JOHANNES WOLFF - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 154546

JOHANNES WOLFF
This signed handwritten letter from the violinist indicates a change of plans to a friend
Autograph Letter Signed: "Johannes Wolff" in ink. One page. 4x5¾. Sent to "Mr. Luke Walker". In Full: "Alas! I cannot come tomorrow morning at / 10 O'clock but will / be at your house tomorrow morning (Monday) at 6:30. I hope that / hour is convenient to / you."Johannes Wolff (1863-1931) was a Dutch violinist who was a favorite musician of both Queen Victoria and Czar Nicholas II. The child of amateur musicians, a young Wolff decided he wanted to play the violin after attending a concert featuring Henryk Wieniawski. He studied at the Rotterdam Conservatory as a young man and moved on to the Paris Conservatory. After travelling across Europe and even across the Atlantic (playing in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1893), he eventually settled down in London, in the nation where he was most popular. A year later he formed his own company, the Wolff Musical Union. He prided himself on playing unique compositions not often heard in popular classical music circles, including pieces by Charles-Marie Widor and Cecile Chaminade. From 1896 to 1898, he was a music teacher at the Guildhall School of Music in London. In 1897 he was the subject of a famous painting by American portrait artist John Singer Sargent. Several composers, Camille Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré being two of the most notable, dedicated pieces to him. Mailing crease. Lightly toned. Left edge worn. Otherwise, fine condition.