flat minor, Op. 69, published by _Peters_) and three quartets (Op.
74, also by _Peters_). But I now longed to begin a greater work, and
particularly an opera, although the “Berg-Geist” acquired no extensive
popularity, since, after the representations in Cassel and Leipzic, it
was only given at Prague, where it met several times with a brilliant
reception. As _Curschmann_ at the same time entertained a similar
desire, he had requested his fellow-traveller and friend, _Charles
Pfeiffer_, who at that time had begun to make himself a name as a poet,
to work up a novel of _Tieck’s_, “Pietro von Abano” as an opera text.
He may however have felt himself not yet quite sufficiently advanced in
his musical culture, and therefore when _Pfeiffer_ had completed the
first act of the libretto, he abandoned his project of attempting so
soon a grand opera. He now offered me the composition of Pietro, and
as the novel, as well as the manner in which it had been worked up,
pleased me greatly, I soon came to an arrangement with both gentlemen
respecting it, and in February 1827, set to work very assiduously upon
it, and completed it in August of the same year. The opera occasioned
me anxiety at first, on account of the immediate succession of two
scenes--a funeral, and the pranks of a band of merry students--so
strikingly dissimilar and incongruous as to render their proximity
unpleasant: neither did I at all like the speaking part of the bishop,
without any singing. But as this part was taken by _Seydelmann_, who
was then engaged at our theatre from pure interest he took in the
work, and was performed in a very dignified manner, I became more
satisfied with it, and had the gratification of finding that it made
a deep impression upon the performers, the orchestra, and my musical
friends who were permitted to assist at the rehearsals. On its first
representation, on the 13th October 1827, it was also received by the
public with a similar enthusiasm to “Jessonda,” and I had therefore
reason to hope that like it also, it would soon obtain popularity
beyond Cassel. But when at the request of the directors of some other
theatres I forwarded the book to them, I soon found that not only did
the catholic towns disapprove of the introduction of the bishop and the
ecclesiastical forms on the stage, but the intendants of theatres in
protestant towns, also, and among others, Count _Brühl_ in Berlin, who
rejected the opera, because they had some scruples about the contents.
At that time it is true, many of the later operas and plays, which
since then have hardened the public against all objectionable matter,
had not become the fashion of the day. But _Meyerbeer_, who now wanted
to hear the opera with all these circumstances of form, expressed
himself in regard to it in the following manner in a letter of the 4.
March 1828: “I cannot conclude my letter without thanking you for the
pleasure that the perusal of the score of your master-piece “Pietro
von Abano,” which Mr. _Schlesinger_ lent to me, has afforded me, and
I am happy to be able to say, that in particular the first act, the
first finale (although only furnished by the poet with two personages),
the scene between Antonio and the half-lifeless Cecilia in the second
act, and the ingenious manner in which the stringed instruments, half
_con sordini_, half _senza sordini_, shadow forth the dialogue between
the living Antonio and the spirit-like Cecilia; the imposing finale
of the second act; and besides these, numerous other features of
splendid dramatic intention, excellent declamation, novel, picturesque
instrumentation and harmony, have truly charmed me, and excited in
me the most ardent desire to be present at a performance of your
master-piece.”
In the year 1828, I wrote my second double-quartet, and endeavoured to
bring it nearer to my first idea of the double choral style, than the
first: in this I succeeded to my own satisfaction. I played it for the
first time publicly in one of our winter-concerts of December, with
great applause, and it soon found the same appreciation and publicity
in other places as the previous one. Shortly afterwards I received an
invitation to conduct my oratorio “Die letzten Dinge” at a musical
festival that was to take place at Halberstadt on the 4th June 1828,
and I set out this time accompanied only by my wife and my youngest
daughter _Theresa_, as shortly before, my daughter _Emilia_ had married
a manufacturer of the name of _Zahn_, and could leave her domestic
concerns as little as _Ida_.
My oratorio was excellently performed by the different choral-societies
that had been invited for that purpose, as they were all enthusiastic
admirers of it, and gave it the preference over all other works then
performed.
At the second concert I played my new concertino in _A_ major (Op.
