Details
THE DAY BEFORE SPRING
LOEWE, Frederick and LERNER, Alan Jay. "THE DAY BEFORE SPRING." Opened in New York, 12 November 1945. Produced by John C. Wilson, Musical Direction: Maurice Abravanel.
THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL BROADWAY SHOW BY LERNER AND LOEWE
An extensive archive of the first successful collaboration of the team of Lerner (age 25) and Loewe (age 42), preceded by their early joint efforts in What's Up? and The Life of the Party. Albert Sirmay, who edited the Lerner and Loewe Songbook and was associated with many of their Broadway shows, notes that, in their work together, the two men showed "increasingly sophisticated integration of story and music," which "achieved its highest form in My Fair Lady. But, Sirmay writes "some manifestations of that integration were already present in the authors' first moderately successful production, The Day Before Spring," and the work contains "several songs which conform, closely to the Lerner-Loewe dictum that character ought to be the motivation for every melody and lyric in a musical play" (The Lerner and Loewe Songbook, 1962, pp.11-12). The plot deals with the strong emotions stirred by a tenth college reunion, which brings together two former inamorate, now married, whose attempot to elope, years ago, had failed.
Many of the songs present here were separately published, including the title song "The Day Before Spring," "My Love is A Married Man," You Haven't Changes At All," etc.
Totaling: 95 pages comprising 88 1/2 pages music, 6 manuscript cover sheets, typed listing of musical numbers and characters singing them
Contents:
Typescript list of number and characters in Act II, 1 page
"Anyone Else," autograph manuscript melody and lyrics, by Loewe, 1 page
"Anyone Else - Verse," autograph manuscript melody and lyrics, by Loewe, 1 page, oblong
"Where's My Wife, autograph manuscript melody by Loewe, 1 page, oblong, on verso of the preceding
"I Love You This Morning," autograph manuscript melody and lyrics, by Loewe, 2 pages
"The Day Before Spring," autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, by Loewe, 4 pages
"You Haven't Changed At All," autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, 5 pages
"The Invitation," autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, 9 pages (paginated 1-10, page 4 not present)
"Peter Reads The Book, autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, by Loewe, 13 pages, many corrections and deletion
"Peter Reads The Book," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 3 pages, in ink
"My Love Is A Married Man," autograph manuscript melody and lyrics, by Loewe, 1 page,
"For Anyone Else," autograph manuscript melodic sketch, by Loewe, 1 page, on verso of preceding
"Ballet" (Acts I and II), autograph manuscript musical sketches on single staff, by Loewe, partially texted on one page, 3 pages
"Introduction and Day Before Spring, manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 4 pages, in ink
"The Day Before Spring, - Duet," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 3 pages, in ink
"A Jug of Wine," ," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 4 pages, in ink, with several extra bars added at end by Loewe
"Bridge," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 8 pages, in ink
"Finale I," ," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, indications for instrumental parts, 9 pages, in ink
"Where's My Wife," autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, in Loewe's hand, 14 pages (paginated 1-16, pages 6 and 10 not present), many with corrections and deletions; and many others (a complete listing is available on request).
"The Woman Who Falls," autograph manuscript melodic sketch by Loewe, 1 1/2 page
"Where's My Wife," autograph manuscript melodic sketch, with cues, by Loewe, 4 pages
Page of opening bars from 3 numbers, in a copyist's hand, in ink, pencil notations by Loewe, 1 page.
The Day Before Spring
The Day Before Spring
LOEWE, Frederick and LERNER, Alan Jay. "THE DAY BEFORE SPRING." Opened in New York, 12 November 1945. Produced by John C. Wilson, Musical Direction: Maurice Abravanel.
THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL BROADWAY SHOW BY LERNER AND LOEWE
An extensive archive of the first successful collaboration of the team of Lerner (age 25) and Loewe (age 42), preceded by their early joint efforts in What's Up? and The Life of the Party. Albert Sirmay, who edited the Lerner and Loewe Songbook and was associated with many of their Broadway shows, notes that, in their work together, the two men showed "increasingly sophisticated integration of story and music," which "achieved its highest form in My Fair Lady. But, Sirmay writes "some manifestations of that integration were already present in the authors' first moderately successful production, The Day Before Spring," and the work contains "several songs which conform, closely to the Lerner-Loewe dictum that character ought to be the motivation for every melody and lyric in a musical play" (The Lerner and Loewe Songbook, 1962, pp.11-12). The plot deals with the strong emotions stirred by a tenth college reunion, which brings together two former inamorate, now married, whose attempot to elope, years ago, had failed.
Many of the songs present here were separately published, including the title song "The Day Before Spring," "My Love is A Married Man," You Haven't Changes At All," etc.
Totaling: 95 pages comprising 88 1/2 pages music, 6 manuscript cover sheets, typed listing of musical numbers and characters singing them
Contents:
Typescript list of number and characters in Act II, 1 page
"Anyone Else," autograph manuscript melody and lyrics, by Loewe, 1 page
"Anyone Else - Verse," autograph manuscript melody and lyrics, by Loewe, 1 page, oblong
"Where's My Wife, autograph manuscript melody by Loewe, 1 page, oblong, on verso of the preceding
"I Love You This Morning," autograph manuscript melody and lyrics, by Loewe, 2 pages
"The Day Before Spring," autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, by Loewe, 4 pages
"You Haven't Changed At All," autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, 5 pages
"The Invitation," autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, 9 pages (paginated 1-10, page 4 not present)
"Peter Reads The Book, autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, by Loewe, 13 pages, many corrections and deletion
"Peter Reads The Book," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 3 pages, in ink
"My Love Is A Married Man," autograph manuscript melody and lyrics, by Loewe, 1 page,
"For Anyone Else," autograph manuscript melodic sketch, by Loewe, 1 page, on verso of preceding
"Ballet" (Acts I and II), autograph manuscript musical sketches on single staff, by Loewe, partially texted on one page, 3 pages
"Introduction and Day Before Spring, manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 4 pages, in ink
"The Day Before Spring, - Duet," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 3 pages, in ink
"A Jug of Wine," ," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 4 pages, in ink, with several extra bars added at end by Loewe
"Bridge," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, 8 pages, in ink
"Finale I," ," manuscript piano-vocal score in a copyists' hand, indications for instrumental parts, 9 pages, in ink
"Where's My Wife," autograph manuscript piano-vocal score with lyrics, in Loewe's hand, 14 pages (paginated 1-16, pages 6 and 10 not present), many with corrections and deletions; and many others (a complete listing is available on request).
"The Woman Who Falls," autograph manuscript melodic sketch by Loewe, 1 1/2 page
"Where's My Wife," autograph manuscript melodic sketch, with cues, by Loewe, 4 pages
Page of opening bars from 3 numbers, in a copyist's hand, in ink, pencil notations by Loewe, 1 page.
The Day Before Spring
The Day Before Spring