John Davison papers

The John Davison collection, 1943 to 1999, documents his work as a composer and as a Professor of Music at Haverford College. The collection includes written scores and recordings. It also includes correspondence and personal materials collected by Davison throughout his life. Other materials found in the collection are clippings, concert posters and programs, framed certificates and photographs, as well as audio and video materials in the form of cassette tapes, reel-to-reel, long playing records, and VHS tapes. The collection is divided into two series: “John Davison Materials” and “Materials by Others.”

The first series, "John Davison Materials,” is divided into five sub-series: “Scores,” “Personal Material,” “Recordings,” “Music Programs,” and “Correspondence.” Within “Scores” are Davison’s opuses composed between 1948 and 1998. Score titles in this series include "Jonas’ Song and Dance" (Opus #130), Symphonies 1 through 6 (some of which are oversized), psalms and hymns, and "Arthur’s Return for Bagpipes and String Orchestra" (Opus #82). Researchers interested in John Davison’s scores would benefit from examining his “Catalog of Works,” available from Haverford College Special Collections.

The “Personal Materials” subseries is comprised of items collected by Davison, and include the following subseries: “Clippings,” “Diplomas and Certificates,” "Education,” “Maps,” "Miscellaneous,” “Notes,” “Planners,” “Photographs and other graphics,” “Quotes,” “Reviews,” and “Sketchbook.” His collected “Clippings” largely pertain to Davison. His “Diplomas and Certificates” include diplomas from Deerfield Academy and his 1951 Haverford College diploma. “Education” includes items such as his Statement of Intentions for his senior year at Haverford College and an invoice for a semester of college. Within the subseries “Photographs” is a framed black and white photograph of John Davison, Aaron Copland, and Sylvia Glickman taken at Haverford College (undated). Throughout Davison’s life, he sketched the world around him. These sketches, found in the “Sketchbook” subseries, were occasionally used for concert programs and posters.

The subseries “Recordings” is composed of Davison’s performances and studio pieces from the early 1960s through the 1990s, arranged numerically. Also found are interviews with Davison on programs such as National Public Radio (NPR). These recordings are found in following formats: cassette tapes, reel-to-reels, long playing records (LPs), and VHS tapes.

“Music Programs and Posters” consists of concert programs and posters for Davison’s performances from 1955 through 1999. Also included are programs Davison collected from concerts attended.

“Correspondence” is divided into letters to Davison (ordered chronologically, 1943 to 1999), letters from Davison, and an exchange between Davison and his former music teacher Ronald Thompson. Also included are holiday cards sent to Davison and a computer disk of his saved letters.

The second series, “Materials By Others,” includes items collected by Davison throughout his professional life. Within the subseries are scores by Steven Gerber and musical works by Wilson Townsend, consisting of masses, prayers, canticles, and other fragments. Davison also collected many of his students’ musical works, which are represented in the subseries “Student Compositions,” from 1962 to 1999. Researchers can request a complete list of Davison’s students to review alongside this series. In the subseries “Musical Works by Others” are works by Sydney Carter, David Hatt, and the 1934 publication Songs of Haverford.