Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt, Volume 1

F >> Francis Hueffer (translator) >> Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt, Volume 1

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22

Alas! I am out of sorts and God-forsaken. I feel so lonely, and
yet do not want to see any one. What a miserable existence! I
cannot help smiling when I read in B.'s paper the articles by R.
F.'s brother-in-law; the man thinks he is going thoroughly to the
bottom of the thing, because he is so moderate and cautious; he
knows very little of me. Formerly I was very sensitive to being
fumbled about in this manner; at present I am quite indifferent,
because I know that this kind of thing does not touch me at all.
If these people would but know that I wish to be entirely happy
only once, and after that should not care to exist any more! Oh
for the leathern immortality of india-rubber, which these people
think it necessary to attribute to one by way of reward!

Adieu, dearest and best. See that we soon possess each other
again, otherwise I shall go from bad to worse.

Adieu, dear Franz.

Your

RICHARD.

ZURICH, September 12th, 1853.

128.

DEAR FRANZ,

There is a young Frenchman here who lives at Florence, and wants
to become acquainted with my music, in which your pamphlet has
interested him. His journey is arranged chiefly with a view to
hearing my operas, and in order to reward his zeal I thought I
could not very well decline his request of a few lines to you; so
I commend him to your kindness.

Your

RICHARD W.

ZURICH, September 13th, 1853.

129.

CARLSRUHE, September 19th, 1853.

At last, dearest, unique friend, I am again nearer you, and in a
fortnight or eighteen days we shall meet either at Basle or
Paris. As soon as I know myself I shall send you particulars.
Today I only ask you to send me your passport by return of post,
so that I may transact the affair with the French minister here
in case you have not yet received a definite answer from Berne.
The French minister at Weymar, Baron de Talleyrand, is
unfortunately at present in Scotland, but I think it will require
no special patronage to get the necessary vise. Send me your
passport by return of post, and I will take care of the rest.

At Dresden I stayed lately for more than a fortnight. About
Tichatschek, Fischer (now operatic stage-manager), and the
theatrical affairs there I must tell you several things when I
see you, also about matters at Leipzig. I have settled with Rietz
that I shall be present at the final rehearsals and the first
performance of "Lohengrin," and shall give you an accurate
account of it. When I came to Leipzig, I found a good deal of
gossip about the "Lohengrin" performance current there. But now
it has probably ceased, and you will hear no more of it.

The opera is to be given in the course of November, and, in my
opinion, a very warm reception of your work on the part of the
public may be expected. The fortress of Leipzig has been
conquered for your name and your cause, and even the
"Wohlbekannte" informed me that he had been moved to tears by the
"Lohengrin" finale. If things go on in this way, Leipzig will
soon "Lohengrinize." If there should be a delay of the
performance, it will do no harm; au contraire, and in that
respect even the aforesaid town gossip was not unfavourable. I
shall tell you about all this at length. The matter concerning
Engel I shall settle tomorrow, and shall write to you at once; I
am still a little doubtful whether one ought to accept or not.
Conradi, the Capellmeister, is a friend of mine; and if anything
comes of the matter, I shall put myself in communication with
him. He has known "Tannhauser" ever since the year 1849, when he
was staying at Weymar. Such an undertaking depends largely upon
the manner of execution. For the present I am of opinion that we
ought to be in no hurry about giving our consent; a concert
performance of "Tannhauser" at Kroll's establishment has much
against it, and might probably interfere with the stage
performance which must of necessity follow. Leave the whole
matter to me. H. has a good idea; he thinks that if E. is so
favourably inclined towards spreading your works in Berlin, or
rather towards making money by them, he might arrange a
repetition of your Zurich concerts with the identical programme.
But about this also there is no hurry. On certain conditions I
should be prepared to go to Berlin and undertake the direction of
the three Zurich concerts. I should probably employ the Male
Choir Association which Wieprecht conducts, and of which I have
had the honour of being honorary conductor ever since the year
1843.

More about this on an early occasion. In the meantime I think you
will do well to write to E. that you cannot accustom yourself to
the idea of a concert performance of your drama.

Enough for the present.

Your

F. L.

CARLSRUHE, September 20th, 1853.

130.

