Porter Cole

Cole Porter ALS regarding "damn harmonics"

 

1p ALS pencil inscribed overall and signed by American songwriter and composer Cole Porter (1891-1964) as "Cole" at center. On "The Waldorf-Astoria / Park and Lexington Avenues / 49th and 50th Streets / New York" letterhead, undated but likely after ca. 1934. The letterhead includes the hotel's cable address and 5-digit telephone extension. In near fine condition, with expected paper folds and a minor rust paper clip impression in the upper left corner, 8.5" x 11".

 

Cole wrote this terse note to an unknown recipient named Bob: "Don't lose this. It is the only copy. The damn harmonics continue until chords indicate new ones. Cole," and was originally paper clipped to a leaf of handwritten music. Porter's epistolary tone was often monosyllabic and grouchy in a humorous way, and this appears to be one such example. One can Porter, exhausted after the creative process, self-deprecatingly characterizing his music as a series of "damn harmonics."

 

Cole Porter lived in a lavishly appointed 6-bedroom apartment on the 33rd floor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel between 1934-1964. There, on a 1907 Steinway piano he dubbed "High Society", Porter composed many well-known songs like "I Get a Kick Out of You" (1934) and "I've Got You Under My Skin" (1936). Perhaps Porter even composed the music sent to Bob on this very piano. Porter's piano can still be viewed on the mezzanine level of the Park Avenue entrance of the luxury hotel today.

 

Cole Porter was a classically trained musician who composed music and lyrics for Broadway and Hollywood alike. Porter's musical output was prolific during the late 1920s and 1930s. He averaged between one to three smashes almost every year between 1928 and 1939, some hits appearing in the same musical. While his Broadway career peaked in the 1930s, with the aberration of Kiss Me, Kate in 1948, Porter continued composing movie scores well into the late 1950s.

 

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