Hand-written autographed orchestration of Samuel Barber’s “The Commando March, July 1943

The hand-written autographed orchestration of Samuel Barber’s “The Commando March” (Mt. Kisco, July, 1943) comes to Curtis as a gift from Mr. and Mrs James Wood, of Sleepy Hollow, NY., formerly of Braewold Farm in Mt. Kisco, NY. Mr. Wood’s mother, Martha Travilla Speakman, grew up in Swarthmore, PA not far from where Samuel Barber was born in West Chester, PA. After graduating from Curtis, when Barber and his lifelong companion Gian Carlo Menotti, were looking for an artistic retreat, they came upon “Capricorn”, in Mt. Kisco, NY not far from the Wood’s Braewold Farm.” Out of admiration and respect, Barber presented this priceless piece to the Wood family, and in turn, the Woods are pleased to pass it on to Barber’s alma mater on the occasion of Curtis’s centenary