Terms:

All items are offered subject to prior sale. Prices are net. New York State sales are subject to 8.875% sales tax. Institutions can request post-payment with provision of a purchase order. We do not accept credit cards. Payment can be made by cash, check, bank draft, or money order. Customers in the United Kingdom and the European Union can pay in their own currencies; please inquire for details.

The date of issue of this list is March, 2005. Prices are subject to change without notice after December 31, 2005.

The material on this list has not been offered elsewhere as of the time of distribution. For related books in the areas of Russian literature, performing arts, and a variety of other subjects readers should consult our listings on the Advanced Book Exchange at http://www.abe.com/home/aplatz. For purchases from ABE, credit cards can be used. 

After distribution this list will be incorporated into our website, www.alexanderplatzbooks.com.  Additional items will be added to the electronic version from time to time.

All material is in good antiquarian condition unless otherwise noted. Minor flaws and marks of ownership have not been exhaustively described.

Martin Janal and Eve Hochwald
Alexanderplatz Books

Contact:

Alexanderplatz Books
PO Box 419
Village Station
New York, NY 10014
USA 212-473-6723
e-mail: mjjanal@aol.com

Catalogue designed by Neomi Goldbaum (neomivera@bezeqint.net)

Note:

As of February, 2019, this catalog is nearly completely sold. In particular, all of the C section is sold; in the Manuscripts section items 3, 5 and 6 are still available; all subsections of the Music section are virtually all sold out up to and including Yiddish music. Thereafter a handful of items are still available: 126, 128, 138, 146, 149, 151, 153. 155. In regard to the setting of John Reed's Coyote Song by Marion Bauer, we now definitely know that it was published in 1912 by the Boston firm of A. P. Schmidt (and can even been listened to at theartsongproject.com, a terrific performance).

Forward March!

Social Unrest and the Performing Arts after the Russian Revolution

This list documents an American performing-arts culture immersed in the political ferment born of the Russian Revolution and its Soviet counterpart. Titles are easy, subtitles are difficult. It is not easy to convey in a one-liner the political spectrum of the twenties, thirties, and forties. Individuals now ensnared on the pages of a list might have spluttered indignantly back then at sharing a podium, a stage, or even an auditorium with that . . . . . . . . . . . . . ! ! ! or with those . . . . . . . . . . . . . ! ! !

American artists, sharpened by the social conditions of the Depression and the organizing hand of the WPA, took a dissident stance, seeking inspiration in folk and proletarian musical traditions and confronting issues of pressing concern: the menace of fascism, the oppression of Southern blacks, the rise of the industrial unions. Propaganda emanating from and on behalf of the Soviet Union, meanwhile, projected an optimistic, confident image. Odes to Lenin and Stalin produced by order as much as by ardor were not so different in kind from the croon-spoon love songs ridiculed by Marc Blitzstein in the agitprop musical The Cradle Will Rock. Put another way, in the Soviet context they were normative, not radical. American and other artists, including those who idolized Lenin and thought Stalin an all-around great guy, made their political and artistic choices under a very different set of conditions.

C1. The performance archive of Esther (Estra) Solar $950.

Esther Solar, who also used the name Estra Solar, was a native of Lynn, Massachusetts. She had classical music training and appeared in theatrical and summerstock productions in the nineteen-thirties and forties. The archive evidences her work at Green Mansions, an adult summer camp in the Adirondacks of New York; Unity House, a cultural center run by the International Ladies Garments Workers Union (ILGWU) at Forest Park, Pennsylvania; and several other venues. On the staff of Green Mansions when Solar worked there was the later very successful Broadway composer Harold Rome. Rome was responsible for writing lyrics and music for the Green Mansions productions. No material from his work there appears to be in his archive at Yale University. Rome was discovered by Louis Schaffer, the Executive Director of Labor Stage, while at Green Mansions, and picked to write the famous ILGWU show Pins and Needles.

Much of the material in the archive is likely unique. Given the place of the musical theater in American culture, finding a cache of songs and sketches like this is both important and fascinating. We offer initially the archive in its entirety; requests for individual parts will be entertained if no buyer emerges for the entire collection. The condition of the material is overall very good. 

I.  This material documents the work of Harold Rome at Green Mansions. David Gregory, who also wrote material for Pins and Needles, began his collaboration with Rome there.

1. Programs. All are printed on single 12mo sheets folded once to make four pages. (i) South of Yonkers. A Musical Tour of the Big Town. Staged and Directed by Robert H. Gordon. Music and Lyrics by Harold Rome. Sketches by Davit Greggory [David Gregory]. Thirteen scenes. (ii) Nuts to You! A Night at Loony Manor. Credits identical to preceding. Fourteen scenes. (iii) Fairs, Please! A Musical Preview of Whalen's Folly [i.e., the 1939 New York World's Fair]. Credits again identical. Fourteen scenes.
2. Scripts for "Scientific Exhibit" from Fairs, Please and for "No One Is in Debt to Macy's" from South of Yonkers. Also a fragment of a script, unmatched, beginning on p. 2.
3. Typed lyrics (generally credited at top right of the page or first sheet if more than one page) by Harold Rome for a number of songs, only some of which could be matched to the scene titles in the Green Mansions programs, though they may have been embedded in the scenes. None of these titles show up in the holdings at Yale. We have the lyrics for My Summer Love, Let's Do the Town, Rhythm of Manhattan, No Good, Emily Post on the Place of Picketing in Etiquette (a similar sketch is in Pins and Needles), We're Pixilated (Nuts to You), Get Pixilated (NTY), Xanadu (NTY), My Condition Depends on You (NTY), We're Glad that We Are Nuts (NTY), Did I Say Yes?, Keep It Clean (by "Father Harold J. Rome" !), At The Fair, Let's Take a Chance on Love, Pity the Poor Millionaire, and Men are Brutes (NTY), this last retyped for rehearsal use.
4. Fair copies (music and lyrics) of songs by Harold Rome: History is Made at Night, It Just Don't Do No Good, and Dear Jim. Again, all these titles seem not to be in the Rome archive.

Click for an enlargement.

II.  Unity House. Programs and script material for the 1942 season. Programs are long broadsides printed on tinted paper. All but one have the heading of Unity House. Titles of shows are given in italics. Scripts are attributable by way of printed credits to David Gregory.

1. A Concert. Mozart, Grieg, Mascagni, D'Hardelot (sung by Solar), Puccini, Gretchaninoff, Russian folk songs.
2. Dangerous Corner by J. B. Priestley.
3. Concert and Dance. Dance Program presented by Folklore Dance Group and George Chaffee, Premier Danseur, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Russian Art Theatre, San Francisco Opera.
4. Love Thy Good Neighbor. Music mostly by Jack Gerald. Lyrics & Dialogue by David Gregory. A musical show with fourteen scenes. South American sketches are included, with reference to the Good Neighbor Policy. Also, "Bayou Ballads" with music from Negro songs of the Louisiana plantations composed and arranged by Ernest Lubin, comedy and dance numbers, etc. Also present are staging notes and scripts for
5. the sketches "Be Yourself" (based on the character of Elsa Maxwell), "Down Mexico Way," "Love Thy Good Neighbor," and "If You Can Only Conga."
6. The Maid as Servant (La Serva Padrona) by Pergolesi.
7. It's Fun to Be Free. A revue with eleven numbers. "It's Fun to Be Free," "Free Air," "Liberty Song" (based on a song of the American Revolution), "History Eight to the Bar," "For Defense," etc. Attached is the original script for "For Defense."
8. Jackpot. A revue with 19 numbers. Some of these overlap with the other shows, e.g., "Bayou Ballads," "Love Thy Good Neighbor," etc.
9. Extra! Extra! A revue with 12 numbers, based on newspaper and radio themes. Attached is the opening number, "Front Page: Between the Lines," and the dialogue for the sketch "Comic Strips," with Mrs. Dick Tracy, Mrs. Shadow, and Mrs. Superman.
10. Headlines. A revue with 12 numbers. Heading of the Tamiment Players rather than Unity House. Undated, but in the same format as the other programs. Scenes include "Anything Can Happen," "Coming Distractions," Bill Baird and Company (the puppeteer), the Oration to the Army from Richard III, "Wedding Pan American," and so on.
11. Script for "Companionate Voyage," a different version of "No One Is in Debt to Macy's" (see (C1, I (b)). Clipped together with two pages of lyrics and dialogue for a parody of the Quiz Kids radio show (renamed Whiz Kids in the sketch), called "Some Information, Please." Reference is made to this skit in Solar's notes, but a match to a show could not be made.

