Gurre-Lieder von Jens Peter Jacobsen / Deutsch von Robert Franz Arnold / für Soli, Chor und Orchester... – Conductor's Score from the Collection of Mitropoulos

Wien - Leipzig: Universal Edition, 1920. First Edition in this form. Used; Like New/Used; Like New. Oversize full score of the Austrian composer's most monumental work.  Large upright folio.  Wrappers present.  Lithographed after plates by F. M. Geidel, Leipzig (see note to final page).  [PN] U.E. 6300.  In German throughout.  Title with instrument list to verso, 3–189, [190] with printer's note pp.  From Mitropoulos's personal collection, with minor notations in pencil to 38 pages throughout, some likely in the hand of the Greek conductor but most in the hand of his protégé James Dixon.  19 x 14.25 inches (48 x 36.4 cm).  Wrappers heavily chipped and worn, with stains (coffee; to upper and also to title) and losses; few gatherings separating at spine with spine mostly lost; printed score mostly fine, apart from edge tears (e.g. to first and last ten leaves) and loss of lower right corner of pp. 25–26 (no loss to music). Rufer (E), pp. 78-79. GA B 16/1, p. 161. 

As a conductor, Mitropoulos was known "as an ardent supporter of contemporary music, especially during his tenure in Minneapolis," where his conducting programs often included works by the likes of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern.  Of those, "Mitropoulos was probably closer to the work of Schoenberg, as he had already conducted Verklärte Nacht and Gurre-Lieder in Athens, in 1926 and 1931 respectively, while retaining a 6-year correspondence with the Austrian composer, counting (at least) 37 letters and telegrams sent between 1945 and 1951...Mitropoulos' deep respect for Schoenberg's works and achievements," vividly capture in those letters, "were met with the Austrian composer's gratitude and admiration for both the way the Greek conductor performed his works and his persistence to promote contemporary music (sometimes under a substantial personal cost).  Despite their extended correspondence, Mitropoulos and Schoenberg never met in person." (Giorgios Sakallieros, "Mitropoulos' Composing in the 1920s: Into and Out of the Second Viennese School Boundaries," dimitrimitropoulos.gr)
Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder were first performed in Vienna at the Großer Musikvereins-Saal, in February of 1913.  The work draws on Robert Franz Arnold's German translation of the Danish poet Jens Peter Jacobsen's Gurresange, and was originally composed for voice and piano in 1900.  "When he finished the orchestration in 1910/1911, he considered the piece a document of a style of composition and an intellectual attitude which already seemed alien to him–although that did not detract from the work's importance: 'It is the key to my entire development.  It shows sides of me which I do not reveal later on, or, from a different approach.  It explains how everything had to happen as it did later on, and that is enormously important for my work–that one can follow the man and his development from that point on.'" (Agnes Grond, Arnold Schönberg Center).  A facsimile of Schoenberg's autograph score was published by Universal Edition in 1913.  The present edition is the first engraved score, with revisions by the composer.
Dimitri Mitropoulos was Greece's most prolific conductor and New York Philharmonic Music Director from 1949-1958.  Widely regarded as one of the most significant conductors of the twentieth century, he is best remembered for his significant recorded legacy and for his commitment in bringing new compositions to the stage of major symphony orchestras.  Indeed, it is thanks to his efforts that many of our current symphonic standards made their way into the repertory.  He gave World and American premiers of seminal works such as Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 and Schoenberg's Erwartung, as well as other major works by Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and many others.  His personal collection has been held in private hands since his death in 1960, when it passed to conductor James Dixon, his student and protégé.  Mitropoulos came to consider Dixon his son, introducing him to conductors and performing arts institutions around the world, jumpstarting his career.  When Mitropoulos died in 1960 he left all his belongings, including his scores, to Dixon.  The bulk of the musical library has been subsequently gifted to the University of Iowa's music library, but a selection of rare items have been selected to be offered for sale exclusively by Schubertiade Music & Arts.  These examples, many inscribed to the conductor from composers or associates, have only occasional markings from the conductor himself who committed all music to memory before his first rehearsal of the repertoire – a highly unusual method!  Some of these scores, however, were also subsequently used by James Dixon as part of his working reference library for many years and include his occasional markings.