A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
"This red republican of music is to preside over the Old
Philharmonic of London, the most classical, orthodox, and
exclusive society on this globe."--Letter of Ferdinand
Praeger to the New York _Musical Gazette_.
The musical activities of this period were about to be interrupted
by a voyage so strange that we can hardly conceive it as possible.
That Richard Wagner, the reformer, should go to England to conduct
the then most stagnant musical organisation in the world, the London
Philharmonic, before the most conservative musical public on earth,
seems little short of humorous. Yet this thing actually happened. And
the musicians of the London orchestra, to their credit, recognised
the greatness of their new conductor and played as they had never
played before. But this is anticipating. In Zurich he was already
known as a conductor before he had set foot on Swiss soil. So it is
natural that the musical authorities of the place should have sought
his services as soon as he was settled. We have already noted that
he conducted some concerts and supervised the operatic performances
at the theatre where Von Bülow and Carl Ritter conducted. But the
good Swiss were not satisfied with this. They desired the excitement
of the production of one of Wagner's works under his own direction.
Accordingly, in May, 1852, "The Flying Dutchman" was given, but
because the singers treated the work as an old-fashioned opera, it
did not make a deep impression. Nevertheless, in February, 1855,
"Tannhäuser" was produced in Zurich. It was at this period, too,
that Wagner took up the old "Faust" overture and revised it, making
changes which drew expressions of delight from Liszt.
At this time the warfare of two musical societies in London was to
have an unexpected influence on the movements of Wagner. The London
Philharmonic Society had suffered a split, caused by dissensions
which need not be discussed here, and a New Philharmonic had been
formed. The insurgent forces proceeded to formulate a plan of
campaign which threatened disaster to the older army. As a master
stroke, they secured as conductor no less a personage than Hector
Berlioz, the famous French composer. It now became necessary for the
older body to deal a counterblow. But where to turn for a conductor
whose name would excite public interest in such a manner as that
of Berlioz they knew not. In the midst of their confusion arose
Ferdinand Praeger, the London friend and admirer of Wagner, of whom
he had first heard through August Roeckel. Praeger knew that there
would be opposition to Wagner, but he knew, too, that the name of the
composer of the music of the future would arouse public curiosity
and that audiences could be got for his concerts. And audiences were
what the staid and languishing Old Philharmonic most needed. On the
other hand, there was something to be done in London in the way of
correcting false impressions of Wagner's works. As Liszt wrote to him
on learning that he was to make the visit:
"The London Philharmonic comes in very aptly, and I am
delighted. As lately as six months ago people used to
shake their heads, and some of them even hissed, at the
performance of the 'Tannhäuser' overture, conducted by
Costa. Klindworth and Remeny were almost the only ones who
had the courage to applaud and to beard the Philistines who
had made their nests of old in the Philharmonic. Well, it
will now assume a different tone, and you will revivify old
England with the Old Philharmonic."
Liszt as usual wrote in an encouraging strain, but it is likely that
he really believed that Wagner would profit by some personal contact
with the public. For the history of this incident we must turn to
the pages of Praeger, who acted as Wagner's private agent in making
the engagement, and who first suggested it to Prosper Sainton, the
eminent violinist and a director of the Philharmonic. It was an
ill-advised visit, but it was made by Wagner chiefly because he hoped
through this introduction to the English public to bring out his
operas in London. On Jan. 21, 1855, he wrote to Fischer in Dresden:
"At the end of February I go for two months to London, to
conduct the concerts of the Philharmonic Society, for which
they expressly sent one of their directors here to persuade
me. As a rule, that kind of thing does not suit me; and
as I am not to get much pay for it, I would scarcely have
consented, had I not therein seen a chance of next year
bringing together in London--under the protection of the
Court--a first-rate German opera company, with which I
could give my operas, and at last my 'Lohengrin.'"
Mr. Anderson, conductor of the Queen's private band, and an acting
director of the Philharmonic, was sent to Zurich to negotiate with
Wagner. Some correspondence had already taken place, and the composer
had demanded conditions which were waived after conversation with
Mr. Anderson. The question of terms was speedily disposed of, the
irresponsible Wagner saying that he was too busy to think about them.
