A U T O B I O G R A PH Y

HECTOR BERLIOZ ,

M E MB E R O F TH E I NST I T UT E O F FR A N C E ,

FR O M 1 803 TO 1865 .

C O M PR ISI NG

H I S T RA V E L S IN I TA LY , G E R MA N Y, R U S S IA ,

A ND E N G L AND .

T R ANS L AT E D BY

R AC H E L ( S C OT T R US S E L L ) HO L M E S ,

A ND

E L E ANO R HO L M E S .

IN T WO VO L UME S .

VO L . II .

L OND O N
MA C M I L LAN AND CO .

1 884 .
J

f
C H A RI B S D I C KE N S AN D E VA N S ,

C R Y S T A L P AL A C E P R E S S
.
 C O NT E NT S .

FI R S T VI SI T TO G E R MA N Y ( 1 8 41

C H AP T ER L II .

B rus s el s —M ay e nc e —
PAG E

Fr a nk f or t . Lette r I : T o M o n s ie ur
A M or e l
.

C H AP T ER L II I .

S tutt g a r t —H e c hing e n . Lette r II : T o M onsi e ur Gir a rd

C H AP T ER L I V .

Ma nnh e i m—W e im a r . Lette r III To L is z t

C H AP T ER LV .

Lei p z i g . L ette r I V : To S te p h e n H e ll e r

CH AP T ER L V I .

D r es d e n . Lette r V : To E rn s t

C H AP T ER LVII .

Br uns w i c k —H amburg . Le t te r VI To H e nri He in e

C H AP T ER LV I I I .

B erlin . Le tte r V I I To M dll e L ouis e B e r t in

.
 C ONTEN T S .

C H AP T ER L IX .

B e rli n . Lette r V III T o M on s i e ur H ab en ec k

C HAP T ER LX .

B e rlin . Lette r I X T o M onsi e ur D em ar e s t

C H AP T ER LXI .

H a nov e r —D arm s ta dt . Lett er X T o Mr . G A O sborn e

. . 1 30

CHAP T E R L X II .

I ge t u p F rey s chu tz f or t h e Op er a—My Re ci tat iv e s —T h e

S ing e rs —D e s s a u e r—M Lé on Pill e t —H a vo c m a d e in
.

W e b e r s w ork b y his succ e s sors

’

C H A P T ER LXI II .

T he horrors of f eui l l eton w ri t i n g —M D el e s s e rt Pr e f e c t o f

.
,

Polic e— C e nsorshi p o f C onc e r t Progr a mm e s e s ta blish e d

—H os p it al C olle c t ors —D r Amus s at —J ourn ey t o Ni c e
.

— C onc e r t s in t h e C ircus of t h e C h am p s E ly s ee s

SE C O ND VI S I T TO GE R M A N Y .

U T R I A—B O HE M I A —H U N G A R Y )
( AS .

C H AP T ER L X IV .

Vi e nn a . Lette r I T o M onsi e u r H umb e r t F e rra nd

C H AP T E R L XV .

Vi e nn a . Lette r II T o M onsi e ur H umb e r t F e rr a nd

C H AP T ER L XVI .

P e s th . Lette r III T o M onsi e ur H umb e r t F e rr and

 C ON T EN T S . vii

C H AP T ER L XVI I .

Pr a gu e . L e t t er I V : T o M onsi e u r
'
H umb e r t F e rr and

C H AP T E R L XVIII .

Pragu e . Lette r V : T o M onsi e ur H umb e r t F e rr a nd

C H AP T ER L X I X .

Pr agu e . Lette r VI T o M onsi e ur H umb e r t F e rr a nd

C H AP T ER L XX .

C on c e r tat Br e sl au —L a D am n a ti on d e F a us t —P at rio ti c
G e rm a n C ri tic s —Fa ilur e o f t h e W ork at P a ris
Re solu t ion t o vi s i t R ussi a —Kindn e s s of Fri e nd s

R US SI A N JO UR N E Y .

CH AP T ER L XX I .

A M usic a l C ouri e r N e rns t S l e d g e s S no w T h e

M .

C oun t s W ie l h or s k i —Ge n e r a l L w ofi—My fi r s t C onc e r t

T h e E m p r e s s — I m a ke m y f or t un e — Journ e y t o
M os co w — L udicrous obs ta cl e — T h e Gr a nd M a r s h a l
Yout h f ul m elom ani a c s —C anno n s at t h e Kr e mlin

C H AP T E R L XX II .

Re turn t o S t P ete rsb urg —R om eo a nd Ju liet—R o me o in his

.

c abriolet—E rn s t —H is tal e n t— Ret ros p e c t iv e a c tion of

M usi c

C HAP TER L XX III .

My Ret ur n R ig a B e rlin P e r f orm anc e of —A

Fa us t
D inn e r at S an s S ou c i —T h e King o f Pru s si a
 C ON TENT S .

CH AP T E R LXX I V .

PA G E

R o q ue pl a n and D u p onch e l D ir e c t ors of t h e Op er a—T h e ir

,

grat i t ud e L a No nn e S a n gl a n t e L ondon Jul l ie n ,

M an a g e r of D r ur y La n e —S c i be —T h e p ri e s t mus t li v e
r

b y t h e al ta r

CH AP T ER L XX V .

M y F ath e r s Deat h —Ano t h e r Journ e y t o t h e C Ot e S t

’
A n dr e
—E x cursion t o M eyl a n —L on e lin e s s —S tel la d el
.

m o nt e
’
.

a g a in —I w ri te t o h er

C H AP T ER L XXVI .

D e at h of m y S is t e r And o f m y W i f e —H e r F un e ra l
-

My p osi t ion in t h e M usic a l W orld — I m p ossibili t y of

b r aving t h e h at r e d f el t f or m e—C ab al a t C ov e n t G ard e n
—T h e C o te ri e at t h e P a ri s C ons e r v at oir e —Sy m p hon y
dr eam e d a n d f orgo tte n C h a rming w e lcom e in G e rm a n y
-

—King o f H anov e r —D uk e of W e i ma r— King o f S axon y s ’

I n te nd a n t— My F ar e w e ll s 0

P O S T SC R I P T .

Le t t e r t o M . a ccom p a n y ing t h e M S S o f m y M e moirs

.
,

f or t h e p u r p os e o f s u pp l y ing h im w i t h No te s f or m y
B iogr a p h y

S U PP LE M E N T .

T h e I ns t i t u te —C onc e r t s at t h e P a l ai s d e l I n d us t r ie
’

Julli e n — T h e D i ap a son of Ete rni ty —L es T ro y ens

B ea tm ce et B en é dict
’
’
’
— E x cursion t o —
L o e n be rg C on
w .

c e r t s at h
t e C ons e rv at oir e —F e s t iv a l at S t ra sburg
— —
Deat h o f m y S e cond W i f e C e m ete ri e s All w rong

L A S T C H AP T ER O F ALL
T HE .

Vis it t o D auph in y —S e cond Pil grim a g e t o Mey la n —A Day at

L y ons—I s ee M dm e F a g a in—C o n vulsions o f h ea r t
.
377

M . B e rlio z s Works
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ME MOIR S O F H E C T O R B ER L I O Z .

FIR ST V ISI T T O G E R MANY ( 1 8 4 1

C H AP T E R L II .

Bruss els —M ay enc e—Fr ank f or t .

L E TT E R I .
—T o M O N SIE U R A . M OR E L. 1

WE L L my dear More] here I am back from my long

, , ,

stay in Germany during whi ch I gave fifteen concerts and

,

had about fifty rehearsals You may well b eli eve that .

after such fatigue I need rest and i n actio n and y ou ,

are right but you would hardly think h ow strange rest

,

and inaction seem to me .

Often in the morning when only half awake I begin , ,

to dress f uriously thinking I am late and th at the

,
’
orchestra is waiting f or me Then after a moment s .
,

refl ection — as the real state of the case dawns on me

What orchestra ? I s ay to myself I am in Paris where the .

,

opp osite custom prevails and it is the orchestra that keep s

,

the conductor waiting Besides I am not giving concerts ,

I hav e no chorus to teach no symphony to conduct I S hall , .

1
M A M or el is on e o f my gr eates t f ri ends an d also on e o f t h e
. .
’

b e st musici ans o f my acqu ain tanc e T h er e is r ea l m eri t in his .

composi tions .

VO L . II .
2 M U S IC I N F RAN C E , [ C H AR LII .

n ot se e either Meyerbeer or Mendelssohn this morning ,

nor L ipinski n or Marschner nor Bohrer nor S chlosser

, , , ,

nor Mangold nor the brothers M iill er nor any of thos e

, ,

excellent German artists who welcomed me so kindly ,

and gave me so many proofs of deference and devotion .

T here is scarcely any music in France j ust now and ,

y ou my friend whom I was s o pleased to s e e again seem

, , ,

s o s ad and discouraged whenever I question you about

what was done in Paris during my absence that I feel a ,

strong desire to return to Germany where there is still ,

some enthusia s m left And yet what unbounded reso urces

.

we p ossess in this Parisian whirlp ool the centre of the ,

r estless ambition of all E urope ! What s pl en did r es ul t s

m ight b e obtained i f all the means at the disposal of the
C onservatoire the G ymnas e musical our three lyrical
, ,

theatres the churches and the singing schools could be

, ,

united ! With a j udicious selection from these various

elements one might form if not an irreproachable chorus
, ,

( the voices are not sufficiently trained for that ) at least a ,

matchless orchestra ! In order to give the Parisians a

chance of hearing a really splendid body of eight or nine
hundred musicians only t wo things are wanting a place
, ,

to seat them and a little love of art to draw them together

, .

We have not even a large concert room ! T he theatre of -

the Op éra might serve the purpose if the machinery and ,

decorations required by the r ép er toire did not occupy the

stage nearly every day and s o make the preparations for
,

such a ceremony almost impossible .

But S hould we even then find the general sympathy

, , ,

the unity of s entiment and action devotion and patience , ,

wi thou t which nothin g grand or beautiful in this line

can ever b e produced ? One can only h O p e so T he .

excep t ional order prevailing at the rehearsals at the C on

L E TT E R L ] AN D I N G ERM ANY . 3

s erv at oire,and the z eal of its m emb ers are u niversally ,

a dmired S till only that which is rare is so highly

.
,

priz ed In Germany on the contrary I found an almost

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, ,

universal order and atte ntion co mbined with real respect

for the master— or masters For in fact there are s everal .
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masters : first the c om p cs er himself who almost al ways

, ,

c onducts his o wn rehearsals and p erformances with ,

ou t in the least wounding the conductor s s el f love 5 ’

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1
next the kap el l meister u sually an able comp oser
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-
, ,

who conducts the principal operas and all important

musical works of which the authors are either absent
or dead ; and t he leader
2
who directs the small op eras ,

and ballets and also acts as first violin when n ot

,

c onducting in which case h e conveys the kapell meis t er s

’
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,

remarks and directions to th e further end of the orchestra ,

sup erintends the material details of the studies sees that ,

n othing is wan t ing either in the way of music or in s tru

ments and s ometimes p oints out the b owing or phrasing

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o f a passage — a task forbidden to the kapell meister who -

,

al ways conducts with a baton .

In Germany as else where there must doubtless be a

, ,

ood deal of hidden and insub ordinate vanity among s o

g
many musicians of unequal merit 5 but with on e single ,

e xception I cannot remember ever having met with a

,

remonstrance — possibly because I do no t unders t and

German .

I did not meet many able chorus m asters M ost o f them -

.

w ere b ad pianists indee d I met on e who could n ot play

t he piano at all and only gave the notes by striking the
,

keys with two fingers In Germ any as in France they .

, ,

s t ill keep up the habit of un i ting all the voices in on e

1 O r C onduc tor .

2
M aitr e d e C onc er t in G erm an , C onc ert -
m eis ter
4 B RU S S EL S .
[ C H AR L II .

room under on e conductor instead o f having separate ,

practising room s and conductors for preliminary rehearsals

a proceeding which saves time and brings about excellent ,

results in the instruction of the diff erent choral parts T h e .

German choristers especially the tenors have gen erally

, ,

fresher and purer voices than those of our theatres 3 but on e

mus t not b e too hasty to award them the palm and if y ou ,

care t o follow me to the diff erent towns I visited you will ,

soon s ee that except at Berlin Frankfort and perhaps

, , ,

D resden the chorus at all t he theatres is bad or at bes t

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indi ff erent On th e other hand the German S ingin g

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Academies must b e included among the musical glories of

the country L ater on we will try to find out the reason
.

of this diff erence .

My j ourney began under unfavourable auspices ; mis

haps and misfortunes of all sorts succeeded each other in
the most troublesome manner and I assure you my dear , ,

friend that it needed a stubborn determination to pursue

,

it to the end When I left Paris I tho ught myself sure

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,

of three concerts at th e outset 5 the first at Brussels w here ,

I had been engaged by the Society of the Grande

Harmonie and two others were already announced at
,

Frankfort by the ma n ager of the theatre wh o seemed t o ,

think them of importance and to be anxio u s for a good,

performance B ut what resulted from all these fine

.

promises and marked attentions ? Absolutely nothing .

This is what took place Madame Nathan— T reil l et h ad

.

kindly promised to c rime expressly from Pari s and sing at

th e Brussels concert Just as the rehearsals were b e
.

gin n i ng and the concert was announced we heard that

, ,

s h e had been taken seriously ill and could not therefore ,

p ossibly leave Paris M adame Nathan T reill et has left

.
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such recollections in Brussels of the time when s h e was

L E TT E R L ] D I S AP P O I N T M E N T . 5

prim a donna of the theatre t hat on e does not exaggerat e ,

in saying that s h e is S i m ply adored there ; she makes a

p erfect f urore and accordin g to the Belgians all the
, , ,

symphonies in the worl d are not worth one romance of i

L ouisa Puget s sung by Madame T reil l et

’
.

At the announcement of this catastrophe the Grande

Harmonie collapsed the smoking room adj oining the con
,
-

c ert hall became a desert

-
every pip e was as su ddenly ,

e xtinguished as if the air were exhausted and th e Gr an d ,

Harmonists dispersed with groans In vain did I seek to .

c onsole them by saying There will b e no concert ; make

,

y ourselves easy you wil l not have

,
th e discom f ort o f
listening to my music ; surely that is comp ensation
”
e nough for s o great a misfor t une Nothing could make .

it up to them .

Their eyes dissolved in b eery tears — ct no lebcm t con

s ol ar i because Mada m e T reill et was n ot coming T he
fi -
.

c oncert therefore fell through T h e conductor of this

, .

Grande Harmonie S ociety a man of undoubted merit and , ,

an eminent artist quite devoted t o his art though not ,

exactly disposed to give way to despair even when Made

m ois el l e Puget s romances f ailed — in a word S n el himsel f
’
, ,

who h ad invited me to come t o Brussels — with shame

a n d embarrassmen t

Jurait , m ais un p eu t ard q u on n e l y pr endr ait plus

,
’ ’

What was I t o do ? address mysel f to the rival socie t y

—th e Philharmonic conducted by Bender leader of the , ,

Guides admirable band ? C ollect a brilliant orchestra

’
,

by combining that of t h e t h eat re w ith the C ons ervatoire ?

T he thing was easy thanks to the kindly intentions of,

Messrs H en s s ens Mertz and Wery who on a former

.
, , ,

o ccasion had all been eager t o influence their f riends and

6 S T R AU S S A
,
M Y S T ER Y .
[ CHAR LII .

pupil s in my f avour But this would have been to em

.

bark ou fresh expens es 5 and besides time failed me , ,

as I thought I was e x pected at Frankfort for the t w o

concerts j ust mentioned I had to start therefore full
.
, ,

of anxiety as to the possible consequences of this dreadfu l .

disappointment to the Belgian dil etta ntz and of self

’

reproaches as the innocent and humiliated ca use of it .

Happily this kind of remorse does not last l ong it —

vanishes like stea m and I had scarcely been an hour on

,

the R hine boat admiring the riv er and its banks b efore
, ,

I had forgotten all ab out it T he R hine ! ah that is .

,

grand and beautiful Perhaps my dear More ] y ou thin k , ,

I shall sei ze this opp ortunity of practically enlarging upon

it Heaven forbid ! I know too well that any ampli
.

fication of mine would only b e a prosaic abri dgment ;

and besides for your own credit I would rather think
, ,

that you had read and r e read V ictor Hugo s beautiful ’

bo ok .

On my arrival at Mayence I hastened to make in quiries

,

as to the Austrian military band which had been ther e

the year b efore and according to Strauss — the Paris
,

l — had performed several of my overtures with

S t raus s

1 T he n am e o f S tr auss is n ow c el ebr at e d t hrou ghout d ancing

E urop e 5 i t is attach ed t o a numb er o f f anci f ul an d piqu an t w altz es
o f nov el rhy thm an d a gr ac ef ully ori gin al move m en t th at h av e n ow ,

g on e t h e round o f t h e e n t ir e w orld I t m ay b e im agin ed t h er ef or e

.
, ,

t h at on e do e s no t much c ar e t o s ee such w altz es imitate d or s uch a ,

n am e f orged .

B ut w a h t is c
the a e s ? T h er e is o n e S t r auss in P a ris — h e h as a
bro th er ; th er e is ano th er S tr auss at Vi enn a w h o h a s no b roth er ;
,

such is t h e onl dis tinct ion b et w een t h e t w o H enc e v arious dis

y .

agr eeabl e occurr enc e s f or our S t r auss w h o conduc t s a ll t h e b alls at

,

t h e O p é r a C omiqu e an d al l t h e priv at e b alls giv en by t h e aris t ocr a cy

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w i t h a v erv e w or thy o f his n am e A t t h e Austri an em b assy a

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,

Vi enn es e o b viously a spurious on e r ec en tly accos te d S tr auss in t h e

, ,

Aust ri an l an gu age an d s aid ,

L E TT E R L ] M AY E N C E . SCHO T T .

grea t verve and p ower and immense e ff ect T h e regi , .

ment was gone 5 no more mus ique d h armonie ( this was ’

really a Grande Harmonie ) C oncerts were impossible . .

I had f ondl y imagined I should be able to entertain the

inhabitants of Mayence with th at farce en p ass ant ; s t ill ,

it must b e attempted .

I went accordingly to Schott the pa t riarch of music ,

publishers That worthy man like the famous beauty

.
,

in the wood looks as though he had slept f or the last

,

hundred years and to all my questions h e replies slo wly

, ,

’
interlarding his words with prolonged pauses : I don t
think you could give a concert
. here .

Ah h ow are you my d ear S t rauss ? I am d eligh te d t o S ee you

, ,
.

You don t rem emb er m e ?

’

Not at al l .
”

O h ! I kno w you v ery w ell t hough you h av e got a littl e s t ou ter ,

.

B esid es no on e bu t you can w ri t e such w altz es You alon e could

, .

a ss em b l e a n d conduc t such a n orch es tr a f or d anc e music 5 t h er e is bu t

o n e S tr auss .

You are v ery good 5 b u t I assur e you th at S tr auss o f Vi enn a i

a lso t al en te d
”
.

H ow S tr auss o f Vi enn a ? Bu t y ou are h e T h er e is no o t h e r .

I kno w you quite well You are p al e—s o is h e 5 you w ri te f ascin atin g
.

d anc e m u Sl C .

Y es .

You always acc en tu ate th e w eak b eat in t h e trots-temp s t im e .

O h t h e w eak b eat is my f ort e

,

You h av e w ri tt en a w altz c all ed L e D iaman t .

S p arkling .

You S peak H ebr ew ?

V ery well .

And E n gl ish !
N ot a t a ll .

T h at s t h e m an 1
'
3
you are S tr auss ; b esid es your n ame is on t h e ,

h andbills .

S ir onc e more I am n ot S t r auss o f Vi enn a H e is no t t h e only

,
.

m an wh o c an syncop at e a wal tz I am S tr auss o f P aris 5 my b ro t h er . ,

a
H av e y ou a strawb erry m ar k on y our l ef t a r mP T h en y ou

my l on g l o s t b rot h er —
”
ar e - B x . o and C ox .
8 F R AN KF O R T .
[ C H AR L II .

there is no orch estra there is no

”
we have no money .

As I had not an over large amount o f patience I -

,

quickly made for the station and started f or Frank

fort You may think I had not yet had enough to annoy
.

me L ike S chott the train had also gone to S leep ; it

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,

hardly went at all it lounged ; that day more especially

,

it made interminable halts at each station S till every .

,

a d agio has an end and I reached Frankfort before ,

nightfall Wha t a charming cheerful town it is ! An

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,

air of wealth and activity reigns everywhere 5 besides it ,

is well built as white and glistening as a fiv e franc piece

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with a fragrant and verdant girdle of boulevards planted ,

in the E nglish style with shrubs and flowers Although .

a v ery good vio l inis t (t h er e h e is by t h e w ay ) is lik ewis e S trauss

,
- -
, .

S trauss o f Vi enn a is also S t r auss T h er e are three S t aus s es

. r .

No th er e is only o n e 5 you ar e t rying t o mys ti f y m e

, .
!

E xi t t h e incr e dulous Vi enn e s e l ea vi n g our S t r auss much irri t at ed

,

a nd pu zz l ed t o get his id en t it y v erifi d so much so t hat h e e ,

e n t r e at s m e t o e x t ric at e him f rom t his t w in dil emm a .

I accordingly d ecl ar e t h at S t rauss o f P aris a p al e m an sp eaking , ,

Aust ri an an d H ebrew w ond er f ully w ell French r ath er b adly an d , ,

E n gli sh no t at al l w ri t in g e nch an t in g w al tz es f ull o f d elicious

, ,

rhythmic al coqu ett eri es an d exquisit ely instrum en t ed a n d con ,

ducting his gay d ance orch es tr a w i th a som e wh a t m el ancholy air

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t hou gh wi t h undoubt ed talen t —this S tr auss h as as I affi rm l i ve d in , ,

P aris f or a long ti m e pl ay ed t h e a l to at all my conc ert s f or t en y ears

,

p as t b elon gs t o t h e orch es tra o f t h e T h eatr e I t ali en go es e v ery

, ,

summ er t o A ix G en ev a M ay enc e M unich — w h er e h e m ak es a good

, , ,

d eal o f mon ey —go es e v ery wh er e in f act e x c ep t t o Vi enn a f rom

, , ,

which h e s t ys aw ay out o f consid eration f or t h e o th er S tr auss w h o

a , , ,

f or all t h at hims el f w en t onc e t o P aris

,
.

C ons equ en tly t h e Vi enn es e h a ve only t o s t and t o w h at h as b ee n

s aid t o k ee p th eir S tr auss an d l et us k eep ours L et e v eryon e in
,
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,

f act r end er t o S t r auss th at w hich do es no t b elon g t o S tr auss an d

, ,

e w e —
c eas e t o attribut e t o S trauss th at w hich is his ; o th r is such is t h e
f orc e o f pr ejudic e— on e w ould en d by s aying th at t h e p ast e o f
S trauss w as b etter t h an t h e di amond o f S trauss an d t h at t h e ,

di amond o f S trauss w as only p aste .

L E TT E R L ] RE H E AR S A L . GUH R . 9

it was the month of D ecember and bo t h verdure an d ,

flowers had long S ince disappeared the s un gleamed ,

brightly through the bare branches of the trees 5

and whether from the contrast between those light
and airy alleys and the dark streets of Mayence or ,

from the hop e I had of at last beginning my concerts at

Frankfort or f rom some other cause not to b e analys ed
, ,

a chorus of happy voices started within me and I took ,

a delicious walk for two hours Business may wait .

”
till to morrow, I said to myself as I went back t o the
-

hotel .

Accordingly t he f oll o wing day I went early to th e

,

theatre expecting t o find it all ready for rehearsal O n

, .

crossing the square where it stands and seeing some young ,

men with wind instruments I requested them as they , ,

evidently b elonged to t h e orchestra to give my card to ,

G uhr the D irector and Kapell meister At sight of my

,
-
.

na m e the indiff erence of these good honest artists changed

,

at once to a respectful cordiality which did me real good .

O n e of them understood French and spok e f or the others , .

‘
W e are very happy to s ee y ou at last Herr Guhr .

a nnounced your arrival to us some time ago ; we have

t wice p erfor med your overture to King L ear You will not .

find your C onservatoire orchestra here but still perhaps , , ,

”
ou w ill not be wholly dissatisfied ! E n ter Guhr A
y .

small man with rather a shrewd countenance keen ,

piercing eyes rapid gestures brief and incisive sp eech It

, ,
.

is plain that he will never err through over indulgence -

when a t the head of his orchestra 5 everything ab out him

indicates musical intelligence and will : he is a leader .

H e speaks French but not fluently enough to keep up

,

with his i mpatience and he interlards every s entence in

,

t h e f unniest manner with grea t oa t h s pronounced German

10 E NER GE T IC L AN G U AG E .
[ C H AR LI I .

fashion I shall only designate them by initials On

. .

seeing m e O h 1
S N T T is it you my dear fellow ?
, . . . .
, ,
”
Then you did not get my le t ter ?
”
What letter ?
I wrote to you to Brussels t o tell you S N . .

T T
. . Wait a bit I can t sp eak prop erly . a ’

misfortune ! a great m isfortune ! Ah there is ,

the manager who will act as my interpreter

,
.

And continuing to speak in French Tell M B erlio z .

h ow vexed I am 5 that I wr o t e to him not to come here

yet ; that the little M il an ol l os are filli ng the theatre every
evening that we have never had such a public f urore
,

b efore S N T T And that we shall b e obliged t o

. . . . .

keep the go od music and the grand concerts f or some

”
other time .

The Manager : M Guhr desires me to tell you s ir .

, ,

”
that
H B
. D on t trouble yourself to repeat it
.
’
’
I .

understand quite well — too well indee d seeing t hat h e ,

did not sp eak German .

“
Guhr : Oh ah I spoke French S N T T wi t hout , . . . .
,

knowing it
H B
. Y ou know it very well and I know t oo ,

that I shall have to go back or els e pursue my road at ,

the risk of finding some other infant prodigies to check

”
mate m e elsewhere .

“
Guhr : What is t o be done my dear fellow ? th e ,

children make money S N T T French songs m ak e ,

. . . .

money French vaudevilles draw crowds 5 what wo ul d

,

you h ave ? S N T T I am the manager 5 I can t refus e

. . . .
’

money 5 but at any rate stop till to morro w y ou shall -

,

1 S acr é Nom t e T i eu .
12 F I DEL IO .
”
PI SC H E K .
[ C H A R L II .

is simple and p erfectly in tune and h er acting is always ,

true to nature In the famous pistol scene s h e does not

.

bring down the house as Mdme S chroeder D ev rient did .

-

with her convulsive nervous laugh when we s aw her as a ,

young woman in Paris sixteen or s eventeen years ago ;

,

s h e arrests your attention by other m eans Mdlle . .

C apitaine is not at all a S inger in the brilliant sense

of the word but of all the women I heard in Germany
,

in that kind of opera she is certainly the one I prefer ,

and yet I had never heard her name b efore O thers .

were m entioned to me as very talented whom I tho ught ,

simply detestable .

U nfortunately I cannot reme mber th e name of the

,

tenor who took Fl ores t an s par t He certainly had good

,
’
.

points though there was nothing remarkable about his

,

voice He sang the di fficult prison song not in deed s o

.
, , ,

as to make me forget H aitzinger but well enough to ,

deserve the applause of a warmer public than that of

Frankfort As for Pis ch ek who m I appreciated b etter
.
,

some months after w ards in Spohr s F a us t he taught m e ’

the full value of the Governor s part which we could ’

,

never understand in Paris and for that alone I am really

,

grateful to him Pis ch ek is an artist and has doubtless

.
,

s tudied much but Nature has als o greatly favoured him

,
.

He has a magnificent baritone thrilling fle x ible true , , , ,

and of considerable compass 5 a fine face and tall figure ;

y out h and plenty of fire !
,
What a misfortune t h at he
knows no language but G erman I thought the chorus of .

the Frankfort theatre good ; their e x ecution was careful ,

th eir voices fresh and generally all in perfec t tune T h e

,
.

only thing to desire was that it had been a little larger .

When a chorus numbe rs only a bout forty voices it has ,

always a certain harshness that disappears in a larger on e .

LE TT E R L ] THE F R ANKF O R T O R C H E S T R A . 13

As I did not hear them rehearsing a new work I do not ,

know whether the Frankfort chorus singers are good -

readers and musicians 5 I can only s ay that they sang

the first Prisoners C horus very satisfactorily— a charming
’

piece which needs s inging ; and the grand fina l e

,

with the needful enthusiasm and energy A s for the .

orchestra looking upon it merely as a theatre orchestra

, ,

I should pronounce it firs t rate 5 admirable f rom every -

p oint o f vie w Not a shade es capes it ; th e tones melt

.

i nto a harmonious and graceful whole 5 it never stum

bles 5 it begins with ap lomb one might almost s ay like ,

o n e instrument No do ubt G uh r s skill in conduct

.
’

ing and his strictness at rehearsals have much to do

with this happy result The orchestra is composed as .

follows : 8 first violins 8 s econds 4 tenors 5 cellos , , , ,

4 basses 2 flutes 2 oboes 2 C larinets 2 bassoons 4 horns

, , , , , ,

2 trumpets 3 trombones and timpani

,
Such a b ody o f ,
.

47 musicians is to be found with very trifling diff erences , ,

,

in all the smaller German towns It is generally disp osed .

in the followi n g m anner : the violins tenors and cellos , ,

together occupy the right side of the orchestra ; the double

basses are placed in a straight line in the middle quite ,

close to the railings while the wind instruments form the

,

rival group to the strings on the left 5 the kettle drums -

and trombones alone are relegated to the farthest end on

the right hand side Not having been able to put this
-
.

orchestra to the severe test of symphonic studies I can ,

say nothing about its quickness of conception aptitude ,

for the accidental or humoristic style rhythmical solidity , ,

etc etc but Guhr assures me that it is quite as goo d at

.
,
.

a concert as in op era T his I can believe since Guhr is .

,

not at all too ready to over admire his own children The -
.

violins belong to an excellent school ; the basses have

14 F ERD I NAN D HI LLER .
[ C H A R LII .

a great deal of tone I do not know th e capacity of the

.

tenors their part being but trifling in the op eras I saw

,

The wind instruments are exquisite as a body I have .

only one reproach to make to the horns w h o h ave a ,

defect that is very common in Germany of often making ,

the tone too brassy esp ecially wh en forcing the high

,

notes T his way of giving out the sound sp oils the tone
.

o f th e horn ; it may occasionally have a very good e ff ect ,

but I do not think it could ever be regularly adopted in

the school of the instrument .

At the end of this firs t rate p erformance of F id el io

-

ab out t en or t w el v e persons condescended to applaud it

sligh tly as they were going out and no more I was
i ndignant at such coldness and when someone tried to
,

p ersuade me that though the audience had applauded s o

slightly it none th e less appreciated the b eauty of the
“ ” “
work . No said Guhr
,
they un ders t and nothing
,

nothing at all — S N T T He is right it is a vulgar

. . . .
,

public .

That evening I s aw my ol d friend Ferdinand Hiller , ,

in on e of the boxes He lived a long time in Paris where

.
,

connoisseurs still talk of h is great musical talent We .

should soon have renewed our ol d ways of comradeship .

Hiller is engaged on an op era for the Frankfort theatre 5

two years ago he wrote an oratorio T h e Fa ll of Jerus a l em, ,

which has been successfully p erformed several times He .

o ften gives concerts at which b esi d es extracts from that

, ,

work various instrumental compositions h ave been pro

,

d uced of late years and are very well spok en of

,
.

Unhappily whenever I have b een at Frankfor t it has

,

a lways s o h appened that Hiller s concerts took place the

’

day after I had to leave s o that I can only quote the

,

o pinion of o t hers about him which exculpa t es me entirely

,
L E TT E R L ] FARE W ELL TO F R AN K FO R T . 15

from any want of loyalty At his last concert he gave a .

n e w overture which was warmly received and several

, ,

pieces for four male voices and a soprano which I have ,

b een told had a strikingly original eff ect .

At Frankfort there is a musical institution which I

,

have often heard highly sp oken of It is the S t C ecilia s . .

’

Singing Academy and has t he name of b eing well

,

managed ; however as I was never admitted to it I must

,

maintain the strictest reserve on the subj ect .

Although the vulgar element prevailed in the Frank

f ort p ublic yet taking into consideration the great number
,

o f p ersons in the upper classes who really study music it ,

s eems imp ossible that one S hould not be able to collect an

audience intelligent enough to enj oy great works of art .

At any rate I had not time to try the exp eriment

,
.

N ow my dear Morel I must call up my recollections

, ,

o f L indp ain tn er and the orches t ra at Stuttgart I will make .

them the subj ect of a second letter not ho wever to be , , ,

a ddressed to
y o u as I must also .answer those o f ou r

friends who are as eager as you are to hear the details of

'

my German exp edition Farewell . .

P S —Have you published any songs of late ? E very

. .

o n e is talking of the success of your last Yesterday I .

heard the rondo P age et M ari which you co m posed ,

to the words of Alexandre D umas fil s I think it .

very delicate and coquettish piquant and charming Y ou ,

.

never wrote anything s o well in that style That rondo .

will be int olerably p opular Y ou will b e put in the .

pillory by all th e barrel organs of Barbary an d you will-

,

have des erved it richly .

H B . .
 C H AP T E R L I I I .

S t uttgart — H echin gen .

L E TT E R I I — T o M O N S IE U R
. GI RA R D .

THE first thing I had to do before leaving Fran kfort t o

try my fortune in the kingdom of W urt emb erg was to ,

find out what were the musical resources of S tuttgart ,

make a concert programm e suited to their p owers and ,

only carry with m e the music absolutely essential t o

its p erformance You must know my dear Girard that
.
, ,

one of th e greatest and most unforeseen di fficulties of

my travels arose from the immense expense attendant on
the carriage of my music Y ou will easily understand this
.

when I tell you that the mass of separate orchestra and

chorus p arts manuscript lithographed or engraved w as
, , , ,

very heavy and had to follow m e almost everywhere by

,

s tage coach at a ruinous cost

-
This time ho w ever being
.
, ,

uncertain whether I S hould go to Munich after my visit

to S tuttgart or ret urn to Frankfort on my way north
,

wards I only took two symphonies an overture and some

, , ,

songs and left all th e rest with that unfortunate Guhr

, ,

who was evidently fated to be bothered with my music in

on e way or another .

There is nothing interesting about the road from Frank

f ort to St uttgar t and my impressions of it are not worth
1
,

1 T hen etw ork o f r ail ways w it h w hich G erm any is n ow int ers ect ed
did no t exis t at t h at t im e .
 S T U T T GA R T . DR . SC H I LL ING . 17

telling I s aw no romantic spots no dark f orests n o

.
, ,

conv ents no lonely chap els n o torrents 5 no nocturnal

, ,

sounds not even fro m D on Quixote s windmills ; neither

,
’

huntsman nor milkmaid nor weeping maiden nor straying

, , ,

heifer nor lost child nor distracted mother nor shepherd

, , , ,

nor thief nor brigand ; nothing in fact but t h e moon

, , ,

light the noise of the horses the snoring o f the conductor

, , .

Here and there some ugly peasants in large three cornered

hats and long dirty linen coats with absurdly long tails ,

that got entangled between their muddy legs 5 a costume

which gave the m the app earance of village cur és en
’

d es h a bil l e Nothing more.

The first p erson t o be seen on my arrival at Stuttgar t

indeed the only one whom I had any reason to supp ose
,

would be favourably disp osed towards m e owing to the ,

kindness of a mutual friend — was D r S chillin g th e .

,

author of a great many theoretical and critical works on

musical art His title a very c ommon on e had made
.
, ,

me augur rather unfavourably of him I imagined som e .

old p edant with sp ectacles a reddish wig and huge snuff , ,

b ox al ways mounted on his hobby of fugue and counter

,

p oint talking oi nothing but Bach and M arpurg 5 out

,

w ardl y polite p erhaps but at b ottom hating all m odern ,

music in general and mine in p articular ; in a word an ,

old musical curm udgeon Now you s ee how on e may .

,

be mistaken M S chilling is not old does n ot wear

. .
,

S pectacles has fine black hair of his own is full of

, ,

animation sp eaks loud and rapi dly almost like pistol shots
, , ,

and is a smoker not a snuff taker He received m e very

,
-
.

kindly at once gave me all the necessary information

,

about my concert never said a word about fugues or ,

canons showed no contempt either for the H uguenots

,

or Willia m T ell and expressed n o aversion to my music

,

VO L . II . c
18 A C O N V ER S A T I O N .
[ C HAR L III .

before hearing i t Besides conversation was anything .

,

but easy between us w hen there was no interpreter ,

M S chil ling speaking French much as I S p eak Germ an

.
.

One day impatient at not being able to make himself

,

understood he said ,

D o you speak E n glish

I know a f ew words — and y ou ?
I — no But Italian do you know Italian ,

S i u n p oco
,
C om e S i chiama il direttore del t eatre ?
.

Oh bother ! not to speak Italian either

I b elieve heaven forgive me that if I had declared
, ,

myself unable to understand either E nglish or Italian ,

th e hot temp ered doctor would willingly have played the

-

scene in the M ecl ecin m a lgr é L u i in those two languages

’

with me : A rcith ura m ca ta l amus nominative s ingul a r iter ;

, , ,

es ine ora tio l a tinas ?

We did try L atin and understood each other after ,

a f ashion not however without some a rcith ura m

, , ,

ca ta l a mus B ut it may easily b e imagined that con

.

versation was rather d i fficult and did not fl ow after ,

.

H erder s i d eas n or yet according to Kant s C ritique of

’
,
’

”
pure R eason M S chilling was able to let m e know h o w
. . .

ever that I could give my concert either in the theatre

,

or the S alle de la R edoute a roo m intended for musical ,

ceremonies of this sort In the fir s t case besides the .

,

enor m ous advantage of the royal pres ence which he ,

thought h e could certainly s ecure for me in a town like

Stuttgart I S hould hav e a gratuitous performance with
, ,

out having to trouble myself either about tickets or

advertisements or any of the material details of the
,

evening In the second I should have had to pay the

.
,

orchestra and manage everything myself and the King

, ,

would not be present —h e n ever went to the concert room -

.
 20 L I N DPA I N T N ER .
[ C H A R L III .

1
f un d and all without exception will mak e it thei r
,

duty as well as f eel it an honour not merely to p erform , ,

but to rehearse your works often under your dire ction .

C ome and h ear the F regs chiitz this eveni n g I will .

introduce you to th e band after one of th e acts and ,

you will s ee if I h ave done wro n g in answerin g for thei r

”
good will-
.

I took care not to miss this appointment L ind .

a in t n er introduced m e to th e artists and after h e had

p ,

translated a little speech which I thought I o ught t o

address to them all my doubts and p erplexities v anished
,
.

I had an orchestra comp osed much like that at Frankfort .

—youthful v igorous and full of fire

,
I could eas ily s ee
,
.

this by the way in which all the instrumental part of

’
Web er s ch ef cl ce u vre was p erformed T h e chorus seemed
’
.

to me rather ordinary few in numb e r and not very careful, ,

in the interpretation of th e we l l known nuances of that -

admirable score They alwa y s sang mezzo f orte and ap

.
-
,

ea red rather bored by their task As for the actors they

p .
,

were all unmistakably mediocre I do not remember on e .

o f their names Agatha the prima donna has a sonorou s

.
, ,

but hard v oice 5 the second female singer Annette sings , ,

w ith more flexibility but often out of tune ; the bari,

tone Gaspard is I think the best voice in the theatre I

, , .

heard the sa m e company after wards in the M uel te cl e

P ortici without ch angin g my opinion about t h em
, .

L in dpain t n er in conducting these two operas astonished

, ,
‘

me by the rapidity with which he took the time of

certain pieces Af t erwards I s aw that many German
.

kapell meisters are the sam e in this respect among

-
,

others Mendelssohn for example Krebs and Guhr I , , .

can s ay nothi ng about the time of the Fregs chulz b ecaus e

'

1
C a isse d e P ension .
L E TT E R 1L ] THE H AR P . 21

no doubt they kno w more about it than I do but as for ,

the M uette the Ves ta l e hf os es and the H uguenots which

, , , ,

were got up in Paris in th e presence of their own com

p osers and the time of which has been preserved as it
,

was when they were first p erformed I maintain tha t ,

the tremendous pace at which I heard them p erformed

at Stuttgart L eipzig Hamburg and Frankfort is in
, , ,

a ccurate 5 unintentional no doubt but none the less , ,

injurious to the eff ect And yet in France it is believed

.

that the Germans drag all our movements ! The Stutt

art orchestra is composed of 1 6 violins 4 tenors
g , ,

4 cellos 4 basses and the wind and percussion in s t ru

, ,

ments necessary to perform m ost of the modern operas 5

a n d there is also an excellent harpist on e M Kr u ger , .
,

an d this is rare for Germany The study of that .

fine instrument is neglected here apparently without ,

reason in an absurd and even barbarous way Indeed I

,
.

a m inclined to believe that this was always the case con ,

s id erin
g that none of the German masters have ever made
us e o f i t
’
There is no harp par t in any of Mo zart s works
.
,

neither in D on Jua n F igaro the M agic Fl ute the , , ,

S eragl io I rl omeneo O os i f a n tutte nor in his masses or

'
, , ,

s ymphonies Weber also abstained from using it like

.
,

1
wise Haydn and Beethoven ; Gluck alone wrote an easy
harp part in O rp h ée f or one h and only and yet that op era
, ,

was composed and represented in Italy There is som e .

t hing in this at once ama zing and annoying to m e .

It is a disgrace to th e German orchestras who ought all ,

t o have at least two harps especially now that they ,

p erform French and Italian operas in which they are s o ,

frequently employed The Stuttgar t violins are firs t

.

1
[ No t
quite corr ect . T h er e is a h arp p art in No . 5 of t he
P rometh eus music
22 S T U TT GA R T .
[ C H AR . L III .

rate 5 it is plain that most of them hav e b een trained by

M e lique the leader whose vigorous playin g severe
, , ,

though slightly m onotonous style and learned com ,

positions we admired some ye ars ago at the C o n serva

,

toire .M oliqu e being first violin both at the theatr e

,

and at all t h e concerts h as for t h e m ost part nothing to

,

do but superintend his pupils who all profess the si n cerest ,

respect and admiration for him Hence a rare correctnes s .

in their e x ecution due as much to oneness of feeling and

.

method as to the attention of the players .

I must make special m ention of the second leader ,

H ab enh eim a disti n guished artist in every respect

,
I .

heard on e of his cantatas in an e x pressive and melodious ,

style well harmonised and instrumented

,
T he other .

s tringed instruments if n ot equal to th e violins

,
might ,

fairly be considered very good I may say the sam e f or .

the wind instruments 5 th e first clarinet and first obo e

are capital The elder Kr uger who takes the part of first
.
,

flute unhappily uses an antique in s trument that leaves

, ,

much to be desired in purity of tone and p ower of pro

d u cing the higher notes M Kruger ought also to beware . .

of yielding to the temptation of introducing shakes and

runs where the author has abstained fro m writing them .

M N eukirch n er the chief bassoon is a fiFs t rat e

.
, ,
-

virtuoso though too much disposed perhaps to make

,

a parade of great di fficulties ; besides he plays such ,

a bad instrument that one s ears are hurt every momen t

’

by questionable intonations which spoil the effect of

the best played passages M S ch un cke stands o ut . .

among the horns 5 but he like his comp eers at Frank ,

fort makes th e tone of his high notes a little t oo

,

brassy At S tuttgart they only u se c y linder or

.
,

chromatic horn s Adolphe S ax a skilled instrumen t

.
,
L E TT E R 1L ] O R C H E S T R A L P L AY ER S . 23

maker in Paris has amply proved the superiority of

, ,

this system over that of pistons n ow almost abandoned ,

throughout Germany while the cylinder system is coming ,

into general use for horns trumpets bombardons and , , ,

bass tubas The Germans g1 v e the nam e of valve

.

instruments (ventil horn ventil— tromp et ) to thos e t hat

-
,

are made w ith this m echanism I was surprised n ot .

to s ee it adopted for th e trump ets in the military band

at Stuttgart oth erwise a very fair on e 5 they s till u s e a
,

very imperfect in strument with two pistons which for , ,

tone and sonority is far behind the cylinder trum pet now
, ,

in general use els ewhere I am not speaking of Paris ; .

some ten years h ence we shall have them there .

The trombones have considerable p ower The first .

,

M S ch rade who four years ago was a member of the

.
,

V ivienne concert orchestra at Paris has undoubted ,

talent He is thoroughly master of his instrument revels

.
,

in di fficulties and has a m agnificent tone 5 I might

,

indeed s ay tones , f or by some inexplicable process h e

can produce three or four notes at a time like the ,

1
you n g horn player with whom the musical press has
lately been occupied in Paris S ch rade in a bar of a .
,

fantasia which he p erformed in public at Stuttgart caused ,

general astonishment by playing the four n otes in the

chord of the dominant 7 th simultaneously in this order ,

E fl at

{
f or
6
F
It is f or those learned in acoustics t o account

this new phenomenon in sonorous tub es an d it is ,

for us musicians to study it well and profit by it on ,

occasio n .

Another merit of the Stuttgart orches t ra is the number

Vivi er t h e ingenious humorist
1
, , an ecc en tric artis t but ,
on e of
r eal m erit an d r ar e music al t alen t .
24 E X C ELLE N T S I G H T -RE A D I N G .
[ C H AR L III .

of bold readers it contains who are never troubled or put ,

out by anything who can read at once a note and its

,

n ua nce and never even at first sight let a p or f a mezzo

, ,

f or te or s morza ncl o escape them Moreover they have been

, .
,

broken in to all the caprices of rhythm and measure n ot ,

sticking to stro n gly marked time but able to accentuate

-
,

the weak beat without hesitation and go from on e s y n c o ,

pated passage to another without fuss or the air of having

p erformed a difficult feat In a word their musical edu .
,

cation is complete in every respect At the very first .

rehearsal of my concert I recognised all these valuable ,

qualities I had chosen the S y mp h onie F antas tique and

.

the overture to the Fra ncs Juges Y ou kno w th e .

rhythmical difficulties of these t w o works — syncopated

phrases crossing each other groups of four notes on ,

groups of three etc all of which are n ow boldly

,
.
,
.

per f ormed f or the public of Paris at the C onservatoire ,

but at which we had nevertheless to work long and

dil igently I had reason therefore to apprehend a grea t
.
, ,

many mistakes in the overture and in the fi na l e of the

symphony But there was not one
. E very t hing was .

read and mastered at first sight My astonishment was .

extreme ; yours will not be less s o when I tell you

that we got up that d d symphony and the remainder
of the programm e in t w o rehearsals T he effect would .

indeed have been more satisfactory if half the violins

had not been kept away on the day of the concert by
illness real or assume d C an you see m e with four first
,
.

violins and four secon ds struggling with all those wind ,

and percussion instruments ? For the epidemic had

spared the rest of the orchestra and nothing was wanting ,

except half the violins ! I would gladly have imitated

Max in F regs chiitz and signed a compact with all the
,
LE TT E R IL ] S U C C E S S F UL C O N C ER T . 25

devils in hell to get violins It was all the more vexa t ious
.

and irritating because notwithstanding L in dpain tn er s

,
’

prognostications the King and his C ourt were present

, .

In S pite of the gaps at certain of the music stands the -

,

p er f ormance though not a p owerful on e— that was im

,

p ossible — was at any rate intellige n t corre ct an d , ,

animated The most eff ective pieces in the S y mp h onie

.

F antas tique were the ad agio (the S ce ne a ux C h amp s ) and

the fi na l e ( the S a bba t) T he overture was warmly
.

received ; but as for the P ilgrims M arch in H arol d ’

which also figured in the programme it was scarcely even ,

noticed T he same thing happened at another concert

.
,

when I was s o imprudent as to give it by itself 5 whereas ,

where I have played the whole of H a rol d or at least the ,

first three movemen t s the march h as been as much

,

applauded as it was in Paris and often encored— a ,

f resh proo f of th e necessity of not breaking up certain

c ompositions and of only producing them at the proper
,

time and from the suitable standp oint .

Must I now tell you of all the congratulations I

received on th e part of the Ki n g through C ount N eip erg ,

and P rince Jerome B onaparte w hen the concert was ,

over ? Well ! why not ? Princes are well known to

be in general very kindly disposed towards foreign
artists and I should in reality only f ail in m odesty if
,

I were to repeat what some of the musicians said to m e

t hat even ing and on the fo l lowing days Besides why .
,

should I not fail in modesty ? In or der that a few ill

conditioned curs should n ot growl at me ? It would b e
well worth my while to use a lot of old formal phrases ,

and act a comedy which could deceive no one from

such a motive True modesty would consist not merely
.

in never speaking of oneself bu t in never doing anything ,

26 ~
V ISI T T O H E C HIN G E N .
[ C HA R L III .

wor thy of being sp oken of in never attracting public ,

attention to oneself in never saying anything writing

, ,

or doing anything —
in hiding oneself in fact not even
, ,

livin g That would b e absurd !

. Besides I hav e ,

made up my mind to confess everything both I n the ,

way of good and ill luck I began s o in my last .

letter and am ready to go on with it in the present on e

‘
-

.
,

For instance I am afraid that L in dpain t n er who is a

'

, ,

master and whose approbation I greatly coveted liked

, ,

nothin g but the overtur e and quite abominated the ,

symphony I w ould not mind betting that M elique

.

liked nothing whatever As for D r S chillin g I am . .

,

sure that h e thought it all execrable and was quite ,

ashamed at having taken the first step towards intro

d u cin g a brigand of my stamp at S tuttgart — on e w h o
was strongly susp ected of having outraged music and ,

who if he should succeed in inspiring it with his passion

,

for freedom and vagrancy would infallibly turn the chaste ,

muse into a sort o f gipsy woman not s o much an ,

E smeral d a as a Helen M ac G regor an armed virago with ,

hair floating to the winds and dark tunic sparkling with ,

gaudy trinkets springing barefoot over the wild rocks

, ,

dreaming to the sound of the wind and temp est and ,

with her fierce glances terrifying women and troublin g

men w ithout I nspiring them with love
, .

S chilling as counsellor to the Prince of Hohen zollern

,

Hechingen t ook care however t o write t o his highness

, , , ,

proposing that the cu rious savage who was more in his

element in the Black Forest than in a civilised town
should go there and amuse him And the savage bein g .
,

in quisitive about everything and having received a ,

courteous invitation from Baron de Billing another of ,

the Prince s familiar advisers s et forth through the great

’

,
_ 28 A N O B LE A MA T E UR .
[ C H A R L III .

it s
importance geographically Hechingen is only a big .

vill age or at the outside a market town built on the side

, , ,
-
,

of a somewhat steep hill rather like the upp er p art of

,

Montmartre or Subiaco in the R oman S tates Above the

,
.

town and situated in such a way as to command it entirely ,

’
is the V illa E ugenia the Prince s residence To the right of
, .

this little palace there is a deep valley and a little farther ,

on a bare de s ert peak crowned by the ol d castle of

Hohen z ollern n ow only a hunting rende zvous but formerly
, ,

the feudal resi d ence of the Prince s ancestors T he pre ’

.

s ent owner of this romantic scenery is a clever young

“

man lively and kindhearted with apparently only two

, ,

ruling ideas in the world the on e be ing the wish to ,

mak e the inhabitants o f his little states as happy as

possible and the other the love of music C an you con
, .

c eiv e of a happier existence ? E veryone about him is

contente d His subj ects adore him ; music smiles on
.

him He understands it both as a p oet and a musician

. .

He composes charmi ng songs two of which D er F is cher , ,

h na be and S ch af er s A bend l iecl really touched me by the

'
’
,

expressiveness of their melody He sings them with .

the voice of a composer but with a fire and f eeling ,

b oth of heart and s oul that fairly carry you a w ay .

Though he has no theatre he has at any rate an orchestra , , , ,

directed by T e ch l is b eck an eminent master who s e s y m

, ,

p honies are often 1

creditably p erformed at the C onserva
toire in Paris U nder his direction the simplest of the
.

great instru m ental masterpieces are played not indeed ,

with much parade but very carefully S uch is the amiable

, .

Prince whose invitatio n to me was s o pleasant and his

,

welcome s o cordial .

1
[T a glieh s b ec k h a d t h e goo d f or t un e t o h av e a sym phony twice
pl ay ed at t h e C ons erv at oir e ]
L E TT E R IL ] O R C H E S T R A L RE SO UR C E S . 29 °

On my arrival at Hechingen I renewed my acquaint ,

ance with T echl is beck I had known him in Paris five .

years before 5 here he overwhelmed me with attention ,

and with all those proo fs o f true kindness that one can
never forget He very soon acquainted m e with the
.

musical resources at our disposal There were eight .

violins in all three of them very feeble three tenors

, , ,

two cellos and two basses Stern the first violin is a

,
.
, ,

virtuoso of talent 5 s o is Oswal d the first V ioloncello , .

T he pastor and registrar at Hechi n gen plays the first

bass in a manner to satisfy the most exacting of com
p osers The first flute the first oboe and the first
.
, ,

clarinet are excellent though the flute does occasionally

,

indulge in those fanciful ornamentations with w h ich I

found fault at St uttgart The seconds among t h e wind .

instruments are passable T he t wo bassoons and the two .

horns are not quite all that could b e desired As for the .

trumpets the trombone (there is only one ) and the kettle

,
'

drum on e c ould h av e wished that they w ere absol utely

,

silen t —th ey knew nothing I can see you laughing my .

