The Austrian-American left-handed pianist signs and dates a small card to an unidentified woman with friendly sentiments in German.

After being shot in the elbow in World War I and requiring a right-arm amputation, Paul Wittgenstein was determined to carry on as a performer. Using family wealth, he commissioned the leading composers of the day to write music for him. He was extremely picky, though, and reserved the right in all of his contracts to reject works he disliked. Prokofiev and Hindemith both composed pieces for Wittgenstein that he never played.

Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand is the best known and most enduring of Wittgenstein's commissions, but even it did not entirely satisfy: Wittgenstein made changes to the score after the premiere, and Ravel was so mad, they never spoke again.