# - Brahms, Johannes.

giving his opinion and advice about the money that Bülow offered Friedrich Chrysander to support his Handel edition



...Du hast ja nur ein solches Wort zu sagen, wenn Du Chr. den diesmal etwas gewichtigen Lorbeerkranz aufsetzest u. ein anderes, wie sich alle Hamburger, die Direktoren waren, mit Dir freuen werden, einen so würdigen aller Verehrung werten Mann den ihren zu dürfen...



3 pages, 8vo, no place or date, [c.1890]; together with: two visiting cards, one inscribed, the other signed and inscribed, by Brahms; and a manuscript transcription of 10 letters by Brahms to Prince Alexander Georg of Hesse, to Alexander Friedrich, Landgraf of Hesse(including a quotation from the Clarinet Quintet Op.115), and to Karl Reinthaler, with a letter by Alexander Friedrich to Florence May, about the letters (5)






 

 

From the William Reeves collection

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

On the occasion of Bülow's sixtieth birthday, Hamburg music patrons presented the conductor with 10,000 Marks. At Brahms's suggestion, Bülow gave this gift to Friedrich Chrysander, the heroic editor of the complete works of Handel. Chrysander had produced his great work almost entirely single-handedly and without support from his local Hamburgers, although his principal manuscript source was the collection of Handel's own conducting scores in the University Library there.   Much to Bülow's consternation and Brahms's amusement, his generous gift was rejected. In cryptical fashion, not uncharacteristic of Brahms's epistolary style, the present letter appears to allude to this matter.

There is no edition of Brahms's letters to von Bülow, one of the greatest German conductors and pianists of the day. Brahms dedicated his final Violin Sonata to Bülow. For more on this episode see Brahms's letter to Bülow of late January 1891 in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, published by S. Avins, Johannes Brahms, Life & Letters (1997) no.496.