Grove, George. (1820-1900). Autograph Letter Signed. ALS from the founding editor of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the first director of the Royal College of Music to Mrs. Howard London, June 1, 1896. 3 pp. On bifolium with the letterhead of the Royal College of Music (final page blank). He tells the mother of an unlucky piano student that Ernst Pauer, the professor for piano performance, has recommended not to award a scholarship to her daughter: "Madam I thought it but to get Mr Pauer, who is Miss Howard y Gomez's teacher, to write his opinion of her, and I now enclose it to you. / He has written with perfect frankness, and therefore if you will allow me to suggest it might be well not to show it to the poor child, as it might not unnaturally discomfort, and distress her, and perhaps dishearten her, to find that she was deemed to have so little chance of a scholarship – all which would do harm and no good – more especially as Pauer's note refers to the offer of a scholarship to her to the college, which is quite out of question: there can be no objection to her trying in the competition when the next scholarship we put up, to having her change with the rest. Please return Pauer's note to me ... Yours Faithfully, G. Grove. [P.S.] I have addressed this note to the College that it might reach you without Miss Howard seeing it."
7 x 4.5 inches (17.6 x 11.2 cm). Two horizontal folds. Ink smudges (probably early). Otherwise in fine condition.
Austrian pianist Ernst Pauer (1826-1905) taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music from 1876. Clara Howard y Gomez (1866-?) was admitted to the RCM as a piano and organ student on May 8, 1883. She left without a degree on August 2, 1884. No father is mentioned in the RCM's files, which is the obvious reason why this letter is addressed to the mother. See, Giles William Edward Brightwell, " 'One Equal Music': The Royal College of Music, its inception, and the legacy of Sir George Grove 1883-1895," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Durham (UK), Vol. 2, p. 212.
Grove, George. (1820-1900). Autograph Letter Signed. ALS from the founding editor of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the first director of the Royal College of Music to Mrs. Howard London, June 1, 1896. 3 pp. On bifolium with the letterhead of the Royal College of Music (final page blank). He tells the mother of an unlucky piano student that Ernst Pauer, the professor for piano performance, has recommended not to award a scholarship to her daughter: "Madam I thought it but to get Mr Pauer, who is Miss Howard y Gomez's teacher, to write his opinion of her, and I now enclose it to you. / He has written with perfect frankness, and therefore if you will allow me to suggest it might be well not to show it to the poor child, as it might not unnaturally discomfort, and distress her, and perhaps dishearten her, to find that she was deemed to have so little chance of a scholarship – all which would do harm and no good – more especially as Pauer's note refers to the offer of a scholarship to her to the college, which is quite out of question: there can be no objection to her trying in the competition when the next scholarship we put up, to having her change with the rest. Please return Pauer's note to me ... Yours Faithfully, G. Grove. [P.S.] I have addressed this note to the College that it might reach you without Miss Howard seeing it."
7 x 4.5 inches (17.6 x 11.2 cm). Two horizontal folds. Ink smudges (probably early). Otherwise in fine condition.
Austrian pianist Ernst Pauer (1826-1905) taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music from 1876. Clara Howard y Gomez (1866-?) was admitted to the RCM as a piano and organ student on May 8, 1883. She left without a degree on August 2, 1884. No father is mentioned in the RCM's files, which is the obvious reason why this letter is addressed to the mother. See, Giles William Edward Brightwell, " 'One Equal Music': The Royal College of Music, its inception, and the legacy of Sir George Grove 1883-1895," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Durham (UK), Vol. 2, p. 212.