Birtwistle, Sir Harrison (b.1934)

notated in pencil on up to three two-stave systems per page, inscribed and signed by the composer at the head ("Duet3...Harrison Birtwistle"), with autograph date at end ("May 2010"), and some autograph performing instructions, 2 pages, large oblong folio (29.5 x 42cm), 8-stave paper, no place, May 2010; together with a detailed autograph sketch for the whole work, in pencil, containing many corrections, erasures and revisions, with many other autograph annotations ("nomem dubium...TINEA...Chord for Chorale...ATROPOS....PALE STIGMA....BEDRULE BROCADE..."), 2 pages, large oblong folio (c. 42.5 x 60cm), 16-stave paper, some light creasing, small stain to one sketchleaf



Illustrated with the kind permission of the composer and (c) Boosey & Hawkes Music publishers.

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 represents a rare opportunity to acquire a fine autograph manuscript by one of the world's foremost living composers.  Since 1989 all Birtwistle's completed scores have been destined for the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel. Sotheby's is therefore happy to acknowledge that this sale of the Birtwistle manuscript is by kind permission of the Paul Sacher Foundation, which owns all Harrison Birtwistle's manuscripts bound by the terms of the December 1989 agreement. 

'Duet 3' was commissioned for the London Sinfonietta and first performed in London on 9 September 2010. An interview with Birtwistle that was published in The Guardian on 9 May 2009, in which the composer expressed a desire to write a requiem for all the species of moths that are extinct, may shed some light on some of the curious annotations on the two sketchleaves: 'A Pastorel for the woodiella', for example, is apparently a meaning-laden reference to the now extinct Euclemensia woodiella, the so-called Manchester Tinea or Manchester Moth (Manchester is the city with which Birtwistle - a keen moth collector - is regularly associated).