The Life and Work of Richard Stöhr

Documents

In addition to being a prolific composer, Richard Stöhr was the author of at least half a dozen music theory and composition textbooks, the writer of thousands of letters, keeper of a daily diary for more than six decades, and collector of thousands of documents relating to his life and career.  In this section we give you just a taste of the documentary evidence of his life.

Book about Richard Stöhr by Hans Sittner

Hans Sittner wrote this short book in 1964 in honor of Richard Stoehr’s 90th birthday.  Sittner was President of the Vienna Academy of Music and the Performing Arts from 1949-1971.  Trained originally as a lawyer, Hans Sittner also graduated from the Academy of Music in 1927 and took several classes from Stöhr. SittnerBook

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1938 Diary Summary

The Diary Summary of the year 1938, so important in European history as well as in Richard Stöhr’s life story, was found separately from most of the others. We present it here to supplement the larger document containing the other Diary Summaries. 1938 Diary Summary

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The Austrian National Library’s holdings on Richard Stöhr

The Austrian National Library in Vienna holds over 1000 items relating to Richard Stöhr.  A complete list of these can be accessed from the link below.  These include most of his daily diaries, many letters, sheet music and much more.  The list is in German and we have not been able to find a way […]

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Richard Stöhr Collection, 1890-1974 at Saint Michael’s College Archives

St. Michael’s was where Richard Stoehr ended his teaching and composing career.  A vast trove of printed music, manuscripts and other documents is held by the College Library.  The link below provides access to a list of their holdings.   http://www.smclibrary.com/archon/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=253&q=stohr&rootcontentid=10943#id10943

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Richard Stöhr entry in Nazi Blacklist

In 1940 the Nazi Party published this blacklist of all musicians, composers, music teachers, etc. It was intended to rid the musical world of Germany of all participation by Jews. Stöhr’s entry in the book is given below the title page.

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Richard Stöhr’s Nazi-issued Passport

When Nazi Germany took over Austria in March 1938, Austrian citizens became German citizens and their old Austrian passports were no longer valid.  In order to travel (and more importantly in the case of Jews, in order to emigrate), one had to obtain a passport from the new Nazi government.  Below are the most interesting […]

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Vienna Philharmonic Program from First American Tour

The Vienna Philharmonic performed in Burlington, VT on 1 December 1956 as part of their first tour of the US.  Almost 40 members of the orchestra (including Willi Boskovsky) signed the cover of a program and presented it to Richard Stoehr with the German inscription: “For our dear teacher and master, to remember his students.” […]

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Leonard Bernstein Holiday Card

The Stöhrs and the Bernsteins exchanged holiday cards for a number of years starting in the late 1940’s.  We are not sure what year this one was sent but it is our favorite among the handful that survive.

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