signed and dated at the end by the composer ("DrRichard Strauss Garmisch, 18 August 1912"), in short-score, contained on a double leaf and notated in pencil on up to ten two-stave systems per page, the sketches for Josephslegende being for the 'Tanz der Frauen' and including the music for the boxers, Figures 17-27/4 and 55 onwards, the sketches for Der Bürger als Edelmann being for the entrance of the cooks, no.11 ("Das Diner"), Figures 67-74/9, numerous autograph inscriptions and annotations ("Ballet...Emoll...für Potiphars Frau...Boxer...Ariadne: das Diner..."), some bars with autograph numbering, repeated bars indicated by oblique double strokes, with a number of autograph cancellations, corrections and revisions

4 pages, folio (c.35 x 27cm), no place or date [1912], folded several times, splitting along horizontal fold, a few small stains, dust-staining to final page

E.H. Mueller von Asow, Richard Strauss. Thematisches Verzeichnis, ii (Vienna, etc., 1912), p.531; Trenner 231; Norman Del Mar, Richard Strauss, ii (1969), pp.1ff.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A remarkable manuscript containing sketches for two celebrated dramatic works by Strauss. 

Josephslegende was Strauss's first complete ballet score, commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballet Russes. Premiered in Paris on 14 May 1914, its composition overlapped to some extent, as this fascinating sketchleaf shows, with that of the incidental music to Der Bürger als Edelmann. Dealing with the attempted seduction of the biblical Joseph by Potiphꦡar's wife, the ballet is a sultry affair on which Strauss lavished music of great p⛎sycho-sexual intensity. The passages sketched here are for dances in Scenes II and III, Scene II culminating in the erotic Dance of the Sulamith.

As initially conceived by Strauss and Hofmannsthal, Ariadne was designed to be performed after a performance of Molière's Le bourgeois gentilhomme (Der Bürger als Edelmann), the latter being provided with incidental music by Strauss. The premiere of this first version of Ariadne (a later revision of 1916 sacrificed the incidental music to the Molière part of the score) took place in Stuttgart on 25 October 1912. The dinner scene (partly sketched here) is perhaps the pièce de résistance of the instrumental music to Der Bürger als Edelmann: here Strauss gave his imagination full rein, beginning with a grand march into which the composer introduces a reference to the Coronation March from Meyerbeer's Le Prophète, mo♓ving on to vivid musical representations of Rhine salmon, mutton and song-birds and concluding with the 🎃whirling dance of the kitchen boy