Sinfonie mit Schluss-Chor über Schillers Ode: “An die Freude” für grosses Orchester, 4 Solo-und 4 Chor-Stimmen : 125tes Werk

First edition of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, published by Schott in Mainz in 1826. This monumental work, celebrated for its choral finale setting Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” is a cornerstone of Western music history.

The Fisher Library Rare Books and Special Collections copy was donated by Emeritus Professor Richard Charteris and carries distinguished provenance: it once belonged to Otto Haas, the world’s oldest antiquarian firm specialising in music. Founded in the 19th century, Otto Haas operated in Paris and Berlin before relocating to London prior to World War II, where it continues today. An inscription by Albi Rosenthal (1914–2004), legendary music antiquarian and proprietor of Otto Haas, appears on the front pastedown, reading “an unusually fine copy.” Otto Haas sold the edition to British medical scientist Sir Ralph Kohn (1927–2016). On 12 December 2023, Sotheby’s London sold the edition as Lot 12 in the estate sale of Sir Ralph and Lady Kohn; it was subsequently acquired by an anonymous collector in New York.