last, the two having crossed on the way. As to our final meeting
I use all the arts of an experienced voluptuary in order to get
the most out of it. As it has been delayed so long, I should
almost like to finish the whole "Valkyrie" previously. The
completion of this work, the most TRAGIC which I have ever
conceived, will cost me much, and I must think of recovering what
I have put into it by the most cheering impressions, and those
YOU ONLY can supply. The thought of being able to go with you
through this work also is my only hope of reward. I am quite
unable to deal with it on the piano to my own satisfaction. You
must introduce it to me. For that reason I am thinking of
delaying our meeting till I can go through THE WHOLE with you.
Thus my highest need has made an egoist of me. The first two acts
I hope to have finished and copied out at the end of October, the
whole by Christmas. You said in your last letter it would suit
you equally well to come either in November or at Christmas. This
induced me to curb my impatience to see you again till then, so
as to make it possible, by the most incessant industry, to place
the whole, completed and fairly copied, before you, including the
last act, which is so important to me. Must I then ASK you to
delay your visit till Christmas? It sounds absurd enough, but you
will understand my pedantry. If you agree, and if no further
delay will become necessary on that account, I shall send you the
first two acts for inspection at the end of October, and you can
bring them back with you.
What shall I say to you of this New York offer? I was told in
London that they intended to invite me. It is a blessing that
they do not offer me very much money. The hope of being able to
earn a large sum, say ten thousand dollars, in a short time,
would, in the great helplessness of my pecuniary position, compel
me, as a matter of course, to undertake this American expedition,
although even in that case it would perhaps be absurd to
sacrifice my best vital powers to so miserable a purpose, and, as
it were, in an indirect manner. But as a man like me has no
chance of a really lucrative speculation, I am glad that I am not
exposed to any serious temptation, and therefore ask you to thank
the gentlemen of New York very kindly, in my name, for the
unmerited attention they have shown me, and to tell them that,
"for the present," I am unable to accept their invitation. I
puzzle my head about the cause of the journey which the Princess
and the Child have taken to Paris; is it for amusement and
nothing else? Greet them both most cordially for me when they
return; could they not come with you to a poor devil in
Switzerland just as well as go to Paris? If you would let me
cater for you I could arrange matters very cheaply. At the "Hotel
(Pension) Baur au lac," where you stayed before, one can, during
the WINTER, have brilliant, large, and comfortable rooms for VERY
LITTLE. A family of my acquaintance occupied a whole floor there
last winter, and lived very well at a fabulously cheap rate. The
Wesendoncks are also staying there, and you might set up a
splendid, half-common MENAGE, which would be a great joke. Well,
the chief thing will be to have a good piano for our two selves,
and of that I will take care, although I cannot provide so
splendid an instrument as that which Erard sent me in London, and
for which I forgot to thank you. I believe if I had such an
instrument I should still learn to play the piano.
I am much annoyed about Hanover. I know of no way to address a
reclamation to the King. I have no faith in Wehner's
intercession. As a subordinate of Count P.'s, he can risk no step
which might compromise him with that official. But these are
disgusting things to write about. You also complain of troubles.
Tell me, why do not we live together? Must it be Weimar of all
places? Another time more about this. For today farewell, and let
me thank you for being in existence.
Your
R. W.
199.
DEAREST RICHARD,
Over America I had forgotten Hanover, and must not omit once more
to point out Wehner to you as the best advocate of your claims
there. If the matter of the honorarium can be arranged according,
to your wish, he will be the most likely man to do it. From
Joachim I have heard nothing since the Dusseldorf festival.
Wehner lives at Hanover, and is in particular favour with His
Majesty, and he will be most eager to do you a little service if
you will ask him in a friendly manner.
At the end of December, about Christmas, I shall be with you.
Then we will feed like the gods on your "Rhinegold" and
"Valkyrie," and I, too, shall contribute some hors d'oeuvre.
F. L.
WEYMAR, September 23rd, 1855.
Write to me, at the first opportunity, whether ten thousand or
twelve thousand dollars, with proper guarantee, would be a
sufficient honorarium if you were to act as conductor in America
for six months.
200.
October 3rd, 1855.