III.  Miscellaneous materials, not exhaustively itemized.

1. City College of New York House Plan Carnival shows. The House Plan Association at City College was conceived in the 1930's as an alternative to the fraternity system. Included are a couple of carnival programs (1939 and 1940), scripts for skits, etc. One of the attendants to the 1940 Carnival Queen was the future Miss America Bess Myerson.
2. Script, program, and some of the music for A Nice Place to Visit by Frank Davidson and others, put on in 1946 by the Bolton's Landing Summer Players, who toured upstate New York. Davidson was House Plan Executive Director and Professor of Speech and Drama at City College. This play played a small role in the early history of television. It was presented live (as all television was in those days) in 1946 on the Schenectady station WGRB, operated by General Electric. This appearance is mentioned as an upcoming event in the program. A station history singles out this production as the most complicated attempted to that date.
3. Additional programs, typescripts, and stage notes. Included in this section are programs from another company Solar worked with, Paul's Players, Swan Lake, New York; some Catskill-hotel type material, e.g., a song called "Montague Capulet Epstein" ; "Gone Thru the Window," a Gone with the Wind parody; a monologue by Will Yolen, who later wrote a classic book on kite flying; a sketch about the Communist-hunting Senator Martin Dies, "The Man Who Went to Heaven" ; excerpts from plays such as Golden Boy and Waiting for Lefty  by Clifford Odets, etc. In regard to the Dies sketch, David Caute (1973, The Fellow Travellers, p. 308) mentions such a sketch written by Donald Ogden Stewart and performed in 1940 at an assembly in Hollywood's Philharmonic Town Hall; it is likely that it went into the repertory of left-wing theatrics and that this is the same sketch. Also Solar's personal record of her concert programs, samples of radio continuity, etc.

C2. Pins and Needles. A collection of materials relating to the garment-worker-staffed show Pins and Needles. $350

Music and lyrics for Pins and Needles were by Harold J. Rome, and sketches were by Arthur Arents, Marc Blitzstein, Emanuel Eisenberg, Charles Friedman, Rome, David Gregory, and, starting in the second year, John Latouche. Much of the following material belonged to Baldwin Bergerson, who toured with the show.

Click for an enlargement.

I. A  group of programs, probably impossible to duplicate. (i-iii) are from the first year's run, and (iv-vi) from the second year's.  (i) The Playgoer [Philadelphia edition.] Chestnut Street Opera House. Week Beginning Monday, April 25, 1938 Labor Stage Incorporated Presents I.L.G.W.U. Players in a musical revue "Pins and Needles." [etc.] Nineteen scenes. (ii) The Playgoer [San Francisco edition.] Geary Theatre. Limited engagement beginning Monday, August 8, 1938 . . . Labor Stage, Incorporated present I.L.G.W.U. Players in a musical revue Pins and Needles [etc.]. (iii) The Playgoer, Volume 13, Number 5, November 6, 1938 [Detroit edition]. Cass Theatre. Limited engagement beginning November 6, 1938. Labor Stage, Incorporated present I.L.G.W.U. Players in a musical revue Pins and Needles. Music and Lyrics by Harold J. Rome [etc.]. Self-wrappers, 20 pp. Nineteen scenes. (iv) Labor Stage. March, 1939. The Veteran "Pins and Needles."  Official program for the second year's production. Added credit for John Latouche in the "Sketches by" section. Self-wrappers, 12 pp., cover illustration from the sketch "Four Little Angels of Peace" showing Hitler and Mussolini. (v)  Robert Boice Carson Presents Broadway's Music Hit . . . "Pins and Needles." Convention Hall [Tulsa, Oklahoma] Wednesday, September 28 [1939]. Nineteen scenes, including "Four Little Angels of Peace." (vi) Windsor Theatre [New York]. Beginning Monday Evening October 30, 1939 . . .  Second Year. Labor Stage, Inc. presents I.L.G.W.U. Players in a Musical Revue Pins and Needles 1940. Music and lyrics by Harold J. Rome. [etc.] Cover of program shows a moment from "The Red Mikado." Twenty scenes. "Four Little Angels of Peace" is not included. Since this was the signature piece for the second year, perhaps the signing of the Nazi-Soviet pact led to its removal. If this is the case, it is remarkable that this occurred in a production sponsored by a strongly anti-Communist union.

II. Sheet music for Sing Me a Song of Social Significance (worn), Chain Store Daisy (name of Esther Solar on cover, very good), and Nobody Makes a Pass at Me (name of Esther Solar on cover, spine with old tape, good). Solar did not perform in Pins and Needles (the cast was nonprofessional), but songs from the show made their way into the performance repertoire and even into parody; in her archive was a list of numbers for a show called "Puns and Noodles."

III. Pins and Needles. Presented by Labor Stage with the I.L.G.W.U. Players. Large souvenir program (folio). Cover illustration showing "Four Little Angels of Peace." P. 2 has a statement by David Dubinsky, President of the ILGWU, and Julius Hochman, Chairman, Labor Stage. Articles, photographs, lyrics, etc. One page stained, otherwise very good to near fine. A two-page spread of celebrities at the show includes Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Fiorello LaGuardia, Paul Muni, and Edward G. Robinson.

C3. Archive relating to the Agrenev-Slaviansky Choir and their Asian tour of 1927-1928.  $500

The Agrenev-Slaviansky Choir was founded by Dmitri Agrenev in 1858. As a token of his services to Russian music, he was given the honorific Slaviansky to add to his surname by Czar Alexander II. Slaviansky died in 1908 and the work of the choir was continued by his daughter Margareta. She remained in the Soviet Union until 1926 and took part in musical training activities under the Soviet government. In 1926 the choir left for a tour of Japan and China. While in China, an American impressario, Morris Gest, contracted the chorus for a tour of the Philippines, Hawaii, and the United States. The chorus never returned to Russia. Madame (or "Princess" ) Margareta Agreneva-Slaviansky became at the end of the 1930's the choral director for Southern University in Austin, Texas. In addition to the historical connection of the chorus to pan-Slavism, its tour casts an interesting light on European and especially Russian émigré life in China. It need hardly be said that this material, outside of the personal archive that provided it, likely exists nowhere else. Note: The name Slaviansky is also spelled Slavyansky and Slavianski, similarly in the French transliteration sometimes favored in the musical world the family name Agrenev became Agreneff. Female members of the family are Agreneva-Slavianskaya, or Agreneva-Slaviansky, with all the attendant variations.  The bracketed year dates were worked out with the aid of a perpetual calendar.

I.  Printed Material.  (i) Programs. a) Broadside for performance at the Peacock Orient Theatre, Friday and Saturday, November 4 and 5, 1927. In Russian except for name of theatre and printer. n.p. (Shanghai), Asia Press, n.d. b) Program (4 pp., rice paper), Russian title page, English and Japanese program on pp. 2 and 3, Japanese text and colophon on p. 4. September 14 and 15th, [1927]. c) Program (4 pp., 8vo) for concert at Grand Hotel de Pekin, Wednesday, October 12, 1927. d) Program (4 pp., 16mo) for performance at Tsingtao Café, Tsingtao. Wednesday, August 8th, [1928]. e) Program with fancy cover for "Russian Wedding," performed at the Olympic Theatre, Tientsin, n.d. f) Program (4 pp.) for "Russian Wedding" staged at Embassy Theatre, n. p., n.d., but handwritten at top the location "Shanghai, China" is given. (ii) Grebenstchikoff, George (Georgiy), Russian Song. Russkaya Pesnya. K stoletiyu co dnya rozhdeniya Dm. A. Agreneva-Slavyanskago i k 75-ti letiyu co dnya osnovaniya ego kapelly. Southbury, Ct, Alatas, 1934. Invaluable reference. Bilingual text. Written on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of D. A. Agrenev-Slaviansky and the 75th year since the founding of his chorus. (iii) The Slaviansky Choral Saga 1858-1941. Wrappers, 12 pp., illustrated. (iv) Slavic-American Festival, March 1941 Chicago Civic Opera House. "In Unity There Is Strength." [Cover title.] Festival program.  Wrappers, 36 pp.  Illustrated.