79, published by _Schlesinger_), and I think that, upon the same
occasion, also, my just finished third symphony in _C_ minor (Op. 78,
also published by _Schlesinger_) was then performed for the first
time. One circumstance, the remembrance of which is still impressed
upon my memory, and which relates to my daughter _Theresa_, then nine
years old, I must yet relate. I took the child with me to all the
rehearsals, as she would always attend those at Düsseldorf, and I
augured from that, a great love for music. In Halberstadt _Theresa_
expressed especial pleasure in the concluding “number” of the oratorio,
and as that was a fugue on the words: “His is the kingdom, the power,
and glory,” I furthermore concluded that she had not only a strong
sentiment for music generally, but also for its graver forms, and I
even imparted to _Dorette_ the pleasure I felt at the happy disposition
of our child. But when I questioned _Theresa_ more closely respecting
her preference for the fugue, I was informed to my great surprise
and to my shame, “that she only liked the piece of music in question
better than all the rest, because she knew, that, as at Dusseldorf,
the rehearsal would soon be over, and that then we should _go home
to dinner_!”--Shortly afterwards I received from the parties who got
up this musical festival a permanent, and more gratifying cause to
remember the same; for they sent me, as a mark of their gratitude, a
costly table-clock, ornamented with appropriate emblems, and bearing on
the pedestale an inscription, with the date.
In the course of the year I wrote three more violin-quartets, which
were published by _Schlesinger_ as Op. 82, after which, as I was not
very successful with my operas upon other stages, I turned once more
to church music, and in the spring of 1829, wrote my “Lord’s prayer,”
on the text of _Mahlmann_. The effect which this work produced at its
first performance, although only with pianoforte accompaniment, on the
festival of St. Cecilia the same year, was greatly increased, when a
few months afterwards it was given at one of our winter-concerts with
full orchestral accompaniment. It was not only received here in Cassel
upon every repetition up to more recent times, with great approbation,
but it soon found much approval in other places also.
On the 4th June 1829, another musical festival took place at
Nordhausen, to which I was also invited. Of the first day’s performance
I have nevertheless, now no clear recollection; but on the second day
I played with _Müller_ of Brunswick, with _Wiele_ of this place, and
with _Maurer_ of Hannover, a concertante for four violins, of the
composition of the latter. For myself, I chose to play the fourth, on
the occasion, as my Stradivari-violin had a particularly good tone on
the _G_ string, and as we had practised together that celebrated piece
of music very assiduously, the applause was quite extraordinary. My
new clarinet-concerto in _E flat_, which I had written for _Hermstedt_
for this musical festival, met with no less approbation, but it is no
longer in my possession, neither do I now know whether it is still
in existence. During our stay in Nordhausen, we lived in the house
of a Mr. _Fleck_, a merchant, whose wife was a very amiable hostess.
One day at dinner, _Edward Grund_ my former pupil, was prompted to
propose a toast to her, in doing which he introduced the observation
that she “was anything but a Fleck[29] in human society, but much
rather to be called a gleam of light.” I also remember still with
pleasure the beautiful weather that favoured the dinner which the
people of Nordhausen gave to their guests upon a neighbouring hill
which commanded a view of the town. The collation was spread upon the
greensward, and as good wine was by no means wanting, the company soon
became very merry, and returned to town in the best possible humour.
[29] Fleck, in the German language, signifies, a spot, stain, or
blemish.
In August 1829, I wrote a solo-quartet in _E major_ (Op. 83, published
by _Schlesinger_). But my desire to try my fortune once more with an
opera gave me no rest, and I therefore persuaded my friend _Charles
Pfeiffer_ to work up for me the subject of a Spanish novel by
_Washington Irving_, that seemed to me very attractive, and in every
respect adapted for an opera. But as _Pfeiffer’s_ name could not be
mentioned in the playbills, as in the electorate of Hesse it is not
considered becoming for a servant of the state to occupy himself with
poetical works together with his official duties, the indetectable
name of _Schmidt_ was chosen instead of his; just as when “Pietro” was
brought out the author’s name was not mentioned, as _Feige_, then the
director of the theatre, did not like to be responsible to the Elector
and the public for permitting a fictitious name proposed by me to be
placed upon the playbill.--In October 1829, I, therefore, with my usual
zeal, with every new work, set about the composition of the opera
of the “Alchymist,” completed it in April of the following year, and
immediately distributed the parts, in order to perform it on the 28th
July, the birthday of the Elector. It pleased here in Cassel quite as
much as my previous operas, but out of Hesse was represented at Prague
only, though with great approbation;[30] while the selections made from
it for the pianoforte, arranged by my brother _Ferdinand_, found a more
widespread publicity.
