Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt, Volume 1
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Francis Hueffer (translator) >> Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt, Volume 1
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I fully understand the motive which has made you speak with
diplomatic reserve of the audiences of "Lohengrin" in your letter
to Zigesar, and I approve of it. At the same time, it is certain
that, in order to realize completely the drama which you
conceive, and of which you give us such magnificent examples in
"Tannhauser" and "Lohengrin," it is absolutely necessary to make
a breach in the old routine of criticism, the long ears and short
sight of "Philistia," as well as the stupid arrogance of that
self-sufficient fraction of the public which believes itself the
destined judge of works of art by dint of birthright.
The enemy to whom, as you, my great art-hero, rightly put it, one
should not capitulate--that enemy is not only in the throats of
the singers, but also very essentially in the lazy and at the
same time tyrannical habits of the hearers. On these as well as
on the others one must make an impression if necessary by a good
beating. This you understand better than I could tell you.
In accordance with your desire, we have at the second performance
of Lohengrin not omitted a single syllable, for after your letter
it would, in my opinion, have been a crime to venture upon the
slightest cut. As I took occasion to tell those of my friends who
were here on August 28th, the performance of your works, as long
as you entrust me with their absolute direction, is with me a
question of principle and of honour. In these two things one must
never make a concession; and, as far as I am personally
concerned, you may rest perfectly assured that I shall not fail
in anything which you have a right to expect from me. In spite of
this, both Herr von Zigesar and Genast feel bound, in the
interest of your work, to address you some observations, which I,
for my part, have declined to submit to you, although I think
them somewhat justified by the limits of our theatre and of our
public, which are as yet far behind my wishes and even my hopes.
If you think it advisable to agree to some cuts, kindly let me
know your resolution as to this subject. Whether you accept those
proposed by Genast, or whether you determine upon others, or
whether, which is probable, you prefer to keep your work such as
we have given it twice, I promise you on my honour that your wish
shall be strictly carried out, with all the respect and all the
submission which you have a right to demand by reason of your
genius and of your achievements.
Whatever determination you come to in this regard, be certain
that in all circumstances you will find in me zeal equal to my
admiration and my devotion.
Wholly yours,
F. LISZT.
September 16th, 1850.
P.S.--Remember me kindly to Herr Ritter. I am very thankful to
him for not having spoken too ill of our first performance of
"Lohengrin;" the second has been much more satisfactory, and the
third and fourth will no doubt be still more so. Herr Beck, who
takes the principal part, endeavours in the most laudable manner
not to be below the task allotted to him. What is more, he begins
to feel enthusiasm for his part and for the composer. If one
considers fairly the enormous difficulty of mounting such a work
at Weymar, I can tell you sincerely that there is no reason for
dissatisfaction with the result which has so far been attained,
and which beyond a doubt will go on improving with every
representation.
I do not know whether the sublimity of the work blinds me to the
imperfection of the execution, but I fancy that if you could be
present at one of our next representations you would not be too
hard upon us.
45.
DEAREST FRIEND,
In a week or so I shall send you a very long article of mine
about "Lohengrin." If personal reasons of your own do not prevent
it, it will appear in Paris in the course of October. You are
sufficiently acquainted with the habits of the Paris press to
know how reluctantly it admits the entire and absolute eulogium
of a work by a foreign composer, especially while he is still
living. In spite of this, I shall try to overcome this great
obstacle, for I make it a point of honour to publish my opinion
of your work; and if you were fairly satisfied with my article,
you might perhaps give me a pleasure which would not cost you
more than a day or two of tedium. This would be to make a
translation, revised, corrected, augmented, and authenticated,
which, by the help of your and my friends, could be inserted in
two or three numbers of the Augsburg Allgemeine Zeitung or the
journal of Brockhaus, signed with my name.
If you should prefer to have it printed separately as a little
pamphlet by Weber, of Leipzig, I should not object; and if you
would say a word to Weber, I feel convinced that he would
willingly undertake it. But before all you must be acquainted
with my article, and tell me very frankly whether or not you
would like to have it published in Germany. In France I will
manage it a little sooner or a little later, but in case of a
German publication I should make it an absolute condition that
you undertook the trouble of translating it and of having it
copied under your eyes, so that I should not be charged with the
blunders of the translator, etc., etc. You will see that the
style is carefully French, and it would therefore be very
important not to destroy the nuances of sentiment and thought in
their passage to another language.
