Letter from Virgil Thomson

November 14, 1947

CO.CO.0013

New York Herald Tribune
230 West 41st Street
New York 18

November 14, 1947

Gregor Patigorsky, Esq.
1830 S. Rittenhouse Square
Philhadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dear Mr. Patigorsky:

Your charming letter of last March has remained
unanswered because I have thought ever since that
time, from week to week, that I would be able to give
you some exact information about my cello concerto.
Now I know that I shall not be ready to show it to
you before February or March. I wrote the work and
orchestrated two movements of it more than a year
ago. I delayed scoring the last movement because I
was not entirely satisfied with this from a musical
point of view. Before I got round to correcting it,
I found myself engaged in the composition, scoring
and production of an opera and subsequently in the
recording of another opera and in preparing both for
the press. At this moment I am writing an orchestral
piece which I had promised sometime ago to Efrem
Kurtz and which he wants for January. Once that is
out of the way, I shall return to my cello concerto,
which I shall send to you as soon as it is finished.
I do hope you will pardon my delay in answering. I
am deeply complimented that you should be interested
in the work, and I should appreciate whatever counsel
you may be inclined to offer about the cello writing
in it.

Most sincerely yours,
Virgil Thomson