The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-05-07
MIR. MARTEAU'S ALBUM
Autographs of Famous Composers
Collected in One Volume.
The Violinist, Who Is to Play at the
May Festival. Has a Unique
Treasure.

hL1OtAS Liz IL RO1SCSolOiAc u
NJ. Henri Marteau. the French violinist.
who is to play here at the May Music Fes-
tival, is his musical autograph album"
which he prizes second only to his wonder
full Maggini violin, if he does not regard it
with equal affection. This album is an or
di~nary-looking. leather-covered volume.
scarcely of quarto size, but IL is substan-
TALLY made of the best quality of paper,
ard the binding is Of durable character. A
large clasp Of brass holds the cover Sc
curely closed, and TO this there is a lock
of curious design, the key of which-a
pretty little affair of ~gold-young Marteau
wears on his watch chain.
1t is not probable that any reasonable
money offer would tempt the owner to sell
ii, although it might not fetch an extraor-
binary price from the basis of valuation
which might be fixed by professional deal
ers in autographs and manuscripts. But to
musicians it's value would be appreciated,
for some of the contributions are so rare
that they are almost priceless. The con-
tents of the album are autograph letters
from eminent composers or this and past
generations. bars of music in the hand
writing of those who wrote the operas,
concertos or other works from which they
are extracts, and congratulations and
friendly greetings from musicians, who fire.
ly offered their tributes to the rising young
artist. 1t is doubtful il a more valuable
collection Of such autographs could be
found, at least in so small a compass, and
1t would be the envy of many Of the greater
collectors could they know its worth.
Probably the most valuable of the collec-
tions is a letter written in May, 1880. by
Paganini TO the famous maestro and COM
poser, Spoohr. At that time Paginini was
about forty six years of age and in the
height OF his fame as a violinist although
he did not appear in Paris until a little
more than a year afterward. The letter
is in Italian, dated at Cassel, and is yellow
with age.
HONORS HIS OLD INSTRUCTOR.
The place of honor in the album-the first
page-is given to II. Leonard, Marteau's
instructor, who was also a great composer.
The young man cherishes fond memories of
Leonard, who, he thinks, was the best
teacher in all Europe. Xavier Scharwenka,
the pianist, contributes a clearly written
autograph with a fraternal greeting; v.
Emil Sauret, in 1886, wrote a pleasant word
or two for the then almost unknown young
artist, and Joseph Joachim, the eminent
German player and teacher, wrote in COM
plimentary terms. and Karl Reinecke and
Max Bruch, both German composers OF
eminence, contributed scraps of musical
scores; extracts from their own. works, the
latter giving an extract from his most ia
nous concerto.
Anton Rubinstein. undoubtedly the great
est of living pianiStS and composers, Is
represented by a bit of characteristic mu-
steal manuscript, and Jules Massenet. the
composer Of Marie ane Magd lei .RSi de
in the album a bar or two from the last
mentioned opera, and below has inscribed:
u uI I my charming lriend , and eon1rere,
latter-day French composer, writes Of his
qualification at the marvellous i~nterpreta-
ton given his works by the young star on
aged Italian %violinist, who was the pupil of
Paganini, addresses NJ. Marteau as his
young colleague and friend" Slvori now
lives in Genoa and is surrounded by a host
Of loving relatives and friends. He de-
lights In receiving his friends and is in
good health. despite his advanced years.
poser Of the famous concerto, also forms a
portion of the collection.
TWO VALUABLE LETTERS.
Among the most interesting of the con-
tributions to the album are two letters,
which occupy opposite pages. They were
written respectively by Richard Wagner,
whom Germany and other portions of the
music-loving world idolize as the greatest
composer that ever lived, and Franz List,
the famous Hungarian "abbe." These let
tiers are both addressed to Mime. Erard. the
once noted singer, who gave them to their
present owner. Camille Sdint-SaenS ad-
dresses an af~fectionate letter to the young
violinist, congratulating him on his mag
nificent rendition of one OF that composers
works and thanking him for his remarka-
bic performance. Tn. Dubois sends him a
souvenir Of great affection to my young
friend and brilliant interpreter" Letters
from Ferdinand David, Henri Wieniawski,
the famous violinist; Ferdinand Hitler,
dated Cologne, 1854, and Clara Schurnann,
widow of the great composer, are also valu-
able features of the collection. These let
tArc oil o16rnSGaH To NJ annn~I ord
by him presented to Nj. Marteau. his pupil.
z Ambrose Thomas's addition to this re-
hfs opera of "Mignon.' which he sends to
his young friend as "a souvenir of affec-
ton and Charles Francois Gounod adds to
a couple of bars from the Vision du Jeanne
| ,d'Arc' the complimentary words: "Souve-
| mir Juni q, Reims, a mon petit Henri Mar
teau." 1t was at Reims where Marteau. in
1886, at the age of thirteen, led the Phil
harmonic Society orchestra and played
| Gounod's vision du Jeanne dare for the
first time in public, under the direction or
the composer. M~orzkowsky, the great Rus
sian composer, writes under date Of Feb.
l.. 1892: 'Verehiter Herr: Empfangen sic
meinen besten dank fur die mir bereitate
f~rende," which. translated. is: Esteemed
Sir: Allow me to extend you my best
thanks for a most enjoyable OCCASION
OTHER AUTOGRAPHS.
Besides those mentioned more particular
ly, there are a great many others, less
illustrious. perhaps, but each we'll known
in the musical world. Among these are:
Raoul Pugno, Otto Lessman, v. Emile Sau-
ret, who contributes an extract from his
"Suite ItalienDe;' Sofie Mentes. Amelia
Joachim, Marie Schramm-Macdonald, Ernst
Guirand, Albert Cahen, Francis Plante, Jo-
seph Holman, with a few bars from his
beSt-known "larghetto:' Dimitri Slav-
tiansky d'Agreneff, Clotilde Kleeberg, with
excerpts from a Rubinstein sonata, and a
Schumann concerto; Jules A. Wiernsber-
ger. Herman Bamberg. with a scrap from
his "Lento Reverie;" Isaac Albeniz, Jules
Grison, with a lengthy extract from a con-
certo; Ernest Lefever, with an "Extrait
du rondo, compose pour mon ami, H. Mar
teau;"' Jules Border. with an "Extrait ces
la romance dedice a Henri Marteau. par
son bien affectionne;'' Terese Milanuello,
Alexis de Lvoff, the Russian composer;
job. Lauterbach, with an extract from his
"Legende:" Franz Curti, with an extract
from one of his compositions; Paul La
combe, with extract from his "Rhapsodie,' .
played by Marteau in Paris, May !, 1892;
Mime. Montigny de Series, Jan Blockt and
Gabriel Faure.