Lot 78: SCHUBERT, FRANZ.

SCHUBERT, FRANZ. THE LONG-LOST AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF THE SONG BLONDEL ZU MARIEN D.626, SIGNED ("FRANZ SCHUBERT[PARAPH]IA"), CONTAINING IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES FROM ALL THE HITHERTO-KNOWN EDITIONS AND COPIES notated in the key of C-sharp minor, on three systems per page, the music diverging in many details from the published editions, affecting both the vocal line and the piano accompaniment; together with, on the fourth page, the start of an unidentified march in G major for piano and solo instrument, marked "No.1"), in another hand, 3 pages, oblong 4to (23 x 29.5cms), 10-stave paper, [Zseliz], September 1818, two leaves affixed at hinge, gilt edges, cloth folder and quarter-morocco slipcase

Miss E.A. Willmott, sale in our rooms, 1-3 April 1935, lot 573

This is a Schubert discovery: the present autograph of Blondel zu Marien D.626 has been untraced since it was sold in these rooms in 1935. All the early sources present the song in C minor, including the important copy by J.W. Witteczek (in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna), where the song bears the note "Im Orig: Es mol", and the first edition of 1842. Walther Dürr, in the Neue Schubert-Ausgabe, presents the song in E-flat minor, a whole tone higher than the present autograph. Dürr suggests that all the extant early sources are dependent on the lost Stichvorlage; certainly the present autograph shows no signs of use by any publisher. See Dürr, Neue Schubert-Ausgabe, IV/12 (1996), pp.40-42 & 236 (note).

Throughout this manuscript there are important readings differing from the known versions, including pitches, words, crescendos, and song rhythms, particularly at the conclusion, where the vocal line ends on the lower octave (D flat) and the piano postlude contains additional chromaticisms. The author of the poem is apparently unknown.