Dorando Piètri Songbook

Dorando Piètri Songbook.
Color illustration.
Ed. Pfeiffer.
Published by Ted Snyder and Co, Music Publishers, New York.
Measurements: 36 x 27.5 cm; 47 x 39 cm (frame).

"Dorando," a large-format songbook richly illustrated in color by Ed. Pfeiffer, takes as its inspiration the famous episode starring Dorando Piètri (1885-1942) during the London Olympic Games marathon. In the last meters, when he was leading the race, the Italian athlete fell repeatedly - up to five times - before crossing the finish line with help, which earned him disqualification and made him a moral victor. This dramatic event gave rise to the song "Dorando", with lyrics and music by Irving Berlin (1888-1989), who at that time had not yet achieved fame. The composer learned of the story during a tour of the United States in 1909 and decided to dedicate this piece to it, whose lithographed illustration evokes that tragic end with intensity. The trajectories of both were symbolically linked: while Berlin would become one of the great names of American popular music, Dorando would remain an emblematic figure of epic and tragedy in sports. Published by Ted Snyder & Co, Music Publishers, New York, this is a very rare piece.