63.2 Linear Feet, 63 ft. 2 1/2 in. (42 record cartons, 15 in. each); (3 record cartons, 17 in. each); (1 document case, 5
in.); (3 document cases, 2 1/2 in. each); (6 flat storage boxes, 1 1/2 in. each); (6 small flat storage boxes, 4 in. each);
(1 large flat storage box, 3 in.); (3 unboxed framed posters); (2 unboxed large scrapbooks, 8 in. total); (1 unboxed set of
volumes of Grove's Dictionary, 1 ft. 9. in. total)
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown,
WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Language
English
Abstract
Papers of Frances Yeend, opera singer, and papers of James Benner, pianist and West Virginia University music professor.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Conditions Governing Access
No special access restriction applies.
Researchers may access born digital and digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or
remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
Preferred Citation
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Frances Yeend, Opera Singer, Photographs, Recordings, and Papers, A&M
3972, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
American opera star Frances Yeend was born 1913 January 22 in Vancouver, Washington. She studied music at what is now Washington
State University, before debuting as a soprano singer. Between the 1940s and 1960s, Yeend performed in many noted opera roles,
debuting at both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. Her performances included Pagliacci, Turandot, Elektra,
Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro, The Tales of Hoffman, La traviata, Faust, Aida, La bohème, Amelia Goes to the Ball, Tosca,
Verdi's Requiem, and The Four Ruffians. Yeend also performed at the Tanglewood Music Festival in New York and with noted singers
Mario Lanza and George London as part of the Bel Canto Trio in the late 1940s. Her career took her to cities across the United
States and the world, including a debut in Israel. Yeend retired from her opera career in 1966, joining the West Virginia
University faculty as a Professor of Voice and Artist in Residence. She retired from teaching in 1978. Yeend died in Morgantown,
West Virginia on 2008 April 27.
Papers of Frances Yeend, classical soprano and opera singer, and papers of James Benner, pianist West Virginia University
music professor.
Boxes 1-2 contain about 300 publicity photographs featuring American opera star Frances Yeend, a soprano. The publicity photographs
are of Yeend costumed for roles in operas such as "Pagliacci," "Turandot," "Elektra," "Carmen," "The Marriage of Figaro,"
"The Tales of Hoffmann," "La traviata," "Faust," "Aida," "La bohème," "Amelia Goes to the Ball," "Tosca," Verdi's Requiem,
and "The Four Ruffians," among others. The collection also includes various photographs taken for newspaper and magazine articles;
and photos of Yeend with the other members of the Bel Canto Trio, including Mario Lanza and George London.
Box 3 contains a chronological listing of her performances and other professional activities for 1943 to 1966.
Boxes 4-60 contain sound recordings, piano vocal scores, books, programs, letters, recordings, and other material. Many scores
were Yeend's personal study copies, and include performance markings. There are records regarding the Obernkirchen Children's
Choir, and arrangements of concert pieces by Columbia Artists for performances by Yeend. There are also papers regarding
master classes taught by Benner, and WVU opera productions.
Publicity photographs in Boxes 1-2 have been digitized.
There are oral histories with James Benner regarding the careers of Frances Yeend and of James Benner in digital audio.
The twelve non-commerical disc recordings in the collection have been digitized.
Chronological Listing of Yeend's Performances, 1943-1966
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 4
Cassettes
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 5
Cassettes, CD, and Other Recordings
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 6
Cassettes, CDs, VHS, Poster/Handbill, and Rings (Woodburn Circle Society)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 7
Cassettes and Scores
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 8
Cassettes and Scores
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 9
Chautauqua Files
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 10
Piano-Vocal Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 11
Piano-Vocal Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire; this
box includes an "Elektra" score [likely by Richard Strauss] with rehearsal markings, apparently the copy that Yeend worked
from for her Metropolitan Opera debut; also includes scores to "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Feuersnot" by Strauss)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 12
Piano-Vocal Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 13
Piano-Vocal Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire; this
box includes scores of Mahler's Symphonies No. 2 and No. 4; also includes American scores [without markings] of "Regina" by
Blitzstein and "McTeague" by Bolcom)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 14
Piano-Vocal Opera Scores (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas from the standard repertoire)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 15
Piano-Vocal Scores with Personalized Binding for Yeend (includes mainly rehearsal scores used by Yeend consisting of operas
from the standard repertoire; this box includes Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Missa Solemnis and Verdi's Requiem with inscription
by conductor Eugene Ormandy; also includes Mahler's Symphony No. 8)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 16
Piano-Vocal Scores with Graphic Interest (includes "Parsifal" by Wagner and two scores by Virgil Thomson)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 17
Piano-Vocal Scores (includes photocopy of "The Threepenny Opera" by Brecht, among others)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 18
James Benner Papers (includes slides of WVU opera productions, photocopies of piano-vocal scores with Benner's English translations
and production notes, and documentation of his English translation work)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 19
Scores and Books, Collectible (includes souvenir book given to Yeend by the Israel Philharmonic in 1954 of "Song of Solomon"
published in Jerusalem; also includes a two volume edition of a biography of Jenny Lind [1891] and piano-vocal scores to "Dream
of a Summer Night" [1850] and "Psyche" [1878, likely first edition] by Ambroise Thomas)
1850, 1878-1891, 1954, undated
Mixed Materials Box: 20
Books (includes music related books, such as "Who's Who in Music" [1951], "Pictorial Treasury of Opera in America," etc.)
