Brief von Natalie Curtis an Ferruccio Busoni (Far Rockaway/N.Y., ca. 1912)
author: Natalie Curtis
source date: 1912
edition published: 2023-04
language: en
availability: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)

My dear friend and Master;

it is with profound appreciation that I hear of the noble plan of the Gustav Mahler Endowment – and I feel honored to have been asked to join the committee. New Yorkers should welcome the opportunity, it seems to me, of showing their gratitude that for three never-to-be-forgotten seasons we wer privileged to sit under Mahler’s bâton. His was a dominant, incisive personality whose sharp imprint on a listening mind cannot soon be effaced! To me he was like yourself, one of the few Great Teachers – those whose influence is felt in the art of others, an influence too pervading to be always fully recognized, and thus the greater.

I do not know if it was you or Mrs Mahler who suggested me as a member of the committee – whose membership I know must be very large – but I want both you and her to know how glad I am to do what little I can (and it may be all too little) for this good cause and for the memory of Gustav Mahler. I am writing to Mrs Mahler also, addressing the letter simply to Vienna which I trust will reach her.

With heartiest greetings to you and to your dear wife, your sincere friend, and pupil,
Natalie Curtis.