Programs
Schoenberg retained programs of performances of his music, lectures, and other events such as exhibitions. Following his death in 1951, his widow, Gertrud, also saved Schoenberg-related programs and, after her death in 1967, her heirs continued the collection. By the time of the legacy's donation to the Arnold Schoenberg Institute in 1973, this collection of programs was quite extensive, documenting hundreds of performances of Schoenberg's music as well as non-musical performance events. Programs exist for virtually every world premiere and many other first performances. The collection continues to grow as new programs are acquired, principally as gifts from Belmont Music Publishers which publishes the music of Schoenberg, provides rental music, and thus is in a unique position to obtain contemporary programs but also from performers who send the Archive their own programs of performances of Schoenberg's music and from people who have attended Schoenberg performances. In addition, historic Schoenberg programs are occasionally purchased for inclusion in the collection. Finally, programs in satellite collections are generally replaced with surrogates so that original programs can be integrated into the single chronological sequence of programs.
Programs can serve a number of different uses. Foremost among these, they document the details regarding the performance of Schoenberg's music-dates, performers, venues, and occasions. They can include performed texts both in the original language as well as in a variety of translations. Program notes may be included. Often additional information printed on programs, such as advertisements and announcements of other events can provide historical context. Programs can also be useful as artifacts in and of themselves for exhibitions. Some programs include annotations by the person (Schoenberg, for instance) who originally owned the program.
Though exhibit catalogs, particularly large catalogs, are generally not included in the program collection proper, many smaller catalogs are. Other non-program materials found in the collection include fliers and announcements of events, invitations, season programs, radio and television broadcast schedules, and occasionally tickets and ticket stubs. However, all materials in the collection have three characteristics in common: they document events, they were originally created by the performing agency, and they are all Schoenberg related.
Photocopies of the basic program collection dating from 1900 to 1973 are available for browsing in several three-ring binders in the Reading Room. To date, no comprehensive listing or indices have been created for the program collection.
Posters
Virtually everything that can be said about programs (see above) is also true of the the poster collection. Though much smaller (about 100 items total), the collection documents Schoenberg-related events. The bulk of the collection comes from the Schoenberg heirs. It covers the period from 1910 to date.
Due to their much greater size (than programs) storage of the collection is a principal concern. They are arranged chronologically and stored flat in large drawers in the Archive vault. Like the program collection there are no comprehensive listings or indices for the poster collection. Due to their size, it is impractical to provide photocopies for browsing. In addition to those stored in the Archive, many posters may be found throughout the Institute building framed and hanging on the walls.