592 - Emmanuel Chabrier Signed 1884 ‘España’ Full Orchestral Score (First Edition)

Emmanuel Chabrier Signed 1884 ‘España’ Full Orchestral Score (First Edition) French Romantic composer and pianist (1841-1894) best known for the orchestral rhapsody España and the operas L'étoile and Gwendoline. Largely self-taught as a composer, Chabrier developed a distinctive musical language that influenced a later generation of French composers, including Debussy, Ravel, and Poulenc. First edition sheet music booklet of the full orchestral score for Emmanuel Chabrier’s ‘España, Rapsodie pour Orchestre,’ 61 pages, 10.75 x 13.75, published by Enoch Frères & Costallat of Paris in 1884. In the original printed wrappers, with the work’s printed dedication to conductor Charles Lamoureux, the score is signed and inscribed on the title page in ink to the noted Belgian composer Peter Benoit, “Hommage à Peter Benoit, Emmanuel Chabrier.” The score bears plate number E. F. & C. 891. In very good condition, with heavy foxing to the covers and first several pages, a tear extending from the left edge through the score, generally confined to the margin but occasionally entering the printed area, and a tape repair to the spine of the front wrapper, which also bears some edgewear and small chips. Chabrier composed España in 1883 after spending several months traveling through Spain the previous year, where he closely observed the country’s regional music and dance. Drawing particularly on the rhythms of the jota and malagueña, he transformed those impressions into the orchestral rhapsody that became his best-known work. España received its first public performance at the Théâtre du Château d’Eau in Paris on November 4, 1883, with Charles Lamoureux, to whom the work is dedicated, conducting the Société des Nouveaux Concerts orchestra. Published by Enoch Frères & Costallat in 1884, this first-edition full orchestral score bears plate number E. F. & C. 891. Chabrier presented this copy to Peter Benoit (1834-1901), the prominent Flemish composer, conductor, and educator who became a leading figure in the development of a distinctly Flemish musical culture and founded the institution that became the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Antwerp.