Today, dearest Franz, I send you the two first acts of the
"Valkyrie" finished. It is a great satisfaction to me to place
them at once in your hands, because I know that no one
sympathises with my work as you do. I am anxious for the very
weighty second act; it contains two catastrophes, so important
and so powerful, that there would be sufficient matter for
two acts; but then they are so interdependent, and the one
implies the other so immediately, that it was impossible to
separate them. If it is represented exactly as I intend, and if
my intentions are perfectly understood, the effect must be beyond
anything that has hitherto been in existence. Of course, it is
written only for people who can stand something (perhaps in
reality for nobody). That incapable and weak persons will
complain, cannot in any way move me. You must decide whether
everything has succeeded according to my own intentions. I cannot
do it otherwise. At times, when I was timid and sobered down, I
was chiefly anxious about the great scene of Wotan, especially
when he discloses the decrees of fate to Brynhild, and in London
I was once on the point of rejecting the whole scene. In order to
come to a decision, I took up the sketch, and recited the scene
with proper expression, when, fortunately, I discovered that my
spleen was unjustified, and that, if properly represented, the
scene would have a grand effect even in a purely musical sense.
The manner of expression I have in places indicated very
accurately, but it still remains, and will indeed be my principal
task, to introduce a gifted singer and actor to the very core of
my intentions by means of personal communication. You, I firmly
hope, will find out the right thing at once. For the development
of the great tetralogy, this is the most important scene of all,
and, as such, it will probably meet with the necessary sympathy
and attention.
If you should like nothing at all in my score, you will, at
least, be pleased once more with my neat hand-writing, and
will think the precaution of red lines ingenious. This
representation on paper will probably be the only one which my
work will achieve, for which reason I linger over the copying
with satisfaction.
I hope, more firmly than ever, to finish the last act by
Christmas. That you allow yourself to be ordered about by me is
too kind of you, and touches me deeply. In return, I promise to
behave very reasonably when you come. In the meantime I shall
nurse the feeble remnants of my voice in every way, and during
the last weeks before your arrival I shall try a few solfeggi, in
order to restore the overstrained and badly treated instrument to
a tolerable condition. Must I assure you once more, that I look
forward to our meeting with a sacred awe!
As far as we require society, it will not be unpleasant this
time. You probably know that Semper has been appointed here. I
take great pleasure in him--an artist through and through, and of
his nature more amiable than before, though still fiery. Carl
Ritter also will settle here. He pleases me better than ever. His
intellect is vast, and I do not know another young man like him.
He loves you sincerely, and understands you well.
Berlioz replied lately to a letter of mine, in which I had asked
him, amongst other things, to make me a present of all his
scores, if he could get them gratis. That he cannot do, because
his earlier publishers will give him no more free copies. I
confess that it would interest me very much to study his
symphonies carefully in full score. Do you possess them, and will
you lend them to me, or will you go so far as to give them to me?
I should accept them gratefully, but should like to have them
soon.
The Hanover business has been settled satisfactorily, the
Intendant having apparently seen the error of his ways. I thank
you for your well-intended advice with regard to Wehner, and
regret to have troubled you with this trumpery business.
America is a terrible nightmare. If the New York people should
ever make up their minds to offer me a considerable sum, I should
be in the most awful dilemma. If I refused I should have to
conceal it from all men, for every one would charge me in my
position with recklessness. Ten years ago I might have undertaken
such a thing, but to have to walk in such by-ways now in order to
live would be too hard,--now, when I am fit only to do, and to
devote myself to, that which is strictly my business. I should
never finish the "Nibelungen" in my life. Good gracious! such
sums as I might EARN in America, people ought to GIVE me, without
asking anything in return beyond what I am actually doing, and
which is the best that I can do. Besides this, I am much better
adapted to spend 60,000 francs in six months than to "earn" it.
The latter I cannot do at all, for it is not my business to "earn
money," but it is the business of my admirers to give me as much
money as I want, to do my work in a cheerful mood. Well, it is a
good thing, and I will take courage from the thought that the
Americans will make me no such offer. Do not you instigate it
either, for in the "luckiest" case it would be a great trouble to
me. Of your dear ones I never have any real news; I am frequently
asked, and do not know what to say. But you must greet them all
the more cordially for me, and, if you can, love me with all your
heart. Will you not? Adieu.
Your R. W.
And how about your great compositions? To know them at last is
worth a whole life to me. I have never looked forward with such
desire to anything. Let me know AT ONCE that my score has
arrived, so that I may not worry myself about it.
201.
One word, dearest Franz, to say that my score has safely arrived!
I am anxious.
Your
R.
202.
Your "Valkyrie" has arrived, and I should like to reply to you by
your "Lohengrin" chorus, sung by 1,000 voices, and repeated a
thousandfold: "A wonder! a wonder!"