II. Photographs. (i) Original photograph on mount of Dmitri Agrenev-Slaviansky and family, taken in Barcelona in 1895. Inscription on back in Russian, stating it is a picture of the family of "Dmitri Aleksandrovich Slaviansky-Agrenev" with individuals identified. Tape repairs around rim, good condition only. (ii) Full-figure standing portrait of Dmitri Agrenev-Slaviansky, signed on face in Cyrillic. From the studio "Russkaya Svetopis'," Kharkov, n. d. Pencilled date on rear of 1889. Tape repairs around rim, good condition only. [Shown below left.] (iii) Charming carte-de-visite size photograph of Mara Agreneva-Slavyanskaya, granddaughter of Dmitri Agrenev-Slaviansky and daughter of Margareta Dmitrievich Agreneva-Slavianskaya, age 3, taken in Vienna in 1908. Posed with toy. Mara Agreneva-Slavyanskaya was later a lead performer in the choir and appears in costume in some of the group photographs. (iv) Large glossy photograph of choir posed outdoors, n.d., probably 1920's. At bottom of photo a hand-written legend is printed in Russian "Vsemirno izvestnaya kapella M.D. Agrenevoy Slavianskoy" (The world-famous choir of M. D. Agrenev-Slavianskaya). This is written in the modern orthography introduced by the Soviet authorities rather than the old orthography used by Russian émigré circles. Judging from that, the other materials we have, and the background, we think that it is a publicity photograph taken while the choir was still resident in the Soviet Union. (v) Real-photo postcard of members of the troupe outside a train. The train car bears the name of the Chinese Eastern Railroad in Russian. Inscription on back, noting date (August 1, 1927) and station where picture was taken. [Shown below right.] The Chinese Eastern Railroad was built under the Czarist regime and run by the Soviets until sold to the Manchurian puppet government controlled by Japan in the 1930's.In Evgeniya Ginzburg's Into the Whirlwind, she describes meeting early in her imprisonment a young woman who identifies herself as a Kavezhednika. The puzzled Ginzburg took this at first for an unfamiliar nationality or profession, but her cellmate explained that she was a member of the Russian community formed around employees of this railroad (the Kitayskaya Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga). Choosing to return to Russia when the railroad was sold, the kavezhedniks, like other returnees, fell under suspicion. (vi) Shipboard photograph of passengers and officers of the S.S. Siberiamaru, dated December 27, 1927. (vii) Real-photo postcard of the choir performing at the Imperial Theatre, Tokyo, identified in English on back as from "about 1927." (vii) Large original photograph of choir, ca. 1929, indoors, mounted and with some pencil notes on rear concerning reproduction.

Click for an enlargement.

Click for an enlargement.

1. Adomian, Lan. A Alejandro Rodimtsev/ Capitan en Madrid/ General en Stalingrado/ Canto de Amor/ a Stalingrado/ Para tenor solo, coro de hombres y orquestra/ Letra: Pablo Neruda/ Musica: Lan Adomian (1943). N. p., n. publ., (1943). Complete orchestral score reproduced from manuscript. Large folio music sheets each folded to four pages, unbound. Each resulting page is 20 inches high by 13 inches across. Total of 26 such sheets, including three duplicates (repeats?). Page [1] is the title page, with text as given above. Page [2] prints in lettered stanzas from "a" to "o" the text of Neruda's "Canto de amor a Stalingrado." Music begins on p. 3. Bar numbers at bottom of each page, up to number 555. Some staining to edges of the last couple of gatherings, otherwise in about very good condition. Lan Adomian (1905-1979) was born in Russia and came to the United States in 1923. He was active in both folk research and the composition of concert music. He left the US and settled in Mexico for political reasons in 1952 and his later work is part of the history of Mexican music. $250

2. Adomian, Lan. Typed letter to Mordecai Bauman, signed "Lan" without signature, dated January 9, 1934. Adomian transmits two songs for the "Composers' concert" with recommendations on performance. Accompanying this letter is a single page, with the words for a song "Look Here, Georgia" by Don West (1906-1992, Southern poet, labor organizer and educator). The heading also states "Music by Lan Adomian" but we do not have the musical portion, if it was sent. The song deals with the atrocities committed by the State of Georgia, including the imprisonment of the Black Communist organizer Angelo Herndon. $75  

3. Bauer, Marion Eugenie. Coyote Song. Words by John Reed. Manuscript, undated. Unpublished, to the best of our knowledge, although "sheet music" of a setting of this song is in the John Reed papers at Harvard University. Bauer (1886-1955) was co-founder of the American Music Guild and later active in the League of American Composers. Good condition, name stamp twice of Gardner Lamson on title page. This manuscript may date from ca. 1917, the year in which Bauer published a song setting of another Reed poem. $250

4. (Blitzstein, Marc) Brecht, Bert[hold]. The Threepenny Opera ("Die Dreigroschenoper" ). Music by Kurt Weill. Original German Text and Lyrics by Bert Brecht. English Adaptation by Marc Blitzstein. Property of: Capalbo & Chase 152 West 54 Street New York, New York. Mimeographed script. This 1954 production, with Lotte Lenya in the role of Jenny, took the New York theatre by storm and forever established the importance of the Threepenny Opera on the English-speaking stage. However, Blitzstein's version could not be published because of copyright problems. The songs only were much later published by a music publisher. Rare. $650

5. Cooper, Lou. Refugee Road. Poem by Langston Hughes. Blueprint reproduction of manuscript, continuous folded sheet with seven pages of music [ca. 1937]. Unrecorded. A few clippings in the Performing Arts Library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) yielded the only documentation we could find concerning Cooper. He headed a company called the Flatbush Theatre Players, which performed Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock and other shows in 1938 and for a few years thereafter. His only published work, according to the NYPL Music Collection's catalogue, is a cantata, The Last Speech (in Joseph Liss (Ed.), 1947, Radio's Best Plays). Photocopies of the clippings will be provided to the purchaser. $200

Music

Musical Culture

7. (American Music League) Unison. Organ of the American Music League. Vol. 1, no. 1, May, 1936. Four pages. On pp. 2 and 3, Marc Blitzstein, Elie Siegmeister, and Wallingford Riegger respond to a set of questions about their work. P. 4 has an article on "Negro Songs of Protest." $45.

8. (Songbook) Colection [sic] of Revolutionary and Folks [sic] Songs Published by the Prospect Workers Club. Zamling fun revolutstionare un folks lider. Aroisgegeben fun Prospect Arbeter Klub. Bronx, New York, Prospect Workers Club, n.d. [early 1930's]. 12mo, 40 pp. including covers, stapled. Back-to-back in Yiddish and English, with somewhat different contents. Songs in English are International, Solidarity Forever, Hold the Fort, Lenin's Favorite Song, Buddeny's March, Hunger March, etc. Crudely produced. Hard to imagine another copy is in existence. $25     

Click for an enlargement.

9. (Songbook) Workers Song Book. New York, Workers Music League, 1934. Wrappers, 32 pp., stapled. Songs by Lahn Adohmyan [Lan Adomian] and others. Two-page foreword calls this booklet "the first collection of exclusively original revolutionary mass, choral and solo songs with English texts to be made in America. The composers represented are members of the Composers' Collective of the Pierre Degeyter Club of New York City, an affiliate of the Workers' Music League." Songs include one on the Scottsboro boys, a setting of "God to the Hungry Child" by Langston Hughes (music by Janet Barnes), Lenin - Our Leader, etc.  $75

10. (Songbook) Everybody Sings. New York, Educational Dept. International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, (1942). Wrappers, 12mo, 48 pp. Cover with small chip, little fragile, near very good. Illustrated by Bernard Seaman. Small name stamp on first page and rear inside wrapper. Patriotic, union, and antifascist songs. Words to some songs from Pins and Needles (One Big Union, Mene, Mene, Tekel, and History Eight to the Bar) are included. $25  

11. (Workers Music League) Second American Workers Music Olympiad. City College Auditorium 23rd St. at Lexington Ave., N.Y. Sunday April 29th 1934. New York, Workers Music League, 1934. Italian, Yugoslav, Ukrainian, Finnish, Lithuanian, and Yiddish choruses performed, and also the Freiheit Mandolin Orchestra.  Judges of the choral competition included Aaron Copland and George Antheil. Large format, 8 pp. in two sheets, loosely assembled. Some razor-cut marks on front cover not going through paper, otherwise very good condition. $75

