FRANZ SCHUBERT: ERLKÖNIG

MS 5448
MS Short Title FRANZ SCHUBERT: ERLKÖNIG
Text FRANZ SCHUBERT: ERLKÖNIG. BALLADE VON GÖTHE, IN MUSIK GESETZT UND MORITZ GRAFEN VON DIETRICHSTEIN GEWIDMET, OP. 1, AUTOGRAPH APPROVAL MARK
Description MS in German on paper, Wien, 1821, 1 line autograph, on the back of the first edition, first issue. 15 pp., 24x33 cm.
Binding Austria, 20th c. half calf marbled boards, sewn on 3 cords.
Context Schubert's control marks of approval are present only on the earliest issues of the songs published as op.1-14, dating from 1821-1822, and confirm these are the earliest copies issued directly on behalf of the composer.
Provenance 1. Moritz Deutsch, Wien and Bratislava (1892); 2. Sotheby's 9.6.2010:79.
Commentary This is the first issue of op. 1, published without metronome marks or the publisher Cappi und Diabelli's plate no. 766. Schubert's approval initials have aroused much debate and speculation, some opining these were not written by Schubert himself. Brahms identifies Schubert's hand on his own copies of Schubert's early first editions.
Published Franz Schubert: Erlkönig, op. 1. Wien, Cappi und Diabelli, 1821.
Place of origin Wien
Dates 1821