Finkelstein, Sidney Walter, 1909-1974
Sidney Finkelstein Papers
1914-1974
MS 128
11 boxes
(5.5 linear ft.)
Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries
Noted
critic of music, literature, and the arts, as well as a
writer and an active member of the Communist Party U.S.A.
Includes letters to and from Mr. Finkelstein; original
manuscripts of reviews, articles, essays, and books; legal
documents, educational, military, and personal records,
financial papers, contracts, photographs, and lecture and
course notes.
English.
Sidney Finkelstein, born in Brooklyn, New York on July 4, 1909, received his Bachelor's degree from City College in New York in 1929 and his A.M. from Columbia University in 1932 before he became a renowned critic of music, literature, and the arts. In 1955, he earned a second master's degree from New York University. During the 1930s he served as a book reviewer for the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle and worked for the United Postal Service. In the 1940s he joined the music staff of the Herald Tribune and also served as a music reviewer for several other publications including New Masses, Masses and Mainstream. Finkelstein became active in the Communist Party U.S.A. (CPUSA) where he served as the party's leading musical and cultural theoretician. Finkelstein applied his interpretation of Socialist Realism in several books on arts and culture, the most famous being Jazz, a People's Music (1948). Between 1951 and 1973 he served on the staff of Vanguard Records, a New York based record label that specialized in jazz and classical recordings. In 1957 he was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee for his Communist party affiliation. Finkelstein died in Brooklyn, New York on January 14, 1974.
1909
Born July 4, Brooklyn, NY
1929
B.A., City College
1930s
Book reviewer, Brooklyn Daily Eagle
1932
A.M., Columbia University
1940s
Music staff, The Herald Tribune; also music
reviewer, New Masses, Masses and Mainstream, and other
publications
1951-1973
Staff, Vanguard Records
1955
M.A., New York University
1957
Called to testify before House Un-American
Activities Committee
1974
Died, January 14, Brooklyn, NY; survived by two
brothers
The Sidney Finkelstein Papers (1914-1974) are organized
into 3 series: Biographical (1914-1969), Correspondence
(1934-1974), and Writings (1949-1973, n.d.). Biographical
materials include legal documents, educational, military, and
personal records, financial papers and contracts,
photographs, and lecture and course notes. Correspondence
includes letters both to and from Mr. Finkelstein and
consists primarily of informal discussions of his works and
the writings of others on related topics. Finkelstein's
writings constitute the bulk of the collection and include
original manuscripts of reviews, articles, essays and books
he wrote during his career. Finkelstein's writings cover a
broad array of topics and include discussions of jazz,
classical music, music criticism, aesthetics, literary
criticism, profiles of the work of individual artists, and
Socialist Realism and its relevance and application to
cultural studies.
Partial List of Correspondents
1946
Axelrod, Eric
1970
Cameron, Angus--of Knopf
1965
Capouya, Emile
1955
Cazden, Norman
1964
Cohen, Robert Sonné--physicist
1955, 1956
Downes, Olin--critic
1964
Gelbin, Gertrude--editor, Seven Seas
n.d.
Hille, Waldemar
1956, 1965
Kent, Rockwell and Sally
1948
Lask, Tom--New York Times Book Review
1965, 1966
Lawson, John Howard
1970
Lowenfels, Walter
1964
Lumer, Hyman--editor, Political Affairs
1969
Markin, Ann
1966
Richmond, Al
1972
Russell, Ross
1966
Selsam, Millicent and Howard
1971
Schneerson, Grigon
1947
Siegmeister, Eliew--composer
1948
Smith, Harrison--Saturday Review
1953
Tamura, Toshio
1948
Thomson, Virgil--composer
1959
Veiaus, Abraham--Syracuse Univ.
1966
_______, John
This collection is organized into three series:
-
[Series 1. Biographical, 1914-1969](list-ser1)
-
[Series 2. Correspondence, 1934-1974](list-ser2)
-
[Series 3. Writings, 1949-1973](list-ser3)
The collection is open for research.
Cite as: Sidney Finkelstein Papers (MS 128). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
Acquired from: Maynard Solomon, 1986.
Communism and Socialism
Literature and language
Performing arts
Social change
Books Written by Finkelstein
1947.Art and Society. New York, International Publishers.
1948.Jazz, a People's Music. New York, Citadel Press.
1952.How Music Expresses Ideas. New York, International Publishers.
1954.Realism and Art. New York, International Publishers.
1960.Composer and Nation: the folk heritage of music. New York, International Publishers.