12. (WPA) Barry, Phillips. Folk Music in America. Introductory essay by George Herzog. N.p. [New York], Works Progress Administration, Federal Theatre Project, National Service Bureau, 1939. American Folk-Song Publications, # 4. Issued by the Folk-Song and Folklore Department of the Federal Theatre Project. xx + 113 leaves, mimeographed. Private binding. Musicologist Charles Haywood's copy, with his name stamped on front board. External repair to front hinge, else very good.  $75

13. (WPA) Symphony Concerts. March 31st, April 7th, 14th, 1940. 12 pp., self-wrappers. Octavo size, stapled as issued. Program notes for a series of three concerts. On p. [2] it states "These concerts are presented by Mayor Laguardia and the New York City W.P.A. Music Project in Cooperation with Carnegie Hall, Inc." The orchestra was the New York City Symphony Orchestra, with a different conductor for each performance: Frank Black, Fabien Sevitzky, and John Barbirolli. Loosely laid in is the program for the April 7th concert, which differs somewhat from what is printed in the booklet. Cover partly browned from contact with a piece of acidic paper, otherwise very good condition. $40

All items are standard sheet-music size (European or American) unless otherwise specified. Authors of lyrics or texts and size of edition are given only when of special interest. Cover illustrations, when present, are generally simple and lack the eye-catching qualities of popular American or Western European sheet music of the same period, or indeed of Soviet music of a somewhat earlier period. This material came largely from the collection of Charles Haywood, whose interest in Jewish music was also reflected in the Russian material. Many of the items listed have his English renditions of lyrics and translations of titles, tempo markings, etc. either inserted loosely or written in pencil on the music itself, and many have distributor's stamps on the face. Any further descriptive information desired can be supplied on inquiry.

14. Aleksandrov, A. N. Letchiki. Lituni. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, 1930. Russian and Ukrainian. From the repertoire of the Moscow Theater for Children. "Aviators." Medium-sized format. $25

15. Belyy, V., Davidenko, D., & Chemberdzhi, N. Komsomol’skaya (k desyatiletiyu Komsomola). Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, 1928. Medium-sized format. $25

16. Belyy, V. Golodnyy pokhod. Hungermarsch. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye  Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1932. Text by J. Pascal. $35

17. Belyy, V. Erlenok.  Moskva, Muzgiz, 1936. $20

18. Belyy, V. Pamyati Bakinskikh komissarov. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, 1929. Words by N. Aseyev. $75

Click for an enlargement.

19. Borodin, A. Pesnya temnogo lesa. Moskva, Muzykal’nyy Sektor Gosudarstvennogo Izdatel’stva, 1929. Nice cover design with portrait of Borodin. Small format. Vserossiyskoye Rabochoye Muzykal’noye Obshchestvo "Muzyka Massam" Nr. 39. $30

20. Bruk, G. Zori (1871 god). Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. $20

21.  Chaplygin, N. Topi da bolota. Moskva, Muzikal’nyy Sektor Gosudarstvennogo Izdatel’stva, n.d. Words by Sergei Yesenin. Printing of 300 copies. Corner slightly bent. $100

22.  Chemberdzhi (Tschemberdschi), N. Lied der deutschen Arbeiter (zur Episode "Das rote Sprachrohr" aus dem Schauspiel des Moskauer TRAM "Der Alarm." ) Pesnya germanskikh rabochikh (iz epizoda "Krasnyye rupora" v postanovke Moskovsk. Tsentral’n. TRAM’a "Trevoga." )  Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. The TRAM was the Theatre of Working Youth (or Young Workers' Theatre). Dedicated to the Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands. Russian and German. Cover printed in red with legend "Udarnaya brigada Kompozitorov VAPM." Lyrics in German and Russian. Medium-sized format. $75

23.  Chemberdzhi, N. Pesnya gneva. Moskva, Leningrad, Muzgiz, 1943. $25

24.  Davidenko, A. Bezbozhnaya komsomol’skaya. Bezvirna komsomol’s’ka. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1930. Russian and Ukrainian lyrics. $25

25.  Davidenko, A., et al. Ça ira. "Vsyo vpered." Pesnya frantsuzskoy revolyutsii 1789 g.  Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. $25

26.  Davidenko, A. Pesnya industrializatsii. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, 1930. (Repertuar Klubnogo Khorovogo Kruzhka.) $25

27.  Degeyter, Pierre. Kommunar. Marsh. L’insurgé. Marche. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. Arrangement by Sara Levin and Boris Shekhter. $25

28.  Dunayevskiy, I. Dve pesenki iz fil’ma "Deti Kapitan Granta."   Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. Pictorial cover. Medium-sized format. $35

29.  Dunayevskiy, I. Marsh traktoristov. Iz kino-fil’ma "Bogataya Nevesta."   Leningrad, Muzgiz, Leningradskoye Otdeleniye, 1938. $25

30.  Eisler, Hanns. Komintern. Massovaya Pesni. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. Six pages, self-wrappers. Verso of cover has biographical article on Eisler by Pavel Veys. Words on p. [5] in Russian and German. Medium-sized format. Written for the show "Der Alarm." $150

31.  Eisler, Hanns. Pesni borby germanskogo proletariata. Repertuar Ernsta Bush. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. "Songs of struggle of the German proletariat. The repertoire of Ernst Busch." Texts mainly by Berthold Brecht. Extremely rare. $750.

Click for an enlargement.

32.  Eisler, Hanns. Solidaritäts-Lied (Bert Brecht). Aus dem Tonfilm "Kuhle Wampe oder wem gehört die Welt?" Buch von Bert Brecht und Ernst Ostwalt. Regie: Slatan Th. Dudow. Produktion: Georg M. Höllering und Robert Scharfenberg. Op. 27 Nr. 1. Für eine Singstimme oder einstimmigen Chor mit Klavier- oder Orchesterbegleitung. Wien, Universal-Edition, (1932). $100

33.  Eisler, Hanns. United Front.  New York, Element Press, 1935. 4 pp. Lyrics on p. [2], music on p. [3]. Another part (harmony?) has been added in ink. Extremely rare. Frequently the only record of such ephemeral printings is the advertisements in radical journals and newspapers. $200 

34.  Engel, J[oel]. Hymnus an den Dichter. Für Stimme und Klavier (zu Ch. N. Bialiks Jubiläum). [Wörter von] S. Schneur. Berlin, "Juwal" Verlagsgesellschaft für jüdische Musik, n.d. [1923]. Cover in Hebrew and German. Text by Yiddish writer Salman Shneur. Engel wrote the music for Ansky's Der Dybbuk. $75

35. Engel, J[oel]. Dva dueta. Etele i Motele. Zwei Duette. Etele und Motele. Moskva, Muzsektor Gosizdata, Wien, Universal-Edition, n.d. [1929]. Posthumous edition. Lyrics in Russian and Jewish-German. Edition of 300. Inspired by Sholem Aleichem's The Divorce.  $75

36. Feinberg, S. V ataku pyatyy polk. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1936. Spanish Civil War song. Text by Luis de Tapia. Poem first appeared in Milicia Popular, organ of the Fifth Regiment. $25 [Two copies available.]

Click for an enlargement.

37. Fel’dman, Zinoviya. Epokha velikikh pobed. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

38. Gnessin, M. Muzyka k "Povesti o ryzhem Motele." Musik zur "Dichtung vom roten Mottele" von Joseph Utkin. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo R.S.F.S.R, Wien, Universal-Edition, 1931. Russian and German. Six songs from the cycle "Yevreiskiye pesnyi."   $40

39. Gnessin, M. Pesnya o ryzhem Motele. Liedel von dem Mottele. Moskva, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, n.d. [1931]. Russian and German. From the "Mottele" series. $25

40. (Hungary) Vosstavshaya Vengriya v pesnyakh. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, OGIZ, (1932). Anthology of Hungarian revolutionary songs. Music by B. Shekhter, V. Belyy, A. Khachaturyan, Z. Kompaneyets, A. Hidas, and B. Reynits. Crude pencil caricature of Lenin doodled on cover. $75

Click for an enlargement.

