An interesting and varied small archive of the composer's friendship with Hermann E. Peisach, a Munich-born Jewish émigré, and his wife Henriette ("Henny") of Norwalk, Connecticut, spanning August 1958 to July 1986: autograph cards and signed photographs from Orff, one co-signed by his wife Liselotte; Liselotte Orff's autograph letter after his death; the world premiere programme and libretto of his last stage work; the family's death announcement, postmarked on the day of the burial; and the Carl Orff-Stiftung's later mailings to the Peisachs. Twenty-eight years of a single correspondence, kept together by the family.
The recipient, Hermann Emanuel Peisach (1900–1990), was born in Munich five years after Orff, and in the same city. A sales agent, he married Henriette ("Henny") Bernheim in 1937, and that autumn the couple emigrated via Rome to the United States, settling in Norwalk, Connecticut. Henriette's mother, Rosa Bernheim, was deported from Munich in November 1941 and murdered at Kaunas. Orff's correspondence with Peisach runs from 1958 until the composer's death in 1982, by which time the two families addressed one another with the familiar "Du." How the friendship began is not recorded. To the previous owner's knowledge, no Orff–Peisach correspondence has been published or offered before; the Orff-Zentrum München may hold Peisach's side.
Autograph postcard, 18 December 1969. Photo postcard, the front Paul Swiridoff's well-known 1960 profile portrait (imprint "fotografie paul swiridoff schwäbisch hall"). Blue ink, 12 lines, signed with initials, announcing the new stage work that became De temporum fine comoedia: "Mein Lieber, Dank für Ihre lieben Zeilen. Wie geht es Ihnen? Mir nicht so extra. Hüftgelenksentzündung u. diverse Kreislaufgeschichten. Muß im Jan. wieder ins Sanatorium. Hoffe es bis Frühjahr zu schaffen. Inzwischen wächst ein neues Bühnenstück heran zu dem ich den Text wieder einmal selber geschrieben habe (in griech. lateinisch u. deutsch gemischt). Alles Gute für's Neue Jahr u. herzl. Grüße von Haus zu Haus Ihr alter C.O. 18.12.69." (My dear, thank you for your kind lines. How are you? Me, not so great. Hip-joint inflammation and various circulatory troubles. Must go back into the sanatorium in January. Hope to get through it by spring. Meanwhile a new stage piece is growing, for which I have once again written the text myself (in Greek, Latin and German mixed). All the best for the New Year and warm greetings from house to house, your old C.O.) Light foxing, small creases and edge wear; bleed-through visible on the front. 4.25 x 6 inches; 10.5 x 15 cm. Together with the Schott textbook (Textbuch) for De temporum fine comoedia: Das Spiel vom Ende der Zeiten. Vigilia (small 8vo; 46 pp. Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne, 1973).
Card for his 75th birthday, 10 July 1970, with autograph letter on the verso. The recto bears Orff's printed facsimile thanks: "Dank — Herzlichen Dank!! — Der ¾ Hundertjährige Carl Orff 10.7.70" (Thanks — heartfelt thanks!! — The three-quarters-of-a-century-old, Carl Orff). On the verso, an autograph letter, blue ink, 8 lines, signed with a joke following his sanatorium stay: "Lieber. Dank für Brief, über den ich mich sehr gefreut habe. Opern schreiben ist schwer, einen 75. überleben noch mehr. — Trotz Ärger mit der Xund (Hüfte) bin ich wieder vielerseits am Werk. Urlaub fällt seit 70 Jahren flach. — Alle guten Gedanken und Wünsche herzlichst der Auferstehende +" (Dear friend. Thanks for the letter, which gave me great pleasure. Writing operas is hard; surviving a 75th [birthday] even more so. — Despite trouble with my health (hip) I am again at work on many fronts. Holidays have fallen through for 70 years. — All good thoughts and wishes, most cordially, the Resurrected One +). "Xund" is Bavarian shorthand for Gesundheit (health). Light foxing and edge wear.
