Carl Maria von Weber | Autograph musical quotation signed from "Der Freischütz", 1826

Carl Maria von Weber

Autograph musical quotation from Der Freischütz, signed and inscribed ("pour mon cher ami Disi. CMvWeber")

the B-major melody from the Act III Finale, 16 bars, with autograph superscription ("aus dem le[t]zten Finale des Freischütz"), notated in brown ink on three two-stave systems

1 page, oblong 8vo (12.4 x 17.3cm), 10-stave paper, no place or date [London, early 1826], traces of mount, light discolouration to inner margin, some very light spotting

The quotation from Weber's most celebrated opera corresponds to bars 5-13 on p.166, bars 6 (upbeat)-10 on p.167 and bars 1-4 on p.168 of Weber's own 1821 piano arrangement of the score (Kinsky, p.149). The musical reminiscence was written out by Weber during his last, fateful, visit to London for the Flemish harpist François Joseph Dizi (1780-c.1840). By 1826, Dizi had been in London for 30 years, where he was esteemed as one of the most famous harpists of his day.

PROVENANCE:

Formerly in the celebrated collection of Louis Koch (no.131).

LITERATURE:

Dr. Georg Kinsky, Manuskripte - Briefe - Dokumente von Scarlatti bis Stravinsky. Katalog der Musikautographen-Sammlung Louis Koch (Stuttgart, 1953), pp.149-150