Historical/Biographical Note
Mordecai Bauman (1912-) has had a long and varied musical career as a singer and recording artist, a music administrator, educator and producer, much of which occurred in the context of progressive and labor movement cultural activity during the 1930s and 1940s, and he was personally and professionally associated with Hanns Eisler and Marc Blitzstein. Born in the Bronx, New York, Bauman received degrees from the Julliard School of Music (1934), Columbia University (B.A., 1935), and Case Western Reserve University (M.A., 1949). From 1952 to 1975 he was the founder and owner, with his wife Irma Commanday Bauman, of the Indian Hill, a summer workshop in the arts in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, which he then donated to Brooklyn College, where he was Professor of Music. From 1970 to 1972 he was managing director of Symphony Hall (Newark, NJ). Bauman was the founding director of the Bread and Roses Project, the ongoing cultural program of District 1199, National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees. Bauman also conceived and produced The Stations of Bach (1990) a documentary filmed in Germany, and has recorded the collaborative works of Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler, the works of Charles Ives, and American folk, labor and popular songs. For more information, see the detailed Chronology, below.
| March 2,1912 | Born in the Bronx, N. Y. |
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| 1929 | Gold medal winner, New York Music Week Association |
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| May 4,1930 | Town Hall Appearance with N. Y. Music League |
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| Feb. 1930 | Entered Columbia College |
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| Sept. 1930 | Entered The Juilliard Graduate School of Music |
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| 1934 | Juilliard Graduate School Diploma |
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| Feb. 1935 | Columbia B. A. "Within the Gates" (Sean O'Casey's play on B'way) |
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| Mar 1935 | U. S. Tour with Hanns Eisler; |
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| 1935 | Labor Songs recorded for Timely Records |
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| 1936 | Recorded "Strange Funeral at Braddock, Pennsylvania" for New Music Records |
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| 1935 thru '41 | Program Director at Green Mansions, Warrensburg, NY |
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| 1938 | Charles Ives songs recorded for New Music Records |
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| Mar 1939 | Town Hall Debut |
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| May 1939 | Mexican tour with Anna Sokolow Dance Group; Month with Eislers and Shröters |
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| 1939 | Shakespeare songs recorded for Columbia Records |
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| Oct 13,1940 | "Ballad for Americans" radio solo in Providence. R.I |
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| Oct 20,1940 | Charles Ives songs performed, New Friends of Music |
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| Dec 27,1940 | League of Composers concert honoring Milhaud, MOMA |
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| Feb 1941 | "Kindertodtenlieder" with Ballet Theater |
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| May 1941 | "Paul Bunyan" (Britten/Auden opera) at Columbia Univ. |
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| 1943 | George M. Cohan songs recorded for Columbia |
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| Oct 11,1942 | Introduced "The House I Live In" in "Let Freedom Sing" (Broadway Production) |
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| 1942 | Program Director USO: Jewish Community Center, Washington, D. C. |
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| 1943 | 255th Infantry, Entertainment Director US Army ETO |
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| June 18,1944 | Marriage to Irma Commanday |
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| Jul 1944 | Soloist with New Orleans Pop Orchestra |
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| Oct 5,1945 | Vocal recital, Biarritz American University |
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| Dec 7,1945 | Army Discharge |
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| Apr 1946 | "Tid Bits of '46" (Off-Broadway Revue) |
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| May 1946 | Contemporary Music Festival, Columbia University |
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| Sep 1946 | Yaddo (Saratoga) Contemporary American Music Festival |
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| Sept 1946-'52 | Cleveland Institute of Music (Head of Opera Dep't) |
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| Nov 13,1946 | Debut Cleveland recital |
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| 1946 | Recorded "American Sailormen Songs" for Musicraft |
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| March 13,'48 | Festival of Contemporary Arts, Urbana, IL |
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| 1948 | Produced Popular Concert Attractions, Cleveland |
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| 1949 | M. A. Western Reserve University |
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| Feb 23,1950 | Joshua's birth in Cleveland |
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| 1950 | Recorded Mozart's "Impresario" for Mercury; Recorded Pergolesi's "The Music Master", for Allegro; Directed Peninsula Players:
Haydn's Apothecary" and Jerome Moross's "Ballet Ballads" |
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| 1950-'51 | Conductor, Jewish People's Folk Chorus |
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| 1951 | Bonds for Israel representative |