Autograph postcard, [late 1977], co-signed by Liselotte Orff. Photo postcard, the front Daniela-Maria Brandt's portrait (imprint "Foto: Daniela-Maria Brandt, 78 Freiburg, Karlstr. 60"). Blue ink, with notes in the top and right margins, signed "vom alten C.O." and with "Herzlichst Liselotte" in Liselotte Orff's hand at the lower left; the familiar "euch" shows the friendship had moved to first-name terms: "Meine Lieben. Dank für euer Lebenszeichen. Hoffentlich geht es euch gut!! Es wäre so schön wenn wir uns 1978 sehen könnten. Bei mir war sehr viel los.* Auch ging mir gesundheitlich nicht prima. Schreibe eben am 6. Bd. Zeit vergeht. Lebt wohl!! Alles Liebe vom alten C.O." (My dears. Thanks for your sign of life. I hope you are well!! It would be so nice if we could see each other in 1978. A great deal has been going on with me (almost too much). My health hasn't been great either. Am just now writing the 6th volume. Time passes. Farewell!! All love from the old C.O.) The "6. Bd." is Band VI (Bairisches Welttheater) of his Dokumentation, published 1980. Light foxing, small creases; bleed-through visible on the front.
Liselotte Orff, autograph letter, May 1982. Black-bordered printed thank-you card bearing Franz Werfel's lines which Orff placed at the end of his last work ("Nun kehren wir heim, nun kehren wir ein … Stärker als Tod ist Musik"), signed in ink "Liselotte Orff," "IM MAI 1982"; on the facing leaf a full-page letter in her hand, brown ink, with a postscript on the back leaf: "Lieber Herman, liebe Henny, Dank euch für euren guten Brief. Ja, es war eine Leidenszeit für ihn und ich kann jetzt noch nicht drüber schreiben, aber er hatte einen sanften, friedlichen Tod. In der Klosterkirche Andechs hat er eine würdige Ruhestätte gefunden. Aber hier ist er sehr gegenwärtig und wird mir Kraft geben, sein Erbe gut zu verwalten. Herzlichst eure L. — PS. Wenn Du von den Zeitungsausschnitten etwas doppelt hast, würde ich sie gern bekommen. Von Amerika habe ich fast nichts." (Dear Herman, dear Henny, thank you both for your kind letter. Yes, it was a time of suffering for him and I still cannot write about it, but he had a gentle, peaceful death. In the monastery church at Andechs he has found a worthy resting place. But here he is very present and will give me the strength to look after his legacy well. Most cordially, your L. — PS. If you have duplicates of any of the newspaper cuttings I would love to have them. From America I have almost nothing.) With her hand-addressed black-bordered envelope.
Invitation to the anniversary mass, Andechs, 29 March 1983. Printed folded card, Abbot Odilo Lechner celebrating the anniversary mass for Carl Orff in the Klosterkirche Andechs, signed in print "Liselotte Orff," with the music programme (Palestrina; Orff, Omnia tempus habent, Multas per gentes, Sonnengesang des Franz von Assisi). With the "Drucksache" envelope, printed on the flap "Ziegelstadel 1 · 8918 Diessen am Ammersee," the Orff house.
Premiere programme, Salzburger Festspiele 1973. Programme for the world premiere of De temporum fine comoedia, Orff's last stage work, 20 August 1973, conducted by Herbert von Karajan and staged by August Everding (cover design Wojtek). Together with the 1969 card announcing the work and the libretto, a small dossier on its genesis and first performance.
The family's death announcement, 1982, in its envelope postmarked on the day of the burial. Black-bordered folded card, "VENIO AD TE / CARL ORFF * 10.7.1895 + 29.3.1982," signed in print by Liselotte Orff, Godela Büchtemann geb. Orff, Gerhard Büchtemann, and Florian and Brigitte Büchtemann (Diessen / Grafrath), announcing the burial in the Klosterkirche Andechs and asking for donations to the Privathilfe für Künstler in Bayern in place of flowers. In its hand-addressed envelope to "Mr. Herman E. Peisach, 16 Maurice Street, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851," "Drucksache / USA," 50 Pf, slogan cancel "Fünf Seen — 75 Jahre Landkreis Starnberg," postmarked STARNBERG 3.4.82, the day Orff was buried at Andechs. Together with the folded memorial card (Sterbebild) with portrait.
