Brahms, Johannes. (1833–1897)
Early CDV Photograph - INSCRIBED TO A PIANO STUDENT
Carte de visite photograph of the great composer as a younger man, ca. 1860's. The composer has inscribed on the verso to Marie Geissler, a singer who also studied piano with Brahms: "Fräulein Marie Geissler (mit schönsten Dank) und herzlichem Gruss, J. B." ("To Miss Marie Geissler (with many thanks) and best wishes, J. B.") Photographed by Carl von Jagemann of Vienna. 2.5 x 4 inches, attractively matted and framed in a double-sided frame to an overall size of 6 x 8 inches (15.5 x 20 cm). Overall very fine.Marie Geissler was part of a small choral group who met at the Gundelhof flat of the Asten sisters to sing under Brahms's direction in the early 1860's. According to Kalbeck, Geissler also took piano lessons with Brahms (Peter Clive, Brahms and his World, p. 10).
A very similar image, possibly from the same sitting and dated to 1864, is shown in Michael Musgrave, A Brahms Reader (2000), the third plate following page 66; and in Otto Biba, Johannes Brahms und Franz Schubert (1997), no.83. This must be one of the earliest photographs of Brahms following his move to Vienna in the autumn of 1862. (17320)
Unsigned Photograph Classical Music