Scope and Contents
The Stoeckel Family Papers consist primarily of Carl Stoeckel's typed reminiscences of visits made by Jean Sibelius and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to the Stoeckel Family Estate in Norfolk, CT. Additional writings about Sibelius, by Olin Downes and Karl Ekman, are also included. The Papers also hold a small number of letters between members of the Stoeckel Family and Horatio Parker, David Stanley Smith, and Eva J. O'Meara, as well as a biographical sketch of Robbins Battell Stoeckel and a copy of Ellen Battell Stoeckel's will.
Dates
- 1906-1971
Creator
Language of Materials
Materials chiefly in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The Papers are open to researchers by appointment. There are no restricted materials in the collection. Please contact the Special Collections staff to schedule an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use
The Stoeckel Family Papers are the physical property of the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University. Copyrights belong to the composers and authors, or their legal heirs and assigns.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Stoeckel Family Papers were established in the Music Library of Yale University by Ellen Battell Stoeckel in 1926.
Arrangement
In 3 series as follows: I. Writings about Sibelius and Coleridge-Taylor. II. Correspondence. III. Miscellany.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
Papers of Carl Stoeckel (1858-1925) and Ellen Battell Stoeckel (1851-1939), the founders of the Norfolk Music Festival, with special emphasis on Jean Sibelius and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, from whom the Stoeckels commissioned new works for the festival
Biographical / Historical
The Stoeckel and Battell families both played crucial roles in the development of music at Yale University. Gustave Jacob Stoeckel (1819-1907) was the first professor of music at Yale. Robbins Battell (1819-1895) was a generous Yale philanthropist as well as an amateur composer. Stoeckel's papers and some of Battell's compositions are preserved in the Yale Music Library as MSS 27 and Misc. Ms. 157, respectively. In 1895, Stoeckel's son Carl (1858-1925) married Battell's daughter Ellen (1851-1939). Carl had previously been Robbins Battell's secretary. In 1899, Ellen and Carl Stoeckel established the Litchfield County Choral Union, and this group's concerts proved to be the beginning of an important summer music festival in Norfolk, Connecticut, where the Stoeckels lived. In 1906 they built the Norfolk Music Shed to house the Festival's concerts. Renowned performers such as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreisler, and Lillian Nordica appeared at the Festival, and the Stoeckels commissioned new works from many composers, including Jean Sibelius, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Horatio Parker, Henry Gilbert, and Victor Herbert; the Stoeckel Family Papers are largely devoted to Carl's recollections of Sibelius and Coleridge-Taylor. The festival went into abeyance after Carl's death in 1925, but when Ellen died in 1939, her will established the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust to revive the festival, in collaboration with Yale. The Norfolk Music Festival still takes place every summer at the family estate.
- Title
- The Stoeckel Family Papers
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- Compiled by Adrienne Nesnow
- Date
- 1996-2007
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Prepared According To Local Music Library Descriptive Practices
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Gilmore Music Library Repository
Contact:
120 High Street
PO Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520 US
(203) 432-0497
musicspecialcollections@yale.edu
120 High Street
PO Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520 US
(203) 432-0497
musicspecialcollections@yale.edu