Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds Pierrot Lunaire [Piano-vocal score] (Deutsch von Erich Otto Hartleben) Für eine Sprechstimme, Klavier, Flöte (auch Piccolo), Klarinette (auch Baß-Klarinette), Geige (auch Bratsche) und Violoncell (Melodramen). Klavierauszug mit Text von Erwin Stein. 

The copy of conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, with ownership signature written on his behalf to the titlepage, upper right. First Edition of the piano-vocal score of these 21 poems set for speaker and chamber ensemble composed in 1912, either first or second issue. Rufer (E), pp. 38-40. GA B/24/1, p. 39.

Upright folio. 1f. (title), 67 pp. Texts and Foreword by Schoenberg in German. Printed dedication to head of title: "Der ersten Interpretin Frau Albertine Zehme in herzlicher Freundschaft" Copyright 1923 to upper wrapper and title; copyright 1922 to first page of music. Plate numbers 5334.5336 to pages of text, corresponding to the full and study score editions; music with PN U.E. 7144. Fragile wrappers heavily chipped and torn, separated from the block and with early tape repairs (and stape stains) around edges. Internally fine throughout. The writing of Mitropoulos's name is not in the hand of the conductor and was likely written on his behalf by an associate. Please see below for detailed information on provenance. Contained in a custom cloth both with title label to spine. 

The music of Schoenberg was particularly dear to Mitropoulos' heart, and he performed it extensively throughout his lifetime. An important copy.

Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire" ("Three times Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's 'Pierrot lunaire'"), commonly known simply as Pierrot lunaire, Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight"), is a melodrama by Arnold Schoenberg, a setting of 21 selected poems from Albert Giraud's cycle of the same name as translated into German by Otto Erich Hartleben. The work is written for reciter (voice-type unspecified in the score, but traditionally performed by a soprano) who delivers the poems in the Sprechstimme style accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble. Though the music is atonal, it does not employ Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, which he did not use until 1921. Among Schoenberg's most celebrated and frequently performed works, its instrumentation – flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano with standard doublings and in this case with the addition of a vocalist – is an important ensemble in 20th- and 21st-century classical music and is referred to as a Pierrot ensemble.

Dimitri Mitropoulos was Greece’s most prolific conductor and New York Philharmonic Music Director from 1949-1958.  Widely regarded as one of the most significant conductors of the twentieth century, he is best remembered for his significant recorded legacy and for his commitment in bringing new compositions to the stage of major symphony orchestras.  Indeed, it is thanks to his efforts that many of our current symphonic standards made their way into the repertory.  He gave World and American premiers of seminal works such as Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 and Schoenberg’s Erwartung, as well as other major works by Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and many others.  His personal collection has been held in private hands since his death in 1960, when it passed to conductor James Dixon, his student and protégé.  Mitropoulos came to consider Dixon his son, introducing him to conductors and performing arts institutions around the world, jumpstarting his career.  When Mitropoulos died in 1960 he left all his belongings, including his scores, to Dixon.  The bulk of the musical library has been subsequently gifted to the University of Iowa’s music library, but a selection of rare items have been selected to be offered for sale exclusively by Schubertiade Music & Arts.  These examples, many inscribed to the conductor from composers or associates, have only occasional markings from the conductor himself who committed all music to memory before his first rehearsal of the repertoire - a highly unusual method!  Some of these scores, however, were also subsequently used by James Dixon as part of his working reference library for many years and include his occasional markings.