Dearest Richard, you are truly a divine being, and it is my joy
to feel after you and to follow you.
More by word of mouth about your splendid, tremendous work, which
I am reading "in great inner excitement," to the horn rhythm,
page 40, in D:
[musical notation] The scores of Berlioz I possess, but have lent
them all to friends for the moment, and shall not be able to get
them back for some weeks.
About the middle of November I shall send you a parcel of them.
You will find in them much to please you.
The day after tomorrow I am going for a few days to Brunswick to
conduct, on the 18th instant, one of the Symphony Concerts given
by the orchestra there. For the 2lst, Sunday week, your "Flying
Dutchman" is announced here, and at the beginning of November
there will be a performance of "Tannhauser" in honour of several
Berlin people (Hulsen, Dorn, the operatic stage manager Formes,
etc.), who have announced their visit here. I shall send you an
account of it.
Go on with your "Valkyrie," and permit me to adapt the proverb,
"Quand on prend du galon, on n'en saurait trop prendre,"
to your case in the following manner:
"Quand on fait du sublime on n'en saurait trop faire, surtout
quand ce n'est qu'une question de nature et d'habitude!"
Your
F.
WEYMAR, October 12th, 1855.
203.
November 16th, 1855.
DEAREST FRANZ,
Thank the Child a thousand times for her letter, and tell her
that I shall not send the album back till you return from here,
because I want to write something good in it which will not be
finished till then.
I must write many and reasonable things to the Princess, and that
I cannot do at present. So I remain in her debt also, but only to
satisfy her. She may see from this how much I value her letter.
I have not yet gone out into the air; but I am getting accustomed
to my room, and do not particularly long for our autumn mists. I
am doing a little work too. You are coming, are you not?
I should like to be silent till then and for ever, for whenever I
speak or write it is sure to be something stupid.
Au revoir!!!
204.
DEAR FRANZ,
I am making a tentative effort to rise from the sick bed on which
I have lain again exactly three weeks.
Carl Ritter has informed you of my condition. The thorns of my
existence have now been supplemented by blooming "roses." I have
suffered from continual attacks of erysipelas in the face. In the
luckiest case I shall not be able to go out into the air this
year, and during the whole winter I shall live in continual fear
of relapses. For the slightest excitement, accompanied by the
least cold, may throw me back on my sick bed for two or three
weeks at any moment.
I am now reaping the fruit of my stupid postponement of your
visit, for I cannot possibly expect you to visit me in the
present uncertain state of my health. Anyhow, I thus relieve you
of the burden which a visit in this evil, hard winter would no
doubt have been to you. As concerns myself, nothing can make my
mood worse than it is. I am getting accustomed to all kinds of
trouble, and the disagreeable and the necessary and natural are
to me convertible terms.
I long for news of you, of which you are too chary.
As soon as I get better and am accustomed to sitting up I shall
write more. For today a thousand greetings to the Altenburg.
Your
R. W.
ZURICH, December 12th, 1855.
205.
Chronos has made another step across all our heads. How can I
write to you, dear poet, without telling you of the kind wishes
which I and the Child entertain for you, and the desire we both
of us have of seeing you again in the course of 1856? I can
assure you that if fate were to send me a messenger with the
assurance of this, I should consider it the best New Year's gift,
although there are many things which I demand of it.
But one must hope--hope is a virtue. Is not this a beautiful
identification?
It gives us great pain to know that you are suffering. I would
accept double and treble the rheumatism which I have caught in
this climate, where we have eight months of bad weather, and not
four of fine, if I could secure you perfect liberty thereby.
Liszt is sad because his travelling plans are disarranged,
although he hopes to see you more at his ease another time. He
must be at Vienna at the beginning of January in order to conduct
a Mozart festival given for the centenary of the Master's
birthday; and as Berlioz is coming here at the beginning of
February, he will have to leave Vienna immediately afterwards.
The papers have no doubt informed you of his stay at Berlin,
where he will soon return to attend the first performance of
"Tannhauser," two rehearsals of which he almost entirely
conducted. Stupid people will not be silenced thereby. To poets
living in the tropical regions, where passion expands her
gigantic blossoms and her sidereal marvels, stupid people appear
like little gadflies which sometimes annoy them and draw blood by
their stings, but cannot disturb the enchantment of this
luxuriant nature. Liszt also has been honoured by a swarm of
these insects, which buzz with all the more noise and self-
sufficiency because they can make so little honey. He is quite
composed, and goes quietly on his way, only uttering occasionally
such BONMOTS as "They have cast me down, but I remain standing
none the less," or "What does it matter if other people do things
badly so long as I do them well?" etc., etc.; and so life goes
on.
