GOUNOD Charles). - Lot 114

GOUNOD Charles). Born in Paris. 1818-1893. French composer. L.A.S. "Ch. Gounod" to "Monsieur le Comte". Paris, November 20, 1855. 2 pp.1/2 in-4 on headed paper Ville de Paris - Ecoles communales - Direction de l'Orphéon. VERY BEAUTIFUL LETTER.THE CREATION OF HIS MESSE SOLENNELLE DE SAINTE CECILE.Gounod addresses a patron and benefactor: ...I would be remiss in the effective and benevolent patronage you have deigned to grant to our great Choral Solemnity of Sunday, November 25, if I did not ask you, as a final favor, to kindly honor with your presence this ceremony whose success your powerful recommendation has just ensured... He therefore sends him 6 places as a ...humble token of the price I attach to your precious interest... and asks him one more favor, ...convinced that with you (...) trust must bring good fortune. I have recently composed, at the request of the Committee of the Association des Artistes Musiciens, a Messe Solennelle with full orchestra, to be performed on Thursday 29th November in the Church of St Eustache at midday, on the occasion of the feast of St Cécile, and for the benefit of the Caisses de Secours et pensions destinés (sic) aux artistes pauvres. Dare I hope (...) that you will take an interest in this work? Dedicated to the memory of J. Zimmermann, my Father (in fact, his father-in-law), Gounod's Messe solennelle for soloists, choir, orchestra and obbligato organ was enthusiastically received, particularly by Camille Saint-Saëns, who wrote: "The appearance of the Messe Sainte Cécile (...) caused a sort of stupor. This simplicity, this grandeur, this serene light that dawned on the musical world like an aurora, bothered many people (...). It was in torrents that the luminous rays burst forth from this Mass."