Rare ALS on Difficulties with His German Publisher

$1400 net

Item: 22518

Add to Wishlist

DELIUS, FREDERICK. (1862-1934). English composer. ALS. (“Frederick Delius”). 3pp. Small 4to. Grez-sur-Loing, May 20, 1920. To Verlag Harmonie. In German with translation.

“To the Harmonie Publishing House

I have received today your settlement and herewith inform you that I cannot accept it. The settlements of the years up to the war which were full of mistakes have not been put right and so there remains nothing else for me to do but to take legal action. I had already supplied my legal advisers in Berlin with material to this end before the outbreak of the war after you had twice deliberately avoided me in Munich after I had made a written appointment to see you and the Court Auditor. As for your two questions the 1087 Marks for Romeo und Juliet is the amount which I paid myself for the production of the material for the Berlin performances for which I can produce the paid receipts of the copyists. You took over this material, supplied it to Sir Thomas Beecham for the London performance and have been paid for it. As for the other item it is not 2 Marks but 2200 Marks, the sum which the Universal Edition has paid you for a parcel of my works. I am now determined to bring the affair to an end. Respectfully…”

Rare ALS on Difficulties with His German Publisher

Hover over image to magnify. Click to zoom.

Click image to magnify

Frederick Delius

Although Delius’s parents objected to their son’s aspiration to become a composer, his friend from the Leipzig Conservatory, Edvard Grieg, finally persuaded them to consent to his choice. In 1890, Delius settled in Paris where he wrote his operas Irmelin and The Magic Fountain but his musical style evolved slowly and he claimed to have destroyed much of the work he completed there. “His masterpiece, Paris, was not completed until he was 37, and his individual genius did not become evident until a few years later,” (The New Grove Dictionary). It was in Germany that his music was first appreciated and through the support of English conductor Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), Delius’s music gained recognition in his native England and in the U.S. Our letter mentions his opera A Village Romeo and Juliet, which premiered in Berlin in 1907 and the British premiere of which Beecham conducted in 1910.

Berlin’s newly founded Verlag Harmonie began publishing Delius’ compositions in 1906, “however, this was not ultimately a successful collaboration,” as can be seen from our letter, (“Music and Copyright: the Case of Delius and his Publishers [Book Review],” CAML Review Revue De l’ACBM, Snyder).

Written from the French village Grez-sur-Loing, where Delius lived after 1897. Our letter is likely unpublished, not being found in Lionel Carley’s Delius: A Life in Letters.

First two pages written on recto and verso and third page on just the recto. Folded and creased with some light discoloration and wear at the edges. Docketed in an unknown hand in the upper left margin of the first page. In very good condition. Rare in ALS.

Rare ALS on Difficulties with His German Publisher