HAROLD BAUER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 10/30/1911 - HFSID 344476

HAROLD BAUER
This letter describing the pianist's remorse for not being able to stop in Toledo at the request of the recipient is handwritten and signed in black ink
Autograph letter signed: "Harold Bauer" in black ink. 2p, 6x9½. New York, October 30, 1911. Written on letterhead of the Prince George Hotel to "My dear Mr. Clement" in full: "Your letters give me great pleasure and I would have been delighted to accept your kind and hospitable invitation did my engagements permit. Unfortunately, however, it is quite impossible for me to arrive before the morning of November 6th in Detroit where, moreover, I have to rehearse with the orchestra so it is, I fear, out of the question for me to stop in Toledo. Should you attend the concert in Detroit it will give me the greatest pleasure to see you and Mrs. Clement even if only for a few minutes and there is just a possibility that later on in the winter I may be going through Toledo again. With kindest regards I remain, Yours very truly". British-born American pianist Harold Bauer (1873-1951) was noted for his interpretations of the German repertoire and 20th Century French composers (he gave the Paris debut of Debussy's Children's Corner suite and the New York debut of Ravel's Concerto in G Major) and for his sensitive playing style, which managed to combine the Romanticism of the 19th Century with a tighter 20th Century feel. A bit of a prodigy, Bauer gave his first concerts before he was 10 years old, playing both piano and violin until Ignacy Paderewski recommended that he concentrate on the ebonies-and-ivories in 1892. He was also active in chamber music, playing with Pablo Casals, Fritz Kreisler and Jacques Thibaud, and was a frequent duet partner with Ossip Gabrilowitsch. Bauer played both sides of the Atlantic after 1893 and became a U. S. citizen in 1921. He also founded the Beethoven Society of New York and was president of the Friends of Music of the Library of Congress. Toned. Horizontal and vertical folds. Ink smudge near top margin. Ink slightly smeared near bottom front of first page. Otherwise, fine condition.