A Manuscript of Stravinsky’s

Three Pieces Sold in France! by Jean-Marie Paul

Reproduction of the cover and first page of the
manuscript (from the auction catalog)
November 1918 in Morges, Switzerland.
But this manuscript bears the date of 1919,
and the letter sold with it is from Decem-
ber 29, 1918, in Morges. The first per-
formance was given in Lausanne only on
November 8, 1919, by Edmond Allegra. So
could this “manuscript” of 1919 be a copy
for Allegra and not the original? (I’m not
an expert in Stravinsky’s handwriting to be
able to compare.)
P.S. By the way, are you aware of an-
other Stravinsky piece for clarinet – Pour
Pablo Picasso? Written in 1917, thus be-
Dec. 29, 1918, Morges
My dear Mr. Allegra,
Here is the information you asked me about
my Pieces for clarinet alone.
1) In the 1st piece, the note is effectively a
natural D [musical illustrations follow]
2) In the 2nd piece, at the beginning… etc
(and these are effectively natural E and B)
3) Further… a low F and not a D
4) In the 3rd piece, 15th bar , it is effectively
… (he confirms the three flat signs of the
triplet)
5) In the 3rd piece, the 18th bar line is
wrong, that is 4/16 instead of 5/16”
[On the left corner:] Pay attention only to the
metronome and to the accents. The gradations
will come by themselves (i.e. naturally)
[On the left of the page, written vertically:]
Hoping to listen soon these pieces played by
you and to shake your hand. Best regards.
Igor Stravinsky

A
manuscript of Stravinsky’s Three
Pieces was sold on April 26 in
Nice, France for 17,000 euros
(sales no. #0092; www.hdvnice.com/
ventes-aux-encheres/documents/RESULT
ATS26042014.pdf )
The Hotel des ventes auction house did
not reply to my email, so I can understand
that the buyer may not want to be known.
However, I also asked them to forward my
request to the buyer so that researchers
could have access to the document.
Was it the copy signed for Edmundo Al-
legra? I received from the auction house a
copy of the first page of Nos. 1 and 3. But
also included, and most interesting, was a
letter dated December 29, 1918, written
in Morges, Switzerland, where Stravinsky
replies (in French) to Allegra’s questions.
(reproduced here in the illustration).
It is generally assumed that Stravinsky
wrote the Three Pieces around October–
80 The Clarinet
fore the Three Pieces (a topic for a future ar-
ticle?), the piece has never been published.
It can be located at: http://classconnection.
s3.amazonaws.com/13/flashcards/481013/
png/112-1423A02393E22E5A84C.png
This piece, an homage to Picasso him-
self, ends in less than 30 seconds after it
begins. It was scribbled on an Italian tele-
gram form by an inebriated Igor Stravinsky
as he and a friend sat in a café in Rome
in April 1917. Stravinsky’s friend, Robert
Craft, later recalled the moment when the
piece was dashed out: “The composer was
alcoholically elevated at the time, since
the lines of the staff weave uncharacteristi-
cally, and the name “Pablo” is misspelled
as “Paolo,” and the Italian word for April
is also incorrect. The music betrays no sign Original music excerpts from the letter, Nos. 1-5.
of inebriation, however, and the Spanish
character of the embellished six-pitch mel- Readers who want a color reproduction
ody is established in only 23 notes.” of the whole letter and the first page of the
Here is the translation of the letter of first and last movements can send me an
Stravinsky to Allegra: email at jmpaul@vandoren.fr.