[30] In the Vienna “Musicalischer Anzeiger” of the 23rd January 1834 is
the following notice respecting it: “All who have had the opportunity
of hearing and judging for themselves, know and feel that the esteemed
maestro, in all his dramatic compositions, with the exception of the
single, purely genial “Faust,” introduces his hearers less into the
wondrous realm of fancy, than he leads them like a true friend, by
pleasant meandering paths through the charming and balmy groves of
harmony. This work also, breathes the same calm, reflective spirit that
speaks to the heart, the same pure taste, the same style, as noble as
it is elegant, the same constancy, unity and well-sustained interior
connection, that so particularly characterizes all the works of this
perhaps most substantial of all living composers, and which distinguish
also no less this musical creation.”
In June 1830 _Paganini_ came to Cassel and gave two concerts in
the theatre, which I heard with great interest. His left hand, and
his constantly pure intonation were to me astonishing. But in his
compositions, and his execution I found a strange mixture of the highly
genial and childishly tasteless, by which one felt alternately charmed
and disappointed, so that the impression left as a whole was, after
frequent hearing, by no means satisfactory to me. As his visit took
place just on Whitsunday, I took him the next day to Wilhelmshöhe,
where he dined with me, and was very lively, indeed somewhat
extravagantly so.
A few months afterwards the revolution of July broke out in France, and
as a general excitement had extended itself to Germany also, symptoms
of discontent with the public authorities showed themselves also here
in Cassel. Just previously, the Elector had gone to Vienna, accompanied
by the Countess _Reichenbach_, with the object, as it was believed, of
effecting at the Austrian court the elevation of that personage to the
dignity of a princess. He had afterwards repaired to Carlsbad, and from
there came all manner of strange reports about his serious illness,
resulting from some personal conflicts with the Countess _Reichenbach_,
on account of which, his physician Mr. _Heräus_, proceeded to Carlsbad,
but not having been admitted to an audience, returned to Cassel. A
deputation from the members of the privy council was hereupon sent to
Carlsbad; was received several times by the elector, and brought back
intelligence that he would shortly return to his capital. Before this
took place however, on the evening of the 6th September, disturbances
broke out. I was at the moment with my wife at the theatre, where
_Raupach’s_ comedy “Der Zeitgeist” was being performed, and I remarked
on a sudden, that messengers had been sent to the officers who were
present, informing them that “the alarm” had been sounded in the town,
and upon this they all immediately left. This created so much sensation
in the house, that the rest of the audience thought that nothing less
than a great fire had broken out in the town, and they also left the
house in the midst of the performance. Fearing for the safety of our
own and our children’s dwellings, we went out with the rest, and were
at length informed that the excited people had riotously attacked
several bakers’ shops, and committed depredation in the houses of the
owners, because, notwithstanding the fall that had taken place in the
price of corn, they had raised the price of bread. In order to prevent
further excesses on the part of the populace, a number of the citizens
had, with the consent of the ministry, taken up arms, and the military
occupied not only the electoral palace, but the Königstrasse and the
Friederichsplatz, so that the people leaving the theatre could not
pass through the closed streets. We were therefore compelled to make a
circuit to reach our house and when arrived there, dared not retire to
rest at the usual hour, as the commotion that prevailed in the town was
still very great. The Elector did not return till the 12th September,
but at first unaccompanied by the Countess _Reichenbach_, and with
the greatest privacy. He immediately proceeded to Wilhelmshöhe,
whither, a few days after, the magistracy with chief-burgomaster
_Schomburg_ at their head, followed him, to express their pleasure at
his convalescence and return; as also to petition him to assemble the
estates, which had not been done since 1815, and to advise with them
upon the alleviation of many existing grievances. The magistracy was
nevertheless not admitted to an audience till the following morning
in the electoral palace at Cassel, during which, half the town had
collected on the Friedrichsplatz, in order to ascertain immediately
whether the result of the deputation was successful, and if such should
be the case the master-cooper _Herbold_, had agreed to make it known
to the people by waving a white handkerchief from the window of the
chamber of audience. When therefore the deputation in solemn procession
from the Ober-Neustädter town-hall, approached the palace, and had
crossed its threshold, all eyes were directed to the windows of the
audience-chamber, and the decision was anxiously awaited.
