26. Brahms, Johannes. Highly important autograph music signed (“J. Brahms”), 1 page (3.62 x 5.62 in.; 92 x 143 mm.), Vienna, 17 March 1897. Accompanied by an image Brahms with an image of Anton Rubinstein on verso.

The last lines of Johannes Brahms before his death.

In a feeble hand, Brahms writes out three measures of music, with warm wishes J. Brahms.

On the verso, there are seven measures by Joseph Joachim, a close friend of Brahms. Inscribed and signed
Zum Gestaden um … Stiftung u. and Meiningen. Joseph Joachim 10 October 1899.

Accompanied by a letter from Eduard Hanslick, the German Bohemian music critic, (5.62 x 3.62 in.; 143 x 93 mm.), Vienna, April 1897 to Mr. Braun.

Hanslick writes in full: Dear Herr Braun. The enclosed lines are probably the last things Brahms wrote. He wrote them to you when we visited him already seriously ill at his home Karlgasse 4 on 17 March 1897 when he still remembered with thanks how kindly you had kept him company in Karlsbad.

On the verso of the Eduard Hanslick letter to Braun there is a letter to Braun from Josef Hofmann, Moscow, 17 February 1897. It includes a three measure musical quote with the inscription, Herrn Braun a souvenir from an admirer of your threefold talents. Josef Hofmann Moskau 17/2 97.

A child prodigy, Josef Hofmann gave a debut recital in Warsaw at the age of five years, and a long series of concerts throughout Europe and Scandinavia, culminating in a series of concerts in America in 1887-88 that elicited comparisons with the young Mozart and the young Mendelssohn. Anton Rubinstein took Hofmann as his only private student in 1892 and arranged the debut of his pupil in Hamburg, Germany in 1894. Hofmann toured and performed extensively over the next 50 years as one of the most celebrated pianists of the era.

In 1890, Brahms resolved to give up composing. As it turned out, however, he was unable to abide by his decision, and in the years before his death he produced a number of acknowledged masterpieces. His admiration for Richard Mühlfeld, clarinetist with the Meiningen orchestra, moved him to compose the Clarinet Trio, Op. 114, Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115 (1891), and the two Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120 (1894). He also wrote several cycles of piano pieces, Opp. 116–119, the Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs), Op. 121 (1896), and the Eleven Chorale Preludes for organ, Op. 122 (1896).

While completing the Op. 121 songs, Brahms developed cancer. In September of 1896 Brahms went to Karlsbad for treatment. His last appearance in public was on 3 March 1897, when he saw Hans Richter conduct his Symphony No. 4. There was an ovation after each of the four movements. His condition gradually worsened and he died a month later, on 3 April 1897.

An extraordinary group of manuscripts connecting Brahms at the very end of his life with three important and admiring musical figures of the late nineteenth century.
$20,000 - $30,000