41. Ippolitov-Ivanov, M. Pyatnadtsat let. Nasha zhizn’. (K 15-letiyu Oktyabrya 1917-1932.) Moskva, Muzgiz, 1932. $25

42. Izvekov, G. Govorila Kalinushka (svadebnaya pesnya Kaluzhskoy Gub).Moskva, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, 1930. (Repertuar Sovetskoy estrady.) $25

43. Kabalevskiy, D., and Fere, V. La Carmagnole. Karman’ola. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. $25

44. Kabalevskiy, D. Morskaya pesnya. Moscow-Leningrad, Muzgiz, 1942. Pictorial cover. $35

45. Khachaturyan, A. Komsomolets. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $35

46. Khachaturyan, A. Novaya pesnya. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $25

47. Khayt, Yuliy. Volya kollektiva. Moscow, Izdaniye Avtora, 1926. Text in red on covers. Attractive typographical design. Ink stamp on rear of Assotsitsiya Moskovskikh Avtorov, probably the distributor. "Will of the Collective." $75

48. Kheyf, Rafail. Bakenshchitsa Petrovna. Leningrad, Moskva, Muzgiz, 1939. Color cover. Song about a steamboat heroically saved from an accident. $25

49. Kompaneyets, Z. Pesnya o Magnitostroye. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1932. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $25

50. Kompaneyets, Z. Pesnya vos’moy Gvardeyskoy Divizii. Moskva, Leningrad, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1942. Medium-sized format. $35

51. Korchmarev, Klimentiy. Vzyatiye zimnego. Fragment iz opery "10 dney, kotoryye potryasli mir" [Storming of the Winter Palace. Fragment from the opera "Ten Days that Shook the World." ]. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1932. Text by Vladimir Mayakovsky. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $100

52. Korchmarev, Klimentiy. Budenovtsy. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. Song commemorating Budenyy's cavalry. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

53. Korchmarev, Klimentiy. Krest’yanskaya selyan’ska. Moskva, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, 1930. (Repertuar Sovetskoy Estrada.) $20

54. Korchmarev, Klimentiy. Pesn’ shveynykh mashinok. Moscow, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, 1930. $25

55. Koval’, Marian. Chetyre stikhotvoreniya Dem’yana Bednogo o V. I. Lenine. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. $40

56. Koval’, Marian. Ekh, poy. (Stepnaya pesnya.) Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

57. Koval’, M[arian]. Iz zhizni Krasnoarmeytsa. Moscow, Ogiz, Muzgiz, 1933. (K 15 Letiyu Krasnoy Armii). Medium-sized format. Vignette of Red Army soldier holding banner on cover. $40

58. Koval’, Marian. Kachka. Khvilyuvannya. Pesnya moryaka. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1932. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) Fifth edition. $20

59. Koval’, Marian. Leninets. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

60. Koval’, Marian. Pamyati Lenina. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1930. (Repertuar Sovetskoy estrady.) Russian and Ukrainian. $20

61. Koval’, Marian. Persidskiy kover. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1932. Song about the hard lives of Persian carpet weavers. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

62. Koval’, Marian. Snezhinki. Iz tsikla o Lenine. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. Words by Dem’yan Bednyy. A song from the cycle "Four poems about V. I. Lenin." $20

63. Koval’, Marian. Sungariyskiy drug. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

64. Koval’, Marian. Ya sel’kor. (2-ya redaktsiya.) Moskva, Muzsektor Gosizdata, 1930. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $25

65. Koval’, Marian. "Za oknom stuchitsya veter." Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

66. Koval’, M[arian]. Zavod (vtoraya redaktsiya). Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, 1930. (Repertuar Klubnogo Khorovogo Kruzhka.) Medium-sized format. $25

Click for an enlargement.

67. Koval, Marian. Zemlya vstayet. Megmozdul a föld. Muzykal" no-dramaticheskoye deystviye. Zene-dráma. Tekst A. Gidash. Szövegét irta Hidas Antal. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1932. (K 15-letiyu Oktyabrya 1917-1932). Music pageant for fifteenth anniversary of October. Russian and Hungarian. Antal Hidas (1899-1990) was a Hungarian writer and composer who lived in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1959. Vignette of attacking revolutionaries at upper left. $100

68. Krasev, M. Iz poema "Radost’ truda."  Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

70. Krasev, M. Ten’-ten’-potenten’ (shutochnaya). Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $25

71. Kreyn, M. Dve pesni iz tsikla "Gornaya Balkariya." 1. Priezzhai k nam v gosti Stalin. 2. Moy Khizhir (pesnya devushki). Moskva, Leningrad, Muzgiz, 1942. $10

72. Kruchinin, Valentin. Severnyy polyus. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. Globe with Soviet Union in red and flag planted on North Pole on cover. $100

73. Kruchinin, Valentin. Vesenniy marsh (fizikultur’naya pesnya). Moskva, Muzgiz, 1938. Dedicated to the All-Union Committee on Physical Culture and Sport. $30

74. Levin, Miron. Pamyati Il’icha. Moskva, Izdaniye Avtora, 1929. $60

75. Makarova, Nina. Ural’skaya. Moskva, Leningrad, Muzgiz, 1942. Medium-sized format. $20

76. Marsinin, V. Krasnokrylaya gordaya ptitsa. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. Aviation-related cover illustration of the plane used by Chkalov and his crew to traverse the Soviet Union. $75

77. Milyutin, Yu. Pesenka druzhnykh rebyat. Iz kino-fil’ma "Mit’ka Delyuk."   Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo "Isskustvo" , 1938.  Cover creased. $35

78. Milyutin, Yu. Pesenka Karlushi. Iz zvukovogo fil’ma "Karl Brunner."   Muzgiz, 1937. $35

79. Milyutin, Yu. Vozle goroda Kronshtadta. Moskva, Leningrad, Muzgiz, 1941. Pictorial vignette of warships. $40

80. Milyutin, Yuriy. Vintovochka. Moskva, Muzykal’nyy Sektor Gosudarstvennogo Izdatel’stva, 1930. Bilingual (Russian and Ukrainian). (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $35

81. Mossolov, A. Chetyre gazetnykh ob’yavleniya. Quatre annonces. N.p., Izdatel’stvo "Triton," n.d. [1926]. "Four small newspaper notices." Pictorial cover. Stain in corner, front and rear pages separated. Printing of 1000. This piece, which used newspaper ads as its text, had a scandalous premiere. It, along with the other piece by Mossolov included here, represents the acme of Russian futurist music. $250

Click for an enlargement.

82. Mossolov, A. Tri detskikh stsenki.N.p., Izdatel’stvo "Triton," n. d. [1926]. Pictorial cover. Printing of 1000. $275

83. Muradeli, Vano. Komsomol’skaya dal’nevostochnaya. Moskva, Leningrad, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1939. $25

84. Myaskovskiy, N. Tri pesni sovetskikh letchikov. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1932. Words by N. Aseyev, I. Frenkel’, and I. Stroganov. $30

85. Polovinkin, A. Spasibo. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. In praise of Stalin. $30

86. Prokof’yev, Sergey. Aleksandr Nevskiy. Tri Pesni. Moskva, Leningrad, Muzgiz, 1939. Dedicated to Sergey Eisenstein. $100

87. Prokof’yev, Sergey. Soch. 66. Boltun’ya. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. Words by A. Barto. Opus 66 is for a group of children's songs, of which this is one. $50

88. (Proletarian Songs) Proletarskiye pesni SSSR. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1932. Multilingual (Russian, German, Polish, French, English). "1917 XV 1932" appears as banner on cover and title page. 72 pp. Worn, spine starting. $40

89. Prozorovskiy, B. I. Kol’tsa. Romans. Iz repertuara Tamary Tsereteli. Leningrad, Izdaniye Avtora, 1927. Pencil inscription dated 1928 on cover, probably by the composer. $50

90. Prozorovskiy, B. I. Ogni zakata. Nizhegorod, Izdaniye Avtora, (ca. 1925). $20

91. Pushkov, V. Taiga zolotaya. Pesnya iz kinofil’ma. Leningrad, Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1941. $35

92. Ramm, Valentina. Pesnya irlandskikh bezrabotnykh. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. Second edition. "Song of the Irish unemployed." (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $30

93. Rechmenskiy, N. Krasnaya Armiya. Moskva, Leningrad, Muzgiz, 1942. Pictorial cover of attacking Red Army troops and tanks. Medium-sized format. $25

94. (Red Army Songbook) Pesni Krasnoy Armii. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Voyennoye Izdatel’stvo, 1937. Cloth and boards. Good, spine chipped and repaired on one side. Anthology of Red Army songs, many by composers on this list, viz., Davidenko, Dunayevskiy, Belyy, Koval', Chermberdzhi, and others. One song (Pesnya o vstrechom) is by Shostakovich. $60

95. Rubel, Joseph. Sharecroppers. Poem by Langston Hughes. Music by Joseph Rubel. Voice and piano. New York, Transcontinental Music Corporation, (1939). Four pages. Diagonal stain at top left corner and top right edge of front page, near very good. $50

