the court musician _Franz_, a former pupil of mine, for which occasion
it was festively decorated with wreaths and flowers. We there met the
three directors of orchestra _Reissiger_, _Morlachi_ and _Rastrelli_,
and I played one of my double quartets and my newest concertino. As
we purposed leaving Dresden the next morning it was now necessary
to take leave of our amiable fellow travellers _Kleinwächter_ and
_Hesse_, in whose society we had passed so many pleasant hours, and
who during the time of our being together, had really heaped upon us
every demonstration of affection and attention. They parted from us
with tears in their eyes, and we continued our journey through Leipzic
and Halle to Brunswick, where we were desirous of visiting my brothers
_William_ and _Augustus_, and at the same time of assisting at the
musical festival which was then about to be held there. This took
place in the Ægydian church, and opened with _Händel’s_ “Messiah.”
Although that noble work was long since well known to us from previous
performances of it, we were nevertheless again truly charmed by
the grandeur of the choruses, the powerful cast, and _Mozart’s_
instrumentation. On the two following days mixed concerts of vocal and
instrumental music were given; but the pieces performed being for the
most part operatic music, they appeared to us not altogether suited for
the church. At all the grand dinners which took place daily at noon
under the large tent that had been erected on the wall promenade, the
hilarity was generally somewhat tumultuous; and one scene that occurred
on the last day was of a very comical nature.
_Mantius_, the tenor singer of Berlin, who had already sung some songs
with great applause, was at last requested to sing the favorite one
of “Fair Annie.”[34] This song has an apparent termination, which
is followed by a yet more brilliant finale. It so happened that the
auditory always broke out into a loud applause before _Mantius_ had
got to the end. After this had occurred to his great annoyance at
some verses, he at the following verse mounted upon a bench, and at
last even got upon the table, in order at length to obtain a complete
hearing for the brilliant point of the song, but again his efforts
were fruitless! The apparent termination was always too irresistible,
and although _Mantius_ previous to the last verse again implored
his hearers both earnestly and piteously to restrain their applause
until he had really come to the end, one of them nevertheless allowed
himself to be carried away by his feelings and to shout bravo at the
wrong time, and that was quite sufficient for the rest to join in. The
expression of despair with which, though overwhelmed with applause, the
singer now jumped down from the table, was indescribably ludicrous.
[34] “Schön Hannchen.”
Upon our leaving Brunswick we were pressingly invited by Councillor
_Lüder_, who had also been present at the musical festival, to spend
a few days with him at his country seat at Catlenburg, upon our way
back; and this formed a worthy termination to this interesting journey.
On our return to Cassel I found a letter from my former pupil _Gercke_,
director of music at Paderborn, in which we were invited to the
millenium jubilee of St. _Liborius_, which was to take place there
on the 21st July. The celebration of this festival was to commence
on the first day with church solemnities, and on the second with the
production of my oratorio: “Des Heilands letzte Stunden” (The last
moments of the Saviour). As my holidays were not quite expired, we
quickly made up our minds, and in a few days again took our seats in
the travelling carriage, in which this time my sister-in-law _Caroline
Pfeiffer_ filled the fourth place. We slept at Lichtenau and set out
from there so early the next morning, that we arrived at Paderborn
before eight o’clock, but we found nevertheless the town so full, that
we could not be accommodated at either of the two hotels there. The
host of the second hotel seemed however to regret his inability to
accommodate us, and hired for us a couple of rooms in a private house
opposite. But we could there procure two beds only, so that he was
obliged to arrange a sleeping place for me and my wife for the night in
the hotel, and that indeed in a room occupied by a hair-dresser during
the day in the pursuance of his calling, and for the sale of his wares.
