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BRUCKNER, Anton (1824-1896). AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED TO HIS PUBLISHER, Albert Gutmann, the publisher of the Fourth Symphony, Vienna, 23 November 1885, concerning three masses available for publication, performances of the Quintet, Third Symphony, Seventh Symphony and Te Deum and publication of the Fourth Symphony, black ink, 4 pages on two disjoint bifolium leaves, 8vo (183 x 137mm)., (tear on second leaf).
The letter is written to Albert Gutmann, although he is not addressed by name, who appears to have asked whether Bruckner has any chamber music for publication. Bruckner replies that he has written no chamber music but has three large masses available for publication. He announces that Kapellmeister Schuch will be performing his Third Symphony, dedicated to Wagner, in Dresden and asks Gutmann to give Schuch the score of the Fourth Symphony in E flat, the Romantic, which he hopes Gutmann will publish. He also informs him that his Quintet, Te Deum and Seventh Symphony are to be performed in Vienna. He finishes by saying that he has received twenty offers from abroad.
The three masses to which Bruckner refers, although composed in 1864, 1869 and 1872 (Masses 1,2 and 3), were not published until 1892, 1896 and 1893 respectively. From the date of the letter, the Third Symphony refers to the original version published in 1880 and first performed in 1877. The Dresden performance of the work, referred to here, was given by Ernst von Schuch, Kapellmeister at Dresden, and an advocate of contemporary music. The Fourth Symphony was published, as Bruckner hoped, by Gutmann in the revised Schalk and Löwe edition in 1889, as was the Seventh Symphony in 1885. The latter received its first performance in Vienna in January 1886, as Bruckner writes, despite his request to the Vienna Philharmonic that it should not be performed there as he, rightly, feared the Viennese critics. This symphony, however, brought Bruckner a degree of fame and at its first performance at Leipzig in December 1884 had been enthusiastically received. Nonetheless, the Quintet, Bruckner's only important chamber work, as he himself implies at the beginning of the letter, had a great success in Vienna.
Although giving evidence of Bruckner's characteristic self-doubt, the letter was written at a time of burgeoning recognition for the composer and links the Quintet, Te Deum and Seventh Symphony all of which were instrumental in achieving that recognition.
The letter is written to Albert Gutmann, although he is not addressed by name, who appears to have asked whether Bruckner has any chamber music for publication. Bruckner replies that he has written no chamber music but has three large masses available for publication. He announces that Kapellmeister Schuch will be performing his Third Symphony, dedicated to Wagner, in Dresden and asks Gutmann to give Schuch the score of the Fourth Symphony in E flat, the Romantic, which he hopes Gutmann will publish. He also informs him that his Quintet, Te Deum and Seventh Symphony are to be performed in Vienna. He finishes by saying that he has received twenty offers from abroad.
The three masses to which Bruckner refers, although composed in 1864, 1869 and 1872 (Masses 1,2 and 3), were not published until 1892, 1896 and 1893 respectively. From the date of the letter, the Third Symphony refers to the original version published in 1880 and first performed in 1877. The Dresden performance of the work, referred to here, was given by Ernst von Schuch, Kapellmeister at Dresden, and an advocate of contemporary music. The Fourth Symphony was published, as Bruckner hoped, by Gutmann in the revised Schalk and Löwe edition in 1889, as was the Seventh Symphony in 1885. The latter received its first performance in Vienna in January 1886, as Bruckner writes, despite his request to the Vienna Philharmonic that it should not be performed there as he, rightly, feared the Viennese critics. This symphony, however, brought Bruckner a degree of fame and at its first performance at Leipzig in December 1884 had been enthusiastically received. Nonetheless, the Quintet, Bruckner's only important chamber work, as he himself implies at the beginning of the letter, had a great success in Vienna.
Although giving evidence of Bruckner's characteristic self-doubt, the letter was written at a time of burgeoning recognition for the composer and links the Quintet, Te Deum and Seventh Symphony all of which were instrumental in achieving that recognition.