W. H. Auden | Autograph manuscript poem, "Elegy to JFK", 1964

W.H. Auden

Autograph manuscript poem, ‘Elegy for J.F.K.', signed, 1 page, 8vo (205 x 140mm), headed stationery of 3062 Kirchstetten, Austria, lightly creased

"...Remembering his death

How we choose to live

Will decide its meaning..."

Auden agreed to write an elegy for President Kennedy when dining with Stravinsky in January 1964. He completed the poem a month later and Stravinsky set it for baritone and three clarinets. The piece had its premiere in Los Angeles on 6 April, conducted by Robert Craft. It was first published in the Sunday Times on the anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination, 22 November 1964. The poem was subsequently included in the collection About the House (1965).

PROVENANCE

Sotheby’s, London, 20 July 1989, lot 159