Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt Volume II Part 23

233.

January 6th, 1857.

Is not this a miserable thing, dearest Franz? I had been looking forward to your letter as to a Christmas present, and now it brings me nothing but sad and comfortless news. That you are once more confined to your bed is the crown of my sorrow.

Ah, heavens! Why do we not give in altogether?

It seems to me that you have not received my long letter, which I sent you at Weimar on the supposition that you would go there straight from Munich, and the same has, I fear, been the case with my letter to M., or else she would have surely sent me a few lines in reply. Concerning my letter to YOU, it touches upon a point to which I must urgently return once more, because I want your definite reply as soon as possible. Since you left me an important change has taken place in my situation; I have absolutely given up the annual allowance which the R.'s made me.

In such circ.u.mstances, my only hope is the speedy success of the Hartel affair in connection with the "Nibelungen," which had been broken off. In accordance with your kind offer, I gave you unlimited power with regard to it. But now you are again tied to your bed, and cannot, in any case for the present, pay the visit to Leipzig which would be necessary for the settlement of such an affair. Consider, therefore, whether you are quite confident that the bargain will be completed after all, provided that I declare myself willing, as I do herewith, to accept any offer, knowing well that, however small the result may be, I could not get more in any other way. If you are quite sure of a final success, the further question would be, how it would be possible to raise some money on account at once. In any case, I ask you, and authorise you, and request you, as soon as possible, to come to a distinct understanding with the Grand Duke as to whether he would be inclined to confirm his favourable opinion of me by granting me a pension, or, at least, a sufficient annual subsidy for the three years which it will take me to complete my "Nibelungen." In the eventuality of a pension for life I should, of course, accept the obligation of staying every year some time at Weimar, and give him my services according to his wish, as soon as the return to Germany is opened to me. You no doubt remember our discussion of this point, and of the possible concurrence of other princes well inclined towards me. But what I particularly care for is SPEEDY AND ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY. At this moment, when I am most in need of help, I want to know DEFINITELY how matters stand. This uncertainty places me in a wavering position of hoping, expecting, wishing, and desiring, which involves my circ.u.mstances more and more, apart from demoralising me. In short, I want to know WHERE to look for my friends. Therefore, much-tried friend, look upon this as your last attempt at intercession between me and a world, my position towards which I must know exactly.

Patience of any kind is no longer in question. My amnesty will be granted no sooner than at the moment when Saxony herself considers that the time has come; those gentlemen like to appear independent.

Farewell for today. I shall very soon write to you about other matters, which, I hope, will be pleasanter to both of us.

Your

R. W.

234

January 27th, 1857.

DEAREST FRANZ,

Wretched and helpless as I am, I must once more trouble you with something which this time will not be altogether without interest to you. I enclose the letter of the person concerned, so that you may be AU FAIT at once. (The enthusiasm displayed for me will, I hope, not excite you.) B. A., according to the testimony of my wife, is a young, very handsome, slender fellow, as, indeed, you may have guessed by the liking of X. for him.

Arrange, therefore, that he may make his DEBUT as "Tannhauser"

and "Lohengrin" at Weimar under your direction. In that manner I shall know that he will be under the surest guidance, and that I shall have the best information as to the value of the young man.

Perhaps you will be kind enough to send for him previously.

I have not yet got back to the mood for writing to the kind Princess and the good Child. I am annoyed at being always in a state of lamentation, and must therefore wait for a favourable hour, for I do not like absolutely to deceive you. You yourself are used to my laments, and expect nothing else. My health, too, is once more so bad, that for ten days, after I had finished the sketch for the first act of "Siegfried," I was literally not able to write a single bar without being driven away from my work by a most alarming headache. Every morning I sit down, stare at the paper, and am glad enough when I get as far as reading Walter Scott. The fact is, I have once more over-taxed myself, and how am I to recover my strength? With "Rhinegold" I got on well enough, considering my circ.u.mstances, but the "Valkyrie" caused me much pain. At present my nervous system resembles a pianoforte very much out of tune, and on that instrument I am expected to produce "Siegfried." Well, I fancy the strings will break at last, and then there will be an end. WE cannot alter it; this is a life fit for a dog.

I hope you are out of bed again. I wish I were a little more like you. Can you not let me have the "Mountain Symphony?" Do not forget to send it to me.

Adieu, my good, dear Franz. You are my only comfort.

A thousand greetings to all at Altenburg.

235.

January 27th, 1857.

Your sympathy with me makes me hope that you are at present employed in giving the necessary helpful turn to my affairs, and I therefore think it advisable to describe to you, in a few words, my situation as it has lately shaped itself, so that you may know accurately upon what I reckon, and may take steps accordingly.

W. has bought the little country house after all, and offers me a perpetual lease of it.

As I have given up the allowance of the R.'s, it is important for me to settle my income on an INDEPENDENT basis. It would be foolish if I tried to arrange my future definitely at this moment, which will probably bring my provisional position to a close. I am certain that my amnesty will be granted in the course of 1858 at the latest, and I hope that this will suddenly change my situation, to the extent, at least, that it will depend upon myself to find a solid basis for my social existence. All I can rationally care for, considering that I have no chance of success in any other direction, must be to secure for myself a free, unenc.u.mbered, and not too limited income for the next few years, until my great work is completed and produced. Nothing appears more adapted to the achievement of this purpose than the sale of my "Nibelungen" to Hartel, whom I have asked to settle with me according to his own judgment. It is most important to me that this should come to pa.s.s, and I hope, in any case, that if Hartel accepts the offer I shall receive all that is required. I think they ought to pay me 1,000 thalers for each score, in each case on delivery of the ma.n.u.script--that is, for the "Rhinegold," and perhaps for the "Valkyrie" also, now at once. "Siegfried" will be in their hands by the end of this year. However, as I remarked before, I must be satisfied even if they give me a little less.

In any case, it will be enough to keep me going for several years; and if I once know what I have, I shall make arrangements accordingly, being resolved, in any case, to leave the management of my income in future to my wife.

I need not tell you that if you come to terms with the Hartels other things ought to be LEFT ALONE ALTOGETHER, for I have made up my mind henceforth to preserve my independence as much as possible.

You now have the complete synopsis of my situation; let me commend it to your well-tried sympathy.

I hear with great delight that you are well again. I have finished the composition of my first act, and, as soon as I have recovered a little strength, hope to score it before leaving my present house. Of resuming composition proper I cannot think here; I have suffered too much of late by the musical and unmusical noisiness of my lodging.

Tell the dear Child that she will soon receive one of those letters from me which she likes, but not about "Indian poetry"

(droll idea!), but about that of which my heart is full, and which I can call by no other name, than "Orpheus." But I must wait for a favourable mood. You may tell the Child, however, that the "white rose" is now red and in full bloom, and that the "slender stem of the lily" looks right robust, and inspires confidence. The Princess is angry with me--I feel it--but I know that I shall conciliate her. A thousand greetings to her.

Farewell, dearest, dear Orpheus!

Your R. W.

236.

You could not possibly be forgotten, dearest friend, and the next few days will give me an opportunity of looking after your affairs most carefully. On the 22nd I go to Leipzig to stay there for a whole week. On Thursday, the 26th, "Les Preludes" and "Mazeppa" will be given at the Gewandhaus for the benefit of the pension fund of the orchestra, and on the 28th I am to conduct a performance of "Tannhauser" in Leipzig for the benefit of Herr Behr (the Landgrave), the Mildes singing Elizabeth and Wolfram respectively. In the interval I hope I shall succeed in getting a little "Rhine copper" for the "Rhinegold" from the Hartels, and shall write to you at once.

Frau X. is announced to sing Ortrud on the 8th of March. She is to sing the part twice, and then appear as Antonina in "Belisario." If she pleases her engagement is very probable.

I shall write very soon to Herr A., who sent me your letter by way of introduction, and I have in the meantime asked Herr von Beaulieu to let him make his debut as Lohengrin or Tannhauser.

Today, 16th February (the anniversary of the first performance of "Tannhauser," in the year 1849), we shall have a gala performance of Gluck's "Armida," with Frau Koster of Berlin. A new opera, never yet performed, by a Belgian composer, M. La.s.sen, "Landgraf Ludwig's Brautfahrt," will be put in rehearsal soon. As far as I am concerned, while

[Musical Notation] He - da! He - do!

is hammering in my head I can enjoy nothing else, either old or new, and dream only of the "Ring of the Nibelung," which G.o.d's grace may soon vouchsafe to me.

Your F. L.

WEYMAR, February 16th, 1857.

The three last numbers of my Symphonic Poems will appear by the end of this month, and I shall send them to you at once. A similar thing, "Die Hunnenschlacht," I completed last week. The Princess of Prussia has commanded "Tannhauser" for next Sunday.

237.

Please forward the enclosed proof to Brendel, so that the good man may get a notion of his bad editorship.

(TO BRENDEL.) ZURICH, April 15TH, 1857. DEAR FRIEND,

The somewhat tardy publication of my letter about Liszt I recently read in your paper, and saw, to my regret, that it was very incorrect, and even showed several omissions, disfiguring the sense, owing to the inattention of the printer. At first I thought of forwarding you a list of errata, but considered, on reflection, that such corrections are never read in context with the article, and therefore made up my mind to send a revised version to Zellner at Vienna, asking him to print it at once in his paper. My intention is by no means to punish you for the neglect shown to me, but to induce those interested in the matter to read the corrected letter once again. In case you intentionally made such changes as "PURER form of art" into "NEWER," etc., you have certainly misunderstood me very much, and in that case you must look upon my correction as a demonstration against yourself, although only in private. But I presume that most of the mistakes were caused by the fact that instead of my ma.n.u.script you received a copy, which you should not have accepted.