Library of Congress Acquires Musical Sketches From THE WIZARD OF OZ

The Library of Congress has acquired rare music and lyric sketches from composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, best known for their collaboration on the score of the iconic film “The Wizard of Oz” in 1939. The film opened in theaters 86 years ago on Aug. 25, 1939, and was inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1989.

The new acquisition includes 35 manuscript items from Arlen and Harburg’s creative work, including the first handwritten drafts of music and lyrics from some of the most beloved songs from “The Wizard of Oz.” The collection also includes draft song lists and correspondence from the director of the film, Mervyn LeRoy.

The star of the collection: the only lyric sketch for “Over the Rainbow” known to exist. “Some day I’ll wish upon a star + wake + find the darkness far behind me,” Harburg scrawled in pencil on a scrap of yellow legal paper. This was perhaps the start of his creative process for a song that would become unforgettable in the voice of Judy Garland and won the Oscar for best original song.

Additional collection highlights include:

• Three pages of music sketches for the “Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
• Music manuscript of “Off to See the Wizard.”
• Lyrics for the “Lollipop League” song.
• Lyric sketches for “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead.”
• Music sketches for the “Mayor of Munchkin Land.”
• Seven pages of music sketches of preliminary concepts labeled “Oz possibilities.”
• The Academy Award that Harold Arlen received in 1939 for best original song for “Over the Rainbow.”

In addition to film-related materials, this acquisition included a rare self-portrait of composer and pianist George Gershwin dated 1929 that was sent to Arlen by Gershwin himself.

“Harold Arlen's contributions to 'The Wizard of Oz' have profoundly shaped American culture," said Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres, acting chief of the Library’s Music Division. "The donation of these manuscripts and papers represents a treasured addition in conjunction with our various Oz-themed holdings. This gift not only honors Arlen and Harburg’s imaginative genius but also preserves the legacy of the music that has captured the hearts of generations. The Library is grateful to the late Mrs. Arlen and the Arlen family for sharing these artifacts with the American people.”

 A small display will be featured in the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building that features original music and lyric manuscripts from the creation of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Wicked” beginning in October. These treasures from the Music Division’s Harold Arlen Collection and ASCAP Foundation Collection document the creation of the soundtracks to the iconic films inspired by Frank L. Baum’s classic novel “The Wizard of Oz”, which turns 125 in 2025. This display will be on view from Oct. 23 through Jan. 7, 2026.

The recently acquired “Wizard of Oz” material joins the Harold Arlen Collection, which was donated by Arlen’s sister-in-law, Rita Arlen, beginning in 2022. That collection includes a musical sketchbook, a large notebook of music and lyric sketches for the musical “House of Flowers” (1954), hundreds of photographs and Arlen’s original typescript screenplay for “The Wizard of Oz.”

Additionally, the existing Arlen Collection contains correspondence from Arlen’s friends, family and colleagues including Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin, Truman Capote, Bing Crosby, Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein, Yip Harburg, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. It  also includes several artworks such as three portraits by George Gershwin. The Library also acquired Arlen’s original sketch for his searing torch song, “Stormy Weather” and his manuscript for “The Man Who Got Away” from Judy Garland’s “A Star is Born” (1953).

Arlen’s other classic songs included in the 2022 collection are “Ac-Cent-Chu-Ate the Positive,” “Blues in the Night,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Get Happy,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “The Man That Got Away, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)” and “A Sleepin’ Bee.”

The Harold Arlen Collection joins dozens of other songwriter collections in the Library’s Music Division. These collections represent numerous classic American songs for stage and film, including the manuscripts and papers of Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George & Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe, Billy Strayhorn, Leonard Bernstein, Jeanine Tesori, Leslie Bricusse, Burt Bacharach, Harry Chapin and Judy Collins.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros.