»BBV« – Brahms Correspondence Index

As a freely accessible internet database, the Brahms-Briefwechsel-Verzeichnis (Brahms Correspondence Index) registers all letters from and to Johannes Brahms and is thus an important foundational work for research on the life and work of the composer. Beside information on cultural history and biographical aspects, the Brahms correspondence included here offers central information about the emergence, publication, source and reception of Brahms’ works.

The index, which includes over 10,800 letters, emerged as a research project of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The preparatory phase was supported by Lübeck’s Possehl-Stiftung. The implementation of the project was only made possible by the committed cooperation of numerous institutions.

For the first time, the BBV lists all letters from and to Brahms in a chronological-systematic index, enormously facilitating research (see the instructions for use). Of the 10,800 letters registered, 6,840 are from Brahms and 3,950 are from his over 1000 correspondence partners. A total of 3,476 letters contained in the index were previously unpublished. The BBV project continues to be ›work in progress‹ in the sense that every newly discovered letter will be included in the data base. All information about additional letters, but also corrections and/or additions are highly welcome.

The project report is currently only available in German. For more information, please contact us:

T: +49 (0)451 – 1505-414

brahms-institut@mh-luebeck.de

Project Report

Please cite the BBV as follows:

Wolfgang Sandberger, Christiane Wiesenfeldt: Brahms-Briefwechsel-Verzeichnis (BBV): chronologisch-systematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher Briefe von und an Johannes Brahms, funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, with Fabian Bergener, Peter Schmitz and Andreas Hund, www.brahms-institut.de, 2010.