[J.S. Bach] J.G. Naumann. Fine autograph letter signed about J.S. Bach, 1801

[Johann Sebastian Bach] Johann Gottlieb Naumann

Fine autograph letter signed ("Naumann"), to Messrs. Hoffmeister and Kühnel of the Bureau de Musique, Leipzig, ABOUT JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

about the plans for an edition of Bach's works, giving his views on the project, comparing Bach's music favourably with that of other composers, extolling the project and the importance of Sebastian Bach's music for the German nation and seeking to be a subscriber to the edition

...Es ist warlich echt u[nd] kühn die unsterbl: Werke des grossen Mannes worauf die ganze Nazion stolz seyn darf wieder aufzuleben u[nd] bekant zu machen, besonders in einer Zeit da die viele musicalische Spreu die vornigen Kerne ganz unterdrückt!... 

1 page, 4to (22.5 x 18.8cm), integral autograph address leaf, with seal and seal tear, endorsed by recipient, Dresden, 14 February 1801

An important letter relating to the Bach revival at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741-1801) was a composer and member of a distinguished family of musicians from Saxony. His enthusiasm for the music of J.S. Bach is well-known (see Bach-Dokumente, iii). Bach's music was predominantly unpublished until after the appearance of Forkel's biography of the composer (1802) and until the German publishing industry became well established in the early years of the nineteenth century.

PROVENANCE:

Sotheby’s, London, 16 May 1997 (lot 99)