Write to me, dear poet, and do not always wait for a REASON; and
if you will give pleasure to my daughter send her for the New
Year the autograph for which she has asked you.
Embrace your wife for me, and convey to her my kindest wishes.
She ought to be sure of them, as indeed ought you. Have you
resumed the "Valkyrie?" The duet between Siegmund and Siegliende
has made me shed copious tears. It is as beautiful as love, as
the Infinite, as earth and the heavens.
Your devoted,
CAROLYNE W.
December 23rdd, 1855.
206.
Today I ought to be with you and prepare your Christmas tree,
where the rays and gifts of your genius should shine. And now we
are apart, you troubled with erysipelas, and I with all manner of
red roses grown in similar gardens. But this abominable FLORA
shall not delay the joy of our meeting too long.
You probably know that I have to go to Vienna, in January, to
conduct the Centenary Mozart Festival, which takes place on
January 27th, and will require at least a few weeks' preparation.
At the beginning of February I shall be back here. Berlioz is
coming on the 8th of February, and Johanna Wagner on the 20th.
Berlioz's "Faust" and "Cellini" will be given before the 16th,
and your niece is announced in three roles. As soon as this is
over I shall write to tell you when I can come to Zurich, but I
am afraid I shall have to wait for the summer.
At Berlin, where I stayed three weeks, I attended a few
pianoforte rehearsals of "Tannhauser," by invitation of Messrs.
von Hulsen and Dorn, and if the first performance is not delayed
after January 6th to 8th (for when it is announced), I shall be
able to send you a report of it as an eye and ear witness.
Johanna will sing and act Elizabeth beautifully, and Formes is
studying his part most conscientiously. Dorn has already had a
number of pianoforte and string rehearsals, and makes it a point
of honour to produce the work as correctly and brilliantly as
possible.
No doubt "Tannhauser" will become a "draw" at Berlin, which is
the chief thing, even for the composer, and I hope that the
CRITICAL treatment which I received at the hands of the critics
will redound to the credit of "Tannhauser," and that the
infallible impression of your work on the public will not be
impaired by carping notices. I shall write to you about this at
great length.
The day after tomorrow, Boxing-day, we shall have "Tannhauser"
here, which retains its position as a "draw," a distinction which
it shares at Weymar, with "Lohengrin" and "The Flying Dutchman."
Next spring "Lohengrin" is to be mounted again here. Up to the
present we still want an Ortrud, and, unfortunately, cannot get a
good one from elsewhere. The Leipzig one would, for example, be
quite useless, and the voice of Frau Knopp is still much impaired
by her late illness.
I am looking forward to "Lohengrin," that wonderful work, which,
to me, is the highest and most perfect thing in art--until your
"Nibelungen" is finished.
At Berlin, at Count Redern's, I heard a few pieces from
"Lohengrin" splendidly executed by several regimental bands, and
was reminded of our pompous entry into the "Drei Konige" of
Basle: Our new Weymar Union has adopted the entry of the trumpets
[Musical notation]
as its "Hoch," and I wish we could sing it to you in chorus soon.
Of my concert affairs, etc., I have nothing to tell you. When I
come to you I shall bring some of my scores with me. The rest
will not interest us much. With similar compositions, the only
question is, what is IN them? The publication I shall delay a few
months (although six numbers are already engraved), for the
reason that some of my EXCELLENT friends (an expression which
Kaulbach is fond of using for people who do not like him) had the
EXCELLENT intention of producing these things at once by way of a
WARNING EXAMPLE. That amiable intention I want to forestall by a
few performances under my own direction during the winter.
Try to get better again soon, and remember kindly
Your faithful
F. LISZT.
December 24th, 1855.
Best remembrances to Ritter.
207.
DEAR FRANZ,
I am again, or rather still, unwell and incapable of anything. I
was just going to write something in the album, so that the Child
might have it for the new year. But it will not do; my head is
too confused and heavy. I write to you only to tell you so; a
real letter I could not accomplish. Apart from this I have
nothing to tell you; I mean that I have no materials.
I should like to ask you, however, to return the two acts of the
"Valkyrie" to me at once before you start. I have at last found a
good copyist to whom I have promised work, and I am anxious to
have the copy finished soon,--perhaps for the same reason which
induces insects to place their eggs in safety before they die.