Always and wholly yours,
F. LISZT.
WEYMAR, September 25th, 1850.
46.
DEAREST FRIEND,
I have little to tell you unless I write to you about all the
things which we two need scarcely discuss any more. After your
last letter, which has given me great and genuine joy, such as
few things could, we are almost so absolutely near each other on
the most important questions that we may truly say, we are one. I
only long for the pleasure of your company, for the delight of
being united with you for a season, so that we may mutually no
longer say, but do to each other what we cannot express in
writing. In fact, to do something is always better and leads to
the goal much quicker than the cleverest discussion. Cannot you
get free for a little time and have a look round Switzerland? or
cannot you at least send me your scores, for which I recently
asked you? You ignore my request in your letter; why is that?
I have again many things to think about--alas! to think about
only. I have once more arrived at a point where retreat is
impossible; I must think out my thoughts before becoming once
more a naive and confident artist, although I shall be that
again, and look forward with pleasure to reaping the richest
benefit. You lay stress in your letter upon the fact that the
enemy whom we have to fight is not only in the throats of our
singers, but in the lazy Philistinism of our public and in the
donkeydom of our critics. Dearest friend, I agree with you so
fully that I did not even mention it to you. What I object to are
the perverse demands which are made on the public. I will not
allow that the public is charged with want of artistic
intelligence, and that the salvation of art is expected from the
process of grafting artistic intelligence on the public from
above; ever since the existence of connoisseurs art has gone to
the devil. By drilling artistic intelligence into it we only make
the public perfectly stupid. What I said was this: that I wanted
nothing of the public beyond a healthy sense and a human heart.
This does not sound much, but it is so much that the whole world
would have to be turned upside down to bring it about. The noble-
minded, the refined, those who have the courage of their
feelings, believe themselves at the top of the tree; they are
mistaken! In our actual order of things the Philistine, the
vulgar, common, flabby, and at the same time cruel man of
routine, reigns supreme. He, and no one else, is the prop of
existing things, and against him we all fight in vain, however
noble our courage may be; for unfortunately all things are in
this slavery of leathern custom, and only fright and trouble of
all kinds can turn the Philistine into a man by thoroughly
upsetting him. Pending an entirely new order of things, we must,
dearest friend, be satisfied with ourselves and with those who,
like ourselves, know but one enemy--the Philistine. Let us show
each other what we can do, and let us feel highly rewarded if we
can give joy to each other. "A healthy sense and a human heart!"-
-we ask nothing more, and yet all, if we realize the bottomless
corruption of that sense, the wicked cowardliness of the heart of
the so-called public. Confess, a deluge would be necessary to
correct this little fault. To remedy these ills I fear our most
ardent endeavour will do nothing that is efficacious. All we can
do--while we exist, and with the best will in the world cannot
exist at any other time but the present--is to think of
preserving our dignity and freedom as artists and as men. Let us
show to one another in ourselves that there is worth in man.
In the same sense I was intent, in connection with my
"Lohengrin," upon considering only the thing in itself; that is,
its adequate embodiment on the part of the actors. Of the public
I thought only in so far as I contemplated the one possibility of
leading the half-unconscious, healthy sense of that public
towards the real kernel of the thing--the drama--by means of the
dramatic perfection of the performance. That otherwise this
kernel is overlooked by the most aesthetic and most intelligent
hearers I have unfortunately again been shown by the clearest
evidence, and I confess that in this respect Dingelstedt's
account of my opera is present to my mind, causing me deep grief.
You, best of friends, have taken such infinite care of me in
every respect that I can only sincerely regret that your efforts
are sometimes responded to in so perverse a manner. In
Dingelstedt's account I recognize two things: his friendly
disposition towards me, with which he has been inspired by you,
and his most absolute incapability, with all his aestheticism, of
conceiving the slightest notion of what had to be conceived. The
total confusion engendered in him by listening to my opera he
transfers with bold self-reliance to my intentions and to the
work itself. He, who apparently can see in opera nothing but
kettledrums, trombones, and double-basses, naturally in my opera
did not see the wood for the trees; but, being a clever and glib-
penned litterateur, he produces a witty and many-coloured set of
variorum notes which he could not have done better if it had been
his intention to make fun of me, and this stuff he sends to the
newspaper with the largest circulation in the German language. If
I cared in the least to be in a certain sense recognized, I
should have to perceive that Dingelstedt has thoroughly injured
me. I read in some papers notices of my opera, evidently founded
upon that of Dingelstedt, somewhat to this effect: "Wagner has
written another opera, in which he seems to have surpassed the
coarse noise of his 'Rienzi'," etc. I am grieved that this
happened in the same Allgemeine Zeitung where five years ago Dr.
