Autograph musical quotation from the composer's opera, Orphée aux enfers, signed in full

3 measures in treble clef, marked "Moderato" at head, titled "Orphée" and dated "Paris le 22 Juillet." Octavo (130 x 205 mm). On Offenbach's personal stationery, with "JO" embossed head. Notated in oblong format.

With text "quand j'etais Roi de Beotie" from Act 3 of the opera, set in Pluto's boudoir in Hades, where Eurydice is alone with Pluto’s servant John Styx, who sings of his sad life since he was King of the Boeotians.

Very slightly worn; several very minor instances of feathering of ink; lightly creased at vertical and central folds; upper outer corner of verso with minor remnant of tape, lower margin reinforced with narrow (truncated) strip of tape. Orphée aux enfers [Orpheus in the Underworld], an opera in 2 acts to a libretto by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy after classical mythology, was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens on 21 October 1858. A revised version in 4 acts was performed in Paris at Théâtre de la Gaîté on 7 February 1874.

"[Offenbach] was, with Johann Strauss (ii), one of the two composers of outstanding significance in popular music of the 19th century and the composer of some of the most exhilaratingly gay and tuneful music ever written. His opera Les contes d’Hoffmann has retained a place in the international repertory, but his most significant achievements lie in the field of operetta. Orphée aux enfers, La belle Hélène, La vie parisienne, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein and La Périchole remain outstanding examples of the French and international operetta repertory.

Orphée aux enfers marked a significant advance for Offenbach in 1858. From being restricted by the terms of his licence to producing short works for just a few performers, he was now permitted to use larger casts and chorus and to offer his audiences a full-length work for the first time." Andrew Lamb in Grove Music Online. (Inventory #: 39654)