Memorial publications and press cuttings, 1979–82. "Andechs" colour brochure; Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 5/1982, "In memoriam Carl Orff"; six German press cuttings on the death, funeral and memorial events (Abendzeitung, 31 March 1982, full page, "Carl Orff ist tot / Ein Orpheus aus Bayern"; Münchner Stadtanzeiger, 2 April 1982, full page; a tabloid notice; the "München im Mosaik" funeral report; the Bayerische Staatsoper memorial matinee, 19 April 1982; the ceremony in the Alter Rathaussaal); and an interview with Orff for his 84th birthday, July 1979. Newspaper pages toned and folded.
Carl Orff-Stiftung, typed letter signed, 3 July 1986. On Carl Orff-Stiftung letterhead, München, to Herman E. Peisach, signed "i.V. Erika Lütje" (Geschäftsführerin), relaying Liselotte Orff's messages from her holiday in South Tyrol, where she had broken her arm ("Bitte lieb an Peisach schreiben …"). With the enclosure, Werner Thomas's offprint "Carl Orff" from Die großen Deutschen unserer Epoche (Propyläen, Berlin), and the Foundation's airmail envelope.
The Foundation's parcel of 9 September 1985. Mitteilungsblatt der Carl Orff-Stiftung no. 1 (June 1985); the exhibition catalogue Carl Orff in München (Blätter der Bayerischen Staatsoper 1984/85 · X) with its typed correction slip; the Bayerische Vereinsbank press release of 10 July 1985; a Süddeutsche Zeitung cutting of 10/11 August 1985 on Riccardo Muti's Carmina Burana at Salzburg; and a colour postcard with facsimile signature. With the parcel envelope, Diessen 9.9.85.
Also included. An Austrian airmail "Drucksache" envelope to Mrs. Jette Peisach, sender's stamp Franziska Schneider, Salzburg, Salzburg cancel (year illegible), flap still sealed; the Schott / Belwin-Mills libretto of Carmina Burana (original text and English translation); Joseph Maria Lutz, Vater unser, small printed booklet; and Peisach's own storage envelopes.
An unusual inscribed Timpe photograph of 1958 and three books inscribed to Peisach from the same collection are offered separately. Provenance: Private Collection, CT (ex-Peisach Estate).
An interesting and varied small archive of the composer's friendship with Hermann E. Peisach, a Munich-born Jewish émigré, and his wife Henriette ("Henny") of Norwalk, Connecticut, spanning August 1958 to July 1986: autograph cards and signed photographs from Orff, one co-signed by his wife Liselotte; Liselotte Orff's autograph letter after his death; the world premiere programme and libretto of his last stage work; the family's death announcement, postmarked on the day of the burial; and the Carl Orff-Stiftung's later mailings to the Peisachs. Twenty-eight years of a single correspondence, kept together by the family.
The recipient, Hermann Emanuel Peisach (1900–1990), was born in Munich five years after Orff, and in the same city. A sales agent, he married Henriette ("Henny") Bernheim in 1937, and that autumn the couple emigrated via Rome to the United States, settling in Norwalk, Connecticut. Henriette's mother, Rosa Bernheim, was deported from Munich in November 1941 and murdered at Kaunas. Orff's correspondence with Peisach runs from 1958 until the composer's death in 1982, by which time the two families addressed one another with the familiar "Du." How the friendship began is not recorded. To the previous owner's knowledge, no Orff–Peisach correspondence has been published or offered before; the Orff-Zentrum München may hold Peisach's side.
Autograph postcard, 18 December 1969. Photo postcard, the front Paul Swiridoff's well-known 1960 profile portrait (imprint "fotografie paul swiridoff schwäbisch hall"). Blue ink, 12 lines, signed with initials, announcing the new stage work that became De temporum fine comoedia: "Mein Lieber, Dank für Ihre lieben Zeilen. Wie geht es Ihnen? Mir nicht so extra. Hüftgelenksentzündung u. diverse Kreislaufgeschichten. Muß im Jan. wieder ins Sanatorium. Hoffe es bis Frühjahr zu schaffen. Inzwischen wächst ein neues Bühnenstück heran zu dem ich den Text wieder einmal selber geschrieben habe (in griech. lateinisch u. deutsch gemischt). Alles Gute für's Neue Jahr u. herzl. Grüße von Haus zu Haus Ihr alter C.O. 18.12.69." (My dear, thank you for your kind lines. How are you? Me, not so great. Hip-joint inflammation and various circulatory troubles. Must go back into the sanatorium in January. Hope to get through it by spring. Meanwhile a new stage piece is growing, for which I have once again written the text myself (in Greek, Latin and German mixed). All the best for the New Year and warm greetings from house to house, your old C.O.) Light foxing, small creases and edge wear; bleed-through visible on the front. 4.25 x 6 inches; 10.5 x 15 cm. Together with the Schott textbook (Textbuch) for De temporum fine comoedia: Das Spiel vom Ende der Zeiten. Vigilia (small 8vo; 46 pp. Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne, 1973).
