TRANSCRIPTION
25, Gloucester Road
Regent's Park, N.W.1
Mar. 18, 1886
Dear Mrs. [____]
I hear from Mr. Heuty[?]
that you will be in town
[___] a few days and I
write to ask if you would
be so very kind as to
allow me to come
see you for a few
minutes on a musical
subject of great import-
ance.
Any day and
Page
Two
any hour most
convenient for you
will be equally agree-
able to me.
With our united best
regards [be_____] me
Very truly yours
Geo. Henschel
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Sir George Isidor Georg Henschel (b. February 18, 1850; d. September 10, 1934),
was a celebrated singer, composer and conductor. He entered the
Leipzig Conservatory in 1867 and studied piano under Moscheles, theory with Reinecke and
Richter for theory, singing with Goetze for singing, and organ with Papperitz. He quickly
became a recognized singer in German and England. In 1881, Henschel was appointed
conductor of the newly founded Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), which he conducted for its first
three seasons. In 1883, Henschel, as conductor of the BSO, was sent the
following curious and humorous Valentine by a fan of the then well known
American composer John Knowles Paine (1839-1906):
Oh,
Henschel, cease thy higher flight
And give the
public something light;
Let no more
Wagner themes thy bill enhance
And give the
native workers just one chance.
Don't give
the Dvorak symphony again:
If you would
give us joy, oh give us Paine!
--Groves VI, Vol 14, p.95
In 1884, he moved to England where two years later, in 1886, he established
the London Symphony Concerts, which were an important part of musical life in London
during the eleven years of their existence. He befriended Johannes Brahms in 1874 and in
1876 they spent a holiday together. Henschel’s diary holds many important
remembrances of Brahms.
"Later in 1874 Brahms first made the
acquaintance of the young baritone singer and composer Georg Henschel...the Hans
Sachs in Meistersinger, first conductor of the Boston Symphony, and an
English knight and a Scottish Laird. [Brahms and Henschel] performed together on
several occasions, and Brahms, greatly warming to him, suggested they spend a
holiday together on the Baltic island of Rügen in the summer of 1876." - from
Brahms by Malcolm MacDonald (New York:1990) pp.238-239.
After his wife’s death in 1901, Henschel lived in retirement
in Scotland until 1907, when he married a pupil. Miss Amy Louis of New York. He returned
to the concert platform in 1909, and for five years sang and gave recitals in England and
on the Continent. In April 1914, the year in which he received knighthood, he gave a
farewell recital in London.
As a composer his works include a Te Deum, a Stabat
Mater, and a Requiem Mass ( in memory of his first wife); many
songs, anthems and song cycles; 3 operas and several works for orchestra.
REV. 09/15/2005
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