Collection #
SC 2274

ALEXANDER SCHNEIDER
PAPERS, 1951-1960

Collection Information

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Cataloging Information

Processed by
Charles Latham
31 May 1991
Updated 22 November 2004

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

Collection INFORMATION

VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 2 folders

COLLECTION DATES: 1951-1960

PROVENANCE: Alexander Schneider, New York, New York, 7 August 1990

RESTRICTIONS: None

COPYRIGHT: Held by Indiana Historical Society

RELATED HOLDINGS: None

ACCESSION NUMBER: 1990.0480

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Alexander Schneider (1908- ), violinist and conductor, was born in Vilna, Russia (present-day Vilnius in Lithuania). He studied violin at Vilna and Frankfurt, and served as concertmaster in orchestras at Frankfurt, Saarbrucken, and Hamburg.

Schneider came to the United States in 1932. He taught at the Universities of California, Washington, Chicago, and Michigan, at Mills College and Leland Stanford University, and at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. He served as guest conductor of many major symphony orchestras.

He became increasingly interested in chamber music, and traveled both with the Budapest Quartet and with the Schneider Quartet which he founded in 1952. He was also involved with the Albeneri Trio, the Sonata Ensemble, and the Dumbarton Oaks Orchestra. He often worked in collaboration with Pablo Casals, both at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico and at the Marlboro Music Festival. He attached growing importance to teaching young musicians to play from the heart.

Caroline Marmon Fesler (ca 1878-1960) was born in Richmond, Indiana, and moved to Indianapolis at an early age. Her father, Daniel Marmon, developed the Marmon automobile which was manufactured in Indianapolis through the 1930s.

Caroline Marmon attended Benjamin Harrison School No. 2 and Girls Classical School, and graduated from Smith College in 1900. In 1918 she married James W. Fesler, an attorney. He died in 1949.

Mrs. Fesler had an intense interest in art and music, and was a generous patron of both. She collected paintings, and gave generously to the Art Association of Indianapolis, of which she served as president in 1941 and 1942. Paintings which she donated are among the most important in the collections of the present Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Mrs. Fesler was also a lover of classical music. She was a patron of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and a founder and vice president of the Ensemble Music Society. She was perhaps best known for the private concerts which she had in her home at 4035 North Pennsylvania Street, where a select group of friends would be invited to hear a soloist or a group like the Budapest Quartet. She became an intimate friend of some of these musicians, including Alexander Schneider.

Sources: Materials in collection.
Indiana Biographical Series, Vol. 58 p. 36
Who's Who in America

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection, filling two folders, consists of correspondence, letters to Alexander Schneider from Mrs. James W. Fesler (and a few from "Kate," a musical friend). They are arranged chronologically.

The dated letters, comprising about three quarters of the collection, come from the years 1951-1960. Content and style of the undated letters indicates they probably come from the same period.

The letters deal with personal and musical matters: Mrs. Fesler's musical enthusiasms, past and coming musical programs, mutual friends, trips to the Casals festival in Puerto Rico. They give an intimate look into the relationship between and artist and a patron who seem to have developed a real personal friendship.

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/

2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.

3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.

4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, SC 2274).

5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.