ID 870714
Lot 108 | LISZT, Franz (1811-1886)
Estimate value
£ 7 000 – 10 000
Ten autograph letters signed (‘F. Liszt‘), 1840-1882, comprising seven to the Leipzig publisher Bartholf Senff, Eilsen, Weimar and Rome, 1 March 1851 – 18 January 1869, the others to [Wilhelm Friedrich] Wieprecht, 12 June 1844, and to unidentified recipients, York, 13 December 1840, and 15 November 1882; with three related letters.
In German and French (two). Together 26 1/2 pages, various sizes.
On Hans von Bülow, the Matthew Passion, Henri Vieuxtemps, Anton Rubinstein and the Wagners. The letters to Bartholf Senff discuss publishing matters, including his two Polonaises (S. 223) which he will send shortly, as soon as they are copied out; in 1851 Liszt recommends his new pupil (and future son-in-law) Hans von Bülow (‘In spite of the rumours which have circulated in Leipzig about him … I can assure you from close personal knowledge that he is a young man of distinguished mind, of a remarkable talent as a performer and of a singularly comprehensive intelligence as a musician’), while in 1852 he asks Senff to reserve him two places for the performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion in Leipzig on Good Friday (‘not too much en vue – as I would like to follow the score without being bothered’); in 1854 he asks him to persuade the artist Robert Kretschmer to illustrate the Années de pèlerinage, recommends the pianist [Wilhelmine] Clauss, encouraging Senff to accompany her on her Russian tour, and indeed to marry her, and also mentions a visit to Leipzig to rehearse his Symphonischen Dichtungen at Gewandhaus and a forthcoming performance by Henri Vieuxtemps; in 1867 he promises to write a ‘serviceable’ piano piece at Senff’s request, and in 1869 he mentions with pleasure an impending visit from Anton Rubinstein.
To Wieprecht, Liszt writes that he will be sending him the manuscript of four songs for male vocal quartet as a gift. From York during his English concert tour in December 1840, Liszt writes to an Italian count that he has ‘resumed my English life’ and is ‘working intensively – but the more I go on the more I feel how much there remains to do’. In November 1882 he mentions spending the end of the year with the Wagners in Venice. The three related documents comprise a letter in Liszt’s name to a Russian composer about some lost compositions, a letter on his behalf to a French correspondent about the sale of some shares, and a letter by his mother [c.1832?] ordering a bust of her son by Mercier and seeking to negotiate the price down from 10 francs to eight francs.
Place of origin: | Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Germany, Hungary, Europe |
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Auction house category: | Letters, documents and manuscripts |
Place of origin: | Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Germany, Hungary, Europe |
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Auction house category: | Letters, documents and manuscripts |
Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London United Kingdom | |
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Preview |
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Phone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | |
Buyer Premium | see on Website | |
Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase |
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