If I ever finish the last act I will send you the whole, although
you are so great a man of the world. Till then be of good cheer,
and remember that if you are abused you have willed it so. I also
rejoice in the FIASCO of my "Faust" overture, because in it I see
a purifying and wholesome punishment for having published the
work in despite of my better judgment; the same religious feeling
I had in London when I was bespattered with mud on all sides.
This was the most wholesome mud that had ever been thrown at me.
I wish you joy for the Vienna mud.
Adieu, and do your work well. Of your Christianity I do not think
much; the Saviour of the world should not desire to be the
conqueror of the world. There is a hopeless contradiction in this
in which you are deeply involved.
My compliments and thanks to the Princess, and tell the Child
that I was unable to manage it today. WHEN shall I? Heaven knows!
It is largely your own fault.
Adieu. I cannot say more, and have, moreover, talked nonsense
enough. Farewell, and enjoy yourself.
208.
TELEGRAM
TO R. WAGNER, ZELTWEG, ZURICH.
Yesterday "Tannhauser." Excellent performance. Marvellous mise-
en-scene. Much applause. Good luck.
F. LISZT.
BERLIN, January 8th, 1856.
2O9.
DEAREST RICHARD,
From Berlin I brought home so dreadful a cold that I had to go to
bed for a few days, and to delay my journey till this evening. I
have to supplement my Berlin telegram by the following notes:--
Johanna was beautiful to see and touching to hear as Elizabeth.
In the duet with Tannhauser she had some splendid moments of
representation, and her great scene in the finale she sang and
realised in an incomparable manner. Formes's intonation was firm,
pure, and correct, and there was no sign of fatigue in the
narration, where his sonorous, powerful voice told admirably.
Altogether Formes is not only adequate but highly satisfactory,
in spite of his small stature, which, especially by the side of
Johanna, somewhat interferes with the illusion. Herr Radwaner as
Wolfram, although not equal to our Milde, deserves much praise
for the neatness, elegance, and agreeable style of singing with
which he executed his part; and Madame Tuczek proved herself to
be an excellent musician and a well-trained actress, who may be
confidently intrusted with the most difficult part. Dorn and the
band took every pains to carry out your intentions, and the
orchestral performance was throughout successful, with the
exception of two wrong tempi, in the first chorus
[Here, Wagner illustrates with a 2-bar musical example.]
where you have forgotten to mark the tempo as piu moderato, that
is almost twice as slow as before, and in the G major passage
(before the ensemble in B major), which, in my opinion, was also
taken too fast, the rhythmical climax of the second part of the
finale being considerably impaired thereby.
The chorus had studied its part well, but it is much too weak for
Berlin, and in proportion to the vastness of the opera house,
scarcely more efficient than ours, which always gives me great
dissatisfaction. The stringed instruments, also, are not
sufficiently numerous, and should, like the chorus, be increased
by a good third. For a large place like this eight to ten double
basses, and fifteen to twenty first violins, etc., would
certainly not be too many at important performances. On the other
hand, the scenery and mounting of "Tannhauser" left nothing to be
desired, and I can assure you that never and nowhere have I seen
anything so splendid and admirable. Gropius and Herr von Hulsen
have really done something extraordinary and most tasteful. You
have heard, no doubt, that his Majesty the King had ordered the
decorations of the second act to be faithfully reproduced after
the designs for the restoration of the Wartburg, and that he had
sent Gropius to Eisenach for the purpose. The aspect of the hall
with all the historic banners, and the costumes taken from old
pictures, as well as the court ceremonial during the reception of
the guests by the Landgrave, gave me incredible pleasure, as did
also the arrangement of the huntsmen with their horns on the
hill, the gradual filling up of the valley by the gathering of
the hunt (four horses and a falcon bringing up the rear) in the
finale of the first act; and, finally, the fifteen trumpets in
the march of the second act
[Musical notation]
which blew their flourish from the gallery of the hall in a bold
and defiant manner.
I only hope, dearest Richard, that you will hear and see all this
before very long, and when I pay you a visit in the course of the
summer, we shall have some more talk about it.
Your last letter was very sad and bitter. Your illness must have
put you out still more, and, unfortunately, your friends can do
little to relieve you. If the consciousness of the most sincere
and cordial comprehension of, and sympathy with, your sufferings
can be of any comfort to you, you may rely upon me in fullest
measure, for I do not believe that there are many people in this
universe who have inspired another being with such real and
continual sympathy as you have me.