Travelling as a cure for depression

Bourgault-Ducoudray, Louis-Albert, composer, pianist, and teacher (1840-1910). Autograph letter signed.

Vevey, 16 July (no year).

8vo. 4 pp. on bifolium.

 220,00

Long letter to the composer and theatre manager Auguste Vaucorbeil, with greetings to M. de Beauplan, and an enthusiastic account of enjoyable experiences from a holiday trip that helped him out of a depressive state of mind. For more than a month he stayed in Athens with the oriental scholar Émile-Louis Burnouf, who took him to Attica, the Peloponnese, and Constantinople, introduced to him several new people, and sent him on interesting scientific and historical excursions. Passing by Naples and Rome, he spent two days at Lago Maggiore. Finally he participated in a four-day festival in Zurich that transformed the whole city. After one and a half days for rehearsals, Brahms's "Triumphlied", one part of Schumann's "Faust", and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which had made him truly feel and understand the Andante, were performed. Unfortunately, the shape of the concert hall did not allow for the best acoustic experience. Bourgault-Docoudray was much impressed by a Munich tenor named Vogel who sang in Handel's "Joshua": "Cette distraction m'a fait du bien et j'en avais grand besoin. Je vous en souhaite autant à vous qui m'avez pu rompre le collier de misère et qui a tant d'égards et d'abord pour voter santé mériterais de prendre des vacances [...] C'est cette dernière oeuvre qui m'a fait le plus de plaisir. J'ai été très content de l'orchestre. J'ai trouvé plus de naïveté dans les choses sentimentales qu'à Paris. Jamais je n'avais si bien compris l'Andante [...]".

Slight browning and fingerstaining.

Art.-Nr.: BN#54080 Schlagwort: