The materials have been arranged into two series: 1) Compositions, which contains scores for “Concert Piece” and several short works, as well as a phonograph record, and 2) Working Papers, which contains letters, copyright notices, and sheet music for a piece Bacon recorded but did not write.

Series 1, Compositions, has been divided into two subseries: 1) Concert Piece, and 2) Other Works. Subseries 1 comprises the bulk of the series and contains manuscript scores, photocopies, and sampled orchestral part scores for Bacon’s prize-winning master’s thesis and primary work, “Concert Piece for Piano and Orchestra” (see biographical sketch for more information). On the various scores, the piece is referred to as both “Concert Piece” and “Concerto in A minor.” Also included are scores for a two-piano version composed around the same time as the original. While the piece was written and originally performed in 1927-28, some items are dated 1935 because they were used in a later performance.

Little is known about the compositions included in subseries 2, Other Works. In addition to scores, this subseries contains a recording of Meribah Moore singing songs by Bacon, accompanied by Bacon on the piano. The titles listed on the record label are “Wings,” “Signal,” and “The Return from Town.” The latter is a setting of a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay; see the correspondence file in series 2 for an account of Bacon’s writing to Millay for permission to use the text. Although the record cannot be played, the recoverable content was digitized and can be accessed from the CD stored with the record.

Series 2, Working Papers, contains three files: 1) Correspondence, 2) Copyright Registration, and 3) Compositions Used on CD. “Compositions Used on CD” was the original file label for a folder containing sheet music for Victor Staub’s “Sous Bois.” The CD mentioned is probably “A Tribute to Ruth Orcutt Bacon” (Doremi, n.d.), which includes a recording of Bacon playing “Sous Bois.”