Joseph Joachim Collection

This collection contains about 80 programs for Joseph Joachim's concerts, as well as a handful of his letters, an autograph album kept by his student Martha Drews, and a couple of photographs of Joachim.

The correspondence, though largely warm and friendly in tone, largely revolves around Joachim's professional engagements. A couple of the letters feature short musical notations, including one which is signed "in memory of the performance of Händel's oratorio Israel in Egypt at the Hochschule für Musik, June 13 1891." Also filed in the correspondence folder are two photographs of Joachim, including one showing him with his quartet.

Although it is not directly related to Joachim, this collection also contains an autograph album (Poesiealbum) belonging to Martha Drews, a prominent pupil of Joachim's who later was a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic. The autograph album dates to her period studying under Joachim, and includes signatures from many prominent figures in the German music circles, such as Woldemar Bargiel, Robert Kahn, Bella Alten, and the violinist Karl Wendling. Accompanying many of the signatures are short dedications and photographs.

In the final folder are about 80 concert programs, the bulk of which stem from Joachim's appearances with his quartet at the Berlin Sing-Akademie in from 1891-1907, including an appearance where the quartet was accompanied on piano by the composer Brahms. There are also programs for larger events at the Berlin Philharmonie and Akademie der Künste, as well as a couple of programs for appearances of his wife Amalie Joachim and a program for his birthday celebration in 1899.