Oct 10, 2019 - Sale 2519

Sale 2519 - Lot 134

Price Realized: $ 562
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
DELIBES, LÉO. Autograph Musical Manuscript dated and Signed, working draft of a work for bassoon and cello ("Morceau à déchiffrer pour Basson"), 50 bars notated on 11 two-stave systems, with holograph title, instrument labels, and tempo directive. Signed on the title-page. "Basson / Concours de 1876 / Examen au Juin 1890" written in an unknown hand, in blue pencil, on title-page. 2 pages, folio, 20 printed staves on each of recto and verso, written on the second and third pages of a folded sheet; faint uneven toning to title-page and all edges throughout, remnants of prior mounting at upper corners of title-page and terminal page. Np, 1876

Additional Details

Delibes dated this work "Concours 1876," suggesting that he had written it to be used for a competition, possibly the flute competition held at the Paris Conservatoire yearly since 1860, or the sight-reading examinations held in the same place (Delibes wrote a similar work for flute for these examinations entitled "Morceau (Concours de flûte 1876)").
From the Jimmy Van Heusen Collection (see Swann November 7, 2017).