Paris studying under Nadia Boulanger at the Conservatoire Americain at Fountainbleu. While in Paris, several of Viens' works were performed and choreographed at Le Centre d'Art Choreographique de l'Essonne and his song cycle ColorScope was broadcast twice on French National Radio. Michael Viens' compositions have been featured at concerts throughout the United States, including a June 1994 premiere at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall of his song cycles Sundown Voyager, StarBlaze, and ColorScope. In 1995 ColorScope for baritone and orchestra was recorded by the Slovak National Radio Orchestra, and in 1997 Les Insectes Dansants was recorded by the Seattle Symphony. Viens' CDs include York, Maine: fin de siecles (1992), Song Cycles (1996), Sundown Voyager (1996), ColorScope (1998) and a self-titled CD with William Thomas McKinley (1998)
The collection contains drafts of musical compositions (parts and scores), poems, correspondence, copyright agreements, programs, clippings, ephemera, and sound recordings documenting Michael Viens' musical education and his subsequent career as a composer between ca. 1972 and 2018. Final versions and sound recordings of many of these compositions are available in the Bowdoin College Authors Collection. The collection also includes biographical information about Viens, poetry collected by Viens to be used in his compositions, and newspaper clippings concerning the lives of other composers.
Organized in seven series: Compositions, 1972-1998; Poems, 1972-2002; Correspondence and Agreements, 1979-2016; Programs and concerts, 1967-2016; Subject Files, 1967-2018; Recordings, 1976-2018; Publications (software), 1982-1984.
Arranged alphabetically.
Material documenting Michael Viens' career as a composer. Includes draft and final versions of "Autumnal Triptych," "ColorScope," "Entretiens," "Hummingbirds," "In Loving You," "Interlude," "Kladdenklangen," "Les Insectes Dansants," "Mongol 482," "Pareil-non-Pareil," "Perpetuum Mobile," "Phases of the Heart," "Seasons of Love," "StarBlaze," "Summer Fare," "Thune," "Twilight," "Ukanos," "Voices in the Still," "Voli in Primavera and Winter Night." Final versions and sound recordings of many of these compositions are available in the Bowdoin College Authors Collection. Also included are works dedicated to Michael Viens by other composers.
Ah,... Winged Muse, 1997
Amber Ale, 1992
Autumnal Triptych drafts, 1988
Autumnal Triptych drafts, 1988
Autumnal Triptych penultimate, 1991
Autumnal Triptych final, 1991
Balloon Man, 1992
Bees, 1991
Bittersweet, 1989
Bittersweet, 1989 (2 of 2)
ColorScope (A Song Cycle for Baritone Voice and Orchestra), 1993
ColorScope - Amber Ale, 1992
ColorScope - Consolation, 1992
ColorScope - Consolation, 1992
ColorScope - drafts
ColorScope - Epilogue, 1992
ColorScope - Peach-tart, 1992
ColorScope - Prologue, 1992
Compositions Dedicated to Michael Viens
Consolation, 1992
Early orchestral sketches
Early orchestral sketches
Entretiens, 1979, copy 1
Entretiens, 1979, copy 2
Heat, 1991
Hummingbirds, 1997
Hummingbirds, 1998
Hummingbirds, orchestral parts, 2018
Hummingbirds, piano solo, 1998
Hummingbirds, A Tone Poem for Orchestra, 1998
In Loving You
Interlude - The Hour, 1989
Kladdenklangen, 1979
Lament, 1990
Les Insectes Dansants, 1994
Les Insectes Dansants, 1994
Les Insectes Dansants, Three Tone Poems for Large Orchestra, 1995
Lonely Twilight
Mongol 482
Pareil-non-Pareil, 1976 rev. 1978
Pareil-non-Pareil drafts
Peach Tart, 1992
Pentaphonia for Woodwind Quintet
Perpetuum Mobile, 1979, copy 1
Perpetuum Mobile, 1979, copy 2
Phantasmagoria
Phases of the Heart, 1989
Phoenix Arising, A Tone Poem for Chamber Orchestra and Piano, 1996