Card for his 75th birthday, 10 July 1970, with autograph letter on the verso. The recto bears Orff's printed facsimile thanks: "Dank — Herzlichen Dank!! — Der ¾ Hundertjährige Carl Orff 10.7.70" (Thanks — heartfelt thanks!! — The three-quarters-of-a-century-old, Carl Orff). On the verso, an autograph letter, blue ink, 8 lines, signed with a joke following his sanatorium stay: "Lieber. Dank für Brief, über den ich mich sehr gefreut habe. Opern schreiben ist schwer, einen 75. überleben noch mehr. — Trotz Ärger mit der Xund (Hüfte) bin ich wieder vielerseits am Werk. Urlaub fällt seit 70 Jahren flach. — Alle guten Gedanken und Wünsche herzlichst der Auferstehende +" (Dear friend. Thanks for the letter, which gave me great pleasure. Writing operas is hard; surviving a 75th [birthday] even more so. — Despite trouble with my health (hip) I am again at work on many fronts. Holidays have fallen through for 70 years. — All good thoughts and wishes, most cordially, the Resurrected One +). "Xund" is Bavarian shorthand for Gesundheit (health). Light foxing and edge wear.
Autograph postcard, [late 1977], co-signed by Liselotte Orff. Photo postcard, the front Daniela-Maria Brandt's portrait (imprint "Foto: Daniela-Maria Brandt, 78 Freiburg, Karlstr. 60"). Blue ink, with notes in the top and right margins, signed "vom alten C.O." and with "Herzlichst Liselotte" in Liselotte Orff's hand at the lower left; the familiar "euch" shows the friendship had moved to first-name terms: "Meine Lieben. Dank für euer Lebenszeichen. Hoffentlich geht es euch gut!! Es wäre so schön wenn wir uns 1978 sehen könnten. Bei mir war sehr viel los.* Auch ging mir gesundheitlich nicht prima. Schreibe eben am 6. Bd. Zeit vergeht. Lebt wohl!! Alles Liebe vom alten C.O." (My dears. Thanks for your sign of life. I hope you are well!! It would be so nice if we could see each other in 1978. A great deal has been going on with me (almost too much). My health hasn't been great either. Am just now writing the 6th volume. Time passes. Farewell!! All love from the old C.O.) The "6. Bd." is Band VI (Bairisches Welttheater) of his Dokumentation, published 1980. Light foxing, small creases; bleed-through visible on the front.
Liselotte Orff, autograph letter, May 1982. Black-bordered printed thank-you card bearing Franz Werfel's lines which Orff placed at the end of his last work ("Nun kehren wir heim, nun kehren wir ein … Stärker als Tod ist Musik"), signed in ink "Liselotte Orff," "IM MAI 1982"; on the facing leaf a full-page letter in her hand, brown ink, with a postscript on the back leaf: "Lieber Herman, liebe Henny, Dank euch für euren guten Brief. Ja, es war eine Leidenszeit für ihn und ich kann jetzt noch nicht drüber schreiben, aber er hatte einen sanften, friedlichen Tod. In der Klosterkirche Andechs hat er eine würdige Ruhestätte gefunden. Aber hier ist er sehr gegenwärtig und wird mir Kraft geben, sein Erbe gut zu verwalten. Herzlichst eure L. — PS. Wenn Du von den Zeitungsausschnitten etwas doppelt hast, würde ich sie gern bekommen. Von Amerika habe ich fast nichts." (Dear Herman, dear Henny, thank you both for your kind letter. Yes, it was a time of suffering for him and I still cannot write about it, but he had a gentle, peaceful death. In the monastery church at Andechs he has found a worthy resting place. But here he is very present and will give me the strength to look after his legacy well. Most cordially, your L. — PS. If you have duplicates of any of the newspaper cuttings I would love to have them. From America I have almost nothing.) With her hand-addressed black-bordered envelope.
