Four Chopin volumes from the music library of the influential American composer of contemporary classical music and writer, Ned Rorem. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing in the genre. Frequently described as a neoromantic composer himself, he had a lifelong affinity for the music of Chopin and a prized small collection of Chopin works and biographies. The present grouping includes four volumes, including a copy of one of the first biographies of the composer, a fine facsimile, one score with Rorem's ownership signature, and one inscribed to him at age 19. As follows:

1. Barbedette, Hippolyte. (1827–1901). Chopin. Essai de critique musical. Paris: Leiber, éditeur, librairie centrale des sciences. 1861. First Edition. 8vo. (16 x 23.7 cm). viii (9)-68 pp. Disbound, original wrappers separated, heavily toned, torn and worn, signatures loose or separated, creasing and small losses to the lower right corner, but a complete copy of this scarce volume, one of the earliest biographies of Chopin.  

The remarkable French polymath Hippolyte Barbedette was not only a composer (of at least 150 works), but also the author of biographies of many contemporary and earlier musicians: Weber, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Gluck and Heller (his friend) to name but some. He also reviewed concerts for the press until his final years. On top of all this, he was a magistrate and politician.

2. Deux lettres de Chopin au Chateau de Mariemont - Commentées par Ignace Blockman. Brussels: Aux Editions de l’Arche. 1949. Folio. 24 x 31 cm, xxi, 3 pp.  Line-cut. With introduction in French. Unnumbered from the Limited edition of 505 copies. A fine uncut copy in wrappers. Toning and chipping to the glassine, the volume itself very fine throughout. 

Line-cut facsimile of two Chopin autograph letters, in French, from the immense holdings of the Musée Royal de Mariemont (the museum’s treasures were amassed under the patronage of four generations of the 19th-c. industrial Warocque family; Raoul Warocque in particular gave the institution approximately 5,000 autograph letters). The first is written to Józef Elsner, Chopin’s teacher, and is dated 29 August 1826; the second, a card, mentions a sonata and was written to an unknown addresse in 1845. Includes tipped in facsimile of the first known portrait of Chopin painted around 1829 by Ambroise Mieroszewski. 

3. Chopin Sonatas. Chopin Complete Works Vol. VI, Editor Paderewski.  Opp. 4, 35, 58. Cracow: Instytut Fryderyka Chopina. 1979. Upright Folio. 137 pp. WITH THE OWNERSHIP SIGNATURE "NED ROREM" on the half title. In fine condition, no other markings apparent throughout. 

The most famous and popular edition of Chopin's works prepared by I. J. Paderewski, L. Bronarski and J. Turczynski. The edition has been based primarily on Chopin's autograph manuscripts, copies approved by him and first editions. The principal aim of the Editorial Committee has been to establish a text which fully reveals Chopin's thoughts and corresponds to his intentions as closely as possible. The full version of this edition includes 21 volumes.

4. Fr. Chopin Pianoforte -Werke...Herausgegeben von Ignaz Friedman. [Preludes and Rondos for Piano Solo] Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel. Upright folio. 92 pp. [PN] 3818. Disbound and worn with separations, chipping to edges, contained in a manila folder with affixed trimmed cover sheet to front panel. The title page of the score inscribed in an unknown hand to Ned Rorem, "For Nedo - This should help to round out your Chopin collection. Love, George / Christmas 1942."