DEAREST FRANZ,

Very angry as I am with you for having left me without news so
long, you shall have a rose-coloured sheet today in return for
the excellent news of your proximity and of our early meeting. By
return of post I was unable to answer you, because your letter
had to be forwarded to me at Baden, where I stay at intervals
with my wife, who is undergoing a cure there. Enclosed is the
passport. Salignac-Fenelon, the French minister at Berne, has
sent me no news up to date, and it will therefore be well if you
can settle the matter with the minister at Carlsruhe. Even if
Paris had to be given up for the present, which must entirely
depend on you, it will be of importance to me to have the French
vise, so as not to be shut out from Paris and France for the
future. You may safely offer every possible guarantee, and
promise that I shall not mix myself up with any political
matters. I know that this will satisfy the French Government.
They may, moreover, be certain that I shall not permanently stay
in France, but without fail return to Switzerland. For your
communications about Leipzig and Berlin I thank you cordially; as
to Berlin it shall be exactly as you say.

What will happen at Carlsruhe? D. again left me recently without
an answer, probably because I asked him to advance me the
honorarium for "Tannhauser," as I had reason to be anxious about
my income.

By the way, concerning the rendering of the very difficult male
chorus "Im Fruh'n versammelt uns der Ruf," I must ask you to
choose the best singers for it.

For the piano passage (A major, E in the bass) it would be well
if eight soloists were to sing about eight bars by themselves;
the neat, elegant piano cannot be done by a large chorus. (This
is a minor matter.)

You appear to be well and in good spirits; you are a happy man.
From Dresden Julia wrote to me in ecstasy about you; you must
have been very comfortable; a good thing I was not there and
remained alone instead.

Child, I have much to tell you. If matters are to go well, you
must frequently stay in Switzerland; then all will be right.
About this and similar things we shall talk. In the meantime let
me have news from Carlsruhe now and then.

My real life lies always abroad.

God bless you. Take my most joyful greeting and kiss.

Your

RICHARD.

ZURICH, September 22nd, 1853.

131.

I have at last hit upon a way of settling your passport affair
which will make it unnecessary for me to have your passport here.
When all is settled, I will let you know how it has been done. I
herewith return your passport and ask you to apply to Fenelon
again, either by letter or personally, when probably he will not
hesitate to affix his vise to your passport. Tell him that you
intend to start for Paris on October 5th at the latest, and that
we two are to meet at Basle. Concerning this meeting I ask you
particularly to be at Basle on the evening of the 6th without
fail. J., Pohl, and probably several others are longing to see
you, and I have promised to take them to you at Basle. I should
like to come again to Zurich, but am too much pressed for time.
At Basle, then, either at the "Storch" or at the "Drei Konige,"
as you prefer. I hope that by that time you will have received
your passport, and we can then at once concoct our journey to
Paris.

Answer "Yes" without fail, and do not mind the somewhat tedious
journey from Zurich to Basle. Today my rehearsals begin here, and
I shall again have to go to Darmstadt and Mannheim to have
separate rehearsals, till we return here next Saturday for the
general rehearsals. In addition to this, I have to pay my
respects to a number of known and unknown people of all sorts.

Are not your wife and Madame Heim coming to the festival? Let me
know in case they have that intention, for at the last moment it
will be difficult to get tickets.

I am obliged to you for your instruction as to the eight singers
in the A major passage (E in the bass) of the "Lohengrin" chorus,
and shall act upon it. Do not be angry, dearest friend, on
account of my long silence and my insignificant letters. You know
that my whole soul is devoted to you, because I love you
sincerely, and that I always try to serve you as well as I can.

Your

FRANZ LISZT.

Sunday, September 25th, 1853.

P.S.--It would be the simplest thing if you could go to Berne
yourself; but this is not absolutely necessary, and it will be
sufficient if you write to his Excellency, enclosing your
passport and asking him to return it to you at Zurich by October
3rd. Perhaps it would be better if you were to write, so that he
may forward your letter to Paris. Consider this, and do not
forget that we are to meet at Basle on the evening of October
6th.

132.

Best thanks, my dearest Franz. I have just written to M. Fenelon,
enclosing my passport once more. Candidly speaking, the matter
suddenly begins to annoy me very much, and I do not expect a good
result. My wish quite coincides with your plan. I fully
anticipated that Basle could not be avoided altogether; it is
adapted for a meeting with the friends who have come to
Carlsruhe. The excursion to Paris after that concerns us two
alone; so our thoughts have once more been the same.

As to the rest, I am longing to get to work at last. My ordinary
life is unbearable unless I, so to speak, devour myself.
Moreover, I cannot keep my peace, as I particularly want to do,
unless I devote myself to this music.

After your visit, everything came to nothing with me this summer;
no other hope was fulfilled, all went wrong, and--well, we shall
see whether I get this passport.