,

dear Girard and preparing to ask m e h ow I was able to

,

get on with s o small an orchestra Well by patience .

,

and good will by arranging and m odifying certain p arts

-
, ,

by five rehearsals in three days we got up the overture to ,

King L ear th e P ilgr ims M a rch the B a l in th e S y mp h onic

,
’
,

F antas tigue and s everal other pieces proportioned in si z e

, ,
'

t o the framework intended for them And everythin g .

went well with precision and even verve

,
.

I wrote the necessary notes in p encil up on the tenor

parts leaving out the third and four t h h orns as we
, ,

h ad only first and second T echl is b eck played the first .

harp part in the B a t on the piano 5 he had also been

anxious to undertake the solo tenor in the march in H arold .
30 A P LE A S AN T E V E N I N G .
[ C HAR L III .

The Prince of Hechingen stood beside the kettle drummer -

to count h is bars f or him and make him come in in time

,
.

I suppressed all the passages in the trumpet parts which

we agreed were beyond the scope of the two performers .

The trombone alone was left to it s own devices but as it ,

was wise eno ugh only to play t h e s e notes with which it

was familiar such as B flat D F and carefully avoided all
, , , ,

o thers it almost shone by its silence

,
You ought to hav e .

seen the wonderful effects produced by this music on the

numerous audience assembled by his highness in this
charming concert room However as you may doubtless
-
.
,

imagine the j oy I felt at all these demonstrations w as

,

mingled with impatience and when the Prince ca me up

,

“
and shook m e by the hand I could not help say ing : Ah ,

monseigneur I swear that I would take t wo years off my

,

life to have my C onser v atoire orchestra here now and ,

tackle one of these scores to which y ou have been s o

indu l gent
“ “
Yes yes 5 I know he answered 5 you have an
, ,

imperial orchestra which calls you S ire and I am o n ly his ,

highness 5 but I will go an d hear it in Paris I ll go I ll .

’

,
’

go
I hope he may keep his promise His applaus e weighed .

o n me being but ill deserved

,
-
.

After the concert we had supper at the V illa E ugenia .

The delightful gaiety of the Prince communicated itself to

all his guests 5 he wanted me to hear on e o f his com
positions for tenor piano and V ioloncello T ech l is b eck
, ,
.

sat down to th e piano the composer undertook the air

, ,

a n d to me w as allotted the task of singing the V ioloncello

part amid the acclamations of the assembly The piece

,
.

was much applauded and the singular tim bre of my

,

t reble string caused great merriment The ladies especially .

L E TT E R IL ] RE A C T IO N . 31

c o uld not get over my A T wo days later after many

.
,

farewells I was obliged to return to Stuttgart The

,
.

s now was melting on the great weeping pine trees the ,

white cloak on the m ountains was S potted w ith b l ack

it was profoundly m elancholy I began to eat my
.

heart out once more .

T he r es t is S ilenc e .
 C H AP T ER L IV
M ann h eim—W eim ar .

L ETT E R I I I — T o L I S Z T
. .

ON my return fro m Hechingen I stayed some days longe r

at Stuttgart a prey to new perplexities To all question s
,
.

about my plans and the future direction of a j ourney

scarcely yet begun I could have ans wered like on e of
,
’
Moli e re s characters

Non ,r e vi ens poin t c ar j e n ai poin t été 5

je ne ,
’

J c n e v ais poin t non plus c j e suis a é t é ,

ar rr ,

E t n e d em e ur e poin t ca t ou t d e cc p as m em e
,
r ,

Je pr et ends m en a ll er
’ ’
.

”
Go . Where ? I reall y did not know myself ,

T rue I had written to Weimar but no answer had come

, , ,

and I was obliged to wait f or it before I could m ake any

d ecision .

Y ou my dear L is zt kno w nothing of these uncertainties 5

, ,

it matters little to you whether the town to which y ou go

has a good orchestra whether the theatre be open or the, ,

manager place it at your disp osal etc Of what us e ,

.

in deed would such information b e t o you ? With a

slight modification of the famous mot of L ouis X I V you .
,
“

may say with confidence : I myself am orchestra chorus , ,

and conductor I can make my piano dream or sing at

.
.

pleasure re echo with exulting harmo n ies and rival th e

,
-
,
 THE P I AN IS T S A D V AN T AG E S
’
. 33

mos t skil f ul b ow in swiftness L ike the orchestra it .

,

has its brass band ; and like it t hough without the ,

least preparation it can throw on the evening bree z e

,

a cloud of fairylike chords and vague airs Neither .

theatre nor s et scenes are needed no vast rows of

-
,

b enches n or long rehearsals for I want neither musi

, ,

eiau s nor music Give me a large room and a grand

.

piano and I am a t once master of a great audience I

, .

have but to appear before it to b e over whelmed with

applause My m emory awakens 5 my fingers give birt h
.

to da zzling f an tas ies which call forth enthusiastic accl a

mations . I have but t o play S chub ert s A ve M aria ’

or Beethoven s A d el a id e to dra w every heart to myself

’
,

and make each one hold his breath Th e silence sp eaks 5 .

admiration is intense and pro f ound Then come

the fiery S hells a veritable bouquet o f grand fireworks
, ,

the acclamations of the publ ic flowers and wreaths ,

showered up on the priest of harmony as h e sits quiver

ing on his trip od , b eauti f ul young women kissing the
hem of his garment with tears of sacred fren zy ; t h e
S incere homage of the serious th e feverish applause ,

forced from the envious the intent faces the narrow , ,

hearts ama zed at their own expansiveness And perhaps .

the next day the inspired young genius departs ,

leaving behind him a twilight of dazzling glory and

enthusiasm It is a drea m 5 it is on e of thos e golden
.

dreams inspired by the name of L is zt or Paganini .

But the comp oser who like myself must travel t o make
, ,

his works kno w n has on the contrary to nerve himself

, , ,

to a task which is n ever ending still beginning and -

,
-
,

always unpleasant .

Who can imagine the tortures of the rehearsals ? First ,

h e has to submit to the cold glances of the musicians ,

VOL . II . D
34 T O R T URE S O F RE H E A R S A L .
[ C HAR L IV .

who are anything bu t pleased a t all this unexp ected

“
toil on his accoun t What does this Frenchman want ?
.

”1
Why doesn t he stay at h ome ? ’
E ach takes his place ,

but at the very first glance round the assembled

orches t ra the author perceives imp ortant gaps
,
He .

“
requests an explanation from the kap ell meister The -
.

first clarinet is ill the wife of the oboe has j ust been
,

c onfined the child of the first violin has the croup the
, ,

trombones are on parade— they forgot to a s k f or an ex

e mption from their military duty 5 the kett l e drum has -

sprained his wrist the harp will not come to the rehearsal
,
”
because he wants to study his part etc etc Still we ,
. .

begin The n otes are read after a fashion at about half

.
,

—
the right time a dreadful trial to the composer Little .

by little however his instinct gains the upp er hand 5 as

, ,

it warms his blood carries him away 5 he insensibly

,

quickens the time Then in dee d there is a nice mess a

.
, , ,

fearful hubbub distracting alike to mind and car He is

, .

forced to s t ep and resume the slow temp o and bit by bit ,

rep eat those long phrases th e free and rapid course of ,

which he h as so often guided in other orchestras .

But as if this were not enough he is presently aware ,

o f sundry strange discords from s ome of the wind in s t ru

ments Wh at can b e the reason ?

.
“
L et me hear the
trump ets alone Wh at are y ou doi n g ? I ought to
.

hear a third and you are playing a second The second .

trumpet in C has a D 5 give m e your D very good .

The first has a C which sounds F 5 give m e your C Fie .

”
f or shame you are playin g E flat
,
.

N o s ir 5 I am playing what is writ t en

,
.

1
[B erlio zh er e giv e s a curious pictur e o f a state o f things in t h e
o rch es t r a w hich h as p a ss ed a w a y f or e v er O rch est ras n ow w elcom e
.

nov elt i es an d o ften r ea d at sight w ith a s tounding eas e an d eff ect ]

,
 36 I MPR O V E M E N T .
[ C H AR LIV

T hen at length does the poor composer begin to breathe ,

the harmony becomes clear the temp os assert the m selves , ,

the melodies smile and weep t h e whole mass gets com ,

act ed and dashes boldly on After its first stammeri ng

p ,
.

attempts the orchestra begins to assume its true force

,
.

Acquaintance with the music restores courage to the

astonished artists the composer requests a fourth trial h is
, ,

interpreters — to take them all round the best p eople in the ,

world— consent eagerly This time fiat l ute Attention

.
, .
.

”
to the lights and shades ! Y ou are not afraid n e w ?
N 0 give us the real time
,
Vi a And light d awns .
,

art appears thought S hines out the work is understood

, , ,

and the orchestra rises applauding and saluting th e ,

composer the kapell meister comes up and congratul ates

,
-

him those inquisitive persons who had hitherto kept

,

themselves hidden in the dark corners of the roo m n ew

approach get on th e stage and exchange exclamations of
,

surprise and pleasure with the musicians at the same time ,

casting as t onished glances at the foreign master whom at

first they took for a madman or barbarian Now is th e .

moment f or rest But let the unfortunate wretch b ewar e

.

of taking any Far from it he must redouble his care

.
,

and attention and return be f ore the concert to sup erintend

,

the arrangement of the desks and insp ect the orchestral ,

parts t o b e sure they are not mixed He must go through .

the ranks red pencil in hand and mark the German

, ,

names f or the keys upon the music instead of those used ,

in France f or the wind instruments such as O D D es , , , ,

E s and F is f or a t re r e bémol m i bemol and f a d ies e

’

, , , , , ,

He has to transpose a s ol e for the cor a ngl a is for the

oboe because the orchestra does not possess that ins tru
,

ment and the performer is generally afraid to transpose it

,

himself He must rehearse the chorus and the solo S ingers

.
 L E TT E R III ]
. THE P ER F O R M AN C E . E C S TAS Y . 37

s eparately if they are n ot sure of themselves But t he

,
.

r oom fills the clock strikes the compos er app ears at

, ,

the chief desk pale and exhausted with fatigue of body

,

a n d mind scarcely able to stand uncertain faint and

, , , ,

discouraged until the applause of h is audience the spirit of

, ,

t h e p erformers and love for his own work shall transform

,

h im into an electrical machine giving forth marvellous ,

radiations invisible indeed but none the less real And

, ,
.

t hen b egins his comp ensation Ah ! then I grant y ou

.
, ,

t h e composer has a life u n known to the virtuoso With

f rantic delight he abandons himsel f to the pleasure of
playing on the orchestra With what magical influence.

d oes he sway that magni ficent instrument H o w the ever

inc reasing attention of the audience reacts upon h im 5 his
e y e is everywhere 5 with a glance he signals their e ntries

t o voice or instrument ; up down to the right to the left , , , ,

with his right arm he fl in gs forth terrible chords that

burst in the distance like harmonious proj e ctiles 5 then he
a rrests all this movement
5 rivets the attention o f all ;
suspends every arm every breath listens for a mom ent
, ,

to the silence and then gives more ea g er scop e than

e ver to the whirlwind he has subdued .

L u c t an t es v en t os t em p es t at es q u e sonor as
I mp e rio pr emi t ac v in el is et c arc ere f en at
,
r .

And in the grand a d agios h ow he revels in his own ,

s oothing harmony as he listens to the crowd o f inter

m ingled voices singing his love songs or confidin g t o the ,

s olitude of the night his laments for th e present and his

r egrets over the past Then often but then only does
.
, ,

t h e compos er forget the public altogether 5 listening to

himself j udging himself and touched by the emotion
, ,

w hich is shared by the artists around him h e takes ,

n o f urther heed of the impressions produced up on th e

38 RE WA R D .
[ C H AR L Iv

audience behind him His heart has been t hrilled by con

.

tact with p oetic melody he has felt that secret fervour , ,

the harbinger of the soul s incandescence his obj ect is ’

attained the heaven of his art is op ened t o him and

, ,

what signifies earth ?

Then when all is over and success assured his delight
, , ,

is intensified a hundredfold since it is shared by the ,

gratified self love of all h is army You you great virtuosi

-
.
, ,

are kings and princes by the grace of G od y ou are born , ,

as it were on the steps of the throne 5 while comp osers

,

have to fight to overcome and to conquer in order that

, , ,

they may reign But the labours and dangers of t h e

.

struggle only enhance the brilliancy and intoxication of

victory and we m ight perhaps b e even happier than
, , ,

you had we always soldiers at our command .

T his my dear L is zt is a long digression and has nearl y

, , ,

made me forget that I was giving y ou an account of my

travels T o re turn to them
. .

Whilst awaiting my letters at S tuttgart the S ociety ,

of the R edoute under L in dp aint n er s directio n gave a ’

, ,

brilliant concert at which I had an opportunity of

,

observing for the second time the coldness evinced b y

the German public en m ass e for the most colossal
conceptions of the great Beethoven .

The overture to L eonora a truly grand work performe d , ,

'

with rare spirit and precision was scarcely applaude d ,

at al l and that e v eni n g at the table d h Ote I heard som e

,
-
’

grumblin g t h at Hayd ns s y mphonies were n ot given instead

’
,

of th is n ois y musi c with out a ny tune in i t I f R eall y

1
and truly we are not s o vu l gar even in Paris !
1
[ I t w as no t so v ery lon g b ef or e t his t h at P aris w as as vul gar
in this r esp e ct a s an y pl ac e in an y coun try B erlio z s ow n l ett ers on .
'

B e ethov en s S ymphoni es re lat e t h e di ffi cult y w hich H ab en eck f oun d

’

in f orcing t hos e gr eat works on an au di enc e wh o h ate d th em ]

LE TT E R III ]. M ANN H E I M . 39

At last I received a f avourable answer f rom Weimar ,

and started for C arlsruhe I would willingly have given .

a concert en p ass ant but Strau ss (the kapell meister )

1
,
-

told me I S hould have had to wait eight or ten days ,

on account of an enga g ement at the theatre with a

Piedmontese fl utist .

I pressed on there f ore t o Ma nnheim with deep

, , ,

resp ect for the great flute This is a quiet town very .
,

cold level and square I do not think that any passion

, ,
.

f or music would ever deprive its inhabitants of their

2
sleep Stil l there is a good siz ed Singing Academy
.
,
-
,

a f air theatre and a very intelligent little orchestra

,
.

Both t he orches t ra and the Sin ging Academy are directed

by the younger L achner brother to the celebrated com ,

poser He is a gentle modest and very talented artist

.
, , .

H e soon organised a concert f or me I do not recollec t .

the programme I only know t h at I wanted to have my

.

second symphony (H arold) in f ull and that a f ter t h e ,

first rehearsal I had to suppress th e fi na le (the O rgie)

because the trombones were evidently incapable of play
ing their part L achner was quite vexed ab out it b ein g
.
,

desirous as he sai d to hear the whole of the ta bl eau

, , .

I was obliged t o be firm however assuring h im that , , ,

independently of the trombones it would b e madness t o ,

hop e to get the proper orchestral eff ect o f the fi na le with

s o few violins The three first parts o f the symphony
.

were well played and made a great impression on th e

,

1Ano ther S tr auss bu t this on e do e s no t wri t e w al tzes .

2
[ M a nnh eim w a s no t a l w ays cold l e v e l an d s q u ar e A t on e t im e
, ,
. ,

in t h e middl e o f t h e la s t c ent ury i t s orch estr a w as t h e fi rs t in ,

E urop e f or fire d elic acy an d n u a n ce ; an d i t w as aft er a r esid enc e

, ,

t h er e t h at M o z ar t w ro te his P arisi an S ymphony w hich w as so gr eat ,

an a dv anc e on an y o f his f orm e r orch es t r a l w orks an d t h e fi rs t ,

indic ation o f his r eal po wer in t h e orch es tr a ]

40 S AB I NA H E I N E FE T T E R .
[ C HAR L IV .

public I heard that the Grand duchess Amelia who was

.
-
,

present at the concert remarked the colourin g of the ,

P ilgr ims M a rch and particularly the S er ena d e in th e

’ '

A br uzzi where s h e fancied s h e again beheld the cal m

,

peacefulness of the exquisite Italian nights .

I found rather a good harpist at Mannheim an excel ,

lent oboe who pla y ed the cor a ngl ais passably a clever
, ,

V ioloncello player (H einef et t er) cousin to the singer of ,

the same name and some bold trumpeters 5 but there was no
,

ophicleide L achner was obliged to procure a chromatic

.

trombone going down to the deep C and B flat to replace

, ,

an instrument that is n e w employed in all the great

modern works It would have b een simpler I S hould
.
,

have thought to s end for an ophicleide ; and sp eaking

, ,

from a musical point of view it wo uld have b een far ,

b etter as the two instruments are not in the least alike

, .

I could only hear on e rehearsal at the Singing Academy 5

its m embers — amateurs for the most par t— have in general
good voices but are by no means all good musicians or
,

readers .

D uring my stay at Mannhei m Mdlle Sabine H ein ef etter ,

.

g ave a representation of Norma I had not heard her .

since S he left th e Th e atre Italien in Paris T here is ,

.

alwa y s a certain power and agility in her v oice but s h e ,

forces it a little at times and is beginnin g to find diffi ,

c ulty in sustaining her high notes 5 still such as s h e is , ,

M dlle H ein ef ett er is al m ost unrivalled among German

.

singers for s h e knows how to S ing

,
.

I was a good deal bored at Mannheim n otwith ,

standing the kind attentions of a Frenchman whom

I had o ccasionally met in Paris about eight or ten
years before D oubtless this was because the very first
.
LE TT E R III ]. M IN O R N U I S AN C E S . 41

a sp ect of the inhabitants and even of the town itself , ,

proved plainly that any artistic movement was altogether

unknown to them and that they only regarded music as
,

a somewhat agreeable pastime for such leisure moments

as could be sp ared fro m business Moreover it rained .
,

perpetually There was a neighbouri n g clock too that

.
, ,

1
always sounded the minor third when it struck and a ,

t ower inhabited by a nasty hawk whos e shrill discordant ,

cries pierced my ears from morning till night Besides .

this I was impatient t o se e the city of p oets where

, ,

letters were awaiting m e f rom my comp atriot C h él ard ,

2
t h e kapell meister and also from L ob e
-
,
that truly typical ,

G erman musician whose merit and ardour of s oul I know

,

y ou quite appreciated .

Here I am back again on the R hine I meet Guhr

who was still swearing I leave h im I s ee our friend ,

Hiller for on e moment at Frankfort who t ells me he ,

1 I n G erm any I Was a bl e t o m ak e m any obs erv at ions on t h e

di ff er en t r eson anc es o f b ells an d w as convi nc e d b eyond al l dou b t
,

t h at in t his a s in al l o t h e r r e sp ec t s N at ur e smil e s at our t h e ori e s

, ,
.

C er tain pro fe ssors m ain t a in t h at sonorous t on e s only r esound in t h e

m ajor third 5 a m at h em at ici an h as l atte rly b e en kno w n t o d e cl ar e ,

o n t h e con t r a ry t h at a ll b e lls only m ak e t h e minor t hird ; an d t h e

,

t rut h is th at th e y giv e al l sort s o f h armonic in terv als S om e giv e .

t h e m inor third som e t h e f our t h 5 o n e o f t h e b ells at W e im a r s t ri k e s

,

t h e minor s e v e n t h an d t h e oc t av e in succ e ssion (i t s ow n t on e o f F

givin g o ff t h e E fl at an d t h e oc t av e ) 5 o t h e rs e v en giv e t h e a ugm en t e d
f ourt h I t is pl ain th en t h at t h e h a rmonious r eson anc e o f b ells
.
, ,

d ep ends on t h e f orm giv en th em by t h e mould er ; on t h e di ff er en t

d egr ee s o f t hic k n e ss in t h e m et al at c e r t ain poin t s o f t h e ir curv at ur e ,

an d on t h e unkno w n h a z ard o f m e l t ing an d c as t ing [ T his no te

.

mus t b e t ak en p a ce H elmholtz ]
2
[ A f eebl e l itt r a teur an d s t ill f eebl e r compos er w h o e di te d t h e
’

e , ,

A llgemein e m us ika l is ch e Z eitu ng f or t h e l a s t f ew y ears o f his li fe an d ,

w ro te F l iegend e B l a t ter f il r M us ik I n wh at s ens e h e w as a t ypic a l

.

m usici an i t is h a rd t o s ee ] .
42 W E I MA R .
[ C H A R mm

is about to bring out his oratorio T h e F all of Jerusa l em ,

.

I set off with a nice sore throat sleep on the way have , ,

an awful d ream— which I shall not tell y ou Weimar at

last I am v ery ill Fruitless eff orts on the part of L ob e
and C h él ard to s et me up Preparations for the concert
. .

The first rehearsal announced My spirits rise I am cured ! . .

Good Here I can breath e There is some t hi ng in t h e

air that tells m e this is a literary an artistic town I t s , .

aspect corresponds exactly to my preconceived idea

tranquil bright airy and p eacefully dreamy with charm
, , , ,

in g surroundi n gs beautiful streams shady hills and

, , ,

smili n g valleys How my heart beat as I w ent through

.

it There is Goethe s abode

. And th ere the late Grand
’

duke used to take part in th e l earn ed conv ers at ion s of

S chiller Herder and Wieland ! This L atin inscription
, ,

was traced on the rock by the author of F a us t Is it .

possible ? T hese two little windows lighted S chiller s poo r ’

garret . In this humble lodging the great poet of all

noble enthusiasm wrote D on C a r l os M arie S t uart T h e , ,

R obber s and Wa l l ens tein

,
There h e lived as a poo r
.

scholar Ah ! Goethe ought n ever to have suff ered that

. .

He a rich minister of state might surely have softened

, ,

the lot of his f riend the poet 5 or was there no reality in

that illustrious friendship ? I fear it was genuine
only on S chiller s side Goethe loved himself and his
’
.

accursed s on Mephistopheles too well He lived too long .

,

and was t oo fearful of death .

Ah S chiller ! S chill er ! you deserved a less selfish

,

frien d I cannot take my eyes off the narro w windows

.
,

the d ark house or the wretched black roof It is one

,
.

o clock in the morni n g the moon is shining the cold is

’

, ,

intense S ilence everywhere

. they have all passed
away little by little my breast heaves and I ,
44 W E IMAR .
[ C H AR L IV .

o rganis ed ; but C h él ard and L obe tried to get extra

strings in m y h onour and presented me with an active
,

force of 22 violins 7 tenors 7 cellos and 7 basses

, , ,
.

The wind was sufficient with an excellent first clarinet

,

an d a wonderfully p owerful cylinder trump et ( S ax ) ;

no cor a ngl ais — I had to transpose his part for a
clarinet 5 no harpist — a good natured young fellow -
,

M Montag a m eritorious pianist and p erfect musician

.
, ,

was kind enough to arrange the two harp parts for one
piano and play them himself ; no ophicleide that they
,
-

replaced by a bombardon This was enough and the .

,

rehearsals began Y ou must know that the musicians at

.

Weimar had quite a passion for my overture to the

F r a ncs Juges and had already p erformed it s everal
,

t imes They could not therefore h ave been b etter dis

.

p osed s o contrary to my usual custom I was really

, , ,

happy during the rehearsal of the S y mp h onie Fa nta s tique ,

a lso chosen by their desire It is an intense though rare

.

delight to b e thus immediately understood I recollect .

the impression produced on the band and on cert ain

amateurs present at the rehearsal by the first m ovement
—
)
‘

(
‘
R ever ies P ass ions and the
,
third ( S céne a ux C h a mp s
) .

The latter in particular seemed to h eld every breath

d uring the p eroration and after the last roll of thunder
‘

a t the end of the forsaken shepherd s solo when the ’

recovering orchestra seems to draw a deep sigh as it dies

a way I h eard my neighbours also sighing in sympathy
,

amid all their applause C h él ard admired the M a rch to

.

E xec ution more than anything else but the public se emed ,

to prefer the B a l and the S ce ne a ux C h a mp s The over .

ture to the F ra ncs Juges was received like an ol d an d

welcome acquaintance Well there I am again verging
.
, ,

o n conceit 5 and if I told you of the full room the r

p o ,
L E TT E R III ]
. P U B L IC APP R O B A T IO N 45

longed applause the recalls the compliments o f t h e

, ,

C hamb erlains on the par t o f their highnesses the new

,

friends waitin g to embrace me as I left the th eatre an d ,

keepi n g me up till three in the m orning— if in fine I , ,

described a su ccess I should b e vo t ed a ridiculous bore a

, ,

E nough ! that idea alarms m e in spite of all my

,

philosophy an d I s t op there Farewell

, .

H B . .
 C H AP T E R LV .

L eip z ig .

L E TT ER I V — T o ST E P HE N H E L L E R
. .

I no doubt my dear Heller that the blunder I

H AV E , ,

m ade in my last letter of calling the Grand duchess -

S t ephanie Am elie was a great so urce of merrimen t to y ou .

But I confess that I don t make myself too m iserable

.
’

a t the thought o f your censure If I had called the .

E mp eror Napole on Francis or George we l l and good 5 but ,

one m ay fairly be al lowed to chan ge the name of the

sovereig n of Mannheim charming as it is Besides as , .
,

S hakespeare says

VVh at
’

s in a n am e ? th at w hich w e c all a ros e

By an y o th er n am e w ould sm ell as s w eet .

At any rate I humbly beg her h igh n ess s pardon and

,
’

if as I hope s h e grants it I snap my fingers at your

, , ,

d erision .

L eip zig lay most directly in m y way after leavin g

Weimar ; still I hesitated to go there not w ithstanding ,

F eli x Mendelssohn s dictatorship in that city and our

’
,

a mic able relations at R ome in 1 8 3 1 Since then our .

line s had so diverged that I confess I h ad not expected to

find him particularly sy mpatheti c C h él ard who knows .
,
 A W EL CO M E . 47

him made me blush f or my doubt and I wrote to him

, ,
.

1
His answer which I give here was not long delayed :
, ,

M Y D E A R B E R L I oz ,
“
I thank you most heartily f or your kind letter ,

a n d for your recollection of our R oman f rien d ship I .

shall never forget it as lo n g as I live and I am looking ,

for ward to telling you s o face to face All I can do to .

make your stay at L eip zig both agreeable and happy

s hall be done both as a pleasure and a duty
,
I think I .

may safely assure you that y ou will like the town 5 that
is to s ay the musicians and the public I would n ot
, .

write to you till I had consulted several persons better

a cquainted with L eip z ig than myself and they all confirm ,

me in my opinion that you will have an excellent concert .

The expenses of the orchestra the room announcements , , ,

e tc may b e one hundred and ten crowns the receipts will

.
, ,

probably amount to s ix or eight hundred Y ou ought to .

b e here and deci de on the programme and everything that

may be necessary at least ten days beforehand Besides .

this the directors of the Subscription C oncer t Society

,

have commissioned me t o ask if you will allo w one of

y our works to b e p erformed at their concert on the 2 2n d of
February for the benefit of the p oor I hop e you w ill .

a ccept this proposal I should advise y ou to com e here

.

as soon as you can 5 I shall b e delighted to shake you by

‘ ’
the hand and s ay Welcome t o Germany D on t laugh
’
.
,

at my bad French as you used to do at R ome but remain

, ,

1
[T h eut ogr a ph o f this l ett er is in t h e fin e coll ection o f M r A
a . .

G Kurtz o f W av er tr ee L iv erpool I t S ho w s h ow s tr a n ge ly B erlio z

. , , .

p e rmi tt e d hims e l f t o ga r b l e a docum e n t w hich h e pro f e ss e s t o g iv e

v er ba t im H e h as shor t en e d i t b y a h al f an d s adly g arbl ed i t b y

.
,

c orr e c t in g M end e lssohn s Fr ench ]

'

.
48 I N T I MAC Y W I T H M E N D EL S S OH N .
[ C HAR LV .

1
my good friend as you were then and as I shall ever , ,
be
to y ou Yours faithfully
.
,

“
FE L I x M E N D E L S S O H N B A R T H O L D Y .

C ould I re f use an invitation couched in such terms ?

I s et out accordingly for L eip zig not without regrettin g ,

Weimar and my n ew friends there .

My intimacy with Mendelssohn had b egun in rathe r

an absurd way at R ome At our first interview he spoke .

to me about m y pri z e cantata of S ar d anap a l us s om e ,

of which had been played t o him by Montfort my ,

c o laureate
-
On expressing my genuine dislike for the
.

“
first a ll egro he exclaimed in the greatest delight :
,
Ah ,

good ! I co n gratulate you on your taste ! I was afraid

you were pleased with that a ll egro and honestly it is a ,
”
v ery p oor production !

We very n early quarrelled the next day because I had

been sp eaking enthusiastically of Gluck He replied in .

“
a tone of mock astonishment : Ah you like Gluck the n , , ,
” “
do you ? As much as to s ay How can a musician ,

w ith your notions have su fficient feeling for grandeu r

of style and truthfulness of expression to appreciate
”
Gluck ? I soon had an opportunity of revenge f or
this wanton insult I had brought with m e from Pari s .

A s toria s song from Gluck s Italian op era of T el ema co

’ ’
,

a beautiful air but not very well known 5 and one day
,

1 I h av e jus t s een in F eli x M end elssohn s l ett ers in wh at his R om an ’

,

f ri endship f or m e r eally consis t ed H e w rit es thus t o his mo th er .

,

pl ainly alludi n g t o m e i s a r egu l a r ca r ica t ur e w ith ou t a Sp k ,

ar

etc I s ometimes f eel in clin ed t o d evou r h im H e w as t h e n

!
of t l en t etc
a ,
.
, . .

o n e an d t w e n t y
- -
an d no t a cqu ain t e d w i t h one o f my scor e s
, I h ad .

only produc ed t h e fi rs t S k et ch o f my S y mp h onic F a nta s tiqu e w hich ,

h e h ad no t r ea d an d I only sho w e d him my n ew ly fin is h ed ov e r t ur e

,
-

t King L ea r a f e w d ays b e f or e h e l e ft R om e
o [ B erlio z h as quo t ed a .

e ry sm a ll p ar t o f M end elssohn s opinion o f him S ee M arch 29 1 8 3 1

’
v .
,
L E TT E R Tv ]
. C H AFF . 9

when Montfort and I were expecting a visit from Men

d el s s oh n I placed an unsigned manuscript copy of this
,

song on Montfort s pian o On his arrival he at once ’

.

n oticed the music which he took for a piece out of

,

s ome modern Italian opera and proceeded to try At ,

.

“
t h e s e words in the four last bars O giorno ! o dolce ,
”
s guardi ! o rimembran za ! o amor ! which are S imply
sublime in their musical expression I interrupted his ,

grotesque p arody of R ubini s singing by saying with ’

“ ’
an air of utter astonishment Then you don t like , ,

Gluck
“
What Gluck
Alas yes ! my dear fellow ! T his piece is by him
, ,

a n d not by B ellini as you thought Y ou s ee I know

!

,
.

him better than you do and am of your own opinion ,

-
more s o indeed than you yourself
, ,
.

One day I had b een speaking of the metronome and

i t s utility .

What is a metronome f or exclaimed Mendelssohn .

It is a most useless instrument A musician who .

cannot guess the time of a piece at first S ight is a

”
blockhead .

I could easily have ans wered tha t there were a good

m any blockheads but I held my peace ,
.

I had hardly written anything at tha t time Men .

d el ss oh n only knew my Irish melodies with piano f orte

accompaniment One day he asked me to show him the
.

score of the overture to King L ear which I had j ust ,

finished writing at Nice First he read it over slowly .

a n d attentively and then just as he was abo ut to play it

, ,

( which he did with matchless ability ) Give me the ,

”
e xact time said he ,
.

W h y should I ? D id you not s ay yes t erday that any

VO L . II . E
50 M E N DEL SSOH N S D I L I GE N C E [ C H AR
’
, LV .

musician wh o could not guess the time of a piece a t first

sight was a blockhead
These repartees or rather hard hits annoyed h im
‘

, ,

keenly though he never allo wed his vexation to be seen

, .

He never pronounced the name of S ebastian Bach with

“ ”1
out adding ironically y our l ittl ep up il I
,
In fact he was
a regular p orcupine at the very mention of music 5 on e
never could be sure of not off ending him He did n ot .

mind contradiction on any other p oint being very good ,

tempered and sweet in his disposition ; and I in my turn , ,

abused his forbearance in the philosophical and religiou s

discussions to which we occasionall y soared .

One evening we were exploring th e baths of C aracalla ,

and debating the question of the merits or demerits of

human actions and of their reward in this life Just .

as I had replied by some enormity —I forget what

to his religious and orthodox enunciations his f oot ,

slipp ed and b e rolled violently down a steep ruined

staircase .

“
Admire the divine j ustice said I as I helped h im , ,

”
up 5 I blaspheme and it is you who fall, .

This i mpiety on my part accompanied by a laugh , ,

was evidently a little too much for him and thence ,

forth all religious discussions were tabooed It was at .

R ome that I first heard and appreciated that exquisitely

delicate and richly coloured work of his the overture to ,

Finga l s C ave Mendelssohn had just finished it and h e

’
.
,

gave me a pretty accurate idea of it such is his marvellous ,

p ower of rendering the most complicated score on th e

piano When the S irocco was overpowering I used often
.

to go and interrupt h im in his work for he was an inde ,

1 And v ery likely t h at was wh at m ade him wish t o d evour m e .

(1 8 6 4 )
52 W A L P UR G I S N I GH T .
”
[ C H AR LV .

to give m y concert The moment I arrived I went to

.

see it and came in j ust in the middle of the general

,

rehearsal of Mendelssohn s new work the W a lp urgis ’

N igh t . At the very first hearing I was really amazed

at the beautiful tone of the voices the intelligence of ,

the singers the precision and spirit of the orchestra and

, ,

above all the splendour of the composition

,
.

I am much inclined to look upo n this oratorio (L a

1
N u it d a S a bba t) as the most finished work Mendelssohn
has hitherto produced The poem is Goethe s but has
.
’

nothing in common with the S a bba t scene in F a us t .

Its subj ect is the nocturnal assemblies held on the

mountains in the first days of C hristianity by a sect
which remained religiously faithful to the ol d customs ,

though sacrifices on the high places had been prohibited .

On the nights destined for this sacred work armed ,

sentinels in large numbers and strange disguises were

placed at all the approaches to the mountain At a .

given S ignal when the priest mounted the altar and

,

struck up the sacred hymn this diabolical looking troop ,

-

waved their torches and weapons uttering all manner ,

of fearful cries and sounds in order to drown the voices

,

of the religious chorus and deter the profane from inter

ruptin g the ceremony Hence no doubt the custom in

.
, ,

the French language of employi ng the word s a bbat as the

synonym for a great nocturnal noise You must hear .

Mendelssohn s music in order to have an idea of the varied

’

resources the p oem o ff ers to a S killed composer He has .

profite d immensely by them His work is p erfectly clear .

notwithstanding its complexity ; the vocal and ins tru

mental effects are marvellously intermingled in an ap ,

1 W h en I w rot e this , I h ad no t heard the f ascin ating score o f his

M idsummer N igh t s D ream
' ’
s .
L E TT E R Iv .
] AN E X C HAN G E O F B AT O N S . 53

parent con fusion that is the very acme of art T w o .

magnificent f eatures in absolute contrast are the mys

, ,

“
t erious piece of th e placing of the sentinels ( D is
p erse disperse
,
and the final chorus where the voice ,

of the priest rises calm and reverent at intervals above

the infernal din of the mock demons and sorcerers .

One scarcely knows what to praise most in this fina le the ,

instrumentation th e choruses or t he whirlwin d move

, ,

ment of the whole .

Jus t as Mendelssohn was leaving his desk in the ,

utmost delight at havi ng produced this work I cam e ,

f orward in rap t ure at havi ng heard it T he meeting .

could not have been b etter timed 5 and yet after we h ad ,

exchanged the first g reeting the same s ad thought struck

,

us both simultaneously
And is it twelve years ? twelve years since we dreamed
”
together on the plains of R ome ?
Yes and in the baths of C aracalla
, .

Ah ! always j oking ! always ready t o laugh a t me ! ”

N o no 5 I hardly ever j est now ; it was only to

,

prove your memory and s ee if you had forgiven all my

,

impieties I j est s o little that at our very first interview

.
,

I am going seriously t o ask y ou to make me a present ,

”
t o which I shall attach the highest value .

”
What is that ?
Give me the baton with which y ou have just conduc t ed
”
the rehearsal of your new work .

Willingly on condition that y ou send me yours

, .

I S hall be givi n g copp er f or gold but never min d , ,

I consent .

’
And Mendelssohn s musical sceptre was bro ught t o me
forthwith The next day I s ent him my heavy oaken
.

staff together with the followin g letter which I think

, ,
54 LE I PZ I G .
[C H AR LV .

would not have been disowned by the L ast of the

Mohicans himself
“
To TH E C HI E F M E N D E L S S O H N !

Great chief We have promised to exchange toma

h awks —
Mine is a rough on e yours is plain
.
1
Only .

s quaws and pale faces are fond of ornate weapons

-
Be .

my brother ! and when the Great Spirit shall have sent

us to hunt in the land of souls may our warriors hang ,

up our tomahawks together at the door of th e council

”
c hamber .

S uch
was the occurrence in its naked simplicity out , ,

o f which malicious gossip did its best to create an absurd

scene S ome days later when it came to organising my

.
,

concert Mendelssohn did really treat me like a brother

,
.

The first artist whom he introduced to me as his fid us

A ch ates was Fer dinand D avid the leader of the orchestra , ,

a meritorious composer and a distinguished violinist He .

sp oke French perfectly and was of the greatest help to me

, .

The L eip zig orchestra is not larger than those of

Frankfort and Stuttgart ; but as there was no lack of
instrumental resources in the town I wished to increase ,

it and the number of violins was therefore raised to

,

twenty four — an innovation which as I afterwards

-
,

heard aroused the serious indignation of two or thr ee

,

critics who had made up their minds beforehand

,
.

Twenty f our violins instead of the sixteen that had

-

hitherto sufficed f or the performance of Mo zart s and ’

Beethoven s symphonies ! What insolent afiectation !

’

In vain did we try to procure three other

1
[L e m ien es t gross ier
—l e tien es t s imp l e. I nt erpreted by t he
L eip z i g w it s as I am co ars e , an d you are
L E TT E R I V ] . THE G E WAN D H A U S O R C H E S T R A . 55

instruments marked f or use and indeed occupying

, ,

r ather prominent parts in several of m pieces another

y (
d readful crime ) 5 it was impossible to find a cor a ngl ais ,

a n ophicleide or a harp Indeed the cor anglais was s o

,
.
,

d ilapidated and s o extraordinarily out of tune that not

, ,

withstanding the talent of the artist who played it we ,

were obliged to substitute the first clarinet .

The ophicleide or rather the thin copper instrument

,

S hown to me under that name was quite unlike a French ,

on e and had scarcely any tone

,
It was therefore rej ecte d .
,

a n d replaced after a fashion by a fourth trombone AS .

for the harp it was not to b e thought of for s ix months

, ,

previously Mendelssohn had been obliged to get harpists

from Berlin for a performance of his own A n tigone As .

I heard he had n ot been particularly well pleased with

t hem I wrote to D resden and L ipinski (a great artist of
, ,

whom I shall shortly have occasion to speak ) sent me

t h e theatre harpist T he only question was to find the
.

instrument At last after various useless visits to di f

.
,

f eren t makers and music sellers Mendelssohn heard of -

,

a certain amateur who possessed a harp and he obtained ,

the loan of it for a few days B u t now admire my ill .

,

;luck 5 when we had got the harp with a fine s et of new

s trings it turned out that M R ichter the D resden harpist
,
.
,

who had s o kindly come to L eip zig on L ipinski s invita ’

tion was a very clever pianist and also a good violinist

, ,

b u t scarcely played the harp at all He had o nly s t udied .

it f or a year and a half s o as to be able to perform the

,

v ery simple arpeggios which usually serve as an ac

c o mpan im en t to the airs in Italian operas S o that his .

c ourage failed him entirely at sight of the diatonic touches

a n d harmonious arrangements so frequent in my symphony ,

a n d Mendelssohn was obliged to represent the harp solos

56 LE I PZ I G .
[ C H AR Lv

at piano on the evening of t he concert to make s ur e

th e ,

o f their coming in prop erly What a fuss about a sma ll.

matter !
However b e that as it might the rehearsals began
, ,

when my mind was once made up to all these difficulties .

T he orchestral arrangement in this beautiful room is s o

good the relations of e ach performer with the conducto r
,

s o simple and the artists besides being perfect musicians

, , ,

s o well trained in habits of attention by Mendelssohn and

D avid that two rehearsals sufficed to get up a lo n g

,

programme containing among other di ffi cult composi

, ,

tions the overtures to King L ear the Fr a ncs Juges and

, , ,

the S y mp h onic F antas tique D avid moreover agreed t o

.
, ,

play the violin solo R everie et C ap rice which I had

, ,

written for A rt Ot t w o years before and the orchestra ,

tion of which is somewhat complicated He performed .

it in a masterly manner amid great applause from the

,

assembly As for the orchestra to s ay that after only

.
,

two rehearsals its performance was irreproachable is t o ,

give it the highest praise All Paris musicians and .

,

m any others also would I think be of this opinion

, .

This soir ée disturbed the m usical conscience o f the

inhabi t ants of L eip zig and as far as I could judge from
, ,

the polemics of the newspap ers the discussions it pro ,

v ok cd were quite as violent as they had been in P ari s

some ten years ago .

While people were thus debati n g the morality of my

musical actions app roving some and regarding others
,

as premeditated crimes I made that j ourney to D resden

,

which I S hall speak of presently .

But not to interrupt the account of my L eip zig

experiences I must tell you my dear Heller what took
, , ,

place on my return about the concert f or the benefit o f

L E TT E R 1 v. ] SI NG IN G A C A DE M Y . 57

the poor mentioned in Mendelssohn s letter in which I

,
’
,

had promised to take part .

As this soirée was organised entirely by the concert

society the fine S m gl ng Academy whose well merited
, ,
-

praises I have already sung to you was placed at my ,

disp osal Of cours e I rea dily availed myself of such a

.

grand body of singers and proposed the three choruses in

,

the fina l e of R omeo and Juliet to the directors A German .

translation of this had been made in Paris by Professor

D ues b erg There was nothing t o do therefore but to
.
, ,

fit the translation to the notes of the voice parts .

This was a long and troublesome task Moreover from .

,

the copyist s ignorance of German there were s o m any

’
,

mistakes that Mendelssohn was obliged to waste his

,

time in revising the text and correcting the most glaring

,

blunders He was also comp elled to practise the choir for

.

nearly a week (In Paris eight rehearsals of s o large a chorus

.

would cost four thousand eight hundred francs And yet I .

am sometim es asked why I never give R omeo and Juliet

at any of my concerts ! ) This academy consists chiefly
of amateurs belonging to the h igher classes o f L eip zig

society although it is true that it also includes artists

,

from the theatre and pupils from the St Thomas school . .

A good number of rehearsals can thus be easily obtaine d ,

whenever any serious work is to be studied When I .

came back from D resden the studies were however still

, , ,

far from being complete the men s chorus especially ,

’

leaving much to be desire d It grieved me to s ee a great .

master and virtuoso like Mendelssohn engaged in such a

menial task although it must be said he fulfilled it with
,

unwearied patience all his remarks being made with

,

perfect sweetness and courtesy the m ore gratifying from ,

their rarity in like cases As for myself I have often

.
,
58 LE I P Z I G .
[ C H A R LV .

been accused of want of politeness by the ladies at the

Op éra and I fear that I deserve my reputation
,
1
.

Before I even begin a rehearsal with a large choir ,

before anything has occurred to re use my ill temper I -

,

am conscious of a s ort of anticipative a nger tightening

m y throat Indeed my l ook must forcibly remind the
.
,

c horus of the Gascon who kicked an ino ff ensive little

boy in the street and to the child s remonstrance that
,
’

“
h e h a d d one nothing to d es erve it answered Only fancy , ,
”
if you h a d .

However after two more attempts the three choruses

,

were learnt and the fi nal e would doubtless have gone

,

quite well with the supp ort of the orchestra but for one
of the theatre S ingers who had been exclai ming for days
,

past at the di fficulty of his part (Father L aurence ) and ,

c almly demolished all the harmonious edifice we had

been erecting with such labour and difficulty .

I had already remarked even at the piano practices , ,

t hat this gentleman —whose name I have forgotten— was

on e o f that numerous class of musicians who know
nothing of music ; he miscounted his bars never ,

began properly mistook the key et c ; but I said to

, ,

“
myself : Perhaps he has not had time to study his
‘
.part 5 h e learns very difficult r ol es for the theatre wh y ,
”
s hould he not master this ? Nevertheless I often ,

thought of A l izard who always sang this scene s o well

, ,

a n d regretted keenly that he was in Brussels and did ,

not know German But at the general rehearsal the

.

1
[ C ould b etter m easur e o f comp arison b etw een t h e t w o
an y

m en h av e b een cont riv e d t h an is suppli e d by t h e con t r a s t h er e

given b y B erlio z hims el f b et w en t h e r eal simpl e e arn estn e ss o f
e

M end elssohn grud gin g no thin g th at could l ea d t o t h e succ es s o f

,

his w ork and his own t h eatrical os ten tatious proc e edings
, ,
60 LE I P Z I G .
[ C H AR Lv .

Some days afterwards t he Ofier torium was the oc

casion of another compliment still more un expected I . .

had had a relapse of my illness at L eip zig and on asking ,

my doctor what I owed him as I was leaving the place , ,

“
he replied Write me the theme of your Ofiertor ium
on this piece of paper with your signature and I shall , ,

still be your debtor I have never been s o struck by any

.

”
music .I hesitated a little at recompensing the doctor s ’

attentions s o cheaply but he insisted and when I had a

, ,

chance of repl ying to his compliment by one that w as

b etter deserved would y ou believe that I was fool enough
,

to let it slip ? I wrote at the head of the page : T o D r .

C l arus .

” “
C arus , he said 5 y ou are putting an l in t o my
”
name .

“
I thought immediately P atientibus C arus s ed C laru s ,
” 1
inter d octos but did not dare to write it
,
.

I am sometimes uncommonly stupid .

A virtuoso comp oser like you my dear Heller is , ,

keenly interested in everything connected with hi s art ,

and s o I think your n umerous questions about the musical

resources of L eip zig quite reasonable and will proceed to ,

answer some of them Y ou ask if there is anyone in

.

Germany to be compared with the great pianist Madame ,

C l ara S chumann ?
I think not .

You request m e to tell you if the musical feeling of

the big wigs at L eip zig is good or at least inclined t o
-
,

what y ou and I would call th e beautiful ?

I will not .

If it is true that the creed of all who profess to lov e

1
D ea r t o p atient s but il l ustrious among t h e l earn ed
,
.
L E TT E R I V ]
. M A L I CIO U S Q UE S T IO N S . 61

high and serious art is T here is n o god bu t Bach and ,

”
Mendelssohn is his prophet
I must not .

I f the t h eatre is well organised and if the public is ,

’
wrong to be amused by L ortzing s little operas s o often ,

performed there ?
I cannot .

If I have read or heard some of thos e ol d masses for

five voices with ba ss o continuo which are thought s o
,

much of at L eip zig

I know no t .

Farewell G o on writing b eautiful capriccios like your

t wo last and Heaven preserve you from f ugues for four
,

v oices on a C horale .

H B . .
 C H AP T E R L V I .

D resd en .

L E TT E R V .
—
T o E RN S T .

YO U particularly advised m e my dear E rnst not to s t op

, ,

in the small towns on my way through Germany becaus e ,

it was in the capitals alone that I should find the n e ces

sary performers for my concerts Others gav e m e the .

same advice and reproached me afterwards with not

,

having followed it and gone first to Berlin or V ienn a

, .

But you know it is always easier t o give good advic e

than to f ollo w it and if I did not adopt what most
,

people would have co n sidered the wisest plan in my

travels it is because I could not In th e first place I
, .
,

could not always time my j ourneys After my useles s .

v isit to Frankfort I could hardly go back to Paris

,
I .

would hav e started for Munich had not a letter from ,

B aerm ann informed me t h at I could not give a concert

1

there for another month and Meyerbeer written m e wor d

,

that the revival of several important works at the Berlin

theatre made my pres ence in Prussia useless for the time .

I could not however remain idle and accordingly b ein g

, , , ,

anx ious to make myself acquainted with the musical

institution s of y our harmonious country I resolved t o ,

s e e and hear everything and greatly to reduce my choral

,

1
[T h e gr eat cl arin et pl ayer ; f ri end o f W eb er an d M end elssoh n ]
 C H A RLE S L I PI N S K I . 63

and orches t ral pretensions in order to mak e mysel f more

general ly know n I knew th at I could not expect to
.

fin d all the 1 ns trum en t s required by some of my works in

the second rate towns but I reserved these for the end of
-
,

my j ourney to form th e climax to the cres cend o and I

, ,

thought that all things considered this slo w but pro

, ,

res s iv e step would not be wanting either in prudence or

g
interest of a certain kind In any case I have no caus e .

to repent havi n g taken it .

And n ow to sp eak of D resden where I was engaged ,

f or two concerts and found a chorus orchestra wind

, , ,

ban d and also a famous tenor Such treasures as these I

,
.

had not f ound S ince I first came to G ermany Moreover .

,

at D resden I was destined to meet with a d evote d energetic , ,

enthusiastic friend C harles L ipinski whom I had formerly

, ,

kno w n in Paris I cannot describe my dear E rnst th e

.
, ,

ardour with which this excellent man seconded me His .

position of first ma itre de concert and the general esteem ,

in w hich both his office and talent are hel d gave h im ,

great authority over the members of the band and ,

good use he made o f it As the intendant Baron .

,

L iitich au had promised me two evenings the en t ire

, ,

theatre was at my disposal and the only question was ,

to s ee to th e performance We succeeded p erfectly .

,

although our programme was formi d able It included the .

overture to King L ear the S y mp h onic F antas tique the , ,

Ofier toire S anctus and Qu oerens me from my R equie m

, , ,

the two last parts of my S y mp h onic Fune bre— written as ,

you are aware for two orchestras and chorus — and several
,

songs I had no translation of the chorus of the s y m

.

phony but the manager of the theatre M Winkler a

, ,
.
,

clever scholar was s o extremely obliging as to im

,

pro v is e s o
,
t o speak the necessary German ver s es
,
and ,
64 DRE S DE N .
[ C H A R LVI .

thus we were abl e to b egin the practices of th e fina l e .

As for the s ol es they were in L atin French and German

, , ,
.

T ich at ch ek the tenor has a pure and touching voice

, , ,

which becomes very p owerful wh en animated by dramatic

action . His style of singing is S imple and in good taste 5
h e is a consummate reader and musician and undertook ,

the tenor solo in the S a nctus at first sight without ,

reserve or a ffectation or pretension He might easily

, , .
,

like so many others in like cases have accepted the ,

S anctus and stipulated for some familiar cavatin a for his

ow n b enefit 5 but he did nothing of the kind That is .

someth ing like what I call really goo d .

The cavatina from B envenuto which I added to the ,

programme gave m e more trouble than all the rest We

, .

could not propose it to Madame D ev rien t as it lay too ,

high and the vocalisation was t oo delicate

,
L ipinski .

therefore off ered it to Mademoise l le W iest the second ,

singer who thought the German translation bad the ,

a nd a nte too lengthy and too hi gh the a ll egro too ,

l ow and too short S h e asked for erasures and

.

alterations S he had a cold etc

,
You know by heart
,

all the feints of a cantatrice who neither can nor will do

,

what she is asked At last Madame S chubert wife of

.
,

the excellent maitre d e concert and clever violinist with ,

whom you are acquainte d relieved me from all this ,

bother by accepting the unfortunate cavatina though ,

not without misgivings for her modesty made her ,

exaggerate its di fficulties S h e was immensely applauded

. .

In truth it would seem as if it were more d ifli cul t at

,

times to get up the Fl euve da T age than the S ymphony

in C minor .

L ipi n ski s o excited th e self love of the musicians that

-
,

t heir ambition to succeed and especially to surpass the

,
L E TT E R v
l .
] S U CC E S S FU L C O N C ER T . 5

L eip zig performance (there is a kind of hidden rivalry

bet w een th e two towns ) made us work tremendously ,

hard Four lo n g rehearsals seemed scarcely sufficient and

.
,

the band itself would willingly have asked for a fifth if

there had been tim e The result ac cordingly was a firs t .
, ,

rate p erformance My only misgivings at the general

.

rehearsal were about the chorus but two extra practice s ,

inspired the m with the necessary self con fiden c e and th e -

,

pieces from the R equiem were as well done as any of th e

others The e ff ect of the S y mp h onic F une bre was the
.

same as in Paris The ne x t morning the military band

.
,

who had played in it cam e in the greatest delight t o

serenade m e a proceedi n g that had the effect of dis
,

t urb in g my sorely needed S lumbers and obliging m e t o ,

go down and d rink som e punch with them though I ,

was suff ering fr om neuralgia in th e head as well as fro m ,

my everlasting sore throat .

It was at this D resden concert tha t I first noticed th e

predilection of the German public for my R equiem W e .

did not attack the larger pieces such as the D ies ,

I ree the L a cr y mos a etc the chorus not bei n g strong

, ,
.
,

enough The S y mp h onic F antas tique was not s o well

.

l iked I heard that the swell m embers of the audience

.
,

with the King and C ourt at their head were not par ,

t ic ul arl y attracted by the violence of its passion the ,

melancholy of its reverie or the monstrous hallucinatio n s ,

of the fi na l e The B a t and S cene a ux C h amp s alon e

.

found favour in their eyes The public properly s o called .

