Music Library
About the Music Library
Supported by both the Aaron Copland School of Music and the Queens College Libraries, the Queens College Music Library has evolved into a first-class research facility and is the largest music collection in the CUNY system. The Music Library is located on two levels in the School of Music building and contains over 35,000 scores, 30,000 books and 20,000 sound recordings. The reference collection, including complete works of composers and monuments of music, is one of the best in the New York City area. Special Collections, in the Benjamin Rosenthal Library, holds the Karol Rathaus Archives and the K. Robert Schwarz Papers.
News & Events
K. Robert Schwarz Interview Collection
All 320 tapes of K. Robert Schwarz's interviews with prominent musicians of the twentieth century are now available for use on CDs in the Queens College Music Library. From 1987 to 1998, Schwarz, a scholar and classical music critic who wrote for the New York Times and other publications, interviewed hundreds of prominent musicians, all of which are captured in this collection. Those interviewed include composers (Paul Bowles, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Milton Babbitt, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, Ellen Taffe Zwilich, John Corigliano, and many others), performers (Joshua Bell, Anne Sophie Mutter, Thomas Hampson, and more), conductors (including James Levine and Andre Previn), and fellow scholars. For a complete list of interviewees, see the CUNY Catalog (do a simple search for “Schwarz interviews”). Schwarz, who earned his bachelor's of arts degree in music at Queens College in 1979, focused on twentieth-century music, particularly minimalism (see his 1996 book, Minimalists), Steve Reich (the subject of his 1982 master's thesis at Indiana University), and Paul Bowles (the subject of his doctoral work at the City University of New York Graduate Center). Thank you to the Special Collections Department of the Benjamin Rosenthal Library and to the Schwarz family for facilitating the completion of this digitization project.
Due to copyright issues, CDs must be used in the QC Music Library and cannot be copied or published without permission from the Schwarz family and those being interviewed.
Music Library Hours
Location & Contact
Music Building, Room 22565-30 Kissena Boulevard
Queens, NY 11367-1597
(tel) 718-997-3900
(fax) 718-997-3928
musiclibrary@qc.cuny.edu
