The first fragment reproduces measures 225-231 of the second scene of Volo di notte. Careful comparison with the draft of the score (the abbozzo), the reduction for voice and piano prepared by Riccardo Nielsen and published by Ricordi, and the complete score enables the author of the essay to hypothesize that Dallapiccola copied the seven bars from the abbozzo, even if the two sources are not identical. The author also proposes an explanation for the “strange” choice of these seven bars.
In the article clear evidence is given of the origin of the second unpublished autograph (first chord of Il Prigioniero). It was prepared for the collector Mr Manfred on his special request and was dedicated to him.