,

was carried away by the musical current and app l auded ,

the M arch e a u S upp lies and the S a bba t more than any
of the other n u mbers .

Still it was evident on th e whole that this com ,

position though well received at Stuttgart p erfectly

, ,

VO L . II . F
66 D RE S D E N [ C HAR L VI .

unders t ood a t Weimar and discussed at L eip zig was

, ,

unsuited t o t he musical and p oetical tastes of D resden .

The people were puzzled by its unlikeness to the s y m

phonies with which they were familiar and i t astonished ,

rather t han pleased them .

T he D resden band f ormerly directed by Morlacchi

, ,

the Italian and by the illustrious composer of the

,

F rey s chutz is n ow conducted by R eiss iger and R ichard

'

Wagner In P aris we know scarcely anythin g of R eis

.
,

siger s excep t h is slow m elancholy waltz known as

’

, ,

D er nie re P cns éc d c W eber As for the you n g kap ell meis t er

.
-
,

R ichard Wagner who lived for some time in Paris with

,

out succeeding in making himself known except by ,

some articles in the G azette M us ica l e his authori ty ,

was exercis ed for the first time in assisting me with my

rehearsals which he did with both ze al and good will
,
-
.

The ceremony of his installation took place the day a fter

my arrival ; and when I met him he was in all the
intoxication of a very natural d elight After having .

endured un t old privations in France and all th e morti ,

ficat ion s attendant on obscurity Wagner on his return , ,

to S axony had the b oldness to undertake and the good

,

fortune to carry out the composition of both words and

music of an opera in five acts R ienzi It had a , .

splendid success at D resden and was soon f ollowed ,

by the F ly ing D utch ma n an opera in three acts of which

, ,

he likewise wrote both words and music Whatever .

opinion on e m ay have about the merit of these works ,

it must be admitted that there are very few men capable

of twice successfully acco m plishing this double task 1 It .

is a proo f of capacity more than sufficient to attract both

1
[W agn e r h as ccomplish e d i t m any tim es sinc e ]
a
68 D RE S DE N [ C H A R LVI .

T he D resden theatre left nothin g undone that could

’
p ossibly give écl a t to th e representations of both Wagner s
works 5 the scenery costu m es an d mis e en s cene of R icnzi
, ,

approaching very closely the best Paris style Madam e .

D ev rien t of whom I shall have occasion to speak mor e

,

f ully with regard to her representatio n s at Berlin plays ,

the part of a youth in R ienzi 5 a costume scarcely suited to

t he somewhat motherly outlines of her figure She struck .

me as b etter suited to h er part in the F l y ing D utch ma n ,

in S pite of certain affected p oses and sp oken interj ection s

which s h e introd u ced thro ughout But the talent that .

really impressed m e as the m ost genuine was that of

Wechter who played the part of the doomed D utch m an
, .

His baritone is one of th e finest I have ever hear d and h e ,

uses it lik e a consummate si n ger It is of t h at thrilli n g.

and impressive quality that has such a wonderful power

of expressio n provided the artist sin gs with soul and
,

f eeling which Wechter does t o a very high degree

,
.

T ich at ch ek is gracious impassione d brilliant heroic and

, , , ,

entrancing in the rél e of R ie nzi in w hich his fine voice and

,

l arge fiery eyes are of inestim able service Made m oisell e .

Wiest represents the sister of R ie n zi with s carcely any ,

thing to do 5 this part the author has adapted e x actl y to

the p owers of th e singer .

Now my dear E rnst I should like to te l l y ou some

, ,

t hing ab out L ipinski but I could not tell to y ou a

, ,

violinist admired and applau ded throughout E urop e

the st u dious and careful artist anything
“

y ou, y ou ,

did n ot know already about the talent of yo ur great

predecessor You know his exquisite tone h is touchi ng
.
,

and pathetic st y le as well or b etter than I d o and long

, ,

ago y ou committed his finest p assages to your infallible

memory Besi d es L ipinski was s o kind during my sta y

.
,
LE TT E R v .
] LIPI N S KI . PA R I S H A L VAR S
-
. 69

at D resden , warm hearted and S o devoted that people

so -
,

would think my praises were by no means free from

partiality and would attribute them—though I may
,

s afely s ay quite wrongly— to gratitude rather than to

g enuine admiration H e was immensely applauded at
.

my concert in my violin romance which had been played

, ,

s ome days previously at L eip zig by D avid and also in ,

t h e v iola s ol e of my H arold symphony .

T his second ev ening was a greater success than the

first 5 the melancholy and religious scenes in H arold
e vidently commanded all sympathies from the very first
,

a n d the movements from R omeo a nd Jul iet

( the ad agio

an d t h e ban quet scene

) were equally success f ul But .

t hat which touched the D resden public and artists mos t

deeply was the cantata of the C ing M ai admirably sun g ,

by Wechter and the ch orus to a German translation ,

a gain kindly made for the occasion by the inde f atigable

Herr Winkler The m emory of N apoleon is now almost

.

as dear to the Germa ns as to the French which doubtless ,

e xplains the profound impression always produced by

the piece in every town where it was a f terwards p er
formed The end especially often gave rise to singular
.

m anifestations
L oin de c c roc nous f uyons en silenc e ,

L as tre du j our ab andonn e l es ci eux

'
.

At D resden I made the acquaintance of the gr ea t

E nglish harpist the L is zt of the harp ,
Parish Alvars ,
-
,

whose name has not yet obtained the popularity it de

s erves I t is inconceivable what g
. raceful and spirited
effects he manages to produce with an instrument which
is s o limited in some respects — what original features ,

what unheard of sounds ! His fantasia on M oi s e the

-
,

f orm of which has been s o happily imitated on the piano

70 D RE S D E N .
[C HAR L VI .

by Thalberg his varia tions in har m onics on the Naiades

,
’

chorus in O beron and a score of si milar pieces ch armed

,

m e inexpressibly T he advantage w hich the n ew harp s

.

p ossess of bei n g able by m eans of the double action ,

o f the pedals to strik e two chor ds in unison gave him

, ,

th e idea of combinatio n s which seem absolutely imprac

ticabl e on paper .

T he only difficulty however consists in th e ingenio us

, ,

use of the pe dal s which produce the double notes known

,

as s y nony mes It is p ossible to play chor ds with astound

.

ing rapidity in four parts by intervals of minor thir ds ,

because the harp strings instead of representing the -

,

ordinary dia t onic scale of C flat are enabled by the ,

s y n ony mes to give in their d escending succession t h e

seri es of C n atural C natural ; A natural 5 G flat G fla t 5
, ,

E flat E flat
, .

P arish Alvars trained some good pupils d urin g his stay

-

at V ie nna He has j ust been play ing at D resde n L eip zig

.
, ,

and Berlin and in m any other to wns also where his

, ,

m arvellous talent invariably excited enthusiasm Why .

does he not come to Paris ?

Among other eminent artists in th e D resden orchestra
is D otzau er an excellent professor leader o f the viol e n
, ,

cell os There is a v ery good cor a nglais ; the first ob oe

.

has a fin e tone but an old fashione d style and an irri

,
-
,

tati n g mania f or trills and mordents He gav e himself .

terrible liberties m ore especially in the solo at the beginn ing

,

of the S ce ne a ux C h a mp s At the second rehearsal I .

expressed m y detestation of these m elo dio u s t ricks pretty

sharply and h e abstained from them at th e s ubsequen t
,

rehearsals 5 but this was only a feint and on the day of ,

the concert the p erfidious oboe knowin g th at I could n ot

, ,

s t op the orchestra and address him in public recommenced ,

L E TT E R v .
] TH E O R CH E S T R A . 71

his little villanies giving me a t th e same time a cunning

,

look that made me almost speechless with indignation .

T he most remarkable of the horn players is M L evy .

,

who enj oys a great reputation in Saxony He and his .

colleagues use the cylinder horn , to which t he L eip zig

band unlike almost all the others in t he north of Ger
,

many has hitherto refus ed admission The D resden

,
.

trump ets are likewise cl cy lindre ; they might with adv an

tage take the place of our cornets a pis t on which are no t ,

known there .

T h e m ilitary band is very good —even th e dr ummers

are musicians ; but the reeds did not strik e m e as irre
pr e achable Their tune le f t much to b e desired and th e
.
,

bandmasters of these regiments would do well t o order their

C larinets from S ax Ophicleides there are none 5 the deep
.

parts are sustained by R ussian bassoons serp ents and t ubas , , .

I often thought of Weber when conducting this D resden

orchestra which h e led f or s o m any years when i t was
, ,
'

even more numero us than n ew Weber had trained it s o .

well that he would sometimes bea t the firs t f our bars in

th e a l l egr o of the overture t o th e Frey s chil tz and then ,

a ll ow the orchestra t o go on alone to the pauses a t th e

en d . Musicians m ay well be proud when t hey s ee their
chie f f old his arms on such occasion .

Would y ou believe my dear E rns t t hat durin g th e

, ,

thre e weeks I spent in this musical town n o on e ever ,

told m e that Web er s family were livi n g in the place ? I

’

should have been s o happy to make their acquaintance,

an d t o express a little of my resp ectful admiration f or the

great comp oser who has made his nam e illus t rious .

I did not know till t oo late that I had lost this precious
opp ortunity and I must here at any rate express my
, , ,

regret t o Madame Weber and her children .

72 D RE SDE N .
[ C HA R L VI .

At D resden I also saw some w orks by the celebrated

Hasse who for long ruled the destinies of the band I
, .

found nothin g very remarkable in the m except on e T e ,

D eum comp osed for some glorious commemoration of the

,

S axon C ourt which I thought as stately and splendid

,

as a peal of grand bells To those who are satisfied .

with powerful sonority this T e D eum must b e very

,

fine ; but son ority does not strike me as su fficient .

What I S hould especially like to have heard really well

p erformed would be some of the numerous operas which
1
Hasse wrote for the Italian German and E n glish theatres
, , ,

and on which his vast fame rests Why not try t o revive .

at least on e of thes e at D resden ? It would be a curious

exp eriment perhaps even a resurrection Hasse s li f e
, .
’

must have been very eventful 5 but except commonplace

biographies which repeated all that I knew and said
,

nothing of what I wanted to know I could find nothing , .

He travelled much and lived long both in the t orrid

,

z one and the p olar regions that is to s ay in Italy and

, ,

in E ngland There must have been a curious romance in

.

his relations with the V enetian Marcello and h is passion ,

for Faustina whom he m arrie d and who used to s ing

, ,

the principal p arts o f his operas There was often war .

between the composer and the cantatrice in which the ,

master was the slave and the right was always wrong
,
.

Perhaps nothing of all this ever happened Who knows ? 2

.

Faustina may have been a very human d iva a modest ,

cantatrice a virtuous wife and a good musician faithful

, ,

to her husband and her part telling her beads and ,

knittin g stockings when s h e h ad nothing else to do .

[ H ass e s
only achi e v em en t in L ondon w as t o pu t on t h e s tag e
’
1

his op er a o f A r ta se se ori gin ally w ritt en f or V enic e ]

r ,

2
[W h at a v ery ich aract erist ic p ass age ! C omp ar e vol i p 21 0 no te 2] . . .
,
LE TT E R v .
] H A S S E AN D FA U S T I NA . 73

Hasse wrote Faustina sang 5 they earned a fortune which

,

they did not spend That is nothing nowaday s 5 and

.

if y ou ever marry it is what I should wish for you .

When I left D resden to return to L eip zig L ipinski , ,

hearing that Mendelssohn was getting up the fina l e from

R omeo a nd Ju liet f or the concert for the p oor announced ,

his intention of going to hear it if h e could get two or

three days leave from the intendant I took this promise
’
.

merely as a compliment ; but j udge of m y vexation w hen

I s aw L ipinski turn up at the concert and the fina l e ,

could not be performed owing to the occurrence of which

I told you in my last letter He had travelled more than
.

a hundred miles to hear it There s a lover of music for

.
’

ou ! But you my dear E rnst will not be astonished

y , ,

at this ; I am sure y ou would do as much yourself Y ou .

are an artist Farewell farewell

.
,

H B . .
 C H AP T E R L V II .

Brunsw ick —H amburg .

L E TT E R V I —T o H ENR I H E I NE .

I HA V E had all sorts of good luck in this excellent t own 5

and accordingly my first idea was to regale on e of my
intimate enemies with the f ollowing account of it which ,

wo ul d have given him pleasure whereas it will probably ,

“
v ex
y ou my dear Heine Anti m oralists assert that th ere
-
.
,

is so mething dis agreea bl e to our bes t f rien ds in a ny h app i

’
n ess th at bef a l lsbut I don t believe it It is an
us ; .

infamous calumny and I can swear that the brillian t and

,

unex pec t ed fortunes o f cert ain of my f riends have no t

”
troubled m e at all .

E nough ! L et us n ot en t er up on the thorny fields of

irony where wormwood and euphorbia flourish in th e
,

shade o f the arborescent nettle where vipers and toa ds ,

hiss and croak where the water of the lake seethes t h e

,
-
,

earth quakes the night wind scorches and s ilent lightning

, ,

flashes from the western clouds For what is the sense .

of biting one s lips grinding one s teeth rolling one s

’
,
’
,
’

eyes in apparent agony and playin g bitter practical

,

j okes on one s in t erlocutor when one s thoughts f ar

’

,
’

from b eing bitter are f ull of pleasant memories — when

,
‘

76 TO B RU N S W IC K .
[ C H AR L V II .

account I am ab out to give you o f my j ourney to

Brunswick and yet s ee what confidence I have in
,

your friendship or h ow I have lost my fear of your

,

irony for I address it to you and no oth er !

,

Just as I was leaving L eip zig I received a letter from

Meyerbeer telling me that they could not attend to
,

my concerts for another month T he great master re .

commended me to utilise this delay by going to Bruns

wick wh ere he said I should find a priz e orchestra I
, .

followed this advice without guessing h o w much I

,

S h ould have to congratulate mys elf on doing s o I .

knew no one at Brunswick ; I was completely ignorant

b oth as to th e feelings of the arti s ts with regard to
m yself and as to the public taste But the bare idea .

that the brothers M ii ll er were at the head of the band

was enough to inspire m e w ith confidence indep endently ,

of the v ery encouraging opinion of Meyerbeer I had .

heard them when they were last in Paris and I regarded ,

t heir performance of Beethoven s quartets as one of the

’

most extraordinary prodigies of modern art .

T he M iil l er family in fact represents the ideal o f

, ,

’
Beethoven s quartets as the Bohrer family represents the
,

ideal of the trio Nowhere else in the world has th e

.

p erfection of the whole the unity of sentiment depth of

, ,

expression purity of style grandeur force spirit and

, , , , ,

passion been carried to such a pitch Such an in .

t erp ret at ion o f these sublime works gives us I think , ,

the most e x act idea of Beethoven s thought s and feeling s ’

while w riting them It is the echo of creative inspiration

.
,

the reb ound of genius ! Moreover this musical M ii ll er ,

family is m ore numerous than I had thought ; I counted

seven artists of that name brothers sons and nephe w s in
, , , ,

the Brunswick orchestra George is the kapell meister 5

.
-
L E TT E R VL ] T H E M ULLER S . 77

his elder brother C harles is only the first maitre de , ,

concert b u t by th e deference with whi ch his remarks

,

are listened to it is plain that h e is looked upon as the

,

leader of the famous quartet Th e s econd concert meister .

-

is M Freudenthal a violinist and meritorious composer

.
, .

I had given notice of my arrival to C harles M ii l l er and ,

on alighting from the stage at Brunswick I was accosted

by a most amiable young man M Z inkeisen one of th e , .
,

first violins in the orchestra speaking French like y ou or ,

m e who was waiting t o take me to t h e kapell m eister

,
-

the moment I arrive d This attention and cordiality .

seemed to m e t o augur favourably M Z inkeisen had . .

sometimes s een me in Pari s and recognised m e in spite ,

o f the pitiable condition to which I was reduced by

the cold for I had pas sed th e n ight in an open coup e t o
,
’

escape the smell of s ix horrible smokers inside I admir e .

the p olice regulations in Germany ; you are forbidden

under p enalty of a fine to smoke in the streets or public
squares where this amiable practice cannot inconvenience
,

anybody ; but wherever you go to the café the ta ble , ,

d t s or in the stage coach that infernal pipe pursues

’
-
, ,

y o u You. are German my dear H ein e and v o u do not , ,

smoke ! Believe me it is not the l east of y our merits 5 ,

p osterity may not take note o f it but amo n g your con ,

temp oraries many men and all women will be grateful

t o y ou .

C harles M iill er received me with that calm s eriou s ,

manner that occasionally alarmed m e in Germany b e ,

lievi n g as I d id that it m eant coldness and indiff erenc e 5

, ,

nevertheless there is less to fear from it than from the

,

smiling demonstration s and pretty speeches with w hich w e

greet a stran ger and then forget him five minute s ,

afterwards .
78 B RU N S W I C K .
[ C H A R L V II .

The co cert m eister havi n g ascertained my wishes

n -

respecti n g the composition of the orchestra went off ,

immediately to make arra n gem ents with his brother for

c ollecti n g the necessary stri n gs and appealing t o such ,

amateurs and artists as were fit to j oin it Th e V ery .

next day they had formed a fin e orchestra somewhat ,

larger than that of the Op éra in Paris and comp osed of ,

musicians who were not only S killed but also animated ,

by a rare z eal and ardour T he question of the harp .

,

ophicleide and cor angl ais again presented itself as it had

, ,

already at Weimar L eip zig and D resden , , .

I tell y ou all these details in order to give y ou the

reputation of being a musician One member of the .

orchestra a M L eibrock an excellent artist well versed

,
.
, ,

in musical literature had only studied the harp for a,

y ear,
and was therefore a good deal alarmed at the test
to which he was likely to b e o ut b y my second sym
phony Besides his harp was an ol d fashioned thi n g
.
,
-
,

with pedals of S imple action which do not admit of the ,

e xecution of modern music Fortunately the harp part .

,

o f H ar ol d is extremely easy and M L eibrock worked s o ,

.

hard for five or s ix days that he acquitted himself mos t

honourably at the general rehears al On the evenin g .

o f the concert he was s ei z ed with a panic at the imp ortant

moment ; h e stopp ed short in the introduction and left ,

C harles M iil l er who was taking the tenor solo to play

, ,

alone .

This was ou r only mis h ap and though the public never ,

e ven perceived it M L eibrock reproached himself bitterly

, .

for some days in spite of all my efforts to make him

,

forget it .

T here was no ophicleide of any sort at Brunswick ; ,

an d to replace it I was o ff ered first a bass tub a (a m ag

LE TT E R VL ] A D E V O T E D O R C H E S T RA . 79

n ificent deep ins t r ument of which I shall have occasion

,

to speak in connection with the military bands of Berlin ) .

The young man who played it did n ot however seem to , ,

me thoroughly master of the mechanism not even know ,

ing its full compass T hen a R ussian bassoon called by

.
,

the p erformer a double bassoon I had much t rouble in

-
.

undeceiving him as t o the nature and name of his in

strument which emits the s ound j us t as it is writ t en and
, ,

is played with a m outhpiece like the ophicleide ; whilst

the double bassoon a transposing reed instrument is
-
, ,

simply a large bassoon reproducing almost t h e en t ire ,

1
bassoon scale an oc t ave lower Be that as i t may the .
,

R ussian bassoon was adop t ed t o replace th e ophicleide

after a fashion T here was no cor angl ais ; we arranged
.

its solos for an oboe and began the orches t ra rehearsals

,

whilst the choir practised in another room I must s ay .

here that never to this day in France Belgium or G er , , ,

many have I seen a body of artists who brough t such

,

devotion attention and ardour to their task A f ter t he

, , .

first rehearsal when they were able to form some idea of

,

the principal di fficulties of my symphonies t he wa t ch ,

word was given for the following rehearsals They agreed .

to cheat me as to the hour at which th ey were supp osed

by rights t o b egin and every morning ( I did no t know
,

this till afterwards ) the orchestra assembled an hour

be f ore my arrival to practise the risky passages A c .

cordin gl y I was each day more and m ore amazed

,

at t he rapid progress in the p erformance and the im ,

et u ou s assurance with which the whole body a t tacked

p
di fficulties that had long s eem ed f ormidable even to
‘

1
[T his is th e instrume n t which m ak es such fin e e ffe ct s in B eet
hov en s Fi fth an d Nint h S ymphoni e s Br ahms s H aydn V ari a
’
,
’
-

t ions et c ]
,
80 B RU N S W I C K .
[ C H A R L V II .

my Paris orches t ra — that you n g guard of the grand

arm y 1
.

T he only piece that gav e C harles M iill er mu ch diffi

culty w as the Q u een M a b s ch erzo which on the entreaty , ,

of M Z inkeisen (who had heard it in Paris ) I had

. ,

ventured f or the first time since I came to Germany to

insert in the programme .

“
We will work so hard h e had said to me that w e , ,

”
shall manage it He did not overrate the p owers of the
.

orchestra and Q ueen Mab in her microscopic car attended

, ,

by the bu zzin g insect of a summ er s nigh t and launched ’

,

at full gallop by h er tiny horses fully displayed to the ,

Brunswick public h er lively drollery and caprices But .

y ou will un d erstand my anxiety on this subj ect 5 for

you the p oet of fairies and elves th e own brother of those
, ,

graceful and malicious little creatures know o n ly too ,

well with what slender thread their veil of gau z e is

woven and how seren e must b e th e s ky beneath which
,

their many coloured tints sport freely in the pale

-

starlight .

Well in spite of our fears th e orchestra identified

, ,

itself co m pletely with S hak espeare s fascinating fancy ’

,

and became s o tiny agile minute an d soft that I do not

, , , ,

think the fairy queen ever went more harmoniously .

In th e final e of H a r ol d on the contrary that furious , ,

orgy where wine blood j oy rage all combined parade

, , , , ,

their intoxication — where the rhythm sometimes s ee m s

to stumble along prostrate sometimes to rush on in ,

fury and th e m ouths of th e trumpets and trombones

,

seem t o v omit forth curses and to answer prayer w ith

[ T o anyon e wh o kno w s B erlio z s orch estr al music w h at a curious

'
1
,

pic tur e do es t his pre s en t o f t h e imp er f ec t c ap abilit i es o f fin e

orch es tr as fift y y e ars ago]
L E TT E R VL
] M U SIC AN D P O E T R Y . 81

blasphemies 5 where they laugh drink fight break S l ay , , , , ,

violate and utterly run riot 5 in this brigand scene t h e

,

o rchestra became a regular pandemonium ; there was

s omething p ositively supernatural and t erri fying in its
frantic li f e and spirit and v iolins basses tromb ones , , , ,

d rums and cymbals all sang and bounded and reared

, ,

with diabolical order and concor d wh ilst from th e solo ,

t enor the dreamy Harold some trembling no t es of his

, ,

evening hymn were still heard in th e distance as he fled

in terror .

How my hear t and my f rame s h uddered as I co n ducted

that marvellous orchestra in which I seem ed t o find m y ,

y oung Paris heroes more h ot blooded than ever Y ou -

.

know nothing lik e this you poets 5 y ou are never carried ,

1
a way by suc h hurricanes ! I would willingly h ave em
braced the whole orches t ra ; but all I could do was t o
e xclaim — in French it is true but the m ere tone must
, ,

have made them u nderstand me Sublime Gentleme n ,

y o u have my t hanks and admiration ; you are p erfec t

”
brigands !
The p er f orm ance of th e overture t o B envenuto was
e qually spirited 5 and yet the Introduction to H a rol d t he , ,

P ilgrims M arch and the S erena d e in a totally opposite

’
, ,

style were never played with more calm grandeur

,

an d religious serenity A S f or the piece f rom R omeo

.

( T h e F eas t a t th e its characteristics are also o f

t h e whirlwind sort and fairly carried on e away
, .

Y ou should have seen th e excited look of the band in

1
[ T h at is t ru e 5 po etry e v en at i t s high es t kno ws no thin g o f
, ,

t h e r ap t ur e an d t umul t t h at ar e e x ci te d in t h e h ear t by such music

a s t h e fi rs t mov e m e n t s o f B eet hov e n s T hird Fi fth an d S e ven th
’

, ,

S ymphoni es t h e fina le o f his S e v en t h an d E ight h his gre at L eonora

, ,

o v er t ur e S chum ann s M a nf r ed or S chub e r t s B minor an d C m aj or

’ ’
, ,

S ymphoni es ]
VO L . II .
82 B RU N S W I C K .
[ C HAR L VI I .

the int ervals between the practices S chmidt (an .

astoun ding double bass ) tore the S kin off the forefinger
-

of his right hand at the beginning of the p izzica to passage

o f the O rgie ; but he went on not thinking of stopping

,

f or such a trifle or cari n g for its bleeding merely

, ,

contenting himself with changing the finger .

Whil e we were abandoning ourselves to these delights ,

the choir on its side was also working diligently at th e

pieces fro m the R equiem but with diff erent results The
, .

Ofier toir e and Q uccr cns me went tolerably but there ,

was an insurmountable obstacl e to the S anctus namely , ,

th e s olo which was to b e sung by S ch m etzer the first ,

tenor in the theatre and a firs t rate musician T he and ante

-
.
:

of this piece written f or three women s voices presents

’
, ,

certain enharmonic m odulations which the fair D resde n

singers had understood p erfectly but which were ap ,

aren tl y quite beyond the musical comprehension of thos e

p
a t Brunswick Having tried in vain for three days t o
.

grasp its meaning and intonation thes e poor disheartened

,

wretches sent a deputation to implore me not to expos e

them to such a public humiliation and to strik e th e ,

d read f ul S anctus out of the bills I consented but with

.
,

grea t reluctance esp ecially on account of S ch m etzer

, ,
.

whos e high tenor exactly suits this seraphic hymn and ,

who moreover was delighting in the idea of S inging it

, , .

Al l was now ready and in spite o f C harles M iil l er s terro r

’

ab out the s ch erzo which h e wished to practis e once m ore

, ,

we were about to study at the concert the impressions

produced by my music I had invited som e t w enty of
.

the chief Brunswick amateurs to the rehearsals Well .

,

each day they acted as a living advertisement exciti n g ,

the curiosity of the public to the highes t degr ee until t h e ,

84 B RU N S W IC K.
[ C H AR L V II .

devout were evidently deeply moved by the Oficrtoirc ,

with its chorus on t wo notes and the Q uocrens m e ,

.

C harles M iil l er was greatly applauded in the violin

romance 5 Q ueen M a b created quite a sensation 5 a song
’
with the orchestra was encored 5 and the Feas t a t C ap ul ets
H ous e f ormed a glowing fi na l e to the evening S carcely .

had t he last chord been struck when a terrible noise

shook the entire room the w hole public en mass e halloo
,

ing (fro m pit boxes — every where else ) 5 the trump ets
, ,

horns and tromb ones of the orchestra some in on e k ey

, ,

and some in another made the most discordant fanfares

, ,

accompanied by all the fracas that it was p ossible f or

bows to make This singular mode of applauding is
.

called in Germa n T us ch On hearing it thus un ex

, ,
.

ct edl
p e ,y my first feelings were anger and disgust they ,

were spoiling the musical effect I had j ust produced and ,

I almost felt a grudge against the artists for t estifyi ng

their satis faction by such a hubbub But it was im .

p ossible not to b e deeply m oved by their homage when

the kap ell meister George M iil l er came forward laden
-
, ,

“
with flowers and said in French : Permit me s ir to
, , ,

off er you thes e wreaths in the name of the ducal band ,

and allow m e to crown your works

At these words the public redoubled its applause th e ,

orchestra recommenced its fanfares the baton fell

fro m my hand and I was n o longer aware of what was
,

going on .

S carcely had I left th e theatre in a perspiration as ,

though I had j ust b een dipp ed in the Styx and in ,

s u ch a bewildered state of delight that I hardly knew

what was being said when I was informed t h at a supper

,

of one hundred and fi f ty covers had been ordered at my

LE TT E R VL ] A T U M UL T U O U S S U PP E R . 85

hotel t o which I was invited by a s ociety of ar t is t s an d

,

ama t eurs I was of course obliged to go Fresh ap

.
, , .

p l au s e, f resh acclamations on my arrival 5 toas t s and

sp eeches in German and French succeeded each o ther .

I replied as well as I could to such as I unders t ood ;

an d as each health was drunk a hundred and fi f ty voice s
,

replied by a hurrah in chorus th e e ff ec t of which w as ,

mos t beau t i f ul Th e basses b egan firs t on D th e t enors

.
,

cam e in on t he A and th e ladies on t he F sharp thu s

, ,

making th e chord of D maj or followed immediately by ,

th e f our chords of the s ub dominant t onic dominan t and

-
, , ,

tonic th e conn ection of which thus forms a cadenc e

,

plag al and a p erf ec t cadenc e in succession T his fin e .

round of harmony burst f or t h with p omp and m aj es t y in

its grand movemen t ; and a t any ra t e is truly wor thy of
, ,

a musical pe ople .

What sh all I s ay t o y ou my dear Heine ? Thou gh

,

y o u may think m e n a if and primi t iv e in the ex t reme ,

I must con f ess tha t all t hes e kindly mani f esta t ions and
sympathetic acclamations mad e me superla t ively happy .

D oubtless this happiness does no t even approach t o

w hat t he composer f eels when conduc t ing a magnificent
orchestra in the inspir ed p er f ormance of on e of his b e
loved works 5 but th e t wo go very well t oge t her and ,

a f ter s uch a concert an evening like this S poils nothing

, .

I thus owe a grea t deal t o th e art ists and ama t eurs

of Brunswick as I do also t o its chie f musical critic
, ,

M R obert G riepenkerl who engaged in vehemen t

.
,

p olemics with a L eip zig paper in a learned pamphlet

about me and gave a very correc t idea I think of
, , ,

the f orc e and direc t ion of th e musical curren t t ha t carrie s

me away .
86 H AM B UR G .
[ C H A R L V II .

S o give me your hand and let us sing a grand hurrah

f or Brunswick on its f avourite chords .

M odera to .

ha ! ha ! ha !

ha ! ha ! ha!

My dear p oet you are committed to being a musician

, .

Now for your native town of Hamburg that city ,

1
desolate as ancient Pomp eii which yet rises powerfull y ,

f rom its own ashes and bravely stanches its wounds !

,

C ertainly I have only prai ses to bestow up on it

, ,

f or it has grand musical resources singing societies , ,

philharmonic societies military bands etc ,

True the ,
.
,

orchestra of the theatre has been reduce d for economy s ,

’

sake t o very mediocre prop ortions 5 but I had made my

,

terms with the manager b eforehand and the orchestra ,

to which I w as introduced was quite beautiful both

in numbers and talent thanks to a valuable addition ,

of strings and to the leave of absence I procured f or

,

two or thre e aged players to whom the theatre was ,

devoted One strange thing I must m ention : there is

.

an excellent harpist with a very good instrument I had

b egun to d espair of finding either the on e or the other in
Germany I also f ound a vigorous ophicleide but had
.
,

to dispense with a cor a ngl ais .

1
[ H amburg h ad jus t been burn t t o t h e ground ]
 LE TT E R VL ] THE O R C H E S TRA . 87

T he first flute ( C antal ) and the first violin (L indenau )

a re two virtuosi of the highest order The kap ell meister .
-

(
.
K rebs )
1 fulfils his functions with talent and a strictness
that is excellent in a conductor He help e d me with .

great good nature during our long rehearsals T h e S ing .

i ng troup e of th e theatre was pretty well organised ;

it p ossessed three m eritorious artists a tenor who if , ,

not gifted with an exceptional v oice had both tas t e ,

a n d method 5 a clever s opra n o whose name I have for

g otten ( the young di va would have actually done m e

the honour to sing at my concert if I had been better
known — Hosanna in excelsis ! ) 5 and lastly R eichel t he , ,

formidable bass with his enormous voice of two octaves

,

an d a half R eichel is a superb looking m an and repre -

,
'

s ents such characters as Z aras t ro Moses and Bertram t o , , ,

p erfection Madame C ornet the wife of the manager a

.
, ,

finished musician with a most striking soprano of un

,

usual compass was only engaged to appear in a li mited

,

number of representations I applauded her highly as .

the Q ueen of the Night in the F lute E nch antée T h e .

chorus was small and not strong but got through its ,

part very decently The house is very large : I rather

.

dreaded its size havin g found it empty at three dif

,

f eren t representations of the Fl ute E nch a ntee M ois e

’

, ,

a n d L in d a d i C h amouni Accordingly I was most .

,

agreeably surprised the day I presente d myself be f ore

the Hamburg pu blic .

An excellent p erformance a numerous intelligen t and , , ,

[ K arl
Aug us t Kr ebs f ath er o f M ari e Kr ebs t h e pi anis t so w ell
1
, , ,

k now n in E ngl and Kr e b s s r emov a l f rom t h e conduc t orship o f t h e

.
'

C our t T h eat r e at Vi enn t o H a m b urg in t h e a u t umn o f 1 826

a , ,

g a v e S chu b er t a n oppor t uni t y o f succ ee din g h im w hich ho w e v e r , , ,

h e f ail ed t o t ak e a dv an tag e o f S ee D ictionary of M us ic and.

M us icia ns iii p 3 45 ]
,
. .
88 A C AN D ID F R I E N D .

z ealous audience made t his one of the bes t concer ts

,

I ever gave in Germany H arol d and the canta t a o f th e

.

C ing M ai sung with great fe eling by R eiche l carried off

, ,

the honours A ft er t his piece , two musicians close t o my

.

desk touche d m e deeply by thes e simple words spoken ,

“
under t heir breath in French ,
Ah m onsieur no t r e , ,

respect notre respect

,
It was all th e French t hey co ul d
muster .

I n a word th e Hamburg orchestra has ever been my

,

firm f riend and I assure you I am not a little proud of

,

it . Krebs alone displayed a curious re t icence in h is

“ “
O pin ion . My dear fellow h e said t o me in a f ew
, ,

years your music will b e known all over Germany It .

will become popular and that will b e a grea t misfortune

,

What imitations it will provoke what a s t yle what , ,

absurdities ! I t would b e b e tt er f or art that y ou had

”
never been born Stil l let us hope tha t these poo r
.
,

symphonies are not s o contagious as this implied and ,

t ha t t hey will breed nei ther yello w f ever nor cholera

morbus !
Now Heine Henry Heine f amous banker of ideas
, , ,

nephew o f Mr Solomon Heine au thor of s o many

.
,

precious poems in i ngots I hav e no mor e t o say t o y ou

, ,

an d I salu t e you .

H B . .
 C H AP T E R L V III .

B erlin .

L E TT E R V II —T o
. M DL LE . L OU IS E B E R T IN .

I M U S T first o f all implore your indulgence m ademoiselle , ,

f or the letter I am taking the l ib erty to write to you ; I

have but t oo much to fear fro m my present state of m in d .

A fit o f black philosophy attacked m e some days ago ,

and G od knows to what gloo m y notions or absurd j u dg ,

ments or strange stories it will impel me

,
if it lasts .

Y ou do n ot p erh aps kno w exactly what black philosophy

, ,

is ? It is the contrary o f natural magic— neither more ‘

nor less .

By n a t ural magic on e divines that V ic t or H ug o is a

great p oe t 5 tha t Bee t hoven was a great musician 5 that
y ou are at once musician and p oetess ; that Janin is a
man of intellect 5 that i f a fine and well perform ed op era -

fails the public does no t understand it 5 that i f it s uc

,

ceed s the public does not understand it either tha t the

5 .

b eautiful is rare ; tha t th e rare is not alwa y s beau

tiful ; that migh t is righ t 5 tha t Abd el Kader is wro n g - -
,

and O C onn el l also 5 that the A rabs are decidedly n ot

’

Frenchmen ; that peaceful agitation is s t upidity 5— and

other problems equally intricate .

By black philosophy on e is reduced t o d oubt an d

90 B ERL I N .
[ C H A R L VI I I .

wonder at everythi n g to s ee all gracious images on the

,

wrong side and all hideous things in their nak ed s ignifi

,

cance ; to murmur without ceasing t o blaspheme life , ,

a n d curse death L ike Hamlet on e is indignant that

.
,

I mp eri al C aes ar d ead an d t uru d t o cl a y

, ,
'

M igh t s t op a hol e t o k e e p t h e w ind a w a y .

O ne would b e still m ore indignant if the ashes of the

p oor only were put to this ignoble use One pities p oor .

”
Yorick for not b eing abl e to laugh at the senseless
g rimace he makes after his fifteen years underground and ,

y e t o n e throws down his skull with horror and disgust o r ,

e ls e on e makes it into a drinking cup and poor Yorick -

, ,

who can drink no more serves to stanch the thirst of ,

the top ers who j eer at him .

Thus in the s olitude of the R oches where y o

,
u are ,

p eaceably indulging your own thoughts I should only ,

exp erience mortal weariness and discontent while a prey

t o this black philosophy .

Yester day mademoiselle while in this condition I

, , ,

happened to be in a hous e where they have a mania for

autographs The lady of the h ouse did not fail to ask
.

“
me to write something in her album But I beg (if .
, )
”
you s h e adde d “
no commonplaces T hi s injfih btib n
’

.
, ,

irritated me and I immediately wrote

,

T h e p ena l ty o f d ea th is a gr ea t m isf or tune, f or ,

i f it
d id n ot exis t, I s h ou ld p r o ba bl y h a ve mur d ered a grea t
m any p eop l e, a nd we s h oul d n ow h ave f ewer of th os e
”
begging id iots wh o are th e p l ague f
o a r t a nd a r tis ts .

They laughed a good deal at my aphorism thinking ,

that I did n ot mean a word o f it .

If y ou called on me to admire a fine sunset I should ,

probably prefer the gaslights of the Avenue des C hamps

92 B ERLI N .
[ C H A R L V III .

s carcely three months ago, was ra t her dark and not ove r
clean but very sonorous and well suited f or m usical
,

eff ects The orchestra was not s o near the audience as in

.

Paris ; it extended further on both S ides and th e noisy ,

instruments — trombones trumpets and drum s — were, ,

s omewhat screened by the first boxes and thus lost som e ,

o f their excessive force Th e band — one of the best I

.

ever heard — was comp osed as follows for great p erform

an ces : 1 4 first and 1 4 second violins 8 V iolas 1 0 cellos ,
, ,

8 double basses 4 flutes , 4 obo es 4 C larin ets 4 bassoons

-
, , , ,

4 horns 4 trump ets 4 trombones 1 kettle dru m 1 big

, , ,
-
,

drum a pair of cymbals and 2 h arps The stringed in

, ,
.

s trum ent s are almost all firs t ra t e 5 at their head I mus t -

specify the brothers Gan z (first violin and first al t o o f

the highes t merit ) an d the clever violinist R ies T h e
, ,
.

wood wind is also very good and double that at th e

-
,

Paris Op éra— a great advantage since it allows two flutes , ,

two oboes t wo C larinets and two bassoons to come in as

, ,

r ip ieni in the f or tiss imo and greatly so f tens the harshnes s

,

of the brass which would otherw ise b e t oo prominent

,
.

The horns are very p ower ful and all a cy lind re to t h e , ,

great regre t of Meyerbeer wh o still retains the sam e ,

opinion of the new mechanism which I held myself till

quite lately S everal composers obj ect to the horn a
.

cy lind re because they do not think its tone equal to tha t

of the simple on e I have made t h e ex periment s everal

.

times with the open notes and I confess I found it ,

impossible to discover the least di fference in tone or

s onority between the two Another obj ection apparently .
,

b etter founded has also b een made to the new horn but
, ,

i t can easily be overcome Since this ins t rument (which.

to my mind is improved ) has been introduced into our

orches t ras som e players while employing the cylinders
, ,
L E TT E R VIL ] I N S T RU M E N T S A C Y L I N DRE . 93

f or the ordinary horn part find it more convenient with,

this mech anism to produce the s topp ed notes (so intended

by the compos er) as op en sounds This is no doubt a .
, ,

g reat mistake ; but it is on e f or which t h e performer

is to be blamed and not the instrumen t The cylinder .

horn in the hands of a clever artist can produce

n ot only the closed sounds of the ordinary horn ,

but even the entire s cale without employing a si n gle

open note Th e only conclusion from all this is that
.

horn play ers ought to b e able to use their hands in t he

b ells as if the cylinders did not exist and that com ,

p osers f rom henceforth S hould mark s t opped n ot es by

s ome sign the p erformer only produci ng open sounds
,

where there is no mark .

T he same prej udice has opposed the us e of the

cylinder trump ets n ew s o common in Germany but
, ,

with even less reason than in th e case of the horn No .

c omposer ever u ses stopped s ounds f or the trump et an d ,

the question is therefore naturally on e of n o moment

,
'

, .

T h e only reasonable complaint was that the trumpet lost

much of its brilliancy of ton e by t he cylinders but this ,

is not the case at least t o my ear

,
Well if a finer ear .
,

‘
than mine is wanted to detect a difference between the
two instruments I trust it will b e admit t ed that the
,

inconvenience of the cylin der trump e t is not to b e com

pared with the advantage of being able to go up and
d own a chromatic scale two octaves and a half in compass ,

w ithout di fficulty and withou t th e slightest inequality of

tone To my mind therefore the Germans have done
.
, ,

w ell to abandon the use of t h e S 1 mpl e t rumpet almost

entirely In France we have still very few chromatic (or

.

cylinder) tr umpets the incredible popularity of t h e co m et

,

a pist ons having s o f ar carried off the palm — wrongly ,

 94 B ERL I N .
[ C H AR L V II I .

as I think The tone of the co m et is f ar f rom being s o

.

full or brillia n t as that of the trumpet At any rate w e .

have no lack of instruments Adolphe Sax now makes .

cylinder trumpets in all si zes and in all p ossible keys ,

used and disused the p erfection and sonority of which

,

are undeniable And yet will it b e beli eved that

.
,

this ingenious young artist has all the trouble in th e

world in making his way and maintainin g himself in
Paris ? P ersecutions worthy o f the Middle Ages are
brought against him ex actl v realising the sayings and
,

doings of Benvenuto C ellini His workmen are enticed .

away his designs stolen he is accused of madness and

, , ,

driven to litigation A trifle more and they would

.
,

assassinate him Such is th e hatred that inventors

.

always excite amongst those of their rivals who can

invent nothing for themselves It is the duty of t h e .

Minister of War to place s o useful and so gi fted a man

-

in th e position to which his talent his perseveran ce and , ,

e ff orts entitle him Our military bands h ave as y et

.

neither cylinder trumpets nor bass tubas These in s tru .

m ents will b e absolutely necessary if the French military

orchestras are to reach th e same level as those of Prussia
and Aus t ria An order for three hun dred trumpets and a
.

hundred bass tubas sent t o Adolphe S ax by the Govern

,

m ent would sav e him

,
.

Berlin is the only German town where I found a dee p

bass trombone (in B flat ) We have non e in Paris t h e .
,

performers there declining the practice of an instrument

which tires their chests Apparently the Prussian lu n g s
.
,

are more robust than ours The orchestra o f the Berlin .

Opera possesses two of thes e instruments the s onority of ,

which is such as completely to destroy the tone of th e

alto and tenor The tone of a bass trombone would b e
.
96 B ERL I N .
[ C HAR L V II I .

steology —at l eas t as far as I kno w I therefore resume

'

o .

the examination of the musical p owers of the Berlin

Op era
.

The kettle drummer is a good musician but his wrists

-
,

are not supple nor his rolls su fficiently firm 5 his kettle
drums also are too small and have to o little tone and
, ,

h e is only acquainted with on e sort of drumstick which ,

occ u pies a middle place between the ordinary l eather

h eads and thos e with sponge In this resp ect the .

Germans are far behind the French E ven as regards .

execution — with the exception of W iprech t the conductor ,

of the military band at Berlin who plays the kettle ,

d rums like a clap o f thunder — I have not met on e player

who for precision rapidity of roll and delicacy of nua nce
, , ,

can compare with P ous sard our excellen t artist o f th e ,

Op éra.

Am I to tell you anything about cymbals ? All I can

s ay is that y ou rarely find a pair of cymbals intact that
, ,

is to say neither crack ed nor c h ipped ; neither at

,

Weimar nor L eip zig nor D resden nor Hamburg nor

, , , ,

Berlin was I so fortunate This was al ways a subj ect .

of great wrath with me and I have sometimes kept the

,

orchestra waiting half an hour and refused to begin a ,

rehearsal until they had bro ught m e two p erfectly new

cymbals as vibrating and as Turkish as I desired to
, ,

prove to the kap ell meister that I was not wrong in

-

regarding the broken fragments presented to me under

t hat name as both absurd and detestable It must be
, .

admitted that the inferiority of c ertain parts of the

German orchestras is quite disgraceful The instruments .

are poor and the performers are far from knowing all
,

tha t can b e got out of them : I speak of the kettle

d rums t he cymb als the big drum the cor a ngl ais the
, , , ,
L E TT E R VI L ] T HE O R C HE S T RA . 97

ophicleide and the harp Bu t this de f ect is eviden t ly due

,
.

to the style of certain c omposers wh o attach s o little ,

importance to these instruments that their successors are

unable to get anything out of them .

But on the other han d the Germans are greatly

, ,

sup erior to us in their brass in general and their ,

trumpets in particular We hav e n ot an idea of these . .

Their C larinets are also bet t er ; as t o oboes I think the ,

two countries are about on a par In flutes we b ea t .

,
them for the flute is nowher e played as it is in P aris
, .

Their double basses are more power ful than ours ; their
-

cellos altos and violins have grand qualities 5 but still

, , ,

you could hardly without injustice put them on the same .

level with the im riv al l ed violins altos and cellos of our , ,

C onservatoire .

I have given abundant proofs of t h e scarcity of

good harps in Germany 5 those of Berlin are no exception
to the rule and in that capital there is great room f or
,

some pupils of Pa rish Alvars T his magnificent orchestra

-
.
,

which is famous for its precision force and delicacy is , , ,

under the command o f Meyerbeer director general of the ,

-

—
Ki ng of Prussia s musicians you know him I think 5 of
’

Hennig (first kapell meister) a clever man and highly

-
, ,

esteemed ; and of Tau ber t (second kap ell meister) a pianist -

,

and brilliant comp oser I heard on e of his piano t ries .

p erformed by himself and the brothers Gan z and found ,

it an excellent w ork , in a new style and full of fire His .

ch or uses to the Greek tragedy M ed ea have just been , ,

successfully produced at Berlin Messrs Gan z and R ie s . .

share the title and functions of leader .

Now let u s go upon the stage .

On ordinary occasions the chorus contains but sixt y .

.

voices 5 but when grand op eras are p erformed before t h e

VOL . II . H
 B ERL I N .
[ C HAR L VIII .

Kin g it is d oiI bl ed in numbers All t hese v oices are

, .

excellent fresh and sonorous ; most of the chorus men

, , , ,

women and children are musicians — not such clever

, ,

readers as thos e of our Op éra but far better trained in ,

the art of singing m ore attentive and careful and better , ,

paid It is the finest theatrical chorus I have yet co m e

.

across I ts director is E l s s l er brother to th e celebra ted

.
,

ballet dancer a p atient and intelligent art ist He might

- 1
, .

save himself much trouble and accelerate the choir

practices considerably if instead o f training all th e ,

hundred and twenty in on e room h e w ere to d ivide ,

them into three groups in three diff erent rooms under , ,

three sub leaders superintended by himself

-
T his ana , .

l y t ical method which is absolutely rej ected by the ,

theatres f or miserable reasons of economy and routine ,

is how ever th e only on e that admits of the thorough

, ,

study of each chorus part and of it s careful and well ,

accentuated performance I have said this o ften and .

,

S hall never tire of repeating it .

T he actor singers of the Berlin Theatre do not occupy s o

-

high a place among E urop ean musicians as do the choir

and orchestra There is much talent among them h ow.
,

ever more esp ecially in the following

,

Mdlle Marx an expressive and very sympathetic

.
,

soprano whose extreme notes both l ow and high are

, , ,

unhappily already b eginning to show signs of wear .

Mdlle T ut ch ek a soprano with a tolerably pure and

.
, ,

flexible tim bre .

Mdlle H ah n el a very well marked contralto

' '

-
. .
,

B oet ich er an excellent bass with a grand compass an d

, ,

fine tone a clever singer fine actor consummate m u s ician

, , ,

and reader .

1
[T h e children o f H aydn s copyis t ] ’
 C H AP T E R L I X .

B erlin .

L E TTE R V III .
— T o M ONSI E U R H A B E N E C K .

I W A S la t ely giving Mdlle L ouise Bertin whose musical .

,

science and serious lov e of art are no strangers to y ou an ,

accoun t of the vocal and instrumental resources of the

Grand Opera at Berlin I shall now proceed to tell y ou of
.

the Singing Academy and the military music of the place

but since you specially wish to know my opinion of such
opera performances as I attende d I will reverse the orde r ,

of my narra t ive and give y ou an account of the Prussian

,

artists in t he op eras of Meyerbeer Gluck Mo zart and , , ,

Weber In Berlin as in Paris and indeed everywhere

.
,

else t here are unhappily certain days when it would

, , ,

seem tha t a t acit understanding be t ween the artists and

the public sanctions more or less carelessness in th e
p erf ormance 1 Many empty places are then visible in
.

the thea t re and many vacant d esks 1 n the orches t ra

,
.

On such evenin gs the leaders dine out give balls are , ,

out hunting etc Th e musicians are asleep though

,
.
,

playing t h e notes of their parts ; some do not even

[ T hi s s tate o f t hings is t h e m ison d étre o f B erlio z s amusi ng

’ ’
1

book , L es S oir ées d e Z O rch estr eJ

’
 O P ER A S AN D O P ER A S . 1 01

play at all but sleep read draw caricatures play f oolish

, , , ,

j okes on their neighbours and quite loudly , .

A s for the actors they are too muc h en evid ence t o allow
,

themselves such liberties though even that sometimes ,

happ ens ; but the chorus singers ind ulge thems elves t o -

their hearts content They straggle in on e a f ter t h e

’
.

other a f ew at a time ; many have arrived late at the

,

theatre and are not yet dressed and some h av 1 ng had a ,

fatiguing service at church during the day are quite worn

o ut when they make their app earance and ful ly de t er ,

mined beforehand not to sing a note E ach takes his .

c ase
,
the high notes are transp osed an octave lower or ,

iven s otto voce ; there are no n uances ; the m ezzo f or te is

g
-

adop ted throughout the evening no on e looks at the ,

baton and the result is three or four false entries and

,

as many disj ointed phrases 5 but what does it signify ?

D oes the public take any notice ? The director knows
nothing about it, an d if the comp oser complains h e i s
laughed at openly as a mischief maker The ladies in -
.

particular amus e themselves in a charming manner by

e xchanging smiles and signals with the musicians in t he
’

orchestra or the h a bitu es of the balcony In the morning .

they were at the christening of the child of Made

m ois el l e X and have bro ught back ban bong which they
.
,
-
,

e at on the stage laughing all the time at the grotesque

,

a ppearance of the godfather the coquetry of the god ,

’
mother or the delighted countenance of the cure As
,
.

they chat they thump the children in the chorus , who

a re b ehavi n g rather too noisily .

“
Have done y ou mischievous child or I will call the
, ,
”
m aster .

“ ’
My dear just look at the lovely rose in M
,
s
”
button hole it was Florence who gave it him
-
.
1 02 B ERL I N .
[ C H AR e .

Is sh e s t ill mad abou t her agent d e ch a nge

Yes 3 bu t it is a secre t E veryone cannot hav e
.

s ol icitors .

“
Oh what a good pun 1 B y th e way are y ou going t o
,
- ~

,
”
the state concert ?
“
No I have an engagemen t that day
. .

What is it
I am going to b e married .

“ ”
What an idea 1
”
T ake care there is the curtain 1
T he act is thus finished 3 the public mys tified 3 and t h e
work spoilt ! But what then ? One must take a littl e
rest 3 on e cannot al ways be on one s best behaviour 3 and ’

these disorderly slovenly representations s erve to s et off

,

those that are done with care zeal attentio n and talent , , , .

I admit this but still there is something s ad in seeing th e

,

great masterpieces treated with a familiarity likely to breed

con t empt I admit that on e cannot burn incense day
.

and night be f ore the statues of great men 3 but wh o

could bear to s ee the bust of Gluck or o f Beethoven
’
employed as a barber s block ?
D o not philosophise I am certain it would make you
.

indignant I do not w ish y ou to conclude from all thi s

.

that in the Berlin Opera these frolics are of very frequen t

occur rence N 0 they go to work with moderation 3 in
.
,

th is as in other respects the palm remains wi th us

, ,
.

A masterpiece may be represented in Paris in the utterly

disor d erly manner that I have j ust described but in ,

P russia it would only b e permissible to give it in slight

undress I s aw Figaro and the Fr ey s chntz played in
'

this manner It was not bad 3 neither was it very good

. .

There was a certain slackness over the whole 3 vagueness ,

rather than precision 3 moderation instead of nerve ,

1 04 B ERL I N .
[ C HA R L IX .

th e series of chords of the diminished s eventh and its ,

enharmonic modulations was given with ex t reme clear

,

ness and an absolute p erfection of intonation The same .

for the choir The vocalised p assages the double choruses

.
, ,

t h e answers in imitation the sudden transition from loud

,

to soft the intermediate gradations — all thes e were clearly

,

and vigorously exe cuted with a rare warmth and a still ,

rarer feeling of t rue expression T he s tretto of the C on

.

s ecration of the p oignards struck me like a thunderclap ,

and it was long before I recovered from the shock T h e .

grand ensemble of the P r é aux C l ercs the dispute of t h e ,

women the litanies of the V irgin the s ong of the H ugu e

, ,

not sol d iers — f ormed a musical tissue of marvellous rich

ness s o clearly given that every thread could b e followed
,

distinctly T his miracle of dramatised counterpoint re

.

mains in my recollection as a p erfect marvel of choral

e xecution I do not think that Meyerbeer can hop e t o
.

hear a better anywhere else in E urope It must b e .

added that the mise en s cene is m ost ingeniously arranged .

