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New York's celebrated musical academy, The Juilliard School, announced Tuesday receipt of a collection of "priceless" working manuscripts by the likes of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.
The artifacts were donated by Bruce Kovner, a hedge fund manager who is also chairman of the Juilliard Board.
The president of Juilliard, Joseph Pelosi, described the gift as "one of the finest private collections of music scores to be amassed in modern times."
Among the 139 items are the working manuscripts of Beethoven's opera "Fidelio" and Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9," as well as an autographed score for wind, brass and timpani from the final scene of Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro."
"The availability of these manuscripts will provide unprecedented opportunities for scholars and musicians at the school and elsewhere for many years to come," said Pelosi.
Musicologist Christoph Wolff, Adams University Professor at Harvard University, said the quality of the gift was all the more remarkable for having been collected in the relatively short period of just 10 years.
"I can't think of another collection like this in the world," Wolff said in a statement.
Kovner said he had "great fun" pulling all the manuscripts together and added that he hoped their permanent home at Juilliard would make them accessible to students and scholars from around the world.
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AFP 282119 GMT 02 06
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