Invitation to the anniversary mass, Andechs, 29 March 1983. Printed folded card, Abbot Odilo Lechner celebrating the anniversary mass for Carl Orff in the Klosterkirche Andechs, signed in print "Liselotte Orff," with the music programme (Palestrina; Orff, Omnia tempus habent, Multas per gentes, Sonnengesang des Franz von Assisi). With the "Drucksache" envelope, printed on the flap "Ziegelstadel 1 · 8918 Diessen am Ammersee," the Orff house.
Premiere programme, Salzburger Festspiele 1973. Programme for the world premiere of De temporum fine comoedia, Orff's last stage work, 20 August 1973, conducted by Herbert von Karajan and staged by August Everding (cover design Wojtek). Together with the 1969 card announcing the work and the libretto, a small dossier on its genesis and first performance.
The family's death announcement, 1982, in its envelope postmarked on the day of the burial. Black-bordered folded card, "VENIO AD TE / CARL ORFF * 10.7.1895 + 29.3.1982," signed in print by Liselotte Orff, Godela Büchtemann geb. Orff, Gerhard Büchtemann, and Florian and Brigitte Büchtemann (Diessen / Grafrath), announcing the burial in the Klosterkirche Andechs and asking for donations to the Privathilfe für Künstler in Bayern in place of flowers. In its hand-addressed envelope to "Mr. Herman E. Peisach, 16 Maurice Street, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851," "Drucksache / USA," 50 Pf, slogan cancel "Fünf Seen — 75 Jahre Landkreis Starnberg," postmarked STARNBERG 3.4.82, the day Orff was buried at Andechs. Together with the folded memorial card (Sterbebild) with portrait.
Memorial publications and press cuttings, 1979–82. "Andechs" colour brochure; Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 5/1982, "In memoriam Carl Orff"; six German press cuttings on the death, funeral and memorial events (Abendzeitung, 31 March 1982, full page, "Carl Orff ist tot / Ein Orpheus aus Bayern"; Münchner Stadtanzeiger, 2 April 1982, full page; a tabloid notice; the "München im Mosaik" funeral report; the Bayerische Staatsoper memorial matinee, 19 April 1982; the ceremony in the Alter Rathaussaal); and an interview with Orff for his 84th birthday, July 1979. Newspaper pages toned and folded.
Carl Orff-Stiftung, typed letter signed, 3 July 1986. On Carl Orff-Stiftung letterhead, München, to Herman E. Peisach, signed "i.V. Erika Lütje" (Geschäftsführerin), relaying Liselotte Orff's messages from her holiday in South Tyrol, where she had broken her arm ("Bitte lieb an Peisach schreiben …"). With the enclosure, Werner Thomas's offprint "Carl Orff" from Die großen Deutschen unserer Epoche (Propyläen, Berlin), and the Foundation's airmail envelope.
The Foundation's parcel of 9 September 1985. Mitteilungsblatt der Carl Orff-Stiftung no. 1 (June 1985); the exhibition catalogue Carl Orff in München (Blätter der Bayerischen Staatsoper 1984/85 · X) with its typed correction slip; the Bayerische Vereinsbank press release of 10 July 1985; a Süddeutsche Zeitung cutting of 10/11 August 1985 on Riccardo Muti's Carmina Burana at Salzburg; and a colour postcard with facsimile signature. With the parcel envelope, Diessen 9.9.85.
Also included. An Austrian airmail "Drucksache" envelope to Mrs. Jette Peisach, sender's stamp Franziska Schneider, Salzburg, Salzburg cancel (year illegible), flap still sealed; the Schott / Belwin-Mills libretto of Carmina Burana (original text and English translation); Joseph Maria Lutz, Vater unser, small printed booklet; and Peisach's own storage envelopes.
An unusual inscribed Timpe photograph of 1958 and three books inscribed to Peisach from the same collection are offered separately. Provenance: Private Collection, CT (ex-Peisach Estate).