Typed Letter Signed with Musical Notes about the Rite of Spring

Typed letter signed from the important composer to Italian conductor Bernardino Molinari, containing three autograph musical examples in his hand from the Rite of Spring. Paris, August 1, 1938. Stravinsky offers four clarifications about measures 142, 174, 181 and 201 of the work, three of these with musical notation penned on machine-drawn staves. 1 page, 4to; folds, faint scattered foxing, remnants of hinging at upper edge verso. Together with an 8 x 10 modern reproduction of a photograph of Stravinsky with Jean Cocteau, Picasso and his wife Olga.

Translated from the French, in full: "My dear Molinari, 142 [musical example] is correct. 174 [musical example] is correct. 181 [musical example] is correct. 201. No need for an accelerando or a "lunga ad libitum"—it should all be played regularly in the tempo indicated at 186 and at the start of la Danse Sacrale 142 keeping the pulse of 126 to the quarter note (=126). Excuse me, dear friend, that I write these lines in great haste. For your reference, may I bring to your attention my Columbia record where The Rite is recorded under my direction, and where you therefore will be able to find the answers to many of the questions that will arise as you study my score. As I am planning to travel and you risk not being able to reach me if you have questions to ask me, these discs, faithful documents of the Rite, as far as I hear it, will replace my personal indications. Yours, Igor Stravinsky."

The ballet and orchestral concert work was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, the original choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky with stage designs and costumes by Nicholas Roerich. When first performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 29 May 1913, the avant-garde nature of the music and choreography caused a sensation. Many have called the first-night reaction a "riot" or "near-riot," though this wording did not come about until reviews of later performances in 1924, over a decade later.  Although designed as a work for the stage, with specific passages accompanying characters and action, the music achieved equal if not greater recognition as a concert piece and is widely considered to be one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century.  (16991)

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