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| 1951 | Recorded "Songs of Scarlatti & Handel" for Allegro |
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| 1951 | Purchase of Indian Hill, Stockbridge, MA |
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| Jul 1952 | Indian Hill opening |
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| Nov 12,1952 | Marc's birth in New York |
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| 1953 | Tour for Young People's Audiences |
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| Nov 1954 | "Sandhog" (Earl Robinson) Phoenix Theater |
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| Dec 26,1955 | "Pan the Piper" (Kleinsinger) Town Hall, Narrator, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra |
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| 1960 to 1970 | Cantor at Temple Anshe Amunim in Pittsfield, MA. |
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| 1960 to 1970 | Education Director, at Essex County, NJ, YM/YWHA |
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| 1970 to 1972 | Managing Director, Symphony Hall in Newark, NJ |
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| 1972 to 1980 | Artist's representative, Julian Casado (Madrid) |
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| 1973 | Professor: Music Department, Brooklyn College, CUNY |
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| 1975 | Gift of Indian Hill to Brooklyn College |
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| 1977 | Professor at Hampshire College, under Rockefeller grant |
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| 1978 to 1982 | Hospital Workers' Union, 1199; Director, "Bread & Roses" |
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| Apr 1978 | Move from Stockbridge to New York |
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| 1978 to 1988 | Member of the Board of Directors, WBAI (Pacifica Foundation) |
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| Jun 1978 | Invitation to Eisler Tage, Berlin |
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| 1984 | STATIONS OF BACH, first NEH music grant for PBS/TV |
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| May 1988 | GDR Filming, THE STATIONS OF BACH in Germany |
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| May 25,1990 | Premiere PBS/TV national broadcast of Bach program |
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| Nov. 1992 | Planning grant from the NEH for a PBS/TV program WHITE CITY, 1893 Chicago World's Fair |
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| May 1995 | Filming of appearance in "Solidarity Song," Rhombus production: The Life of Hanns Eisler |
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| Jul 1995 | Invitation to "Paul Bunyan" at Glimmerglass Opera |
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| Aug. 1996 | Discussion with NEH Seminar participants, Holyoke |
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| Sept.1996 | Release of "Songs for Political Action" collection of 10 CDs. produced by the Bear Family": Bauman sings Brecht/Eisler songs,
Labor songs, Siegmeister's" Strange Funeral At Braddock" |
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| Sept. 1996 | Premier broadcast of "Solidarity Song" Toronto |
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| April 6,1997 | Appearance, Columbia College: Centennial program of American Operas; "Paul Bunyan" excerpt |
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| Mar 1998 | Invitation to University of Toronto, "Paul Bunyan" production |
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| Jun 1998 | Invitation to Eisler 100th birthday memorial conference, Berlin |
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| Sept. 1998 | Appearances at four Eisler events: New School class, Brecht Forum, “Solidarity Song” showing at the Goethe Institute Concert
of West Park Chamber Society |
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| 1998 | Marc Blitzstein web site, Bauman pages: http://freespace.virgin.net/JohnJansson |
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| 1999 | Indian Hill web site: www.wilchfort.com/indianhill |
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains clippings, concert programs, correspondence, ephemera and memorabilia, which document Mordecai Bauman's education and musical career. Principal and/or prominent correspondents include: Joseph Abilieah (Society for Middle East Confederation), Irma Commanday Bauman, Betty Bean (American-Soviet Musical Society), Marc Blitzstein, Ronald D. Cohen (folk/left music historian), Congressmen Silvio Conte and Robert Drinan, Barker Fairley, Victor Grossman, Mrs. Charles Ives, Peter Janz (Berlin), Charles Panzera, Samuel Puner, Eberhard Rebling (East Berlin), Werner Schmidt (Dresden Art Museum).
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Arrangement |
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| The folders are arranged alphabetically. | ||
| The files are grouped into one series: | ||
| I, Subject Files | ||
Related Material
The Indian Hill Records, 1952-1976, 15 boxes, are located at the Stockbridge (Massachusetts) Library Association.
The Mordecai Bauman Collection of Political Music and Papers, 1914-1952, two boxes, is at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (Music Division).
Return to topSeparated Material
Sixteen audiocassettes (interviews, lectures, radio programs) have been separated to the Library's Sound collection, and some 20 photographs have been separated to the Library's Non Print Collection.
Return to topRestrictions
Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: gail.malmgreen@nyu.edu
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Administrative Information
Provenance
Gift of Mordecai and Irma Bauman, 1999-2004.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); The Mordecai Bauman Papers; Tamiment 222; box number; folder number; New York University Libraries ;New York University Libraries
Container List
[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]
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