Ernest Irving Digital
Scope and Contents
There are about 90 pages of manuscript music, including multiple songs from the musical 1929 The Circle of Chalk, which was based on a popular 1924 German adaptation of a 13th-century Chinese classic zaju verse play. At the behest of her agent, Wong made her theatrical debut in The Circle of Chalk in London in 1929, appearing alongside the Australian actress Rose Quong and a young Laurence Olivier. Included are manuscript scores (some with lyrics) to The Mirror Song, The Willow Song, Emperor’s March, Chang-Ling’s Song, The Secret Truth, The Lotus Dance and The Final Song. There are also two pieces of music by Irving which were adapted from traditional Chinese folk songs and used by Wong in her vaudeville act, Dragon Dance and Novice.They are both signed by Irving. The score to Novice, about 40 manuscript pages, is accompanied by a typescript letter by Dr. P.W. Lamb, dated 1934, providing Irving with a literal translation of the song’s original Chinese lyrics.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1800-1961
- Creation: Majority of material found in circa 1905-1930
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
This collection is shelved offsite. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
.3 linear feet (2 boxes)Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Creator
- From the Collection: Wong, Anna May, 1905-1961 (Person)
- From the Collection: Irving, Ernest, 1878-1953 (Person)
- From the Collection: Lambert, Constant, 1905-1951 (Person)
- From the Collection: May, Hans, 1891-1959 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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