We had scarcely entered our unseemly apartment than we received a visit
from the dilettanti of the town, and from the artists who had come to
take part in the musical performances. We were then conducted to the
house of one of their friends, where the best places were given to us
at the windows, to see with more convenience the brilliant procession
which accompanied the relics of St. _Liborius_ in their golden shrine,
to the cathedral. When the immense crowd of the population had somewhat
dispersed we also proceeded to the cathedral, where we admired the
richly decorated and beautiful structure, and heard _Carl Maria von
Weber’s_ mass in _D major_, the too worldly style of which however did
not altogether please us. On the following evening my oratorio was
performed in the church of the Jesuits, brilliantly lighted up, whither
we were accompanied and a passage made for us through the thronged
aisle up to the front places assigned to us on cushioned seats close
to those of the bishop of Paderborn, chief president _Vincke_ and the
commandant of the town. I remarked with pleasure that here also a great
enthusiasm was felt for my oratorio; _Gercke_ directed exceedingly
well, the choruses had been well studied, and among the solo-singers,
who were for the most part dilettanti, the well-known concert singer
Mrs. _Johanna Schmidt_ particularly distinguished herself in the part
of Mary. Scarcely had we retired to rest after this busy day, than
we heard a torch-light serenade under our windows, consisting of
instrumental music and four-part songs. When on the repeated loud calls
on my name I went to the window with the intention of returning thanks,
I found in front of it so high a pile of pasteboard boxes belonging to
my co-occupant of the room as to impede my efforts to open it, and I
was therefore compelled to convey my deferred oral thanks in a written
shape the next morning previous to our leaving.
In this manner we returned to Cassel from this excursion also very
gratified, after which, inspired with improved health and in very
happy domestic circumstances, I began a new period of industrious
composition. Already on the return journey from Dresden I had
constantly thought of a new composition, and sketched out the programme
of it. This was another sonate for me and my wife, which was afterwards
published as a duet for piano and violin “Nachklänge einer Reise nach
Dresden und in die sächsische Schweiz” (Reminiscences of a journey to
Dresden and through Saxon Switzerland) Op. 96, by _Simrock_ of Bonn
and dedicated to our amiable fellow travellers of Prague and Breslau.
In the first theme I endeavoured to describe the love of travel, and
in the second the journey itself, by introducing the winding of the
postillions’ horns, customary in Saxony and the neighbouring part of
Prussia, as the dominant in the scherzo, played by the violin upon
the _G_ string in a horn-like manner as chief theme, worked out with
striking modulations on the pianoforte, and then I depicted in the
trio a fanciful dreaming-like sentiment, such as one so willingly yet
unconsciously gives onesself up to in the carriage! The subsequent
adagio represents a scene in the catholic royal-chapel at Dresden,
which begins with an organ-prelude on the pianoforte alone; after
which the violin plays the intonations of the priest before the altar,
which are followed by the responses of the chorister-boys in the same
tones and modulations as they are given in catholic churches and
that of Dresden. This is followed by a air for _castrato_, in which
the violinist has to imitate the tone and that style of singing. The
last theme of all describes in a rondo the journey through Saxon
Switzerland, in which it endeavours to recal the recollection of the
grand beauties of nature and to represent the merry strains of the
Bohemian music, which one hears resound from almost every rocky glen;
to effect all which in so compressed a limit could of course be but
imperfectly realised.
In the course of the year 1836 I wrote also a number of songs, six
of which, in one book, were published by _Breitkopf & Härtel_ as Op.
101, and among the rest “Sangeslust” (The love of song) given in
_Breitkopf & Härtel’s_ musical album, with four-handed accompaniment;
furthermore a Psalm for chorus and soli with orchestral accompaniment,
and a fantasia in the shape of an overture to _Raupach’s_ mythical
tragedy “Die Tochter der Luft” (“The Daughter of the Air”) which was
shortly afterwards performed at one of our subscription concerts. But
as in this shape it did not altogether please me, I afterwards worked
it up as the first theme of my fifth symphony, which I composed for
the “_concerts spirituels_” at Vienna and which was shortly afterwards
published by _Haslinger_ as Op. 102.[35] In the beginning of the
following year (1837) I wrote my third duet for pianoforte and violin
in _E major_, which was afterwards published by _Paul_ of Dresden as
Op. 112.
