Peter Maxwell Davies Manuscripts, Part II

Scope and Content

Compositions of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Manuscripts of pieces principally composed between 1992 and 2006, with a collection of photographs and press cuttings, 1955-2006. All manuscripts are autograph in pencil except where stated. All texts are by Peter Maxwell Davies except where stated. Titles and dates of composition not derived from the manuscripts are taken from the first two sources described below, or from lists provided by the composer. Dates of publication are taken from the British Library's catalogue of printed music. Catalogue numbers with the prefix J are those used in Stewart Craggs, Peter Maxwell Davies: a source book (2002). The later 'J' numbers (411-457) are not in Craggs, and are taken from the composer's former 'MaxOpus' website, archived at http://www.webarchive.org.uk/. This 'J' numbering is entirely different from the versions in two previous publications, Colin Bayliss, The Music of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies: an annotated catalogue (1991) and Carolyn J. Smith, Peter Maxwell Davies: a bio-bibliography (1995). From 2009 onwards the works are identified by a new system of opus numbers, available on the composer's website http://www.maxopus.com/.

The present collection forms the second major group of Peter Maxwell Davies' manuscripts held by the British Library; the first, which consists of works composed before 1992, is Add. MSS 71252-71445 (Maxwell Davies Manuscripts, Part I).

The manuscripts with pre-1992 composition dates in the present collection (that is, MSS Mus. 1400-1409), were received in 2006 under the terms of the acquisition of the first collection.

A related collection of video and audio recordings of Peter Maxwell Davies is held by the Sound Archive, C1260.

Access Information

Unrestricted

Not Public Record(s)

Acquisition Information

MSS Mus. 1410-1499 were purchased from the composer, 25 January 2007; MSS Mus. 1499-1521 (photographs and press cuttings) were presented by the composer, 28 November 2006.