In the r a tap l a n song the chorus imitate a kind o f tam

bour march thereby greatly enliv ening the s cene and
,

increasing the e ffect o f the music .

The military band , instead of being place d as in ,

Paris at the back o f the theatre separated from th e

, ,

orchestra by th e entire depth of the stage and out of ,

sight of the conductor commences playing in the front

,

side scenes to the right then begins to march and

-
, ,

gradually passes through the theatre close to the fo otlights ,

and through the groups of the chorus Thus the musicians .

remain close to the conductor almost to the end of the

piece they keep the same stric t tim e as the orchestra
, ,

and there is never the slightest rhythmical d iscordanc e

b etween the two b odies .
LE TT E R v1 1 1 .
] S C H R O ED ER D E V RI E N T -
. 1 05

B oetich eris an excellent S aint Bris and Z s is ch e a fairly -

,

good Marcel without however p ossessing any of that

, , ,

dramatic h umour which makes our L evasseur s o true and

original in the part Mademoiselle Marx shows sensi .

bil ity and modest dignity qualities essential for V alentine ,

.

I must nevertheless reproach her with two or three

, ,

sp oken monosyllables which she was weak enough to

borrow fro m the school of Madam e D e v rien t I saw the .

latter in the same par t som e days later and if my O pen ,

opposition to her manner of p l aying shocked some good

j udges who probably from habit admire the celebrated
, ,

artist unreservedly I am bound to state why my opin ion

,

diff ers s o entirely from theirs I had formed no j udgment .

and contracted no prej udice either for or agai nst Mada m e

D ev rien t I only re m ember that at Paris m any years ago
.

I thought her admirable in Beethoven s F td el zo while

'
’
,

quite recently in D resden on the contrary I had noticed , ,

certain v ery bad habits in her singing and much affecta

.

tion and exaggeration in her stage action These defects .

were all th e more obvious in the H uguenots because the

situations are s o thrilling and the mu s i c s o stamp ed with
grandeur and truth Accordi ngly I blamed her severely
.
,

both as singer and actress and f or this reason : in t h e ,

conspiracy scene where Saint Bris unfolds t o Nevers and

,
-

his friends h is plan for the massacre of the Huguenots ,

V alentine listens to her father s bloody proj ects with a

’

shudder but takes care n ot to allow it to be seen In

, .

dee d S aint Bris is not the man t o suff er such O pinions

,
-

in his daughter V ale ntine s involuntary spring towar d s

.
’

her husband whe n the latter breaks his sword and refuses
,

to j oin the conspiracy is all the finer that the timid woman,

has long suff ered in silence and her trouble has been s o ,

p ainfully conceale d Well instead of masking her agita

.
,
106 B ERL I N .
[ C H A R e .

tion and remainin g alm os t p assive like other sensible ,

tragedians in this s cene Ma dam e D ev rient approaches

,

Nevers forces him to follow her t o th e end of the stage

, ,

and there striding along b eside him app ears t o dictate t o

, ,

him both his line of condu ct and h is reply to S aint Bris -

.

’
Hence it follows that the exclamation of V alentin e s
husban d ,

P armi m es illus tr es a eux i

Je comp te d es sold at s m ais p a s u n ass assin, ,

loses the whole force of its opposition 3 there is n o

spontaneity in his movement and h e only l ooks like a ,

submissive husband rep eatin g the lesson which his wife

h as taught him When S aint Bris sings the f amous
.
-

theme “
,
A cette cau s e sainte ”
Madam e D ev rient s o ,

entirely forgets herself as to throw herself into th e arms

of her f ather wh o is supp osed all the while to know
,

nothing of V alentine s feelings She beseeches s h e im

’
.
,

p l ores in fact s h e torments him by s o vehement a pan

, ,

t omim e that B oet ich er who at first was evidently not

,

prepared f or thes e ill timed transports could scarcely

-
,

proceed and by the motion of his head and right arm

,

“
s eemed to s ay : For heaven s sak e madame leave m e ’
, ,
”
alone 3 and let m e sing my part to th e end .

Madame D ev rient s singing I have already said is

’
, ,

often wanting in exactness and taste Th e pauses and .

changes which s h e introduces into her parts are in bad

style and awkwar dly bro ught in But they are nothing .

t o her spoken interj ections — such words as O God 3 y es 3

no 3 impossible sp oken or rather shouted in the loudest
'

, ,

voice I cannot express my aversion for this anti musical

.
-

d eclamation To my mind it is a hun dre d t imes worse to

.

speak in an op era than t o sing in a tragedy .

One sees occasionally a phrase in the s cores marked

1 08 B ERL I N .
[ C H AR LIX .

to it O f all the ancient comp osers Gluck has I believe

.
, , ,

the least to fear from the incessant revolutions of art .

He sacrificed nothing either to th e caprices of singers the ,

exigencies o f fashion or the inveterate routine with

,

which he had to contend on his arrival in France after ,

his protracted struggles with the Italian theatres D oubt .

less his confl ict s at Milan Naples and Parma instead of , , ,

weakening him had increased his strength by revealing

,

its full e x tent to himself 3 f or in spite of the fanaticism ,

then prevale n t in our artistic customs h e broke these ,

miserable tramm els and trod them underfoot with the

greatest ease True the clamour of the critics once s u c
.
,

c ee ded in forci n g him into a reply but it was the only

3
indiscretion with which he had to reproach himself and ,

thenceforth as before he went straight to his aim in

, ,

silence We all know what that aim was 3 we also know

.

that it was n ever given t o any man to succeed m ore fully .

With less conviction or less firmness it is probable that , ,

not w ithstandi n g his natural genius his degenerate works ,

would not have l ong survived those of his mediocre rivals

now completely forgotten But truth of expression purity .
,

of style and grandeur of form belong to all time

, .

’
Gluck s fine passages will always b e fine V ictor Hugo .

is right the heart never grows old .

I thought Mademoiselle Marx in A r mid e noble and

impassione d although somewhat overwhelme d by her
,

lofty part In fact mere talent does not suffice to repre

.
,

s ent Gluck s women 3 for them as for S hakespeare s the

’

,
’

g reatest qualities o f soul heart voice physiognomy and , , , ,

p ose are so indispensable that there is no exaggeration ,

in asserting that thes e characters absolutely require both

b eauty and genius .

What a happy evening I passed listening to that

L E TT E R v1 1 1 .
]
“
A R M I DE .
”
09

performance of A rmid e under Meyerb eer s d irection ,

’

Orchestra and chorus alike inspired by the comp oser and

the con ductor showed themselves worthy of two such
,

illustrious mas t ers Th e f amous fi na l e P ours u ivons

.
,

j g
u s u a u tr ép
’
a s produced a regular
, f u ror e The Hatred .

scene with the admirable dances comp osed if I m istake

, ,

not by Paul Taglioni struck me as equally remarka ble for

, ,

its verve and for the inf erna l harmony which pervaded it .

They suppressed the dance air in A maj or 6 8 which w e -

,

play and in its stead introduced the great chaconne in

,

B flat unknown in Paris but well work ed ou t and most

, ,

striking and fiery What a conception is that Hatred .

s cene 1 I had never b efore so fully understood or admired

it I shuddered at this passage in the invo cation
.

S a uv ez moi d e l amour 3
'
-

R i en n es t si r e dou tabl e '

On th e first line the two oboes make a cruel discord on

the m aj or seven th like a woman s cry of t error and ,
’

keenest anguish But in the f ollowing verse .

,

C on t r e un enn emi t rop aim abl e ,

how tenderly d o those same two voices lamen t in thirds !

A few notes only but how full of regret 3 and h ow ,

on e feels th e enormous p ower o f love thus bemoaned !

I n fact no sooner has Hatred arrived with her terrible

,

attendants and begun her work than A rmid e interrupt s ,

h er and refuses her aid .

Thereup on th e chor us ,

S uis l amour puisqu e t u l e v eu x ’

, ,

I n f or t un é e A r m id e 3
S uis l a mour qui t e guid e '

D ans un abim e a ffr e u x

There the act ends and in Quinault s p oe m A rmide goe s ,
’

o u t with the chorus without a word But t o Gluck thi s .

 110 B ERL I N .
[ C H A R L IX .

d eno uement
’

seemed commonplace and unnatural 3 he desired

that the enchantress should remain for a moment alone and ,

then retire musing on what she had j ust heard 3 and on e

day after a rehearsal at the Op éra h e improvised both
words and music of the scene as they stand at th e end
O ci el ! qu ell e horribl e m en ac e
J e f r é mis t ou t mon s ang s e gl ac e
Amour puiss an t amour vi ens c alm er mon eff roi
, , ,

E t pr ends pi t i é d un coeur qui s ab an d onn e a t oi

’ '

T he music is lovely : full of melody harmony va g ue , ,

uneasiness touching languor — in a word of th e finest

, ,

d ramatic and musical inspiration .

Between e ach exclamation in the first two lines the

basses play a long chromatic phrase underlying a sort of ,

intermittent tremol o in the second violins w hich con ,

t inu es to gro w l and menace until at the word a m our in , ,

the third line the semi obscurity of the precedi n g bars is

,
-

relieved by the tender light o f a soothi n g melody After .

this all dies away A rm id e withdraws with down

.

cast eyes while the s econd violins abandoned by the rest

, ,

of the orchestra continue their solitary tremol o S tup en

,
.

dous genius to have creat ed such a scen e

Bless me ! My admiring analysis is really na me ; I
really might b e initiating you H ab en eck into th e , ,

b eauties of Gluck s work But you know it is involuntary !

’
.

I am talking to you n ow as we do s ometimes on the

b oulevards ; after the C onservatoire concerts wh en our ,

enthusiasm is too strong to b e kept in .

I will make one remark about th e mis e en s cene o f this

piece at Berlin .

The curtain drop s too quickly 3 it o ught t o wait

until the last bar of the final ritor nel otherwise A rmide s ,
’

sl ow exit up the stage is lost to sight This efiec t was .

112 B ERL I N .

mind . It was a k ind of voluptuous languor a fascinating ,

mor bid ezza that transported m e i nto the palace of l ove

d reamed of by Gluck and Tasso and se emed to resent it
p ,

to m e as an enchanted abode I closed my eyes and .

,

whilst listening to the divine gav otte with its caressing ,

melody and its s oftly murmuring m onotonous harmony ,

and the chorus Ja ma is cl a ns ces bea ux l ieusc s o exquisitely

, ,

graceful in its expression of happiness I seem ed t o b e ,

surrounded on all sides by enfolding arms adorable , ,

intertwining feet floating hair shining eyes and in t ox i

, , ,

cating smiles T h eflower of pleasure gently stirred by

'

,
.

the melodious breeze expande d an d a concert of sounds

, , ,

colours and p erfumes p oure d forth from its enchanting

,

coroll a Is this Gluck the terrib l e musician wh o sa n g

.
,

of the pai n s of Tartarus the desolate shores of Tauris

,

and its savage inhabitants ? Is it h e who could thus

reproduce in music s o marvellous an i d eal of voluptuous
reverie of repose in love ?
,
t y not ? Had he not
alrea d y opened the E lysian fields ? Was n ot he th e
c reator of that immortal chorus of the happy spirits
T o m a o b ell a al tuo consorte
, .
,

C h e non vuol ch e p iu di viso

S ia di t e pi et oso il ci el !

And as our great modern poet has said are not the ,

strongest generally also the gentlest ?

But I p erceive that the pleasure o f talking with you o f
all these beautiful things has carried me too far s o that I ,

cannot sp eak of the non dramatic musical institutions

-

flourishing at Berlin They shall b e the subj ect of a

.

second letter and shall s erve as a pretext for boring som e

,

on e els e with my indefatigable verbosity You don t ’

.

bear m e too great a grudge f or this do you ? In any case , ,

farewell I
 C H AP T E R L X .

B erlin .

L E TT E R I X — T O M ON SI E U R
. D E MA R E S T .

I S H O U L D never have done with this royal city of Berlin

i f I were to examine al l i t s musical wealth in detail .

Few if any capitals can b oas t such treasures Musi c

, ,
.

is in the air You breathe i t 3 i t p enetrates y ou Y ou

. .

find it in the theatre in church in the concert room , ,

-
,

in the street in the public gardens everywhere 3 eve r

, ,

great and proud stro ng and agile radiant with youth and
, ,

beau ty with noble and serious air like a beautiful armed

, ,

angel who sometimes deigns to w alk the earth bu t whos e

, ,

wings are always vibrating ready to tak e flight to heaven , .

The reason is that music in Berlin is honoured by all ,

and held in equal ven eration by rich and p oor artists and ,

ama t eurs clergy and soldiers King and people T he Ki ng

, , .

especially worships it with that genuine fervour which

animates his devotion to science and t he arts and that ,

is saying a grea t deal He follows with an eager eye the

.

onward progress of modern art withou t neglectin g the ,

preservation of the ancient masterpieces He has a .

prodigious m emory whi ch is indeed embarrassi ng t o his

,

librarians and kapell meisters when he calls on them un

-

expectedly f or the p erformance of certain un known pieces

f rom the ol d masters Nothing escap es h im either present

.

VOL . II . I
114 B ERL I N .
[ C H AR Lx .

or past 3 he wishes t o hear and to examine into every

t hing Hence the keen attracti o n Berli n has for great
.

artists the extraordinary universality of musical f eeling

,

in Prussia and hence also the choral and instrumental

,

institutions of its capital which I have always thought s o ,

worthy of ad miration .

One of these is the Singing Academy L ike tha t of .

L eip zig and all the other academies of the same nature in
Germany it is comp osed almost entirely of amateurs 3 but
,

several of the artists of the theatre b oth men and women , ,

also b elong to it and the ladies in the best society do not

,

think it at all derogatory to sing an oratorio of Bach side

by side with Mantius B oetich er or M dlle H ah n el Most , ,
. .

o f the singers in the Berlin academy are musicians and ,

nearly all hav e f resh and full voices 3 the sopranos and
basses in particular I thought excellent T he rehearsals .
,

moreover are skilfully directed at great length and with

,

much p atience by M R ungenh agen 3 and accordingly .

,

whenever a great work is p erformed the res ul ts are ,

magnificent and far b eyond anything of the same sort

at Paris .

I was in vi ted by the director to a p erformance of

S ebastian Bach s P as s ion That celebrated work with
’
.
,

which you are no doubt famil iar is written for two choirs ,

and two orchestras T he singers at least three hundred

.
, ,

were arranged in order upon the steps of a large amphi

theatre exactly like that in the chemistry lecture room at
,
-

the Jardin des Plantes 3 a sp ace of three or four feet sepa

rated the two choirs The two orchestras neither of them
.
,

large accompany the voices from th e highest steps behind

,

the chorus and are consequently somewhat distant from

,

the conductor who is placed below in front and close

, , ,

b eside the piano I ought rather to call it a h arpsi

.
116 B ERL I N .
[ C H A R Lx .

which th e s ound is coming be f ore t hey hear i t I should .

pre f er t he choristers to be always s eated if they could no t

remain standing But this impossibility is among thos e
.

which vanish instantaneously i f th e director knows h ow

t o s ay I wil l or I will not .

Be t his as it may there was something very imposin g

,

in t he per f ormance of these vocal bodies 3 the first tutti of

t he t wo choruses took away my breath as I did not expect ,

such a p owerful burst of harmony It must however be ad .

, ,

mitt ed that one wearies o f this fine s onorousness far m or e

quickly than that of the orchestra the tim bre of voice s ,

b eing less varied than that of instrumen t s This is easily .

understood 3 there are only four kinds of v oices while th e ,

number o f di ff erent instruments is upwards of thirty .

Y ou will not my dear D emarest exp ect an analysi s

, ,

from m e of Bach s great work 3 such a task would quite

’

excee d my prescrib ed limits Indee d t h e movement

.
,

p er f ormed at t h e C onservatoire three years ago m ay b e

considered th e typ e of the author s st y le throughout th e ’

work T he Germans profess an unlimited admiration

.

f or Bach s reci t atives but their p eculiar characteristi c

’
,

necessarily escap ed me as I did n ot understand th e

,

language and was unable to appreciate their expression

, .

Whoever is fa miliar with our musical customs in Pari s

must witness in order to believe th e attention respect
, , , ,

and even reverence with which a German public listen s

to such a comp osition E veryone f ollows th e words on
.

th e book wit h his eyes 3 n o t a movement amo n g th e

audi ence not a murmur of prais e or blame not a sound
, ,

of applause 3 they are listening to a solemn discourse they ,

are hear ing the gospel su n g they are attendi n g divine

,

s ervice rather than a concer t And really such musi c .

ought t o b e thus lis t ened t o They adore Bac h and

.
,
L E TT E R m] G RA U N S
’ “
T OD JES U .
”
1 17

believe in him without supp osing for a m omen t that his

,

d ivinity could ever b e called into question A heretic .

would horrify them he is forbidden even t o speak of

,

him God is God and Bach is Bach

.
.

’
S ome days after the p erf ormance o f Bach s ch ef
cl ce uvre the Singing Academy announced G raun s T od
’ ’

Jes u T his is another sacred work a holy book t h e

.
, ,

worshippers of which are however mainly t o b e f ound , ,

in Berlin whereas the religion of Bach is pro f essed

,

t hroughout the north of Germany .

You may j udge of the interest I felt in this second

s oir ée a f ter the impression made up on me by t h e firs t ,

a n d of the eagerness with which I would have mad e

a cquaintance wit h the favourite work of the great
Frederick s kap ell meister Behold my misfortune P re
’
-
.

c is el y on that day I fall ill 3 the doctor although a great ,

l over of music (the learned and amiable D r Gaspard ) .

,

f orbids m e to leave my room 3 in vain I am urged t o go

a n d admire a famous organist ; the doctor is inflexible 3

and n ot till after Holy Week when there are no more ,

oratorios or fugues or chorales to be heard does t h e

, , ,

Almighty restore m e to health Hence my en f orced .

silence about the famous musical service o f the B erlin

churches If I ever return to Prussia ill or well I
.
, ,

must hear G raun s music 3 and I will hear it y ou may

’

b e sure if I am to die f or it But in that case i t would

,
.

b e impossible f or me to tell you an y thing abou t it .

It is decided then that you will hear nothing on the

, ,

s ubj ect f r om m e s o you had b etter take the j ourney

ourself an d it will be for ou to give m e an account

y , y
of it .

As f or th e military bands on e would have designedly ,

t o avoid them not to hear at le ast s ome since at al l ,

1 18 B ERL I N .
[ C H A R Lx
.

hours o f the day either on foo t or on horseback the y

, ,

are p assin g through the s t reets of Berlin T hes e little .

isolated bands do not however give any idea of th e

, ,

maj esty of the grand whole which the head bandmaster

of t he military bands at Berlin and Potsdam (W ipr ech t
)
can collect whenever h e chooses Imagine he has a b ody .
,

o f upwards of six hundred musicians under his command ,

all good readers all well up in the mechanism of their

,

ins t ruments playing in tune and favoured by nature

, ,

with indefatigable lungs and l i ps of leather Hence the .

extreme f acility with which th e trump ets horns and , ,

cornets give those high notes unattainabl e by our

artis t s They are regiments of musicians rather than
.
,

musicians of regiments T he C rown Prince of Prussia

.
,

anticipating my desir e t o hear his musical troops and

study them at my leisure kindly invited m e to a m a tinee
,

organised at his house expressly for me and gav e W i ,

precht orders accordingly The audience was very small

.

twelve or fifteen at the most I was astonished at n ot .

s eeing the orchestra no sound betrayed its presence when

, ,

a slow phrase in F minor well known to both y ou and ,

me made me turn m y h ead towards the largest room in

'

the palace which was concealed from our sight b y an

,

immense curtain His royal highness had had t h e

.

courtesy t o order the concert to op en with th e overt ure

t o the Fr ancs Juges which I had never heard arranged
,

thus for wind instruments T here were thre e hundred .

and twenty players directed by W iprech t and difficul t

, ,

as the music was they performed it with marvellou s

,

exactness and that furious fire with which you of the

,

C onservatoire perform it on your great days of enthusiasm

and ardour .

The solo for the brass in the introduc t ion was especially
1 20 B ERL I N .
[ C H AR L x.

moments with the C rown P rincess of Prussia whos e ,

e xquisite taste and knowledge in composition make her

o pinion most valuable Her royal highness speaks our

.

language moreov er with a purity and elegance that

, ,

q ui te abashed her interlocutor I wish I could draw a .

S hakespearian p ortrait of the P rincess or at least give y ou ,

a glimpse of the veiled outline of her sweet beauty 3

I might dare t o do s o p erhaps were I a great p oet
, , .

I was present at on e of the C ourt concerts Meyerb eer .

was at the piano There was no orchestra and the singers

.
,

were those o f the theatre whom I have already mentioned ,

.

T owards the end of the evening Meyerbeer— who , ,

although a great pianist and indeed p erhaps for that , , ,

very reason sometimes wearies of his task as an acc om

p y
an is t — gave up his place : guess to whom — to the K ing s
’

first Chamb erlain the C ount de R oedern who a ecom

, ,

p a n ie d Madame D ev rien t in S chubert s E r l K ing like a ’

pianist and consummate musician ! What do you s ay t o

that and to the ama zing spread of musical knowle dge
,

which it betokens ? M de R oedern has also another talent

.
,

o f which he gave bril liant proof by organising the famous

masked ball that created such a s ensation at Berl in last

winter under the name of The Festival of the C ourt o f
,
”
Ferrara and for which Meyerbeer wrote a host of pieces
,
.

These ceremonious concerts always see m cold 3 but people

fin d them very agreeable when they are over because they ,

usually brin g together s ome hearers with whom on e is

proud and pleased to have a moment s conversation In ’
.

this way I met in the pres ence of the King o f Prussia

, ,

with M Alexander von Humboldt s o celebrated in

.
,

scientific literature and the great anatomist of the terres

,

trial globe .

S everal times in the course of the evening the King and

L E TT E R 1x .
] CO UR T CO N C ER T . 1 21

Q ueen and the C rown Princess of Prussia came and talked

to m e about the concert I had j ust given at the Grand
T h e atre asking my opinion about the principal Prussian
,

artists questioning me abo ut my methods of in s t r umenta

,

tion e tc etc The King declared that I had fired the

, .
,
.

s p irit of all the musicians inhis orchestra .

After supp er His Maj esty prepared to return to his

,

apartments but suddenly coming to me as though he had

,

changed his mind

B y the way Monsieur Berlio z wha t shall you give us
- -
, ,

at your next concert

S ire I shall repeat half of the preceding programme

, ,
”
with five pieces out of my sympho n y R omeo a nd Jul iet ,
.

“
R omeo and Jul iet and I am abou t to make a j ourney
,
.

We must hear that however I will come back ,

”
And . .

a ccordingly on the evening of m y second concert five ,

minutes before the app ointed hour the Kin g got out of his ,

c arriage and entered h is b ox .

T hose t wo s o ir ées gave m e a great deal of t rouble I ,

a ssure you And yet the artists were clever and well
.

disposed and Meyerbeer seemed to multi ply himself in

,

order to assist me T he fact is that th e requirements of

.
,

a great theatre like that of Berli n are quite incompatible

with preparations for a concert and Meyerbee r m ust ,

c ertainly have used greater pressure and address to over

come all these recurri n g di fficulties than in gettin g up

the H uguenots f or the first time Moreover I had wished .
,

to bring out the great pieces from the R equiem the ,

P rose ( D ies I raz L a crgmos a which I had not

, ,

yet attempted in the other German towns and you ,

know what a vocal and instrumental preparation they

necessitate Fortunately I had warned Me y erbeer of
.
,

my intention and before my arrival he had been already

,
1 22 B ERL I N .
[ C HA R Lx
.

searching f or t he means necessary to carry i t out As f or .

the f our little brass orchestras it was easy to find the m

,

— w e could have had thir ty i f necessary— but the kettle

drums and drummers gave a great deal of trouble H o w .

ever by the aid of W iprech t we succeeded at last in

, ,

getting them together .

For the first rehearsals we were put into a splendid

concert room belonging to the s econd theatre th e echo of
-
,

which was unhappily s o great that on my first entrance I

,

s aw what we should have t o endure The res onance pro .

d u ced an insupportable confusio n and made th e practic e ,

o f the orchestra exceedingly difficult T here was one .

piece indeed the s ch erzo from R omeo a nd Juliet that we

, , ,

were obliged to give up altogether not having succeeded in ,

doing more than on e half after an hour And yet I rep eat
-
.
, ,

the orchestra could not have b een better composed B ut .

we had not sufficient time and were obliged to postpon e

,

the s ch erzo to the second concert I got used to the .

hubbub at last 3 I found out what the echo would allow

to b e done and what it would n ot and we pursued our ,

studies accordingly without taking into consideration th e

e ff ect which was very di ff erent from what w e obtained
,

afterwards in th e op era concert room The overture t o -

.

’
B envenuto H arol d Web er s I nvita tion and the pieces
, , ,

from the R equiem were thus learnt by th e orchestr a

alone the chorus working in another room At the
,
.

special rehearsal which I had called for the four brass

orchestras in the D ies I rce and the L acrgmos a I observed ,

for the third tim e the follo wing fact which has always ,

remained inexplicable to me
In the middle of the T u ba M irum the four groups of
trombones play th e four notes of the chord of G maj or
in succession The bar is a long on e ; the first group
.
1 24, B ERL I N .
[ C H AR Lx
.

not tell what t o answer they did not know themselves 3

,

1
the two otes fascinat ed them
n .

The rest of the programme the orchestra understood ,

and carried out my intentions perfectly We soon .

m anaged to h ave a general rehearsal in the theatre on

t h e stage arranged with steps as for a concert Sym .

phony overture cantata all went to a wish but whe n

, , , ,

it came to the s election from the R equiem there was a

g eneral panic 3 the chorus had practised in d ifl eren t t emp os
°

f rom mine and when they found th emselves combined

,

with the orchestra at the proper sp eed they no longer ,

knew what they were about they came in wrong or ,

w ithout confidence and in the L a crgmos a the tenors left

,

o ff singing altogether I did not know what saint to

.

invoke Meyerbeer was ill and unable to leave his bed

.
,

t h e choirmaster was ill also the orchestra b ecam e ,

d emoralised in the chorus by the confusion For on e .

moment I s at down quite exhauste d and asked myself ,

whether I should leave the m all in the lurch and run

a way that same evening And I thought of you at that
.

“
d readful moment and said to myself :
,
It is madness to
go on ! Oh if D emarest were here ! he who is never
,

satisfied with our C onservatoire rehearsals ; and if he could

s ee m e bent on allowing the concert to b e announced for

to morrow I know very well what he would do 3 he would

-
,

s hut m e up in my room put the k ey in his p ocket and

, ,

bravely go and inform the m anager of the theatre that the

”
c oncert could not take place .

Y ou kno w you would have done s o would not you ? ,

1 A t t h e l as t t w o p er form anc es o f t h e Re qui em in t h e C hurch o f

S t E us t ach e in P aris t his p ass age w as giv en ho w ev e r w i thou t a
.
, , , ,

mis t ak e [No di ffi cult y w a s f ound at t h e C rys tal P al a c e at t h e

.

p er f orm anc es in 1 882 an d

L E TT E R 1 X ] . A S UDDE N D I FF IC UL T Y . 1 25

Well y ou would have been wron g as I shall prov e t o y ou

, , .

A f ter the first trembling fi t had p assed and the first cold
p erspiration was wip ed off I cam e t o a decision and I said
, ,

T he thing must be done

R ies and Gan z the t wo maitres de concert wer e clos e
, ,

to me not knowing really what to s ay t o reassure me

, .

”
Are y ou sure of the orches t ra ? said I sharply .

Yes there is nothing to be a fraid of as far as i t is

,

concerned ; we are very tired but we understand your ,

”
music and to morro w y ou wil l be satisfied
,
-
.

“
V ery well then there is only on e thing to be d one 3
,

you mus t summon the chorus for to m orrow mornin g -

give m e a good accompanyist and on e o f you bring you r ,

violin and we will practise the singing for t hree hours if

,

necessary .

All right We will b e there Orders shall be given .

”
directly .

Accordingly nex t morning we set t o work R ies th e

, , ,

accompanyist and myself We took each part of the

,
.

chorus in succession 3 made t hem sing in groups of t en ,

then of twenty then j oined two parts three f our and

, , , ,

finally all the voices And like P haeton in the fable I

.
,

exclaimed at last
Q u ’
es t c e-
c e ci ? M on ch ar m arch e a souh ai t .

I made a little speech to th e chorus which R ie s ,

translated into German phras e by phrase 3 and behold al l

our forces reanimated full of courage and enchanted at
, ,

not having lost a battle in which both their honour and

mine were at stake On the contrary we gained a
.
,

brilliant victory It is needless t o s ay the overture t h e

.
,

symphony and the C ing M ai cantata were splendidly

,

p erformed in the evening With such an orchestra and .

1 26 B ERL I N .
[ C HAR Lx .

a singer like B oetich er it could not b e otherwise But

, .

when the R equiem came everyone being very attentive

, ,

very earnest and desirous of pleasing m e the orchestras

, ,

and the chorus being p erfectly placed everyone at his ,

post nothing wanting w e b egan the D ies I rce N O mis

, ,
.

takes no indecision 3 the chorus sustain ed the assault of

,

the orchestra without fl in ch in g 3 the fourfold p eal of trum

p ets broke forth from th e four corners of the stage alrea dy ,

vibrating with the rolling of the ten kettle drums and the -

t r emol o of fifty bows 3 and in the midst of this cataclysm

of sinister harmonies and noise from the other world the

hundred and twenty v oices hurled forth their terrible

prediction
J u d ex ergo cum s ed eb it
Q uid q uid l at et ap p ar ebit

For one instant the public overwhelmed the opening of

th e L iber s crip tus with applause and we reached th e ,

last s otto uoce chords of the M ors s tup ebit trembling but
victorious .

And what delight among the p erformers ! What

glances flashed from end t o end of the stage As for me ,

I had a p eal of b ells in my heart a mill wheel in m y ,

-

head my knees were knocking against each other 3 I

,

dug my nails into the desk 3 and if I had not forced ,

m yself at the last bar to laugh and talk very loud and
f ast with R ies who kept by my side I am quite s ure
, ,

that for the first time in my life I shoul d as soldiers

, , ,

say have tur n ecl up m y e y es in a m ost absurd manner

, .

The first volley once endured the rest was mere play and, ,

the L a crgmos a finished up that apocalyptic evening to

the author s entire satisfaction
’
.

When the concert was over a great many p eople cam e ,

up and sp ok e t o me congratulated me and sh ook me by

, ,
1 28 B ERL I N .
[ C H A R Lx .

go And it did go nearly as well as a t Brunswick Y ou

.
,
.

can venture a great deal with such musicians — musicians

who were not only directed by Meyerbeer but had had a ,

long apprenticeship under Sp ontini .

This second concert was equally success f ul with th e

fir s t 3 the pieces from R omeo were very well played .

Q ueen bl a b pu zzled the public a good deal including ,

certain learned hearers 3 witness th e C rown Princess of

Prussia who was bent on finding out how I had produced
,

the e ffect of the accompaniment in the a ll egretto and never ,

imagined that in s everal places it was done with the har

moni os of the violins and harps T he King pre f erre d the.

F ete a t th e C ap ul ets and asked for a copy 3 but I think

’
,

that the sympathies of the orchestra were rather with

the S cene cl amour (a d agio)
’
In that cas e the Berlin
.

musicians were of the same way of thinking as the

P aris ones At the rehearsal Mademoisell e H ah n el sung
' ’

,
.

the contralto verses of the prologue with perfect sim

p l icit
, y b ut a t the concert s h e thought it her duty at

the end of th e lines ,

on s e consum e
L e rossignol en longs soupirs

t o emb ellish the pause with a long shake in imitation of

the nightingale Oh mademoiselle !
.
,What treason !
And you seemed so nice
Well well ! there are some p eople who openly pre f er
,

t he C ing M ai to the D ies I rce the T u ba M irum the , ,

L acrgmos a and Ofier toire from the R equiem the ,

overtures to B envenuto and King L ear H ar old the , ,

S er enade P ilgrims and B rigancls R omeo a nd Juliet

, , , ,

the concert and bal l at the C apulets the witcheries of ’

,

Q ueen Mab to everything in f act t hat I performed at

, , ,

B erlin !
LE TT E R 1x .
] FA RE WELL . 1 29

I know th at impressions are as varied as voi ces but ,

when they told me this I was obliged to make a wry f ace .

Happily these opinions are quite excep t ional .

Farewell my dear D emarest ; y ou know that in a

,

f ew days we shall have t o p erform an an t hem at th e

C onserva t oire ; assemble your sixteen grand violoncellos .

I shall b e very happy to hear them again and t o s ee y ou

,

at t heir head It is s o long sinc e we have played t ogether

. .

A n d in order to give them a treat t ell th em I shal l

, ,

conduc t wi th Mendelssohn s bat on Yours ever

’
.
,

H B
. .

VO L . II .
 C H AP T E R L X I .

H anov er —D arms t ad t .

L E TT E R X .
—T o MR . G A O SB OR NE
. . .

A L A S ! alas ! my dear Osborne my j ourney is dr awing ,

to a close I am leaving P russia full of gratitude f or

.
,

the welcome I received there for the war m sympathy o f ,

the artists and the indulgence both of the critics an d the

,

public 3 but weary an d exhausted by the life of excessive

activity and th e continual rehearsals with fresh orchestras .

S o weary am I that I shall give up Breslau V ienna , ,

and Munich for the present and get back to France A , .

certain vague uneasiness a fever in my blood an aim

, ,

less restlessness in heart and head already tell m e that ,

I am again in communication with the electric current of

Paris. Paris ! Paris ! as our great poet A Barbier has , .
,

but too truly depicted i t

C ette in fern al e cuv e ,

C ette f oss e d e pi err e aux imm ens es con t ours ,

Q u u n e eau j aun e e t t err eus e en f erm e a t ripl e s t ours 3

'

C e s t u n volc an fum eu x et t oujours en h al ein e

’

, ,

Q u i r emu e a lon g fl ot d e l a m at i er e hum ain e

‘
.

L a p ersonn e ne dort l a t oujours l e c erv eau

,

T r a v a ill e, comm e l arc t end son rud e cord eau

'

et , , .

It is there that our art n ow lies dormant and then again ,

bursts into a flame 3 there music is at once sublime and

1 32 H AN O V ER .
[ C H AR L XI .

habits the more artistic the artis t th e more h e has

, ,

t o b ear ; the greater and more original h is work the ,

more s everely does h e suff er from the co n sequences it

entails 3 the more elevated his thoughts th e further is he ,

removed from the dim ey es of the crowd .

T he Medicis are dea d They will hardly be replaced .

by our deputies You remember th e profound re mark of

.

a provincial L ycurgus on hearing s ome p oetry by on e

of our greatest poets ( the on e wh o wrote L a C h ute
“ ”
d u n A nge) Yes h e sai d op ening his snuff box
’
.
, ,

with a paternal air y es I have a nephew w h o writes ,

little trifl es like that After this will y ou look f or

.
,

encouragement for artists f rom the colleague of th e

p oet ?
You virtuosi who do not stir the musical emo t ions of
,

large m asses who only write f or the orchestra of your

,

two hands and are indep endent of vast rooms and large
,

choirs you have little to fear from contact with vu l gar

,

habits and y et you also feel their effects S cribble som e

,
.

brilliant trifle and the publishers w ill cover it with gold

,

and scramble for it 3 but if you have the misfortune

t o develop a serious idea under a grand f orm then y ou ,

are done for 3 the work remains on your hands or at any ,

rate if it is published no on e buys it

, , .

It is only fair to s ay in order slightly t o j ustify Paris

,

and constitutionalism that it is the same almost every

,

where else At V ienna as here a f ashionable wri t er is

.
, ,

paid a thousand francs f or a song or a waltz while ,

Beethoven was obliged to give the Symphony in C minor

f or less th an half that s um .

Y ou have published trios and various pieces for t h e

piano solo grand in composition and elevated in style 3
,

and even without searching through your f ull r ep ertoire ,

L E TT E R x .
) O S B O R N E S S O NG S
’
. 33

y our solo songs such as ,

T h e bea ting f my
o own h ear t,
M g l onely h ome, your
or, S uch things wer e— which
s ister Mrs Hampton sings s o p oetically— are fascinating
, .
,

things Nothing excites my imagination m ore vividly

.

and makes it fly m ore rapl dl y to the green hills of

Ireland than those quaint original melodies which
, ,

see m wafted by the evening bree z e over the g en t ly

rippli n g waves of the L ake of Killarney ; or thos e
hymns of resigned love to which one listens with un ,

c onscious emotion drea m ing of solitude of grand nature ,

, ,

of beloved beings who are no more of the heroes ,

of ancien t times of one s su ff ering country even of ’

, ,

“ ”
death itself d reamy a nd ca l m a s th e n igh t according
, ,

t o the expression of your national poet Thomas Moore , .

Well put all these inspirations all this melancholy

, ,

poetry in the balance with some turbulent caprice devoid

a like of mind and heart such as music sellers often ord er ,
-

y o u to write on the m ore or less vulgar themes of th e

new op eras where the notes j ostle pursue and roll over
, , ,

on e another like a handf ul of bells shaken in a bag ,

an d you will soon see on which side the monetary

’
s uccess would be N 0 one must make up one s mind
.
,

that — except for cer tain chance circumstances and certain

a ssociations with the inferior arts always more or less ,

d egrading — music is not productive in the commercial

s ense of the word ; it addresses itself too exclusively t o

e xceptional intelligent society it demands t oo much ,

preparation too many appliances There must there

,
.

fore of necessity be a sort of honourable ostracism f or

t hose wh o cultivate it without being in any way ,

preoccupied by foreign interests E ven the greatest .

n a t ions are with regard to artists pure and simple like

, ,

the deputy of whom I spoke j ust n ow 3 side by side with

1 34 H AN O V ER .
[ C H A R L xi .

the gian t s of human genius they place t heir ,

n ep h ews

wh o als o wr ite, etc . etc .

In the archives of on e of the L ondon theatres is a .

letter addressed to Q ueen E lizabeth by a troup e of actors ,

and signed by twenty obscure names among which is ,

that of William Shakespeare with the collective designa ,

1
tion of Your p oor p la y ers Shakesp eare was on e of those .

p oor l
p y a ers And yet
. d ramatic art in th e tim e of
S hakespeare was more appreciated by the masses than
it is in our day by those nations which lay most claim t o
p ossess a feeling for it Music is essentially aristocratic 3 .

it is a daughter of noble race such as princes only can ,

dower nowadays who must be able t o live p oor and

,

u nmated rather than form a m es a l lia nce All thes e re

’

fl ection s you have d oubtless made to yoursel f a hundred

times and I imagine you will be obliged to m e to cut
,

them short and give you an account of my two last

,

concer t s in Germany after leaving Berli n ,

.

This account will however off er you nothing of great, ,

interest as far as I am concerne d I shall be obliged .

again to speak of works w hich I have probably already

m entioned too frequently in previous letters ; the same
everlasti n g C ing Ma i H ar ol d selections from R omeo
i
, ,

a nd J ul iet etc The sam e deficiencies in certain in s tru

, .

m entalists the same excellence in other parts of the ban d

, ,

constitut ing what I shall call the old orchestra — Mo zart s ’

1
[I tis a pi t y t o d es t roy t h e f orc e o f this n eat an d apposi te illus
t rat ion b u t un f or tun at ely i t is an e n t ir e fi ct ion l etter “
, T he .

r ef erre d t o wa s a p et it ion purport in g t o b e from t h e B urbages

, ,

S h ak esp ear e an d th eir fello w pl ay ers o w nin g t h e B l ackfri ars a nd

,
-

G lob e T h eat r es t o t h e L ords o f t h e Q u een s Privy C ouncil I t w as

’
.
,

t o b e f ound no t in t h e archiv e s o f a L ondon th eat r e bu t in t h e

,
“
,

S t ate P a p er O ffi c e 3 an d on att en t ion b ein g dir ec te d t o i t som e y ears

ago i t w as prov e d t o b e a f org ery an d h as n o w dis a pp ear e d ] ,
1 36 H AN O VER .
[ C HAR L XI .

me that success I shall be care f ul in f ut ure to t ak e

.

nothing with me and always travel as I am now do ing

,
.

This was n ot the opinion however of our wi t ty and , ,

j ovial dramatic censor Perpignan when he exclaimed

, , ,

a p ros to a man who was saved in a duel by the b ulle t

being stopped by a fiv e franc piece in his wais t coa t
-

“
pocke t : T hes e rich f ellows are s o lucky ; I should h ave
been killed on t he spot .

I arrived at Hanover where A Bohrer was exp ec t in g

, .

me T he intendant M de Meding had kindly put both

.
,
.
,

band and theatre at my disposal and I was j ust beginnin g ,

my rehearsals when the death of the D uke of S ussex t h e ,

brother of the King threw the C ourt into mourning and

, ,

t he concert had to be postp oned f or a week which gav e ,

m e a little more time to make acquaintance with th e

principal artists who were about to suff er from the bad
ch aracter of my compositions I could not become par .

t icul arl y intima t e with the kapell meister Marschner as -

, ,

his di fficulty in expressing hi mself in French made our

conversations rather laboured besides which he was ,

extremely busy He is now on e of the first composers

.

in Germany and everyone appreciates the eminent meri t

,

of his works ,
D er Va mp gr and D er T emp l ar Bohrer .

I kne w already B eeth ov en s trios and quar t ets had

.
o
’

brought us into contact at Paris and our mutual en ,

th u s ias m f or these had not cooled since Bohr er is on e .

of thos e men who strike m e as best able to un derstand

such of Beethoven s works as are commonly repu t ed

’

eccentric and unintelligible I can st ill s ee him a t

.
~

quartet rehearsals where his brother Max (the cele

,

b ra ted V ioloncello player ) C laudel ( the second violin ) ,

,

and Urb an (the viola ) seconded him s o we l l Max as .

,

he studied t hat t ranscenden t music smil ed with pride ,

LE TT E R x .
] THE B OH RER S . 1 37

and pleasure ; he seemed to be in his natural element ,

and to breathe p erf ect happiness Urb an adored in .

silence 3 lowering his eyes as though b efo re th e s un he , ,

seemed to s ay : God has willed that there should be a

man as great as Beethoven and that we should be p er ,

m itted to contemplate him G od has willed it C laudel.

c hiefly a dmired this pro f ound admiration As for Antoin e .

Bohrer (the first violin ) it was passion at its zenith it

, ,

was love in ecstasy One evening in one of those sup er

.
,

human acl agios where Beethoven s genius soars u pwards

,
’

immense and solitary as th e colossal bird of the snowy

heights of C himbora z o B ohrer s violin whilst si nging the
,
’
,

s ublime melody seemed animated by epic inspiration 3

,

his tone acquired a twofold power of expressio n and ,

broke f orth in accents unknown even to himself 3 in

spiration shone out on the countenance of the v irtuoso .

We held our breath with swelling hearts wh en Antoine ,

suddenly stopping short laid down his fiery bow and ,

rushed into an adj oining room Madame Bohrer followed .

anxiously bu t Max sai d still smiling

, ,

“
It is nothing 3 he could not contain himself We .

will leave him for a little to get calm and then begin ,
”
a gain .We must excuse him .

E xcuse h im ? Beloved artist

At Hanover Antoine Bohrer fulfilled the duties of
,

maitre de concert He now comp oses but little his dearest

.
,

o ccupation being to direct the musical education of his

daughter a charming chil d of twelve whose marvellous

, ,

o rganisation fills her friends with not unnatural f ears In .

the first place h er talent as a pianist is most extra

,

ordin ary 3 besides which her memory is such that in t h e

!

concerts s h e gave last year at V ienna her father instead , ,

o f a programme printed a list of seventy two pieces

,
-
1 38 H AN O V ER .
[ C H A R L XI .

s onatas f an t asias fugues variations studies by Beethoven

, , , , ,

Weber C ramer Bach Handel L is zt Thalberg C hopin

, , , , , , ,

D Oh l er etc — which the little S ophie knew by heart

’

,
.
,

and could without hesitation play from memory j us t

, ,

as the assembly might desire It is enough for her t o .

play over a piec e three or four times no matter ,

h ow long or complicate d never to f orget it S o m any ,

.

combinations o f different kinds engraving themselves thus

in this young brain ! Is there not so m ething prodigiou s
in it and calculated to inspire as much terror as admira
,

tion ? We must hope that when little Sophie has b ecome

Mdlle Bohrer s h e will return to us in a few years and
.
,

that the Parisian public may then become acquainted with

that phenomenal talent of which as yet it has but a , ,

v ery feeble conception .

The orchestra at Hanover is good but has not sufficien t ,

stringed instrum ents There are only seven first v iolins

.
,

seven seconds three altos four violoncellos and three

, , ,

double basses -
S ome of the v iolins are weak the
.
,

violoncellos are skilful the altos and double— basses good ,

.

The wind instruments deserve all praise especially the ,

first flute the first oboe (E dward R ose whose p ia nis s imo
, ,

playin g is matchless ) and the first clarinet (with an ,

exquisite tone ) The two bassoons (there are only two )

.

play in tune which is unhappily a very rare thing T h e

, , ,
.

horns are not firs t rate but they pass muster The trom
-
,
.

b ones are steady the old fashioned trump ets pretty good
,
-
.

T here is one splendid cylinder trumpet ; the name of the

player is S achse like that of his rival at Weimar 3
,

and I hardly kno w which is the best of the two T h e .

first oboe plays the cor a ngl ais but his instrument is ,

very m uch ou t o f tune There is no ophicleide but the .

,

bass tubas in the military band can be used w ith adv an

1 40 D A R MS T AD T .
[ C H A R L XI .

is still wondering what the devil it all meant Dr . .

G riepenk erl had come f rom Brunswick express 3 he was

obliged to admit that there was a notable diff erence in
the artistic spirit of the t w o places We amused ourselves .

— h e and I and some Brunswick officers —in torment

‘
ing p oor Bohrer by describing th e musical f éte they
had given m e at Brunswick three months be f ore T he .

details broke his heart M G riepenkerl then made m e a

. .

present o f his work about m yself and in retur n asked m e

,

to give him the baton with which I had j ust conducted

the C ing Ma i . L et us hop e that these batons thus
.
,

planted in France and Germany will tak e root and b e ,

come trees under which I may some day find shelter .

The Prince R oyal of Hanover was present at this

concert I had the honour of conversing with h im f or
.

a f e w mome nts before my departure and I t h ink mysel f ,

lucky to have had this opportunity of becoming acquainted

with his gracious and aff able manners and his distinguished
mind the s erenity of which has been in no w is e disturbed
,

by the dreadf ul misfortune of the loss of his sight .

Now for D armstadt I pass C assel at s even in th e

.

1
morning But S pohr is asleep and must not be awakened
. .

To continue I return to Frankfort for the fourth time

. .

T here I again find Parish Alvars who magnetises me by

-
,

his fantasia in harmonics on the chorus of the

Nai ades fro m O beron The man is a wizard and his
.
,

har p is a siren with a b eautiful curved neck and long

dishevelled hair breathing forth the fascinating sounds
,

o f another world under the passionate embrace of his

p owerful arms .

There too is Guhr very much e x ercised by the work

,

m en who are repairing his theatre Ah by Jove ! y ou .

,

1
[ S pohr w as k ap ell m eis te r at C ass el ]
-
.
LE TT E R x .
] G U H R AGAI N . 1 41

must excuse me Osborne if I leav e y ou t o s ay a f ew

, ,

words t o that formidable kap ell meister I will re t urn -

.

immediately .

My dear Guhr ,

D o y ou kno w that many p eople have made m e f ear

that y ou took amiss the little j okes I p ermitted m ysel f
to make at your expense when describing our firs t inter
vie w ? I doubted it greatly knowin g your mind and y et , ,

the doubt troubled me .

I now hear that far fro m having been annoyed at the

discords I lent to the harmony of your conversation you ,

were the first to laugh a t them an d tha t you had a ,

German translat ion of my letter printed in one of t he

Frank f ort newspapers That s right Y ou understand a
.
’
.

j oke and besides n o on e is los t f or a little swearing

, , .

Hurrah ! T er gue guatergue uiuat S N T T R egard . . . .

m e as really one o f your bes t friends and accept a ,

thousand f resh compliments on your Frank f or t band

worthy of being conducted by an artist lik e yourself .

Farewell ! Farewell ! S N T T . . . .

Here I am again .

Well L e t us s ee T he question now is abou t D arm

.

s t adt There w e shall find some friends 3 among others

.
,

L Sch losser the concert meis t er f or merly my f ellow

.
,
-
,

studen t at L esueur s during his stay in Paris Besides

’

, .
,

I brought letters from M d e R othschild of Frankfort .

, ,

t o P rinc e E mile who gav e m e the mos t charming

,

welcome and more solid assistance f or my concert tha n

I had dared to hop e In most of the German t own s
“

where I had hitherto given concerts the arrangemen t ,

wi t h the managers o f the theatres had been almost al way s

1 42 DA R M S T AD T .
[ C HAR L XI .

identical the manager undertaking most of the expenses

,

and I receiving hal f the gross receipts T he Weimar .

Theatre alone courteously allowed me all the proceeds .

As I have said b efore Weimar is an artistic town and

, ,

the ducal family know h ow to honour the arts .

Well at D armstadt the Grand duke not only gran t ed

, ,
-

m e the same favour but wished f urther to exempt me

,

f rom every kind of expense T his generous s overeign

.

certainly has no nep h ews wh o a ls o wr ite etc , .

T he concert was speedily organise d and far from ha v ing ,

to ask f or rehearsals from the orchestra it would fain ,

have had an additional week s study We had five ’

.

rehearsals All went well with the exception of the

.
,

chorus at the beginning of th e love s cene in R omeo a nd

Jul iet T he performance of this piece was a regular vocal
.

rout 3 the tenors of the second choir were nearly a semi

tone flat and thos e of th e first cam e in w rong at the
,

return of the theme The singing master was in a fury

.
-
,

the more s o b ecause h e had taken infinite p ains with the

singers for a week past .

The D armstadt orchestra is a little larger than that of

Hanover It has an exceptionally good ophicleide The
. .

harp p art is given to a p a inter w h o in spite of all his , ,

efiorts and good will is never sure of giving much col our
,

to his performance Th e remainder of the instrumental

.

body is we l l arranged and animated by the best spirit

, .

T here is on e remarkable virtuos o He is named M u ller .

,

— not however a m ember o f the celebrated M u ller

, ,

f amily of Brunswick His almost colossal stature permits

.

of his playing the true four stringed double bass with - -

marvellous f acility Without trying as he easily might

.
, ,

to execute turns and trills of needless difiicul ty and

grotesque eff ect he m akes this enormous instrument si n g
,
1 44 D A R M S T AD T .
[ C HA R L XI

play in good time with style and with such a f eeling f or

, ,

rh y thm that even the drum parts are interesting .

R eichel (the splendid bass who was of such use to m e

at Hamburg ) happened to have been some time at D arm
stadt when I arrived there and had obtained quite a ,

triumph in the part of Mar c el in the H uguenots He was .

again s o kind as to sing th e C ing M a i but w ith a talen t ,

an d s entiment far beyond what he showed at the firs t

p erformance He was esp ecially admirable in the last

.

strophe most di fficult to express properly

,

W ie ? S terb en e ? r 0 R uhm ver wais t bis t d a

W h at sh all h e d ie ? 0 F am e t h en art t hou w ido we d
,

T he air f rom Mo zart s F iga ro N on p iu a ndrai w hich

’
, ,

we had added to the programme showed the versatility ,

of his talent and exhibited it under a n ew aspect

, ,

which brought him an encore from the w hole room ,

and in the morning a very profitable engagement at

the D armstadt Theatre No occasion to tell you the .

rest .

If ever y ou go to that part of the world they will tell ,

y ou that my nai ve vanity was such that I thought both

artists and public very intelligent .

Here we are my dear Osb orne at the end of perhaps

, ,

t he most di fficult musical pilgrimage ever undertaken

by a musician and th e m emory of which I know will
,

hover over the remainder of my life L ike the religious .

men of ancient Greece I have been consulting the ,

oracle of D elphi Have I rightly u nderstood its reply ?

.

C an I think it favourable to my wishes ? Are there no

f als e oracles ? The future — the future alone will decide .

Be this as it may I must now return to France and

,

bid my final farewell to Germany that noble second ,

LE TT E R x .
] FA RE W ELL TO G ERMAN Y . 1 45

m o ther of all t he sons of harmony B ut where can I .

fin d expressions adequate to m y grat it u d e my adml ra ,

‘

tion and my regret ?

,
What hymn could I sing
worthy of her greatness and her glory ? On
leaving her I can only b ow with reverence an d s ay in
,

a voice broken with emotion :

“
V ale German ia alma p arens
, ,

VO L . II .
 C H AP T E R L X II .

I get up F r egsch utz f or the O per a—M y e —

R ci t t iv s T h e S ing ers
a e

D ess au er —M Lé on Pill et — H avoc m ad e by his succ essors in

.

