Letter: Putting the record straight on Wood
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Being engaged in writing the biography of Sir Henry J. Wood, may I correct the report ('Into the Woods', 5 December) of the discovery at the Royal Academy of Music of some of his early recordings? These records, on which his first wife, Olga, sings to his piano accompaniment, were not 'left to the Academy in Wood's will' but were deposited there earlier.
They are not all of 1908, nor do they comprise only 'Victorian ballads', but include songs by Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky.
The song 'The Lotus Flower', in which Wood's own voice is heard, is not 'a sentimental ballad' but one of the treasures of German lieder (Schumann's 'Die Lotosblume').
Olga was indeed Russian but not a 'Russian princess', though so described in her husband's fanciful autobiography. 'Ourousoff' was not her own name but her mother's maiden name. On the record labels, as on her concert programmes, she was 'Mrs Henry J. Wood'.
Yours truly,
ARTHUR JACOBS
Oxford
6 December
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments