Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt Volume II Part 18

212.

DEAREST RICHARD,

At last I am able to tell you that you will receive one thousand francs at the BEGINNING of May. When you wrote to me at Vienna about this matter it was impossible for me to tell you anything definite, and even now I am unable to undertake an ANNUAL obligation.

I am always sincerely sorry to have to tell you anything disagreeable, and for that reason I waited for the moment when I should be able to state that the aforesaid sum would be sent to you. I have more than once explained to you my difficult pecuniary situation, which simply amounts to this, that my mother and my three children are decently provided for by my former savings, and that I have to manage on my salary as Capellmeister of one thousand thalers, and three hundred thalers more by way of a present for the court concerts. For many years, since I became firmly resolved to live up to my artistic vocation, I have not been able to count upon any additional money from the music publishers. My Symphonic Poems, of which I shall send you a few in full score in a fortnight's time, do not bring me in a shilling, but, on the contrary, cost me a considerable sum, which I have to spend on the purchase of copies for distribution amongst my friends. My Ma.s.s and my "Faust" symphony, etc., are also entirely USELESS works, and for several years to come I have no chance of earning money. Fortunately I can just manage, but I must pinch a good deal and have to be careful not to get into any trouble, which might affect my position very unpleasantly. Do not be angry, therefore, dearest Richard, if I do not enter upon your proposal, because for the present I can really not undertake any regular obligations. If, which is not quite impossible, my circ.u.mstances should improve later on, it will be a pleasure to me to relieve your position.

About my journey to Zurich I can tell you nothing until I know when the consecration of the Gran cathedral is to take place.

Some papers state that this solemnity will come off in the course of September. In that case I shall come to you before, at the beginning of August. As soon as I have official news I shall write to you. In the meantime I must stay here. On April 8th, the birthday of the Grand d.u.c.h.ess, I have to conduct "I due Foscari"

by Verdi, and at the end of April the performances of your niece Johanna.

Unfortunately I missed Carl Ritter when he called; I had gone to Gotha for that day to hear the Duke's opera "Tony." Carl Formes sang the t.i.tle part. I hope I shall see Carl at Zurich. Remember me kindly to him. Through his sister Emilie you have probably had news of our last "Lohengrin" performance, which went off very well. Caspari sang "Lohengrin" much better than it had been heard here before. The Princess of Prussia had asked for the performance, and for want of a local Ortrud (Frau Knopp, who used to sing the part here, has given up her engagement and gone to Konigsberg) we had to write for Madame Marx, of Darmstadt, in all haste. An overcrowded house and a most attentive public were foregone conclusions. Berlioz was present.

Do you correspond with Counsellor Muller? He is sincerely devoted to you, and well intentioned.

Dingelstedt, who was here lately, intends to give "Lohengrin"

next winter, and NOT BEFORE. Of the very DECIDED success of the performance at Prague you have probably heard. Fraulein Stoger, daughter of the manager there, sang Ortrud, and wrote me a letter full of enthusiasm about the enthusiasm of the public and the musicians. She was engaged at Weymar until last season.

Farewell, and be patient, dearest friend, and write soon to

Your

F. L.

March 25th, 1856.

213.

DEAREST FRANZ,

Your letter has grieved me very much. Do you really think it necessary to explain to me by an exact description of your situation why you cannot comply with my request for new pecuniary a.s.sistance? If you only knew how ashamed and humiliated I feel!

It is true that I applied elsewhere first, and then came back to you, because the feeling of having to accept benefits from less intimate friends frequently becomes absolutely unbearable to me.

This induced me to apply for a.s.sistance to you, who never allow me to feel the deepest obligations in a painful sense. I thought, of course, more of your protection and intercession than of a sacrifice of your personal income, because I know sufficiently well how limited your resources are. That I spoke in so determined a manner was owing to the eccentric nature of my whole situation, which makes everything concerning my most intimate feeling take a violent form.

About this also I feel the absolute necessity of personal communication with you. Everything here is so delicate, so finely threaded, that it cannot be explained by letter. I want so much patience to preserve courage and love of work in my precarious position, that in my daily efforts to keep up that courage in spite of my miserable circ.u.mstances, I can only gain a few moments in which I am happy in my work, and forget all around me.

The reason is that delusive possibilities of escape continually haunt my troubled imagination. But about this we must have some definite conversation.

