Porter, Cole

1) Porter's war-time song Glide, Glider, Glide written in pencil on four systems per page, each of three staves, with first- and second-time bars, with a few alterations, comprising the verse, notated on the first page:  

An old-fashioned bluebird was sailing the sky,
When a big fancy new bird flew silently by,
It seemed, to the bluebird, a strange sort of thing
When the rider of that glider, beside 'er, started to sing:

and a refrain notated on the second and third pages:



Glide, glider, glide, Over mountain, valley and sea
Glide, glider, glide, 'Round the map,
Till we trap Ev'ry Japonee,



Glide, glider, glide,
Till the skies of Deutschland we roam
And when the job is done,
Then glide me, Little One,
Back to Home, Sweet, Home!



3 pages, folio (c.31.5 x 23.5cm), "Chappell Prof" paper, two bifolia joined together with transparent adhesive tape, with a typescript of the lyrics on a sheet taped down on the back of the first page of music, no place or date, [c.1943], the tape rather discoloured



2) Collection of autograph lyrics of three songs, 'Maiden Fair (Nicky, Chloe & Girl Singers)', 'So in Love' [from Kiss Me Kate] and 'I Sleep Easier Now (Juno)', written in pencil, 5 pages, 4to (c.27.5 x 22cm), ruled note-paper, 4 October 1950



3) Scribal manuscript of the song 'When the Hen Stops Laying', INSCRIBED BY PORTER: "LEAVE IT TO ME", written in pencil on three three-stave systems per page, including the verse for Dolly "Ev'ry time I ask 'Do you love me?'" and the refrain for Buck "When the hen stops laying" (annotated at the head "Clear all wires"), 7 pages, folio, 12-stave paper, the verse refrain written on separate bifolios, [c.1938]



5 items, fitted green folding case, gilt lettered

A. L. Wolff, The Hollywood Musical Goes to War (1983) p.69; D.M. Randall, M. Shaftel & S.F. Weiss, A Cole Porter Companion (2016), p.26.

The autograph music manuscript of “Glide, Glider, Glide” is written on two bifolios, taped together at the edges so that all three pages of music can be read without the need for page-turns. Each bifold would normally open out like a newspaper to present only two pages; this arrangement makes it possible to perform the song with all three pages visible. The adhesive tape was applied not to make any repair, but to aid performance. The margins have been stained rather brown by the tape, which is now peeling. This applies also to the lyrics sheet laid down on the back of the first page of music. The tape has not been used on the other manuscripts in this lot.
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RARE: Autograph musical manuscripts by Cole Porter seldom appear at auction. Although album-leaves and quotations are occasionally offered, we have no record of another complete song in his hand.  Glide, glider, glide was a war-time song not related to any musical. It was published by Chappell in New York in 1943, illustrated with a picture of an U.S. Army glider.  Copies appear to be scarce even in American libraries, and none are traced in the U.K.  Porter responded to war-time patriotism with another song displaying this optimistic tone: "Sailors of the Sky".

The autograph song-lyrics in this collection were written for famous Broadway musicals: 'So in Love' for Kiss Me Kate (1948), 'Maiden Fair' and 'I Sleep Easier Now' for Out of This World (1950). The song 'When the Hen Stops Laying' was written for Leave it to Me (1938), but was dropped for the production at Boston and replaced by 'When All's Said and Done'; it was revived for a staging in New York in 2001.