Part 3 - Correspondence with Richard Rodney Bennett

Three letters and two sets of handwritten notes, 11 pages and one envelope

Richard Rodney Bennett was commissioned to write the score for Isadora. This file contains letters and notes from Richard Rodney Bennett to Kenneth MacMillan about the music and scenario, plus one list on proposed additional music in an unidentified hand. The material comprises

1. A handwritten letter from Richard Rodney Bennett to Kenneth MacMillan enclosing the rewrites for Act I. One double sided page, undated
2. One handwritten page of Notes on proposed additional music with approximate timings and explanations about the music. In ink with some water damage, written as though from Richard Rodney Bennett but in an unidentified hand, undated
3. A handwritten letter from Richard Rodney Bennett to Kenneth MacMillan enclosing the music for Isadora's dance after the death of her children, one page, undated
4. Five pages of handwritten Notes for K.M. Isadora Act I. Richard Rodney Bennett goes through scenes 2 - 8 describing the music and how it fits with the scenario. Undated
5. Typed letter from Richard Rodney Bennett in New York to Kenneth MacMillan. Describes going to see Grey Gardens, the film about Edith Bouvier Beale aunt and niece, and what a good scenario for a ballet their story would make. He reports working on Isadora and discusses the Polonaise and his concerns about not using a trained singer. Also he suggests some cuts to Gillian Freeman's scenario. Three pages, signed and undated. Envelope postmarked 21 Aug 1980

Some of this material would be interesting to digitise