96. Senderey, S. Unter a klein beimele. Evreyskaya shutochnaya pesnya. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. Small format. A Jewish lullaby. $30

97. Sergeyev, A. V Masterskoy. N.p. [Moskva], Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo, Muzykal’nyy Sektor, 1924. Cover in black and red with torches, red star, and hammer and sickle design. Paper browned. Four pages, leaves separated. List on rear cover of music intended for agitation and propaganda. $50

98. Severn, Mark. May First. Music by Mark Severn. Words by Madge Kay. Members of the Composers Collective American Music Alliance. New York City, Workers Library Publishers, 1936. Four pages. Medium-sized format. $25

99. Shebalin, V. 4 pesni na teksty An. Gidasha [Antal Hidas]. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) Spine separated for about 3" at bottom. $25

100. Shekhter, B. Gimni i pesni frantsuzskoy revolyutsii. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1932. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) Four songs of the French Revolution, including an ode to Rousseau. $25

101. Shekhter, B. Marsh udarnykh brigad. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1930. (Repertuar Klubnogo Khorovogo Kruzhka.) "March of the Shock Brigades." $30

102. Shteinberg, Maksimilian (Steinberg, Maximilian). Shest’ narodnykh pesen. Seriya II. Sechs Volkslieder. Serie II. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo R.S.F.S.R, Wien, Universal-Edition, (1931). Tatar, Dagestani, White Russian, Hungarian, Yakut, and Cossack songs. Russian and German texts. $25

Click for an enlargement.

103. Shishov, Ivan. Krasnaya ptitsa. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. Dedicated to Heroes of the Soviet Union Chkalov, Baidukov, and Belyakov. Pictorial cover of their plane. The trio were famous for their long-distance flights, one across the length of the Soviet Union. $75

104. Shostakovich, D. Iz evreyskoy narodnoy poezii. Vokal’nyy tsikl dlya soprano, kontral’to i tenora v soprovozhdenii fortepiano. Moskva, Muzykal’nyy Fond SSSR, 1955. $60

105. Shul’gin, L. Pauk i mukhi. Moskva, Muzykal’nyy Sektor Gosizdata, 1931. Words by Dem’yan Bednyy. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $25

106. (Siberian Folk Song) Gartenvel’d, V. N. (collector and transcriber), 25 pesen’ sibirskikh’ katorzhan’. Brodyag’ i inorodetsev’ . Sobral’ i zapisal’ v’ Sibiri (1908 g.) V. N. Gartenvel’d" . No. 16. Kak’ nastanet’s vesna. St. Petersburg, Yuliy Genrikh" Tsimmerman" , 1908. Four pages, last page with a discussion of Gartenvel" d and his folkloric researches. Pre-Revolutionary imprint with old-style orthography. $35

107. Sidrer, M. Pesnya o Dundiche. Moskva, Leningrad, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1939. According to a note, Dundich, a Serb by nationality, was a legendary hero of the First Cavalry Army. He was killed in the 1920 war with Poland. $20

108. (Spanish Civil War) Ispanskiy gimn Riego. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1938. Spanish Republican anthem, first used, according to a note, in 1820 by the troops of General Riego. $25

109. Starokadomskiy, M. Chapayevskaya. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1932. (K 15-letiyu Oktyabrya 1917-1932). $25

110. Stollyar, Yakov. Solovey solobushko. Pesnya iz fil’ma "Grunya Kornakova."   Moskva, Muzgiz, 1937. $25 [Two copies available.]

111. Streykher, L. Pyat’ evreyskikh rabochikh pesen. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. Jewish workers’ songs. $30

112. Tvorchestvo sovetskikh kompozitorov natsrespublik SSSR. Sbornik 1. Moskva, Muzgiz, 1932. (K XV letiyu Oktyabrya.) Anthology of work by composers from various national republics and autonomous regions of the USSR (Chuvash ASSR, Mordovian ASSR, Georgian SSR, etc.). Medium-sized format. $50

113. Vasil’yev-Buglay, D. Klen. Moskva, Muzikal’nyy Sektor Gosudarstvennogo Izdatel’stva, n.d. Words by Sergei Yesenin. Printing of 300 copies. $100

114. Veisberg, Yuliy (Weissberg, Julie). Tri miniatyury. German and Russian. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1936. Words taken from the collection "Folk Songs of the USSR" by Andrey Globa. $20

115. Volkov, Vyacheslav. Militsioner Nuri (stikhi o Turkmenii). Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. (Sovetskaya Estrada.) $20

116. Volkov, Vyacheslav. Vesennaya pesnya (Latyshskaya detskaya). Moskva, Ogiz, Muzgiz, 1934. (Estrada Narodov SSSR.) Medium-sized format. $20

117. Yaunz, Irma. Revolyutsionyye pesni narodov. Tetrad I [i] Tetrad II. Two items. Folkloric motifs on three-color cover. $30

118. Zdanovich, I. K. Narodnyye pesni. Mestechka selets, Pruzhanskogo uyezda, Polessskogo voyevodstva (Zapadnaya Byelorossiya). Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Instituta Muzykal’noy Nauki. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1931. $15

119. Zhivtsov, A. Ubey ubiytsu. Moskva, Leningrad, Muzgiz, 1943. Text by Peretz Markish. Small format. "Kill the killer." $50

Yiddish-American Music

120. Cibulski, Andre [Haywood, Charles]. Biro Bidjan! N. p., n. publ., n. d. [New York?, The author?, mid-1930's]. Single sheet folded to make four pages. Music on pp. 2-3. Words in Yiddish but printed in Roman. Andre Cibulski was a prior name of Charles Haywood, whose family name was originally Cibulski. A number of the sheet music pieces on offer here have ownership signatures of both "Andre Cibulski" and "Charles Haywood." (Cf. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, entry for Charles Haywood.) $25 [Four copies available.]

121. Gelbart, M. Shnayele. Snowfall. A children's song. New York, Jos. P. Katz, 1922. Words by Yiddish writer Mane Leib.  $20

122. Gelbart, M. Serp un kose. (Die yiddishe poierim im Sovietn Farband). New York, Metro Music, (1930). Words by J. Rolnick. One corner a little rough. "Sickle and scythe. (The Jewish farmers in the Soviet Union.)" $25

123. Lefkowitch, Henry. Yiddishe un hebraishe lieder (folks un natsionale). New York, Henry Lefkowitch, 1917. Cloth and boards (cover reads "Yiddishe Gesangen" ). Anthology of Yiddish and Hebrew songs arranged by Lefkowitch. Lyrics also printed in romanized versions. Small tear in one blank, old owner's name partly eradicated on front endpaper. $40

124. Lefkowitch, H(enry). A streiker-lied. A striker song. New York, Jos. P. Katz, (1918). Words by M. L. Halpern. $20

125. Low, Leo. Stiler, stiler. (Elegie original.) New York, Jos. P. Katz, 1921. Inside subtititled: Elegie oif der tema fin di letzte werter fin I. L. Peretz [Elegy on the theme of the last words of (Yiddish writer) I. L. Peretz]. $20

American Theatre and Dance

127. (Federal Theatre Project)  [Program for] Hollywood Playhouse. Los Angeles, The Playgoer, n.d. [ca. 1938]. Wrappers, 24 pp.  Text begins on p. 3: The Federal Theatre . . .  Presents "Having Wonderful Time" A Play in Three Acts by Arthur Kober. Directed by Ralph Freund. In addition to the usual information (cast, list of scenes), there is a one-page article on the next scheduled production, "Two for a Day," a vaudeville revue, which looks like it must have been great fun. A program of music by the Federal Theatre Orchestra followed the three-act play, apparently for the same price of admission. $20

128. (Martha Graham) 10 Students' Dance Recitals. Saturday Evenings at 8:30 Municipal Auditorium. Martha Graham and Dance Group. Saturday Evening February 1, 1941. Washington Irving High School.  Dance program. Long broadside, ca. 12 1/2" by 8 1/2", on glossy paper. Folded horizontally into thirds, probably as distributed. Four numbers were staged: "Sarabande" ; "Deep Song" (created in response to the Spanish Civil War); "El Penitente" ; and "Every Soul Is a Circus." Principal dancers were Graham, Erick Hawkins, and Merce Cunningham. Attractively designed and printed.  $75

