G. Holst. Late autograph letter signed, to Dr. Dilling, with a vocal score of "Savitri", 13 January [1934]

Gustav Holst

Late autograph letter signed ("Gustav Holst"), to Dr. Dilling, WRITTEN FOUR MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEATH, ABOUT THE WANDERING SCHOLAR AND HIS FAILING HEALTH

explaining that an extra performance of The Wandering Scholar on 2 February [1934] might suit him, but that it is no use counting on him, referring to his stay at New Lodge Clinic for the treatment of a duodenal ulcer ("...that has been spoiling the last two years for me"), noting that he has been told that the treatment has not been proceeding as well as had been hoped, mentioning his teaching [at St. Paul's Girls' School] and the two ladies who help him there, also instructing him to write to the publisher Kenneth Curwen concerning his request for information about the performing fees for Savitri

...The six weeks [at the clinic] finish on Feb 2. A few weeks ago it looked as if I might be let loose a few days earlier. But if I were well enough to come on Feb 1 I should be well enough to do my normal Thursday teaching in London so I was wondering if there would be any chance of my coming on Jan 31. But the doctor has told me today that things are not going quite so well so I dare not ask you to repeat the WS on Feb 2 for my sake because no one can tell yet whether I shall be fit to travel then or, even, to leave this place for home...Of course I shall write when I know my fate...

2 pages, 8vo (17.8 x 11.3cm), on printed stationery of the New Lodge Clinic, the letter mounted on the title-page of a first edition of the vocal score of Savitri, New Lodge Clinic, Windsor Forest, Berkshire, 13 January [1934], horizontal crease, filing holes, slightly affecting text

Holst's last opera, The Wandering Scholar, op.50, received its premiere on 31 January 1934, although the composer was too ill to attend. Four months later, on 25 May, Holst succumbed to heart failure following an operation to remove his duodenal ulcer.

The vocal score on whose title-page the letter is mounted, is of Holst's opera Savitri (completed in 1909), which has been described as the most successful attempt at bringing the culture of the East into the Western musical tradition.