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Massenet, Jules (1842-1912)
Canon Pacifique & Inoffensif. Autograph Manuscript in Ink for Violin and Piano.
Signed, dedicated, and dated at end: à Madame Lüer-Urso | hommage respectueux. | J. Massenet | Paris - 4 Janvier 72. Paris, January 4, 1872. Tall folio; single leaf, music on recto only. Condition good, center crease with archival repairs at top and bottom. Left edge unevenly trimmed.A rare, large, one-page violin manuscript by the famous opera composer.
Massenet has dedicated this work to the French-American violinist Camilla Urso (1840-1902), one of the most important violinists of the late nineteenth century. We have not been able to find any reference to the work (it is not even listed in Grove); it is seemingly unknown and unpublished. He probably wrote the work specially for Urso, as she was at the height of her performing career at the time. The manuscript is very attractive.
The child prodigy Camilla Urso was an important French violinist who was the first female pupil at the Paris Conservatoire and the first female student there to win a prize on violin. She concertized widely, including in the United States where she moved with her family to Nashville, Tennessee. After retiring from performing in 1895, she moved to New York where she was an influential teacher. Massenet dedicates the work at the bottom of the page to Madame Lüer-Urso, as she was married to a Frederick Luere.
MAN-05911$3,000