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In September of this year Mendelssohn went to Birmingham, where he
conducted the Festival. To their mutual regret Mendelssohn and Moscheles
did not meet in England on that occasion, as the latter had left London
for Germany at the close of the season.
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LEIPZIG, Dec. 12, 1837.
MY DEAR MOSCHELES,--I cannot say I feel much of a correspondent to-day,
so engrossed am I with the new life around and within me. This year,
with all it has brought me, has been the happiest of my existence, and I
daily appreciate the blessings it has bestowed. For the last week I have
been installed with my Cécile in our own new quarters, everything has
been made neat and comfortable, we have already had eight Subscription
Concerts, and a performance of the Messiah in the Church, and I have a
variety of work in my head and some on paper. So, you see, my
occupations are much the same as usual, and the pressure from without at
times greater. And yet nothing now upsets or troubles me, because my
home is so happy and peaceful. So I trust you will forgive my long
silence, if you ever resented it.
Of late I have spent some of my happiest hours with your new “Studies,”
the first proofs of which Kistner sent me. I had already got the
engraver to send me whatever he could just spare, a sheet at a time;
that gave me but a very superficial acquaintance with them, but I was
too impatient to wait. Now I have had to return my copy, after
correcting a number of mistakes, to Kistner, who is over-anxious about
the work, and still delays its ultimate appearance. However, I have had
the whole thing in my hands for a day, and have enjoyed it thoroughly;
as soon as I have a copy to myself, I intend practising my piano
properly, and mastering the Studies, for it is a long time since I had
any piano music I wanted to play over and over again; so you can fancy
how I enjoy something new, to which I can give my whole heart.
I cannot go into details, not having a copy before me; but this much I
know, that my greatest favorites begin at “Contradiction.” The whole
piece in D flat major is so bright, and towards the end positively makes
me laugh when it goes into D major and the whole story is repeated first
in D major and then in D flat minor. And then the last bar _fff_ is
glorious. Quite your own self is that tender one in G major, just as if
I heard you talk and play. But my greatest favorite is the “Nursery
Tale,” so graceful and sprightly; above all, I like the part where the
deep bass notes double the melody, as if a big bassoon or some other
growler of an instrument came in; and then the first transition to B
major and the return to E flat and the very last bars _leggiero_,--all
that has fixed itself once for all in my mind. How very much I like the
“Bacchanali,” “Terpsichore,” and in fact all of them, you can imagine. I
am particularly struck by the difference between these and your former
Studies;--not that I love the old ones less, but the new ones are for
quite a different class of players, far in advance of the former; here
the technical difficulties have become of secondary importance, and the
intrinsic merits of the work have to be brought out. Once more a
thousand thanks, and may you give us many more of the same kind!
Did you hear anything good in the musical line during your stay in
Hamburg last summer? Our concerts led to my becoming acquainted with
some of the musical men there, but they were not much to speak of. In
fact, there is a lack of good new musical productions everywhere, and
that tells on our concerts here.
This winter Clara Novello is giving us a fresh start, the public
cordially greeting her as a new and most welcome acquisition. She makes
_la pluie et le beau temps_. But where are we to get a new Symphony
from? May I address your wife quite at the bottom of this page, and
write down a Song for her?
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