Detmold

Meanwhile, in 1855, I had been appointed conductor at Bonn.

Brahms was called to the court at Detmold, in order to give lessons to some members of the ducal family, and to conduct a small chorus.

Grimm went to Göttingen, where he soon became conductor.

Madame Schumann continued to make long concert tours.

For after six years of silence, Brahms had brought with him a number of new and splendid compositions, to which we were now introduced.

There were the serenades in A major and D major, the Ave Maria for female chorus, the funeral hymn for mixed chorus, songs and romances, and the piano concerto in D minor.

He had employed the years spent in seclusion, partly at Detmold, but mostly at Hamburg, in serious study, and besides those mentioned above, had also written a choral mass in canonical form, which, however, was not published.

In one of the most beautiful villas on the Koblenz Strasse, on the opposite side of the Rhine, the house of the artistic and hospitable family Kielmann, we had frequent gatherings, always in company with Professor Jahn, for the purpose of performing chamber music and of enjoying Stockhausen’s delightful singing.

And it was the best experience of my life.

I was assigned for two and a half years to the 4th, 7th Royal Dragoon Guards, who at that time were stationed in Detmold, Germany, just south of Hanover.

And my wife and my four-year-old daughter went over there and just had a wonderful time.

I had the privilege of commanding, as you said, Yorkshiremen, who for this American was hard to understand on any given day.