The Elector, to whose ears doubtless many disquieting reports had come,
and who could place no dependance on his troops (many of whom, as at
a latter period was shown, desired a constitution) for the protection
of his palace and the successful suppression of the revolution, gave,
to the universal joy of the people a satisfactory reply. Scarcely had
the waving of the white handkerchief announced this to the populace,
than the assembled thousands upon the Friedrichsplatz rent the air
with deafening cheers of Long live the Elector! upon which he shewed
himself for a moment at one of the windows, and acknowledged them with
several bows. In the evening the town was spontaneously illuminated,
and at the theatre, instead of the previously announced piece of
the “Ahnfrau” the “Barber of Seville” was chosen, and the public in
their delight at the appearance of the Elector and his son before
the beginning of the opera, greeted him with tumultuous cheers, and
struck up the “Hail to the elector Wilhelm.” This was followed on the
19th of September by the promised summoning of the ancient estates
of Hesse, consisting of deputies from the nobles, the towns, the
universities and the peasantry, who assembled on the 16th October,
and immediately promulgated a satisfactory report to the people.
On the following day the opening of the assembly of the states was
celebrated by the performance of divine service in the great church,
and by command of the government by a solemn choral hymn sung by the
society of St. Cecilia accompanied by the court orchestra. For this
occasion I selected the last “number” of my cantata composed in Vienna,
“Die Befreiung Deutschlands” (The emancipation of Germany), with its
solo-quartet, and the concluding fugue: “Lasset uns den Dankgesang
erheben” (Let us raise the song of thanks), a four-voice choral piece
which was alternately sung, with the congregation, and the Halleluja
from _Händel’s_ Messiah.
The propositions brought forward by the estates, after several weeks’
discussion between the electoral commissaries and the deputies, were
with various additions and modifications, admitted as basis of the
new constitution of the state as well as for the propositions made by
the Elector respecting a fixed amount for a civil list, and division
of the whole of the state revenues, which besides had been chiefly
accumulated from the sale of the men taken into the pay of the English
to fight against the revolted North-American colonies during the time
of the Elector Friedrich II. The 9th January 1831 was the day fixed
for the promulgation of the new constitution, and on the evening of
the day before, the Electress came back with her daughter _Caroline_
from Fulda, where she had been residing for some time past, in order
to be present at this joyful event. The elector received her upon
his arrival at her residence in the Belle-vue palace, and I received
order from the officer of the lord marshal of the court, to give the
reconciled couple a serenade with the court orchestra. After I had
held the rehearsal in the course of the afternoon for that purpose,
I proceeded with the orchestra in exceedingly cold weather to the
Belle-vue palace, and having ascertained the apartment in which the
court was assembled we drew up outside and played as well as the
extremely unfavourable weather would permit. Towards the end of the
music the princely pair shewed themselves, the Elector embraced his
wife at the window, and the inhabitants of Cassel, who in spite of
the cold had collected in crowds, broke out into a loud cheer of joy.
The next morning the public announcement of the new constitution was
made, and the oaths were taken with due solemnity on the part of the
civic-guard publicly upon the Königsplatz, on that of the military on
the Friedrichsplatz, and by all the authorities, the court officials
and the orchestra in their proper localities. In the evening the town
was illuminated, and at the theatre, brilliantly lighted up, “Jessonda”
was given as festive opera for the occasion, preceded by a play written
for the occasion by counsellor _Niemeyer_. In the latter was introduced
at the same time a hymn composed for it by me, “Hesse’s song of joy
on the establishment of its constitution;” and at the conclusion, the
well-known and previously mentioned melody, which, with appropriate
words, was sung also by the audience, after which the latter greeted
the electoral family assembled in the state box with a storm of cheers.
