Heinrich Panofka’s album.
Autographes, Music and Theatre Department, mu 7205.1014

Fol. 1r: Fragment of Beethoven’s string quartet in C sharp minor, op. 131, written by himself

Fol. 10r: Schubert’s lied “Herbst” in his own writing. The envelope is said to contain flowers from his grave	Fol. 10v: Second page of Schubert’s lied	Fol. 11r: Third page of Schubert’s lied

In the 19th century it was costumary for musicians and other artists to bring so-called albums on their educational journeys. Artist friends whom they met along the way could enter greetings, words of wisdom, or – as in this case – short compositions. The German violinist Heinrich Panofka (1807-1887) established his album in 1827 by pasting in a sheet of music by the recently deceased Beethoven (1770-1827), and he continued to have famous composers fill in the pages of the album until 1866. It contains autograph music by Brahms, Hummel, Liszt, Lachner, Paganini, Schubert, and many more.
Later the album was owned by others who continued the collection. Also Danish composers such as Gade, Hartmann, and others are represented. Via America and France the album came to the Royal Library in 1970 and was incorporated into the Music Department as one of the treasures of the collection.
Above is shown the fragment of Beethoven’s string quartet in C sharp minor, opus 131, written in his own hand. The sheet of music is dated 24 March 1827. It appears that Panofka was presented with the sheet only a few days after Beethoven’s passing away in March 1827.
Franz Schubert entered a new lied in the album – “Herbst” – to the words of Ludwig Rellstab, dated April 1828. This entry is the principal source of this song. The small envelope pasted in on the first page contains dried flowers and has the inscription Fleur de la tombe de F. Schubert.

18 x 22.9 cm.

© Det Kongelige Bibliotek 2003