Two More Significant Manuscripts Will Be Given to the Juilliard Manuscript Collection and Will Be Announced at Alice Tully Hall Concert on Tuesday, November 3

Only Surviving Complete Manuscript of Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata and Engraved Proof-Copy of Mendelssohn's "Elijah" Are Given to Juilliard By Board Chairman Bruce Kovner at the Dedication of its New Scholars' Reading Room

Two significant original manuscripts - the only surviving complete manuscript of the Beethoven "Kreutzer" Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 47, with Beethoven's corrections (and those of his amanuensis Ferdinand Ries), and the engraved proof-copy of the vocal score for Mendelssohn's Elijah also with extensive corrections and annotations by the composer - will be given to The Juilliard School tonight at an Alice Tully Hall concert celebrating the Juilliard Manuscript Collection and the official opening of a scholars' reading room, exhibit area, and state-of-the-art storage facility inside The Juilliard School where the now 140-piece collection resides.  The two significant manuscripts are a gift to Juilliard from its board chairman, Bruce Kovner, whose original donation of manuscripts to the School in 2006 created the collection.

Tonight's celebratory, but free, concert features lectures and performances programmed from that original collection, highlighting two of its priceless items, the autograph manuscript of Beethoven's Grosse Fuge and sections (wind, brass, and timpani parts) of the final scene of the autograph score of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Both invaluable manuscripts will be in attendance at the concert, part of a special one-night display in the Alice Tully Hall lobby. (For concert details please go to Juilliard's website at: www.juilliard.edu/press/releases/current/2009-11-03_manuscript.html.) The announcement of the Beethoven and Mendelssohn additions to the collection will be made from the stage by Juilliard's President, Joseph W. Polisi, in a short introductory statement prior to the evening's performances. Both manuscripts already are on-site in Juilliard's new facility.

As was the focus of the original collection pieces, these two "messy" items were chosen for what they reveal about the composer's process, and in the case of Beethoven, struggle. The Mendelssohn already has been photographed and digitized in extremely high resolution (used when posting to the online display (www.juilliardmanuscriptcollection.org) allowing scholars to examine each page in remarkable detail. It was prepared in order to make it available for the new Barenreiter edition of the Elijah score published in conjunction with the 2009 Mendelssohn anniversary. The "Kreutzer" is scheduled to be digitized later this month by specialist photographer Ardon Bar Hama.

Once both are digitized, both new/old scores will be posted to the Juilliard Manuscript website. Numerous scholars already have utilized the materials in the Juilliard Manuscript Collection. Referred to the digital copies when that suffices, some have been able to examine original sources, where it's demonstrably important to do so. Christoph Wolff, who will be speaking about Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at tonight's concert, used Juilliard's parts of Nozze's final scene in the publication of a facsimile edition of the entire opera (Packard Humanities Institute). His scholarship allowed him to borrow images from libraries in Berlin and Krakow that became part of his onscreen presentation in Alice Tully Hall. Juilliard also is collaborating with the Morgan Library, the Library of Congress, and several other institutions that house large collections of music manuscripts to create a digital music manuscript portal, tentatively called the Music Treasures Consortium.

Courtesy of Sotheby's

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The Beethoven score now added to Juilliard's collection is the only surviving complete manuscript of his "Kreutzer" Sonata, with Beethoven's corrections and those of his amanuensis Ferdinand Ries marked on the work of four copyists. The changes reflect the complex and last-minute struggle to complete the landmark middle-period work that raised the violin sonata to new levels of importance. The manuscript originated in the archives of Simrock, the original publisher of the sonata, acquired by Henle in 1954 and released for sale by Sotheby's (London) in 2007. It's written in the hand of four distinct copyists - possibly an indication of the haste of preparation for its debut performance in May of 1803 by George Polgren Bridgetower - and corrected by Beethoven. It was published some time later by Simrock, and letters from Beethoven berated the publisher for the slow publishing process.

Digitized by Ardon Bar Hama

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The engraved proof-copy of the vocal score for Mendelssohn's Elijah has extensive corrections and annotations by the composer, in his hand, in red crayon. According to Sotheby's, they were changes made following the first performance in 1846. Commissioned by the Birmingham (England) Festival Committee, the world premiere took place in 1846 while Mendelssohn was director of the festival. The performance was sung in English although the manuscript libretto is in German. Almost every page is edited by the composer, including the addition of musical alternatives.

The new facility that houses the Juilliard Manuscript Collection consists of three distinct areas, a scholars' reading room, and staff-only work room and secure storage area. A vapor barrier encases the entirety with temperature and humidity controls set to tolerances of only 2 - 3  +  degrees/per cent, on a 24/7 basis, 365 days of the year. Redundant systems monitor for water, fire, smoke, and security issues. Cameras, motion detectors, and glass break detectors monitor throughout.

The scholars' reading room seats ten at a special table equipped with individual task lamps and stations for data and power. All lighting and connections in the tables are contained in a trough that may be closed to clear the table for large document viewing. The table study-surface areas consist of panels of natural goat-skin parchment. The perimeter trim on the table is corian, the metal frame and central trough are stainless steel. A generously sized high definition monitor is built into the research area (on a motorized lift rising from the west end of the room and table), enabling detailed viewing of the Juilliard Manuscript Collection's high resolution images (and others that may be on loan), with the display controlled from a supervisor's desk. That area contains a computer reference station, receptionist niche, bookshelves and storage, all built into the millwork. The scholars' reading room also will be the site of seminars for Juilliard doctoral students and other advanced classes at Juilliard.

Concealed cove lighting illuminates the room from end-to-end. A stained Eucalyptus veneer (FSC-certified) has been applied throughout, for all millwork, cabinetry, wall, and ceiling panels in the room, corridor wall and display case. The air-tight public displays are governed by their own environmental control system with air tight, gasketed doors, and a passive internal humidity control system using dessicant gel packs on a deck below the document display surface. They are integrated with the millwork paneling in the corridor adjacent to the room, however, contents of the case are accessed securely from inside the room. A monitor above the display case presents additional information about the documents within. The lighting within the display case is equipped with motion-sensors that control light level, increasing brightness only when there is a visitor to the display case, thus protecting the valuable documents within. (Light levels in the case always will be within an acceptable range for sensitive documents, even at their brightest.). Hallway ambient lighting also is dimmed. The glass on the display cases are glare-reducing, laminated safety glass.

Specialists in the field of preservation worked alongside the general architects and construction contractor who developed and completed Juilliard's whole-building, three-year expansion and renovation. They are:

Diller Scofidio + Renfro/FXFowle, architects; Seamus Henchy and Associates, project managers; Art Preservation Services, Steven Weintraub, conservator; R. H. Guest, Inc., exhibit and storage casework; Ove Arup & Partners, consulting engineers; Aggleton & Associates, security consulting; and Turner Construction, contractor.