104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010  | 
(212) 254-4710  |  Mon - Fri, 10AM - 6PM
Follow Us:

  • We are happy to call you during the auction and place bids on your behalf. To arrange phone bidding, please call Swann's bid department during business hours.

    (212) 254-4710 ext. 0
    Mon - Fri 10AM - 6PM

     

    Or, e-mail a list of lots with the sale number and your contact information to phonebids@swanngalleries.com. Be sure to include a phone number where we can reach you.

    Bids may also be submitted via fax. Send a list of lots with the sale number and your contact information to (212) 979-1017. You will receive a confirmation before the sale.

    Sale 2461 | Lot 144
    Price Realized: $3,750With Buyer's Premium
    Show Hammer Price

    • Click Image To Enlarge

      Additional Images

    • Sale 2461 Lot 144

      "ARE YOU GOING TO THE KÖLN FESTIVAL?" BRAHMS, JOHANNES. Autograph Letter Signed, "J. Brahms," to botanist Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann, in German, discussing a marzipan treat and the recipient's baby daughter, mentioning discussions in Italy with [music publisher Fritz] Simrock and [composer Theodor] Kirchner, requesting a festival program, and asking whether he expects to attend the "Köln Festival" [Lower Rhenish Music Festival?]. 3 pages, 8vo, written on a folded sheet, terminal page written vertically; short closed separations at folds; matted with portrait in a double-sided frame. With the original envelope, addressed in holograph. Thun, 24 May 1887 [from postmark]

      Estimate $3,500 - 5,000

      ". . . I have . . . just returned from Italy, where I spent the most gorgeous days . . . and in the evenings heard Simrock and Kirchner speak . . . about the [Leipzig?] Gewandhaus, Signale [music journal published by Bartholf Senff: Die Signale für die musikalische Welt], Senff, [music publisher Ernst Wilhelm] Fritzsch, and many other such nice things.
      ". . . [S]end me a tempting festival program . . . .
      ". . . Are you going to the Köln Festival? I'm afraid I must go and have only the consolation that you and others can breathe. . . ."
      Brahms's String Quartet No. 3 in B flat major was dedicated to Engelmann, who helped to arrange concerts for Brahms in Holland.
      On May 29-31, 1887, the Lower Rhenish Music Festival took place in Düsseldorf, at which two works by Brahms were performed: "Dort in den Weiden" and "Akademische Ouvertüre". The previous year, the Festival took place in Köln.


      Price Realized (with Buyer's Premium) $3,750
  • Previous Lot Next Lot