The Dr. Clair W. Johnson Collection is comprised of more than 150 band scores composed during the period of 1938-1968. Contained in six document boxes, the scores have been numbered and described as separate and discrete items. For most, only the published version of the composition survives. However, scores no. 151-154 include draft notations and paste-ups. These will be of particular interest to those studying Dr. Johnson’s methods and technique.

In addition to the musical scores, the collection contains a small amount of biographical material on Dr. Johnson, a copy of his 1937 thesis on band organization, and several copies of a college test he authored in 1961. The latter, Practical Scoring for the Concert Band, was “designed to enable those who write or arrange for the modern concert band to apply methods and practices proved successful by the masters of present and past periods.” These materials are contained in Box No. 7.