Duparc, Henri. (1848-1933)
Aux étoiles (Entr'acte pour un Drame inédit) – Inscribed reduction for piano, with autograph revisions
Paris, Chez les Editeurs: Rouart, Lerolle & Cie.. 1911. Two different arrangements for piano four-hands of Duparc's orchestral composition (1874): one by Gustave Samazeuilh, with autograph revisions by Duparc; and one by Duparc himself. Both arrangements printed with identical titles and almost identical gray wrappers with title in dark blue print. Folio, 13.75 x 11.75 inches (35 x 27 cm). Unbound signatures. Both contained together in a wrapper made of thick paper, with title in orange print (otherwise identical with the title page of the Duparc arrangement, see below), inscribed by the composer to head of this extra wrapper in French: "To my very dear little sister Immaculata. A memory to her friend H. Duparc," followed by a biblical quotation in Latin, "advesperascit, et iam inclinata est dies" ("It is almost evening and the day is now nearly over"; Luke 24, 29). Inscribed wrapper toned and foxed, spine and edges with outer or inner paper reinforcements, else fine.Samazeuilh version: 6 pp., with pagination beginning on fol. 2r; final leaf (second leaf of title sheet) blank. PN: R.L.& Cie, 9788. No dedication, no motto. In pencil to the head "revue par l'auteur" and with extensive autograph corrections throughout, mostly in blue crayon, occasionally in pencil. Somewhat foxed; edges sightly frayed and corners bent. Lower wrapper damaged, else fine. Gustave Samazeuilh (1877-1967) was a composer better known for his piano reductions than for his own works.
Duparc version: 7 pp, with with music beginning on verso of title. Final page blank. PN: R.L. 9788 & Cie. No corrections. Dedication to F. de Lacerda to upper right corner of upper wrapper and head of first page of music. Motto—four lines from R. P. Gratry—below, to the left. Pages minimally foxed and frayed. Francisco de Lacerda (1869-1934) was a Portuguese composer.
The identical plate numbers and dates suggest that Duparc's own arrangement was conceived as an immediate replacement for Samazeuilh's. It appears that Duparc, after revising Samazeuilh's version that obviously did not satisfy him, had second thoughts and chose to draw up his own arrangement from scratch. It remains unclear whether Samazeuilh's arrangement was ever published. WorldCat does not list any copies of either arrangement for four hands. However, it does list copies of two different arrangements for two hands, again one by Samazeuilh and one by Duparc himself.
In its present 1911 incarnation, Aux étoiles is described as an 'entr'acte pour un drame inedit' and is prefaced in the author's version by the following evocative words by the French priest, theologian and Academician, Auguste-Joseph-Alphonse Gratry (1805-72):
"La lumiere siderale des nuits!
Qui peut savoir les vertus secrete
de cette lumiere si humble
venant de l'immensite?...."
("The night-time starlight! - who can know the secret powers of this humble light, from the immensity [of the heavens]....")
A mental illness, diagnosed at the time as "neurasthenia", caused Duparc abruptly to cease composing at age 37, in 1885, and the 1911 revision of the present work was the last time he creatively engaged with his music. The printed words of Gratry in this score are the more poignant when one reflects that Duparc became blind within a few years of the publication of the arrangement. As he destroyed most of his music, leaving fewer than 40 works to posterity, musical manuscripts or even authorial autograph engagements with his music, as here, are of the utmost rarity. (21749)
Manuscript Music Printed Music Signed Document/Item Classical Music