Hermann Franck discoursed on my "Tannhauser" in an intelligent,
calm, and lucid manner. If it should interest you, please read
this article. It is printed in the A.A.Z., No. 311, November 7th,
1845. You can imagine how I must feel when I compare the two
articles.
If you have not given up the hope of being useful to me in wider
circles, I should make bold to ask you whether you could manage
to have another and more appropriate notice of my "Lohengrin"
inserted in the A.A.Z. It has, as I said before, the largest
circulation.
How glad, on the other hand, was I to see your indications and
hints worked up into an intelligent sketch by a Frenchman who is
so much further removed from me. This has been done by Nerval, in
the feuilleton of the Presse. Many mistakes occur, but that does
not matter. The man has formed for himself from your utterances a
picture of me which at least indicates clearly and distinctly my
intention. The most terrible of all things is a German aesthetic
litterateur.
But to return once more to you. I should like almost for your
sake to gain a widespread reputation. You blow up a hundred
mines, and wherever I look I come upon you and your more than
friendly care for me; it is touching, and almost without example.
Remember me very kindly to Herr Raff, and thank him most
cordially in my name. Some of my friends thought it would have
been better if he had spoken of my "faults as a man" rather than
of my "faults as a subject;" but that, surely, does not matter,
and every one must have understood it in that sense. A better
intention to serve me I can look for in none except you.
To Genast I wrote a few days ago. This nasty bargaining about
twopence-halfpenny in the matter of cuts is repulsive to me; but
Genast remains a fine, brave fellow.
Behold, my paper is at an end, and I have done nothing but
gabble. I have many and more important things to write to you
about. Lord, forgive me! I am not in a mood for it today. I shall
soon write again. My best greetings to Zigesar. Truly this warm,
true heart does me much good. Farewell for today, noblest and
best of men.
Your
RICHARD WAGNER
ZURICH, ABENDSTERN, ENGE
October 2nd, 1850
47.
DEAR LISZT,
You make me blush! without a blush I can scarcely read what you
are going to tell the world of me; and now you want me to
interpret it. Only if you earnestly desire it will I grant your
prayer, a prayer which flatters me too much to call it a
"prayer." Would that I could be of use to you! My last letter
must have appeared dissonant to you. I do not know what moved me
to speak bitterly of newspaper notices. One reason, however, I
may tell you: many things have determined me at last to speak in
a literary way once more. I am occupied with a work the title of
which is to be "The Essence of Opera." In it I mean to speak
clearly and definitely about opera as a type of art, and to
indicate as plainly as possible what should be done to it in
order to develop the hidden germs to full bloom. I should have
liked to dedicate this book to you, because in it I announce the
salvation and justification of the musician qua musician. I
should do this if I did not think it better not to drag you into
this address to the musical world. In that manner I shall
preserve greater liberty to you. The book therefore shall be a
surprise to you. As in this book I intend to explain my view of
the essence of the musical drama, I can find nothing more
annoying than to see the most contradictory opinions of me spread
amongst the public by witty litterateurs. The world must take me
for a muddle-headed and false priest if I preach the drama in
words while it is said of my works that musical confusion and
noise reign in them. But enough of this.
Your letter to B.'s mother was another noble thing of yours. Best
thanks.
I once more go to battle with my deadly enemy the winter. I must
think a great deal of the preservation of my health, and before
the spring I cannot work at "Siegfried" with a will, but in the
summer it shall be ready. Let me soon hear something of your
works.
One word more in confidence: at the end of this month I shall
have spent all my money; Zigesar has sent me less than you made
me hope. Towards the new year I again hope for some assistance
from Frau R. in D., but that also is uncertain. Can you--but how
shall I express it? If you have to do something beneath your or
my dignity, you cannot; that I know. The rest will be all right.
God bless you. I think the devil will not get hold of me just
yet.
Farewell, best of men. Send me your scores. Farewell, and remain
kind to me.
