the sufferers from the Hamburg fire,--a venture which was eminently
successful, the net receipts amounting to £650. Sophocles’s “Antigone”
was performed in Moscheles’s house, Mendelssohn being at the piano; the
choir, however, it appears, did not prove equal to the occasion. It was
during this stay that Mendelssohn spent the pleasant hours with Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert, of which he gives so graphic a description
in his letters to his mother.
* * * * *
BERLIN, Oct 8, 1842.
DEAR MRS. MOSCHELES,--I returned three days ago, and will not delay
writing you a letter on this broad sheet of paper. What it will contain,
you guess; but I write it in fear and trembling, for my mother assures
me she has it from you yourself that you intended leaving Hamburg at the
beginning of October, to return to England, without stopping at either
Leipzig or Berlin. That would really be too bad! But I cannot quite
believe it, and so venture to write you a regular letter of
invitation:--
* * * * *
Mr. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy presents his compliments to Mr. and Mrs.
Moscheles, and is simply craving for Mr. and Mrs. Moscheles’s visit to
Berlin for at least a fortnight. The country, music, and that sort of
thing, in and about Berlin, are, to be sure, not worthy to be placed
before them; if, however, a most hearty welcome can make the sandy soil
appear fruitful, and the musicians inspired, nothing shall be neglected
to produce the desired effect. The whole population of No. 3
Leipzigerstrasse joins in this most humble invitation. _Dinner on the
table at three o’clock._ _Il y aura un violon._
* * * * *