After Mr. Anderson had returned to London Wagner wrote to Praeger and
suggested giving a concert of his own works, but this alarmed the
conservative Philharmonic people, and a compromise was effected by
the promise of the performance of selections. It was arranged that
the composer should stay at Praeger's house, 31 Milton Street, till a
quiet and secluded lodging, where he could go on with the scoring of
the trilogy, could be found for him. He arrived in London on Sunday,
March 5, 1855. The lodging was found at 22 Portland Terrace, Regent's
Park. Much of the work of scoring the "Nibelung" dramas was done at
this place.
The first meeting between Wagner and Mr. Anderson in London was not
encouraging. The Philharmonic director suggested the performance of a
prize symphony by Lachner, whereupon Wagner rose excitedly from his
chair and exclaimed: "Have I, therefore, left my quiet seclusion in
Switzerland to cross the sea to conduct a prize symphony by Lachner?
No, never! If that be a condition of the bargain I at once reject it,
and will return."[21]
[Footnote 21: Praeger, "Wagner as I Knew Him," p. 231.]
The matter was smoothed over, but it was only one of several similar
outbreaks on the part of the impatient artist. Fortunately, as
Praeger notes, Wagner had a keen sense of humour, and when there was
a ludicrous aspect in the scenes of misunderstanding it sufficed to
put him in a pleasant mood once more.
Wagner made only one visit of ceremony in London, and that was a
call on Sir Michael Costa. He flatly refused to call on the musical
critics of the London papers, and Praeger says that this was to his
injury. This state of affairs is not easy to understand in the United
States, where visits to critics are looked upon with suspicion, and
are discouraged by the critics themselves. Praeger records that Mr.
Davison, the editor of _The Musical World_, then an influential
paper, declared that as long as he held the sceptre of musical
criticism, Wagner should not acquire any hold in London. In these
circumstances it is not at all astonishing that the new conductor
received not a little censure. It is only right to mention, however,
that some of the London papers viewed his work without prejudice and
praised what appeared to them to be its excellences. That Wagner was
an uncommonly fine conductor cannot be doubted, and the musicians of
the Philharmonic, as soon as they had recovered from the surprise
caused by Wagner's spirited and truthful readings of the works under
rehearsal and his emphatic insistence on the correct treatment of
every passage, together with vigour of style, applauded him and
obeyed him with delight.
The first concert took place on March 12. The programme, like that
of all the other concerts, was absurdly long, and this was one of
the things against which Wagner vainly fought. The list comprised a
symphony by Haydn, an operatic trio, a Spohr violin concerto, the
Weber aria, "Ocean, thou mighty monster," Mendelssohn's "Fingal's
Cave," overture, Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony, a duet by Marschner,
and the overture to "Die Zauberflöte." Wagner amazed the Londoners
by giving readings of the orchestral works instead of permitting the
orchestra to glide through them in the conventional slovenly way.
He even restored the true tempi in the "Eroica," in which London
conductors had been playing the first movement slowly and the funeral
march quickly. He astonished the great body of Mendelssohnians, which
infested London then as it has ever since, by reading the overture
with beautiful colour and intelligence. Several of the papers abused
him roundly, but _The Morning Post_ discovered in him the ideal
conductor.
At the second concert on March 26, Wagner conducted the overture to
"Der Freischütz," Beethoven's ninth symphony, and the prelude to
"Lohengrin." The Weber overture had to be repeated, which goes to
show that the audience was not insensible to Wagner's enthusiastic
sympathy with the music of his great predecessor. The dates of the
other concerts conducted by Wagner were April 16 and 30, May 14 and
28, and June 11 and 25. In addition to the Beethoven symphonies
already mentioned he directed the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and
eighth; also the "Leonora" overture, No. 3, and the violin concerto,
Mozart's symphonies in B flat and C, Mendelssohn's Scotch and Italian
symphonies, Spohr's C minor symphony, Cipriani Potter's symphony
in G minor, and some minor works. The overture to "Tannhäuser" was
produced at the fifth concert, and was received with acclamations
by the audience and derision by the critics. It was repeated at the
seventh concert by royal command. The Queen and the Prince Consort
attended this concert and had Wagner before them in the salon. There
the Prince Consort suggested the desirability of translating some of
Wagner's operas into Italian that they might be presented in London,
and the Queen said, "I am most happy to make your acquaintance. Your
composition has charmed me."
