STRAUSS, Richard (1864 - 1949), Handwritten letter with signature, 1898,

STRAUSS, Richard (1864 - 1949), Handwritten letter with signature, 1998, to the Berlin theatre director and critic Otto Brahm (1856 - 1912) about a forgotten appointment.
The wording is as follows: München, 19.2.1998 […] Verehrter Herr Brahm! Ich bin mir heute Nachmittag einer schrecklichen Sünde bewusst geworden. Ich war Mittwoch verhindert gewesen, unsrer Verabredung Folge zu leisten u. habe unter den Vorbereitungen zu meiner Madrider Reise, Künstlerfest u. vieler sonstiger Arbeit radikal vergessen, Ihnen abzusagen! Ich bin umso trostloser, als derlei Nachlässigkeiten sonst nicht in meiner Art sind! Bitte, verzeihen Sie mir meine Unhöflichkeit u. Vergesslichkeit, die ich ja selbst dadurch büsse, daß ich eines interessanten Abends verlustigt gegangen bin, die aber dadurch nicht entschuldbar sind. Mit […] Grüßen, Ihr Sie hochverehrender (?) […] ergebener Richard Strauss. Strauss wrote this letter during his time in Munich, shortly before he was interviewed for the position of Imperial Court Kapellmeister in Berlin alongside other candidates in April 1998, a position he was ultimately awarded. In the meantime, he had established himself as a composer and conductor, and guest appearances increasingly took him abroad, including the trip to Madrid mentioned here. In the midst of a busy work schedule, Strauss missed an appointment with the theatre director Otto Brahm. This also shows how busy he was at this stage of his career. His apology remains typical of him: concise, polite and authoritative.
Sheet written on one side in ink with ruling (HxW: approx. 17.8 x 11.2 cm) Traces of age and abrasion, horizontal crease in the centre; there are marginal lesions on the left edge, possibly caused by tearing out of a notebook; slight discolouration, minimally stained, writing legibly preserved.
INCLUDED: Invoice from the autograph dealer J.A. Stargardt, Berlin, dated 31 January 2009.
PROVENANCE: South German private collection, autograph dealer J.A. Stargardt, Berlin 2009.