1965.Existentialism and Alienation in American
Literature. New York, International Publishers.
1968.The Sense and Nonsense of McLuhan.
1969.The Young Picasso.
1970.How Music Expresses Ideas , Revised and Enlarged edition.
1973.Who Needs Shakespeare?. New York, International Publishers.
Processed by Linda Seidman and David Goldberg, 1986, 2001.
Finkelstein, Sidney Walter, 1909-1974--Archives.
Finkelstein, Sidney Walter, 1909-1974--Correspondence.
Cohen, R. S. (Robert Sonné)--Correspondence.
Hille, Waldemar, 1908- --Correspondence.
Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971--Correspondence.
Gorton, Sally Kent, 1915-2000--Correspondence.
Lawson, John Howard, 1894- --Correspondence.
Richmond, Al, 1913-1987--Correspondence.
Selsam, Millicent Ellis, 1912- --Correspondence.
Siegmeister, Elie, 1909- --Correspondence.
Thomson, Virgil, 1896- --Correspondence.
Veinus, Abraham--Correspondence.
Communist Party of the United States of America--History--20th century--Sources.
Critics--United States--Archives.
Criticism--United States--History--20th century--Sources.
Music--History and criticism--Sources.
Musical criticism--United States--History--Sources.
Art criticism--United States--History--20th century--Sources.
Communist aesthetics--History--Sources.
Communism--United States--History--Sources.
Culture--Study and teaching--United States--History--20th century--Sources.
Socialist realism--History--Sources.
Photographs.
Manuscripts.
Cohen, R. S. (Robert Sonné)
Hille, Waldemar, 1908-
Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971.
Gorton, Sally Kent, 1915-2000.
Lawson, John Howard, 1894-
Richmond, Al, 1913-1987.
Selsam, Millicent Ellis, 1912-
Siegmeister, Elie, 1909-
Thomson, Virgil, 1896-
Veinus, Abraham.
Series 1: Biographical
1914-1969
1
1
Legal documents and other personal records
1914-1957
1
2
Education, records of
1925-1955
1
3
Military records
1942-1947
1
4
Publishing contracts and related materials
1947-1969
1
5
Photographs
1
6
Course outline: Philosophy of
Art
1
7
Lecture notes and course outline
Series 2: Correspondence
1934-1974
See attached partial list of correspondents
1
8
Letters from SF
1949-1966
1
9
Letters to SF
1934-1954
1
10
Letters to SF
1955-1964
1
11
Letters to SF
1965-1974
Series 3: Writings
1949-1973
1
12
Student paper by SF: The Imagery of
Picasso's Blue Period
1
13
Student paper by SF: The Philosophy of Art
of Frank Lloyd Wright
1
14
Masters thesis: Picasso
(fragment)
1
15
Notebooks
1
16
Melville/Pierre notes
1
17-24
Book reviews by SF
1
25
(Combined with folder 16)
1
26
Is Jazz a National Expression or an
International Folk Music?
1
27
On jazz (fragment)
1
28
On American music
1
29
On opera
2
30
Music and Music Criticism: A New
Look
2
31-33
Myths and Realities of the Arts
c. 1949
2
34
Psychoanalysis and the Arts
1951
2
35
On realism, especially Charles White
(fragment)
2
36
On Charles White's paintings
2
37
Realism in Art, review of
c. 1954
2
38
Realism in Art, article about & SF
response
2
39
On Arnold Hauser's "The Social History of
Art" (fragment)
2
40
Dialectical Materialism and the
Arts
2
41
On John Dewey's "Art as
Experience"
2
42
On Tagore's play "The King of the Dark
Chamber" (fragment)
2
43
On two articles regarding young
intellectuals
2
44
The Art and Science of C.P. Snow
c. 1961
2
45
Composer and Nation, letters re: review of
1961
3-5
46-71
Dialectics of Art/Form and
Freedom
6
72-73
Notes on Greece/Spain: High Renaissance
architecture, Spanish Colonial architecture, Romanesque
sculpture
6
74
On Henry James' "The Sacred Fount"
1960
6
75
James: Introduction to Princess
Cassanassima
7
76-84
Dialectical materialism & Art/ What Is
Art?
8-10
85-93
The Literary Influence of Existentialism/
The Literature of Alienation
1965
8-10
94-95
Media & the Arts: The Sense and Nonsense
of McLuhan
1968
8-10
96
McLuhan Book - published
versions
8-10
97
On Beauty and Truth
11
98
How Music expresses Ideas
1970
11
99-100
Who Needs Shakespeare?
1973