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Florence Helen Levin was born March 24, 1910 in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Samuel M. and Jennie (Klein) Levin. Levin had an early interest in music, winning competitions in concert piano in her teen-age years. She majored in music at Ohio State University, where she met, and in 1933 married, Samuel D. Lockshin. The couple had twin sons, Richard and Michael. After earning a B.S. in music in 1931, she continued to perform and was a founder of the Four Piano Quartet in Mansfield, Ohio. Most of Lockshin's early compositions were for the piano. She wrote and often arranged works to be played by the Quartet. In 1951, the Four Piano Quartet represented Ohio at the 26th Biennial Convention of the National Federation of Music Clubs.
In 1952, Lockshin moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, where she studied composition at Smith College (1952-55) under the tutelage of composer Alvin Etler. From this point, Lockshin turned her attention to larger ensembles, composing primarily for orchestra or chorus and orchestra. Her first such work was The Cycle (1956-57), a ballet commissioned by the Smith College Dance Department.
In 1959, Lockshin began to incorporate folk themes into her work in Annie Bradley's Tune, a piece based on a short melody sung to Lockshin's twin sons by their African-American nurse. Paean Santa Maria de Guadalupe (1962) is based on a hymn Lockshin heard penitents sing as they approached the basilica in Mexico City. When her husband's work as a management consultant took them to Arizona in the late 1960s, Lockshin's response to the music she heard there was the orchestral suite Scavarr (1969), based on Yuma and Mojave themes. After retirement, Samuel Lockshin worked for the International Executive Service Corps as a volunteer business consultant in Columbia, Venezuela, and Panama. ¡Cumbia! Fantasy on a Columbian Folk Dance (1977) was inspired by music heard during the Lockshins' many trips to various countries in Central and South America.
Interest in women composers spurred by the women's movement, plus interest in all things American connected with the country's bicentennial in 1976, led to a series of performances of Lockshin's work during the 1960s and 70s. Annie Bradley's Tune was the most-performed, both in the U.S. and in concerts of American music in Venezuela and Panama.
Florence Levin Lockshin died in Naples, Florida, on September 26, 1997.
The Florence Levin Lockshin Papers consist of 6.25 linear feet of biographical material, subject files, photographs, student notes, speeches, writings, publicity, memorabilia, musical scores, and recordings.
The papers contain limited biographical and personal information, focusing primarily on Lockshin's musical compositions. The bulk of the papers consists of scores, dating from 1959 to 1982. In addition there are recordings of several of her works and files of correspondence, publicity, and memorabilia related to performances of the works. There is also a file which demonstrates Lockshin's tireless efforts to interest various musicians in performing her pieces. Subject files on music attest to the sudden interest in women composers fired by the women's movement.
Later in life, Lockshin turned to the written word, producing a series of poems. In addition to manuscript and typescript versions of the poems there is material related to Lockshin's efforts to find publishers for these works.
This collection is organized into three series:
The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.
Collection is stored offsite; researchers must give 48 hours advance notice.
The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to the papers of Florence Levin Lockshin. Copyright to materials created by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission must be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use."
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
The Florence Levin Lockshin Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
The Florence Levin Lockshin Papers were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection by Richard and Zahra Zakeri Lockshin and Michael and Jane Roberts Lockshin in 2000.
Processed by Maida Goodwin, 2002.
This series consists of general biographical material, subject files on a variety of musical topics, photographs, and student notes.
The speeches portion of this series contains a typescript and manuscript for undated talks to unidentified groups. The writings portion consists mainly of manuscript and typescript versions of poems by Florence Lockshin. In addition there are a few files of material related to Lockshin's attempts to find publishers for her poetry.
This series is organized into four subseries: General, Performances, Scores, and Recordings.
General contains Lockshin's descriptions of her musical compositions, research materials, and miscellaneous correspondence related to some of the compositions.
Performances consists primarily of correspondence, news clippings, memorabilia, programs, and publicity related to specific performances of her works. These are arranged alphabetically by title of work and then chronologically by performance date. There is also one folder of material related to Lockshin's efforts to interest other musicians in performing her music.
Scores consists of various versions of Lockshin's compositions from manuscript fragments to master sheets to full scores with performance and revision notes. They are arranged alphabetically by title of the work. Scores of student work and unidentified fragments are filed at the end of the scores. There is also one box of duplicate scores available for loan.
Recordings consists of phonograph records, and cassette and reel-to-reel audiotapes of various performances of Lockshin's pieces. They are arranged by format and then alphabetically by title of the work. There are also a few cassettes of Cumbia music used as research for her work by that name.