Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Collection of engraved page-proofs for the vocal score of The Nightingale with numerous autograph corrections, signed ('Igor Stravinsky'), Clarens, 27 October 1913 - 25 April 1914
Copiously corrected proofs for the vocal score of The Nightingale, Stravinsky's first opera.

Approx. 142 pages of engraved music (including 26 duplicates) on rectos only, of which 105 with autograph corrections or annotations in Russian, French and German, mainly red ink, occasionally in black ink or pencil, including two full pages of autograph music, signed and dated on verso of p.37 with the instruction 'Bitte 2te Korrectur', also dated on p.92 'Clarens, 1914', p.92 also signed on verso and dated 25 April 1914, the proofs with date-stamps by the publisher, Russischer Musikverlag of Berlin and the engravers Roder of Leipzig; a few leaves pasted back-to-back, some cut down from full leaves. In 12 folders (a few pages loose), contemporary blue paper wrappers, one annotated by Stravinsky 'Fragments du "Rossignol" (chant et piano)', listing three sections. With a copy of the first edition of the vocal score.

Provenance:
(1) Sotheby's, 4 December 2007, lot 145.

(2) Schøyen Collection, MS 5405.

The proofs cover almost the entire text of the opera: the only significant gap is pp. 52-59, the 'Chinese March' in Act 2. The fully autograph leaves include a 12-bar section with Stravinsky's autograph instruction in German at the head for it to be inserted between pages 87 and 88, with the remaining pages to be renumbered: a note by the publisher records the receipt of this of this very late insertion on 29 April [1914].

The Nightingale was Stravinsky's first substantial composition after the sensational premiere of his ballet The Rite of Spring on 29 May 1913 – although parts of the composition (including most of Act 1) dated back to 1908. His first opera, its Russian libretto by Stepan Mitusov and the composer was based on the tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The first performance was by the Ballets Russes at the Palais Garnier, Paris, conducted by Pierre Monteux, on 29 May 1914 – only a month after Stravinsky's completion of the corrected score. The delicate modernism of the score, in marked contrast with the more strident style of The Rite of Spring, caused some initial puzzlement, prompting the composer's rueful comment that 'the première of Rossignol was not a success in the sense that it did not provoke a scandal'.