The day after tomorrow week, we shall meet! (I wish it were the
day after tomorrow.) Will you, or shall I, engage the hotel? Let
it be the "Drei Konige;" they have nice rooms there and a balcony
looking over the Rhine; let us engage some of those. You are once
more in the middle of your exertions, and I must almost envy you;
I at least realize by such exertions alone that I am alive. Rest
is death to me; and if sometimes I go in quest of it,--I mean
that other rest; the beautiful, the joyful,--I feel that in
reality it must be nothing but death, but real, noble, perfect
death, not this death in life which I die from day to day.

Adieu, dearest friend.

What a blessing that you have no double!

Au revoir soon! Your

RICHARD W.

ZURICH, September 29th, 1853.

133.

DEAREST FRIEND,

It just occurs to me that in "Lohengrin" I have forgotten to mark
the tempo in one place, which I discovered only when I conducted
it here--I mean in the "Bridal Song" in D major, after the second
solo passage of the eight women, the last eight bars before the
tempo primo.

[Figure: a musical score]

Here the tempo is to be considerably slower even than at the
first entry of the D major; the impression must be one of solemn
emotion, or else the intention is lost.

How are you?

Today week!

Your

R. W.

September 29th, 1853.

In the "Bridal Procession" (E flat), where the first tempo
reappears in the woodwind,

[Figure: a musical score]

that woodwind ought to be doubled.

134.

I have promised the concert score of the "Lohengrin" pieces to
Apt, director of the "Cacilienverein," Prague; therefore kindly
leave word at Carlsruhe that this score is to be sent immediately
after the last concert to Apt in Prague; the parts to go back
here.

Yesterday you had the general rehearsal; I am always with you.

The day after tomorrow! I say, "The day after tomorrow!"

Adieu.

Your

R. W.

ZURICH. October 2nd, 1853.

135.

Here I stand and stare after you; my whole being is silence; let
me not seek words, even for you. Speech seems to exist only to do
violence to feeling. Therefore no violence, but silence!

I have not much news for you from the "world." Tomorrow I start
for home, but shall see your children before I go. Madame Kalergy
I did not find at home and am doubtful whether I shall see her.
Make my excuses to her.

From Zurich I shall write to you again. Be thanked for your
blissful love! Greet the Princess and the Child! Can I write
more? Ah, I am all feeling. My intellect is within my heart, but
from my heart I cannot write to you.

Farewell, farewell, you dear beloved ones.

Your

RICHARD W.

PARIS October 26th, 1853.

136.

I suppose you have nothing to write to me, dear Franz, or else
you would have sent me a few lines.

Your children told me that they had had a letter from you,
telling them that you had quickly got to Weimar and had lived
there quietly till your birthday without seeing anybody. On your
birthday I made some music in Paris; I had at last to offer
something to my two or three old Paris friends, one of whom you
appreciated.

Erard sent me a grand pianoforte, which has filled me with a
fanatical desire to perform some flights on it, even if I had
still to learn fingering. So then I began to "Tannhauser" and to
"Lohengrin" on the Boulevard des Italiens as if you were with us.
The poor devils could not understand why I was beside myself.
However, it went better than at Madame Kalergy's, although you
were present then. Why?--Madame Kalergy I did not see again, but
I hope the few lines I sent her have made my excuses. Apart from
this, I received a visit from an agent de police, who, after I
had passed my examination satisfactorily, assured me that I might
stay in Paris a whole month. My answer that I should leave sooner
astonished him, and he repeated that I might stop a whole month.
The good man! dear Paris!, The Emperor also I saw. What more can
one desire?

The day before yesterday I arrived here. Peps received me
joyfully at the carriage, and in return I gave him a beautiful
collar, engraved with his name, which has become sacred to me. He
never leaves my side; in the morning he comes to my bed to awake
me. He is a dear, good animal. The minster of Strassburg I saw
again; my good wife stood with me in front of it. It was dull,
rainy weather. The divine point of the tower we could not see; it
was covered by mist. How different from that other day, the
sacred Sunday before the minster!

Let it be night; the stars shine then. I look upwards and behold;
for me also there shines a star.

Farewell, and greet the dear ones. Today the Rhinegold was
coursing through my veins; if it is to be, if it cannot be
otherwise, you shall have a work of art that will give you
joy(?).

Dear, unique friend, remember your poor

RICHARD W.

137.

The "pale mariner" has once more gone across the stage here, and
in his honour I yesterday occupied the conductor's seat again,
after an interval of eight months.

With the "Flying Dutchman" I left the orchestra for a time at the
beginning of last March, and with the same work I resume my
connection with the theatre for this season.