Your
RICHARD WAGNER
ZURICH, October 8th, 1850
48.
(TO THE PRINCESS WITTGENSTEIN.)
HIGHLY ESTEEMED MADAM,
Your kind letter has, as you may imagine, made a great
impression. I see, to my genuine joy, that I may count you
amongst the small number of the friends who by the weight of
their sympathy richly compensate me for the absence of popular
acclamation. That you have remained faithful to me is more
important to me than perhaps you know yourself. Accept my cordial
thanks for the friendship you have preserved for me.
You ask me about my "Wiland." I have more designs than I have the
power to execute. Therefore I want a helper, yea more than a
helper, an artistic bosom friend, who works in the same spirit,
and, I hope, better than I could work myself. I request you to
persuade Liszt to undertake the musical execution of "Wiland" in
my stead. The poem in its present condition, such as herewith I
send it to you, is the result of sorrowful and deeply emotional
enthusiasm, which has stirred me up to imaginings on which as an
artist I may, I think, congratulate myself. But it takes me back
to a time to which I do not want to be taken back. I cannot
finish the poem now, either in words or music. If later on I
could gain sufficient repose for the purpose, I should be afraid
of having cooled towards it. In consequence I have lately become
accustomed to the thought of giving up the poem altogether.
But if this "Wiland," when Liszt makes its first acquaintance,
should inspire him as I was once inspired by it, I ask him to
consider it as his property. The design is quite complete; all
that remains to be done is simple versification, which every
fairly skilful writer of verse might execute: Liszt will easily
find one. In the more important places, I have written the verses
myself. To do more is at present impossible to me; even the
copying out gave me much trouble.
I hope, dear madam, you will not think my poem unworthy of your
warm recommendation to the friend whom, as you tell me to my
great joy, you will soon make happy by calling your own.
With sincere thanks for your kindness, and with cordial esteem, I
remain, dear madam, Your obedient servant,
RICHARD WAGNER
ZURICH, October 8th, 1850
49.
DEAREST FRIEND,
I really do not know how to thank you; for the only equivalent I
could offer you would evidently be to send you a masterpiece in
exchange; and this kind of return is difficult to make even with
the best intention in the world. Allow me to look upon your
manuscript of Wiland as a sacred trust, which I shall hold at
your disposal till the time you reclaim it. My very numerous
engagements will prevent me from occupying myself with it for a
year or eighteen months; and if after that time you still think
that I am capable of undertaking the composition, we can easily
arrange the matter either verbally or by letter. Today I send you
by post a fair copy of my article on "Lohengrin." As this is the
only one I possess, I must ask you kindly to return it to me at
Eilsen (Buckeburg), where I shall spend the months of November
and December. I foresee the difficulties I shall have to
encounter in publishing through the Paris press an article so
extensive and so sincerely in praise of a German opera by a
German composer, in whose success no one has an interest, rather
the reverse. Nevertheless I do not absolutely despair of having
it inserted some day in some review, and consequently want the
manuscript.
If in the meantime you think my article worthy of publication in
Germany, I repeat the request already made that you undertake to
translate it freely, and improve it by completing it.
In the quotations it would naturally be better to reproduce
exactly the verses of your poem, and perhaps one might make the
comprehension of your work easier by adding two plates of music
type showing the five or six principal themes,
[Figure: musical example]
and two or three details of orchestration.
However, as regards both the translation and the publication, I
attach value to them only in so far as you approve; for this
article has been written solely with the intention of serving, as
far as in me lay, the great and beautiful cause of art with the
French public, such as it is in 1850. If you think that I have
not succeeded, I ask you not to hesitate for a moment in telling
me so frankly. In this, any more than in other things, you will
not find in me any stupid amour-propre, but only the very modest
and sincere desire to suit my words and actions to my sentiments.
I have just received a letter from Seghers, director of the Union
Musicale, Paris, who tells me that your Tannhauser overture will
be performed at the first concert of the Society (November 24th).
You may rely upon his zeal and intelligence in preparing a good
performance.
By the way, have you heard of an intended performance of
"Lohengrin" at Dresden? I do not know how far this Dresden
performance would benefit you in actual circumstances, while you
are forcibly prevented from looking after the rehearsals, etc.
Uhlig has probably told you that Tichatschek will study the part
of Lohengrin with him. Soon after my return Herr von Zigesar
intends to give the fourth performance, and for the fifth we
shall have Tichatschek.
