Piano-vocal score. Upright folio. Softcover, original blue cardstock covers. 172 pp. Inscribed on the title page "For Harold/with thanks for/many happy moments/Dick Rodgers." Short tear into author names on upper wrapper and inscribed leaf, lower right corner of rear cover torn, toned, else fine. 

A very fine association recalling "many happy moments" between South Pacific composer Richard Rodgers and Wizard of Oz composer Harold Arlen.

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s "South Pacific" first opened in NYC on April 7, 1949 and closed in 1954 after five years of extraordinary acclaim and countless awards including nine Tonys and a Pulitzer. 

Arlen wrote many standards of the American Songbook—including “Get Happy,” “Over the Rainbow,” “Stormy Weather,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” and “The Man That Got Away”—which today rank among the best known and loved. His long career took him from Buffalo, New York, to Harlem’s Cotton Club, Broadway stages, and Hollywood film studios. Even with their complex melodies, harmonies, and formal structures, Arlen’s tunes remain accessible and memorable, blending influences from his father’s Jewish cantorial tradition, his experience as a jazz arranger and performer, and peers like George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Irving Berlin. Arlen always emphasized the collaborative nature of songwriting, and he worked with the top lyricists of his day, including Ted Koehler, Yip Harburg, Johnny Mercer, and Ira Gershwin.