LISZT (Franz). Letter signed with autograph corrections [add - Lot 93

Lot n° 93
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LISZT (Franz). Letter signed with autograph corrections [add - Lot 93
LISZT (Franz). Letter signed with autograph corrections [addressed to Philippe de Girard]. Saint Petersburg, April 20, 1843. 3 pp. 1/2 in-4. IMPORTANT LETTER ON THE MECHANICAL EVOLUTIONS OF THE PIANO. "YOU WERE KIND ENOUGH TO... TO ASK ME MY FRANK AND EXPLICIT OPINION ON YOUR INVENTION OF THE TREMOLOPHONE [GRAND PIANO WITH TWO KEYBOARDS, ONE USUAL, THE OTHER FOR EFFECTS]... I must offer you my most sincere compliments on the application that you are giving at this time to your genius for invention, so legitimately recognized, moreover, to a branch of industry that is rather ungrateful, in which the most ingenious inventions have difficulty in coming to light and usually fail against the inept routine of artists and the prejudices of the public. FOR TWENTY YEARS THE PIANO HAS UNDERGONE SEVERAL IMPORTANT CHANGES, IT HAS GROWN AND DEVELOPED IN A REMARKABLE WAY. The Érard factory in Paris and London sums up magnificently, in my opinion, all the progress made to date, and it is at least doubtful that in this kind of mechanism we are taking a step forward. But does this mean that we should leave it at that, that we should absolutely avoid more adventurous, more ambitious temptations? No, certainly not, and whatever the difficulties, the risks and the inconveniences, many attempts may have to be made, and it will certainly not be up to me if they do not succeed. The problem which naturally arises today... is as follows: THE INSTRUMENT... HAS SUCCESSIVELY GONE THROUGH THESE THREE PHASES: SPINET, HARPSICHORD, AND FINALLY PIANO OR PIANOFORTE. Obviously there is no reason to stop there, especially when we are still so far from the goal, and since we have already arrived at the fortepiano, WHY WOULD WE NOT REACH THE PIANO-FORTE CRESCENDO, OR EVEN THE PIANO-FORTE DIMINUENDO? You have very ingeniously solved part of the problem, and as sometimes happens to men of genius and also to happy people, in searching for one thing you have found two, TO THE CRESCENDO YOU HAVE ADDED THE TREMOLO, THAT IS, ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL EFFECTS OF THE ORCHESTRA AND OF THE MOST FREQUENTLY USED. My too short stay in Warsaw unfortunately did not allow me to derive all the personal benefit I would have wished from your invention [an octavo piano which would be transported the following year to Vienna, and on which Franz Liszt would play]... If I had the pleasure of meeting you later either in Germany or in Paris, it would be my duty to contribute to making it known and appreciated more and more by artists and the public... "ONE OF THE ACTORS OF THE FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, PHILIPPE DE GIRARD (1775-1845) was the son of a Freemason physiocrat and businessman of the Prince of Condé. He was the author of numerous inventions that found their application in the manufacturing activity in the chemical, mechanical, metallurgical, mining and textile fields - he discovered, among others, the technique of flax spinning - and in music with his "tremolophone" and his octave piano.
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