R. Strauss. Fine autograph letter signed ("D[r]RichardStrauss"), to Eugen Antosch, 20 September 1948

Richard Strauss

Fine autograph letter signed ("D[r]RichardStrauss"), to Eugen Antosch

discussing financial matters following the end of the war, informing him that he has been in Switzerland since October 1945, and that up to that point he has paid all his taxes not in Austria but in Germany, mentioning some royalties from Boosey & Hawkes in London, noting that he has a debt of some 25,000 [Swiss] francs to pay back, advising him to contact his son and his lawyer if he requires more information, observing that even a German composer whose music is performed all over the world cannot live off the good air of Lake Geneva alone, also mentioning his lawyer Dr. Reichenbach, and asking whether he might show his gratitude to Dr. Stöger with a small manuscript sketch of his

...Schliesslich kann auch ein deutscher Componist, der noch dazu in der ganzen Welt aufgeführt wird, nicht nur von der guten Luft des Genfer Sees leben...

3 pages, 18 x 13.9cm, printed stationery of the Montreux-Palace hotel, stamp of the Austrian censor ("Österreichische Zensurstelle"), [Montreux,] 20 September 1948, traces of rusty paper clip, filing holes, slightly affecting text

The years immediately following the war were difficult ones for Strauss, as this letter reveals. Not only did the composer have to undergo a process of denazification, he was also unable to receive foreign earnings from his compositions.