Jacques BREL. Exceptional autograph manuscript of his song "Au suivant". 1964

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Jacques BREL. Exceptional autograph manuscript of his song "Au suivant". 1964:
$22808.00

Document sheetAutographs des Siècles has specialized in selling autograph letters and manuscripts for many years.
On our shop, website, you will find autograph letters and manuscripts from those who made the glory of the Arts, Literature, History and Science during centuries past.

Jacques BREL (1929.1978)

Autograph manuscript – To the next.

Two in-8° pages written in red and blue ink.

[1964]

All naked in my towel that served as a loincloth

I had red on my forehead and soap on hand.

Extraordinary working manuscript, first draft, of this mythical song inspired by Jacques Brel’s military experience in his twentieth year.

The document, very extensively corrected, was written in two stages: the body of the text is first written in red pen and then taken up and completed in blue ink." During this second phase of writing, Jacques Brel makes essential modifications including the famous introductory verses that the artist still stumbles upon:" "All naked in my loincloth tied towel / The red on the forehead, soap in hand...".

The manuscript, which allows us to follow the artist’s creative process, reveals unpublished, unpreserved verses, such as the one evoking the Warrant Officer’s voice "rolling in his moustache a Provencal accent" or this analytical thinking of the tragic of the situation: "started badly, can't end well."

I was just 20 years old [and only finishing] and I was denying myself

At the army traveling brothel in the countryside.

A true masterpiece of dramatic storytelling, Jacque Brel inscribes along these lines and in the light of his distrust of the military thing, the tragic of the absurd, the grotesque dehumanization and the pathetic.""

I swear on the head of my first smallpox

May this voice ever since I hear it all the time

Brel and the Army." The artist, as if to put an end to the army as soon as possible, anticipated his military call and took his classes from the 1st of the year."er June 1948, in Limburg, at the age of 19, before being assigned to an aviation regiment in the northern suburbs of Brussels under the number "A-48-2567". In the aftermath of the horrors of war, young Brel doesn’t taste barracks hours and considers the existence of a Belgian army inept.

Therefore, in addition to Next, he won’t fail to thrill the military caste over several of his songs such as Le Caporal Casse-Pompon ("My friend is a sure betrant - Who often says unpretentiously - That by the thinness of the peels - One sees the greatness of the nations") or La Colombe ("Why this brass band - When soldiers in four - Waiting for massacres - On the platform of a station").

Jacques Brel is finally thereleased from military obligations on June 1, 1949, a few weeks after turning 20.

Provenance: Jacques Brel Sale, Sotheby’s, October 8, 2008, No. 11.

Bibliography:

Jacques Brel, The Complete Work. pp.287.288. Robert Laffont.

Jacques Brel, une vie. O. Todd. Robert Laffont

Jacques Brel. Jean Clouzet. Seghers.

Check out our manuscripts
Galerie Autographs des Siècles specializes in the sale and expertise of autograph letters and manuscripts of great personalities of past centuries. Purchase / Payment Methods
We accept the following payment methods: Wire transfers and bank checks. Paypal. Prices quoted are in Euros and are net.Shipping
All our shipments are made by registered mail with insurance at a flat rate of €10 for France and €20 for the rest of the world. We may also ship by private carrier at your request.Terms of Sale
In accordance with the customs of the Ligue Internationale de la Librairie Ancienne, we accept a return guarantee within 14 days. Return shipping is the buyer’s responsibility.About
All pieces offered are originals whose authenticity we guarantee." Our invoices take the place of proof of authenticity of the parts sold." However, at your request we can issue a certificate of authenticity, in addition.