130. New Theatre. Vol. 3, no. 4, April, 1936.  Wrappers. Cover by George [Georg] Grosz. Back cover has crept out a bit at spine, wrappers little edge-nicked, center sheet of four pages loose from staples, near very good. Divided into sections on Drama, Film, and Dance. The dance section has an article on the National Dance Congress (see item 126 in this list). The text of Irwin Shaw's Bury the Dead is given in full, accompanied by antiwar illustrations by Dix, Orozco, and others. Also articles on John Ford, on the New Theatre Conference, and by Sergei Eisenstein. $35

131. New York, Sidney Ross Gallery. The theatre in art. Drama, motion pictures, vaudeville, circus, dance, opera, burlesque. Exhibition by American artists. 1932. Wrappers, 8vo, 32 pp. Covers rehinged with archival tape, small tear at right edge of front wrapper and continuing through all pages, becoming shorter and shorter toward the back, good condition. Cover by Boris Aronson. Illustrations by Thomas Benton, Boris Aronson, Miguel Covarrubias, Jose Orozco, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, George Luks, Guy Pene du Bois, Charles Demuth, Wood Gaylor, Isamu Noguchi (bronze head of Martha Graham), Ernest Fiene, Max Weber, and on the rear cover William Cotton. Foreword by Sidney Ross. Introduction by Oliver M. Sayler. Short comments by Daniel Frohman, John Sloan, Frank Crowninshield, Lincoln Kirstein, Waldo Frank, John Martin, Christian Brinton, C. Adolph Glassgood, and Bernard Sobel. Six-page list of works shown and contributing artists. Not political, except in the overlap of many of the exhibited artists with the political realm, and the intrinsic politicalness of portraying the theatrical demimonde. The show was held as a benefit for the Actor's Fund. The exhibition committee consisted of Lee Simonson, William Zorach, and John Sloan. Very uncommon. $45

132. (Pins and Needles) Labor Stage. March, 1939. The Veteran "Pins and Needles."  Additional copy of the program included in the collection above. Very good, mild vertical crease. $40

133. Van Rosen, Robert (Editor). Almanac. Classified Directory. Designers. Scenic Artists. Studio Operators. Make-up Artists. Costume Designers. Mural Artists Guild. Diorama, Model Maker and Display Artists. [Device of]: United Scenic Artists Local 829. [Cover title.] New York, United Scenic Artists Local 829, n. d. [1939]. Comb binding, 64 pp. Foreword signed by James R. Hotchkiss, President, United Scenic Artists of America, and Robert Van Rosen, Editor-in-Charge. Contributions, generally a page or somewhat more, by Norman Bel Geddes, Lee Simonson, Robert Edmond Jones, Donald Oenslager, Aline Bernstein, Raoul Pene du Bois, Stuart Davis, Tony Sarg, and others. Packed with illustrations. Many interesting advertisements from professionals and related businesses. List of members by specialty at end. Many of the pictures and articles concern work done at the New York World's Fair of 1939. Very good condition. $150

134. (Welles, Orson) Federal Theatre. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Works Progress Administration. [Cover title.] Text continues on p. [2]: The Federal Theatre . . . Project 891 presents The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (First Performed in 1589). Production by Orson Welles. Music by Paul Bowles. etc. Four-page program, single sheet folded once to make four pages. Somewhat rumpled, near very good. On the front page the date Wednesday Evening, March 24, 1937 is written and stapled to the top of the page is the ticket stub for that performance. The name of the theatre, Maxine Elliot's Theatre, is on the stub but nowhere in the program. $40

136. (Welles, Orson) Mercury Theatre, New York. The Mercury Theatre presents Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw Staged by Orson Welles. In Repertory with "Heartbreak House" The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Production by Orson Welles. Music by Marc Blitzstein. Program, wrappers, 16 pp. Very good. Laid in is a flier for two one-act plays, "Plant in the Sun" by Ben Bengal, and "Transit" by Philip Stevenson, based on "Season of Celebration" by Albert Maltz. According to the flier, these plays were performed on Sundays only at the Bayes Theatre, W. 44th St. $40

Related Materials, Including Rare Books on Russian Ballet and Theatre

137. (Asaf’yev, V.) Bakhchisarayskiy Fontan. Muzyka V. Asaf’yeva. Moskva, Izdaniye Gos. Muz. Teatra im. Nar. Art. Resp. Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, 1936. Stiff wrappers with glassine dust jacket, 8vo. Some wear to spine, light crease marks to wrappers, about very good condition. Music by V. Asaf'yev. Libretto by N. D. Volkov. Production by R. V. Zakharov. Decor and costumes by V. M. Khodasevich. A collection of papers about this ballet, based on the poem "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray" by Pushkin, including one historical paper on Pushkin and the ballet. Numerous portraits and black-and-white illustrations, three color tipped-in reproductions of costume designs. 5000 copies printed. $100

138. Bernandt, G. B. (Compiler). Sovetskiye kompozitory Laureaty Stalinskoy Premii. Spravochnik. Moskva, Gosudarstvennoye Muzykal’noye Izdatel’stvo, 1952. Wrappers, square back, 140 pp. Small semicircular stain at base of wrappers, otherwise very good. One hundred twenty capsule biographies, including those of a number of individuals on this list. Useful reference. $35

139. Boborykin, B. D. Teatral'noye Iskusstvo. St. Peterburg, n. publ., 1872. Old binding of half-leather, spine cracked along sides externally, hinges intact. Complete, despite idiosyncratic pagination: [1-2] (title leaf), I-II (errata), I-XII (contents), 5-366, I-XXIII (index) [XXIV] (blank). Critical and theoretical work on the art of the theater. Boborykin introduced the word "intelligentsia" in another work to describe the educated segment of Russian society. It could fairly be said that naming this stratum gave it the self-consciousness it needed to play its historical role, as well as identifying it as a matter of continuing concern for the authorities, both Czarist and Soviet. $275   

140. Brecht [Berthold]. Die Songs der Dreigroschenoper. Zur 100. Aufführing der Dreigroschenoper dem Publikum überreicht vom Theater am Schiffbauerdam. [Berlin, Theater am Schiffbauerdam, 1928.] Self-wrappers. 16mo. [i-iv], 1-26, [27-28 presumed missing]. P. (i) is the title page. P. 26 ends with the four-line "Schlusschoral." In the play, the only text after this is the "Schluss-Strophen der Morität"; whether this appeared in this booklet or the last page simply was blank or contained some other information we do not know. Fair condition. Title page chipped at edges, old piece of tape connecting first and last leaves (incidentally showing that the page we presume is missing has been gone for some time), name in pencil on title page. Extremely rare. We could not locate another copy. $400

141. Lopukhov, Fedor. Puti Balletmeyster. Berlin, Petropolis, 1925. First edition. Recent cloth with original wrappers bound in, Russian title label on spine. Illustrated. Dedicated to Anna Pavlova. Corners of pages and wrappers bumped, otherwise very good. A collection of Lopukhov's writings on ballet and theater was recently published by the University of Wisconsin Press. $150

142. Medtner, N. Sem’ stikhotvorenii Pushkina dlya golosa i f.p. . . . Sept poèmes de Pouchkine pour chant et piano. Paroles françaises et paroles anglaises de M. D. Calvocoressi. Op. 29. Compl. No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Berlin etc., Edition Russe de Musique, n.d. [ca. 1909]. This copy has the words in English (the words "paroles anglaises" are underlined, according to the custom of music publishers and sellers, on the front cover). Handsome Slavic-revival cover design by I. Bilibin, printed with yellow and green infillling. Lower right corner of cover with a shallow chip that touches the corner of the frame of the cover illustration, smaller chips at the same corner on most pages toward the front, otherwise very good.  $175.

143. Pogozhev, V[ladimir] P. Stoletie organizatsii Imperatorskikh' Moskovskikh' teatrov'. Opyt istoricheskago obzora. Vypusk pervy, kniga 1, obzor' s' 1806 po 1826 goda. S. Peterburg, Tipografiya Glavnogo Upravelniya Udel'ov (Izdaniye Direktsii Imperatorskikh' Teatrov'), 1906. vi + 378 + [2] pp. Recent cloth with original wrappers bound in, Russian title label on spine. $100

Click for an enlargement.