W eb er s w ork
'

I H A D j ust returned from this lo ng peregrination in

Germany wh en M Pillet t he D irector of the Op éra
,
.
, ,

formed the p l an of getting up the F r ey s ch iitz for the

stage But in that work the diff erent parts are preceded
.

and followed by prose dialogue as in our comic O peras , ,

and since the usages of the O pera require that every

thin g in its dramas or lyrical tragedies should be sung ,

1
the spoken text had to b e put into recitative M Pillet . .

off ered me this task .

“ “
I do not think I answered that the recitatives
, ,

you wish for ought to b e added to the Fr egsch u tz at all .

However since it can only be performed at the Op éra

,

on that condition and as you would probably if I

, ,

declined the composition give it to someone less familiar ,

with Weber than myself and certainly less devoted to ,

the glorification of his ch ef d oeuvr e I accept your off er ’

,

on on e condition : the piece shall be played exactly as it

is without any alteration either in the book or the music

,
.

1
[T h e d is t inc t ion b etw een in Fr anc e an d any
a gr a nd Op er a
o th er kind is th at t h e gr a nd op era mus t b e sung f rom b eginning t o
'

en d . T h e mi xt ur e o f spo k e n di alo gu e w i th t h e music cons ti t utes an

op er a comiqu e— n o t n e c e ss arily a com ic op er a ] .
1 48 PA R I S .
[ C HAR

my obstinacy : the sp oken dialogue when s et t o music , ,

seemed too long notwithstanding all my precautions t o

,

render it as concise as p ossible I never could m ake th e .

actors alter their slo w heavy and e mphatic manner of

, ,

singing th e recitative 3 and in the scenes be t ween Max

and Gaspard esp ecially the essentially simple and familiar
,

flow of their conversation had all the solemnity o f a

scene from a lyrical tragedy T his rather marred th e
.

general effect but the s u ccess was nevertheless v ery

,

striking . I did n ot wish to b e known as th e author

of these recitatives notwithstanding that both artists
,

and critics discovered dramatic qual ities in them and ,

especially praised th e style which they said harmonised

,

exactly with Web er s and the reserve in the in s trum en

’
,

t ation which even my enemie s themselves were f orced t o

,

admit .

Just as I had f oreseen D uprez who ten years b e f ore

, , , ,

had in his then weak tenor voice sung Max (Tony ) in

t h e pasticcio of R obin des R ois at the Od eon could not
’

adapt this same part— rather low in general it is true ,

-
to his great first tenor organ He proposed some .

singul ar transpositio n s necessarily intermingled with the

,

m ost se n seless m odul ations and grotesque transitions .

I cut short all these follies by assuring M P illet .

that D uprez c ould not s ing this part without by his own ,

showing ruining it completely

, .

It was then given t o Mari é the second t enor whose , ,

voice was not wanting in tone a very good musician but ,

a thick and heavy singer .

Neither coul d Mdme Stoltz sing Agatha without trans

.

p osing her two principal airs I had to put the first .

( which is in E ) into D and to lower the

,
prayer in
the third act from A flat to F which d eprived it ,
L X II ]
. A S IN GE R S C AP R IC E . 1 49

of three f ourths o f its delicious colouring On the other

-
.

hand s h e was able to maintai n the sextett at the end

,

in its proper key and sang her part w ith a spirit and
,

enthusias m that made the whole room ring with applaus e

each night There is ab out on e quarter of real di fficulty
.
,

a nother quarter of ignorance and a good hal f of cap rice ,

in the obj ections raised by singers to rendering certain

parts as they are written .

I rememb er that D upre z in th e song out of my

‘

o p era B envenu to C el l ini L a gl oire eta it m a s eul e id ol e

’

, , ,

o bstinately refused to sing a middle G the easiest not e ,

in his voice and in a ll voices T o G D placed on th e

, .
,

“
word prot e ge which led up to the final cadence in a
,

g raceful and piquant manner he preferred D D which , ,

falls perfectly flat In the air A s ile h éréd itaire out.

, ,

of G uill a ume T ell h e never would give the G flat ,

of F sharp ) which R ossini had placed

( the enharmonic ,

there s o skilfully and app ositely in order to bring back

,
,

the theme in its first key He always substituted an .

F which produced an insipid harshness and destroyed

,

the whole charm of the modul ation .

One day I was re t urnin g from the country with D upre z ,

a n d as I s at in the carriage by his side the idea occurred ,

to me to murmur in his ear R ossini s phrase with th e G f l a t ’

.

D upre z looked me in the face with a slight blush and said

”
Ah y ou are criticising m e
,
.

Yes certainly I am criticising you W h y the deuce

,
.

”
d on t y ou give the passage as it is written ?
’

“
I don t kno w ’
That note puts m e out it .
,

bothers me .

C ome come you are j oking How could it p ossibly

, ,
.

put you out when it does not put out ar tists who have
,

neither your v oice n ory our talent ?

1 50 PA R I S .
[ C HAR

Wel l perhaps y ou are right

, .

By Jove I am quite certain tha t I am right .

V ery well 3 for the f uture I wil l do the G f l a t f or you .

“
Not at all 3 do it f or yourself and for the author and ,

f or the sak e of that musical good sense which it is strange

t o s ee an artist like yourself sinning against .

Bah Neither for me nor f or himself nor f or R ossini

, , ,

nor f or music nor for common sense did D uprez ever

,

do the G f l at in any representation of G u il l a ume T el l;

Neither saints nor d evils could make him give up his
ab ominable F He will die i m penitent
. .

S erda the bass who had undertaken the C ardinal s

,
’

part in B envenuto C el l in i maintained that he could not

,

give the E flat in the air A tous p ech es p l eine ind ul

’

g en ce ; and transposing that note to the lower octave he ,

went down by a leap of a sixth instead of going up a

third which absolutely distorted the melody
,
.

One day as it w as i mpossible f or him to attend a

,

rehearsal Al izard was ask ed to replace him The latter

,
.
,

with his m agnificent voice the e x pressive p ower and

,

beauty of which had not as y et been recognised sang my ,

air at sight without the slightest alteration and in such ,

a manner that the singers who were assembled round him

applauded vehemently .

S erda heard of this success and the next day he found

,

the E fl at Observe that this sa m e S erda who pretended

.
,

not to be able to give that note in my air afterwards ,

attained n ot merely t o the E na tura l but to the high ,

F sharp in the part of S aint Bris in the H uguenots -

.

What a race these singers are

To return to the Fr egs ch iitz .

Of course they wanted to introduce a ballet and as all ,

my e ff orts to prevent it were useless I proposed to com ,

1 52 PA R I S .

But a f ter a f ew representations the airs fro m P r ecios a ,

and O beron disappeared then they cut the I nvita tion ,

it l a Va lse a t random t hough when transformed into , ,

an orche stral piece it obtained a very great success

,
.

M P ill et gav e up the directorship and whilst I was

.
,

in R ussia they went s o far as to cut off a piece of th e

fina l e in the third act of the Frey s ch ii tz ; in f act t o ,

s uppress in this same third act all the first tableau

, , ,

containing Agatha s sublime prayer as well as the B rides

’
,

maid s C h orus and Annette s romantic air for alto solo

’ ’
.

And in this dishonourable fashion the Frey sch u tz is give n

in P aris ! T his masterpiece of poetry originality and , ,

passion serves merely as a l ever d e rid ea u to the mos t

wretched ballets and has to b e mutilated to mak e room
,

for them If some new ch oregraph ical work should

.

arise more dev elop ed than its predecessors they will

, , ,

withou t hesitation clip the Frey schiitz afresh

,
.

And how they perform what is left of it ! What

s ingers W h at a conductor ! What sleepy indolence in
the temp o ! What discordance in the whole ! What a
”

flat stupi d revolting interpretation of everything by

, ,

everybody ! Y ou have but to b e an inventor a torch ,

bearer an inspired man a genius to b e thus tortured ,

, , ,

soiled and vilified ! You coarse salesmen ! Till th e

,

scourge of a new C hrist shall chase y ou from th e

temple be assured that everyone in E urope wh o has
,

the smallest f eeling for Ar t holds you in the most

pro f ound contempt .
 C H AP T E R L X III .

he horrors o f f euil l eton w ri ting—M D el es s ert Pref ec t o f Polic e

.
,

C ensorship o f C onc er t Progr amm e s e s tablish e d—H ospi tal C ol

l ec tors —D r A m p s s at —Journ e y t o N ice—C onc er t s in t h e C ircus
.

o f t h e C h amps E lys ees .

M Y exis t ence a f ter this p eriod presents no musical event

worthy of mention I stayed at Paris occupied almos t
.
,

entirely by my m etier I will not s ay o f critic but of f euil l e

’

, ,

t onis te a very diff erent thing

,
The critic only writes if
.

he has an idea if h e wants to air a question combat a

, ,

s ystem besto w blame or praise Then he has motives

,
.
,

which he believes to be sincere f or expressing his opinion ,

a n d distrib uting blame or praise T he unhappy f euil l eton.

writer comp elled to write on everything within the

,

d omain of his f euil l eton (a sorry domain a morass f ull ,

of toa ds and grasshoppers desires only t o accomplish

his task H e has often no opinion w hatever about th e
.

t h ings on which he is forced to write ; those th ings excite

neither his anger n or his admiration — they d o not exis t .

And y et he must s eem to b elieve in their existence seem ,

to have a reason f or bestowing attention on them s eem ,

to tak e part either f or or against t hem M ost of my .

c olleagu e s can e xtricate themselves not only without ,

difficulty but with charming f acility f rom this em

, ,

b arras sment As f or m e when I do succeed in getting

.
,

o ut of it i t is by e fforts as tedious as they are painful

, .
1 54 PA R IS .
[ C H AR

I once remained shut up in my ro om f or three whol e

days trying to write a f eu ill eton on the Op éra C omique
, ,

and not able even to begin it I do n ot re collect the .

na me o f the work of which I had to sp eak (a week after

it s fir st representation I had forgotten it for over ) but the ,

tortures I went through during those three days b efore

finding the first three lines of my article thos e indeed ,

I can recall My brain seemed ready to burst 3 my vein s

.

were burning S ometimes I remained with my elbows on

.

the table hol di ng my head with both hands S o m etimes

,
.

I strode up and down like a soldier on guard in a fros t

,

t wenty fiv e degrees belo w z ero I went to the w indow

-
.
,

looking out on the neighbouring gardens the heights of ,

Montmartre the setting s un ,

and immediately my
th oughts carried m e a thousand leagues away from
that accursed Op éra C omique And when on turning .
,

round my ey es fell up on the accurs ed title inscribed at

,

the head of the accurs ed sheet of pap er s o blank and s o ,

obstinately waiting for the other words with which it was

to b e co v ered I felt simply overcome by despair There
,
.

was a guitar standing against the table 3 with one kick I

s mashed it in the centre O n my chimney two .

pistols w ere looking at m e with their round eyes .

I watched them f or a long time I went s o far as to .

bang my head with my fist At last like a schoolboy .

,

wh o cannot do his lesson I tore my hair and wept with ,

furious indignation The salt tears s eem ed slightly to

.

s oothe me The barrels of my pistols were still looking

.

at me s o I turned them to the wall I to ok pity on my

,
.

innocent guitar and picking it u p tried it with some

, ,

chords which it gav e forth ungrudgingly At tha t .

mo m ent my littl e boy knocked at my door I n con s e

, .

q u en c e of my ill humour I had scolded h im unj ustly tha t

-
,
 1 56 PA R IS [ C H AR
‘

t ying the public taste and putting men and things in

,

their prop er order and place T his indeed is the lowes t

depth of degradation ! Better be Finance Minister in a
republic Had I but the choice
I submitted with less resignation than eve r to the
irksomeness of my p osition when th e Industrial E xh ibi
tion took place in Paris in 1 8 44 It was j ust about to .

close C hanc e (that unknown god who has played s o

.

large a part in my life ) brought about a meeting between

Strauss th e fashionable ball conductor and mysel f The
,
-

,
.

conversation turned upon th e approaching close of the

E xhibition and the p ossibility of giving a regular festival
,

in honour o f the exhibiting manu facturers in th e immense ,

premises s o soon t o b e l e f t vacant .

“ “
I have long thought o f it I said ; bu t a ft er all ,

my financial calculations have been made t here is on e ,

di fficulty that hinders m e — that of obtaining th e use o f

the premises .

“
That is not at all a n insurmountable di fficulty ,

“
replied Strauss promptly I know M S e nac the
. .
,

S ecretary to the Minister of Trade very well 3 h e dir ects ,

all affairs connected with Fr ench industry and can put ,

”
u s in the way of carrying out the ide a .

Notwithstanding the enthusias m of my friend I ,

remained rather indiff erent T he only agreement we.

‘
cam e to before parting was that we should go together
the next day to s ee M S enac and if he gave us the
.
,

slightest hopes of th e building being placed at our

d isposal we would go into the matter more seriously
,
.

Without absolutely binding himself when we made

our request M S én ac did not at all discourage us
,
. He .

promised a speedy reply which in fact we received a

, , ,

few days later and which proved favourable All tha t

,
.
 -

X III 1 P RE F E CT O F P O L I C E 1 57
'

L . .

was n ow needed was the authorisation of M D el es s ert .

,
.

t h e Prefect of Police .

We acquainte d him with our plan which consisted ,

’
of a three days festival in th e E xhibition building ,

t o consist of a concert a ball and a banquet for the , ,

exhibitors S t raus s s idea of havi n g dancing and eatin g

.
’
,

and drin king after th e concert would doubtless have

brought us in a great d eal of money but M D el ess ert ,
.
,

as Prefe ct was constantly p ossessed with the idea of

,

risings and plots would hear of neither feast n or ball

, , ,

nor music and in short fl atly prohibited the festival

,
.

This prud ence appeared to m e to savour of absurdity .

I spoke about it to M Bertin who was of the same .

,

opinio n and he took care to tell M D uch at el Ministe r

,
.
,

of th e Interior The latter immediately sent an order

.

to the Prefect to allow u s at al l events to hav e t h e

music and M D el es s ert found himself comp elle d t o
, .

authorise a grand concert of a serious character for th e

first day and a s o called p opular concert for the second
,
-
,

under t h e direction of Strauss a promenade concert , ,

at which dance music was to be played— waltzes p olkas , ,

and galop s— but at which there was to b e n o dancing .

T his would hav e deprived us of the certain profit s

arising from the undertaking H o w ever M D el ess ert .
,
.

still dreaded t h e danger which might accrue to the

State from our orchestras our chorus and the amateurs ,

assembled in the C hamps E lys e es too much to liste n ,

to u s Who indeed could t ell w hether S trauss and I

.

were n ot ourselves conspirators disguise d as musicians ?

However I was well pleased to b e able to organi s e and
,

conduct a gigantic concert an d limited my desires t o ,

a musical success without risking everythi n g I possessed

,
.

My plan was soon drawn up L ea v ing Strauss t o .

1 58 PA R I S .
[ C H A R

occ upy himself with his dancing orchestra destined to ,

accompany no dancing I engaged nearly everyone in ,

Paris of any worth either as a chorus singer or in s t ru

,
-

mentalist for the grand concert and succeeded in

, ,

collecting a body of on e thousand and twenty two p er -

formers All were p aid with the exception of the

.
,

solo singers of th e l y rical theatres T o these I had .

made an app eal in a letter b eseeching them to j oin ,

my vocal forces that I might guid e th em with s oul a nd

,

voice .

D upre z Madame S toltz and C h oll et alone refused ; but

, ,

their absence was noticed and severely commented on by ,

the press Nearly all the m embers of the C onservatoire

.

concerts likewise tho ught it their duty to stay away and

sulk agaI n with their ol d genera l H ab en eck naturally .
,

enough looked upon this grand ceremony of which h e

, ,

was n ot to h ave th e direction with a very evil eye , .

In order not to raise the exp enses to an exorbitant

s um ,
I only asked for t wo rehearsals one partial and ,

the other general I hired H erz s room and there pra o

.
’
,

t is ed the violins the tenors and cellos the basses the

, , ,

wood wind instruments the brass the harps the p ercus

-
, , ,

sion instrument s the women and children of the chorus

, ,

and the men succe s sively .

T hese nine practices in which each individual only ,

took part once produced results which would certainly

,

not have been obtain ed by five general rehearsals T hat .

of the thirty s ix double basses was especially curious

- -
.

When we came to the s ch erzo of Beethoven s S ymphony ’

in C minor it was like the grunting of about fifty

,

f erocious p igs S uch was t h e incoherence and want of

.

precision in the p erformance of this p assage L ittle by .

little however it got better the who l e went together

, , , ,
1 60 PA R I S .
[ C H A R

A chorus from C h arles V I (Hal e vy ) . .

T he chorus o f the consecration of the poignards f rom ,

the H uguenots (Meyerbeer ) .

The pleasure garden scene from A rmid e (Gluck )

-
.

The apotheosis from my S y mp h onie Fune bre et

T riomp h al e .

We were to have t h e general rehearsal in the E xhibi

tion building where I had selected the great central
,

square known as the machinery hall f or th e concert

, , .

T he room was not empty even on the evening befor e

this important trial and the carp enters were still working
,

at my platform A number of iron machines blocke d up

.

the space intended for the public They had not even .

taken necessary step s to remov e those m onstrous impl e

ments I will not attempt to describ e my anxiety at the
.

sight .

T he walls of Paris were covered with placards an

n ou n cin g the festival I was bound for a considerable
.

s um and I found myself arrested in my undertaking by

,

the most insurmountable and un f oreseen o f obs t acles .

We could not delay the concert for a day f or the order ,

f or demolishing th e edifice by the 5 th of A u gust had

already been given and the proprietors of the build
,

ing materials having the right to begin pulling it down

on the l s t of August the day of the first concert only
, ,

consented to let it stand a few hours longer f or a p e ou

n iary consideration They were th e real masters of the
.

premises and prove d to us in a p eremptory manner t h at

,

the Minister of Trade had lent what did not belong t o

him I had a m oment of madness and was about to
.
,

rush out and have placards p osted up to countermand the

festival when Strauss prevented m e almost by force
, ,

assuring me that fifty carts would clear away the space

L X III ]. D I S T R A C T I N G ANX I E T I E S .
1

next day As ruin seemed to threaten m e from every

.

p oint I le t things take their cours e T h e next day my

,
.

thousand performers assembled for the general rehearsal ,

which took place amid th e cries of carters cracking of ,

whips and neighi n g of horses At last by the exertions of

,
.
,

the carters and the horses the machinery was carried off ,

and the space left clear and I breathed more freely After
, .

the rehearsal a fresh nightmare arose E veryone attacked .

me declaring unanimously that the platform must b e

,

rebuilt and that it w ould be i mp os s ibl e to hear a s ound

,

from the instruments because of th e chorus being placed

,

in front of the orchestra Fancy an orchestra of five .

hundred instruments n ot being h eard ! Sixty workmen

im m ediately s et t o work and cut the platform into two 3
they then lowered the front p ortion reserved for th e ,

chorus by ten feet thus bringing into vie w the orchestra

, , ,

the back part of which was als o raised T his n ew arrange .

ment allowed the instrum ents to be heard notwithstanding ,

the want of sonority in the hall an irremediable and ,

u nde n iable defect .

No sooner had this second cause f or anxiety dis

appeared than a thir d no less serious p resented itsel f
, , , .

’
Strauss and I profiting by a few h ours respit e which we
,

man aged to snatch from all this uproar rushed off in a ,

cab to the various music sellers who h eld th e concer t -

t ickets in ord er t o find o ut what sort of a sale they had

,

had After adding everything up we discovered t o our

.
,

horror that the amount twelve thousand francs would , ,

n ot de f ray half o f our general exp enses All we could .

reckon on would be an extraordinary receipt at the doors

next day and if it failed we must b e prepared to make
,

u p the deficit T he night we both passed a f ter this

.

discovery
V OL IL .
1 62 PAR IS .
[ C H A R

But no withdrawal was possible T he nex t day .

( August l st
) I got to,
the E xhibition building ab ou t
noon The concert was announced for one T he first
. .

thing I noticed with a delight to which I did not dare

,

to give vent was th e extraordinary number of carriages

,

c onverging towards t h e centre of the C hamps Elys e es I .

went in and f ound everything in perfect order my instru o ,

t ions having been carried out to the letter The musicians .

,

singers and s ub conductors of orchestra and chorus were

,
-

quietly taking their places With a glance I consult .

my librarian M R oc qu em en t a man of rare intell igence

,
.
,

and indefatigable activity whose friendship for me is as

,

sincere as mine f or him H e assures me that the m usic

.

is all ready and that noth ing is wanting Then the

,
.

musical fever begins to rush t hrough my ve ins I think .

no more either of the public t h e receipts or the de ficit , , .

I was j ust about to give the signal for beginning the

overture whe n a violent noise was heard of cracking
,

wood accompanied by a prolonged howl T his was the

,
.

crowd breaking do wn a barrier and bursting into the hall .

Just look at the inundation said one of the musi

c ian s showin g m e how the room was filling
,
We are .

”
saved ! cried I striking my des k with the bato n in
,

“
greater delight than I had ever done before N ow we .

shall do s omething fine .

We begin The introduction to the Ves ta l e unfolds its

.

grand p eriods and from this moment the maj esty, p ower
, ,

an d unanimity of the immense vocal and instrumental

body became more and more remarkable My thousand .

and t wenty t wo artists went all together like the p er

-
,

formers in a firs t rate quartet I had two sub conductors 3

-
.
-

T il man t of the O pera C o mique wh o led the wind ins tru

, ,

ments and my friend Auguste Morel n ow D irector of the

, ,
1 64 AN I M P R O M P T U T OI LE TT E .
[ C H AR

pile seemed to be accompanied by thunder claps and sun g

,
-

by temp ests .

I was in such a state after this scene that the concer t

had to be stopp ed for som e time They brought me some .

pu n ch and a change o f clothes Then they formed a kind .

of little room on the platform itself by putting together ,

a doz en harps in their linen cases and by slightly stooping ,

I was able to undress and even change my shirt in th e ,

very face of the public without being seen , .

Of the remaining pieces the most successful were the ,

O raison Funbbr e and the Ap oth eos is from my S y mp h onic

F unebre ct T r iomp h al e (the so l o trombone played w ith
remarkable talent by D iepp o) and the scene from A rmid e , ,

which gav e great delight by its voluptuous calmness .

The lI a rch to E x ecution the instrumentation of which

i
’
,

is s o noisy and the efiect s o spirite d in an ordinary con

cert room s eemed quite mu ffle d and feeble in sound as
-
, ,

also did the sch erzo and f ina l e from Beethoven s Symphony ’

in C minor Mendelssohn s H y mn to B acch us sounded

.
’

dull and heavy 3 one of the p ap ers a few da y s later said , ,

t hat the priests of this Bacchus had doubtless imbibed

b eer instead of C yprus win e 1 -
.

The C h ant d es I nd us triels was very badly received ,

especially by the performers I had engaged to comp ose .

the music for Adolph e D u m as words but could not possibly ’

m anage it and was obliged to consent to their bein g s et

,

by any composer he chose He named his brother in .

-

law Am ed ee M ereaux The overture to the Ves ta l e was

, .

warmly applauded as also the unaccompanied chorus from

,

the Ill uette As for the song from Hal e vy s C h a rl es VI

.
’
.

which I had introduced as an after thought into t h -

1
[ L ager b eer is prob ably a good d eal b ett er th an t he b es t C ypru s ]
-
m m] MU S IC A ND P O LIT I C S . 1 65

programme at the requ est of Schlesinger wh o published ,

t h e work its e ff ect was p eculiar

,
It awoke that sense .

l ess spirit of resistance always f ermen t I ng I n the Parisian

m ob and at the well known refrain
,
-
,

Gu erre aux tyrans j am ais en Franc e

, ,

J am ais l A ngl ais n e r é gn era

’

t hree fourths of the audience began to sing It was a

-
.

plebeian protest of grotesque nationalism against the t hen

p olicy of L ouis Philippe and s eemed to give s ome groun ds
,

for the obj ections of the Prefe ct of Police This absurd .

incident had consequences of which I shall have to speak

presently .

Thus my M us ica l E xhibition took place not merely with ,

o ut drawbacks but with brilliant success an d the applause

, ,

o f an immense audience On going ou t I had the plea .

,

sant satisfaction of s eeing the tol l ga th erers of th e h osp ita l -

d ues busied in counti n g the s u m total o f the receipts at

a huge table It amounted to thirty two thousand francs
.
-
.

O f this s um they took the eighth part v iz f our th ous a nd ,

.
,

f r a n cs The
. receipts o f the d ance music conducted by my -

partner Strauss two days after were s o scanty and the

, , , ,

f éte itself s o far from successful that we had to make ,

up the deficiency from th e p rofits o f th e concert and ,

the upshot of all my trouble and risk in accomplishing

s o great a labour was a net profit of eight hundred francs

ou t of the four thousand handed me by the hospital

collectors .

C harming land of liberty whos e artists are serfs receive , ,

their sincere benedictio n and th eir admiring homage f or ,

thine equal nobl e and l i ber al laws

, ,

S carcely had S trauss and I paid off our musicians ,

cop y ists printers m asons slaters j oiners carpent ers

, , , , , ,
1 66 PAR IS .
[ C H A R

upholsterers ofli cial s and inspectors when the P re f ec t of

, , ,

P olice who had charged us the modest s u m of on e thou

,

sand two hundred and thirty eight francs f or his agents -

and municipal guards (the p olice s ervice f or the Op éra

only costs eighty francs) summoned us to his O fli ce on ,

pressing business .

”
What is it about ? asked Strauss Have you any .

”
idea ?
Not the slightest .

D oes M D el ess ert feel remorse at ha v ing charged

.

s uch an exorbitant s um for his useless agents ? Is h e

”
going to return us so m e o f the money ?
Oh very likely indeed
,

We reached th e Prefecture o f the Police .

“ ”
Sir said M D el es s ert addressing himself t o me
,
.
, ,

I regret to have to make you a serious reproach .

“ ”
What for ? replied I in utter astonishmen t , .

Y ou secretly introduced int o your programme a piece

calculated to excite thos e political passions which t h e
Government is endeavouring to repress and extinguish .

I allude t o th e chorus from C h ar l es VI which did not .

,

app ear at all in the first announcement of the festival .

Th e Minister of the Interior has reason to be much dis

pleased at the manifestations it provoke d and I entirely ,

”
agree with h im on the subj ect .

“ ”
Sir I answere d with all possible calmness y ou
, , ,

are comple tely mistaken It is true that the chorus fro m

.

C h ar l es VI did not app ear in m y first programme 3 but

.

hearing that M Hal e vy was hurt at the absence of h is nam e

.
,

I consented by his p ublisher s wish to admit the chorus

,
’
,

from C har l es VI on account of its facility of performanc e

.
,

by a large body of musicians This reason alone decided .

my choice I do n ot in the smallest degree s y mpat h is

.
1 68 NIC E .
[ C E AE

V ery well ’
,
don t put it off till to morrow
-
. Bleed
me now
I took off my coat immediately Amussat bled me .

f reely and said

,

“
Now be kind enough to leave Paris as quickly as
p ossible Go to Hy e res — C annes — Nice —where y ou
.

will 3 but go south and breathe s ea air and think no , ,

m ore of all these things that are in flam ing your bloo d
and over exciting your nervous system which is quite
-
,

irritable enough already It is not a case for delay so .

,
”
good bye
-
.

I took his advice and went to Nice f or a month ,

thanks to the eight hundre d francs from the festival— to

try as far as p ossible to repair the i nj ury done to my
h ealth .

Not without emotion did I behold again the places I

had known thirteen years before on the occasion o f ,

1
another convalescence when I first went to Italy ,

I s wam a great deal in the s ea 3 made numerous ex

c urs ion s in the environs of Nice V illefranche Beaulieu , , ,

C imiés and Phare ,

I resumed my explorations of the
.

rOck s on the sea shore where I found my old acquaint

-
,

an ces the cannon still sleeping in the s un I s aw once .

m ore the fresh and smili ng little creeks carpeted with ,

s oft sea w eed where I had form erly bathe d

,
The room in .

which I had written the overture to King L ear in 1 8 3 1 , ,

was occupied by an E nglish family s o I established mysel f ,

in a tower built against th e r ock of the P on ch et tes just ,

above the house .

T here I enj oyed with delight the exquisite vie w of th e

Me diterranean and a cal m that I value d more than ever
,
.

T hen having been cured after a fashion of my j aundice

, ,

1 S ee vol i p 1 8
7 . . . .
L X III ]
. RE T UR N TO PA R IS . 1 69

and having spen t my eight hundred francs I le f t th e ,

f ascinating Sardinian coast and returned to P aris t o

,

resume my Sisyphean labours .

Some months a fter this j ourney th e direc t or of t h e ,

Franconi T heatre te m pted by the extraord inary receipts

,

fro m t he Industrial Festival proposed tha t I should give

,

a grand series of musical performances in his circus at

the C hamps Elys e es I do not recollect our arrangement 3
.

I only know that it t urned out ba dly for him There .

were f our concer t s for which we engaged five hundred

,

m usicians and the expenses of this enormous p ers onnel

,

were not entirely d efray ed by th e re ceipts T he room .

,

m oreover was worthless f or musical purposes The sound

, .

rolled slowly about the circle o f th e building in a m ad

dening manner causing a m ost deplorable confusion of
,

harmony in even th e m ost slightly intricate comp osition .

One piece alone produced a great effect and that was the ,

D ies I rce from my R equiem The gran d eur of its chords

.

and measure ma de it less out of place than anything els e

in this vast enclosure which resounded like a church
, ,

and its success obliged us to include it in the programm e

o f each of the concerts .

This undert aki ng was by no m eans a lucrative on e and ,

q uite wearied me out I had a fresh opportunity for

.

recovering my health on the b en eficen t shores of the

Mediterranean thanks to two concerts I was persuaded to
,

give at Marseilles and L yons the pro ceeds of which were

,

at any rate sufficient f or my travelli n g expenses I was .

thus enabled for the first time to hear my own composi

tions in some of th e French provinces .

Th e letters I addressed to m y coadjutor E douard

M onn ais in the G azette M us ica l e in 1 8 48 notwithstanding
, ,

their somewhat comic tone give an exact account of al l

,
1 70 T O UR S .

my adven t ures on this excursion and of another which I

,

made shortly a f ter wards to L ille They are to be found

.

under the title of C orrespondance A cad emiqu e in my

’

b ook L es G rotes ques de l a M usique

, .

S ome months later I went for th e first time through

S outhern Germany — Austria Hungary and Bohemia
, ,
.

T he f ollowing letters to my f riend Humbert Ferrand ,

from the Journa l d es D ebats gi v e an accoun t o f my

’

travels there
.
 1 72 PA R IS .
[ C H A R L x rv .

s werve ; and I am sure that f rom the sum mit of your ,

i sland mountains you often lend an ear t o the musical

,

and literary mur murs wafted from Paris And yet how .

s ad and mournful Paris se ems to me especially since this ,

l ast trip ! And in these stifling dog days how I envy -

,

y ou your perfumed reveries under the great orange groves -

in the island of Sardinia the nightly harmonies of the

m
,

Mediterranean and even the simple songs of your Sardi

,
~

fi n ian labourers the Africans of E urope the ancients of th e

, ,

“ ”
present day Non nobis D eus h aec otia fecit .

I find our capital again absorbed with material interests ,

i ndiff erent to all that is dear to the p oet and the artist ,

d evoted to scandal an d banter and laughing sarcastically ,

whenever that stra n ge taste is satisfied Again I feel .

th e smell of its infernal asp h alte boilers the acrid odours -

,

of its b ad excise cigars its bored countenances and ,

boring faces discouraged artists wearied m en of under

, ,

standing swarms of fools extenuated starvi ng dying or

, , , , ,

defunct theatres 3 th e same barrel organ coming as it was -

,

w ont at the same hour to play the same everlastin g

, ,

old tune ! I hear the same b arbarous O pinions put

forth and defende d the same barbarous m en and works
,

extolled .

In fact on th e whole things seem rather gloomy besides

, , ,

w h ich I am not in a mood to see things with rose

,

coloured spectacl es D o you recollect the utter melancholy

.

that used to a fflict us in our youthful time the day after the ,

ball ? A certain uneasiness of so ul a vagu e sufferi n g of ,

h eart an obj ectless sorrow causeless regrets ardent aspira

, , ,

tions towards the unknown an inexpressible restlessness of ,

the whole bei n g — that was what we felt I am ashamed .

to confess it but that is wha t I feel I feel as if it were

, .

. the day after a great f ete given in my honour by strangers

, .
L E TT E R L ] L O N G I NG T O T RAV EL . 1 7 33

I miss the great orchestras 3 the grand chorus f ull of ,

‘

ardour and devotion which I us ed daily to h ave such ,

delight in conducting ; I miss that courteous brilliant , ,

attentive and enthusiastic public 3 I miss those impetuous

,

emotions experi enced at a great concert when I address ,

m yself to the crowd through the thousand voices ,

of orchestra and chorus 3 I miss the study of the

various impressions made on an unprejudiced audience '

by the recent attempts of modern art In a word I .

,

feel s o wretched from this stagnation after s o much

harmonious movement that since my return I have been ,

—
p ossessed by one idea day and night that of embarking
on board a ship and going round the world A n d j ust
,
.

as tho ugh fate als o w ere conspiring against my good

resolutions whom should it have thrown in my way
,

yesterday to tempt m e by his example but on e of m y old

friends Hal ma the virtuoso who has j ust come straight
, , ,
.

from C anton You may guess how I q uestioned him about

.

all the places he had visited — C hina the Malay islands , ,

C ape Horn the Bra zils C hili Peru— an d with what

, , ,

avidity I examined all the curious things he had brought

back My heart came into my mouth and if I had been ,

a king I should certainly have parodied R ichard III .

and cried My ki n gdom for a ship

,

But having neither ship nor kingdom I remain in this ,

little town which extends as o ur charming p oet M ery

, ,

says from th e R ue d u Mont Blanc to the Faubourg

,

Mon t martre and is called Paris 3 and there I wa l k about

,
.

of an evening rep eating this line of R ay B l as in e v ery

,

imaginable key and to every imaginable rhythm

Ah , ca ! m ais on '

s e nnuie h orribl em en t ici !

“
Happily th e proverb is not wrong port e
’

,
L enn ui
1 74 PA R IS .
[ C HAR L XIV .

c onseil ; it sugges t ed to me a way of f orget t ing P aris

without leaving it It is to revisit in thought all the
.

d istant par t s where I have travelled the foreign artists I ,

have known the great buildings I have seen the ins titu
, ,

t ion s I have s t udied ; in one word to write t o you , ,

choosing however a time when I am free from S pleen

, , ,

in order not to weary you more than I can possibly help .

But how do I know that you will even read my letter ?

Methinks I see you slumb ering beneath the shad e of a
rove of C itron t rees like the happy old man of w hom
g
-
,

the R oman poet speaks to the s weet murmur o f the busy ,

bees who are plundering the flowers around you A .

V irgil or Horace lies open in your hand that immor t al ,

poetry is rocking your S lumbers and y ou will not care ,

for my prose Fortunately I kno w a way of awakening

.
,

y ou without incurring your reproaches L isten I am . .

going to tell you something of Gluck — Gluck do y ou ,

h ear — of his country which I have j ust visited ; and of ,

Mo zart and Haydn and Beetho v en who like Gluck all

, , , , ,

lived at V ienna I knew well that those magical na mes

.

wo ul d make you forgive my un seasonable summons Now .

t o begin .

Only two striking souven irs remain of my j ourney

from Paris to V ienna one being a violent pain (no t a ,

m ental p ain so look for no romance 3 only a very prosaic

,

p ain in the side ) which forced me to,

stop at Nancy where ,

I thought I should have died ; not so very wonderful

a n incident seeing that in truth we live but to die
, And .

the other a di v inity w ho m I s aw through the windo w of

,

an inn at Augsburg The w orthy m an who has just .

,

foun ded a sort of N eo C hristianity already some what in -

vogue in Bavaria and S axony w as getting into his ,

c arriage when the innkeeper pale with emotion pointed

, , ,
1 76 V I E NNA .
[ C HA R L x1v .

f or Baiern Munich for Mun chen D anub e f or D onau

, , ,

Anvers for Antwerp en Gand for Ghent L i e ge for L iitt ich

, , .

But at least there is some distant resemblance b etween

these French translations and the original names whereas ,

there is none whatever between R egensburg and R atisbon .

And yet we should think it extremely absurd of the

Germans if they took it into their heads to call L yons ,

M itt en berg and Paris T riff en s t ein

, ,
1
.

On landing at V ienna I very s oon discovered the ,

passion of the Austrians for music One of the custom .

house o fficers w hilst exam ining the luggage from the

,

steamboat caught sight of my name and immediately

, ,

exclaimed (in French be it understood ) ,

”
Where is he Where is h e ?
Sir here I am
,
.

Oh good h eavens M Berlio z what has happened

, ,
.
,

to you ? We have been expecting y ou for the last week .

Your departure from Paris and your approaching concerts,

at V ienna have been advertised inall our papers We

,
.

”
were quite uneasy at not seeing you .

I thanked the worthy o fficial with all my heart saying ,

t o myself that most certainly I should ne v er occasion

such uneasiness to the o fficers at the octr oi of Paris .

No s ooner was I established in this gay city than I

was invited to attend the first annual concert at the R iding
S chool It is given for the benefit of the C onservatoire
.
,

and the immens e body of performers more than a thou ,

sand in number is almost entirely composed of amateurs

, .

As the Government does little or nothin g to support th e

C onservatoire it is but right that the true friends of
,

1
[ T his is poor enou gh ; t h e ch an ges in prop er n am e s
ba dinage
a ff ord som e o f t h e mos t in te r e s t in g pro b l ems in comp ar at iv e philo

logy and h av e a l ways a good r eason at t h e bo ttom o f t h em ]

, .
LE TT E R L ] I MM E N S E C O N C ER T S . 1 77

music should come t o its assis t ance But jus t f or th at very

.

reason I was pro f oundly as t onished by i t A t t h e sam e .

t ime each year the E mperor places t his immens e hall at

t he disp osal of the S ocie t y of Ama t eurs L is t s are O pened .

’
f or the inscription of t he p er f ormers names and s o grea t ,

is the number of skilled amateurs a t Vienna b o t h vocalis ts ,

an d instrumentalists t ha t mor e t han fiv e h undred hav e

,

t o b e re fuse d and t here is a real difficulty in selec ting th e

,

chorus of s ix hundred and th e orches t ra of f our hundred

,

per f ormers T h e receipts f ro m t hes e g i g an t ic concer t s

.

( ther e are al ways two ) are v ery large as t h e hall is ,

c apabl e of seating nearly f our t housand p eople n ot with ,

s tanding the immense spac e t aken u p by th e raised s t a g e

f or t he p er f ormers T he room is f ull f or th e firs t conce rt 3

.

but t he second is not s o well attended t h e programme ,

bein g only a recapitulation of the firs t Are th e Viennese .

,
’
t hen unable to hear the same ch ef s d ceuvrc t wic e in a
,

week withou t being bored ?

In t his respec t nearly a ll audiences are alike I t is .

t rue t ha t the program mes of thes e musical f es t ivals are

almost always made from the best known works of t h e

ol d mas t ers and the p ublic would probably a t tend a

,

second concert wi t h no les s eagerness t han th e firs t ,

provided they were likely t o hear some n ew work com

p osed expressly for s o immense a body o f p er f ormers .

And this indee d would be a musical prop osit ion of great

, ,

interest N o doub t grand music like the oratorios of

.

Handel Bach Haydn and Beethoven gain s very much by

, , ,

bein g thus p er f ormed 3 but after all in this case i t is only ,

a question of mor e or less doubling the parts whereas ,

a composer writing for such a colossal orchestra and choir ,

and acquainted with t heir manifold resources would ,

in evit ably produc e somethin g as novel in detail as it

VOL . II .
1 78 VI E NNA .
[ C H AR L x1 v .

would be grand in i t s entirety T his has never yet been .

done In all works considered as monumental the form

.
,

and tissue are alike They produce a p ompous e ff ect in

.

hu g e halls but wo ul d not los e much if heard in a far

,

smaller room with f ewer performers T hey do not ab s o

,
.

l ut el y demand an unusual number of voices or ins tru

ments whi ch may indeed give a more marked emphasis
, , ,

to th e music but produce no eff ect that is either remark

,

able or unforeseen Stil l I must admit that I was much

.
,

impressed by this concert more especially by the choral ,

e ff ec t s T he soprano voices were of surpassing beauty

.
,

and the general efiect firs t rate When I s aw the overture

-
.

to Mozart s M agic Fl ute in the programme I was a f raid

’
,

t hat that wonderf ul piece the time of which is so rapid , ,

and the development s o full and delicate could not b e ,

prop erly played by s o vast an orchestra composed entirely ,

of ama t eurs 3 but my anxiety did n ot last long and it was ,

executed with a precision and verve rarely found among

art ists .

T he programme consisted of one of Mo zart s m otets ’

ano t her by Haydn an air from the C rea tion the overture
, ,

jus t mentioned and Beethoven s oratorio of the M ount

,
’

of O lives S taudigl and Madame Barthe Hasselt sang

.
-

th e solos S tau digl s bass is velvety and impressive

’
.
,

at once s weet and p owerful more than two octaves in ,

compass (from the low E to th e high G ) which he gives ,

without the slightest e ff ort fillin g even so immense a ,

room as the R iding S chool His voice is a most touching .

one t hough he himself is in general but little moved ;

,

it pene trates and charms y ou Moreover S taudigl though .

, ,

he sin gs with simple good taste has also a great facility ,

in execu t ion In short h e is a thorough musician and

.
, ,

reads any thin g you give him a t first sight with an im

1 80 V I E NNA .
[ C HAR L X IV .

n ame was opened scarcely t hree years ago and is already

, ,

payin g well eno ugh to give grave cause f or uneasiness to

its rival the Karntn erth or T heatre
,
1
Nearly all t he cele .

b rat ed artists wh o desire to be known in V ienna go to it .

Pis ch ek ma d e his d ebut there in the winter of 1 8 46 and ,

Jenny L ind some time after wards 3 and heaven only knows
t he f ury of enthusiasm which they excited and the fortunes ,

t hey made .

T he chorus though by no means n umerous has a goo d

, ,

deal of force 3 it is composed almost entirely of young

men and women with fresh fine toned voices They
,
-
.

are not all very good readers T he orchestra which I .

,

had heard much abused from the m oment of my arrival ,

cannot certainly b e put on a level with tha t o f the

Karntn erth or Theatre of which I shall sp eak presently 3
' ’

but it does very well no t withstanding and the young ,

artists composing it are f ull of that ardour and goodwill

which occasionally work miracles In the singing troup e .
,

I remarked on e woman whos e talent f or tender and im

p assioned parts was of a most superior order and I am ,

sorry that I cannot tell you her name which has escap ed ,

me in spite of all my eff orts to recall it She excelled .

in the part of Agatha in the F rey s chiitz , .

I must also mention Mademoiselle T reffz a graceful ,

cantatrice and Mademoiselle Marra the prima donna

, , ,

whose talent is at once striking and attractive 3 her voice ,

t hough not well adapted to certain vocalisations is both ,

light and brilliant but unfort unately s h e is a very p oor

,

musician and consequently sometimes makes such seriou s

,

blunders in the time as to put out an entire piece not ,

1
[T h e T h eat r e W i en m ay
h av e b een r eop en ed at t h e d ate
an - d er -

given by B erlio z 3 bu t it ex ist ed at t h e t im e o f ozart and in 13 0 17 , , 4

,

t h e Z au berj tbtc was brough t out t h er e

LE TT E R L ] A R T I ST S . 1 81

’
withstanding all th e conductor s care and skill Made .

m oisell e Marra excels in D onizetti s L ucia s h e h as had ’

,

a great success this win t er in t he nort h of G ermany , and

in some R ussian towns .

But the tenors ! th e tenors ! Ah t her e is th e weak ,

side of thi s theatre as of nearly every t heat re in t h e

,

world nowadays 3 and I am v ery much afraid tha t in ,

s pite of all his cfiorts M P ockorn will no t find i t easy

y ,
.

to fill up this gap in his p ersonnel of singers .

In this respect the Karn tn erth or is more f or t una t e 3 i t

has E rl a high tenor somewhat cold better in cal m
, , ,

s cenes than in passionate ones and in purely musical ,

rather than dramatic si nging T his theatre is managed .

by an Italian on e M B al och ino whose administra t io n

,
.
,

is severely criticised both by the city and the court ,

by artists and amateurs I cannot understand their .

moti v es f or this abuse ; its e ffect seemed to m e to b e

t o keep the public a way f rom th e theatre n ot with ,

1
s tanding t h e intelligen t eff orts of the eminent artis t

Nicolai who manages the musical department with which

, ,

M B al och in o in his capacity of manager is un acquainted

.
, ,
.

It is something to b e thankful for that M B al och ino h as .

not engaged tailors to play the double bass bu t h as -

,

engaged violinists f or t h e violins In France we are still .

u nder the cruel necessity of employi n g musicians to mak e

music bu t we are busily trying to s olve the problem

,

which will p ermit us to d o without them .

Besides a very deep and sonorous bass M B al ach ino , .

has another singer in his troup e who m I mentioned above ,

Madame Barthe Hasselt Her talen t is of the very firs t

-
.

order both from a musical and dramatic point of V ie w

, .

[O tt o N icol ai kno w n in E ngl and

1
,
as th e compos er o f t h e M erry
W ives of W inds or ] .
1 82 . V I E NNA .
[ C H AR i v .

Her voice is slightly gone off but is of a large compass , ,

of uncommon p ower very true and with a most touching

, ,

tone w h ich may b e the res u lt of its b ein g slightly

,

veiled I heard Madame Hasselt si ng the di fficult and

.

b eau t iful s oprano scene in O beron in a most triumphant

mann er and I d o not believe that on e prima donna in
,

a hun dred could have interpreted that fervid page o f

Weber s with such fidelity boldness fire and grandeur
’
, , , .

A t t he close of the last a ll egro after the burst of d elight ,

from H uori s b eloved there was a p erfect struggle between

’

the sin ger and the orchestra Ma da m e Hasselt cam e out .

of it with honour 3 her ri n ging voice prevailed above the

t em pest of instruments and seemed to d efy it without , ,

however letti n g on e doubtful or ex aggerated tone escape

,

her The impression left upon m e by this scene from

.

O beron thus performed in a co n cert room was on e of th e -

m ost p owerful I ever recollect S ome time afterwar ds I .

’
had an opp ortunity of recognisin g Ma dame Hasselt s
merit as a tragedian in N icol ai s opera I l P r os critto the
,
’
,

last act of which is in every respect admirable and to my ,

m ind exalts Nicolai to a high rank amo n g composers In .

thi s opera taken from on e of Frederick S oull e s dramas

,
’

there is a woman who under th e belief that her husband,

has died in exile marries a man whom s h e loves ; and on

,

the return of her first husband whom s h e resp ec t s without ,

hav ing ever really loved s h e is compelled to leave t h e ,

second in order to return to him Her strength is not .

su fficient for s o terrible an ordeal T o escape from it .

,

the unhappy woman p oisons herself after havi n g recon ,

ciled the two rivals and dies pressing their united hands
,

t o h er heart Madame Hasselt plays and sings this part

.

like a consummate lyric tragedian and I f ound in her ,

all t hose fine emotions and clever calculations combined ,

 C H AP T E R L XV

V i enn a .

L E TT E R II —T o
. M O N SI E U R H UMB E R T F E RR AND .

W H E N I said that dramatic f emale singers were b s com

ing as scarce as tenors and that n ature was apparently
,

unwilling to produce any more I did not m ean tha t ,

p ower ful soprano voices of large compass were like rea l ,

tenors priceless gems N 0

, . Fine and even well t rained
.
-

f emale voices are s t ill to b e f ound ; but of what use are

t hose organs if not directe d by feeling intelligence
, , ,

an d inspiration ? It was of real dramatic talent that I

was speaki ng We shall always find a fair number of
.

f emale singers p opular from their brilliant singing of

,

brilliant trifl es and odious to the great masters b ecaus e

,

u tt erly incapable of properly interpreting t hem T hey .

have voices a certain knowledge of music and flexibl e

, ,

throats 3 they are lacking in soul brain and hear t , ,

.

Such women are regular monsters and all the more ,

f ormidable to composers that they are often charming

monsters T his explains the weakness of certain masters
.

in writing f alsely s en t imental parts which attrac t th e ,

public by their brilliancy It also explains the number

.

of degenera t e works the gradual degra dation of sty le

, ,

t he des t ruction of all sense of expression t he neg lect of ,

 ‘‘

O TT O N IC O L A I . 1 85

d rama t ic proprie t i es the contempt f or the t rue th e grand

, , ,

an d the beauti f ul and the cynicism and decrepitud e of

,

art in cert ain countries .

I have not yet told you of the orches t ra or chorus of th e

Karn tnerth or T heatre Both are first class 3 th e orch estra
'

-
.

especially s elected drille d and led by N icolai may be

, , , ,

equalled but cannot b e surpassed Besides its ap lomb .

,

verve , and great mechanical skill this orches t ra has an ,

exquisite sonorousness owing doubtless t o th e accurate ,

way in which t he instruments play toge ther as m uch as ,

t o t he per f ect manner in which they play in tune N 0 .

on e knows h o w rare this is nor what disasters may b e ,

produced in even the best orchestra by any imper f ection

of time The Karntn erth or band can accompany a si n ger
' '

in any style can lead when it has the principal part i t s

, ,

f or te is n ever noisy unless the composer has intended it

to b e s o In the opera it is p erfect 3 in the symphony
.
, ,

triumphant 3 and finally to conclude my panegyric it

, , ,

c ontains none of those conceited artists who resen t j ust

c riticism regard a co m parison between themselves and

,

f oreign virtuosi as an insul t and b elieve themselves to be ,

d oing an honour t o Beethoven when they condescend t o

play him .

Nicola i has enemies a t V ienna It is a pity f or t h e .

V iennese f or I regard him as on e of the best orchestral

,

leaders I ever met He is on e of thos e men whose

.

influence alone s uffices to bestow a marked musical

s uperiority on the town in which they live when pro ,

v ided with th e necessary opp ortunities H e possesses

'

t hree qualities indispensable to a finished con d uctor He .

i s a l earned composer skilled an d enthusias t ic he has a

, ,

s trong feeling for rhythm and his mode of conductin g ,

is perfec t ly clear and exact ; in short he is an i ngenious ,

1 86 V I E NNA .
[ C H A R mm

and indefatigable organiser grudging neither time n or ,

trouble at rehearsals ; one who kno ws what he is doing

because h e only does what he kno ws Hence the excellent .

qualities m oral and material the confidence devotion

, , , ,

patience mar v ellous assurance and u n ity of action of th e

,

Karn tn erth or orchestra

'

The intellectual concerts organis ed and conducted ,

annually by Nicolai in the S alle des R edoutes form

, ,

a fit pendant to our C onservatoire concer ts in Paris .

There I heard that scene fro m O ber on of which I told ,

you in my last letter together with the air from I p higenie

,

en T a urid e Unis d es l a p l us tendr e enf a nce rathe r

, ,

drearily sung by E rl a fine symphony by Nicolai and

, ,

Beethoven s marvellous and matchless on e in B flat A ll

’
.

this was perform ed with that impassioned fidelity finish ,

in the details and power in the whole which to m y

, ,

m ind make such an orchestra s o conducted the finest , ,

product of m odern art and the m ost genuine representativ e

,

of what we call m us ic .

’
In this vast and beautiful hall Beethov en s ch ef s ,

d cc uvr e — now worshipp ed throughout E urop e when

’
-

performed some thirty years ago were received by ,

the V iennese with the most profound contempt C oun t .

Michel W iel h ors ki told me h e was on e of fifty who

attended the performance of the S ymphony in A in ,

1 8 20 . At that time the V iennese were thronging t o

S alieri s operas ! Po or pigmies to whom a giant had
’

been born T h ey preferred people of their o wn size .

Y ou may imagine my dear Humbert that my legs

, ,

t rembled under m e when I stepp ed for the first tim e

on the platform formerly trodden by h is mighty foot .

Nothing had been changed since Beethoven s time T h e ’

.

conductor s desk of which I m ade us e had once bee n

’
1 88 V I E NN A .
[ C HA R v .

p olish I canno t tell you my dear Humb ert th e impres

.
, ,
’
s ion Pis ch ek s incomparabl e voice and thrilling verve mad e

upon me T he progress he had made in three years was

.

s i mply as t ounding It was a k in d of intoxication some

.
,

thing like that which D upre z created in the p ublic at th e

O pera the day h e made his d ebut in G uil l a ume T el l
, .

Y ou can have no idea of the beauty of that baritone th e ,

f orce and amplitude of the chest notes the exquisite ,

s weetness of the high ones and its flexi bility and power
,
.

Moreover the compass is considerable embracing two

, ,

o ctaves in pure chest voice fro m the low t o the high

,

A flat And what a fervent inspiration animates it !

.

What passion— sometimes skilfully kept in sometimes ,

bursting forth without restraint In listening to Pis ch ek .

,

—
h ow quickly we recognise the artist th e true musician .

He stirs and calms his hear ers at will ; f ascinates and

c arries them away The enthusiasm with which he sang
.

his ballad infected m e from the v ery first bar 3 I fel t

myself blushing up to the eyes my veins throbbed as if ,

they would burst and I exclaimed almost mad with

, ,

“
d elight : There is D on Juan ; there is R omeo ; there is
C orte z Moreover Pis ch ek is greatly favoured as regards
,

h is appearance 3 he is tall and well made his countenance ,

is full of life and animation He is a bold reader an .

