Abstract
This essay discusses some thirty manuscripts sheets related to six pieces that Franco Donatoni composed between 1979 and 1981. The composer himself gave them to musicologist Paola Maurizi in 1983; she, in turn, donated them to the Perugia Conservatory Library in 2014. Here they sit inside the Paola Maurizi Collection. Part 1 (by Paola Maurizi) introduces Donatoni’s life and musical personality, describes the whereabouts of the gift, and discusses the material related to a piece entitled The Heart’s Eye. Part 2 (by Maria Grazia Sità) deals with drafts of Marches, Nidi, Le ruisseau sur l’escalier, L’ultima sera, and Tema. Donatoni’s sketches are preciously few, as he tended to trash them after completing a piece. Hence this collection is of paramount importance, for it allows a deeper study of the composer’s work.