Your offer of help in the circ.u.mstances in which you make it to me has placed me in a painful position, and so much is certain, that I cannot accept the sum which you promise to me for May in order to make my life more pleasant. I must put my income on a different basis, that is understood, and you will understand me if I say so. If, on the other hand, you contrive to dispose of that sum in my favour under conditions less troublesome to yourself, I accept it for the purpose of meeting the expenses of the copying of my scores and pianoforte arrangements, which is very expensive here. I have already spent some money on it, and the hole this has made in my income I must fill up somehow. I certainly cannot go on paying for the copying with my own money.

I therefore undertake, for the sum already named, to have all the scores and pianoforte arrangements of my "Nibelung" dramas copied, and to place the copies at your disposal as your property, a.s.suming at the same time that you will kindly lend them to me, as soon and as often as I want them. Are you satisfied with this?

The copy of the "Rhinegold" is quite ready, and I expect it back from London, together with Klindworth's arrangement. This therefore, would be at your disposal at once. Of the pianoforte arrangement of the "Valkyrie," the first two acts will be finished very soon; the third act I recently sent to Klindworth.

Hoping that you will accept my proposal, I shall now have the copy of the full score of the "Valkyrie" taken in hand, and this also you can have as soon as it is finished, because Klindworth works from my sketches of the parts. If at this moment you have leisure, and wish to look at it, I will with pleasure let you have the original score of the finished work for some time, and shall occupy the copyist with the pianoforte arrangement of the "Rhinegold" which I expect very soon. I am very anxious to know how the last act will please you, for, besides you, there is really no one to whom I could show it with any satisfaction. I have succeeded, and it is probably the best thing I have written.

It contains a terrible storm of the elements and the hearts, which is gradually calmed down to the miraculous sleep of Brynhild. What a pity you will be far from me for so long! Could you not pay me a short flying visit soon?

And am I at last to see some of your new compositions? Their arrival and entry into my home shall be blessed. I have desired to see them ever so long.

Had you nothing more to tell me about Berlioz? I was expecting to hear a great deal of him. And cannot you send me any of his scores? I am, as you may imagine, making a pause in my work now.

I am waiting to see what my health will do; my doctor wants to send me to some watering place, but to this I will not, and cannot agree. If I knew how to manage it I should go with Semper to Rome in the autumn. We frequently talk about it, always in the silent hope that you might be one of the party. Here you have my latest whim. A thousand greetings to the Princess and her daughter. She has written me a very cheerful and friendly letter, for which I am deeply obliged to her. I ask you fervently, dearest friend, not again to keep me waiting for a letter so long. Write to me soon and at some length, as we are not going to meet just yet.

Farewell, and continue to love me.

Your

R. W.

214.

MY DEAR FRANZ,

Before taking any steps with regard to my amnesty, I must, once more, take counsel with you, and as this is impossible by word of mouth, as I should have wished, it must be done by letter as briefly as possible.

