FANNY DAVIES (1861-1934); EDWARD ELGAR (1857-1934); CLARA SCHUMANN (1819-1896); EDVARD GRIEG (1843-1907); MAX BRUCH (1838-1920); C.H.H. PARRY (1848-1918); RICHARD MÜHLFELD (1856-1907): & OTHERS

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FANNY DAVIES (1861-1934); EDWARD ELGAR (1857-1934); CLARA SCHUMANN (1819-1896); EDVARD GRIEG (1843-1907); MAX BRUCH (1838-1920); C.H.H. PARRY (1848-1918); RICHARD MÜHLFELD (1856-1907): & OTHERS
An archive of letters to the pianist Fanny Davies by prominent composers and musical figures, including:
EDWARD ELGAR. Two autograph letters signed, autograph letter in third person and two autograph postcards signed, Malvern, 24 November 1901 - 4 February 1906, altogether 6pp, 8°, discussing her suggestions for alterations to a piano piece (almost certainly the Concert Allegro Op.46); and suggesting the dedication of that piece to Davies, one postcard readng simply 'dedicated to FD' [in musical notation]'.
CLARA SCHUMANN. Autograph letter (signature excised), Berchtesgarden, 23 July 1883, with two autograph letters signed to 'Miss Woodhill', Baden Baden and London, 26 September 1889 and n.d., in English, together 4pp, 8°, the letter to Fanny Davies explaining she does not take private pupils, those to Miss Woodhill giving an invitation and expressing thanks.
together with letters by EDVARD GRIEG (1906), MAX BRUCH (1887), C.H.H. PARRY (18 letters, 7 fragments, 1896-1905, writing in 1902, 'Thank you so much for the splendid way you played my ancient Duo! That's just the way I want it. Lots of dash and go'), the clarinettist RICHARD MÜHLFELD (9 letters, 3 postcards, 1895-1905, in German, discussing forthcoming concerts for Davies in Milan, discussing programmes and complimenting her on her playing of Schumann, 'dont l'âme est passée dans votre âme');
and letters by Percy Grainger, C.V. Stanford, Henry Wood, Charles Hallé, Laurence Alma Tadema, Ellen Terry, Clara Gigliucci, Charles Bouvet (violinist and musicologist, 4 letters), Alfredo Piatti (cellist, 13 letters), and others, 92 letters altogether; 9 letters by Fanny Davies to her aunt, 1883-1888, describing encounters with Clara Schumann, Joachim and others, and another, 1897, describing a performance for Queen Victoria at Balmoral, with 9 related letters (19); with a collection of cut signatures and ephemera including concert programmes and prospectuses, and a lock of blond hair in a packet marked 'Handel', 70 items altogether. qty

Lot Essay

Fanny Davies studied at the Leipzig Conservatory (1882-1883) and for two years with Clara Schumann in Frankfurt. Her distinguished career included performances throughout Europe, particularly between 1887 and 1907, and collaborations with Joachim, Piatti, Casals and the Bohemian String Quartet; she was also an acquaintance of Brahms. She was 'one of the last representatives of the Clara Schumann tradition' (New Grove), and had the distinction of introducing Brahms' opp.116 and 117 to England, as well as the D Minor sonata (with Joachim) and the clarinet sonatas and Trio, with Richard Mhlfeld, the brilliant clarinettist for whom they had been composed. The series of letters by Mhlfeld in this archive are of particular interest, making clear his admiration for Davies, and discussing the Brahms sonatas: 'Maestro Brahms has presented me with the manuscripts of the two sonatas! My intention is that we should play the F minor sonata first of all. That's the way I always did it with Brahms'.

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