MEMORIES AND COMMENTARIES

London: Faber and Faber, 1960. First edition. Very good in very good jacket.. First printing of this collection of conversations with the iconic composer, inscribed in the year of publication to his well-connected friends Miranda and Ralph Levy. Igor Stravinsky's storied career spanned from Russia to France and finally to the US, where his innovative style caused ripples throughout the music world. MEMORIES AND COMMENTARIES finds the composer reflecting on his many influences, friends and colleagues, and was compiled with the help of his frequent collaborator and confidant Robert Craft.
This copy features an inscription from Stravinsky to "Ralph and Miranda [Levy]," a television pioneer and well-known jewelry designer, respectively. Miranda Levy was noted in her obituary as "the woman who jump-started the Santa Fe Opera" by introducing its founding director to Stravinsky (Roberts). Stravinsky supervised the opera house's opening production of his "A Rake's Progress" in 1957, and subsequently returned to Santa Fe every summer after that until 1963. A warm association between arguably the 20th century's most important composer and two significant supporters. 8.5'' x 5.25''. Original blue cloth binding. Original unclipped (25s) pictorial dust jacket. Black-and-white frontispiece with 21 black-and-white illustrations. 184 pages, including index. Inscribed by Stravinsky "To Ralph and Miranda" Levy, dated November 1960 in Rome. With the Levy's subsequent gift inscription below. Jacket with light edgewear, slight chipping to corners and spine ends. Binding with mild edgewear and bumping to spine ends; faint damping, close inspection only.