Autograph letter signed to Boston music publisher Arthur P. Schmidt requesting music by fellow American composers including Chadwick, Foote, and Paine
1 page. Quarto. On personal letterhead, with "Office of John Philip Sousa, Astor Court New York" printed at upper left. Date at upper margin indecipherable, but most probably "Sept. 10th," 1898-1908.
Sousa requests copies of 14 named piano works by composers including Barowski, W.K. Bassford, A. Biehl, Chadwick, Demuth, Douillet, Foote, Nunez, Paine, and Sternberg.
Signed in full at conclusion, with the addition of "c/o Pittsburgh Exposition, Pittsburgh, PA" and an autograph postscript signed with initials in which Sousa requests that the publisher "Kindly send bill with the usual discount. If you have anything for band or orchestra that would suit my purpose I would be pleased to see it."
Slightly worn; creased at folds and slightly overall; small hole to blank upper right corner; reinforced with narrow strip of clear tape to blank left margin.
Together with:
Bust-length photograph with facsimile signature to lower right in white. Minor wear; remnants of adhesive to verso.
The Sousa Band business offices were located at Astor Court in New York City from 1898-1910; his band played at the Pittsburgh Exposition in the years 1898, 1902, 1904, 1907, and 1908, hence the dating of this letter at 1898-1908.
"Composer of the official national march of the United States, The Stars and Stripes Forever, Sousa, who was known as the March King, was the most important figure in the history of bands and band music." Paul E. Bierley in Grove Music Online
An important American music publisher, Schmidt (1846-1921) "published G.W. Chadwick’s Symphony no. 2, op. 21 [in 1888], the first orchestral score by an American composer to be issued by an American publisher. He brought out works by many New England composers including Amy Beach, Arthur Bird, Chadwick, Henry Hadley, Paine and Horatio Parker, as well as almost the entire body of compositions by Arthur Foote and Edward MacDowell." Wilma Reid Cippola in Grove Music Online
An attractive item, associating one of the most iconic composers of the period with a noted contemporary music publisher, demonstrating his interest in the works of noted fellow composers including Chadwick, Foote, and Paine.
We would like to thank Sousa specialist Barry Owen Furrer for his kind assistance in the dating of the present letter.
Item #39021
Price: $825.00 other currencies