I am really much obliged to you for taking interest in my
overtures, and must ask you to forgive me for not having thanked
you before; but the fact is, the greater part of my time is
occupied with other things than me and my works.
Unfortunately I possess only a single copy of "Prometheus" and
"Tasso," and of that I cannot dispose, as it belongs to the
theatre. If, as I am in hopes, next summer I can at last make a
trip to the Rhine, we must meet somewhere, possibly at Basle, and
then I shall unpack my sac de nuit, full of obscure scores.
In the meantime I am very happy to learn that you have not lost
hold of your "Siegfried," which is sure to be una gran bella
cosa, as the Italians say. I thank you for it in advance.
The day after tomorrow I start for Eilsen, where please address
me until further notice. Do not fail to return the manuscript of
my "Lohengrin" article, of which, if necessary, you might have a
copy made at Zurich. I shall want it between the 5th and l0th of
November.
Once more be thanked cordially for your "Wiland," and rest
assured that, with or without the welded wings of genius, I
always remain
Your truly devoted friend,
F. LISZT
WEYMAR, October 18th, 1850
50.
MY DEAREST FRIEND,
Do not be angry with me because I am so late in answering your
last letter. I had to see to the return of the manuscript,
entrusted to me, and this I was unable to do sooner. Your letter
of October 22nd, together with the manuscript, did not reach me
here till November 8th, via Berlin. As you wanted your manuscript
back by November l0th, I must assume that some delay had taken
place which you had not foreseen. I return herewith the French
original, and in a few days I shall send the translation, which
by then will have received its proper form.
Dear friend, your article has impressed me in a grand, elevating,
stirring manner. That I have succeeded in thus acting upon you by
my artistic work, that you are inclined to devote no small part
of your extraordinary gift to opening, not only an external, but
an internal, path to my movement--this fills me with the deepest
and most joyous emotion. I feel as if in us two men had met who
had proceeded from the two most distant points in order to
penetrate to the core of art, and who now, in the joy of their
discovery, fraternally clasped hands. This joy alone enables me
to accept your admiring exclamations without bashfulness; for I
feel that when you praise my gifts and my achievements you
express thereby only your joy at having met me at the core of
art. Be thanked for the pleasure you have thus given me.
I shall say something more about the translation when I send it
to you, which, as I mentioned before, will be in a few days.
I have also read your feuilleton in the Journal des Debats. Your
restless energy in serving me I can only compare with the spirit
in which you do it. Indeed, dear, good Liszt, I owe it to you
that soon I shall be able once more to be entirely an artist. I
look upon this final resumption of my artistic plans to which I
now shall turn as one of the most decisive moments in my life.
Between the musical execution of my "Lohengrin" and that of my
"Siegfried" there lies for me a stormy, but, I feel convinced, a
fruitful, world. I had to abandon the entire life lying behind
me, to bring into full consciousness everything dawning in it, to
conquer any rising reflection by its own means--that is, by the
most thorough entering into its subject--in order to throw myself
once more with clear and cheerful consciousness into the
beautiful unconsciousness of artistic creation. The winter I
shall spend in completing this abandonment. I want to enter a new
world unburdened, free, and happy, bringing nothing with me but a
glad artistic conscience. My work on "The Essence of Opera," the
last fruit of my contemplation, takes larger dimensions than I at
first expected. If I show that music, the woman, becomes co-
parent with the poet, the man, I must take care that this
splendid woman is not given over to the first comer who desires
her, but only to the man who longs for woman with true,
irresistible love. The necessity of this union with the full
power of music desired by the poet himself I was unable to prove
by abstract aesthetic definitions alone, which generally are not
understood and remain without effect. I had to derive that
necessity with tangible distinctness from the state of modern
dramatic poetry, and I hope I shall fully succeed. When I have
finished this book, I intend, provided I can find a publisher, to
bring out my three romantic opera-poems, with a preface
introducing them and explaining their genesis. After that, to
clear off all remains, I should collect the best of my Paris
writings of ten years ago (including my Beethoven novelette) in a
perhaps not unamusing volume; in it those who take an interest in
me might study the beginning of my movement. In this manner I
should get to the spring pleasantly and in an easy frame of mind,
and should then work at my "Siegfried" without interruption and
complete it. Give your blessing to this.
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