JOSEPH "JOSKA" SZIGETI - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 01/15/1960 - HFSID 49505

JOSEPH SZIGETI
Autograph Letter signed in 1960, describing his new home in Switzerland and current musical projects.
Autograph Letter signed: "Joska", 1 page, 8½x11½. "Le Crepon," Baugy, Switzerland, 1960 November 15. On personal letterhead to "Dear Frances" [Winwar]. In full: "It was good hearing from you! We, too, did the wise thing and settled here in a delightful house with a lovely built-in library and an authentic XVth century portal from the nearby Chateau La Sarraz integrated into a garden wall (and apple trees and blackberries etc.) (We bought the house. It was built in 1930.) If only Wanda were in good health ... {ellipses in original] Tell us about your plans and plan to look us up should you come to Europe. My new recording contract is working out wonderfully (Mercury) and the new Brahms concerto is a big seller. Do ask the 'good music' stations to broadcast it in your region. I'll re-record the Beeth. in June in London (also both Bartok rhapsodies with orch.) I am in the midst of the overwhelming 'life's work' of Robert Musil 'der Mann ohne Eigenshaffen' (1600 closely printed pages; he died in 1942 leaving it unedited, unpublished - unsuspected by the world ...) (I must save my arm so no more. No secretary here alas!) Love from us both, as ever. [signature] Gerald Duckworth's Co. will be publishing my volume of musical excerpts with some 'text' (sort of shop talk & 'uneventful intelligence')... Hungarian virtuoso violinist Joseph Szigeti (1892-1973) debuted as a child prodigy, touring and recording until his retirement in 1960. Known as "the scholarly violinist," he championed works by contemporary composers, including his lifelong friend Bela Bartok. Szigeti and his wife Wanda (Ostrowska) Szigeti lived mostly in the US from 1939 to 1960, returning thereafter to Switzerland. Szigeti's memoirs, With Strings Attached, obviously a work in progress when he wrote this letter, were published in 1947. Szigeti on the Violin appeared in 1969. The addressee was Frances Winwar (1900-1985), author of many literary biographies. Normal mailing folds. Soiled and creased. Tape repairs on verso at bottom edge - multiple tears and creases. Paper residue on verso.