,

e x cellent pianist and su fficie n tly expert in counterpoint

,

to i mprovise with ease in the fugue style on any them e

off ered It is really d eplorable for the sake of our Paris
.
,

O pera that h e does not kno w a word o f French

,
He .

was born at Prague in 1 8 1 0 and I believe the first ,

language he sp oke was Bohemian ; afterwards he learnt

G erman then Italian ; now h e is stu dying E nglish in
, ,

which la n guage he will sing th is winter in L ondon .

’
His success in E sser s ballad a t my concert was spon
LE TT E R T H E R E D O U T E N—S A LLE . 1 89

t an eous and u niversal A romance which h e also san g

.
, ,

t o his o wn accompaniment a t the request of the public , ,

pu t the finishing touch to their fren zy of d elight 3 an d ,

in fact n othing m or e delicious could p ossibly h ave b een

,

h eard A few d ays later h e app eared at the A n der Wien

.
- -

T heatre first in L ortzing s Z immerma nn then in the

,
1 ’
,

P ur itani where the f amous duet gave him an opportunity

,

of c omp eting with S tau di l H e was about to play D on

g .

Juan when I left f or Prague I regretted keenly not .

being able to hear him in that part of which I am ,

c onvinced he is the ideal p ersonified T here were how .

,

ever many among th e highest V iennes e authorities who

,

c ri t icised Pis ch ek severely for aff ectation and m anneris m s

in his way of singi ng I confess that I never observed

.

an y t hing to merit s o grave a reproac h which f or that , ,

m atter has also often been incurred by R ubini

,
And I .

rep eat that i f Pis ch ek could learn French and a part at ,

once brilliant and impassioned were written f or h im ,

h e would bring down th e house a t the O pera and the

'

P arisians would be his slaves .

T he Salle des R edoutes derives its n ame f rom the great

2
balls often given there during the winter season T here .

th e V iennese youth abandons itself t o its passion f or

dancing a very real and delightful passion wh ich has led
, ,

th e Aus t rians t o m ak e a regular art of drawing roo m -

dancing as f ar above the routine of our balls as th e

,

orchestra and waltzes of Strauss are superior to the p olkas

an d strummers in the dancin g saloons of Paris I have -
.

p assed whole nights watchi n g thousands of incomparable

waltzers whirling ab out and adm i ri ng th e ch oregraph ical
,

1
[ C zaar un d Z imm er mann , C z ar an d C arp ent er , an e piso de
in t h e li fe o f P et er t h e Gr eat ]
2 R ed ou tes , R id otti .
1 90 VI E NNA .
[ C H AR v .

order of the country dances comp osed of two h undred ,

p ersons in two ranks and the piquant look of the

,

characteristic steps which for originality and precision

,

I have never seen surpassed except in Hungary . .

And then th ere is S trauss conducti ng his fine orchestra 3

,

and when the new waltzes he writes expres sly for each
fashionable ball turn ou t successful the dancers stop ,

to applaud him the ladies approach the platform and

,

throw h im bouquets and he is recalled at the end of

,

the waltz Thus there is no j ealousy between dancing

.

and music 3 each shares with th e o ther in its pleasure

and success This is on l y fair for S trauss is an artis t
.
,
.

The influence he has already exercised over musical

feeling throughout E urop e in introducing cross rhythms
into waltzes is not su ffi ciently appreciated S o piquant
,
.

is the eff ect that th e dancers themselves have already

sought to imitate it by creating the d eux temp s waltz -

although the music itself h as kept the triple rhythm .

If out of Germany the public at large can be induced

, ,

to understand the singular charm frequently resulting from

contrary rh y thms it will be entirely owing to Strauss
, .

Beethoven s marvels in this style are too far above them

’
,

and act only upon exceptional audiences 3 S trauss has

addressed himself to the masses and his numerous imita ,

tors have been forced whilst imitating to s econd him

, , .

T he simultaneous employment of the various divisions

of the bar and syncopated accentuations of the air even ,

in a regular and invariable form is to simple rhythm ,

w hat the h armon ic s of parts in motion are to plain

chords 3 I might even s ay what harmony itself is ,

to the unison and the octave But this is not the place .

in which to examine the question S ome twelve years .

ago I ven t ured to moot it in a study on rhythm which ,

1 92 V I E NNA .
[ C HAR v .

Oh these Frenchmen ! these Frenchmen ! T hey

,

mus t laugh a t everything and everyb ody 3 even at their

own admirers .

I n ever knew t he name o f this kindly islander who ,

t hus took my symphonies for le f t handed childr en -

.

Bu t I have told y ou nothing of E rnst who made such ,

a sensation i n V ienna about this time I shall reserve all .

mention of him for my R ussian travels 3 for I met

him again at St Petersburg where his success is dail y .
,

increasing He is now reposing on the shores of th e

.

Baltic and taking lessons fro m the grandiose and sublim e

,

sounds of the s ea I hop e to meet him again I n som e .

other part of t he w orld 3 for L is zt E rnst and mysel f , ,

are I think among musicians th e three greatest wanderers

, ,

ever imp el led by curiosity and restless temper t o leav e

t heir own country .

It requires a talent as prodigious as tha t of E rnst even s o

much as to attract attention in a town like V ienna w here ,

such superior violinists have per f ormed and still perform .

Among the latter I m ay mention M ay s eder whose grea t ,

and wel l merited fame has lo ng been established ; the

-

1
youn g Joachim whose name is b eginning to appear ; ,

and H ell mes b erger j unior s on o f the concert meister of ,

-

the Karntn erth or M ay s eder is a brilliant violinist correc t

'

.
, ,

grace ful irreproachable always sure of himsel f 3 the two

, ,

others Joachim especially are as befits their age rash

, , , ,

and impetuous ambitious of producing novel eff ects, ,

inde f atigably energetic and refusing to believe in th e ,

impossible M ay s eder is the leader of P rin ce_C zartory ski s

.
’

excellent quartet ; his second violin is S trebinger his ,

tenor D urst and his cello B orzaga ,

All of t h em .

1 Jo achim is n ow t h e fi rst violinis t in G erm any indeed one might ,

s ay in E urop e and is a fi nish e d art is t

,
.
L E TT E R IL ] P RI N C E S S C Z A RT O R Y S K I . 3

belong to the imperial band This quart et is among the .

fine things to be heard at V ienna 3 and its interpretation s

of Beethoven Haydn and Mo zart are well worthy of
, ,

the religious attention with which they are lis t ened

to once a week by t h e P rince and a select audience .

T he Princess C zartoryski a p erf ect musician and dis tin ,

u is h ed pianist sometimes t akes an active part in these

g ,

concerts .

After one of Hummel s quintets which s h e had j us t ’

,

been playing in a mas t erly manner someone said t o

.

me
D ecidedly t here are no more amateurs .

” “
Oh I answere d if you look well you may perhaps
, , ,

find them even among artists But in any case the

, .
, ,

P rincess is an exception .

The imp erial ban d composed of picked ins t rumen t alists

,

and singers is of course firs t rate There are s ome children

,
-
.

in the choir with lovely voices The o rchestra is n ot .

large but it is exquisite

,
Most of the solos are en .

t rusted to S tau digl T he band recalled to my min d that

.

of the Tuileries in 1 8 28 and 1 8 29 when it was a t its ,

prime I heard it p erform a mass composed of f ragment s

.

f rom various masters such as A s s may er Joseph Haydn , , ,

and his brother Michael They sometimes did these p ot .

p ou rr is in Paris for the service at the C

,
hapel R oyal but ,

not often ; probably this was also the case at V ienna

but I consider myself ill used in spite of the remark -
,

able beauty of the pieces I heard .

If I am not m istaken the E mperor had t hree kapell ,

meisters at tha t time : E y bl er and A s s may er learned ,

masters of counterpoint and Weigl who died a f ew days , ,

be f ore I le f t V ienna Weigl is kno wn to us in France .

by his opera of T h e S wis s F amily p er f ormed in P aris in ,

VO L . II . 0
1 94 V I E NNA .
[ CHA R H R

1 8 28 It was not very successful 3 musicians thought

.

it insipid and colourless and the wits described it as

,

a pastoral written in milk .

One thing at V ienna struck me painfully and that was ,

the incredible ignorance prevailing with resp ect to Gluck s ’

works From how m any musicians and amate urs have I

.

not inquired if they kne w A l ces te or A r mid e or Ip h i , ,

“
génic and,
the reply was al w ays t h e same They are :

”
nev er performed at V ienna ; we do not kno w them .

But you wretched creatures w hether they are p erformed

, ,

or not you ought to kno w them by heart ! It is very

,

plain that contractors like Messrs B al och in o and Pockorn y .

,

who are more solicitous of large receipts than of fine works ,

will never imitate the King of Prussia and indulge in the ,

luxury of producing antique ch ef s d x uvre when they ’

can o ffer such modern works to the public as I nd ra or

A l essandro S tra del l a .

They even spoke of the late discovery of Gluck s ’

tomb as on e of the remarkable events of the season !

The discov ery C an you imagine such a thing ? It was
unknown then ? E xactly s o Oh my dear V iennese !
,
.
,

you are quite fit to inhabit Paris S till there is nothi n g ,

strange in the fact if on e reme mbers that to this

,
’
day no on e knows the spot where Mo zar t s ashes are
rep osing .

I said something in my first letter which can hardly

have given y ou a very brilliant idea of the C onservatoire
at V ienna Notwithstanding all the merit o f its director
.
,

M P reyer and the much appreciated talent of T isch off

.
,
-
,

Boehm and certain other e x cellent professors th e C on

, ,

s erv at oire is n ot what would be naturally expected fro m

a capital like V ienna either in imp ortance or nu mbers

,
.

A f ew ye ars ago indee d it see ms to have been in such

, ,
1 96 V I E N NA .
[ C H A R mm

t o enlarge the f orm of the quartet and give it new t urns .

M Becher is also a distinguished writer and his criticisms

.
,

are highly esteemed among the masters of the V iennes e

1
press .

C ouncill or W es qu e of P utlingen who publishes unde r

, ,

the pseudonym of Hoven gav e me many a happy hour wit h

,

his so n gs the style of which is charming full of fancy

, , ,

and accompanied by V ery piquant harmonies I noticed .

the sam e characteristics in some movements f rom two of

his operas which unfortunately I only heard on the piano
, .

M D essauer is b etter known to us from his t wo years

.
’

stay in P aris — I think from 1 8 40 to 1 8 4 2 He has s et t o .

music many pieces by our best p oets He continues t o .

add to his songs and m ost of them obtain decided success

,

in th e d ra w in g room D essauer s style is exclusively the

-
.
’

elegiac 3 he is only at his c as e when dealing with the

miseries of the soul ; suff erings are his dearest delight ,

and tears his greatest j oy Both at V ienna and Paris .

,

he was always waging a courteous war with m e H is on e .

idea is to convert me to a musical doctrine with which I

am not yet acquainted for h e never could m ake up h is
,

mind to imp art it to me E very time we had an oppor

.

t un it y for discussing the matter th oroughly — to quote his

o wn w ord — if I looked at him steadily in my gravest
manner he concluded that I was laughing at him shut
, ,

his lips and postponed the conversation If all preachers

,
.

had acted thus we should still be groping in th e darknes s

,

of paganism .

I must not forge t to mention the cordiality with which

I was received at V ienna by many writers who lik e ,

1 U n f ortun ate B ech er I h ear t h at h e m adly thre w hims el f i nt o

t h e f urn a c e o f t h e l as t insurr e c t ion at Vi en n a an d w as t ak e n t ri ed
, , ,

cond emn ed an d sho t

,
.
LE TT E R IL ] P LE A S AN T REL A T IO N S . 7

myself, are labouring in th e rugged and fl in ty soil of

criticism too O ften to s ee it produc e nothing but this t le s

,

an d nettles T hey treated m e as an equal for which I

.
,

thank them One of them M Saphir gives an annual

.
, .
,

literary and musical ga thering in which in spite of t h e , ,

c ensure his sparkling wit contrives to use its scourge

, ,

to the great delight of his hearers who like th e res t of , ,

the world are always enchanted at h earing someon e

,

out up .

1
I say nothing of th e conductor s baton with w h ich ’

I was s o kindly presented by my friends at V ienna ,

a t a supper party a f ter my third concert ; nor of t h e

-
,

handsom e present made m e by the E mp eror ; nor of many

other things which y ou will have heard through t h e
newspapers of the day You are not ignorant of any .

ood fortune t h at b ef el me during tha t j ourney and s o

g ,

it would be useless to recur t o it .

H B . .

1
T his b at on is silv er gil t inscribe d w i th t h e n am e s o f t h e
-
,

n um erous su b scrib e rs I t is w r eath e d w i t h a spray o f l aurel on t h e

.
,

l eav e s o f w hich are inscrib e d t h e t i t l es o f my w orks T h e E mp eror .

,

a ft e r h avin g att e nd e d o n e o f my conc er t s in t h e S all e d e s Re dou te s ,

s en t m e a hundr ed duc at s (ele v en hundr e d f rancs ) Bu t h e accom p a .

ni e d i t w ith t his extr aordin ary complim en t : T ell B erlio z t hat I “

”
w as v ery mu ch a mused !
 C H AP T E R L XV I

P e s th .

L E TT E R III .
— T o M ONS I E UR HUMB E R T F E R R A N D .

WH E N travelling in Austria on e must positively visit at

,

least three of its capitals — V ienna Pesth and P rague , ,

.

C ert ain wayward minds assert that Pesth is in Hungary ,

and P rague in Bohemia ; but n one the less do these

two states form integral p arts o f the Austrian E mpire ,

to which they are attached and devoted — soul body

‘

, ,

and estate — much as Ireland is to E nglan d Poland ,

to R ussia Algeria to France ; much as all conquered

,

nations have always been to their conquerors L et us .

start accordingly for Pesth a great Austrian town in

,

Hungary .

I am not fortunate in my relations with the D anube .

As I told you its last steamboat had been taken off w hen
,

I wanted to embark at R atisbon for V ienna ; it was

covered with fogs and s o prevented me from going down
,

as f ar as Pesth 3 and y ou will soon s ee that the old rive r

did not stop its ill natured proceedings there Apparently
-
.

'

it obj ected to my entering its dominions and wished not ,

merely to throw di ffi culties in my way but even to hinde r ,

m e altogether And yet how I admired it

. H ow often
have I eulogised that maj estic and powerf ul river I t .
20 0 V I E NNA .
[ C H A R L X V I .

me much about music especially my o wn of which as , , ,

it seemed to me his highness had formed b eforehand a

,

most curious notion which I endeavoured to correct ,

.

Finally I withdre w enchanted with my welcome im

, , ,

m en s el y surprised at the facil ity with which I had thus

broken the laws of German etiquette and quite proud ,

o f having for some minutes exercised the functio n s o f

o fficer councillor chancellor ambassador s secretary and

, , ,
’

minister without any tr o uble whatever

,
And thus I .

again recognised th e truth of the evangeli cal pre c ept ,

“
Knock and it sha l l be op ened unto y ou and also th e
,
”
,

exquisite tact with which on occasion certain princes can

“ ”
sa
y , S ini te p arvul os ven ir e a d m e on condition o f , ,

course that the p ar vul i should be foreigners no matter

, ,

h ow unskilful and that they b elong to that class o f

,

useless folk always interest ing to see close at hand called

, ,

in these days p oets musicians painters — in a wor d , , ,

artis t s and in the Middle Ages more rudely styled

,

minstrels troubadours stage players and gipsies

, ,
-
,
.

Perhaps you will be surprised to hear my dear ,

Humbert that I did not exercis e my po w erf ul influence

,

t o obtain admission to the Imperial Family in order to ,

pay my respects to them —and you will have some grounds

for astonishment T here was in fact a reason o f state
.
, ,

f or my coyness which I w ill tell y ou in the strictest

,

c onfidence It had come to my ears in the first days o f

.
,

my stay at V ienna that the E mpress that angel of piety

, , ,

sweetness and devotion held even stranger opinions

, ,

about m e than Prince Metternich did about m y music .

C ertain passages out of my V oy age en I ta lic so m e ,

what t oo u ncivilised in style and which moreover had , , ,

been skilfully commented on to Her Maj esty by kind

f riends ( one is a prey to friends everywhere even at the ,
L E TT E R III ] . THE E M P RE S S O F A U S T R I A . 20 1

Austrian C ourt ) had gained m e the reputation of a,

regular brigand in these high places neither more nor ,

less Well I was n ot merely fl at t ered— that would b e

.
,

saying too little — but really proud of this eccen tric

renown which thus fell upon m e from the heavens I .

said to myself what you would certainly have said in my

,

place that a slight aureole of crime is too distinguished a

,

thing since Byron has made it fashionable not to b e care

, ,

fully preserved when one has h ad the good fortune t o

gain it even if it b e placed u pon a forehead altogether
,
“
un worthy of it Accordingly I reasoned thus . If I :

p res en t my f
s el at C o urt the E mpress may not impossibly ,

condescend to address a few words to me I shall .

necessarily have to answer her to the best of m y ability ,

an d once engage d in conversation heaven knows where

, ,

I may be led Her Maj esty may lose her original O pinion
.

of my individuality and only s ee in me as in ma n y , ,

others a worshipper of her o w n grace and goodness S h e

,
.

will find nothing fi erce or sinister in my counte n ance ;

n othing tigerish in my voice True my n os e will always .
,

b e slightly aquiline 3 b ut on th e w hole my ap p ear ance , ,

wil l not betray my emp l oy ment and I shall pass f or a ,

plain honest man I ncapable of d oing a ny h a rm or of

, , ,

even stopping a coach and thus my reputation would b e ,

lost No by Jove ! I would rather remain a brigan d

.
, ,

and vanish as quickly as possible since distance would ,

”
only serve to increase and embellis h my aureole .

That is why I obstinately declined to d o myself th e

honour of being presented at the Austrian C ourt and ,

went off suddenly one fine m orning I nto Hungary I .

m u st here give y ou an account of my quarrels with the ,

D anube E ach day it envelop ed itself in a cloud like

.
,
’
Homer s gods when about to commit som e evil action ;
20 2 THE D AN U B E .
[ C HA R v r
.

hence the interruption to navigation and the necessity laid

upon travellers of taking the land way to Pesth T his is a .

very polite way of putting it You mus t kno w my friend

.
, ,

that the most ordinary pebbles are as scarce as emerald s

on the surface of the immense plain that extends fro m

V ienna to Pesth ; the soil is comp osed of a fine dust ,

as fine as if it had been sifted and which whe n , ,

soaked by rain forms quagmires that you can only cross

,

by the aid of a grand supply of hors es and in which y ou ,

are momently engulfed at the risk of never b eing able t o

get out again I o ught t herefore rather to have said the
.

mud way than the land w ay Imagine the charms of .

such a j ourney But still all this was nothi n g V h at .

V

should the D anub e do but overflow its banks and over ,

whelm with its angry waters the blac k ditch in which we

had been paddling for the last fifteen hours and which ,

in that country they persist in calling th e grand road !

At midnight I was roused from my slumbers by th e
carriage coming to a stand still and by the sound o f -
,

c rashing rolling w ater The coachman evidently in search

,
.
,

of adventures had d riven us into the b ed of t h e river

, ,

a n d dared not move a step forward .

All this time the water was rising A Hungarian o fficer .

in the c oup e had spoken t o me two or three times through

a small windo w in the intermediate compartment o f th e
unhappy carriage .

”
C aptain said I in my turn
,
.

”
Sir
.

D on t you think we shall b e drowned ?

’

Yes s ir I do
,
May I off er y ou a cigar ?
,

His insolent s angf roid made me feel much inclined t o

-

strike him and in a fury of r age I accepted his cigar and

,

began promptly to smoke it .

20 4 PE STH .
[ C H AR v 1.

On my arrival I had a treat which I had promised

mysel f the night before if I should escap e from the mud
,

an d the D anube I took a bath drank t wo glasses of

.
,

tokay and slept for twenty hours though not without

, ,

d reaming of inundations and lakes of mud After which .

I had to m ake preparations for my first concert arrange ,

with the managers look for violinists s ee the kapell

, ,

meister singers etc etc

, , .
, .

Thanks to the kindly influence of C ount R adai the ,

intendant of the National Theatre wh ere I had be en ,

advised to give my concerts in preference to the German

Theatre t h e principal d ifiicul t ies were soon overcome
, .

I had a mo m entary u n easiness about the arrangement

of my orchestra for that of th e National Theatre is s o
,

small that it was impossible to think of getting up my

symphonies with its little band of violins only On the .

other han d i t was i mpossible to have recourse to the

,

artists at the German Theatre o w i n g to a regulation ,

which will give you some ide aof the touching aff ection of
the Hungarians for everything German The admissio n .

o f any artist from th e German T heatre into the National

Theatre whether singer chorister or instrumentalist is

, , , ,

strictly forbidden n o matter how g reatly his assistance

,

m ay b e needed More than this at the Hungarian

.
,

Theatre the us e of all languages ancient and modern in

singing is permitted with the single exception of G erman
, ,

which is formally prohibite d This strange and darin g .

exception in a country subj ect to Austria is somewhat o f

an imitation of Napoleon s C ontinental system practised
’
,

towards Germany in general and Austria in particular by

the Hungarian natio n Accordingly the products of German
.
,

industry are commonly rej ected and it is co n sidered a duty ,

in all classes of the population to make use of Hungarian

LE TT E R III ]
. H U N GA R IAN NA T IO NA L I T Y . 20 5

manu factures only Hence the f requent use in large letters

.

on the windo w s of m ost of th e Pest h shops even thos e ,

o f the modistes of the word h ony which pu zzled me s o

, ,

much th e first day and which means na tiona l

, .

Henry M ii ll er the music publisher at V ienna (th e mos t

,

obligin g of m en wh o overwhel med m e with marks of

,

attention during my stay in Austria ) had fortunately ,

given m e a letter t o a colleague at Pesth on e M , .

T reich l in ger on e of th e great violinists produced by

,

the ancient German school He put m e into communica .

tion wi t h the principal members o f the P hilhar m onic

S ociety o f Pesth and v ery speedily obtaine d for m e
,

a do zen excellent violinists whom h e begged to be ,

allowe d to lead himself They acquitted themselves

.

m arvellously of the task which they had s o courteous l y

undertaken and th e p erformance of my programme was
, ,

I fancy on e of the best that had been heard at Pesth f or

,

a lo n g time Among the pieces was the march which n o w

.

forms th e fina le to the first part of m y legend of Faus t .

I wrote it th e night before my departure for Hungary A .

V iennese a m ateur well up in the ways of the coun t ry

,

which I was about to visit had bro u ght m e a volume of

,

“ ”
ol d airs . I f you wish to please the Hu n gari ans said he , ,

write a piece on on e of their national themes ; they will

b e delighted with it and when y ou come back y ou shall
,

give me an acc ount of their elj en (hurrahs ) and applause .

”
Here is a collection in which you have only t o choose .

I took h is advice and chose the theme of R ak ocz y on ,

which I wrote the grand march you kno w .

No sooner had the announcement of this new piece of

h ony music spread through P esth than the national ,

imagination began t o ferment T hey won d ered h ow I .

should treat that f amous — one might s ay almost sacred

20 6 PE S T H .
[ C H AR v 1 .

th eme which had long s et all Hungarian hearts beating

,

with enthusiasm for liberty and glory .

T here was even some anxiety on th e subj ect they ,

dreaded a profanation C ertain l y I was so far from

.
,

be ing off ended at this misgiving that I even admired

it Besides it was only too well j ustified by a host of
.
,

pitiable p ot p ourr is and arrangements in which melo dies

-

w orthy of t h e highest respect had been horribly outraged .

Perhaps also more than one Hungarian amateur had

, ,

witnessed in Paris th e impious barbarity w ith w hich w e

drag our immortal M ars eil l a is e through the musical gutter
on national f ete days -
.

At last a M Hor wath chief editor of a Hungarian

,
.
,

paper being unable to restrain his curiosity any lo n ger

, ,

came to the publisher with whom I was in treaty

about the organisation o f th e concert found out the ,

address of the C opyist who had been commissioned to

write the orchest ral parts from the score ran off to this ,

man asked f or my M S S and carefully examined them

, .
, .

M Horwath w as but ill pleased with the re s ult of his

.

inquiry and could not disguis e his anxiety

, .

“
I have seen your score of the Ill arch e d c R akoczi ’

said he .

NV ell
Well I have my f ears , .

Bah
Y ou h ave marked the them e p ia no and we on the , ,
”
contrary are accustomed to hear it played f ortiss imo
, ,

“
Y es by th e Z ingari
,
Besides is that all ? Never .
,

f ear 3 you shall have a f orte such as y ou have never heard

in all your life Y ou have not read it prop erly T h e end
. .

”
must b e considered in everything .

Still on t h e day of the concert I f el t a certain

,
20 8 PE STH .
[ C H AR v r .

a hurricane and was wiping my f ace in a little room

,

behind the stage when I exp erienced a singular rebound

,

f rom the emotion of the con cert room It happened in .

this wise A p oorly dressed man with a strangely agitated

.
,

face dropped in upon m e unawares in my small retreat

,
.

T he moment he caught sight of m e h e flung himsel f upon

me and embraced me with fervour ; h is eyes were full o f
‘
tears and with difiic ul ty he stammered out these words
,

“
Ah s ir s ir ! I Hungarian — poor fellow— n ot sp eak
, ,

French — nu poco l I t al ian o F orgiv e— m y — ecstasy Ah

’
. .
,

I understood your cannon Yes yes — the great battle .

,

”
German dogs ! And striking himself a great blow on
the chest with his fist In my heart here — I s h all bear
“
,

you — ah you Frenchman —you revolutionist —you d o

,

”
know h o w to make revolutionary music .

I cannot attempt to describe the terrible excitement of

this man his tears and gn ash in gs of teeth It was some
, .

thing almost appalling 3 it was sublime .

You may well believe my dear Humbert that after , ,

that the R dh bczy ind ul o was put into all the programmes
-
,

and al ways with the same result Indee d on leaving I .

,

was obliged t o bequeath my manuscript to th e town of

Pest h by its own d esire and a m onth later received a
, ,

c opy o f it at Breslau To this day it is p erformed in

.

Hungary on all great occasi ons But I must tak e this .

O pportunity of informing M E rckl th e kapell meister .

,
-
,

that I have made various alterations in it since then

by putting about thirty bars more into the cod a which I , ,

think add to its eff ect

,
.

I shall make a p oint of sending him the revised score cor ,

rect e d and augmented as soon as m y publisher

,
will allow 1
.

1
(M arch I h av e just s en t t h e scor e t o H ung ary A
6 th , .

f ew w eek s ago a body o f young H un gari ans s en t m e a silv er cro wn

LE TT E R III ] . H U NGA R I AN M U SI C I AN S . 09

M E rckl is a most excellent man o f great talent I

. .

heard an opera of his during my stay at Pesth cleverly ,

conducted by h i mself and entitle d H uny a d y the subj ect , ,

of which is taken fro m the heroic annals of Hungary It .

contains many things remarkable f or their originality and ,

m ore especially for the depth of feeling which dictated

them Moreover it is clearly written and instrumented
.
, ,

in a very refined and intelligent m anner by which I am ,

far from m eaning that the instrumentation is lacking in

energy Madame S ch odel a genuine l y rical t ragedian of
.
, ’

the school of Madame Branchu — an extinct school of which

I little expected to find an offshoot in Hungary —played
and sang the principal part beautifully .

I must als o mention a very meritorious tenor named

Feredy in the Hungarian troup e He sings the Hungarian .

of mos t ex quisi te w orkm anshi p b earing t h es e w ords on t h e co at O i

,
-

arms o f t h e t o w n o f G ior ( R a ab in G erm a n ) T h e Youn g M en o f

“ '

G ior t o H e c t or B erlio z T his pr e s en t w as accomp ani e d by a l etter

.
,

t o w hich I r eplie d thus

GE NT L E M E N — I h av e r e c eive d your h andsom e pr es en t t ogeth e r
, ,

w i t h th e fl atte ring l ett er accomp anyin g i t T his proo f o f sym .

p athy f rom a count ry o f w hich I h av e al ways pr es erv e d such tend er

,

m emori es t ouch e d m e d eeply

,
.

T h e e ff e c t o f my w ork is doub tl e ss du e t o t h e f e elings w hich you r

n at ion al air awak ens in you w hom a ccording t o your own po et ic al
, ,

ex pression i t mus t l ead to l if e— in you o f w hom on e m ay s ay w i th

,

Virgil ,
F r i qu e m n t s ur o ra e e
P aecip it n t p ul h um q u e m ori u cu it in m is ’
r a , c r s c rr ar .

But i f in my music you h av e f ound e v e n on e S park o f t h e ent hu

s ia s m w hich kindl e s in all no b l e H ung ari an b r e a s t s I mus t consid e r ,

mys el f only t oo f ortun at e an d r eg ard this succ ess as on e o f t h e

,

r ares t t h at an y ar tist c an obt ain .

“
Rec eiv e g en tlem en my mos t cordi al gr eetings t og eth er wit h
, , ,

this ex pr e ssion o f my gr at i tud e — Yours f aith f ully .

,

H E C T O R B E R L I oz .

F ebru ary 1 4t h 1 86 1 , .

VO L . II .
21 0 PE STH .
[ C H AR v r.

romanc es and national songs marvellousl y with a ch arm ,

ing and original accentuation that would certainly m ake

them attractive to all nations The concert meister is a .
-

violin ist o f great talent nam ed Kohne who resided for a

,
.

long time in Paris and if I am not mistaken attended

, , ,

the C onservatoire .

The chorus of th e National Theatre of Pesth is b ut

f eeble both as regards the numbers and the quality of
,

th e voices The Hungarian language is by no means

.

un f avourable t o music indeed in my opinion it is much

,

less hard than German A wonderful language ! which .

no one can understand unless they learn it It .

would b e useless to try to discover any resemblance

bet ween Hungarian and any other known tong ue ; there
is none E ven certain musical terms deri v ed from t h e
.

I t alian which have been preserved almost intact every

,

where else are replaced by peculiar terms in Hungarian

, ,

either composite or simple but entirely different For , .

example take the word concert which is to b e found

, ,

almost exactly th e same whether in Italian Spanish , ,

French German E nglish or R ussian You would never

, , , .

guess that on the Hungarian placards it b ecomes h ang

vcrs en y neither more nor less
,
This strange word means .

literally concur rence of s ounds .

My musical preoccupations did not prevent m e fro m

attend ing two balls during my stay at Pesth as well ,

as a grand political banquet gi v en by the Hungarian

nobility Never have I seen anything s o magnificently
.

original as these balls as much from their prodigious dis

,

play of luxury as from the singular picturesqueness of the

national costumes and the beauty of t h e proud race of
,

Magyars The dances are essentially di ff erent in character

.

from those known throughout the rest of E urope O ur .

21 2 PE S T H .

t ha t is t o s ay an ex tremely nai ve and wild on e— and

,

t hese alternating wi th the sp eeches and toasts and amply ,

seconded by the burning wines of Hungary excit ed t h e ,

revolutionary fever of the guests to excess .

N ext morning I had t o bid f arewell t o my Hungarian

,

hos t s I departed still quiv ering with various emotions

.
, ,

and f ull of sympathy with s o ardent chivalrous and , ,

generous a nation D uring my s t ay a t P esth the D anub e

.

had calmed down all expression of ill temp er had dis

,
-

appeared from its venerable face and it now allowed ,

m e to foll ow i t s course as f ar as V ienna without let or

hindrance No sooner had I arrived than I received
.

a visi t from t h e amateur whose ofli cious advice had per

s uaded me to write th e R dh éczy march He was a prey .

to the m ost comical uneasiness .

“
T he fame of your piece has spread even here h e ,

“
sai d ,
and I hasten to implore you n ot to s ay a word
abou t m e in the matter I f it were known in Vienna
.

that I had contributed in any way whatever to its com

p osi t ion I should b e gr avely compromised and I migh t ,
”
come to grief about it .

I promised to keep his secret I f I t ell y ou his nam e

.

now i t is only because I think t here has been t ime sinc e

,

then f or s o serious a matter to be hushed up It was .

ah well it would certainl y b e indiscreet if I t old

, ,

y o u . I o nl y wante d to frighten him .

H B . .
 C H AP T E R L X V II .

Pragu e

L E TT E R I V —T o . M ON SI E U R HUMBE R T FE R R AND .

I H A D already gone all over Germany before it came int o

my head to visit Bohemia When at last I thought of .

it at V ienna I ought in prudence to have rej ected th e

,

idea at once according to the advice of several appa

,

“ ”
ren tl
y well in f ormed persons
-
D on t go to Prague .
’
,

“
said they 3 it is a city of p edants where the works of ,

t h e dead alone are respected The Bohemians are excel .

l ent musicians it is true but only after the manner of

, ,

professors and schoolmast ers 3 all novelty is detestable in

their eyes an d the chances are tha t you won t care for
,
’

”
the m .

I had accordingly made up my mind t o giv e up th e

j ourney whe ,
n someone brought me a Pragu e G azette

M us ical e containing three long articles on my over t ur e

,

t o King L ear I had them translated and far fro m

.
, ,

finding that they savoured of malevolence an d p edantry ,

I recognised with d elight exactly the opposit e character

1
is tics . The author on e D r Ambros seemed t o combin e
,
.
,

[ Ambros s music al hist ory f ully bears ou t B erlio z s eulo gy

'
1 '
.

H is d eat h un f ort un ately pu t an en d t o i t at t h e clos e o f t h e si xtee n t h

c en t ury but u p t o th at poin t i t is f ar sup e rior t o an y o t h e r S ingl e
,
21 4 P R AG UE .
[ C H AR v 11 .

real learning with j udgment and imaginat ion I wrote .

to thank him and to s ound him as to his country m en s

,
’

disposition of mind with regard to myself .

His answer quite dispelled my doubts and my desir e ,

t o visit P rague becam e as great as the fear I formerly

had of showing myself there When the V iennese heard .

that I had m ade up my mind to go they did not spare ,

“
their witticisms at m y e x pense Th e inha bitants of .

Prague claim to have discovered Mo zart 3 they swear by

him care for no symphonies but his They will give
,
.

it you finely etc But D r Ambros had insp i red me

,
. .

with a confidence which nothing could shake and I ,

s et o ff notwithstanding the gloomy forebodin gs of the

,

mockers .

Is it not pleasant five hundred leagues away from

,

y our hom e to find an

,
unknown friend waiting for you
when you alight in a foreign town who recognises you ,

by y our ch armingl y ch a ra cteris tic countena nce as the ,

man he is looking for accosts y ou S hakes y ou by the , ,

hand and tells you in y our own language that every

,

thi n g has been prepared f or y our reception ? T h is

is exactly what happened to m e with D r Ambros when .

I arrived at Prague T he only thing was that as my

.
,

ch a rmingl y ch a r a cter is tic f a ce completely failed in its

0
eff ect he did not recognise me It w as I on the contrary
, .
, ,

who on catching sight of a small man with a quick

, ,

kindly countenance and hearing him s ay in French to

,
“
someone How on earth do you expect me to make
,

”
out M Berlio z in this crowd ?
. I have never seen h im
—it was I I repeat who had the ama zing acuteness
, ,

work , cont ains a gr eat d eal o f f resh inv est igation an d o f sound
an d

judgm en t T h e E arly E n glish musici ans e v en r ec eiv e som ething

.

lik e ad equ ate no tic e ]

21 6 P R AG UE .
[ C H AR v 11 .

hand a forest exten ding to the great plain below ; on

,

the other a cascade of houses des cending like a smoky

,

torrent to the Moldau which s w eeps maj esticall y past

,

the town to the sound of the mills and factories which

are worked by it leaps a barrier that Bohemian ingenuity
,

has erected to modify the course of its waters and then , ,

passing by two s m all islands l oses itself in the far dis ,

tance ami d st the win di ngs of a chain of red hills which

,

lead it carefully towards the h ori zon .

“
That is th e Huntsman s Islan d said my guide ’
, ,

so named doubtless because there is no game there

, , .

Behind it as you go up the river y ou may see S ophie s

, ,
’

Island in the centre of which is the S ophie concert

,

room where y ou are to give your concert and which is ,

d evoted to the meetings of the Singing Academy S ophie s

’
,

”
Academy .

“
And who may this S ophie b e in whose room and ,

academy an d island I am to have the honour of giving

my concert ? Is she a nymph of the Moldau the heroine ,

of some romance of w hich this island was the scene or is ,

S he merely a rough red han d ed washer w oman who like a

-
,

modern C alypso makes it resound to her songs and to the

,

thump ing of her washing bat -

“
Your last supposition is I fancy the most c orrect , ,
.

Tradition does not say however that her hands were , ,

red
Ah doctor you seem to m e to have been playing the
, ,

part of Ulysses with this S ophie ! Is there a E uch aris ~

there ? L et u s s ee S uppose I turn Telemachus and look

.

”
f or you in th e island of C alyps o A blush was the .

d octor s only answer and I saw that it would not do to

’
,

harp too lo ng on that string And s o it befell that I .

heard nothi ng definite about this Sophie who was the ,

L E TT E R I V ] . T H E M O LD A U . 21 7

patroness of a S inging Academy a concert— room and an , ,

islan d .

U nhappily that d elicious retreat in t h e midst of the

,

M ol dau s flo wing waters which in summer is shaded by

’
,

a verdant girdle and garlanded with flowers c onceal s , ,

s omewhere in t h e v ic in it y of its T emple to Harmony

’

t wo or thre e abominable guinguettes where bad musicians ,

make execrable music in the open air and ill conditioned ,

-

y oung p eople abandon themselves to rollicking dances ,

bad tobacco worse beer and still worse gossip

, ,
.

To return abruptly to the subj ect of m usic though ,

reserving to myself th e right of wandering again at will ,

I hop e my d ear frien d that y ou d o not expect m e to

, ,

write y ou a d i s sertation more wearisome than learned ,

m ore pretentious than tires om e and more f util e than u til c ,

( it is plain that I am a poet : I b eg y o u to observe the

facility with which rhymes drop from my pen ) on the ,

revolutions of music in Bohemia on the special tendencies ,

o f the Slav mind and on the probable d ate at which the

’

ol d masters of this country allowed the use o f the dominant

s eventh without preparation O n these d eep and grave .

q uestions I must confess my incurable ignorance and if ,

my indolence were but less obstinate with regard to th e

study of history or of h is toires I should certainly prefer ,

t o make researches a bout the famous ivory guitar which

the philosopher Koang f u T s ée commonly called C on - -
,

f u cius used in preaching morality to the C hinese E mpire

, .

For I also play the guitar and yet I never preached ,

m orality even to the population of a bed room t en feet -

s quare 3 quite the contrary True my guitar is very simple .

,
,

an d the elephant s tusk does not enter into its orna

’

mentation No matter ! The following passage which

.
,

I re read yesterday f or at least the hundredth time

-
,
21 8 P R AG UE .
[ C HA R v n.

is a very good subj ect of meditation for philosophical

musicians — not mu s ical philo s ophers 3 there have been
none since L eib nit z I b eliev e I have already quoted it
.

elsewhere “
Ko ang f u T s é e havi ng accidentally heard
.
- -
,

the so n g called L i p o w hich everyone says is fourteen

-
,

thousand years ol d (after that let no one call music a

modern art ) was filled with such admiration that he
,

remained seven days and nights w ithout either sleepi ng ,

eating or drinking
,
He then formulated his sublime
.

doctrines and promulgated the m without di fficulty

, ,

sung all th e precepts to the air of L i—po and thus ,

preached morality to C hina with a fiv e stri nged ivory -

”
guitar .

Alas for me ! My guitar has not only five string s

like that of C onfuciu s but sometimes even six 3 and yet
,

I have not the smallest fame as a preacher Ah ! if it .

had only been ivory what blessings migh t I not have

,

scattered what errors dissipated what truths inculcate d

, , ,

what a beautiful religion I should have founded a n d how ,

happy we S hould all be

Mo d ern E uropean mu s ic d eprives no one of food or
sleep as th e ancient C hin es e melopoeia did and yet it
, ,

has its value That is to s ay be it clearly understood

.
, ,

it does not preven t anyone from eating and drinking ;

t h ough I have often heard it said by excellent musicians
that whilst practising their art th ey had not even water
t o drink and that such and suc h a celebrated composer
,

or musician was d ying of hunger As for preventin g .

sleep the most ancient comp ositions of our old masters

,

have certainly ne v er had the slightest claim to that dis

tinction But n ow the question is what is my opinion
.
, ,

about the musical institutions of Prague and the tast e ,

and in t elligence of its inhabitants I should have to live .

2 20 P R AG UE .
[ C H A R L XV II .

were in perfect harmony In the fi na l e of the fourt h .

act of Gluck s Ip h igen ie en T a ur id e I reme mber seeing

’
’
,

a ship with a r ow of p or t h ol es setting sail f or Greece -

.

The m is e en s ce ne of the regular r ep ertoire was somewhat

better and suff ered little or nothing from th e feeble
,

ness of the orchestra and ch orus ; it was composed ,

in fact o f contemptible little works translated fro m

,

the Frenc h and long S ince forgotten at the O pera

,

C om i que All managers are alike their sagacity in

.
,

the discovery of platitudes is equalled only by their

instinctive aversion for any works tending either to refin e
ment of style grandeur or originality In this respect
, , .

they are more p ubl ic than the public both in Germany , ,

Italy E nglan d and else where I say nothing of France 3

, ,
.

it is well known that ou r lyrical theatres without ex ,

cep tion are and hav e al ways been managed by superior

,

men And whenever the opportunity has presented itsel f

.

o f choosing b et w een two productions one com m onplace ,

and the other distinguish e d between a creative artist and ,

a miserable imitator between bold ingenuity and insipid

, ,

prudent stupidity their e x quisite tact has never led the m

,

astray Therefore glory to them ! All friends to art

.
,

profess a veneration for these men only equal to their

gratitude .

I have often wondered w h y theatrical managers every

w here have such a marke d predilection for w hat genuine .

artists cultivated minds and even a certain section of

, ,

the public itself persist in regardi n g as v ery poor

manufacture S hort lived productions the handiwork
,
-

of which is as valuele s s as the raw material itself .

N ot as though platitudes always succeeded better tha n

good works ; indeed the contrary is often the case , .

Neither is it that careful compositions entail more expens e

L E TT E R I V ] . T H E AT R I C A L M ANAG ER S . 22 1

“
t han shoddy It is often j ust th e other way Perhap s
. .

it arises simply from the fact that the good works d emand
t he care study attention and in certain cases even the
, , , , ,

m ind talent and inspiration of everyone in the theatre

, , ,

f rom the m anager down to the prompter The others on .

,

the contrary being m ade esp ecially f or la zy mediocre

, , ,

superficial ignorant and silly people n aturally find a

, , ,

great many supporters Well ! a manager likes abov e .

,

e verything whatever brings him in amiable speeches and

,

satisfied look s from his underlin gs h e likes things that ,

require no learning and disturb no accepted ideas or ,

habits which gently go w ith th e stream of prejudice and

, ,

wound no self love because they reveal no I ncapacity ; in

-
,

a word t h ings which do not take t oo long to get up

,
.

Other managers again are ambitious of doing every , ,

thing themselves and for that reason alone are hostile to

,

such as are ill advised enough to off er them works which

-

cannot b e got up without the assistance of th e authors‘

T he importance acquired by these indiscreet authors is s o

m u ch subtracted from that of the manager who suff ers ,

under it and is indignant T he captain of the S hip thus .

,

humiliated before his cre w never forgives the pilot for ,

having reduced him to inaction and degraded him (with ,

o ut consideri n g h is feelings ) to the rank o f lieutenant or

s ub lieutenant
-
C onsequently he hourly curses his o wn
.
,

imprudence in venturing I nto quarters of which he did

n ot know the di fficulties and vows never again to ,

n avigate waters that are not in every sense plo ughed .

Besides this s ome m an agers are m onomaniacs These

, .

are extravagantly fond of one particular channel of ideas ,

a p ar t icular class of incident a particular ep och in history , ,

p articular costumes scenes and eff ects in the mis e en , ,

s cene a particular s inger or dancer or what no t

, T hey , , .
22 2 P RAG UE .
[ C HA R L XVII .

must insist on introducing their hobby every where in ,

season and ou t of season T hus the hobby of M D up on . .

chel the director of th e O pera w as is and eve r will be a

, , , , ,

cardinal in a red hat under a dais S uch operas as have .

no dais no cardinal and no red hat (and there are many )

, ,

have never had the very smallest attraction for h im And .

I once heard it said by M M ery that if the Al mighty had .

,

a part in a n e w work D uponchel would still insis t on

,

His being dressed out in his favourite head gear I s ay -

.

nothing of his love for horses ; s o profound a passion as

that is too respectable .

All this , however has no connection with the f ormer

,

manager of the Prague Theatre ; indeed I ought to have ,

said so s ooner He was an honest man and like m ost of

.
, ,

his trade little versed in musical matters 3 but unlike

, ,

them h e was liked and esteemed by his dependents and

, ,

w hen in consequence of th e bad state of his aff airs he

, ,

found himself compelled to give up the management of

the theatre he was sincerely regrette d M P ockorn y the
,
. .
,

d irector of the A n der Wien Theatre at V ienna must also

- -
, ,

be included among t h e honourable e x ceptions .

E nterprising managers who work on their own account

and at their own risk are not numerous in Germany .

I hav e only known five or s ix namely at L eip zig Prague , , , ,

V ienna Pesth and Hamburg

, ,
The other l y rical theatres .

are mostly under the direction of titled intendants ,

managing on behalf of their sovereigns It must be .

admitted in general that no matter what th e degree of

aristocratic coldness with which many of these counts
o r barons treat their subordinates ar tists much prefer ,

them to the man u facturers who make capital out of them .

The former have at any rate for the most part exquisitely , ,

p olite manners on w hich the latter do not particularl y

‘

,
2 24 P R AG UE .
[ C H AR L XV II .

wrote the comedy entitled L e M éd ecin malgre l ui and

’

w as much o ff ended when told with a burst of la ughter , ,

’
t h at it was by Moli ere .

In Paris moreover there is one manager whos e office

, ,

is more di fficult of access than that of a minister who ,

n ever replies when written to and pushes his audacity s o ,

far as to request th ose persons whom he wants to

b e so kind as to call upon him whoever they may be , .

T he director has a favour to ask of them and thinks it ,

quite n atural that th ey sho uld put themselves out for

him It is true he does not always boast of the answers
.

he receives in such cases .

Still it must b e admitted that at the head of some

,

h e theatres in Paris there are m en who combine

t

ense intellect and literary merit ( I do not say

'
-

, ,

that is never to be seen ) with genuine p oliteness .

T e most intelligent o f these if not the most ,

It an d d isinterested may b e mentioned Harel w h o

, ,

die t about two years ago after having won the priz e
.
,

off ered by the Academy for the elegy on V oltaire His .

bon m ots enj oyed som e celebrity None of them how .

,

ever are to b e compared w ith the one he suggested to

,

F r ederick L emaitre on the following occasion Harel was .

manager of the T heatre of th e Porte S aint Martin One -

.

of our grand seigneurs among writers (in the ol d style )

1 -
,

who was very rich and much enamour ed of art and

,
‘

2
p oetry had had a tragedy p erform ed at this theatre
, ,

the misc en s cene of which cost him a considerable sum .

He happened to be in H arel s office in company with ’

L emaitre having co me to pay the bill for the scenery

, ,

cost umes accessories etc and thought himself at last free

, ,
.
, ,

when he was presented by the in satiable manager with an

1 M d e Gus tin e
. .
2 B ea tr ix C enci.
L E TT E R I V ]
. A W I T T I C IS M . 22 5

acco u nt of three or four thousand francs for the ropes use d

in th e machinery In vain did M de C us tin e rebel agains t
. .

what he had some grounds f or calling robbery ; he was

compelled to pay and went off in a fury of indignation
, .

L emai tre who had studied this curious scene in s ilence

, ,

tapped the manager on the shoulder and said ,

V ery careless y ou you le f t him his

,
watch
H B
. .

VOL . II .
 CH AP T E R L XV I II .

Pr agu e .

L E TT ER V .
—T o M O N S IE U R H U M R E R T FE RR A N D .

TOD I f eel su fficiently serious to talk to you about the

AY

C onservatoire of Prague and C onservatoires in general

,
.

However imperfect the state o f these institutions may

be it seems to m e that they alone in c onnection with
,

musical art have been f ounded under the influence of

good sense and reason At the present moment every
.

C onservatoir e in E urope is directed by a musician ,

which has not al ways been the case At this we .

can but marvel and thank Providence

,
D uring the .

reign of that O pinion now s o universally p revalent that ,

th e mor e imp or ta nt an a r tis tic q es tion,

u a nd th e more
icul t
d ifi of s ol ution, th e more n ecess a r y it is th a t th e men
app ointed by G over nment to d eal with it s h oul d be s tranger s
to th e a r t i n ques tion — during the reign , I say, of these

doctrines which would obviously be dictated by madness

,

if envy were not s o plainly apparent in them it is a ,

subj ect for congratulation that the teaching of the dif

f eren t branches o f music should be confided to special
artists more or less masters of their particular art No
, .

d oubt many people ( particularly in Paris ) w ould not fail

to s ay that this was a misf ort une that it would be infi ,

n it el y be tt er t o employ mathematicians to teach the

228 P R AG UE , [ C HA R v 11 1 .

More th an this the one at Prague with w h ich I have ,

more particularly to do at present is directed by a talented ,

composer f ull of love for his art active ardent inde

, , , ,

fatigable severe on occasion but lavish of praise when

, ,

praise is merited and young Such is M Kit tl . . .

They might easily have f ound some heavy piece of

m ediocrity consecrated by years (for even in Bohemi a
t h ere are men of this s ort ) and confided to him th e ,

task of gradually paralysing the progress o f music in

Prague But no ! O n the contrary they got h old of
. .
,

M Kittl aged thirty fiv e and s o music is alive there

.
,
-
, ,

m oves and grows T here must evidently hav e b een

.

some spirit of folly among the committee w h o made such

a choice or else that committee must have b een comp osed
,

exclusively of men with minds and hearts .

A musical C onservatoire ought in my O pinion to b e an , ,

establishment for main taining the practice of m usical art

in all its departments the learni ng and acquirements con
,

n e ct ed with it the monumental works produced by it and

, ,

in addition to this by placing itself at the head of the

,

progressive movement inherent to an art so young as

E uropean music it ought to preserve all good and
,

beautiful work bequeathed to us by t h e past whils t ,

advancing with prudence to future conquests .

I S hall hardly b e giving way to national partiality

in sayin g that of all the C onservatoires with which I
am acquainted that of Paris approaches most nearly to
,

this d efinition .

Ne x t to it is the C onservatoire at Prague and if on e

1
,

takes into consideration the n aturally immense difference

1 I am no t y et acqu ain t ed wi th t h e interior organi s ation o f t h e

C ons ervatoir e at B russ els o f w hich M F etis is t h e skil f ul direc tor
, . .

I only k no w th at i t is on e o f t h e l arges t in existenc e .

L E TT E R v .
] I T S C O N S ER VA T OI RE . 9

be tween the resources of a town lik e Prague and those of

the capital of France it is really praising it highly to pu t
,

it in the second rank It cannot be s o rich as ours

.

in any respect ther e are fewer teachers and pupils and

, ,

th e eff orts of th e authorities f or its maintenance are

not to be comp ared with the constant and energetic
support lent to the C onservatoire at Paris by the Fin e
Arts D epartment 3 still the study is good and s o is t h e , ,

S pirit of the school .

Among the masters under M Kitt l s superintendence .

’
,

I must make particular mention of M essrs M ildn er and .

G ordigian i T he former a clever violinist who also as

.
, , ,

I have already told you holds the o ffice of concert meister ,

-

and solo violinist at the Prague Theatre has turned out a ,

considerable number of cl ever pupils The second reputed .

,

to be on e of the b est singin g masters that Italy has sent to -

Germany is also a composer of merit I know a S ta bat

, .

by him for two choirs in a very fine st y le and an opera , ,

C ons uel o of which both words and music are his remark
, ,

able for it s natural m elodies and f or a graceful sobriety ,

o f orchestratio n o f which few examples are t o be found

,

in these da y s .

I t has been said sometimes and I think rightly that it , ,

is useful to a composer to know h ow to s ing : perhaps it

is stil l more necessary f or a singing master to know h ow -

to comp os e In fact it is in the accurate appreciation of

.
,

qualities whic h the composer can or ought to insist up on

from his interpreters that the singing master will find his
,
-

most solid p oint of supp ort in th e proper superintendence

o f his pupils studies A singing master who composes
’
-
.

w ill not unless h e be detestably mediocre have any

, ,

fancy for those eccentricities which are threatening t o

d e s troy th e art of si nging in three fourths of musical -
23 0 P R AG UE .
[ C HA R v m .

E urop e He will no t teach his pupil s t o despise time

.

an d rhythm He will never allow them to take th e

.

insolent liber t y of embellishing their so n gs at random ,

w hen an exact reproduction is imp erati v ely required by

the expression o f the phrase the character o f th e ,

personage and the style of the author Neither will

,
.

he allow them to get into the habit of looking upon

the private interest of their own vocal organ as the
only on e to guide the m when si nging in public And .

consequently his pupils will not dis figure the most

,

exquisite works in order to avoid the poor notes in

their voices or to mak e a long and absurd display of
,

th e good ones .

