Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Arthur Fickénscher Papers, Accession 12731, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Acquisition Information

The collection is a consolidation of gift acquisitions received in the Manuscript and Special Collections Departments of the University of Virginia over the period 1941-1997 from Edith Cruzan Fickénscher, Arditha Fickénscher, William W. Jones, Robert Septimus Pace, Jr., Gordon Rumson and anonymous donors.

The original classification numbers (listed below) of all acquisitions to this collection have been consolidated into a single classification number: 12731.

Previous Classification Numbers: Manuscript numbers: 1093; 5121,-a-b; 8815; Record Group numbers: RG-21/31.771 (.791) (.871) (.921) (.961) (.962) (.971).

Funding Note

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Biographical Sketch

Arthur Fickénscher , composer, pianist, teacher and inventor, was born to George W. and Elizabeth Wagner Fickénscher on March 9, 1871, in Aurora, Illinois. His musical education began at an early age; learning violin and piano under the tutelage and guidance of his music instructor father, he gave his first recital at age six. He spent his later formative years (1883-1889) as a student in Munich, Germany attending the Hochschule der Musik and the Royal Academy from which he graduated with unprecedented honors after studying under such notables in music theory and composition as Joseph Rheinberger and Ludwig Thuille. Upon returning to Illinois, Fickénscher taught piano privately to students and gave formal concert performances around the Chicago area. His reputation as an accomplished pianist and accompanist led to his participation in concert tours throughout the United States and Mexico with many of the distinguished singers of the day such as the great Wagnerian tenor, Anton Shott; Nikita, soprano of the Russian opera; Materna; David Bispham and Madame Shumann-Heink. These tours enhanced his reputation and allowed his piano mastery and musical artistry wide recognition.

In 1896, Fickénscher settled in San Francisco where he taught and coached young singers and studied the potentialities of the human voice. He also began to immerse himself in the composition of original music, being particularly drawn by the influence of the English poets of the Renaissance, Dante Rossetti and William Morris. In 1901, he married Edith Cruzan , an opera and concert singer whose theatrical and musical talents matched his own as they became an acclaimed recital team throughout the west coast. While living in San Francisco, the Fickénschers experienced the great earthquake of 1906. In the fire that devastated the city, they lost their home and many of their possessions including papers, press clippings, memorabilia and compositional manuscripts relating to their concert activities and Fickénscher's early music works.

In 1911, Fickénscher returned to Germany with his wife and young daughter, Arditha . He established a studio in Berlin providing vocal instruction to students and undertook a series of joint recitals with his wife that introduced them to admiring European audiences. In that period, his choral-orchestral poem, The Chamber Blue and the orchestral-choral symphonic poem, Aucassin and Nicolete were performed to positive reviews in concert presentations. Fickénscher also continued to pursue his idea of perfecting a keyboard for pure intonation and was granted a patent for its design in Germany in 1912.

At the outbreak of World War I, the Fickénschers returned to California. They opened a studio in both Oakland and in San Francisco to instruct and train singers, resumed their joint recital programs and lectures and soon became a couple in great demand in the music circles in the area and beyond. That demand induced them in 1917 to move to New York City, to again teach students and to present themselves in recital and concert programs to metropolitan music lovers.

A major change in Fickénscher's career style took place three years later. In 1920 he accepted an invitation from Edwin A. Alderman, then president of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, to serve as head of the newly established music department. Over the next 14 years he devoted himself in quiet dignity, but tireless energy to the challenge of organizing, developing and directing the administration of the department. He taught students; gave leadership to the University Glee Club and presented major concerts in Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans, Richmond and numerous other cities and towns throughout Virginia. He established the Albemarle Choral Club ; conducted the University of Virginia and the Norfolk Symphony orchestras; participated in ensemble recitals, every 2 weeks over a period of 11 years and, in 1938, conducted a fully staged mimo-drama of his work, The Chamber Blue at the University. He performed organ recitals in the University's McIntire Amphitheater; provided piano accompaniment to students in vocal programs and instituted the McIntire Concerts program which featured such renowned artists as, Barrère, Alda, Novaes, Homer, Casals, Ponselle, Martinelli and Zimbalist. With all this, he still found time to arrange the settings of numerous college football songs; to serve as the regular organist at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville and to continue work on his music compositions and on the development and construction of the "Polytone," his idea of a workable intonation keyboard which he designed to subdivide the octave into 60 tones.

In 1941, Fickénscher retired from the University of Virginia and returned to Fairfax in Marin County in California. There he worked to complete his major unfinished orchestral-choral symphonic poem, The Land East of the Sun and to publish an article on the Polytone which he had patented in February 1941. The article, "The Polytone and the Potentialities of a Purer Intonation," appeared in The Music Quarterly (July, 1941). In May, 1946, he participated in concert at Florida State Teacher's College, conducting The Chamber Blue with the Australian-American composer, Percy Grainger at the piano and, as pianist, joining a string quartet to play the Piano Quintet .

In 1947, the Fickénschers relocated to the city of San Francisco to spend their remaining years near their daughter. Edith Fickénscher died on January 9, 1950 and Arthur Fickénscher on April, 15, 1954. Some years later, in 1983, their ashes were spread over the grounds of the University of Virginia cemetery near the grave of their close friends, James Southall Wilson and his wife Julia by two devoted former students and lifelong friends and associates, Robert Septimus Pace, Jr. and William W. Jones.

As a composer, Arthur Fickénscher was influenced by Bach, Wagner and César Franck. His work reflected contemporary trends and was cast in a "sensuous mysticism" that intrigued many of his musical colleagues, particularly Percy Grainger (1882-1961) who considered Fickénscher to be one of the few musical geniuses of the 20th century.

Scope and Content

The Papers of Arthur Fickénscher contain ca. 2,000 items (11 shelf feet) that span the years 1895-1995. The largest portion of the papers, consists of originals and copies of virtually all of the music that Fickénscher produced. The remaining portion contains correspondence and other papers of a professional and personal nature. The collection has been divided into three major groups:

Group I, (Correspondence), contains letters sent to Fickénscher and drafts and second copies of letters that he prepared. The correspondence is subdivided into three categories: (1) General, (2) Named and (3) Polytone Related. These are listed by date or by correspondent name to highlight special interest or subject matter.

Group II, (Professional and Personal), contains items relating to Fickénscher's music and academic career activities. These include published articles; biographical background about his life and work; catalogue descriptions of his music; memorabilia in the form of concert and recital programs; reviews and newspaper clippings; a compilation of notes, drawings and music relating to the evolution and development of the "Polytone;" and an assortment of other miscellaneous items consisting of financial and contract records of the University of Virginia's McIntire Concerts (1919-1939); photographs of family and friends; instructor notes for voice lessons; some brochures about musical instruments; name and address notebooks and family birth, marriage and burial documents.

Group III, (Compositions), contains original manuscripts, master sheets for duplication and print copies of musical scores. These items have been consolidated into oversized folders for ease of reference and study and have been arranged in this listing under descriptive categories similar to those used by Fickénscher in describing his own compositions and by others who have catalogued his musical works. (see William W. Jones and Gordon Rumson (Box 1, below) and also William W. Jones, Life and Works of Arthur Fickénscher, American Composer , 1871-1954 , unpublished, 1992).

A 33 1/3 rpm recording of Willowwood , (a setting of four sonnets by Rossetti for mezzo-soprano with piano, viola and bassoon accompaniment) has been transferred to the appropriate custodial section of the University of Virginia Special Collections Department where it is identified as part of these papers.