You may assume that my passion for your tone and word-poems is
the only reason why I do not give up my activity as a conductor.
Small as may be the result that I can achieve, it is not, I
think, altogether illusory. We have arranged a Wagner week; and
the "Flying Dutchman," "Tannhauser," and "Lohengrin" have taken
firm ground and cast deep roots here. All the rest is moonshine
to me with the sole exception of Berlioz's "Cellini." For this
work I retain my great predilection, which you will not think
uncalled for when you know it better.

Next week I shall have to rehearse "Tell," and the opera will be
given in a fortnight. "Tannhauser" will follow immediately
afterwards. As our new tenor, Dr. Liebert, a very willing,
industrious, and gifted singer, has never sung the part, I shall
go through it with him separately once or twice. In all
probability the performance this year will be better than the
previous ones. The "Flying Dutchman" was given yesterday, to the
increased satisfaction of the public. Milde and his wife acted
and sang beautifully, and I may assume that you would have
witnessed the performance without grumbling, although our weak
chorus is a fatal evil. Four or five new engagements have been
made for the chorus, but that of course is by no means
sufficient.

Immediately after my return, I proposed to Zigesar to give
"Lohengrin," with Tichatschek and Johanna, on the evening when
the court visits the theatre again. (The strict mourning will
last several months still, and during that time the court box
remains empty and dark.) If no special impediments arise, that
performance will take place. Up till then I shall conduct only
your two operas, "Tell" and Dorn's "Nibelungen."

Of my personal affairs I say nothing. The poor Princess sends her
friendliest greetings. She is troubled with a large mass of
correspondence of the most unpleasant kind. May God grant that
next summer we enter a new stage of the status quo, and that our
Zurich trip need not be delayed after the end of June. Your
"Rhinegold" is ready, is it not? Bestir yourself, dearest friend.
Work is the only salvation on this earth. Sing and write,
therefore, and get rid of your brain abscess by that means.
Perhaps your sleep will become a little more reposeful in the
same manner. Kind remembrances to your wife from your

FRANZ.

October 31 1853.

Do you remember a Herr Friedrich Schmitt, professor of singing at
Munich? Have you read his pamphlet, and what do you think of it?
Write me two words about it. How about Tyszkiewiz? Did you see
him at Paris several times after I had left?

138.

DEAREST FRANZ,

My threat that I should once more lay you under contribution in
an impudent manner must today be realized. Listen to me! I feel
so hale and hearty at my work that I may expect everything--not
only the success of my music, but better health as well--if I can
only stick to it without interruption and yield to my splendid
mood without anxiety. If I had to get up in the morning without
taking at once to my music, I should be unhappy. This is the
first day I break into in order, if possible, to get rid once for
all of this fear which follows me like a treacherous spectre. For
that reason I must arrange my money affairs so as not to be
molested by them any longer. This I can do by selling my
theatrical royalties on Lohengrin. By the peculiar character of
this income I am kept in a state of strange and most painful
excitement. Although it is tolerably certain that my two last
operas will be given at all German theatres, as "Tannhauser" has
already been at most of them, the time when they may be asked for
and paid for is so uncertain that I, being largely dependent upon
this income, often get into a fatally unsettled state of mind, in
which my sanguine temperament is apt to suggest to me that the
royalties to be expected are nearer than they really are. By that
means I overrate my immediate income, and consequently spend
considerably more than I possess. By the occasional and illusory
character of these theatrical royalties and by my certainly
indefensible liking for a pleasanter way of life than I have led
these last years, I have been placed in the position of having to
pay large sums next Christmas without being able to reckon upon
any income whatever with certainty. Even if the case were not as
urgent as it is, this eternal waiting upon chance, this continual
expectation of the postman, whether he is going to bring me an
offer or a favourable answer, are so troublesome, so humiliating
and disturbing to me, that I am compelled to think of a radical
cure, and for that purpose I want you to assist me with the
Hartels. I propose to sell to the Hartels the copyright of the
score of "Lohengrin," including the right of selling it to
theatrical managers, with the following exceptions only:--

1. The court theatres of Berlin, Vienna, and Munich, which will
have to acquire the performing rights of "Lohengrin" from me.

2. The theatres of Weimar, Dresden, Wiesbaden, and Leipzig, which
have already obtained those performing rights from me. A list of
the theatres which will have to apply to the new proprietor will
be found on the enclosed sheet. It includes all those theatres
which have already successfully produced "Tannhauser" or will
produce it soon, as may be safely predicted from these
precedents. In the case of the twenty-two theatres to which I
have already sold "Tannhauser" the amount of the honorarium
received has been indicated; and for the correctness of these
indications, as well as for the fact that I am not going to let
the other fifteen theatres have it cheaper than is in each case
stated, I pledge my word of honour. The aggregate income from the
twenty-two and from the fifteen theatres I calculate, as the
enclosure shows, at six hundred and thirty-two louis d'or; and
the question is now what sum I can demand of the purchaser of
"Lohengrin," including the theatrical rights, on condition that
he pays me in cash by Christmas of the present year; that is, by
December 20th, 1853.

