McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Marvin Duchow Fonds
Fonds
32 cm of textual records
Marvin Duchow, musicologist and composer, was born in Montréal and received his B. Mus. from McGill in 1937. After post-graduate work in composition at the Curtis School of Music, and in musicology at the Eastman School of Music, he returned to Montréal to teach at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal (1943-1949). In 1944 he received his first appointment at McGill, where he taught theory, history and analysis until his death in 1979. Duchow was acting Dean of the faculty, 1955-1957, and Dean from 1957 to 1963. Much of Duchow's scholarly publishing centred on the life and work of Claude Champagne, but he was also a specialist in French music of the 18th century and in certain aspects of Renaissance music. He composed music for orchestra, keyboard and voice, notably Three Songs of the Holocaust (1977).
Duchow's papers document the social aspects of his deanship, his involvement in faculty committees, and his work as a teacher. Apart from some personal letters (1930-1953), Duchow's correspondence covers his years as acting Dean and Dean of the Faculty, and largely concerns the social side of his position: speaking engagements, invitations to attend conferences and social events, patronage of musical performances, and the entertainment of visitors. His committee files are mainly devoted to the graduate studies programmes (1966-1976); there are also files for the Committee on Theory and minutes of the Theory Department meetings (1968-1976), for the Music Library Sub-Committee, and the Sub-Committee on Musicology (1968-1975). Duchow's teaching materials comprise a markbook for history and analysis courses (1963-1965) (restricted); assignments and class materials for courses in Bibliography and Methodology, Analysis, and Mediaeval Music; xeroxed lecture notes on Dufay, Dunstable, and Flemish renaissance composers; files on graduate theses proposed to, and directed by Duchow; and copies of letters of appraisal sent to teaching institutions and granting bodies.
Partly restricted.
Originals and Copies