Sold For $2,505
*Includes Buyers Premium
ALS in French, signed “H. Berlioz,” three pages on two adjoining sheets, 7.25 x 9.5, December 16, 1865. Handwritten letter to his lifelong friend Humbert Ferrand, in full (translated): "I am not to blame for having kept you waiting so long for a letter, you can have no idea of what I have to do day after day, and how very little leisure I have, even when I have any. But it is useless to expatiate on that subject, I am sure you do not doubt the pleasure I experience in writing to you. I met A. Coste, the publisher of Italie pittoresque, yesterday, he told me that it is too late to send in any article for that work, as it is approaching a conclusion, but that if you like to send him any biographies of illustrious men and women for his publication, Galerie des Hommes Illustres de l'ltalie, which is to come out as a continuation of Italie pittoresque, he will be delighted. Send him the names of the subjects you chose, so as to avoid any chance of their being done twice over, or given to somebody else. As nobody has paid any attention to the women, Coste would be glad if you would devote your self especially to them. Your articles will be paid for at the rate of from a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five francs; I will do my best to get the hundred and twenty-five for you. Thank you for your verses; if I can find time, I will try to hit upon a tune to match them.
I should very much like to send you the score of Harold, which is dedicated to you. It has been twice as successful this year as last, and it decidedly surpasses the Symphie fantastique. I am glad I offered you the dedication before I made you acquainted with the work; to introduce it to you will be a fresh delight Frankly, I have written nothing which will suit you better. An opera of mine has been accepted at the Opera; Duponchel is in a good humor, the libretto which, this time, will be a poem, is by Alfred de Vigny and August Barbier. It is deliciously vivacious, and full of color. I cannot set to work upon the music yet; metal fails me as it did my hero (you know, perhaps, that he is Benvenuto Cellini). In a day or two I will try to find time to send you a few notes for the article you want to write, and especially about Harold. I am most successful in Germany, thanks to the pianoforte arrangement of my Symphonie fantastique by Liszt I have received a bundle of newspapers from Leipzig and Berlin, in which Fetis shines brilliantly with light reflected from me. Liszt is not here. Besides, we are so intimately connected that his name would do the article more harm than good.
Thank you for all you say about my wife and my son; I love them more and more every day. Henrietta is deeply sensible of all the interest you take in her, but your allusions to our little Louis delight her most." In a postscript, Berlioz adds: "The two extracts from Harold cannot be taken apart from the remainder without making nonsense of them. It would be just like sending you the second act of an opera." In very good to fine condition, with scattered stains, and two small areas of paper loss to the last page, affecting a few words of text.
This deeply personal letter offers a rare window into Berlioz’s inner circle and creative life, written to the confidant to whom he revealed himself most fully over more than four decades of correspondence. Particularly compelling is Berlioz’s affectionate discussion of Harold en Italie—a work born of his Italian travels and Paganini’s commission—and his evident pride in its growing success, which he here declares to surpass even the Symphonie fantastique. At once practical, tender, and artistically revealing, the letter stands as an exceptional autobiographical document from one of the great Romantic composers.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$250.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
Third-party authentication service applies only to signatures and handwriting, and does not cover the addition of sketches, artwork, musical quotations, etc.
