[Bach, Johann Sebastian]--Adolf Bernhard Marx

2 pages, large folio (34 x 20cm), signed and dated ("Berlin den 8.April 1829 AB Marx.
Ad M. Schlesinger"), endorsed on verso, creased at folds, a little dust-marked,

"...Zwischen 1. Dem Buchhändler Herrn Adolf Martin Schlesinger und / 2. Dem Referendar Adolph Bernhard Marx / ist folgender Vertrag geschlossen worden.



1. Der pp Marx übernimmt die Anfertigung eines vollständigen Klavierauszugs von J.S. Bachs Passionsmusik nach dem Matthäus, die erste Korrektur und eine Revision nach der zweiten Korr[ektur]. 



2.Er leitet, so viel es dessen Bedarf, die Ausgabe der Partitur, macht eine Korrektur und sucht die andern unter seiner Anweisung von andern Musikern bewerkstelligen zu lassen, wofür Hr. Schlesinger nichts zu entrichten hat.



3. Herr pp Schlesinger zahlt (ad 1) für den Klavierauszug die Summe von achtzig Thalern, und zwar 40 thalern vor Beginn der Arbeit in Laufe dieses Monats, 40 th auf Ablieferung des letzten Manuscripts,… auch dem pp Marx drei Freiexemplare des Klavierauszuges und lässt die zweite Korrektur besorgen. 



4. Ad 2 wird der pp Marx als Herausgeber der Partitur auf deren Titelblatt genannt, wobei sich von selbst versteht dass des Eigenthums Recht des Werkes ausschliesslich dem Herrn pp Schlesinger zusteht..." 

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THIS IS THE PUBLISHER’S RETAINED COPY OF THE CONTRACT FOR THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF BACH’S ST MATTHEW PASSION.

It is newly discovered and does not appear in the extensive literature on Bach’s towering masterwork. It is signed by the publisher Adolf Martin Schlesinger and the editor, musician and composer Adolf Bernhard Marx. Marx, whose name is spelt “Adolph” on both the contract and the first edition, was a friend of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the man primarily responsible for the first performance of the work in modern times (though Carl Philipp Emanuel had used sections of the work in his own Passions in Hamburg). This took place on 11 March 1829 at the Berlin Singakademie, in a heavily abbreviated and re-orchestrated version. The premiere was advertised in six consecutive issues of the music newspaper edited by Marx, the Berliner Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, which had been founded by Schlesinger. Two further performances took place on 21 March and 18 April (the last conducted by Zelter). Ten days before the final performance, Marx and Schlesinger signed this contract to set the whole of Bach’s masterwork in print in a vocal score. According to Marx’s Erinnerungen (1865), he persuaded Schlesinger to take on the publication, not only of the vocal score, but also a full score. Marx’s version ignores the cuts and alterations made by Mendelssohn earlier in 1829.

The document states that Marx was free to take the advice of others in the preparation of the score, though, in a later insertion, Schlesinger stipulates that he would not pay for any such outside help. Others who may have worked with Marx presumably include Mendelssohn and Zelter. It is also stated that Marx would receive his first payment almost immediately and the residue given when he handed in the final manuscript. It is not entirely clear which sources he used. Mendelssohn certainly owned a manuscript of the St Matthew Passion given to him by his maternal grandmother Lea Saloman in 1824. Mendelssohn’s teacher C.F. Zelter, the director of the Singakademie also owned several manuscripts of the work. The important point is that Marx reverted to the earlier sources and did not use Mendelssohn’s performing edition, which was not published until recent years.

We know from information in the Schlesinger letterbooks and correspondence that the full and vocal scores were intended for publication in 1830. Schlesinger writing to another publisher, described the forthcoming appearance of the work, which was already perceived as among the greatest of all religious compositions (please see Lot 144, page 51).

The explosion of interest in the composer, ignited by Mendelssohn, Marx, Zelter and Schlesinger dates from the first edition of the St Matthew Passion. It is no exaggeration that the publications in 1830 established Bach’s reputation in the wider musical firmament, and with it his great masterpiece, the St Matthew Passion.  For a copy of Marx's edition of Bach's vocal score, see next lot.