[35] Its first performance in Vienna produced there a great sensation,
as several gratifying reports, accompanied by a costly silver cup with
suitable inscription, testify. The Vienna Musical Journal said in a
very enthusiastic review, among other things: “It is again a work, that
speaks its own master’s praise in elegant language: a pure whole, a
thing apart of itself, all of one casting. The introduction, andante
_C sharp_, breathes a cheerful repose which gradually assumes an
impassioned character and prepares the hearer for the transition to the
allegro, _C minor_, which, replete with treasures of harmony bears in
itself the germ of an imposing effect.... The second theme, Larghetto,
_A major_, is a conglomerate of deep feeling, warm fantasy, and of song
replete with sentiment etc.; in this again each note speaks to the
heart with irresistible force.... The scherzo, _C sharp_, opens with a
bold freshness of appeal to life and cheerfulness, the sharp rhythms,
the unceasing and restless competition of the wind and stringed
instruments, the impetuous bursts of tonic power as opposed to the soft
clear flowing cantilene of the alternative,--and, all these effected in
a manner so original and striking as to defy expression in words....
For the _presto_ finale, the poet of sound appears to have husbanded
as much as possible the sum total of his creative powers.... Not one
of the numberless beauties were lost upon the hearers, each theme in
succession received the merited tribute to his mastery; and indeed the
richly fantastic scherzo electreified all so unanimously, that a _da
capo_ was imperatively called for.”...
About this same time I made earnest preparations to carry out an
idea which had long occupied my thought, namely to give a musical
festival, for which Cassel seemed to me in many respects exceedingly
well adapted. My plan of this was as follows, on Whitsunday afternoon
to give _Mendelssohn’s_ oratorio of “Paulus” (St. Paul) in the church
of St. Martin; on Whitmonday evening, with the church lighted up,
to perform my symphony “Die Weihe der Töne” and my oratorio of “Die
letzten Dinge;” on Whittuesday in the forenoon, at the theatre, a
concert of foreign and native singers and virtuosi, and on the same
evening, as was usual on the second festival day, a new opera.
The invitations abroad, the assembling of the musicians, and the
rehearsal of the oratorios by the choral-society had already begun,
when to my application to the Prince for permission I received the
following authoritative decision from his private secretary: “The days
of performance must be changed, as the evening of Whitsunday could not
be granted without disturbing those who had prepared themselves to
receive the holy sacrament on that evening; neither could any concert
be allowed on Whitmonday (on account of the church service and the
opera); nor could any scaffolding be erected in the large church for
the chorus, as it would be unbecoming in the locality of the burial
vault of the electoral family. His highness must await other proposals,
before he could graciously condescend to grant his permission.”
To this I replied that a musical festival in Cassel could alone prove
successful, and the risk of the very considerable expense could alone
be safely incurred if it were permitted, as at other places, and as is
the custom at the musical festivals on the lower Rhine, to take place
in the Whitsuntide holidays, when a great number of strangers would
flock to the town and the lovers of music of the neighbouring places
would not be prevented by business from attending. That if Whitsunday
evening could not be granted, no other two succeeding evenings of that
time could be found for performances in the church. As, furthermore,
no other appropriate place was to be found in Cassel, than the large
church, and that the erection of seats therein could not be allowed,
I found myself compelled to abandon totally the projected musical
festival.
Unpleasant to all parties as was this complete failure of the plan, I
was compelled to abide by it, despite the somewhat considerable expense
I had already incurred, and of which I could reimburse myself but a
very small part only by the re-sale of the procured song-parts to the
choral society. As meanwhile, however, we had industriously practised
_Mendelssohn’s_ oratorio, and become more and more delighted with it,
I proposed to give it on Whitsunday at the concert which had been
permitted for the benefit of the relief fund; but this was refused
also by the Prince, so that we were obliged to content ourselves with
gratifying the lovers of music with two private performances of the
oratorio upon the pianoforte at the society of St. Cecilia.
