Lot 167
  • 167

BRAHMS, JOHANNES. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("JOH:BRAHMS") TO PRINCESS HELENE OF NASSAU ("GNÄDIGSTE FRAU PRINZESSIN")

Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 USD
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Description

  • Autograph letter signed (“Joh:Brahms”) to Princess Helene of Nassau (“Gnädigste Frau Prinzessin”)
containing a glittering description of the Music Festival in Basel at which his own Triumphlied was performed, outlining some of the successes and disappointments and mentioning works by Handel, Schumann and Beethoven ...Wollte ich nun das wirklich schöne u[nd] gelungene Fest beschreiben...Im Münster hörte es sich gar vortrefflich, ja u[nd] in seinem herrlichen Kreuzgang spaziert es sich gar zu schön…Nur habe ich dann auch wenig Hoffnung dass Ihre werte Freundin in Zürich besser Wort halte u[nd] so könnte ich mich wohl gleich zum Voraus wie nachträglich beklagen. Doch möchte ich mittheilen dass am ersten Tag Josue v. Händel, am 2ten mein Triumphlied, der 3te Theil des Schumannschen Faust u[nd] Beethoven 9te Sinfonie gemacht wird. Am 3ten Tag spielt Wilhelmi u.s.w.... 3 pages, large 8vo, Rüschlikon am Zürcher See [on Lake Zurich, 9 June 1874]

Catalogue Note

1874 was a year of much travelling for Brahms. In the summer he was able to combine performances of his music at Basel and Zurich with a holiday by the lake in Zurich. The festival in Basel contained at least two works of importance for Brahms (apart from his own Triumphlied). Schumann’s Scenen aus Goethes Faust and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a work he could not miss (see Brahms’s letter to an unknown lady, sold in these rooms, London, 12 May 1981, lot 96).