Brahms, Johannes, (1833-1897)

("zum 12:ten September für - Joachim mit herzlichstem Gruss von Johannes Br."), diverging considerably in many places from the first edition, an essentially fair-copy manuscript, with a few deletions and corrections, notated in dark brown ink on up to three systems per page, each of four staves, with autograph title ("Geistliches Wiegenlied von Lope de Vega")

11 pages, plus one blank, small 4to (21.5 x 17.5cm), 14-stave paper, cotton tie, later pencil pagination, [Vienna, by 12 September 1864], a number of small tears, expertly repaired, creasing to some corners, central horizontal fold, browning

Joseph Joachim; Liepmannssohn, Catalogue 46 (May 1921) no. 19; P. Gottschalk, Catalogue 7 (1922) no. 30, and Catalogue 8 (1925) no. 24; Charles Sessler (Philadelphia); Robert Esty (Philadelphia); sold in 1945 to Rudolf Kallir; acquired on 2 April 1946.

Margit McCorkle, Johannes Brahms. Thematisch-Bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis (1984), pp.374-75

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A BRAHMS DISCOVERY: THE DEDICATION COPY OF ONE OF HIS FINEST SONGS, A TOKEN OF A FAMOUS MUSICAL FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN BRAHMS AND JOSEPH JOACHIM. 

THE AUTOGRAPH DIVERGES SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE FIRST EDITION, AND CONTAINS NEW MUSIC, BEING THREE BARS LONGER. It has been unavailable to modern Brahms scholarship, and is only imperfectly described in the literature on the basis of earlier auction-catalogue entries.

Towards the end of 1884, Simrock published Brahms's two songs for contralto voice, viola and piano Op. 91. The first, a setting of Rückert's Gestillte Sehnsucht, was probably composed in the summer of the same year; there is no known autograph. The altogether more famous second number, which sets Emanuel Geibel's version of a poem by Lope de Vega, dates from some twenty years earlier. It was composed for the baptism of Johannes Joachim, born 12 September 1864, the son of Brahms's closest friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim and his wife the contralto Amalie Schneeweiss. The song is a complex tribute by Brahms to Joachim and Amalie and meant to be performed by both. The carol “Josef, lieber Josef mein” pervades the entire song and is heard in its original form at the opening in the viola.

McCorkle records two autograph manuscripts of the song, the first presented by the composer to Ferdinand Bischoff was sold in these rooms on 28 May 1993, lot 32. The second source, the present manuscript, which is much earlier than the transcript for Bischoff, was not examined by McCorkle, to judge by her sparse and incomplete entry.

Apart from Robert and Clara Schumann, there was no more significant musician in Brahms’s life than the great violinist Joseph Joachim. Brahms’s three Violin Sonatas, the Violin Concerto and the Double Concerto were all written with the virtuoso in mind. The present song and this very manuscript were acknowledgements of the special relationship of violinist and composer. The manuscript is remarkable for the many divergences large and small from the first edition, including, dynamics and pedalling. In a number of places (for example, bb 74-77, right hand), the piano figuration and the viola part contain completely different music. There are three additional bars not in the first edition.