Rough draft for open form string quartet
Seasons of Love, 1989, copy 1
Seasons of Love, 1989, copy 2
Seasons of Love, 1989, with stage directions
SoundScapes, 1977
StarBlaze, 1990, copy 1
StarBlaze, 1990, copy 2
StarBlaze, 1990, penultimate
Star Blaze, 1990
Storm, 1992
Summer Fare, 1991
Summer Fare, 1991
Sundown Voyager, 1992
The Firefly
The Mustard Seed
Thune
To a Hummingbird, 1998
Tone Sketch for Guitar Solo
Twilight - Hymn to the Night, 1991
Twilight - Song, 1992
Twilight - Spring (sketch)
Twilight - Winter, 1991
Ukanos, 1980
Voices in the Still, 1991
Voices in the Still drafts
Voices in the Still - Acceptance, 1991
Voices in the Still - Bereft, 1990
Voices in the Still - Come In, 1991
Voices in the Still - Desert Places, 1990
Voices in the Still - Mezzo soprano, 1991
Voices in the Still - Reluctance, 1991
Voies Disparates
Voli in Primavera, 1991
Winter Night, 1991, drafts
Winter Night, 1991, drafts (2 of 2)
Winter Nights, 1991, penultimate copy 1
Winter Nights, 1991, penultimate copy 2
Woodpeckers, 1997
York, Maine, fin de siecles, 1991
Score inventory
Arranged alphabetically.
Includes poetry written by Michael Viens and poems collected by Viens for use in his compositions. His poems are titled "A Fontainebleau," Aeolus," "Aiaie," "Amber Ale," "Awesome Winds," "Bees," "Beguiled," "Color-Scope," "Consolation," Danza macabra," "Early Fantaines," "Elan Vital," "Epilogue," "Femmes Fatales," "Kilaeuea," "Leaping Beauties," "Limelight," "Lustral Waters," "Miami Reverie," Needlepoint," "Oceanus," "Oiseaux lyriques a Fontainebleau," "Peach-Tart," "Pele," "Prolgue," "Ruckus," "The Struggle," and "Yellow-Black Buzz and the Mari-Gold." Also included are undated poems to Rachel and Reverend Brother Nicodemus. Some poems are handwritten, while others are printed copies.
Authors of poems collected by Michael Viens include: e.e. cummings, Emily Dickinson, Hilda Doolittle, Robert Frost, Roland Labrie, Amy Lowell, Edgar Allen Poe, James Whitcomb Riley, Carl Sandburg, Sara Teasdale, Edward di Valli, and Walt Whitman.
Poems authored by Viens
Poems authored by Viens, grouped by composition
Poems collected by Viens
Poems by Edward DiValli
Poems, texts
Poems, floppy disk backups
Arranged alphabetically.
Consists primarily of Viens' correspondence with publishing houses and authors seeking permission to use copyrighted materials in his compositions and copyright applications for Viens' compositions. Also includes correspondence with William Thomas McKinley and Maine Composers' Forum director Nick Humez, as well as letters to his parents during his time at Bowdoin and while in France.
AIDS project correspondence
Bowdoin Bicentennial Concert correspondence
Copyrights, compositions, A-P
Copyrights, compositions, Q-Z
Copyrights, poetry, A-G
Copyrights, poetry, H-S
Copyrights, poetry, T-Z
Correspondence, chronological, 1973-1978
Correspondence, chronological, 1980-
Correspondence, family, 1971-1976
Les Insectes Dansants correspondence
Letters of recommendation
McKinley correspondence
Mailing list
Maine Composers' Forum correspondence
Pareil-non-Pareil correspondence
University of Illinois correspondence
Winter Night correspondence
York, Maine: fin de siecles correspondence
Arranged chronologically.
Consists chiefly of printed programs for Michael Viens' musical concerts, ca. 1967-2002, including materials from France, the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Southern Maine, Bates College, Bowdoin College, and the Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
1967-1979 (1 of 2)
1967-1979 (2 of 2)
1988-1991
1992-1995 (1 of 2)
1992-1995 (2 of 2)
1996-2016
Oversized Programs, 1988-2014
Arranged alphabetically.
