Autograph letter signed to an unidentified male correspondent
3 pp. of a bifolium. Ca. 161 x 102 mm. Dated "Sunday." On ivory paper. In French (with translation).
Delibes discusses a business venture with "our millionaire." He had hoped to see his correspondent the day before at a session of the Exposition jury or a soirée, wasn't able to join him at the Opéra-Comique, and asks him to give his regards to "Madame Gonzien."
"... On Friday I went to meet our millionaire. You have been very kind to him, and what I told him about you could only confirm this good impression. But personally he doesn't want to do anything; this is an absolutely firm stance. Only his brewery could benefit from the success of the thing. But he is the principal sponsor and shareholder and promised to 'push the wheel' in your desired direction... "
Slightly worn and soiled; creased at folds; small ink stain to second page, affecting one word.
"[Delibes's] workmanship was of the highest order; he had a natural gift for harmonic dexterity and a sure sense of orchestral colour, and nothing in his music is out of place. He was a disciplined composer, and it is tempting to see in the exquisite pastiche dances that he composed in 1882 for Hugo’s Le roi s’amuse not just a sharp ear for style but a genuine feeling for the world of 17th-century French classicism, later to be espoused with such ardour by Saint-Saëns, d’Indy and Debussy." Hugh Macdonald in Grove Music Online.
Item #27129
Price: $450.00 other currencies