The New Music: 1900-1960 8vo, 194pp. musical vignettes. presentation copy, signed and inscribed by copland to virgil thomson and dated in 1968 on the ffe - 1968

New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc, 1968. First edition thus. 8vo, 194pp. Musical vignettes. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed by Copland to Virgil Thomson and dated in 1968 on the ffep. Virgil Thomson Collection embossed stamp present at front. Publisher's turquoise cloth in jacket. Spine slightly cocked else nearly fine in very good jacket with some chipping at head of spine and toning to panels. Wonderful association copy of the revised and expanded edition of Copland's seminal work on 20th century music originally published in 1941.  This copy coolly and briefly inscribed to his contemporary in the American scene, Virgil Thomson; "for VT from AC, 1968."  This brevity points to the frosty and competitive relationship the two composers often shared, both having begun their careers in Paris studying under Boulanger.  And, though Copland is generally thought of as the inventor of the American sound, he does not forget to acknowledge the influence of Thomson, specifically in his operatic compositions: "Virgil Thomson... seem[s] to have set us on our way toward having our own kind of operatic piece... [he] is about as original a personality as American can boast, in our out of the musical field." A magnificent book with a tangible link between two of the fathers of American music.  .