From Prague the Director of Police there, Baron von Peimann, sent me the advice that I should become a Swiss citizen. In that case the Austrian minister would give his vise to my pa.s.sport for all the Imperial states, and I might then reside there without being disturbed, for if Saxony should claim me, the reply would be that no Saxon subject of the name of R. W. was known. This would give me some air at least in one direction, and although not much would be gained by it, I might make use of it if there were an intention of performing "Tannhauser" at Vienna, which opera I should let them have there only on condition of my conducting it personally. It is of course more important to me to be allowed to return to Germany proper, not in order to reside there permanently, for I can thrive only in the retirement which I can best secure in a little quiet place in Switzerland, but in order to be present now and then at an important performance, especially of "Lohengrin," and to gain the necessary excitement, without which I must perish at last. I am FIRMLY RESOLVED not to allow "Lohengrin" to be given at either Berlin or Munich WITHOUT ME. A performance of my "Nibelungen" can of course not be thought of, unless I have the permission to travel through Germany so as to gain a knowledge of the acting and singing materials at the theatres. Finally I feel the absolute necessity of living, at least part of every year, near YOU, and you may be a.s.sured that I should make a more frequent and more constant use of the possibility of visiting you than you do. To gain all this has now become a matter of the greatest importance to me, and I cannot go on living without at last and quickly taking a decisive step in that direction. I am therefore determined to apply to the King of Saxony for my amnesty in a letter in which I shall candidly own my rashness, and at the same time explicitly state that my promise, never and in no manner to meddle with politics, comes from my very heart. The drawback to this is that, if the other side were ill-inclined, my letter might easily be published in such a manner that I should be compelled to protest publicly against a false and humiliating explanation of my step, and this would lead to a permanent breach, which would make reconciliation impossible. Taking all this into account, I must think it the best thing if my request were laid before the King by word of mouth, through a third person. To satisfy me completely, and give me a chance of success, this could only be done by you, dear Franz. Therefore I ask you plainly, Will you undertake to demand an audience of the King of Saxony on the strength of a letter from the Grand Duke of Weimar? What you should say to the King at such an audience I need not indicate, but we surely agree that in asking for my amnesty stress should be laid upon my ARTISTIC NATURE. On account of that nature and of my individual character as an artist, my startling political excess can alone be explained and excused, and the reasons for my amnesty should be considered in the same light. With regard to that excess and to its consequences, which have continued for several years, I am ready to admit that I appear to myself as one who was in error and led away by pa.s.sion, although I am not conscious that I have committed a real crime, which would come under a judicial sentence, and I should therefore find it difficult to plead guilty to such a crime. Concerning my conduct in the future, I should be prepared to make any binding promise that could be desired of me. I should only have to announce the modified and clearer view which makes me look upon the affairs of this world in a light in which I did not see them previously, and which induces me to confine myself to my art, without any reference to political speculation. You might also point out that my reappearance in Germany could in no circ.u.mstances give rise to a demonstration which, although it might be meant for the artist only, could be explained and applied in a political sense by evil-disposed persons. Fortunately I have, as AN ARTIST, reached such a stage that I need consider only my works of art and their success, but no longer the applause of the mult.i.tude. I would therefore promise, with the greatest determination and quite in accordance with my own wishes, to avoid every public demonstration of sympathy which might be offered to me, even as an artist, such as complimentary dinners and the like. These I should most positively decline, and indeed make them, as far as would be in my power, impossible by the mode of my sojourn in various places. I should not even insist upon conducting the performance of any of my operas in person. All I should care for would be to secure a correct rendering on the part of the artists and the conductor by my presence at the rehearsals. If, for the purpose of avoiding any possible demonstration, it should be thought necessary, I should be prepared to leave the town after the completion of the rehearsals and before the performance, which would show clearly enough what is alone of importance to me. In addition to this, I will undertake to avoid in my writings, even of a purely artistic nature, such combative expressions open to misapprehension as may have escaped me formerly in my irritability. Considering all these declarations, the future need be dealt with no longer, only the past. And over that it would be well, in the case of an artist, to throw the veil of forgetfulness, not to make it a cause for revenge. All this you might in conversation explain in a much more comprehensive and conciliatory manner than I could do by letter, especially in a pet.i.tion for amnesty.

I therefore ask you most fervently, perform this great service of friendship for me. Sacrifice to me the two days which a visit to Dresden would cost you, and explain the matter with that emphasis which alone can avail. From no other measure can I expect a definite and positive result. You alone can speak for me in the manner which is required. If, for special reasons, you should refuse my demand, it would only remain to me to write to the King myself, and in that case we should have to consider by whom my letter could be forwarded to the King, perhaps through the Weimar amba.s.sador. In case the King should refuse my request I might fall back upon the intercession of one of the Prussian ministers, which has been offered to me for that purpose. But I rely little on that, while I expect everything from you and your personal pleading. Be good enough then to let me know soon what I had better do.

Farewell, and accept the cordial greetings of your

RICHARD W.

ZURICH, April 13th, 1858.

Perhaps you might on the same occasion hand a copy of my "Nibelungen" poem to the King.

215.

DEAREST RICHARD,

I have not neglected the steps for your return to Germany.

Unfortunately my late efforts and endeavours have not as yet led to a favourable result, which proves by no means that such may not be the case in the future. Your hint about the roundabout way, viz., Prague, I believe to be an illusion which you ought not to cherish, because it might lead to the most dangerous consequences.

The only thing that I can advise, and which I most urgently request you to do, is to send at once your pet.i.tion to His Majesty the King of Saxony.

The stage into which this affair has got makes such a step absolutely necessary, and you may be sure that I should not urge you to it if I were not firmly convinced that your return to Germany cannot be brought about in any other way. As you have already told me that you would write to the King, I feel sure that you will do so without delay. Send me a copy of your letter to the King. You should, in the first instance, ask for an amnesty to the extent only THAT YOU MIGHT BE PERMITTED TO HEAR YOUR WORKS AT WEYMAR, because this would be necessary for your intellectual development, and because you felt sure that the Grand Duke of Weymar would receive you in a kindly spirit. It breaks my heart to have to prescribe such tedious methods, but believe me, in that direction lies your only way to Germany. When you have once been here for a few weeks the rest will be easily arranged, and I shall give you the necessary information in due course.

In the meantime we must have patience and again patience.

Take heart of grace in the hope which I have by no means abandoned, that we shall see you here.

Your faithful