Hans von Bülow
This letter is the generous gift of Timothy McFarland
The present letter, written from Hanover on 27 March 1879, finds Hans von Bülow responding to a prospective organizer in Kassel concerning a benefit concert connected with the projected monument to the composer, violinist, and conductor Louis Spohr. Bülow accepts the (unknown) recipient’s apparent preference that the event be deferred until the autumn, while correcting a report attributed to a certain Katzenstein: he had not refused participation outright, but had told the former Kassel court musician Lorleberg that he would be willing to assist at a later date.
The letter illuminates Bülow’s priorities during the 1878–79 season. He explains that he had resolved to undertake such “favors” only for the benefit of the Bayreuth Fund, a restriction that made an immediate appearance in Kassel impossible. The endorsement at the letter’s head records receipt in Kassel on 28 March and notes that the recipient had requested postponement of the concert.
The prominent bronze monument dedicated to Spohr was designed and sculpted by Carl Ferdinand Hartzer. Although the finished Spohr monument was not unveiled until 1883, this correspondence documents an earlier stage in the effort to secure distinguished musical support for the memorial.
Anmerkung des Empfängers:
erhalten
Cassel 28/3. 79.
Notiz: In meinem Schreiben
hatte ich den Wunsch geäussert,
das Concert in die Herbst ver-
legt zu sehen. [Merdy?].
Geehrter Herr
in Erwiderung Ihrer geschätzten Zuschrift vom 21 d. beehre ich
mich Ihnen – etwas laconisch, denn es fehlt mir die Musse zu ausführ-
licher Correspondenz – mein Einverständniß mit den von Ihnen
geäußerten Ansichten mitzutheilen.
Katzenstein habe ich nicht die Ehre zu
kennen; seine schriftliche Notiz an Sie beruht jedenfalls auf einem Miß-
verständniß: denn auf die Anfrage des Kgl. Kammermusikers Lorleberg
(jetzt hier, früher in Cassel) ob ich nicht für das Spohr=Denkmal in
C. spielen wolle, habe ich erklärt, daß ich später gern dazu bereit
sein würde, während der laufenden Saison aber entschlossen sei,
derartige Gefälligkeiten nur zu Gunsten des Bayreuther Fonds zu
übernehmen.
Mit vorzüglicher Hochachtung
ganz ergebenst
Bülow
Hanover, 27 März 1879
Annotation by recipient:
Received Cassel [Kassel] 28/3. 79. Note: In my letter, I had expressed the wish to see the concert postponed to the autumn. [Merdy?].
Dear Sir,
In reply to your esteemed letter of the 21st inst., I have the honor to inform you—somewhat laconically, as I lack the leisure for lengthy correspondence—of my agreement with the views you have expressed.
I do not have the honor of knowing Katzenstein;1 his written note to you is, in any case, based on a misunderstanding. In response to the inquiry from the Royal Chamber Musician Lorleberg2 (now here, formerly in Cassel) as to whether I would play for the Spohr Monument in C.[assel], I declared that I would gladly be prepared to do so later on, but that during the current season I was determined to undertake such favors only in support of the Bayreuth Fund.
With highest regards,
Yours most truly,
Bülow
Hanover, March 27, 1879
- Probably Louis Katzenstein (1822–1907), a German historical and portrait painter who spent his life heavily embedded in the cultural and artistic community of Kassel (Cassel). ↩︎
- Richard Lorleberg (?–?) was a prominent 19th-century German ‘cellist and royal chamber musician, active in Kassel (Cassel). ↩︎
