THE SÉANCE MUSIC ARCHIVE
The AMP's Séance Music Archive is one of the largest collections in the archive. This archival theme focuses on the role of the spiritualist movement, séances, mediumship, and psychic testimonies in American music. It includes substantial materials on figures, notably Chaw Mank, Chalmers Longley, Carlyle Petersilea, Florizel von Reuter, as well as David Bispham, Katharine Evans von Klenner, Rudolf Friml, Francis Grierson, May Wright Sewall, and others. There are a few rare related items pertaining to the suffrage movement and early female-run organizations, such as the National Opera Club of America. Also included are the first known spiritualist recording made on vinyl (Longley's "Only a Thin Veil Between Us"), as well as early vinyl recordings of Florizel von Reuter.
This archive also holds many spiritualist hymnbooks, from John S. Adams' The Psalms of Life (1857) and the bulk of Chalmers Longley's songbooks to Thoro Harris' Songs of Summerland (1943).
RELATED MEDIA
Secret Sound: Francis Grierson (E1), Florizel von Reuter
AMP Journal: Chaw Mank, Chalmers Longley
This collection holds the largest archive of Séance composer Chalmers Payson Longley, including the majority of his song books, spiritualist texts in collaboration with his wife Mary T. Longley, and the first vinyl recording of a spiritualist song. Longley is historically significant in that his spiritualist songs were some of the first to make a conscious separation from Christian hymns.
This collection includes a large archive of works pertaining to spiritualist, medium, pianist, and music educator Carlyle Petersilea. The archive includes numerous 1st edition books, music educational ephemera, and concert flyers. Petersilea is notable for his debuting of Beethoven and Schubert works in America as well as his influence in the founding of the New England Conservatory of Music.
This collection has numerous items regarding virtuoso violinist and spiritualist Florizel von Reuter. Included are rare books on mediumship, original postcards, and an original vinyl recording. Much of his early music career was inspired by séances in collaboration with his mother Grace.