In the summer of 1837 I received an invitation to go to Prague to
direct the performance of my opera “Der Berg-Geist” (The Spirit of
the Mountain) and for that purpose I thought of proceeding thither
at the commencement of the holidays. But as the permission had not
been received at the treasury of the theatre on the evening before,
I addressed myself to the Prince between the acts of the opera,
and enquired of him, Whether he had any orders for me to execute
upon the journey. In the somewhat indistinct answer I received from
him I understood, it is true, something about my permission not
having been made out; but as I had no time to lose, I found myself
under the necessity of setting out without it at 4 o’clock the next
morning. Seeing _Feige_, the director of the theatre, walking in the
neighbourhood of my house at that early hour, I thought he might have
been sent to ascertain whether I really had the boldness to set out on
my journey without the written permission. On the first day’s journey
indeed, I was not without some uneasiness lest a mounted messenger
might be sent after us to order our return. I therefore hastened as
much as possible at every post-station the putting-to of fresh horses,
and we thus crossed the frontier without molestation. After a journey
of six days we at length reached Prague, where _Marianne_ and _Theresa_
were greatly struck by the beauty of the city and had moreover the
gratification to learn from the theatre bills placarded at the corners
of the streets, that my opera Jessonda was to be given that evening,
in which a foreign singer was to make her debut. That the opera was
a great favorite here was evident from the fact that immediately
after the performance of the overture, the public encored it. The
“Blumenduet” (flower duet) and the duet “Schönes Mädchen” (lovely
maiden) were also encored. But I was very much annoyed at several
omissions, for which however the director of the Prague orchestra was
not to blame, being omissions which were customary in Vienna, from
whence the score had been supplied. The principal singers were very
good, so that a favourable result was also to be anticipated for the
“Berg-Geist.”
On the following morning I was taken by surprise by a visit from a
zealous lover of music, Dr. _Hutzelmann_, who had been informed that I
was fond of swimming, and had for that reason come to take me to the
military school of natation on the Moldau; the officer attached to that
establishment, who accompanied me, soon remarked that I was a practised
swimmer, and proposed a swimming excursion outside the school, in which
he ordered me to be accompanied by two soldiers in a boat. They took my
clothes with them, and after I had swum for about half an hour with the
stream, they assisted me into the boat, in which I dressed myself while
the soldiers rowed us back to the town. While I was swimming near the
boat, our conversation turned more and more upon my compositions, with
which the musical instructor in swimming was almost as well acquainted
as myself. He proposed to me a similar enjoyment every day in the
Moldau, and next morning found him already waiting for me with his boat
near the swimming-school. Meanwhile the rehearsals of the “Berg-Geist”
went on exceedingly well. The director of the orchestra had very
carefully managed the private rehearsals, and studied everything so
well, that in two performances which I myself conducted the opera was
eminently successful. Upon my entering the orchestra I was not only
received by the public in the most enthusiastic manner, but loudly
called for each time at the conclusion of the opera. The singers who
supported the chief characters were madame _Podhorski_ as Alma, Messrs.
_Pöck_ and _Emminger_, as Berg-Geist and Oskar, who sang and performed
exceedingly well, and the opera maintained its place in the repertory
of Prague theatre for a long time. We remained a few days longer in
Prague, and I played at several private parties not only quartets
but also my sonatas and solo-music with my wife’s accompaniment,
who likewise played some quite new composition of _Kittl_ and
_Kleinwächter_ for four hands, in which she displayed great ability
and quickness in reading at sight. The _Kleinwächter_ family made
several excursions with us into the beautiful environs of Prague, by
which means we became intimately acquainted with all the attractions
of that fine city. At length however we were obliged to tear ourselves
away from these enjoyments and resumed our journey. Now also came the
most fatiguing part of our tour, that to Vienna, in which we suffered
exceedingly from the heat and dust, as also from the dirty and wretched
accommodation of the inns where we passed the night. On the fourth
day we arrived half dead at Vienna and put up at the “Erzherzog Carl”
hotel. After I had called upon my former friends, we passed some very
pleasant days there, for which we had to thank my Cassel friends _von
Steuber_, the ambassador from the Elector of Hesse, the Baron _von
Lannoy_, and particularly my Viennese publisher, _Haslinger_. The
latter took us every evening to some new gardens, where _Strauss_ and
_Lanner_ gave their concerts, and where we supped exceedingly well
_à la carte_ at the little tables spread for the entertainment of
the guests. Sometimes, also, we went to the theatre, to see the real
Viennese popular farces, but my female companions were not sufficiently
acquainted with the Viennese dialect, to relish them thoroughly.