Such a master will not fail to s tudy the art of singing

with his pupils and to convince them that it does not
,

consist in the execution of feats of strengt h destitute ,

of reason or musical interest ; still less in forcing

the larynx to utter sounds which are unnatural either ,

from their d epth height violence or duration He

, , , .

will require a reason for each of their a ccents and will ,

S ho w them that if it is shocking to si n g out of tune ,

it I s not less shocking to sing with fals e expression ;

that i f a note h urts the car when too sharp or too
flat a passage given loud when it ought to be soft
, ,

or weak when it should b e strong or stately w hen ,

it ought to be simple is even more painfully irritating

,

to an intelligent hearer does more serious wrong t o

,

the work thus misinterpreted an d proves conclusively

,

that the singer is a mere idiot however splendid his ,

v oice and his vocalisation may be The pupils of such .

a master will not — as is too often the cas e — coolly try

the patience of the conductor with the most grotesque
rhythmical eccentricities 3 und uly lengthening any bar ,
23 2 P R AG UE .
[ C H A R L XV II I .

sym phony This is doubtless on e of M Kittl s greates t

. .
’

results If a C onservatoire is an institution intended f or

.

the maintenance of all departm ents of musical art and the

instruction directly pertaining to them it is strange that ,

not even in Paris should they have yet s ucceeded in

carrying out such a programme For a long time our .

instrumental s chool had no classes for the study of the

most indispensable instru m ents such as the double bass ,
-
,

trombone trump et and harp True thes e gaps have

, ,
.
,

been filled up of late years but unhappily there are , , ,

many others which I shall n o w p oint out My remarks

,
.

will doubtless cal l forth loud exclamations from many ,

who will consider them i diotic absurd and ridiculous , , .

I hop e they may ! I S hall proceed accordin gly to

sa
y :

( )
1 That the study of the V iolin in Paris is very in com
p l et e ; the pup ils are not taught the p izzi ca t o and the ,

result is that many passages a rp eggioed on the four ,

strings or s tacca toed with two or three fingers on the

,

same string in a quick movement — perfectly practicable

,

passages since they can be performed by guitar players

,
-

on the violin— are declared impossible by violinists and ,

consequently prohibited to composers It is possible .

that in fifty years s ome director will be bold enough to

in sist upon having the p izzicato taught in the violin
classes T hen when artists shall have mastered the novel
.
,

and piquant eff ects resulting from such a study they will ,

have good ground for j eering at the violinists of the last

“ ”
c entury who used to cry out Take care of the C !
, ,

Neither is the use of harmonics prop erly studied in a

bus ine s s like manner The little that our y oung violinists
-
.

know about it they have learnt by themselves since the ,

appearance of Paganini .
 L E TT E R v .
] AN I DE A L C O N S ERVA T OI RE . 23 3

( )
2It is to b e regretted that there is no special class
f or the V iola This instrument n otwithstanding its rela
.
,

tion to the violin needs individual study and constant ,

practice if it is to be properly played It is an antiqu e .

,

absurd and deplorable prejudice that has hitherto ha n ded

,

o ver the performance of the tenor part to second or

third rate violini s ts t en ev er a V iolinist is mediocre .
,

“
it is said He will mak e a capital tenor
,
Fro m t h e .

s tand point of modern music this is false r easoning

-
for ,

trashy parts are no longer written for the orchestra (at

least by the great m asters ) but each has an interest ,

proportionate to th e e ff ect to be produced and a condition ,

o f inferiority in any one part with regard to any other is

n ot recognised .

( ) Another great mistake was never t o have taught

3
the C orno d i bass etto in the clarinet classes until n ow ,

t h e absurd and d isastrous effect of it being that many

o f Mo zart s pieces co u ld not b e performed in France as
’

written Nowada y s the improve m ents brought into th e

.
,

bass clari net by Adolphe Sax make it capable of perfor m

in g anything written for the basset hor n in d eed more s o -
, ,

i ts bass compass excee ding that of the bas s et horn by a -

minor t hir d Moreover its tone is very like that of the

.
,

ba s set horn only much finer ; it ought therefore to be

-
,

studied co nj ointly w ith the soprano clarinets and those

i n E flat G and high A flat
, , .

( ) The saxophone a new member of the clarinet family

4 , ,

an d really of value w hen the performer can bring out its

c h aracteristics o ught n owa d a s to have a s eparate place

y ,

i n the C onservatoire classes for the time is n o t far distant ,

when comp osers will wi s h to employ it .

( ) We have no Op h iclei de cla s s and the result is

5 ,

t hat o ut of a hundred or a hundred and fifty pla ers o f

, y
23 4 P R AG U E .
[ C H A R L XV III .

that di fficult instrum ent in P aris at the present moment ,

there are scarcely t h ree fit to be admitted into a well

arranged orch estra M C aussinus is the only profici en t
. .

in it .

( )
6 We have no class for the Bass tuba a p ower f ul ,

c ylindered instrument diff ering from the ophicleide in

,

tone mechanism and compass and taki n g exactly th e

, , ,

same place among trump ets that th e double bass does in -

the violin family And yet in these days most composers

.

make use of either an ophicleide or a bass tuba in thei r

scores some times of both
, .

( )
7 The Sax horn and
-
the C ornet a piston ought both
to b e taught in our C onservatoire be ing now in general ,

use especially th e co m et
, .

( )
8 There is no instruction whatever in any p ercussion
instrument 3 and yet is there a single orch estra in E urop e
, ,

great or small that does not boast a k ettle drumm er ?

,
-

There is a man in every orchestra wh o goes by that

name but how many real players are there ? how many
,

artistic musicians familiar with all the di fficulties of

rhyth m thoroughly masters of the mechanism (less easy
,

than is supp osed ) of that instrument and gifted with an ,

ear s u fii cientl y trained to b e able to tune it and change

the pitch with certainty even during the performance ,

of a piece and amid all the harmonic m urmur o f the

,

orchestra ? H o w many kettle drummers are there of thi s -

d escription ? I declare I only know two or thre e in all

E uro pe besi d es M Pous s ard of the P aris Op éra And
, . .

you know how many orchestras I have b een allowed to

examine duri n g the last nine or ten y ears Most of t h e .

d rummers I have met do not even kno w h ow to hold

their drumsticks and consequently find it impossible to
,

produce a real tremol o or roll Well a drummer wh o .

,
23 6 P R AG UE .
[ C HA R L XV III .

Italian S ingers are very f ar f ro m being able to p lay

with th e rh y th m ; and when th ey do att empt it feel ,

puzzled and sho w a heaviness and awkwardness which

,

makes their attempt m ost ine ff ective Hence their hatred .

for everything that is not what they call s quare or as y ou , ,

and I would s ay ins ip id Hence their puerile and absurd

, .

ideas about carrure and their astonishment when they

,

come across songs diff ering in form and accent from thos e
invariably adopted in France and Italy Hence tha t .

indolence of p er f ormers in general who are used to being

supp orte d and guided by marking the time and by an ,

accentuation that can al ways b e foreseen like children ,

who cannot walk except by the help of the go car t -

.

Beethoven s symph onies have forcibly broken a grea t

’

many of our Paris players o f these pu erile habits and ,

given them a taste for piquant and original rh y thm .

But as nothing of the sam e sort has ev er been at tempted

with which to wak e up singers it follows as a matter of
,

course that their torpor continues and that in order ,

to get them out o f it they must b e subj ected for som e

time to a particular r egime For them a rh y th m class
.

would be of special advantage thou gh a large number

,

of instrumentalists also m ight derive much bene fit

f ro m it .

A perfect C onservatoire j ealous of keeping up the

,

tradition of the interesti n g facts and remarkable works

bequeathed to us by the past and of the various rev ol u
,

tions in art should h ave a professors h ip of Musical

,

History ; and the professor S hould carry out th e obj ects

of his chair n ot merely by v erbal and written instruction
, ,

but also by illu s trative and adequate performances of

such fine works as are w orthy of being remembered .

Then we should not s ee scholars and men of in tellect, ,

LE TT E R v .
] D E SI DER A T A . 23 7

as ignoran t
as Hotten t ots abo ut th e most magnificent
works of grea t masters s t ill living ; the taste of musicians
t hus enlightened would b ecome very diff eren t their idea s
,

would gro w wider and far more elevated than at present ,

and finally we should find more artists than artisans

,

enga g ed in the prac t ice of music .

H B
. .
 C H AP T E R L X I X .

Pr agu e .

L E TT E R V I —T o
. M O N S IE U R HUMB E R T F E RR A N D .

T H E R E is another mos t important class wanting in all

modern C onservatoires w hich to my mind is becom ing
,

more essential every day namely that for Instrumenta, ,

tion T hat branch of th e composer s art h as been so

.
’

greatly developed o f late years as to h ave attracted th e ,

attention both of the critics and th e public It has h ow .

,

ever also served only too often to mask the p overty of

,

a composer s ideas to ap e real energy and counterfeit the

’
, ,

p ower of inspiration and even in the hands of really

, ,

able and meritorious w riters it has become a pretext for ,

incalculable abuses monstrous exaggerations and ridic a

, ,

lous nonsen se It is easy to imagine to wha t excesses

.

the example of such masters have beguiled their f ollowers .

But these very excesses prove the regular and irregular

use n ow ma d e of ins trumentation a blind use in general , ,

and when n ot led by chance guided by the most

, ,

p itiable routine For it does n ot follo w

. that because
most composers make more u s e of instruments than
their predecessors they are b etter acquainted with th e
,

force character and action of each member of th e

, ,

i nstrumental family and the various ties of sympath y

,
24 0 P R AG UE .
[ C H AR L x1 x .

“
conductor can a n swer : Y ou are mistaken It is .

quite feasible If you s et about it in such and such a

.

‘ “
m anner you will master the diflicul ty or else : It is
difficult certainly but if it remains an impossibility to
,

you after having worked at it f or some d ays I can ,

only conclude that you are not master of your ins tru
m ent and S h all b e obliged to have recourse to a more
,

skilful artist .

In the opposite case — a too frequent one I must admit

—where the composer for want of prop er knowledge
, ,

torments the artist ho w ever skilful by trying to obtain

, ,

impossibilities th e conductor who is sure of his facts

,

will be able to take part w ith the musicians against the

composer and correct his blunders
,
.

Indeed as I am on the subj ect of conductors I may

, ,

as well s ay that it would not b e at all a bad p l an in

a well organised C onservatoire as far as p ossible to , ,

teach th e art of conducting to comp osition students ,

especially s o that on an emergency they may at any

,

rate conduct the p erformance of their own works with

out making fools o f themselves and distracting the ,

musicians instead of helping them It is generally .

supposed that every composer is a born conductor ,

that is to s ay that he knows th e art of conducting

,

1
without having learnt it Beethoven was an illustrious.

example of the falsity of this opinion and one might name ,

-

a host of other m asters whose compositions are held in

general esteem but w h o the moment they take up the
, ,

baton neither m ark tim e nor nuance and would indeed

, ,

literally bring the mu s icians to grief if the latter did ,

not quickly perceive the ine x perience of their leader and

1
[ S chum ann w as an e qu ally poor conduct or t hough in , a v ery
diff er en t styl e ]
.
LE TT E R VL ] RE AD I N G F R O M SC O RE . 24 1

m ake t heir minds to pay no attention to his irregular

up

motions T here are t wo distinct parts in the work of

.

a conductor ; the firs t and easiest consists simply in

conducting t h e p erformance of a work already kno wn
to the players and which to use a phrase in vogue , ,

at th e theatres has been got up beforehand ,

T he second .

consists in direc t ing the study of a work unknown

’
to the perf ormers clearly setting forth the author s con ,

c eption and rendering i t salient and dis t inct obtaining

, ,

from the band tha t fidelity unity and expression withou t , ,

which there can b e no real music identifying the players ,

with himsel f exciting t hem by his own z eal ani mating

, ,

them with his own en t husias m and impar t in g t o them ,

his own inspiration .

But to do this b esides t he elementary knowledge ,

acquired by study and practice , and those qualities of

feeling and instinct which are th e gift of nature alone ,

and the absence or presence o f which makes the con

’
ductor either the composer s best interpreter or his most
formidable enemy there is on e more art indispensable to ,

the conductor namely that of read ing th e s core

, ,
.

He who employs a s imp l ifi ed s core or a simple first ,

violin part as is often don e in o ur day more especial l y

, ,

1
in France cannot detect half the mistakes in the per
,

f orm an ce ; and if he does point out a fault exp oses ,

himself to some such answer as this from the musician

“
addressed : What do y ou kno w about it ? Y ou have
not got my part — one of the least of the inconveniences
2
arising from this deplorable system .

1 H ab en eck us ed only t o u se a fi rs t violin p ar t wh en conduc ting ,

t h e C ons erv at oir e conc er t s a n d in t his r esp ec t his succ essors h a ve

,

t ak en c ar e t o imit ate him .

2
[ Ano th er r e v el t ion o f t h e curious s t ate o f t hing s in orch e s tr as of
a

fifty y ears
VOL . II .
242 P R AG UE .
[ C H AR i x .

Fro m whence I conclude that i f y ou want t o for m

p erfect and genuine conductors y ou ought by all means ,

to f amiliarise them with the reading of th e score ; and

those who cannot master that difficulty though they be ,

learned in instrumentation — even comp osers — and also

up in the mechanisms of rhythmical time are really ,

only hal f masters of t heir art .

Now I must tell y ou of the Sin ging Academy at P rague .

Organised much in the sam e way as all the others in

Germany it consists almost entire l y of amateurs drawn
, ,

fro m t he middle classes The chorus numbers about .

ninety and M S craub j un , is the director Most of th e

,
.
,
. .

m embers are musicians and readers with fresh and ,

thrill ing voices T he aim and obj ect of the institution

.

is no t the study and p erformance of ol d works to the

utter exclusion of all m odern productions as is the ,

case with s o many academies Thes e latter — pardon .

me t he expression — are nothing but musical coteries

or consistories where the unknown living are gently
,

calumniated under the pretext o f enthusias m for the

dead ; where Baal is preached against and all s o called ,
-

g olden calves together with their worshippers are handed

, ,

over t o execration In these temples of musical Pro

. .

t es tantis m a cross grained j ealous and intolerant worship

,
-
, ,

—
is maintained not of the beautiful wha t ever its age , ,

but of the old whatever its worth T hey have their

, .

Bible and their t wo or three evangelists which the

, ,

f aithful read and re read exclusively and witho ut relaxa

-

tion in t erpreting passages in a thousand difierent ways

, ,

t h e real direct meaning of which is quite self evi d ent 3 -

finding a pro f ound and mystical idea where the rest

of the world can s ee nothing but horror and barbarity ,

and ever ready to sing Hosanna ! even when the God of

244 P R AGUE .
[ C HA R L x1 x .

’
e lder is added t o his bro ther s chorus T hes e grand per
,
.

f orman ces care f ully and patien t ly prepared beforehand

, ,

always draw a numerous and select audience to whom ,

music is neither a weariness nor a diversion but a noble ,

and serious passion demanding the whole strength of

t heir intelligence and f eelin g and all t he enthusias m of
,

t heir hearts .

I promised to t ell y ou abou t t he maitris e or c athedral ,

school as well as the military music ; but if I mention

,

these I confess it is only to make the list c omplete

,
.

R eligious music ! military music ! The words make a

great figure in an account of musical observations B ut I .

never had th e least intention of keeping my promise with

respect to thos e two sources of musical wealth in Bohemi a ,
’
f or this very good reason that I don t kno w enough of
,

them to speak properly I have never yet been able to

.

write upon m atters of which I know not hi ng Perhaps .

with good examples I may come to it in time But .

,

meanwhile y ou will excus e m e i f I hold my to n gue

, .

Notwithstanding M S craub s repeated invitations I never

.
’

set my foot in a church during the whole of my stay at

Prague And yet I am as you know very devout s o
.
, , ,

there must have been some grave reason f or my apparent

indifference in the matter of sacred music or I must have ,

been entirely overwhelmed by the terror of gigues f or the

organ and fugues on the word Amen .

As for military bands I will tell y ou a s t ory t o justify

,

my sil ence On a certain f ete day I heard the band of the

.
-
,

regiment then garrisoned at P rague play Haydn s hymn ’

to the E mperor for four successive hours ! This touching ,

patriarchal and maj estic song is so simple that I really

, ,

could no t appreciate the merit of the performers as I

listened t o it An orches t ra no t able to play such a piece
.
L E TT E R VL ] TH E A R T IS T S . 245

tolerably mus t t o my mind b e composed of musici ans

,

wh o did not kno w t h e gamu t T hese however played .

, ,

in tune which is wonder f ully rare esp ecially in military

, ,

ban ds Besides I d o no t kno w if the regiment in

.
,

question was a Bohemian on e or f rom some other par t ,

o f the empire of Austria and it would be t oo absurd

,

to establish a theory which well informed peopl e might

,
-

ridicule by saying T he Bohemian musicians y ou are

”
speaking of are Hungarians Austrians or Milanese , , .

Amon g the composers and virtuosi of P rague belonging ,

n either to the theatre nor t o t h e C onservatoire nor to

, ,

the Singing Aca d emy I mus t speci f y D rey s ch ock Pis ch ek

, , ,

an d the venerable T omas ch ek T he two f ormer enj oy.

a E uropean reputa t ion I h ave often heard b oth one

.

and t h e other a t V ienna P esth Frankfort and els e

, , ,

w here but never at Prague

,
Having it app ears been ill
.
, ,

received by their compatriots at their first p erformance ,

D rey s ch ock an d Pis ch ek made up their minds in f uture

never t o exhibit their talents to the appreciation or depre
c iation of th e Bohemians T hat no on e is a prophet in
.

his own country is true of all times and countries T h e .

inhabitants of P rague are now however beginnin g to , ,

lis t en to the murmurs of admiration which in a hundred ,

diff erent ways and f rom a hundred points of th e hori zon ,

are repeating that D rey s ch ock is an admirable pianist !
P is ch ek is on e of the best singers in E urope ! and are
beginning to suspect that t hey may p ossibly hav e done
them injustice .

M T omas ch ek is well known in Bohemia and even

.
,

at V ienna where his work s are greatly appreciated

, .

N ot having the sam e reasons as D rey s ch ock and Pis ch ek

for bein g s evere t o the inhabitants of P rague he allows ,

the m occas ionally t o hear h is comp ositions I was .

24 6 P R AG UE .
[ C H A R L XI X .

present at on e concer t where th irty on e out o f t hir t y t wo - -

pieces were by M T omas ch ek Among them was a new

. .

setting of the E rl King quite unlike S chubert s S om eone ,

’
.

( for there are people who fin d fault with everything ) d rew

a comparison between th e accompaniment of this piece
and tha t of Schubert s balla d in which the furious ’
,

1
gall op of the horse is reproduced and declared that ,

M T omas ch ek had mimicked the gait of a priest s nag

.
’
.

An inte l ligent critic however more capable than h is , ,

neighbours of j udging of the philosophy of art an nih i ,

“
l a t ed this irony and replied with great good sense :
,
It is
j ust because S chubert made that unlucky hors e gal 10 p s o
wildly that it has foundered and is n ow forced to ,

”
go a t a foot pace M T om as ch ek has written f or the
. .

last thirty years at l east and so the list of his works ,

must be rather formidable .

There is one more amiable virtuoso to be mentione d ,

and her talent only t oo rare in Germany was of th e

, ,

greatest assistance to myself p ersonally This was Mdlle . .

C lau di us a firs t rate harpist an excellent musician and

,
-
, ,

Parish Alvars best pupil Mdlle C laudius has also a re

-
’
. .

markable voice and often si n gs s olos w ith marked success

,

at the Sin gi n g Academy of which s h e is a member ,

.

Of the public what shall I tell you ? ,

L ouis X IV .

wishing to p ay Boileau a compliment about his lines

on the passage of the R hine is rep orted t o have said : I ,

wo ul d praise y ou more i f you had not praised m e s o

much .I am in the same predicament as the great king 3
-

I should write a beautiful eulogium on the sagacity ,

quickness and feeli n g of th e public at Pr ague if they

,

had not treated me s o well I may s ay however .

,

1
[ Wh o
v er b ef ore or S inc e conn ect ed t h e accomp anim en t o f
e , ,

S chub er t s E r l King wi th t h e gallopin g o f a hors e

’
248 P R AGUE .
[ C H A R L x1 x .

vo c al p er f ormance was grand , an d only m arred by on e

mishap Th e young person wh o undertook the contralto
.

solo had never yet su ng in public N o t wi thstanding her .

extrem e timidity , all wen t well as lo n g as S he f elt h er

s elf supported by other voices or instruments bu t when ,

S h e reached the passage in th e prologue

Le j eun e R om eo pl aign an t sa d e st in ée ,

a real solo with no accompaniment her v oice began ,

to tremble and by the end of the phrase where the harp

, ,

comes in on the chord of E natural s h e had got i n to an ,

unknown key m ore than a tone lower than E Mdlle

, . .

C laudius who was sitting close t o my d esk d ared no t

, ,
’
touch the strings of her harp At last a fter a moment s
.
,

hesitation S he asked in a low voice

,

“ ”
Had I better give the chord of E ?
C ertainly 3 we must get out of this .

And the inexorable chord rang out hissi ng and S hudder ,

ing lik e a sp oonful of molten lead in cold water The .

poor little si n ger nearly f ainted a t finding herself s o

abrup t ly s et right and as Sh e did not understand French
, ,

I could no t s ay an y t h ing t o reassure her Happily .

,

however s h e succeeded in recovering her sel f p ossession

,
-

before the P remiers tra nsp orts which sh e sang with,

great f eeling and in perfect tune The r 6l e of Father .

L aurence was p erfectly interpreted by S trakaty v ery ,

impressively and with real enthusiasm

, .

That day having already encored s everal pieces t h e

, ,

public called f or another which the band implored m e

,

n ot t o repeat ; but as the shouts continued M M ildn er ,

.

took out his watch and held it up to show that the

hour was t oo f ar advanced to allow of the orchestra
remaining till t he end of the concert i f the piece were
LE TT E R VL ] A C O M P O S ER S RE W A RD S’
. 24 9

played a second t ime since there was an opera at seven

,

o clock T his clever pantomim e s aved us A t the en d

’
. .

of the s éance j ust as I was begging L is zt t o ser ve as

,

my interpreter and thank the excellen t singers wh o h ad ,

been devo t ing themselves t o the care ful s t udy of my

ch oruses f or the las t three weeks and had sung them so

bravely h e was interrupted by them with an inverse

,

proposal Having exchanged a f ew words with them

.

in Germ an he t urned t o m e and said :

,
“
My com m ission is change d th ese gentle men ra ther ,

d esire m e to thank y ou f or the pleasure y ou have given

t hem in allowing the m to perf orm your work and to ,
”
express their d eligh t at y our eviden t satisfaction .

That was indeed a day f or me I remember f ew like .

it There was a s upper a fterwards at which the artists

.
,

an d amateurs o f P rague presented m e w ith a silver cup ,

a p endant to the S ilver gilt baton at the banque t at -

V ienna of which I told y ou Most of the virtuosi .

,

critics and amateu rs of the town were present as

, ,

well as on e of my country men the kindly an d in t el ,

lectual P rince de R o h an L is zt was unanimously chosen.

to speak in th e place of the president wh o was n ot ,

su ffi ciently f amiliar with French At the first t oast .

he made m e a speech in the name of the assembly a t least

a quarter of an hour in length w ith a warmth of heart , ,

a flow of ideas and a choice of expressions that many

,

orators might hav e envie d and which had th e effect of ,

touching me deeply U nhappily if he spo k e well h e

.
,

d rank well t oo 3 the trea cherous cup i n augurated by the

guests ov erfl owed with such oceans of champagne that al l
’
L is zt s eloquence was dro wned in it At two o clock ’
.

in th e m orning Belloni and I were still in the street

1
,

1 L is zt s man o f busin e ss
'

.
25 0 P R AG UE .

trying to persuade h im t o wait till daylight for a duel

w hich he insisted on figh t ing with a Bohemian who had
drunk better than hi mself .

As the mornin g advanced we gre w rather uneasy about

L is zt whose concert was to take place at noon He was
, .

still asleep at half pas t eleven 3 at last they awoke him

-
,

he gets into his carriage reaches the concert room receives

,
-
,

a triple volley of applause on his entrance and play s ,

better I believe than he had ever done be f ore in his life .

V erily there is a God for

,
pianists .

Farewell my dear Ferrand 3 y ou will not complain I

, ,

fear of t he brevity o f my letters And ye t I have not

, .

said all that I feel of aff ectionate regret f or P rague and its
inhabitants ; but as y ou kn ow I have a serious passion
, ,

for music and you can j udge f rom that whether I like
,

the Bohemians or not .

0 P raga I guan d o te asp iciam

H B . .
2 52 B RE S L A U .
[ C H A R

tha t mas t erpiece as much as i t can b e admired , and i f

”
they do n ot applaud it is f rom resp ect I mus t con f ess
, .

that this word which would have had s o deep a meanin g

,

in Paris and in all places where the disgraceful manoeuvres

,

o f th e cl a ueurs are prevalent made m e feel very a n xious

q ,
.

I was dread fully afraid of b eing respected Happily .

,

t his was n ot at all the case and at my own concert the , ,

assembly to whose resp ect I was evidently not sufficiently

entitled thought fit to treat m e according to the vulgar
,

custom adopted t ow ards popular artists throughout E urop e ,

and gave me m ost irreveren t applause

!

D urin g these travels in Austria Hungary Bohemia , , ,

and Silesia I began the comp osition of the legend of

,

F a us t which I had long been planning

,
When I had .

once decided upon undertaking it I also made up m y ,

mind to write nearly the whole of the b ook myself as ,

not more than on e sixth of the work was taken up by

-

a translation of fragments of Goethe s poem ma de by ’

G erard Ner v al twenty years be f ore and then s et to

music by me and by a few more s cenes written by
,

M Gandonni e re f rom notes given him before I le f t

.

P aris .

Such being my decision I attempted t o write the ,

verses for my music as I rolled along in my ol d German

’
p ost chaise I began by Faust s invocation to Nature
-
.
,

n ot try ing either to translate or even imitate but only ,

to use it as an inspiration and extract all its musical ,

substance My attempt gave me hopes of being able to

.

continue .

N at ur e imm ens e impé n étr abl e et fiere

,

T oi s eul e donn e s t r eve a mon e nnui s ans fi n

S ur t on s ein t ou t puiss an t j e s ens moins m a miser e
-
,

J e r et rouv e m a forc e et j e crois vivr e enfin

.
, .
L XX .
] D AM NA T IO N DE FA U S T .
”
2 53

O ui s ouffiez ouragans ; cri ez f or et s pro f ond es

, , ,

C roul ez roch ers t orren t s p recipit ez vos ond es

, ,
’

A vos brui t s souv er ains m a v oi x aim e a s u mir ,

’
.

Forets roch e rs t orr en t s j e vous ador e ! M ond e s

, , ,

Q ui scin till ez v ers vous s él an ce l e d é sir

’

D un c oeur t rop v as te et d un e am e alté r ée

’
,
’

D un bonh eur q ui l a fuit

’
.

Once launche d I wro t e th e res t by degrees as my

, ,

musical ideas came to m e and comp osed the score with ,

a f acility I never exp erienced with any of my othe r

works I wrote w hen I could and where I could ; in
.

the coach on th e railroa d in s t eamboats and even in

, , ,

towns notwithstanding the various cares entailed by my

,

concerts T hus I wrote the in t roduction L e vieil hiver a

.
,

f ait p l ace an p rintemp s in an inn a t P assau At Vienna , .

’
I did the E l be scene Mephistopheles song Voici des , ,
’
ros es and the s y lphs ballet
,
.

I have already mentioned my wri t ing a march at

V ienna in on e night on the Hungarian air of R aké czy
, , .

T he extraordinary cfiect it produced at Pesth made me

resolve to introduce it into Faus t by taki ng the liberty ,

o f placin g m y hero in Hu n gary at the op ening of t he

act and making h im present at th e march of a

,

Hungarian army across the plain A G erman critic .

considered it mos t extraordinary in m e to have m ade

Faust travel in such a place I do not s ee why .
,

and I should not have hesitate d in th e least t o bring

h im in in any other direction i f it would have
benefited the piece I had not bound myself to f ollow .

’
G oethe s plot and the most eccentric travels may be
,

attributed to such a personage as Faust withou t trans ,

gressing the bounds of possibility O ther German critics .

took up th e same thesis and a t tacked m e with even ,

greater v iolence about my modifications of Goethe s ’

2 54 “
D AM NA T IO N D E FA U S T .
”
[ C H A R

tex t and plot j ust as th ough there were no o ther

,

1 ’
F a us t but Goethe s and as i f it were possible t o
,

s et the whole of such a poem to music without alter

ing its arrangement I was stupid eno ugh to answer

.

them in the preface to the D amna tion of Fa us t I .

have often wondered why I was never reproached

about the book of R omeo a nd Jul iet which is not ,

very like the immortal tragedy N o d oubt because .

S ha kesp eare was not a G er ma n P a t riotism ! F etis h is m ! .

Idiotcy !
One night when I had lost my way in P esth I wro t e
, ,

the choral re f rain of the R ond e d es P a y s ans by the gas

light in a S hop At P rague I got up in t he mid dle of th e
.

night to write down an air I was afraid of f org ettin g the ,

’
angels chorus in Marguerite s apotheosis
’

R emonte au ci el ame n a v e ,
i ,

Q ue l a mour eg ar a
’ ’

A t Breslau I wrote the words and music of the s t uden t s ’

L atin song : Jam n ox s tella ta vel a mina p and it On my .

return to France I composed the grand trio A nge a d or é ,

d ont l a cel es te image while s t aying on a visit to the

’

Baron de Montville near R ouen , .

The rest was written in Paris bu t always improvise d , ,

eith er a t my own house or at the caf e or in the Tuileries

, ,

gardens and even on a stone in the Boulevard du

,

T emple I did not search for ideas I let them com e

.
, ,

and they presented themselves in a m ost un f oreseen

manner Wh en at last the whole outlin e was sketched I
.
,

s et to work to r e do the whole touch up the diff erent parts , ,

unite and blend them together with all the patience and

M arlow s f or exampl e an d t hat o f S pohr s op era nei th er o f

’ '
1
, , ,

w hich is in t h e l e as t lik e Go et h e s
’
.
 25 6 FA I LURE O F FA U S T .
”
[ C H A R

and the ar t s had ma de incredible strides A t t his period .

i t had already ceased t o be sufficiently interested more ,

esp ecially in a musical work to cons ent to b e immured in ,

the daytime ( I never could give my concerts in the

evening ) in s o unfashionable a theatre as t hat of the
Op éra C omique It was the end of N ovember 1 8 4 6
.
,

sno w was f alling the weather was dreadf ul I had no

, .

fashionable cantatrice t o sing the part o f Marguerite As .

for R oger who did Faust and Herman L éon who took
, , ,

the part of Mephistopheles they might b e heard any ,

day in this same theatre 5 moreover they were no longer ,

the fashion T h e resul t was that F a us t was t wice

.

perf ormed to a hal f empty room T he concert going -

.
-

Parisian public supposed to b e f ond of music stayed

, ,

quietly at home caring as little about my new work as i f

,

I had been an obscure student at the C onservatoire and

these t wo p er f ormances at the Op éra C omique were no
better attended than i f they had b een t he most wretched
op eras on the list .

Nothing in all my artistic career ever wounded m e s o

deeply as this unexpected indiff erence It was a cruel .

discovery but useful in the sens e that I profited by

,

it and from that time forth never risked s o much as a

,

twenty franc piece on the popularity of my music with

-

the Parisian public I sincerely hop e this may never

.

happe n again if I am t o live a hundred years

,
1 I was .

ruined and in debt for a considerable s um

,
After .

I did no t k eep t o t his A fter h avin g wr i tten L E nf a nce d u C h rist ’

“

1 .
,

I could no t r esis t t h e t emptation o f brin gin g out t h e w ork in P a ris .

I t s succ ess wa s spon tan e ous an d so gr eat as r eally t o insul t my

,

f orm er compositions I also gav e s e v er al conc ert s in H erz s conc er t

.
’

room w hich ins tead o f ruining m e brough t m e in som e thous and

, , ,

f r ancs .
L XX .
] JO U R N E Y TO R U S SI A . 7

two days of inexpressible anguis h I p erceived a way ,

o f extricating mysel f from my di fficulties by going to

R ussia But money was needed for the j ourney the
.
,

more s o as I did not wish to leave a single debt

behind m e T he greatest com f ort arose however out of
.
, ,

these try ing circumst ances through the cordiality of my

friends I received o ff ers of help on all sides as soon as
.

it was known that I had t o go to St Petersburg to t ry .

,

and repair my losses fro m the p erformance of my l ast work

in Paris M Bertin advanced me one thousand f rancs
. .

from the funds of the Journa l ( les D eba te ; some of my

friends lent m e five hundred francs others s ix or seven ,

hundred ; on e young German M Friedland whom I had , .

,

known in Pr ag ue advan ced m e t w elve hundred francs ;

,

Sax did the same though himself in di fficulties ; and

,

finally Het zel the publisher who has since played a very
, ,

important part in the R epublican Gov ernmen t and was ,

t hen only on e o f my ordinary acquaintances m et me by ,

chance at a café and said

“
S o you are goin g to R ussia .

”
Yes .

It is a very expensive j ourn ey particularly in w in t er ; ,

i f you should want a bank note for a thousand francs will ,

y ou allow m e to off er it to you Q

I accepted as frankly as the good Hetzel o ffered it and ,

thus I was enabled to f ace everyone and fix the day f or my

departure .

I believe I have already m ade this remark bu t I do n ot ,

mind repeating it here that i f I have come across a good

,

many villains and scamps in my life I hav e also b een

sin gularly blessed in the opposite respect and f ew artists ,

have met w ith warmer hearts and more generous devotion

VO L I L . s
25 8 K I ND N E S S O F F R I E N D S .

than myself Y ou good m en who have doubtless long

.
,

sin ce f orgotten y our noble conduct towards me let ,

me rec all it to y ou in these pages thank y ou f or it

,

most heartily press your hands and tell you of t he

,

secret pleasure with which I think o f my obligatio n s to

all of you
.
26 0 RU S SI A .
[ C H A R

travel ling papers than he conceived the idea of m akin g

capital ou t of me during the j ourney an d in the followin g ,

manner He had a mania for co m p osing polkas and

.

walt zes for the piano He used to stop at the post h ouses
.
-

s ometimes for an unconscionable time and there while I , ,

supposed him to be reckoning with th e landlord h e w as ,

e n gaged in ruli ng music paper and j otti ng down the dance

tune he had been whistling for the last three hours Af ter .

whic h he was kind enough to give the word of d eparture

, ,

and returnin g to the carriage at once prese n ted me with

h is polka or waltz together with a pencil for me to write
,

the bass and harmony to it This done there were end.

,

less comments whys and wherefores ama zements and

, ,

raptures which amused me a good deal the first time but

, ,

when repeated too often made me curse my brave courier s ’

ignorance of French and music pretty freely I c ertainl v .

should n ever h ave had such an adventure in France On , .

arrivi n g at T ilsit I asked for the p ost master M N ern st -

,
.

( I shall s ay presently how I cam e to k now his name and

reckon on his good nature ) His office was pointed out

-
.

to me I went in and p erceived a big man in a cloth cap

.
,

with a severe countenance which however betrayed both

,

shrewdness and b enevolence H e remained seated on his.

high stool when I first w ent in .

M Nernst 2 said I with a bow

.
, .

The same s ir 3 to whom h ave I the honour of

,

speaking 2
“
To M Hector Berlio z
. .

“ ”
What ! Nothing less ? he exclaime d boun ding ,

off his sea t and falli ng on his f eet before me cap in

, ,

hand .

Whereupon the worthy man overw h elmed m e with all

sorts of at t en t ions and civilities which he redoubled ,
L XX I ]. A MU S IC AL POST M A S T ER
- . 61

when h e knew who had g iven me my le t ter of intro

d uctio n .

“
Be sure to ask f or Nernst the pos t master as y ou ,
-
,
”
pass through T ilsit on e of my P aris friends had said to
,

me .
“
He is an excellent m an and also well informed ,
-

”
and literary He may p ossibly b e of us e to you
. It .

w as no other t han Bal zac wh o gav e m e this advice on

the ev e of my departure at the corner where I met him ,

at eleven o clock at night He had himsel f b een in

’
.

R ussia only a short time be f ore On hearing that I was .

going to give concerts at St Petersburg h e said quite .

,

“
seriously : You will co m e back with a hundred and fifty
t housan d f rancs I kno w the country 3 you can t bring ’
.

away less That great mind had the weakness of always

.

and everywhere seeing f ortunes t o b e made of which he ,

felt s o con fi dent that he would willingly have asked a

banker to discount the m on the sp o t His dreams were .

of millions and the innumerable decep tions he under w ent

,

on that point all thro ugh his li f e could never disabus e

his mind o f that perpetual mirage I smiled at his esti .

mate of th e result of my travels without app earing to ,

doubt its correctness It will soon be seen that i f my

.

concerts at St Petersburg and Moscow produced more

.

than I had hoped for I succeeded no t withstanding in

, , ,

bri nging back a good deal less than the hundred and fi f ty
thousand francs predicted by Bal zac .

That rare writer and incomparabl e ana t omist of the

v ery heart of modern French society was as may easily ,

be imagined a f ruitful subj ect of conversation with M

,
.

Nernst and myself He gave m e very in t eresting details

.

about Bal zac h is hopes of marriage and his love a ffairs in

,

Galicia For th e rest h e is on e of that small number

.
,

of foreigners who may be allowed t o a dmire Bal zac

26 2 RU S S I A .
[ C H AR
passionately f or he knows French w ell eno ugh to under
,

stand him .

I remember that when I told my f amily about this

episode in my j ourney my father burst into a fit o f ,

“ ’ ”
laughter a t M Nernst s exclamation. R ien que ga l ,

on hearing my name He was already much enfeebled

.

and sadly ailing ; but the uaif pride he felt n ot w ith ,

standing his philosophy at this original proo f of his ,

son s celebrity displayed itself thus al m ost involuntarily

’
,
.

“ ”
R ien q ue ca ! b e repeated with renewed laughter , .

And you say it was at Tilsit 2

“
Yes on the banks of the Niemen at the extreme
, ,

”
frontier of Prussia .

R ien q ue ca
And his laughter brok e o ut a fresh every time he said
the words .

Having thus rested for a f ew hours at Tilsit I began ,

the most painful part of my j ourney f urnished with ,

instructions from M Nernst and warmed by s everal .

,

glasses o f a most delicious cura coa which h e was never

tired of pressing upon me A p ost chaise brought me .
-

to Taurogen on the R ussian frontier and there I had

, ,

to shut myself up in an iron sledge which I never quitted ,

till I reached St P etersburg ; hav ing undergone tortures

.
,

the very existence of which I had never susp ected for ,

four weary days an d as many terrible nights In fact .

,

in this hermetically sealed me t al box into which h o w , ,

ever the sno w dust succeeds in p enetrating and p o wder

,
-

ing your face y ou are ceaselessly and violently shaken

, ,

like shot in a bottle 3 the result of which is a great many

contusions on the head and limbs caused by perp etual ,

shocks from the sides of the sledge I also su ff ered .

fro m an unspeakable discom f ort and nausea that may

26 4 ST . P E T ER S B UR G .
[ er
-

m .

without brandy without either m ental or p h ysical

,

s t rength the maj ority wounded dragging the mselves

, ,

along like spectres by day and stretched shelterless at ,

ni ght like corpses on that terrible snow in weather even ,

more f ear f ul than that by which I mysel f was tormented .

And I wondered how even on e had been able to resist such

suffering and return alive from that f ro zen mountain .

D eath must be desperately h ard f or man .

T hen I laughed at the stupidity of the f amished crows

who f ollowed my sle dge on torpid wings alighting on the ,

road every n ow and then to feast upon the horse du ng -

,

and then crouching on their b ellies and t rv ing to thaw

their hal f f ro zen claws when th ey m ight have f ound at
-
,

will a mild climate fertile fields and abundant pasture

, ,

without trouble by a flight of a few hours southwards Is .

their native country then dear t o true hearted crows ? I f -

indeed t o quot e our own soldiers R ussia can b e called a

, ,

country !
At last on e Sunday evening a fortnigh t f rom t h e
, ,

time I left Paris I arrived starved with cold at the

, , ,

proud nor thern capital yclept S t P etersburg From all . .

I had heard in France of the s everity of the imperial

police I expected that my bales of music would b e
,

confiscated for a week a t leas t ; since at the fron t ier , ,

they had been scarcely touche d But I was not even .

asked to state their contents at the p olice office and was -

,

allowed to take them off t o the hotel at once which I ,

con f ess was an agreeable surprise .

I had n ot been installed an hour in my hot room when

I received a visit of welcome from M de L en z an ex t remely .
,

1
learn ed and amiable amateur whom I had met in P aris ,

s ome years be f ore .

1
[M d e
. Len z is t h e au thor o f an en thusi astic an d mos t in teres t ing
L XX I ] . A W A R M W EL C O M E . 26 5

I have come from C ount Mich el W ielh orski s said he ’

,
”
,

where we have j ust heard of your arrival He is givi ng .

a grand soir ée at which all the musical authorities of

,

S t Petersburg are ass embled and the co unt has sent m e

.
,
”
to s ay how charmed he will b e to receive y ou .

“
But how could h e k n ow I was h ere 2
Well h e does know ,
D o com e . .

I only wai t e d to tha w my f ace S have and m ake m y , ,

t oilette and then f ollowed my kind f riend t o C ount

,

VViel h ors ki s I o ught to s ay the counts f or there are two

’
.
,

brothers living t ogether and equally in t elligent and eager

, ,

in thei r love of music T heir house a t St Petersburg . .

is a little D epartment of the Fine Arts thanks to the ,

authority th ey derive f rom their j ustly renowned taste ,

and to th e influence they exercis e through their larg e

f ortune and numerous relations and to their o fficial ,

position at C ourt ab out the E mp eror and E mp ress .

They gave me a most gracious welcom e and soon

‘

presented m e to all the principal persons virtuosi , ,

an d m en o f le t ters assembled in their s a l on I m ade .

th e acquain t ance of t he d elight ful Henri R omberg ,

then conductor a t the Italian Theatre who with rare ,

good nature immediately constituted himself my musical

-

guide at St P etersb urg and m anager of my body of

.
,

p erformers The day of m y first concert was fixed

.

that very evening b y General G u éd éon off direc t or of the ,

imp erial theatres T he ass embly room of the nobles was

.
-

chosen f or it the price of the places fixed at three silver

,

roubles (twelve francs ) and thus four hours a fter my arriva l

, , ,

book on t h e t hr ee s tyl es o f B eethov en in French an d o f a L i fe

“ ”
,

an d an aly t ic a l c at alo gu e o f his w orks w hich f or t h e d ate o f i t s , ,

pu b lic ation b ef or e N ot t eboh m s r es earch es in t o t h e sk etch books

,
'
-
,

is a w ond er f ul p er f orm ance ] .

26 6 S T P E T ER S B UR G
. .
[C H A P .

I found myself in med ias r es R omberg came for me the .

next day and we scoured the town together in search of

,

the ne cessary artists My orchestra was soon f ormed

. .

We also soon succeeded in collecting a large and well

1
formed choir through th e go od offices of General I w off i
,

conductor of the imperial band and a comp oser and virtuoso ,

o f rare m erit wh o from the first showe d m e the most

,

sincere musical fellowship I now only wanted two solo .

si ngers a bass and a tenor for the two first acts of Fa us t

, ,
.

V ersi n g the bass of the German Theatre undertook the

, ,

part of Mephistopheles and R icciardi an Italian tenor I , ,

had formerly known in Pari s that of Faust the only ,

d rawback was that he had to sin g in French and

,

Mephistoph eles in German Th e R ussian public being .

,

equ ally familiar with both did not obj ect to this absurd ,

mixture I had to have all the voice parts recopied in

.

R ussian for the benefit o f the chorus si n gers who knew -

,

no other charac t ers though they sang in German After

, .

the first rehearsal R omberg assured m e that the German

,

tran s lation which had put m e t o great expens e in

,

Paris was a detestable on e and s o unmetrical that it

, ,

was imp ossibl e to si n g it He hastened to correct the .

grosser blunders s o that my first concert m ight not b e

,

postponed ; but another translat or was inevitable for

the future and I was fortunate enough to find on e in
,

M M in zl aff wh o w as at once a musician and a l ittéra teur

.
, ,

and per f ormed the task perfectly My first concert w as a .

splendid performan ce The orchestra and choir were both

.

large and well— trained and I had also a military ban d , ,

provided by General L w ofl and chosen fro m the musi ,

cian s of the I m perial Guard .

R omberg and Maurer the two kap ell meisters of S t ,

-
.

[ C ompos er o f t h e w ell kno wn R ussi an N at ion al H ymn ]

-
.
2 68 S T P E T E R S B UR G
. .
[ C H AR

l ow tones was evidently quite unexpected and I con

, ,

fess the moment was an intoxicating on e for me I .

was a little uneasy with regard to the non appearan ce -

of the m ilitary band as the moment approached for th e

Ap oth eosis with which the concert was to finish up
,
I .

f eared that if they entered the orch estra in the middle o f

the piece they would make a noise and spoil the effect
,
.

But I little knew R ussian discipline Wh en I turned .

round at th e clos e of the s ch erzo which was played ,

amid the most pro f ound silence I b eheld my sixty ,

musicians at their p osts instruments in hand They , .

had taken their places unobserved by anyone That was .

something like
At last when th e concert was over th e embraces
, ,

concluded and a b ottle of beer consumed I bethought

, ,

m e of inquiring ab out the financial result of the ex p eri

m ent R eceipt eigh teen th ousa nd f ra ncs ; expenses s ix
.
, ,

thousand 5 clear profit twelve thousand francs I was ,

.

saved !
Then I turned mechanically to the south west towards -
,

P aris and could not refrain from mur muring

,

Y ou dear Parisians
T en days after wards I gave a s econd concert with
similar results I was a rich man Then I started
. .

f or Mosco w where material diflflc ul t ies of a strange

,

nature a w aited m e third rate m usicians fabulous ch oris

-
,

ters with a public quite as sensit ive and enthusiastic

,

as that at S t Petersburg and to crown all a clear

.
, ,

gain of eight thousand francs Again I thought o f my .

indiff erent and bl as é fellow countrymen and again ,

“ ”
exclaimed : Oh dear P arisians ! ,
Happily this was ,

not the last time Oft en since in L ondo n have I felt

.
, ,

drawn in like manner to the south east -

.
L XX I ]
. C UR IO U S I D E A O F A M U SI C I AN . 26 9

A musicia n in th e eyes of m a n y p eople is a m an who

, ,

plays s o m e ins t rument It n ever occurs t o them that

.

there are s uch things as musical composers still less ,

that they give concerts in order to make their works

known . Su ch p ers ons d o ubtless imagin e that m usic
is to b e h ad a t the publisher s like cakes at the con ’
,

f ection er s and has only to be m anu f actured by the proper

’
,

workman I admit that in m any cases there is som e

.

foundation for this eccentric idea still it is occasionally ,

devoid of either foundation or j ustice But there is .

n othing s o droll as t h e ama z emen t o f certain pe ople when

you S peak to them of a composer .

One day at Breslau I was n early b eing ins ulted by a

worthy paterfamilias who wanted right or wrong to insist
, , ,

on m y giving violin lessons to his s on In vain did I .

protest that I had nev er touched a b ow in my life .

He took ev erythi n g I said as a j oke and would s ee ,

nothing in it but a kind of heavy pleasantry .

“
Sir no d oubt you are under the impression that I am
,

the celebrated violinist B eriot His nam e is certai nly very

'

”
like mine .

“
Sir I have seen y our placard Y ou are giving a
, .

concert the day after t o morro w in the Un iversity rooms ,

and s o
Yes s ir I am givi ng a concert but I shall n ot play
, , ,
”
t he v iolin myself .

“
T hen what will you do ?
I s h a l l h ave th e viol in p l ay ed and shall conduct the ,

orch estra but go to it yourself and y ou will see , .

My friend restrained his a nger till the next day and ,

n ot till the concert was over and he had reflected on the

subj ect could h e realise h ow a musician m ight figure in

,

public withou t being a p erform er .

27 0 MO S C O W .
[ C HA R

At Moscow a blunder of the same description was

,

nearly proving serious T he nobles assembly room was .

’
-
,

as I have said the only one suitable f or my concert

,
.

Wishing to obtain the use of it I had m yself introduced to ,

the grand marshal a venerable looki n g old man of abou t

,
-

eighty and p roceeded to unfold to him the obj ec t of my

,

visit T he first thing he asked me w as

.

What instrument do you play

No instrument whatever .

In that case h ow do you propose to give a concert ?

,

To have my comp ositions performed and to conduct ,

”
the orchestra .

“
Ha ! t h at is an original idea I never heard of a .

concer t like that I will willingly lend y ou our large hall

.
,

but you should be aware that artists wh o make use of it

are obliged in return to p erfor m at one of the private
, ,

gatherings of the nobility .

“
Has the Assembly an orchestra the n for th e per , ,

f orman ce o f my music ?
”
C ertainly not .

H ow then am I to have it done ?

, ,
I supp ose I shall
hard ly b e exp ected t o spend three thousand francs in
paying the musicians required to p erform on e of my
symphonies at a private conc ert That would be rather
a high rent to pay for the room .

Well I regret to hav e to re f use you but I cannot do

, ,

otherwise .

And there I w as comp elled to go away with this

,

curious answer and with the prospect of my long j ourney

,

being rendered fruitless by this e x tra ordinary and n u

.
—
foreseen obstacle A French artist M Marcou by name .

—long settled at Mosco w was much amused at the ,

account I gave of my disappointm ent , but he knew

27 2 MO S COW .
[ C H AR

tions f or this once My concert was allowed to take

.

place and I was exemp t ed fro m playing either th e flute

,

or the tamb ourine It was a very lucky escape f or

.
, ,

sooner than re cross the V olga without having given my

1
concert I had made up my mind to play th e gal ou bet i f
, ,

necessary None the less ho w ever w as this ex traordi

.
, ,

nary regulation — of which unfortunately I had heard , ,

nothing at S t Petersburg — the occasion of ra ther a large

.

pecuniary loss to me ; for though the concert was an

n oun ced as the onl y o n e I should give yet s o loud were ,

the demands of the audience f or a rep etitio n that a ,

second would probably have produced more than th e

first But where was the room to b e found ?
.

t en the assemb l y roo m w as granted me it was on th e

-

strict understanding that the exception to th e rule was

for once and once only Besides a composer . a man ,

who could not play anything a m ere incapable !

And yet h ow many individuals there are more or less ,

lacking in gifts in the non— noble classes of society whose

, ,

highest aspirations are for this arduous and all but

impracticable career !
If the persistence of the m usical vocation in cert ain
artistic families is explainable on the natural grounds of
education and example an d of the eas e with which ,

children follow the path traced by their pare n ts an d even ,

by th e natural disposition often transmitted from father

to s on l ike the features of the face ; h ow on the other
, ,

hand is on e to account for th e extraordinary fancies that

,

seem to drop from the skies into the heads of many

children ?
N ot t o mention the amateurs who insist on taking useless
and exp ensive lessons t o surmount a barbarous organisa
1
[T h e ga lou bet is a rust ic fl ageol et ]
.
L XX I ]
. A M U SI C A L A S P I R AN T . 73

tion w ith which neither the talent nor the patience of

,

the most skilled masters can co pe nor yet visionaries who ,

think that y ou can learn music by pure reasoni n g as

you do mathematics nor eve n those wort hy fathers wh o ,

propose to make their s ons col onel s or great comp os ers

at will one meets very sad examples of musical madness
,

among people who m on e wo uld fancy quite secure from

that mental malady .

I will mention t wo which came under my own observa

tion and I f ear were incura ble cases One of thes e was a
,
.

Fr enchman the other a R ussian ,

.

I was alone on e day in P aris and hard at work when , ,

the first o f these knocked at th e door of m y study and I ,

bade h im enter A young man of about eighteen cam e

.

for ward all breathless and agitated partly fro m the idea
, ,

which pos ses sed h im and partly from the pace a t which
he had come .

” “
S ir said I ,
pray take a seat ,
.

It is nothing I am a little I have com e

( then like
,
a pistol shot ) s ir I have come into an -
,

inheritance .

An inheritance I co n gratulate you .

Yes I have come into an inheritance and I want

, ,

to as k you if y ou advise me to sp end it in becoming a

”
composer .

I opened my eyes “
Pray s it down my dear s ir But .
, .

good heav ens y ou must suppose me to be gi fted with a

marvellous intuition : prognostications founded even on
rather important works are not always fulfilled H ow .

ever perhaps y ou have brought me on e of y our com

,
”
positions .

N o I h av e brough t nothin g but y ou will s ee h o w

, ,

”
w ell I sh all work I have such a taste f or music !
.

VOL . II .
27 4 MO S C O W .
[ C HAR
Y ou have no doubt written some thing alr ea dy : a
movement of a symp h ony p erhaps or an overture or a , ,
”
c antata ?
“
An overture ? N — no N or a cantata . .

”
P erhaps you have tried a quartet ?
”
Ah s ir ! a quartet !
,

“Tell y ou need not turn up your nos e at a quartet ;

,

of all styles of music it is perhaps the hardest to deal with ,

and the number of masters who have succeeded in it is

curiously limited But however not t o attempt anything
.
, ,

s o high have you not got a simple song to sho w me

,
or a ,
”
waltz ?
n g — no no
“
( With an inj ured air ) O h a so I don t ’
.
,
”
d o things lik e that .

