Noel Da Costa Papers
Collection
Identifier: GTM-181130
The papers of Noel Da Costa, a violinist, composer, and professor who taught music at Rutgers University for over 30 years. The collection primarily consists of music manuscripts by Da Costa, audio recordings (by Da Costa, his students/contemporaries, and commercial recordings), and music manuscripts by others. The collection also contains concert, recital, and event programs, posters, correspondence, photographs, course and research notes, articles and press clippings, and other items.
The music manuscripts represent the span of Da Costa's career as a composer, from the early 1950's through the end of the century. Some compositions show changes over many years, including changes of title. Early manuscripts are signed "Noel George Da Costa", "N. George Da Costa", and sometimes "N. Da Costa", before he settled on "Noel Da Costa". Some manuscripts show evidence of having been originally written under the pseudonym "ATS", and signed by Da Costa at a later date.
In describing the music manuscripts, standard abbreviations for vocal parts are used, such as, "SATB" for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass, with individual letters denoting soloists. "Finished draft" refers to carefully written, or "engraved" sheet music in pencil or ink, intended for reproduction. "Vellum" refers to the translucent paper often used when producing a finished draft in ink. "Working copies" and "performance copies" refer to photocopies of music with added marginalia; generally, working copies show heavier editorial markup from the process of composition, while performance copies show fewer occasional notes for the player or conductor's reference.
Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.
Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.
The following biographical statement, found within the collection, was given by Noel Da Costa to the organizers of events and performances he participated in during the mid-1970's. It is quoted in full:
"I was born on December 24, 1929 in Lagos, Nigeria of parents who were originally from Kingston, Jamaica. From the ages of three thru eleven, my family lived in various West Indian Islands. Later, we moved to New York City and lived in Harlem.
"During my secondary educational studies, I was fortunate to be in the classes of Countee Cullen, the distinguished Black poet. Mr. Cullen encouraged me to realize the organization of words into poetic and musical statements.
"At the age of eleven, I began to study violin with Dr. Barnabas Istok, a Hungarian violinist. I studied with him until I was twenty years old. Studying the violin made me sensitive to a Iyric quality in music, which would later influence my compositional ldeas.
"I received my B.A. in Music at Queens College of the City University of New York (1952), and a M.A. in Music Composition and Theory from Columbia University, (New York City, 1955). While at Columbia, I received a Seidl Fellowship in Composition and two years later, a Fulbright Scholarship to study composition with Luigi Dallapiccola in Florence, Italy.
"After two and a half years of study in Italy, I returned to America and began teaching at Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va. Following that appointment, I taught in the City University of New York (Queens and Hunter Colleges).
"Presently, I am an Associate Professor of Music at Rutgers University. Also, I am the musical director and conductor of the Triad Chorale, vice president of the Society of Black Composers, and active as a violinist."
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Noel George Da Costa (1929-2002) was a noted violinist, composer, and professor who taught at Rutgers University from 1970 until 2001.
Da Costa helped to form a group of black composers in New York City, the Society of Black Composers, which was active until 1975. Working within the frame of European classical music Da Costa drew inspiriation from African, New World, and world traditions broadly, as well as poetry and folk-tales. His sister Lorna McDaniel was an ethnomusicologist and organist, whose research interests led to collaborative works with Noel, including Ukom Memory Songs in 1981. Poets and playwrights whose work has been set to Da Costa's compositions include George Houston Bass, Gwendolyn Brooks, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and others.
In addition to his work as an educator and composer, Da Costa remained active throughout his career as a violinist, performing at live events as well as studio recording sessions. As part of the tenure and promotion system at Rutgers, Da Costa provided an extensive retrospective of his creative and performance work, which can be found in box 23 of this collection; excerpts from these documents between 1991 and 1999, detailing Da Costa's compositions, performances, and publications, can be viewed using the links under the External Documents heading below.
Noel Da Costa died in 2002.
[Additional source: "Noel Da Costa, [72], Composer and Professor" (obituary) from the "New York Times" 5/20/2002. Accessed Online].
21.2 Linear Feet (36 containers)
English
Gift of Patricia Da Costa, 2018. Addendum, gift of Patricia Da Costa, 2023.
Music in the collection, printed and manuscript, has been separated by size or format, and the collection has been rehoused in acid-free boxes and folders.
Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository