{"product_id":"22262-wolpe-stefan-1902-1972-passacaglia-autograph-musical-manuscript","title":"Wolpe, Stefan. (1902–1972) \"Passacaglia\" - Autograph Musical Manuscript","description":"Autograph musical manuscript of the theme of the German-born American composer's magnum opus, the \"Passagalia,\" the final part of his breakthrough \"Four Studies on Basic Rows for Piano\" (1937). The manuscript titled \"Theme of the Passacalgia (an all interval series), including the first 22 notes marked \"expanding\" and then \"contracting\" as the same 22 notes then proceed in reverse sequence. Inscribed and signed at the conclusion \"I wish you good luck and stay in best spirits \/ XI. 1968 \/ Stefan Wolpe.\" 16 measures in blue ink penned on oblong ruled manuscript paper, 6 x 8 inches, 15.25 x 20.5 cm. Very fine. \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003e\u003cp style=\"\"\u003e\"After returning from a conducting course with Herman Scherchen, Wolpe had a vision of how to compose with twelve tones and within a few months completed the \u003ci style=\"\"\u003eFour Studies on Basic Rows\u003c\/i\u003e (1935-1936) for piano. His approach was closer to Josef Matthias Hauer than to Schoenberg and Webern, for Hauer based his theory of twelve-tone tropes on the idea of oriental modes. The first of the \u003ci style=\"\"\u003eFour Pieces \u003c\/i\u003eis based on the interval of the third, the second is on a set of expanding and contracting intervals, and the third is on the tritone. The fourth, the \u003ci style=\"\"\u003ePassacaglia\u003c\/i\u003e, is a full-fledged concert piece that transcends the other studies in every respect. Recognizing its importance and wishing to have a piece considered by the newly founded Palestine Symphony, Wolpe scored the\u003ci style=\"\"\u003e Passacaglia\u003c\/i\u003e for orchestra. William Steinberg, who was preparing the orchestra for the arrival of Toscanini, wanted to conduct the\u003ci style=\"\"\u003e Passacaglia\u003c\/i\u003e, but the orchestra turned it down. The work was not heard until 1983, eleven years after the composer’s death, when Charles Wuorinen led the American Composers Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. The main subject is a wedge of 22 notes that expands from the minor second to the major seventh in steady quarter notes and then contracts in reverse. A secondary subject of dotted rhythms adds 14 notes for a total of 36 notes, that is, three collections of 12 chromatic pitches. In addition Wolpe devised 11 so-called “counter-sets,” each one based on an interval from the minor second to the major seventh. His vision was that the counter-sets would rotate like planets around the main subject: “One set of intervals rotating around another set of intervals. Multiple intervallic layers in action.” (Austin Clarkson, \"Stefan Wolpe in Jerusalem\" liner notes Mode Records MO156).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"\"\u003eA student of Busoni, Schreker and Webern, in 1938, Wolpe moved to New York City in the United States. During the fifties, he was closely associated with the abstract expressionist painters in New York and hsi students includes Morton Feldman, Ralph Shapey and Charles Wuorinen.  His work was radical, but avoided the punctualism of composers such as Pierre Boulez (in his works of 1951–53), instead employing more conventionally expressive gestures. Wolpe developed Parkinson's disease in 1964, and died in New York City in 1972. Elliott Carter commemorated Wolpe with the following comment: \"Comet-like radiance, conviction, fervent intensity, penetrating thought on many levels of seriousness and humor, combined with breathtaking adventurousness and originality, marked the inner and outer life of Stefan Wolpe, as they do his compositions.\"\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46093807616159,"sku":"22262","price":1500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/Wolpe_2C_Stefan_AMQS_Passacalglia_22262.png?v=1722190501","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/22262-wolpe-stefan-1902-1972-passacaglia-autograph-musical-manuscript","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}