PORTIER (Paul) - Lot 225

Lot 225
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PORTIER (Paul) - Lot 225
PORTIER (Paul) Bar-sur-Seine, 1866 - Paris, 1962. French zoologist and marine biologist, collaborator with Charles Richet in the study of anaphylaxis. Autograph letter signed "P. Portier", addressed to "Mon cher ami Franck" (Franck Emmanuel). Bar-sur-Seine, July 28, 1947. 4 pages in-8. Interesting, lively letter addressed to Franck Emmanuel, son of composer and musicologist Maurice Emmanuel, in which Portier gives a personal account of the late musician that is both admiring and nuanced. The scholar recalls reading an issue of the Revue musicale devoted to Maurice Emmanuel, which he hastened to obtain, and confesses how this discovery enabled him to measure more fully "the breadth and high value of his work", until then partly unrecognized in his eyes due to the composer's modesty. He also underlines the injustice suffered by the composer during his lifetime, while admiring the serenity with which he endured these trials. The letter is peppered with witty remarks, notably about the correspondence with Camille Saint-Saëns, which amuses him and confirms his personal appreciation of Claude Debussy's music, expressed in a delightful phrase: "It has the same effect on me as if I dropped my chicken coop on a keyboard". Portier's reflections are spontaneous and sincere, revealing an outsider's, almost candid, view of the aesthetic debates of his time. There is also a critical observation on a misprint ("chromophotographie" for "chronophotographie"), not without irony on the possible excesses of approximate erudition. The letter concludes on a more intimate note, with Portier evoking his desire to welcome his correspondent to Bar-sur-Seine and the difficulties of daily life linked to age and the absence of family support. A rich and engaging document, at the crossroads of the scientific and artistic spheres, offering precious testimony to the reception of Maurice Emmanuel and the sensitivity of a great scholar to music.
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