1951, undated
Mixed Materials Box: 21
Scores and Books (includes original manuscript of song "Gypsy Lament" by Yeend, annual artist advertisment issues of Musical
America from late 1940s and early 1950s [with advertisements for Yeend]; and orchestrations with parts of excerpts from "La
traviata" by Verdi provided to Yeend by Columbia Artists Management])
ca. 1940s-1950s, undated
Mixed Materials Box: 22
Programs
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 23
Letters, Newspapers, and Pamphlets
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 24
Notes, Letters, and Paperwork
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 25
Notes, Letters, and Paperwork
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 26
Records
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 27
Records, WVU Opera Theatre Production Lists, WVU Opera Production Pictures, and Bel Canto Trio File
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 28
Framed/Signed Photographs (including soprano Joan Sutherland, soprano Eleanor Steber, soprano Mary Garden, dancers Alexandre
Volinine and Anna Pavlova, soprano Helen Jepson, Columbia Grand Opera Quartet [Yeend, Helen Olheim, William Hain, Arthur Kent],
mezzo-soprano Mona Paulee, and conductor Thomas Schippers)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 29
Framed/Signed Photographs (including conductors Bruno Walter, Eugene Ormandy, Dimitri Mitropoulos, William Steinberg, John
Barbirolli, and George Szell; bass-baritone George London and soprano Rosa Ponselle)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 29
Piano-Vocal Score of "La traviata" by Verdi (given to Yeend by Rosa Ponselle; includes Ponselle's rehearsal markings)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 30
Photos and Christmas Cards, Photographs from her Metropolitan Opera Debut, and Photos of Other Artists (includes a photo with
signatures of Bob Hope and Arnold Palmer; also includes a manuscript by American composer David Diamond of song cycle "Love
and Time")
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 31
Framed Certificates, Doctorate (Yeend), and Biographical Information
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 32
Framed Certificates and Posters/Handbill (includes large color poster for Yeend published by Columbia Artists Management for
her concerts)
"Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe" Edition of Bach's Works, Edwards Music Reprints, 1947; box 36 contains the book "J.S. Bach, The
Modern Composer" by Augusta Rubin, including inscription by the author
ca. 1947, undated
Mixed Materials Box: 41
Verdi Edition (incomplete), University of Chicago Press [1 of 3]
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 42
Verdi Edition (incomplete), University of Chicago Press [2 of 3]
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 42
"114 Songs By Charles E. Ives" (first edition)
1922
Mixed Materials Box: 42
Paray's "Mass for the Fifth Centenary of the Death of Joan of Arc" (rehearsal score for Yeend)
1931
Mixed Materials Box: 43
Verdi Edition (incomplete), University of Chicago Press [3 of 3]
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 44
Sound Recordings of Yeend (includes 1 tape and 1 compact disc)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 44
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition, and other assorted books
Books regarding Music (includes material regarding composers, conductors, and performers) and Other Material
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 51
Cassettes
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 52
Piano-Vocal Score of "Foolish Fathers" by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari with English Translation by James Benner [this piece is likely
a unique translation of "I quattro rusteghi," often translated as "The Four Curmudgeons," "The Four Ruffians," or "School
for Fathers"]
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 53
Piano-Vocal Scores (includes early edition of "Norma" [by Bellini], and Yeend's rehearsal score for "Peter Grimes" [by Britten],
for which she sang Ellen Orford in the American premiere of the opera in 1947)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 54
Piano-Vocal Score of "The Turn of the Screw" by Britten (photocopy with rehearsal markings by Benner)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 54
Scrapbook (includes postcards of European scenes and program for "Turandot" by Puccini starring Yeend in title role at the
Verona Arena in the 1950s)
undated
Mixed Materials Box: 55
Framed Opera Poster for WVU Production of "Foolish Fathers" by Wolf-Ferrari [this production is likely of a unique translation
of "I quattro rusteghi," often translated as "The Four Curmudgeons," "The Four Ruffians," or "School for Fathers"]
Popular Sheet Music (before moving to New York, Yeend performed popular songs on the radio; this is the music she worked with)
ca. 1920-1950
Mixed Materials Box: 59
Yeend Scrapbook 2 (scrapbook of clippings documenting Yeend's career compiled by clipping service for Columbia Artists Management;
in flat storage box)
1949–1950
Mixed Materials Box: 60
Yeend Scrapbook 3 (scrapbook of clippings documenting Yeend's career compiled by clipping service for Columbia Artists Management;
in large paige records carton)
1950–1953
Mixed Materials Box: 60
Clippings Scrapbook
1944-1950s
Mixed Materials Box: 60
Clippings Scrapbook (includes clipping regarding gift of Verdi score to Yeend from Ormandy [see box 15])
1953–1957
Mixed Materials Box: 60
Clippings Scrapbook
1947–1952
Mixed Materials Box: 60
Clippings Scrapbook
1944–1956
Mixed Materials Box: 60
Clippings Scrapbook
1946–1953
Mixed Materials Box: 61
Published art songs of various genres and composers, including miscellaneous (including a cover with Yeend's photo), old German
lied, Elizabethan songs, Amy Beach, Arthur Farwell, American opera arias, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, David Diamond, Gerald
Finzi, Frederick Delius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Arnold Bax
undated
Mixed Materials unboxed
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th Edition
1961
Mixed Materials unboxed
Yeend Scrapbook 1 (scrapbook of clippings documenting Yeend's career compiled by clipping service for Columbia Artists Management)
1947–1949
Mixed Materials unboxed
Yeend Scrapbook 4 (scrapbook of clippings documenting Yeend's career compiled by clipping service for Columbia Artists Management)
1954–1955
Mixed Materials unboxed
"Turandot" Poster, Verona
1958
Mixed Materials unboxed
"Elektra" Poster from Yeend's Debut at the Metropolitan Opera
1961
Mixed Materials unboxed
Framed Opera Poster for Production of "The Secret Marriage" [frequently known as "Il matrimonio segreto"]
![[logo]](https://host.lib.wvu.edu/images/logos/wvrhc.jpg)