Everybody now looked forward to a happy future; but unfortunately the
Countess _Reichenbach_, with her brother Mr. _Ortlepp_, returned the
day after to Wilhelmshöhe. This had no sooner become known in Cassel,
as also that the elector had visited her there, than the disturbances
immediately broke out afresh. Citizens and peasantry gathered in crowds
before the palace at Wilhelmshöhe, and threatened aloud to drive the
countess out by force, until it was at length ascertained that she had
left for Hanau, and a public announcement was placarded in Cassel:
“that the _cause_ for the disturbance had been removed.” But a few
weeks afterwards the Elector followed her, as it was thought to take up
his residence altogether at Hanau.
Meanwhile at my house the construction of an additional building
which had been begun the previous summer from a plan drawn by my
son-in-law _Wolff_ was completed. By this, in addition to somewhat more
house-room, I obtained more particularly a music room such as we had
long felt the want of for our quartet parties, which although closely
adjoining the house itself, had nevertheless a higher roof, in order to
give it the desired height. In its decoration also, the chief endeavour
was to obtain a favourable acoustic arrangement, so as to dispense
with all drapery over the windows and doors, which is so obstructive
of sound. On the 2nd February 1831, we consecrated the newly-acquired
space with the celebration of our “Silver Wedding”; at which my parents
from Gandersheim were come to assist, and had brought with them as a
present a porcelain vase richly ornamented with silver, upon which,
besides the names of the donors, was engraved the inscription: “May the
silver of to-day be one day gold!” This fete, properly speaking was
got up by my children, in conjunction with our musical friends, and
was opened by the torch-light dance from my “Faustus” executed by the
guests, with appropriate words to the choral parts. This was followed
by a succession of “Tableaux vivants,” in which the chief incidents
of my life were ingeniously represented. Among many other poems both
of comic and serious import, which were recited at table, my friend
_Pfeiffer_ had also contributed a composition with the view, that all
the persons present should appear in the costume of the characters in
my operas, and that _K. Pfeiffer_ himself should recite the poem. This
poem gave me great pleasure at the time, and its recital, with all its
allusions, excited general merriment, and no one would have dreamed
that its youthful author would be snatched in a few months by death
from our circle. Early in the morning of the 31st July, while bathing
in the river Fulda, he was struck with apoplexy, and his beautiful and
diversified labours in literature were suddenly arrested for ever.
For his obsequies I composed a solemn dirge for several voices, and
subsequently, when the civil guard of this place had a monumental
memorial erected over his early grave, upon its consecration the chorus
from “The last things,” “Selig sind die Todten,” was sung by the St.
Cecilia society with the assistance also of its female members, a
circumstance which upon no previous occasion of the kind had ever taken
place in Cassel. Dr. _B. W. Pfeiffer_, the father of the deceased,
who previously had been known to me only in his official capacity as
chief advocate of the court of appeal, visited me upon the occasion to
thank me for my attention, and in this manner I first became personally
intimate with him, to whom I was at a later period to be more nearly
allied as son-in-law.
Unhappily that was the last family rejoicing which my brother
_Ferdinand_ lived to see. He shortly after fell so seriously ill that
the physicians immediately pronounced him irrecoverable, and I was
present a few days afterwards when he breathed his last. As his widow,
in spite of all her solicitations, received no pension from the bureau
of intendance, and was therefore reduced to the small income paid to
her from the relief-fund which I had instituted a few years before,
I set aside for her subsistence a yearly allowance, with the aid of
which she was enabled to give a good education to both her children
and to allow her son _Ludwig_, my godson, to prepare himself for his
collegiate studies. After some years of diligent study, with a view
of going to the university of Marburg, the young fellow returned to
his earlier expressed desire to devote himself entirely to music. Upon
a closer examination, however, this did not seem to me advisable, as
it was now too late for him to acquire the necessary thorough musical
education, and by my advice he adhered to his chosen profession of
the law, passed a brilliant examination in 1847, and entered into the
official service of the electorate of Hesse.