SIGNED AND DATED BY AARON COPLAND

COPLAND, Aaron. Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra, with Harp and Piano. London et al.: Boosey & Hawkes, circa 1966. 12mo, original wrappers, pp.42. $500.

Hawkes Pocket Scores edition, signed and dated on the title page, "Aaron Copland / 1984."

The Clarinet Concerto was commissioned by Benny Goodman and completed in 1948. The first performance was a live radio broadcast on November 6, 1950 with Fritz Reiner leading Goodman and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Classical music made Goodman nervous in a way jazz never did, and in rehearsal he had to be encouraged to “swing it.” Philip Ramey, the composer, later wrote: “I never once saw Aaron indulge in sentimentality; but he has a sad core that is perhaps responsible for the wonderful bittersweet lyricism heard from time to time in his music (I think especially of the opening of the Clarinet Concerto…)” (Steinberg, 178). The full score was first published in 1952, preceded by two years by the piano-clarinet reduction.

Fine condition.