[Collection]: Ezra Pound and The Rapallo Musical Laboratory of the 1930s

A collection of promotional material relating to the musical scene in Rapallo, Italy in the 1930s, with connections to Ezra Pound, his family, and his mistress Olga Rudge, all of whom played an influential role in the scene. The collection was assembled by Yale Professor Donald Gallup who published a bibliography of Pound. At least four of the pieces here are referenced in Gallup's bibliography (one directly, three indirectly) and three other pieces are dated in ink, one with notation (presumably by Gallup). The collection includes 16 pieces (plus one duplicate) featuring flyers/handbills, postcard-style handbills, programs, a broadside, and a short piece of music (stapled wrappers, 4pp). Also included, though not counted in the 16 pieces, is a small tourist pamphlet from 1934 promoting the town of Rapallo and lending some geographical context to the collection, featuring a small map and illustrated from black and white photographs. All of the text throughout the collection is in Italian. Many pieces are age toned or sunned, some have edgewear, and the tourist pamphlet has two small pinholes, but overall a very good collection. Ezra Pound called Rapallo home for many years, writing a portion of his *Cantos*, welcoming his son Omar, and championing a unique series of concerts. Focused on intimate performances put on by local musicians, Pound yearned to create what he called "a laboratory for the objective (with the emphasis strictly on that word) examination of music." The book *Ezra Pound and Music: The Complete Criticism* edited and with commentary by R. Murray Schafer dedicates an entire chapter to Pound’s work in Rapallo, even reproducing the front cover of one of the programs featured in this collection. We feel it’s appropriate, if not necessary, to quote this chapter at length to better contextualize this collection and demonstrate its uniqueness, as it incorporates direct quotations from Pound regarding the project: "It was imperative that the concerts should remain modest and should employ local musicians as much as possible. ‘Civilization begins when people start preferring a little done right to a great deal done wrong,’ Pound wrote in 1937. They were not to replicate the musical life of larger centers. ‘I have said several times that it is useless to do on a smaller scale in Rapallo what is being done with magnificence and great means elsewhere.’ The focus was at all times to be on the music; no star system, no pandering to the public. Pound wanted a laboratory in which to put his ideas into action." This collection provides a snapshot of Pound’s laboratory, with pieces from both eras of the Rapallo concerts, pre and post Gerhart Münch’s departure in 1935 (per Schafer) with ten of the performances advertised mentioning him. The earliest printed date is 1933 and the latest date given is 1938 (via bibliography, E2o). Also listed in ten performances is Ezra Pound’s longtime mistress, the violinist Olga Rudge. One program (the one reproduced in *Ezra Pound and Music*) lists Pound’s father, Homer, and his wife, Dorothy, as supporters of the concerts and lists Ezra Pound among the committee members. One broadside "Stagione Musicale del Tigullio: 21 Gennaio Dal 2 Al 5 Febbraio" was written by Pound, with his printed "E.P." at the bottom. While some of the other pieces may have also been written by Pound or involved his contributions, this is the only one bearing his initials as a signature and the only one directly listed in Gallup’s bibliography. All together there are seven flyer/handbills (plus one duplicate of "Amici Del Tigullio: Nuovo Quartetto Ungherese"), four postcard-style handbills, two programs (single sheets folded to make four pages), two broadsides, and one piece of sheet music: An excerpt from *Ateneo Veneto – Anno CXXV, Volume 117, Fasc. 2, Ottobre, 1934: Due Arie Di Francesco Severi* which is either a transcription or interpretation by Gerhart Münch of two arias by Francesco Severi, originally transcribed.…