.jpg?maxwidth=3840)
Lot 103 |Property of the Estate of Theodore Cohn
SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri Dmitriyevich (1906-1975)
Autograph letter signed ('D. Shostakovich') to Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky, St Petersburg, 28 December 1923.
Closed14 December 2022
Price Realised
GBP 2,394
More Information
SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri Dmitriyevich (1906-1975)
Autograph letter signed ('D. Shostakovich') to Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky, St Petersburg, 28 December 1923.
In Russian. Two pages, 235 x 153mm. Envelope.
A mock-heroic letter on death and the afterlife. The 17-year-old composer opens with the motto 'A voice like a hair in June, thin and unclean', and goes on: 'I have a most humble request for you, if you snuff it or I snuff it. In the first place, be so kind and pay me a visit in the tenth dream after your snuffing ... and communicate the following points: / a) How did you feel at the moment of your snuffing? / b) What did you do next? c) Is there a Last Judgement? ... e) If you meet Steinberg, Lyapunov and Verdi, inform me of their new compositions and their health / g) If you do not visit me, then I must assume that you are rotten and only a horrible smell remains of you'.
Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky (1903-1971) was a composer and musicologist, a close friend and fellow-student of Shostakovich at the Petrograd Conservatory. The composers Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (1883-1946) and Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1859-1924) were both professors at the Conservatory, and still alive at this point, although Lyapunov died in the following year.
Autograph letter signed ('D. Shostakovich') to Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky, St Petersburg, 28 December 1923.
In Russian. Two pages, 235 x 153mm. Envelope.
A mock-heroic letter on death and the afterlife. The 17-year-old composer opens with the motto 'A voice like a hair in June, thin and unclean', and goes on: 'I have a most humble request for you, if you snuff it or I snuff it. In the first place, be so kind and pay me a visit in the tenth dream after your snuffing ... and communicate the following points: / a) How did you feel at the moment of your snuffing? / b) What did you do next? c) Is there a Last Judgement? ... e) If you meet Steinberg, Lyapunov and Verdi, inform me of their new compositions and their health / g) If you do not visit me, then I must assume that you are rotten and only a horrible smell remains of you'.
Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky (1903-1971) was a composer and musicologist, a close friend and fellow-student of Shostakovich at the Petrograd Conservatory. The composers Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (1883-1946) and Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1859-1924) were both professors at the Conservatory, and still alive at this point, although Lyapunov died in the following year.
SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri Dmitriyevich (1906-1975)
Autograph letter signed ('D. Shostakovich') to Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky, St Petersburg, 28 December 1923.
In Russian. Two pages, 235 x 153mm. Envelope.
A mock-heroic letter on death and the afterlife. The 17-year-old composer opens with the motto 'A voice like a hair in June, thin and unclean', and goes on: 'I have a most humble request for you, if you snuff it or I snuff it. In the first place, be so kind and pay me a visit in the tenth dream after your snuffing ... and communicate the following points: / a) How did you feel at the moment of your snuffing? / b) What did you do next? c) Is there a Last Judgement? ... e) If you meet Steinberg, Lyapunov and Verdi, inform me of their new compositions and their health / g) If you do not visit me, then I must assume that you are rotten and only a horrible smell remains of you'.
Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky (1903-1971) was a composer and musicologist, a close friend and fellow-student of Shostakovich at the Petrograd Conservatory. The composers Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (1883-1946) and Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1859-1924) were both professors at the Conservatory, and still alive at this point, although Lyapunov died in the following year.
Autograph letter signed ('D. Shostakovich') to Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky, St Petersburg, 28 December 1923.
In Russian. Two pages, 235 x 153mm. Envelope.
A mock-heroic letter on death and the afterlife. The 17-year-old composer opens with the motto 'A voice like a hair in June, thin and unclean', and goes on: 'I have a most humble request for you, if you snuff it or I snuff it. In the first place, be so kind and pay me a visit in the tenth dream after your snuffing ... and communicate the following points: / a) How did you feel at the moment of your snuffing? / b) What did you do next? c) Is there a Last Judgement? ... e) If you meet Steinberg, Lyapunov and Verdi, inform me of their new compositions and their health / g) If you do not visit me, then I must assume that you are rotten and only a horrible smell remains of you'.
Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky (1903-1971) was a composer and musicologist, a close friend and fellow-student of Shostakovich at the Petrograd Conservatory. The composers Maximilian Osseyevich Steinberg (1883-1946) and Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1859-1924) were both professors at the Conservatory, and still alive at this point, although Lyapunov died in the following year.
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.