Description
Autograph Letter Signed ‘W.G.Cusins’, to “My dear Baumer”, thanking him for taking his Notting Hill pupils in his absence, delighted with his own visit to Germany, describing his success and the concerts. 3 pp. 7 x 4 inches, in good condition, some paper adhering to one edge where formerly mounted. 66 Upper Norton Street, undated. Sir William George Cusins (1833 – 1893) was an English pianist, violinist, organist, conductor and composer. He toured widely, in England, Leipzig, Berlin and other places, as a concert pianist and as a composer. He was appointed organist to Queen Victoria’s private chapel. He also played the violin in various orchestras in London. In 1851 he became assistant professor at the RAM, and later full professor. In 1867 he succeeded Sterndale Bennett as conductor of the Philharmonic Society and remained in this post until 1883. He was appointed Master of the Queen’s Musick by Queen Victoria in 1870. “The Wagnerites and Lisztites are gaining ground fast in all parts of Germany, to the great disgust, of course, of all persons who believe that Mendelssohn and Mozart were great geniuses.”