After the lapse of a fortnight, in which we participated in all the
amusements of Vienna, we took leave of our kind friends and resumed
our journey towards the beautifully situated Salzburg, which is one
of the finest possible, particularly the first half, the way across
the lake to the Ischl baths. In Salzburg, which as the birth-place of
_Mozart_ was to me sacred ground, we first of all visited his widow,
the present wife of Privy Councillor _von Nissen_, who was very pleased
at our calling upon her, and in whose house we made the acquaintance
of her two sons. In the excursions we made into the neighbourhood in
one of the customary light, one-horse vehicles of the country, we were
most pleased at the celebrated Gollinger waterfall, and with a sliding
trip through the rock-salt-works at Hallein, which was something quite
new for my female fellow travellers. From Salzburg we now went on to
Munich, where I learned to my great surprise, that the Prince of Hesse
had just arrived there. As it was now necessary for me to apologise to
him for my departure from Cassel, I addressed myself for that purpose
to the Marshal of the court, _von der Malsburg_, and at the same time
informed him that I had been requested by the intendant of the Munich
theatre to conduct there the performance of my opera “Jessonda,”
but for which I would first request the Prince’s permission. On the
following morning the Prince sent word to me that it would be very
agreeable to him that I should direct the opera, and in that case he
would prolong his stay to hear it. Adorned with a hat lent to me by
Mr. _von der Malsburg_ and a little bit cut off from the ribbon of
his order, I repaired the next day to the appointed audience, and was
received by the Prince with the following words: “Why, you disappeared
from Cassel all at once.” To which I replied: “I thought I had taken
my leave in the form prescribed,” and as he said nothing further on
the subject, the matter was so far settled for this time. But the
contemplated representation of “Jessonda” did not take place during my
presence in Munich, as the king expected some days after a visit from
the Prince, and had deferred the opera till then, and in the meantime
my leave of absence had expired. We therefore left Munich before. On
our way back we paid a visit to my uncle Professor _Adolphus Hencke_
in Erlangen, where we made the acquaintance of the present Councillor
_Rudolph Wagner_ of Göttingen, and returned to Cassel before the Prince
arrived.
Shortly afterwards, I received a letter from _Hermstedt_, wherein, by
request of the Princess von Sondershausen, he commissioned me to write
some soprano songs for her with pianoforte and clarinet accompaniment.
As this task was much to my liking, I composed in the course of a
few weeks six songs of this kind (Op. 103, published by _Breitkopf &
Härtel_ of Leipzic) which by the express desire of the Princess I
dedicated to her, and for which I received from her the present of a
very costly ring.
I began the year 1838 with the composition of the “Vaterunser” [Lord’s
Prayer] of _Klopstock_ (Op. 104, _Breitkopf & Härtel_, Leipzic) which
I wrote with a double chorus for men’s voices; at first only for
pianoforte accompaniment, and afterwards instrumentated for orchestra,
as it was intended to be performed at the singing festival for the
benefit of the _Mozart_ institution at Frankfort, where though I was
obliged to decline directing in person, it was first performed on the
29th July, and having been well studied, produced, according to the
reports from there, a very solemn and imposing effect.
In the succeeding months I again composed several songs for soprani or
tenori, which appeared as Op. 105, at _Hellmuth’s_ in Halle.