Consists of files and clippings compiled by Michael Viens about concerts and premiere performances, compositions, and his mentors and musical educators. Also includes biographical information about Viens and ephemera relating to his trip to Bratislava, Slovakia.
Biographical clippings
Biographical materials
Chez Ginnette French Cabaret
Clippings collected by Viens
Dedications and acknowledgements
Education in France and at Bowdoin College
Edward di Valli life celebration
Elliott Schwartz homage, 2016
Fontainbleau Alumni Association
French royalties received
Master Musicians' Collective
Music Room Recording Studio
Nadia Boulanger classes, 1974
Nadia Boulanger, clippings and ephemera
Nadia Boulanger, harmony books used while studying with Boulanger (1 of 2)
Nadia Boulanger, harmony books used while studying with Boulanger (2 of 2)
Nadia Boulanger, harmony lessons notebooks, 1970s (1 of 4)
Nadia Boulanger, harmony lessons notebooks, 1970s (2 of 4)
Nadia Boulanger, harmony lessons notebooks, 1970s (3 of 4)
Nadia Boulanger, harmony lessons notebooks, 1970s (4 of 4)
Nadia Boulanger, master teacher
Phoenix Arising, band version, edited score, 2014
Phoenix Arising, premiere, March 22, 2014
Photographs
Robert Casadesus biography by William Eaves, 1982
Seasons of Love guestbook
Seasons of Love premiere, April 28, 1991
Songbook of Norman Viens
Travel to Bratislava, Slovakia
World premiere of Winterlight, Starblaze, and Seasons of Love, 1991
Arranged by format, then alphabetically by title.
This series contains audio and video recordings made between 1976 and 1998 of Viens' compositions and concerts. Formats include: cassette, CD, DAT, MP4, reel-to-reel, and VHS. Some published recordings are available in the Bowdoin College Authors Collection.
Cassette: Les Insectes Dansantes, 1995 May 4
Cassette: Les Insectes Dansantes, 1995 October 13
Cassette: Premiere of works, tape 1
Cassette: Premiere of works, tape 2
CD: Ah Winged Muse and Come In, for Elliott Schwartz 80th year celebration, 2016
CD: Michael C. Viens and William Thomas McKinley
CD: Phoenix Arising, 2014
CD: Phoenix Arising, Band version, track 2, 2014
CD: Sapphic Odes, rehearsal concert, Jan 13, 2018
CD: Sapphic Odes, full concert, Jan 14, 2018
Song Cycles
CD: Sundown Voyager Song Cycles by Michael C. Viens
CD: York, Maine: fin des siecles
DAT: Live takes, 1990 February 4
DAT: Live takes, 1990 May 1
DAT: Sequenced dub master
Digital-MP4: In Loving You, home recording, 2018
Reel-to-reel: ColorScope
Reel-to-reel: Phantasmagoria
Reel-to-reel: Recital - Fondation des Etats-Unis, 1976 February 3, copy 1
Reel-to-reel: Recital - Fondation des Etats-Unis, 1976 February 3, copy 2
Reel-to-reel: Electronic music compositions by Michael Viens at Bowdoin while studying with Elliot Schwartz (two tapes)
Reel-to-reel: Recital - Fondation des Etats-Unis, 1976 February 3, copy 3
Reel-to-reel: Recital - Fondation des Etats-Unis, 1976 February 3, copy 4
VHS: Bonjour!, 1996
VHS: Boston concert
VHS: Bowdoin bicentennial concert
VHS: Olin Arts Center concert
VHS: Portsmouth concert
Arranged alphabetically
Consists of commercial software publications including childrens' learning programs.
Spinnaker Delta Drawing Learning Program
Spinnaker Kids on Keys
Spinnaker Kidwriter
Spinnaker Kidwriter drafts
Spinnaker Kinder Comp
Spinnaker Kindercomp