I have commented before here that a drawing by an artist is more desirable than a simple autograph, while a writer's thoughtful inscription is more meaningful than a plain signature. In the case of composers, one of the great collectibles is the autograph musical quotation, signed.
The auction listing from Swann Galleries:
I understand how artists draw and how writers write much better than I understand how composers compose. While I could sit at a piano and compose an unadorned theme in C major with mostly quarter notes and eighth notes, I can't conceive of composing a syncopated, polyphonic score such as the one below. Dmitri Shostakovich is one of my favorite composers and his Fifth Symphony is perhaps his most popular work. Can composers just write out their music like this from memory? Probably quite easily, but it's beyond me.
The score:
The score:
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Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 Score
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