BRAHMS, Johannes (1833-1897). Autograph letter signed ('Dein / Johannes') to an unidentified recipient ('Theurer Freund'), n.p., n.d. [dated in pencil 'Nach 7. Mai 1896'], 2½ pages, 8vo, bifolium.
BRAHMS, Johannes (1833-1897). Autograph letter signed ('Dein / Johannes') to an unidentified recipient ('Theurer Freund'), n.p., n.d. [dated in pencil 'Nach 7. Mai 1896'], 2½ pages, 8vo, bifolium.
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BRAHMS, Johannes (1833-1897). Autograph letter signed ('Dein / Johannes') to an unidentified recipient ('Theurer Freund'), n.p., n.d. [dated in pencil 'Nach 7. Mai 1896'], 2½ pages, 8vo, bifolium.

Details
BRAHMS, Johannes (1833-1897). Autograph letter signed ('Dein / Johannes') to an unidentified recipient ('Theurer Freund'), n.p., n.d. [dated in pencil 'Nach 7. Mai 1896'], 2½ pages, 8vo, bifolium.

REPORTING ON THE HEALTH OF CLARA SCHUMANN IN HER LAST WEEKS. Brahms thanks his correspondent for a letter sent on 7 May (his 63rd birthday), and expresses deep sympathy, apparently on the death of the recipient's wife: 'I cannot express feelingly enough how much I sympathised with you in your recent difficult time [Wie sehr ich Deine letzte schwere Zeit mit empfunden habe, kann ich Dir nicht herzlich genug sagen]'. He goes on to report on the health of Clara Schumann: 'Today let me just add that Frau Schumann seems to be feeling decidedly better. She is thinking of going shortly to Baden-Baden (where her daughter [Elise] Sommerhof[f] is also going) [Heute laß mich nur noch sagen daß es Frau Schumann entschieden besser zu gehen scheint. Sie denkt nächstens nach Baden-Baden zu gehen (wohin auch ihre Tochter Sommerhof[f] geht)]'. This would be the ideal place for the recipient's recovery as well, and Brahms would feel the greatest pleasure in joining them ('Ich möchte ganz gewiß kommen und mit welcher Freude!').

Clara Schumann had suffered a stroke on 26 March 1896 and, in spite of Brahms's optimistic prognosis, she was to die within days of this letter, on 20 May. The emotions of this period undoubtedly influenced the composition of the anguished Vier Ernste Gesänge, which he ironically described as a 'birthday present to myself' on his 63rd birthday.
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