I should prefer to apply to Messrs. Hartel in this matter--(1)
because they would be the most respectable purchasers; (2)
because they are the publishers of the score and pianoforte
arrangements, and are therefore interested in the success of the
whole; and (3) because this would at last give me an opportunity
of coming to terms with them as to a proper honorarium for the
copyright of "Lohengrin."

If Messrs. Hartel remember in what circumstances I at that time
offered them the publication of "Lohengrin"; if they call to mind
that I expressly told them that I did not believe in the success
of my operas, at least during my lifetime, and that therefore I
looked upon their undertaking the publication simply as a
sacrifice, which they made in the interest of a hopeless but
respectable cause; if they bear me out in saying that I myself
acknowledged the wiping out of an old debt (of the settlement of
which they had, on account of my position, the very remotest
chance) to be in these hopeless circumstances a sacrifice on
their part, but that at the same time I expressed my conviction
that in case, against all expectation, "Lohengrin" should turn
out a success, and its publication a good speculation, they would
think of me in a generous manner--in case of all this these
gentlemen will not consider it unfair or inopportune if I look
upon the circumstances as changed to such an extent that I may
now think of some profit for myself. In the first instance it is
a fact confirmed to me by repeated observations and experiences
that even before there was a sign of a further spreading of these
operas by means of theatrical and concert performances the
publication of my works had developed into an exceptionally good
business, entirely through means of Weimar and of your efforts,
dearest friend. In consequence of some concerts, and recently the
incredibly successful performance at Wiesbaden, this has become
more and more certain, and nothing similar has perhaps ever
happened to an opera before it had been made known by the leading
theatres. It has also been shown that wherever parts of it were
performed the music of "Lohengrin" was much more attractive even
than that of "Tannhauser", although the latter also occupies the
theatres and the public to such a degree that it everywhere
prepares the way for "Lohengrin". It may therefore be confidently
assumed that "Lohengrin", after the example of "Tannhauser", will
make the round of all the theatres and secure the favour of the
public even more lastingly than the latter, which has been the
saving of more than one manager. In such circumstances, while
thanking the Messrs. Hartel for undertaking the publication in
the first instance, I venture to remind them of a debt of honour
in the sense that they should allow me to have my share in this
success of the business. If, in accordance with their generous
turn of mind, I may expect Messrs. Hartel to be favourably
inclined towards this--especially as at the time they undertook
the matter less for the sake of gain than of honour--the question
would only be in what manner they should assign to me my share of
the profits. Perhaps they would be very willing to let me have a
certain portion of the money accruing from the sale of detached
parts of the opera. I remember that when, ten years ago, I
proposed to them the publication of the "Flying Dutchman," they
offered me the profits of the sale of the large pianoforte score
after fifty or a hundred copies had been disposed of. Lucrative
as my share might turn out in this manner, yet this kind of
income would show the same unsatisfactory and painful features
already complained of in connection with the uncertain theatrical
royalties, which therefore I should like to sell outright. I
should then prefer a sum payable at once, and all that we need
find out is the price, fair to both parties. For that purpose I
may first mention the step which I have fixed upon taking in
order to make the copyright of "Lohengrin" much more valuable
than otherwise it would be--I mean the publication of separate
vocal and pianoforte pieces. We all know that the so-called
morceaux detaches are the chief source of profit in the case of
operas; to publish such would in the case of "Lohengrin" be
impossible on account of the peculiar character of the opera, in
which there are no single vocal pieces that in a manner detach
themselves from the context. I alone, being the composer, was
able to separate a number of the most attractive vocal pieces
from the whole by means of rearranging and cutting them and
writing an introduction and a close to them, etc. Nine such
pieces, short, easy, and even popular, I gave you some time ago,
asking you to keep them till further order and then send them to
Messrs. Hartel; they may be published as arranged by me. In
addition to this, I indicated to B. five numbers, arranged in a
similar manner as the vocal pieces, only longer, which he is to
transfer to the pianoforte as independent and melodious pieces.
By that manner the bad impression of the pianoforte scores
without words, arranged without my concurrence, and perfectly
useless, would be obviated.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22