Korngold, Erich Wolfgang

the full score for soprano solo, mixed chorus and orchestra, including piano and organ, the words in English, notated in black ink and pencil on up to twenty-six staves per page, marked for performance in red crayon, with autograph title above the music "Passover-Psalm (Lyric--based on Hebrew prayers--by Jacob Sonderling"

48 pages, large folio (c.41.5 x 27cms), the leaves written on one side and then pasted back-to-back, with the composer's copyright notice at the foot of the first page (1941), some clefs stencilled, a few inked over, contemporary cloth boards, with title to cover, April 1941, trimmed by the binder, hinges reinforced with tape

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is a large-scale work for voices and orchestra by the famous late-Romantic Austrian-American composer.  Korngold was hailed as a young prodigy in Vienna in the 1920s, with operas like Die tote Stadt, before emigrating to Hollywood and acquiring fame and fortune as a film composer.

Korngold's "Passover Psalm" is apparently unpublished: performing materials were issued for hire, but we have traced no commercial edition. The words are taken from the Haggada, by Jacob Sonderling, chief rabbi of the Jewish community of Los Angeles, who commissioned the work.

The "Passover Psalm" dates from the height of Korngold's highly successful Hollywood career, which included scores such as Anthony Adverse (1936), Robin Hood (1938), Elizabeth and Essex (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940) and Kings Row (1941).  Whilst from 1934 to 1946, Korngold was closely connected with Warner Brothers, in the early 1900’s, he had been hailed by Mahler as a "genius", and throughout his life he composed chamber music, lieder, works for the stage and the concert hall.  Of particular renown is the Violin Concerto in D Major, one of the most widely-performed such works in the twentieth-century concert repertory.

This is Korngold's orchestration manuscript: he has written the vocal parts in ink and added the orchestral parts in pencil.  The writing is fluent and detailed, the orchestration full and richly-textured.