(MUSIC) Vidas Raoul Manuscript memoir of a violin prodigy

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(MUSIC.) Vidas, Raoul. Manuscript memoir of a violin prodigy. 101 manuscript leaves, some also inscribed on verso, irregularly paginated; various sizes and conditions, but mostly letter-sized and well preserved. Np, circa 1942-43

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This unusual memoir tells the story of Raoul Georges Vidas (1901-1978), a native of Romania who spent most of his dismal early childhood in France, with his father (a failed violinist himself) administering both beatings and lessons on a daily basis. He recalls the time when "my 3 year old face met for the first time with my father''s beautiful hand, & from that time on I was to get either a couple slaps on the face or a real beating every time my father was nervous, which means every day, all through the day & the whole year round" (page 9). Vidas gave his first concert at the age of five. The family relocated to New York when he was sixteen years old (71), and he debuted at Carnegie Hall less than a year later in November 1918 (77). Vidas eventually broke with his domineering father (87-88), and moved to the Los Angeles area with his mother, where he encountered devotees of the Indian mystic Meher Baba (91-92), and the dancer Ruth St. Denis (90, 93). This densely written memoir is a vivid document of its musical era, and could be the basis of a memorable screenplay. with--47 leaves of related manuscript and typescript notes by Vidas, including alternate partial drafts of the memoir (one dateable to 1942), an essay on Bach, a 1977 letter, a floor plan of a violin school, and a detailed list of which extended family members had been good or bad influences in his life.