144. (Prokof’yev, Sergey) Artkino Presents Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible. Music by Prokofieff. Stanley Theatre. 7th Ave. - 41st and 42nd Sts. New York, n.publ., n.d. [ca. 1948]. Film program, single sheet folded off-center as issued. Inside spread has cast list, photographic illustration, and statement by Eisenstein. Rare. $100

145. (Red Army) Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. English text to the Russian copy of the Album of Red Army. [Cover title with quotation from Stalin at top right: We do not covet one inch/ Of  foreign soil, we will not/ Yield an iota of own own/ Stalin.] Moscow, Gosnak, 1934. Wrappers, 12 pp.  Oblong quarto, ca. 10 3/4" X 13" (33 X 34 cm). Printing of 2100 (the book itself, designed by El Lissitzky in the same format, had a printing of 25,000). Cover in shades of pale green and red, text in black and red. Wrappers separated, small chip at lower left corner of blank rear wrapper, corner chips in three of four corners of front wrapper. Small tear at right edge of all pages. Not illustrated except for a photomontage of soldiers' portraits along the left edge of the inside front cover. Rare. $300

146. (Rumshinsky, Joseph) Osherowitz, M., Rubinstein, Z. H., Zylbercweig, Z., Edlin, William, Ehrenreich, H., and Kirschenbaum, J. (Editors), Dos Rumshinsky Bukh. Aroisgegeben lekavod zeyn 50ten geburtstog. New York, S. Perlmutter, 1931. Cloth, 4to, 128 pp. Anniversary tribute to composer Joseph Rumshinsky on his fiftieth birthday. Rumshinsky wrote for the synagogue and the Yiddish theater and is described by one of the contributors as the Jewish Victor Herbert. Most of the tributes are in Yiddish, four, by Isaac Goldberg, Nat. J. Ferber, Edwin Franko Goldman, and Dr. Sch. Irving, are in English. Pp. 95-128 are given over to advertisements from other theatre people and from Lower East Side businesses. $75

147. (Shostakovich, Dmitri) Svetlyy ruchey. Komediynyy balet in 3 deystviyakh i 4 kartinakh. Muzyka Dm. Shostakovicha. Libretto F. Lopukhova i Andr. Piotrovskogo. Sbornik statey i materialov baleta i Gosudarstvennom Akademicheskom Malom Opernom Teatre. Leningrad, Gosudarstvennyy Akademicheskiy Malyy Opernyy Teatr, 1935. Recent cloth with original wrappers bound in, leather spine label. Color cover by M. P. Bobryshov. Contents (titles translated): F. Lopukhov and Adr. Piotrovskiy, The Ballet Svetlyy Ruchey [The Clear Stream]; Dm. Shostakovich, My Third Ballet; Yu. Sloninskiy, The comic genre and the ballet; M. S. Druskin, Ballet music of Dm. Shostakovich. Pp. 35 on are the scenario of the ballet. and the program. Color plates. Portraits and black-and-white illustrations, color plates of stage design and costumes by Bobryshov. 3300 copies printed. $150

148. (Skal’kovskiy, Konstantin Apollonovich). Baletoman (pseud.). Balet, ego istoriya i mesto v ryadakh izyashchiylikh iskusstv. St. Petersburg, Suverin, 1882. First edition. Original cloth, 8vo, cover with embossed border and title with gilt figure of a ballerina in gilt.  Spine ends chipped, one leaf (pp. 133-134) loose and worn along edges. Ownership stamp in a number of places of L. G. Khalif', "dance teacher and former artist and ballet master of the Imperial Warsaw Ballet." Rare. Not in Slavic Union Catalogue. National Library of Russia Catalogue identifies the author as K. A. Skal’kovskiy on the authority of Brokgauz and Efron, Entsiklopedicheskiy Slovar’ , vol. 30, p. 172, article on Skal’kovskiy (1843-1906). He wrote some geological and economic works under his own name. A second edition appeared under the same pseudonym in 1886 with a slightly different title (Tantsy, balet, i ikh istoriya i mesto v ryadakh izyashchiylikh iskusstv). For further on Skalkov'skiy see also Roland John Wiley, 1980, "Three Historians of the Russian Ballet," Dance Research Journal, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 3-18. $300

149. Sollertinskiy, I. I. Arnold Shenberg. [Arnold Schönberg]. Leningrad, Leningradskaya Filarmoniya, 1934. Original wrappers, small 8vo, 56 pp. Portrait of Schönberg. Very good. An association copy, with the collection stamp of Erich Itor Kahn and Frida Kahn on the title page. Erich Itor Kahn was a pupil of Schönberg. Printing of 3300. Undoubtedly very uncommon. $150

150. Soviet Russia Today. Vol. 6, no. 9, November, 1937. Double-size issue devoted to the twentieth anniversary of the Soviet Republic. Articles by Theodore Dreiser, Anna Louise Strong, Sidney Webb, and others. Wrappers, 96 pp., including a long pictorial section of nearly fifty pages. Large folding map of Soviet Union at back. One page of facsimile signatures of wellwishers, including some not normally associated with Stalinist politics, such as William Carlos Williams. Front cover has a large, holograph-like silver-printed medallion of Stalin and Lenin. Lightly creased vertically, otherwise about very good. The issue includes a small amount of cultural content (Moscow Jewish Theater, etc.) $60.

151. Tairoff [Tairov], Alexander. Das entfesselte Theater. Potsdam: Gustav Kiepenheuer, 1923. First edition in German. With: Das entfesselte Theater. Zweite Auflage. Potsdam: Gustav Kiepenheuer, 1927. First edition in boards (spine, as often, lacking). Second edition with grey cloth spine and boards. Each has the same basic cover design by El Lissitzky, but with small differences. The first edition has the publisher's name centered across the lower part of the front board, and below that a centered "EL." The artist's initials (as also was the missing spine) are in red and are not out of keeping with the design, whereas the publisher's name seems to be an imposition. The second edition is free of other typography than the basic cover design, and, it would seem, represents more truly Lissitzky's original composition. We have not seen this difference noted elsewhere. The first edition has stage designer Donald Oenslager's ownership inscription on the front flyleaf. Overall very good condition for both volumes, excepting the missing spine, some soiling and edge wear to boards. $375.  

152. Zaretskiy, N. Sergey Dyagilev'. Berlin, Rossica, 1929. Cloth with original wrappers bound in, 12 pp. (11-12 blank) + glossy leaf with black-and-white reproduction of portrait of Dyagilev' (Diaghileff) by Bakst. Text (entirely in Russian) begins on p. 3, above beginning of text is a small electrotype illustration of an eagle signed L. Bakst. No. 68 of an edition of 100 copies. Inscribed by the author under the colophon in Russian to Iosif Davidovich Levitan, a writer on ballet. "Rossica" was a Russian antiquarian bookshop. Rare. $750

ADDENDA

153. Haywood, Charles. The Gentile Note in Jewish Music. Wrappers, 7 + [1 blank] pp. Reprinted from The Chicago Jewish Forum, vol. 4, no. 3, Spring, 1946. Discusses non-Jewish composers, such as Elgar, Bruch, Moussourgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, who were influenced by or adopted in their compositions the Jewish musical idiom. Fine. $20. [Four copies available.]

154. (Robeson, Paul) Busch, Ernst.6 (Six) Songs for Democracy. Discos de las Brigadas Internacionales. New York, Eric Bernay's Music Room, n.d. [ca. 1940]. Album holding three 78 rpm discs in sleeves. Discs good, album spine incomplete, corners of front cover worn. Small booklet which came with the set is lacking. The songs, by Hanns Eisler and others, were recorded in Barcelona in 1937 and released in Spain in 1938. Eloquently inscribed by Paul Robeson on the inside front cover: "These songs of the Spanish struggle  deeply reflect the democratic spirit. That spirit like Joe Hill "never died" . This album is a "must." Sincerely Paul Robeson." Robeson supplied the matrices for this American pressing. $350

155. Stravinsky, Igor. "Some ideas about my octuor." In: The Arts, vol. 5, no. 1, January, 1924, pp. 5-7. Wrappers, 4to, about very good condition, two small adhesions and a coin-sized spot on rear cover. An editorial note at the beginning of the article states in part: "This article . . . was especially written for The Arts and is the first article Stravinsky has ever written for publication." $25

Shown on the cover from top left going clockwise: Labor Stage program, collection C2 and # 132; composition by Borodin in the series "Music to the Masses," # 19; Green Mansions program for South of Yonkers, collection C1; composition celebrating the fiftieth birthday of Chaim Nachman Bialik by Joel Engel, # 34; anthology of Hungarian revolutionary songs, # 40; an American version of Eisler's Mass Song, # 33; and the "Solidarity Song" from the workers" film Kuhle Wampe, # 32.