Wagner left London the day after his last concert, and he was
heartily glad to shake the dust of the British capital off his feet.
Musical criticism in London was stilted, timorous, afraid of new
thoughts, unable to grasp any departure from the conventionalities
with which it was acquainted, and desperately opposed to musical
progress along lines not laid down by Mendelssohn and Handel. It was
to be expected that the commentors would oppose the entire Wagner
system, but the vituperative strain in the criticisms suggests the
probability that the writers felt and writhed under the power of the
man. It must be understood that similar criticism was written in
Germany, and that the "music of the future," as it was derisively
called, was not peacefully permitted to become the music of the
day. The younger generation of opera-goers cannot realise the state
of mind into which their forerunners were thrown when they were
asked to accept the opera as a play, and not as a mere string of
pretty vocal pieces, loosely connected by the pretence of a plot. In
London, where the opera was the amusement of fashionable society,
the music of Wagner was bound at first to meet with opposition. For
fashionable society always has been and still is opposed to all that
is dignified, serious, or uplifting in life or art.
Aside from some scoring of the Nibelung dramas, Wagner did little
productive work in the uncongenial atmosphere of London. Praeger
introduced to him Karl Klindworth, who was engaged to make piano
scores of the first dramas of the trilogy. This was, perhaps, the
most serious musical achievement of the London visit. It should be
said, however, that the friends whom Wagner found in London were the
nucleus of a substantial support for him in that capital, and when
the movement to build the Bayreuth Theatre took shape, the English
Wagnerites were among the sturdiest upholders of the plan.
Wagner went home to Zurich by way of Paris, and soon after his
arrival took his wife for a short visit to Seelisberg, near the Alps.
Just before starting his dog Peps died, and the letter in which he
communicates this fact to Praeger is so full of warm feeling that it
is a revelation of the richness of the heart of this singular and
erratic being. He said in part:
"The day of our departure for Seelisberg was already fixed,
where, as I wrote to you, I was going with my wife, my dog
and bird.[22] Suddenly dangerous symptoms showed themselves
in Peps, in consequence of which we put off our journey
for two days so as to nurse the poor dying dog. Up to the
last moment Peps showed me a love so touching as to be
almost heartrending; kept his eyes fixed on me and though
I chanced to move but a few steps from him, continued to
follow me with his eyes. He died in my arms on the night
of the ninth or tenth of this month, passing away without
a sound, quietly and peacefully. On the morrow, midday,
we buried him in the garden beside the house. I cried
incessantly, and since then have felt bitter pain and
sorrow for the dear friend of the past thirteen years who
ever worked and walked with me. It has clearly taught me
that the world exists only in our hearts and conception."
[Footnote 22: A parrot which he had humorously taught to say
frequently: "Richard Wagner, you are a great man."]
At this period he received an offer to visit America. He mentions it
in one of his letters to Praeger and also in other correspondence,
especially that with Liszt. He had been told while in London that he
would receive this invitation, and he wrote to Liszt: "While here I
chew a beggar's crust, I hear from Boston that 'Wagner nights' are
given there. Everyone persuades me to come over; they are occupying
themselves with me with increasing interest; I might make much money
there by concert performances, etc. 'Make much money!' Heavens! I
don't want to make money if I can go the way shown me by my longing."
Indeed Wagner thought of money only as the means which would enable
him to carry out his plans for the production of the Nibelung dramas.
He was sorely tempted for a time by the possibility of earning enough
in the United States to do as he pleased, but he finally wrote to
Liszt, with more than usual penetration, that he was not the kind of
man to be successful with a money-making speculation, and that he had
decided not to be turned aside from his artistic purposes. And thus
ended the attempt to induce Wagner to visit a country, which in its
state at that time would have been quite as uncongenial to him as
London.