Then y ou have done nothing ?

N 0 but I S hall work s o hard
,
.

At any rate you have thoroughly stu died harmony

and counterpoint 3 you kno w the compass of voices and
instruments ?
“
Well as to that ,
no I don t know either har ,
’

mony or counterpoint or instrumentation but you will

, ,

s ee
“
Pardon me my dear s ir but you are eighteen or nine
, ,

teen and it is very late t o b egin such studies profitably

,
.

I suppose ho w ever that you can read music at sight and

, ,

write it at dictation .

“
Do I kno w the s olf ggi o ? Oh dear m e ! e
,

Well no ! ,
I don t even know my notes I kno w
’
.

nothi ng at all , but I have such a taste for music I .

s hould so like t o b e a composer If you would give me

lessons I w o uld come to y ou twice a day and would w ork
, ,

”
all n ight .

After a tolerably long silence during which I con ,

27 6 M O S CO W .
[ C H A R

undertake all th e expenses of my co mplete educa t ion in

G ermany under the b est masters I have come accord .

ingl y to be g of you t o examine my attempts and favour ,

m e wi th your honest opinion of my capacities In any .

case I shall owe you an eternal debt of gratitude Bu t

, .

if your opinion is favourable you will restore m e to li f e

, ,

f or I am d y ing s ir 5 the constraint they are p utting upon

,

m e is killi ng me 5 I feel my wings and cannot unfold

them It is a tor t ure which y ou ought to b e able to
.

en t er into .

Oh certainly, my dear S ir I can imagine wha t

, .

y o u are suff ering and all,

my sympathy is yours Make .

”
what use of m e y ou please .

“
A thousand thanks I will bri ng the works f or your
.

”
ins p ec t ion to morro w
-
Whereupon he departe d his eyes
.
,

gleaming in the ecstasy o f h is delight .

The next day he came back another m an His eyes .

were mournful and dimmed and sympt oms of discourage ,

m ent were plainly visible on his pallid countenance .

“ ” “
I have brought no thi n g he said I spent th e,
.

whole night in looking through m y manuscripts T hey .

are n ot fit for y ou to look at and honestly not on e ,

of them is a f air representation of my capabilities I am .

go ing to s et to work to do somethi ng bette r for y ou .

“ ” “
U nhappily I answered
,
I must go back t o St , .

”
P etersburg the day after to morro w -
.

“
Never mind 5 I will send y ou my new work Ah .
,
?

s ir if you knew the fire which is consuming m y soul and

, ,

the inspired voices calling m e at times I cannot remain .

in the town 5 however cold it m ay be I go and wan d er far

away into the woo ds and there alone w ith nature I hear
, , ,

a whole world of marvellous harmonie s around me my ,

tears overwhelm m e I utter cries and fall in t o ecstasies

, ,
L XX I ]. M EL O MAN I A C S 77

that are like a f oretaste of h eaven T hey look u pon m e .

as a m adman but I am not 5 I will prove to y ou tha t I

,

am not .

I ren ewed my assurances of the in t eres t t he youn g

enthusiast awakened in me and my desir e t o b e use ful to
,

him .

“ ”
Good heavens ! I said to mysel f a f ter he had le ft
me are not these the sign s of an exceptional organisa
,

tion ? P erhaps he is a man of genius !

. It
would b e a crim e not to help him Assuredly I will .

devote mysel f heart and soul t o him i f n ecessary i f h e ,

”
wi l l only give m e the smallest opp ortunity .

Alas ! I waited at S t Petersburg f or several weeks in

.

vain and all I received at las t was a letter in which t h e

,

young R ussian excused himsel f afresh f or n ot sendin g me

any music But to his despair and notwithstanding all
.
,

his efl orts he could n ot he wrote get any inspiration

, , , .

What did it mean , that frigid and p oor apprecia t ion

o f his own works ? tha t avowed incapacity on th e
par t of a man who at other times fancied himsel f all
powerful and inspired ? What is the ideal to which h e
seeks to attain ? What has he as yet done t o approach
it ? What is there in that troubled spirit ? God
knows But also what is there in co mmon be t ween
.
, ,

such ardent aspirations to wards music mor e or les s

explained and j ustifi ed by time and the mean calcula t ion ,

and prosaic ambition that induce s o many lads to en t er

a C onservatoire and embrace the musical profession ,

as on e would learn the trade of a t ailor or shoemaker ?

Melomaniacs at any rate even when akin t o

, ,

madmen injure no one and their madness when n ot

, , ,

laughable is touching and p oetical 5 whereas artisan

, ,

musicians are detrimental both t o art and ar t ist s giv e ris e ,

27 8 M O S CO W .
[ C HA R
to tedious and vexa t ious blunders and are capabl e of ,

corrup t ing the t as t e of a whole nation by their numbers ,

n o less t han by their l ow instincts T he mos t musical .

n ation is n ot that which can S ho w th e greates t nu mber o f

mediocre musicians bu t rather that which has given

,

birth t o great masters and in which the f ee l ing f or

,

musical beauty has b een most cultiva t ed .

In spite of all the curious and interesti n g archi t ec t ural

f eatures of the s emi Asiatic t own of Moscow I studied it
-
,

but slightly during my three weeks stay The prepara ’

.

tions f or my concert absorb ed m e entirely T hanks .

,

moreover to the thaw then raging in all its attrac t iveness

, ,

it was really hardly visitable T he streets presented

.

no t hin g but lakes of water an d melting snow through ,

which the sledges could scarcely p enetrate I saw .

nothi ng but the exterior even of the Kremlin I con .

fi ned mysel f to coun t ing the beads of the necklace of

cannon that surround it— sad relics of our perishing army .

They are of all sorts and descriptions and belo ng to all ,

nations . I nscriptions in the F r ench l a nguage (horrible

iron y ) p ointed out the regiments to whic h th e various
pieces in this mournful collection had belonged One .

bears a mos t p eculiar wound 5 it has th e print of a

R ussian bullet on its lip which entered the gun after
,

having struck it on the mouth and ripped up the interior

, .

I f the piece were loaded at the moment I leave you t o ,

imagine the ama zement of the cartridge it contained on ,

receiving s o rude a blow ‘

. It must have f ancied

that the E mperor had resumed his ol d task of artillery
man and was loading it in p erson
, .

’
At Mosco w I heard a performance of G linka s opera ,

L a Vie p our l e C zar The immense theatre was empt y

.

( is it ever f ull and the scenery was constantly r e p re

28 0 MO S C OW .
[ C H AR

in German like t heir compeers a t S t P e t ersburg But

, . .

the parts o f Faust and Mephistopheles kindly under ,

taken by Messrs L éon off and Slavik (t wo R ussians )

.
,

w ere sung in — north er n French ! It was a step in

advance : the two heroes Of the drama kept up their
dialogue in the sam e language at any rate M Grassi , . .
,

a Sardinian violinist settled in R ussia and M Marcou ,

.
,

already mentioned were of great use to m e in organisin g

,

my concert ; and Max Bohrer wh o arrived in Moscow ,

at the same tim e as myself with great cordiality O ffered ,

to help in th e orchestra .

I have a grudge against t he censorship for their trea t

ment o f a C ouple t from the student s L atin song in Fa us t ’

Nobis s u b rid en t e lun a ,

P er u r b em q u aeren t es p u ell as eam u s ,

Ut f or tun at i C aes ares

eras d icam u s
V eni vidi vici 1
, ,
.

T he censor refused to authorise the printi ng of s o

scandalous a song In vain did I assure him that the
.

libretto had undergone censorsh ip at St Petersburg and .

,

presented him with a copy stamped with the O fficial

“
approbation 5 he only ans w ered : The censor at St Peters .

burg can do as he pleases but I do not feel b ound to ,

1 A D resd en crit ic in 1 854 prot es te d sol e mnly agains t this song

, , ,

m aint aining t h at G erm an s t ud en t s w er e w ell m ann er e d youths -

,

inc ap abl e o f runnin g aft er gr is ettes by moonligh t T his s am e innoc en t .

f ell ow accus e d m e in t h e s am e ar ticl e o f uil ify ing M ep h is top h eles

by m aking him ch eat : F aus t T h e G erm an M ephis t oph el e s w a s
.
“

hon est h e s aid an d c arri ed ou t ev ery cl aus e O f t h e tr eat y sign e d

,
”

,
“

by F aust w h er eas in M B erlio z s w ork h e m ak e s F aust b eli eve

, .
'

t h at h e is b rin ging him t o M argaret s prison w h en h e is r eally '

conducting him t o t h e ab yss I t is an insult Y es w as i t no t dis

. .
,

r
g a c e f ul o n my p a r t ? I am convict ed O f h aving sl and er ed t h e spi ri t
o f e vil an d fals ehood o f b ein g w ors e t h an a d e mon O f no t b eing so
, ,

g ood as t h e d e vil .T his ch armin g cri t icism w a s f or lon g t h e d e li gh t

o f D r esd en an d I b eli ev e e v en st ill amus es i t s inh ab itan t s

,
.
L XX I ] . CH E AT I N G TH E C E NS OR .

imi t ate him T he passage in question is immoral and

.
,
”
must b e suppressed And s o it was . .
in th e libr etto I .

was certainly not going to mutila t e my score f or mere

prudery s sake T h e prohibited vers e was s ung at t h e
’
.

concert though in such a way as to b e unintelligible

,
.

And that is why the p opulation of Mos cow has remam ed

the most moral on the face of the ear th .

Amo ng the distinguished amateurs a t M oscow I mus t

not omi t to name M Gra ziani eldes t s on Of on e of our
.
,

best O l d Italian opera S ingers in Paris .

There is a splendid institution for young ladies un der ,

the imme diate patronage of the E mpress where the pupils ,

receive solid and even severe m u sical instruction as a

supplement to their general educa tion Thr e e O f the bes t .

pianists performed an O l d triple con cer t o f or the h arps i

chord in D minor by X1
which it must b e admitted
is decidedly severe And yet their master M R einhard
.
, .
,

is an amiable man and an able musician and I am sure ,

that h e did n ot intend to annoy me when h e chos e that

piece f or p erformance .

There was also a delight f ul little prodigy a t Moscow ,

t h e s on of the Princess Olga D ol gorouki aged t en who , ,

really frightened m e by the intelligent passion with which

he sang dramatic scenes from the great m asters and s ongs ,

of his o wn comp osition .

Although overwhelmed with civili t ies by several of the

Moscow families I was oblige d to return immediately to
,

St Petersburg where I was expected to sup erintend the

.
,

r ehearsals O f R omeo an d Ju l iet of which M G uéd éon off had

, .

promised me a splendid per f ormance at the great theat re .

1
[T his
must b e t h e w ell kno w n w ork by S eb ast i an B ach w hich h as
-
,

b een pl ay ed in L ondon by M end elssohn M os ch el es an d T h alb erg

, , ,

an d m any o t h ers an d is al w a ys e nj oy e d ]
,
 C H AP T E R L X X II .

R eturn t o S t P eters burg — R omeo a nd J u l iet R om eo in his

.

c abriol et — E rns t—H is t al en t—R etrosp ective ac tion o f M usic .

ON reaching the banks of the V olga I witnessed f or t h e ,

first time th e breaking up of a R ussian river by the tha w .

I had to wait five hours on the left bank until th e fro zen
mass had somewhat disp ersed ; and when at last I
crossed in a boat which was purposely swayed from right
,

to l eft and from lef t to r ight to facilitate its passage

through the blocks the slo w but irresistible m ovement of
,

the icebergs the mysterious crackling sound prod uced b y

,

their floating the excessive weight of the boat with its

,

load O f luggage the manif est anxiety and loud cries Of

,

o ur conductors did n ot I confess p articularly delight m e

, , , ,

and I breathed a real sigh O f pleasure when I landed

safely on the O pposite bank .

The s un was already shining pretty brightly but in ,

spite of the feebleness of its rays I frequently s aw ,

children playing and rolling about in the sno w heaps ,

with nothing on but their shirts just as ours would do in

,

summer on the hay The R ussians must have hell fire

.
-

in their bodies .

Imm ediately on my arrival I began the choral rehearsal s

,

o f R omeo a nd J ul iet at th e Grand Theatre When .

M G uéd éon ofl had approved the idea O f gett ing up tha t

'

.
28 4: S T P E T ER S B UR G
. .
[ CHA R
sides . I do no t k no w h ow oft en I was called back .

B ut I con f ess I di d not pay much attention t o th e

public ; and such was the impression made on m e by
my setting of that divine Shakespearian p oem tha t ,

after the fi na l e I fled for refuge into on e of the sid e

rooms where E rnst found m e a few moments later in
,

“ ”
floods Of tears Ah your nerves are unstrung ! h e
.
,

“ ”
said 5 I kno w well what that is And h e supported my .

head and let m e cry like a hysterical girl for a quarter o f

an hour C an you imagine a respectable tradesman of
.

the R ue St D enis or the manager of the Op éra (in

.
,

Paris Of course ) witnessi n g such a crisis T ry to imagine

, ,
.

what they would understand of th e summer temp est

’
in the artist s heart its torrents and electric fires vagu e
, ,

m emories of y out h first love and Italian skies blooming

, , ,

afresh beneath the burni ng rays o f S hakespeare s genius ; ’

the apparition O f Juliet ever dreamt O f ever so ught for and

, , ,

never p ossessed ; the revelation of the infinite in love and

s orrow my j oy at having a w akened some distant echoes of
th e voices of that heaven of poetry then m easure
th e roundness of their eyes and their gaping mouths
“
if you can ! T he first would s ay T hat gentle ,

man must be ill I will send him a glass of eau s ucr ee ;

,
’

and the second He is g iving himsel f airs I will hav e

, .

”
him put in the C h a r iva ri .

All said and done however I believe that n ot with

, ,

standi n g its warm reception the symphony slightly ,

wearied the public by its le ngth and especially by the ,

solemnity o f the final scenes and that they liked it ,

less than F a us t .

The cashier of the theatre was well pleased with the

result o f th e first concert but he confided to me t h at he
,

had doubts as to the sec ond unless I gave at least t wo

,
L xxn .
] AN I M A G I NA T I V E L AD Y . 28 5

s cenes from Faus t besides R omeo ; an d I h ad to t ak e his

advice .

Amo n g t h e audience on the second occasion I heard ,

’

of a lady who was an h a bituee of t h e Italian Opera an d ‘

consented to be bor ed at this performance with the m ost

exemplary patience She could n ot endure to be supposed
.

in capable of likin g such music On leaving her b ox s h e .

,

said in a tone of great elation at having stay ed to the end ,

It is certainly a very serious work but quite intelligible , .

I n that grand eff ect in the introduction I recognised at ,

”
once that R omeo was arriving in his ca briol et
Th e overture to the C a rnava l R oma in was the leas t
1

successful of all my works at S t Petersburg It passed . .

almos t unnoticed on the eve ning of my first concer t and ,

C oun t Michel W iel h ors ki (an excellent musician ) having

con f essed that h e did not understand it in the least I took ,

care not to give it again A V iennese would h ardly .

credit this but scores have their destiny like books and
, ,

dramas roses an d thistles

, .

A t a concer t in the Grand Theatre for Versing s benefit ,

’

I also conducted my S y mp h onie Fa ntastique ; and on this

occasion D am cke composer pianist conductor and critic
, , , , ,

had the amazing good nature to com e and play the t wo-

deep no t es ( C G ) representing the funeral knell in the

, ,

fi nal e as if h e had been any ordinary kettle dr ummer

,
-
.

Th e overture to the C arnaval R omain was for lo ng the

most popular of all m y compositions in Austria and was ,

played everywhere I recollect that while I was at V ienna

.
,

it gave rise to various notable incidents Haslinger the .

,

publisher gav e a musical soir é e at w hich among other

, ,

t hings this overture was to b e performed arranged f or t wo

, ,

1
[ C urious ! T his
ov ert ur e is u s ually considere d t he most t un eful
an d in t elligibl e O f B erlio z s inst rum en tal w ork s ]
'
28 6 A G OO D F R I D AY C A R N I VA L .
[ C HAR
pianos and a physharmonica t en its turn arri v e d I .
,

happened to b e near a doo r opening into the room wher e

the five performers were seated T h ey took the first .

a l l egro f ar too slo w the a nd a n te went fairly well but

; ,

when they resumed the al l egro at a s t ill more draggin g

pace than before the blood rushed to my hea d I gre w
, ,

scarlet an d unable to keep my temper cried out

, , It is ,
”
not the C arnival it is Good Fri day that y ou are pla y ing !
,

I leave you to im ag ine the mirth excited among the

audience by this excla mation It w as imp ossible to .

restore silence and the overture was finished amid th e

,

laughter and nois e of the assembly but still quite S lowly , ,

and apparently without my five interpreters having been

in the least disturbed .

S ome d ays after wards D rey s ch ock was givi ng a

,

concer t in the concert roo m of the C onservatoire an d

-
,

b egged m e to conduct the same overture as a part o f ,

“
his progra m me . I want t o make y ou forget Good
”
Friday at H asl inger s said b e He had engaged all
’

, .

th e orchestra of the Karn tn erth or Theatre Just as .

the rehears al was beginning on e of the first violins , ,

“
who spoke French w hispered : , Yo u w ill s ee the
diff erence between us and those little wretches at the
”
Wien Theatre ( where I used to give my concerts ) .

C ertainly he was not wrong Never was the work .

performed with such fire preci s io n spirit and well , , ,

ordered turbulence And what sonority ! What har

.

m on ious h ar mony ! That apparent p l eonasm can alone

convey m y m eani ng In fact it exp l oded like a mass of
.

fire w orks and was encored with a noise of feet and

,

hands never heard e x cept at V ienna D rey s ch ock .

,

whose own person al success w as obscured by this tem

es tu ous enthusiasm tore his glove s in a fury and said
p ,
28 8 ER N S T AN D CHO P I N .
[ C HA R

His concerted pieces written f or th e v iolin m ani f estly

combine qualities formerly supposed t o be incompatible
namely a brilliant mechanism and a sustaine d
-
,

symphonic interest To make th e solo in s trumen t.

predominate without suppressing the orchestra was

, ,

th e problem which Beethoven was the first to solve

success fully 1
And perhaps even Beethoven m ade the
.
, ,

orchestra predominate to the d etriment of th e solo ; ,

whereas th e balance seems to m e evenly kept in the

system adopted by E rnst V ieux t emps L is zt and s ome , , ,

others On this point I insist

. .

E rnst who is t h e most charming humorist o f my

,

acquaintance a great musician as well as a great

,

player is a thorough artist whose expressive faculties

,

take the lead but w h o is in no way deficient in th e

,

vital qualities of musical art properly s o called He .

is gifted with that rare organisation which permits the

artist to conceive po w erfully and to carry ou t h is con ,

cept ion w ithout hesitation In his z eal for progress he .

,

makes us e of all th e resources of art He w rites beautiful .

p oe m s on the violin in musical lan guage of which he is ,

complete master C hopin was purely the virtuoso Of

.

elegant drawing rooms an d intimate gatheri ngs T o E rnst

-
.
,

a theatre a large room and a huge au dience are al ways

, ,

welcome ; and like L is zt he never seems s o po w erful as

, ,

when he has two thousand lis t eners to subdue His con .

certs at the theatre in St Petersburg would have proved .

this to me had I not been convinced of it already It

, .

was marvellous to hear h im in his variations on the

C arnava l d e V enise written after those o f Paganini , ,

though not in imitation of them In this tasteful .

1
[ M o z ar t ,
in his Pi ano forte C onc ert os , m ay p erh aps be llo wed t o
a

h av e don e a littl e in t h e s am e dir ec t ion ] .

 Lx a E RN S T . 89

fantasia all the caprices of a rich inven t ion are m ingled

,

in s o skil ful and rapid a manner with the eccentricities

of a t remendous mechanism tha t at last one loses the ,

sense of surprise and accep t s t he monotonous accompa

,

n iment Of the air j us t as t hough th e mos t variously

coloured cascades O f m elody were not boundin g for th
from the solo violin in the m os t diverting and unforeseen
manner In this curious combina t ion of p ower and
.

almost careless facility E rnst is S imply d a zzling and ,

f ascinating H e plays wi t h diamonds as with counters

. .

I f C res pel the whimsical owner of the C remona violin

, ,

c ould have wi t nessed these incredible f eats t he little ,

reason th e poor man had le f t would hav e sp eedily dis

appeared al t oge t her and h e would hav e suffered less
,

f rom the death of An t onia .

Oft en as I have heard E rns t in thes e varia tions ,

t hey have always th e most curious e ffec t on me T he .

moment th e th eme app ears beneath t ha t magic bow it is ,

again midnight I am once more at S t Petersburg in

. .

a huge hall as bright as day ; again I experience that

,

s t range sweet languor t hat on e f eels a t t h e en d of a

splendid musical soir ée ; smiles and murmurs of enthusiasm
fill the air 5 I fall into a romantic melancholy which I
cannot overcome nay which it would be painful to, ,

resis t .

Music is the sole art that has this re t rospec t ive p ower 5
no other not even that O f Shakespeare can thus idealise
, ,

the past For music alone speaks at once to the imagina

.

tion the mind th e heart and the senses ; and it is th e

, , ,

reaction of the senses on the mind and heart and vice ,

vers a that produces the impressions f elt by those who are

,

gifted with the necessary organ isation b ut of which oth ers ,

( the barbarians ) can know nothing .

VO L . II .
 C H AP T E R L X X III .

My — e a — —
R turn R ig B erlin P er form anc e o f F a ust—A D inn er at

a —
S ns S ouci T h e King o f Prussi a .

L E N T was over ; t here was no lo n ger any t hing t o keep me

a t St Petersburg and I made up my mind though not
.
, ,

without much regret t o leave that brilliant capital and

,

i t s charming hospitality On my way t hro ugh R iga the

.
,

strange idea occurred to me of giving a concert there The .

receipts barely covered the exp enses bu t it procured m e ,

the acquain t ance O f S chrameck the post master and ,

-
,

several other disti n guished artists and amateurs The .

former did not give much supp ort to my plan for a

“ ”
concer t Our little town is not like St P etersburg
. .
,

“
said he We are all commercial m en 5 everyone is
.

occupied j us t now with selling corn 5 you won t have more ’

than a h undred ladies at the outside and not a S ingle ,

”
man . He w as mistaken I had a hundr ed and thirty
.

t wo ladies and seven men I think I had even three

.

roubles (about twelve francs ) profit The post master .

-

also maintained that I had not the proper exterior f or my

“ ”
profession Y ou don t seem at all bad s ir he said
’
.
, , ,

and from your f euill etons I should have expected to

find y ou quite another sort of p erson f or you write with ,
”
a dagger instea d of a pen At any rate the poin t of my
.
,
2 92 B ERL I N .
[ C H AR

n ationali t y And this time I had a section of th e

.

Opera orches t ra against m e whose good graces I had ,

1
f orfeited some years before by my letters on Berlin .

2
And yet t hese letters as the reader may ju dge assuredly
, ,

contain nothing to wound the Berlin instrumentalists .

On the contrary I have praised them in every way

, ,

and only criticise cer t ain minor details in their or

ch es tra and that with great reserve I call the orchestra .

m agnifi cent ; I pronounce it gifted with p recis ion ,

unity f orce and d el ica cy

, ,
but and herein consists my , ,

crime I compare them with the artists of Paris and

, ,

pronounce (now shudder with indignation ) tha t our

fl utis t s are superior t o theirs ! T hese simple words
m ade the Berlin fl utis t furious and he managed to ,

imbue many O f his colleagues with his own feeling ,

by representin g that I had been very insulting to the

Berlin orchestra A f resh proo f of the danger one
.

runs in writin g about players and of b eing withi n ,

reach Of their self love after giving it the slightest

-

wound ! In criticising a S inger on e does n ot n eces sa ,

rily e x pose oneself to th e aversion o f his competitors ;

on the contrary they are more likely to think y ou
,

not su fficiently severe on him But the m ember of a .

renowned orchestra always asserts that in criticis ing ,

him y o u ins ul t the whole b ody to which he belongs ,

and sometimes succeeds in making his comrades beli eve

his nonsense .

In Paris during the reh earsals of B envenuto C el l ini it

, ,

once happened that I had to p oint out a mistake in an

important passage t o the s econd horn (M M ey f red a .
,

1 T r ansl ate d in to G erm an by M . G at h y , an d publish ed at

H amburg .

2 S ee VOL l etters vii viii

.
, , ix .
 FA U ST
”
L xxrn .
] . 93

man of sense ) A t this observa t ion which was m ad e as

.
,

calmly and p olitely as p ossi ble M M ey f re d rose angrily ,

.

“
and exclaimed : I am doing j us t what is marked Why
should you mis trus t th e orch es tra in this way ? To
“
which I replied s till mor e calmly : I n th e firs t place ,

my dear M M ey f red it is no t exactly a question of t h e

.
,

orchestra but of y ou alon e In th e nex t plac e I do no t

, . ,

mis trus t y ou, f or mis t rus t implies doubt and I am ,

”
p erf ectly certain t hat y ou are making a mis t ake .

Bu t to re turn to the Berlin orches t ra I soon discovered .

i t s ill will t owards m e during the rehearsals of Faus t

-
.

T h e icy gree t ing I received on en t rance t he hostil e S ilenc e ,

a f ter th e best parts of the score the sour glances darted ,

a t m e especially by t h e flutes and th e revelations o f

, ,

cer t ain friendly musicians le ft n o doubt on my mind , .

My f riends intimidated by th e hostili t y Of their com

,

rades d ared not applaud m e and it was in an underton e

, ,

that one of them who sp oke a littl e French contrived to

, ,

slip thes e words i nto my car as he passed m e on th e

“
s t age : Monsieur la mous ih ell e es t s oup erb e
,

T he orchestral performance however like t ha t of th e , ,

chorus was irreproachable B oetich er sang th e part of

, .

Mephis t opheles like a good musician and tru e art ist T h e .

public endeavoured to encor e th e D anse d es S y lp h es ,

bu t I was in a bad temper and would not O bey their ,

wish .

T he C rown Princess o f P russia who had t wic e come a t ,

’
eight O clock in the morning t o hear my rehearsals in t h e

cold dark concert room mad e me all sorts of pretty

-
,

speeches T he King sent m e the C ross of th e R ed E agle

.

through Meyerbeer and invited m e to dinner at his

,

ch ateau of Sans S ouci t wo days later ; and R el s t ab t h e ,

great cri t ic s o long the bitt er enemy o f M eyerbe er and

,
294 B ERL I N .
[ C H A R

Spon tini a ft er various verbal pro f essions of f riendship

,

and regard made mincemea t of m e in the G azette d E tat

,
’
.

These were real triumphs the last to my thinking not , , ,

the least T he dinner at Sans S ouci was delightful

. .

M v on Humboldt C ount Mathieu W ielh orski and th e

.
, ,

C rown P rincess of P russia were among the gues t s A f ter .

dessert we took our co ff ee in the garden T he Kin g

, .

walked about cup in hand and s eeing m e on th e s t eps of ,

on e of the pavilions calle d out ,

“
Berlio z come here and tell me something about my
,
”
sister and your travels I n R ussia .

I know not what nonsense I talked to my au g us t

host but he took it all in the highest good humour
,
-
.

“ ”
D id y ou learn any R ussian ? he asked me .

Yes Sire I can say Na prava na leva (to the righ t

, , , , ,

t o the le f t ) su fficien t ly to guide a sledge driver I can also -

.

”
d rack
’
sa
y ou when the driver loses his w ay .

”
And what does dourack mean ? ’

’
It means stupid fool Sire ,

Ha ha ! S tupid f ool Sire stupid f ool S ire ! t ha t s

, , ,
’

”
good !
And the King burst into such fits of laugh t er t ha t he
u pset nearly all the contents of his cup This merriment .
,

in which I unceremoniously j oined made m e an imp or ,

tant p ersonage on the spot S everal courtiers Officers .

, ,

gentlemen and chamberlains remarked it fro m the

,

pavilion and i mmediately began to think of being on

,

good terms with the man who had made the King laugh
s o heartily and who himsel f laughed in such a familiar
,

manner Accor di ngly on my return to th e pa v il ion I

.
,

found myself surrounded by various noblemen all p er ,

fe et strangers to me who made me the most pro f ound

,

salutations a t the same time modestly mentioning their

,
296 B ERL I N .

C er t ainly i t was t rue

. T hings are slightly changed
now T he King of P russia is no longer the only sove
.

reign in E urope interested in music T here are two

.

o t hers besides th e young King of Hanover and th e

,

G rand duk e of Weimar T hree in all

-
. .

H B
. .
 C H AP T E R L X X I V .

R oq uep l an D uponch el D ir ec tors o f t h e O p era—T h eir gr at i

an d ,

t ud e—L a N onne S angla nte—L ondon —Jull ien M an ager O f D rury

,

L an e—S cribe —T h e pri es t mus t liv e by t h e alt ar

~
.

ON my re t urn to Franc e I spent a f ew d ays with my

f amily, from whom I had s o long been separa t ed and ,

introduced to my father his hitherto unknown grands on .

Poor L ouis ! h ow h e enj oyed the t ender welcom e of his

grandparents and thei r O ld servants and what pleasure h e
,

had in runni n g a bout the fields with m e with his littl e ,

gun in his hand ! In a letter I received f rom h im two

days ago dated from the Aland Islands h e speaks of
, ,

that f ortnight at the C Ot e S t Andr é as the happiest in

.

his whole life And now he is a sailor in t h e

.

A nglo French fleet blockin g the R ussian p orts on t h e

-
,

Baltic and constantly expectin g an action

, .

T he notion of it ups ets both hear t and head Happy .

t hey who lov e no on e ! And yet h e chos e this career

himself C ould I opp os e him ?
. For a f ter all it is ,

a grand and nobl e pro f ession And wh o c ould hav e

.

f oreseen this war ! T hos e t erribl e and innumerabl e

in struments Of destruction ! God grant h e may escap e
safe and sound ! T hos e enormous pieces O f cannon
he is oblig ed to serve ! thos e red ho t balls thos e -
,
298 PA R I S .
[ C H AR
C on greve rocke t s ! that hail of grap e sho t ! th e fir in g ! -

t he leaks ! the steam explosions ! I t dr ives m e

mad t o think of them I can write no more !
T wo d ay s l a ter — I am always thinkin g of it
. L e t us .

t alk of som ething else A modern naval battl e . my

story goes so slowly It is s o tiresome to wri t e and no
.
,

doub t als o to read What use is it all ? L et us abridge

.

f acts as much as p ossible without note or comment ,

.

P oor dear child 1

A f ter that excursion into D auph iny I re t urned to P aris .

T hey are bombarding Bomarsund p erhaps h e

is in the very midst o f the firing at this moment .

M L éon P illet had j ust given up th e direc t orshi p of

.

t he O p era .M Nestor R oquepl an and that eternal

.

D up onchel had associated themselves to g ether and united

all their e fforts to O btain th e p ost T hey called on m e . .

“
Y ou know they said ,
that M Pil let cannot remain
, .

a t the Op éra any longer We have a chance o f getting it

.

“
( D uponchel might have said O f getting it again ) but ,

the Minister Of the Interior is not favourably disp osed

towards us and you are the only p erson who might b e
,

able to make h im change his mind by interesting the

director of the Journa l d es D eba ts Would you mind .

asking M Armand Ber ti n to make an application to th e

.

Minister ? If we are nominated we shall off er you the ,

chief managem ent of the music at the O p era and the ,

”
p ost of conductor b esides .

“
Pardon me but that place is already occupied by
,

M Girard on e o f my O ldest friends and not f or any

.
, ,

”
consideration wo uld I b e the means of his losin g it .

“
V ery well two conductors are wanted at the Op éra
,
.

We do not wish to keep the second who is good f or ,

nothing and s o we will hav e the duties of conductor

,
3 00 PA R I S .
[ C H AR
and mysel f Will i t be believed tha t in th e middle of
.

our conversation R o ue l an had t he audacity t o t hrow

q p
t hese words in my f ace
”
Y ou have an opera libre tt o by S cribe ?
Y es .

”
Well what do you prop ose t o do with i t ?
,

By Jove what is usually done with opera libre tt os ?

,

But y ou are aware t ha t artists employed in our

theatre are prohibited by ministerial regulations f rom
having t heir works represented there ; and as y ou are
goi n g to occupy a place in it you will no t b e ab l e to ,
”
write operas .

’
Oh you may b e sure I don t intend t o write a d o zen
, .

I f I can produce t wo good ones in my li f e I shall es t eem

”
mysel f very lucky .

’
N o mat t er it won t b e p ossible f or you t o have even
,

one performe d Your N un will b e lost

. You ough t to .

give i t to us , and we will h ave i t s et to mus ic by s omebody

”
el s e .

I still res t rain ed myself and in a choking voice ,

answered Take it
From that moment the conversation b ecam e more and
more useless and muddled I had f oun d out my m en . .

My suspicions were evidently w ell f ounded They wer e .

aimi ng at gettin g rid of m e and not only had they no ,

intention o f keeping any o f their promises but lookin g , ,

on m e as an absurd and dangerous comp oser they wer e ,

firmly resolved n ot to allow anythin g O f my composition

t o b e played at the O p era and even to withdraw a ,

work alrea dy begu n which I had off ered t o the las t

,

manager .

D uponchel did not s ay a word being probably put out ,

of countenance by the impudence Of his associate He .

L XX I V ]
. S HARP P R A C T IC E . 01

a lso had no opinion of my value but he seemed to f eel ,

that managers who owed me their place might at any ra t e

conceal their contempt of me i f they were not exactly ,

obliged to make a willing sacrifice by get t ing up my work

when its success seemed s o problema t ical .

It may well be believed tha t it was n ot the opinion

Of these gen t lemen on my compositions that m ade m e
s o in dign ant I had often heard them express their sove
.

reign contemp t f or Be ethoven Mo zart Gluck and all , , ,

the grea t musical divinities ; I should ra t her have been

ashamed if I had met with t he slightest appearance of
sympathy f rom them But such colossal ingratitude ex
.

c eed ed anything I had hitherto encountered in tha t

line Accordingly t h e day after this conversation in
.
, ,

which though nothing was settle d I had learnt what

, ,

I wished to know— the full extent Of the gra titude of

two men under O bliga t ions to me — I accepted the prop osal
I had by chance received a t tha t time of directing t h e
orchestra of the great E nglish Op era in L ondon I wrot e .

immediately to D uponchel and R oquepl an to acquain t ,

them with my determination released them f rom al l ,

their engagemen t s and wished them all sor t s of pros

,

p e rit
y T hen
. these gentlemen in order to exculpate ,

t hemselves in the eyes of those wh o kne w what I

had done f or them and to thro w on m e t he O dium
,

of their conduc t wen t about everywhere saying t hat I

,

had insisted on h av m g the first conductorship and on

Girard s dismissal 5 a doubl e calumny because from the
’
, ,

very beginning I had declared that I would accept

,

nothing that could inj ure Girard Girard of course .

, ,

believed the f alsehood I t ook o ffence at his credulity

.
,

and from t h at day to this we have not been on good

terms —which , I con f ess does not much trouble me,
.
 302 MY T W O FRI END S .
[ C H A R

For t he res t I am bound t o s ay t hat I got very much

,

what I deserved I was per f ectly acquainted with t h e

.

musical morali t y of my two friends ; with regard t o

music t hey are a couple of C hinese while all th e
, ,

time they believe themselves to b e gi f ted both with

taste and j u dgment C onsequently they combine the .
,

most absolute sel f confiden ce with the m ost complete

-

ignorance and pro f oundest barbarism Instead therefore .

, ,

Of smoothing their way t o the O p era I o ught to have ,

ha mpered them as much as possible .

But their promise o f the musical direction of the

O p era d a zzled me All the fine things that migh t b e
.

done with such an instru m ent when on e knows how to ,

’
use i t and when one s s ol e aim is th e grandeur and
,
”
progress of art rushed into my mind
,
T hey said I to .
,

myself will administer the finances th ey will manage

, ,

th e ballet and the scenery etc and as for th e O p era , .

, ,

prop erly s o called I shall b e the real D irector

,
And I
fell into their net .

I had b een some weeks in L ondon when it once more

occurred to m e to put my two D irectors of the [ Vonne
S angl ante into a fix I had certainly told R oquepl an to
.

”
take it but it was rath er in th e tone of L eonidas
,
’

reply to X erxes order to give up his arms

’
C om e and
”
tak e them The point in question was the regulation
.

forbidding a composer holding any employm ent at the

Op éra to write anything for that theatre True M D ietsch .
,
.
,

th e director of the chorus h ad had his V ais s eau Fa ntérne ,

1
played ; M Benoist the accompanyist had had his
.
, ,

App arition performed 5 while Hal e vy s Jui ce D rap ier

’
, ,

1 T he librett o o f t his w ork w ri tten b y R ich ard W agn er h ad been

, ,

purch as e d from him f or tw en t y pounds and compos ed by D iet sch ,

w h o in spir e d t h e m an ag er wi t h much mor e con fi d enc e th an W agn er .

 3 04 L O ND O N .
[ C H AR

me to have b een rather unhandsome M Gounod finally . .

1
accepted it and his score will soon be p erformed
,
.

I had written but two acts of it At the head of wha t .

I consider as my bes t compositions I should put the grand

duet containing the legend of the Bleedin g Nun and the ,

final e which f ollows it That duet and two airs are f ully
.

2
scored the fi na le is not It will probably never b e kno wn
, . .

When I saw S cribe on my return to P aris he seemed ,

slightly confused at having accepted my offer and taken

“ ” “
back his poem But as you kno w said he I l faut
.
, , ,
”3
que l e pr etre vive de l autel P oor f ellow ! he could
’
.

n ot in f act have waited 5 he has only some two or three

hundred thousand francs p er annum a house in town , ,

t hree country houses etc , .

L is zt made a capital pun when I rep eated Scrib e s ’

speech t o him “
Y es. said he “
by his h otel — com
, ,

paring S cribe to an innkeep er .

I shall not enter into details as to my first stay in

E ngland f or they are S imply interminable
,
Besides .
,

it is always t h e same thing over and over again I .

was e ngaged by Jullien the celebrated d irector of the,

promenade concerts to conduct the orchestra of a Grand

,

English Opera which he had the wild ambition of

,

establishing at D rury L ane Theatre Jull ien in h is .

,

incontestable and uncontested character of madman h ad ,

engaged a charmin g orchestra a firs t rate chorus a very ,

-
,

1 I t h as b ee n only a qu arter succ ess ful As f or t h e po em w hich .

,

wa s at l as t fi nish e d b y S cri b e an d G e rm ain D el a vign e i t is so t am e ,

an d mono t onous t h at I ou gh t t o t hink mys el f f ort un at e no t t o h a v e

k ep t it [L a N onne S a ngl a nte was produc e d at t h e O p é r a O ct ober

.

1 8t h ,
2 I t h as all been d es t roy e d since , w ith the exc ept ion o f th e
t w o a irs .

3
[T h e pri es t mus t live by t h e a l tar ] .
L XX IV ] . JU L L I E N . 30 5

fair s et singers ; he had forgotten nothing but th e

Of

r ép er toir e The sole work he had in view was an oper a

.

h e had ordered fro m Balfe called T h e M aid of H onour , ,

and h e proposed to open his series with an E nglish

translation of L ucia d i L a mmermoor While they were .

waiting f or the m is e en s cene O f Balfe s opera he would ’

,

have had to take ten thousand francs (four hundred

p ounds ) a night barely to cover the expenses of L ucia
,
.

The result was inevitable 5 the receipts from L ucia never

came near ten thousand francs Balfe s O pera was only .
’

a moderate success and in a very short time Jullien was ,

’
ruined I never touched a p enny beyond my firs t month s
.

salary and to this day notwithstanding all the fine pro

testations of Jullien —who a f ter all is as honest a man
, ,

, ,

as he can be consis t ently with such a depth of folly

,

I look upon all h e owes me as lost without redress .

There is a passage on the E nglish opera in my S oir ees d e

l O rch es tr e that deals with him and his extravagant
’

theatre It was Jullien I had in vie w when I spoke

.

of the impresario who was S O hard up t hat he seriously

proposed to me to get up the O pera o f R obert l e D ia bl e

in s ix days though he had neither copies nor t ranslation
, , ,

nor dresses n or scenery and though the singers did not

, ,

kno w a not e of the work It was simple madness . .

I cannot resist a specimen of his characteristic pro

ceedings Being at the end o f h is resources seeing
.
,
’
that Balfe s opera was bringing in no money and recog ,

nis ing to a certain extent the impossibility Of putting

R ober t l e D ia bl e on the stage in s ix d ays ( even by resting

on the s eventh ) he assembled his committee for delibera
,

tion The committee was composed of Sir Henry Bishop

.
,

S ir George Smart Mr Planch é (au t hor of the libretto of , .

Weber s O beron) Mr Gye (th e manager of D rury L ane )

’

,
.
,

V O L II . . x
30 6 LOND ON .
[ C H AR

M M arrezeck (the singing master ) and m y self J ul lien

.
-
, .

stated his perplexities and s p ok e of different operas

,

( )
n ot t ranslated or C opied of course which he wished to
,

put on the stage It was amusing to hear the ideas and

.

’
O pinions O f these gentlemen as the various ch ef s d oeuvr e
were trotted out .

I listened in amazemen t When at last they came to .

the Ip h igenie en T a urid e which had been announced in

,

Jul l ien s prosp ectus (it is the custom of the L ondon

’

managers to announc e that work every year and never ,

give it ) the members of the committee not k n owing a

, ,

note of it were at a loss what to s ay Jull ien impatient

,
.
,

“
at my silence turned sharply round and said
,
Why :

the devil don t y ou speak ? You must know it ?

’

“
Of course I know it 5 but what do you want me to
”
s ay ? Tell me and I will answer you
, .

I want to know h o w many acts there are who are ,

the chief characters and voices and ab ove al l the style of , , ,

”
the scenery and dresses .

“
Well take a sheet of pap er and a p en and write to
, ,

my dictation : Ip h igenie en T a ur id e an op era by Gluck , ,

as you probably know is in four acts T here are three

,
.

male parts Orestes (bari t one) Pylades (tenor) Thoas (a

.
, ,

bass going very high ) 5 on e grand woman s part Iphigenia ’

,

(s oprano ) 5 another small part D iana ( me zzo soprano

) and ,
-
,

s everal leading chorus parts The dresses I fear you will .

, ,

not think becoming The Scythians and King T hoas are

.

ragged savages on the shores of the Black S ea Orestes .

and Pylades appear in the S imple costume of two S hip

wrecked Greeks P ylades alone has two dresses he
.

re enters in the fourth act with a helmet on his head

-
.

“ ”
A helmet ? cried Jullien in a transport O f delight ,
.

We are saved I shall order a gilt helmet f rom Paris ,

 C H AP T E R L X XV .

My F ath er s D eath — A n o th er Journ ey t o t h e C Ot e S t

’
. A n d re
E x cursion t o ZMey l an — L on elin e ss— S tella d el monte ’
aga in — I
w ri te t o h er .

IN on e o f th e earlier chapters of these m emoirs I have

already mentioned the state in which I found Paris on ,

mv return f rom L ondo n after the R evolution of 1 8 48

,
.

It was a mournful impression but I was soon after

,

visited by a grief f ar more searching and infinitely deep er

—my f ather s death
’
.

I had lost my m other ten years b e f ore and the e t ernal

,

s eparation had been a bitter blow But between my .

f ather and myself there existed a friendship altogether

independent of natural afiection and perhaps even deep er
, .

O ur ideas were entirely alike on many questions the ,

mere approach to which el ect rifies the intel ligence of

certain men He had such lofty aspirations was s o f ull
.
,

of f eeling S O entirely and naturally good hearted

, He -
.

rej oiced that his prognostics with regard to my career

had n ot been fulfilled .

On my return from R ussia he con f essed t ha t one of his

greatest d esires was to hear my R equiem .

“
Yes I want to hear that terrible D ies I r cc of wh ich
, ,

they talk s o much ; and having done s o would gladly

, ,
”
sa
y m y Nunc dimittis .
 MY FAT H ER ’
S D E AT H . 09

Alas I was never able to giv e him tha t pleasure and ,

he died without hearing a single note of my music .

He was deeply and sincerely regretted especially by our ,

poor peasants to whom he had been S O good in many

,

ways My sister Nanci gave m e t ouching details abou t

.

them when S he told me O f his death

,
.

“
S h e wrote thus We must no t regret our d ear
father s life for it had become a heavy burden to him
’
,
.

His on e wish was t o die as soon as p ossible He had .

evidently no f urther interest in the things of this world ,

and was in haste t o leave it A glorious pro cession O f th e

.

poor and the sick whom h e had helped and cured aecom
, ,

p a n ie d him to his last resting place T wo sp eeches wer e

-
.

made over his grave amid the tears of all present ; one
,

by a young doctor who did homag e to his knowledge and

,

his virtues and th e other by on e of the people the natural

, ,

interpre t er of t he class among who m h e spent tha t use f ul

and unobtrusive life of which there are now s o few ex
amples I f anything can soften the bitter regret y ou f eel
.

at not being able to receive his last sigh with us let it b e ,

the thought that his extreme weakness prevented him from

feeling your absence He was frequently unconscious
.
,

and spok e with difficulty But he asked me one

.

”
day i f I had any news o f you and L ouis .

I cannot refrain from giving almost the whole of a

letter from my other sister Ad e le in which the ardent , ,

a ff ection O f her heart is laid bare without restraint .

“ V I enn e S at urd ay , Augus t 4t h 1 8 48

D E A R B R O T HE R ,
, , .

L et us embrace each other in th e grief common to

us b oth It is heart rending I kne w well how severely
.
-
.

you would feel the blow and pitied you in your loneliness
,
.

In such moments of anguish we ought to b e t o g ether .

310 LA C OT E .
[ C HAR

You would not hav e arrived in time f or our b eloved

f ather t o recognise y ou let this console y ou f or our
S ilence and f orgive us f or not giving y ou more timely
,

notice We did not kno w whether you were in P aris

.
,

and f or s ix days we expected his death every m oment .

We were overwhelmed with grief f rom the Sunday till th e

Friday (July 28 th ) when he died at noon He was con ,
.

s t an tl
y del irious recognising no on e except at rare intervals
,
.

The death struggle of the last days was terrible I can only
-
.

compare him to a galvanis ed corpse His head was con .

t inu al l y in motion f rom the irritation of the nerves .

H is eyes were fixed and full O f pain and his hollow voice ,

was ever asking f or impossibilities Now and then in the ,

,

m ost violent of his crises I used t o clasp him passion ,

ately in my arms and that s eemed to calm him Few, .

only could bear th e sight 5 but he did not su ff er— at least

we hop e not At any rate the doctor attending him

.
,

thought so too and told us his nervous convulsions were

,

the resul t of the O pium which he took to the last One .

day dearest our good Monica showed him your pic t ur e

, , .

He called y ou by name and asked f or paper and p en , ,

which we gave him Good said he I will write ’

.
, ,
’
presently .What he wished to s ay no on e knows 5 but
this was the only time that you crossed his mind I think .

he recognised us more by instinc t than in reality O n e .

day I saw by his wanderin g look that he wanted some

, ,

thin g ; and when in order to satisfy him I said s omethi ng

, , ,

h e answered with un sp eakable tenderness Nothing my ,

daughter I am looking for your eyes

,
I burst into tears .
’
,

an d shall n ever forget those words My husband remained .

with him to the last He had promised me to clos e his .

eyes in your place 5 he kept his wor d and my heart will ,

ever be grate ful to him for it .

312 M E Y L AN . C H
[ AR

that t o this day I cannot s ee my b oy s picture at the age ’

,

Of ten without pain The sight of it makes me suff er as

, .

though I had had two sons and death had taken t h e ,

charming ch ild and left me only my grown up s on

,
-
.

I reached Grenoble at eight in the morning and f ound ,

my uncle and cous ins in the country In my impatience .

to get to Meylan I only crossed the f aubourg and walked

, ,

straight t o the village It was a b eautiful autumn .

day full of poetic charm and serenity When I reach ed

, .

Meylan and stood b efore t he house that was once m y

,

’
grandfather s and was now in the hands of on e of
,

his tenants I found it empty T he new proprietor was

,
.

installed in a fresh building at the other end of the

g arden .

I made my way into the drawing room where the family -

,

used to b e when we visited ou r grandfather T he room .

was j ust as b efore with its grotesque painti n gs and

, ,

fantastic p ap er birds gummed on the wall There was .

my grandfather s chair where he slept of an afternoon 5

’
,

there was his game of tric trac On the O l d sideboard -

.
,

I caught sight O f a wickerwork cage I had made when a

child There I had s een my uncle walt zin g with E stelle
. .

I rushed out .

Half the orchard was ploughed up I looked for the .

bench where my father used to S it in the evenings ,

wrapped for hours in his own thoughts with his eyes ,

fixed on S t E y n ard a colossal limestone rock the O ff

.
, ,

spring O f the last stru ggles of the D eluge T h e seat was .

broken and not h ing left but its two worm eaten feet
,
-
.

There was the field of mai z e where I used to hide my

melancholy when my love first made m e unhappy At .

the foot of that tre e I b egan to read C ervantes N ow to .

the mountain .
L xx v]. A S EARC H . 313

T hir t y three years have passed away S ince my last

-

visit I f eel like on e who has been dead and is alive

.

again and on his resurrectio n finds all the f eelings of

, , ,

his previous li f e as you n g and ardent as ever I clam .

bered up th e rugged lonely roads in the direction of , ,

t he white hous e which I had not seen except in the

distance on my return from Italy sixteen years before
,
1

—the house where th e S tell a once shone .

On I went and as I mounted felt m y hear t beating

,

f aster and faster I tho ught I recognised an avenue of

.

trees on the left S ide of the road and followed it for some ,

way but it ended in an unknown farm and was not the

, ,

on e I wan t ed I resumed my road ; it ended in the

.

vineyards and I had evidently lost my way In my

, .

mind I could s ee the real road as plainly as i f I had

gone over it the n ight b e f ore ; there used to b e a little
f ountain which I had not yet com e across Where w as
, .

I then ? where was the fountain ? The mistake

only served to heighten my anxiety I resolved to go .

and inquire at the farm I had j ust seen I went into the .

barn w here the threshers were at work They stopp ed

, .

their fl ail s for a m oment at sight of me ; and I trembling ,

lik e a thief pursued by the gensdarmes asked if they ,

could p oint out the way to the h ous e formerly inhabited

by Madame Gautier One of them scratched his head . .

“ ” “
Madame Gautier ? said he there is no on e of that ,

name in this part of the country

“ 2
Y es an O ld lady
,
s h e had two young nieces ,
”
who used to come and visit her every autumn .

“
I remember them interrupted th e wife of the thresher 5
,

don t y ou recol l ect ?

’
Miss E stelle s o pretty that ,

1
[ S ee vol i p 260 ]
not t wo ni ec e s —I m ad e a mis tak e —b u t t w o gr and d aught ers
. . .

2 NO , -
.
314 M E Y L AN .
[ C H A R

ev eryone used to stop at the church d oor on Sundays

”
t o s ee her pass .

“
Ah ! now it s beginni n g to come back to m e
’

yes yes ; Madame Gautier

,
But it is a long time .

ago y ou s ee
, her house n o w belongs t o a Grenoble
shopkeeper It is up there Y ou will come to the
. .

fountain a little way here behind our vineyard and then ,

”
turn to t h e left .

“
The fountain ? Ah ! n ow I know my way Many .

”
thanks I am sure not to blunder again
. .

And crossin g a field close by the farm I f ell at las t

, ,

into the right path .

S oon I heard the murmur of the little f ountain

there I was And there is the path ; and the righ t
. .

avenue at last I feel that it is there

. I shall s ee .

her Heavens ! h ow the air intoxicates m e 5 my head is

.

turning I stopped for a moment to control the beating

of m y heart I reached the avenue gate
. A .

gentleman in a round j acket— doubtless th e prosaic owner

of my sanctuary— stood there lighting a cigar , .

He looked at me wit h an air of ama zement .

I passed him without a word and continued to climb , .

I wanted to reach an O ld tower that used to stand on the

top of the hill and from which my eye could take in all at
,

a glance I went on without once turning round I must

. .

first reach the top But the tower the tower ! Where
.
,

was it ? Had they pulled it down ? N O ; there it

was they had destroyed the upper part and the ,

trees had grown s o tall as to hide the rest At last I .

reached it Here where the young beech trees are grow

.
,

ing we had sat together my father and I and I had

, , ,

played him L a M usette d e N ina on the flute .

E stelle must have come there Perhaps I am standing .

31 6 M E Y L AN .
[ C H AR

have crushed it or the mountain winds have buried it in

,

sand .

That beauti ful cherry tree Her hand once rested upon
its trunk . B ut what is that close by ? S ome
thing that seems to recall her m ore than all the rest .

S omething that resembled her in grace and elegance .

What is it ? My memory is failing Ah ! a plant .

of pink sweet p ea fro m which s h e gathered blossoms

-
,
.

It was at the turn of the path I rushed to it

. .

E ternal Nature ! there are the pink peas still and ,

the plant richer and m ore bushy than of O ld is swayi n g

, ,

its perfumed blossoms to the breath of the bree ze .

Time thou capricious reaper ! the rock has vanished

, ,

and the grass remains I was on the p oint of teari n g it

.

all up B ut no beloved plant remain and bloom in

.
, ,

thy calm solitude the emblem of that portion o f my

,

s oul tha t I lef t here long ago and which will abide ,

here till I die ! I will but gather two O f thy fresh

coloured b utt erfl y blossoms — p erennial butterflies
-
Fare
well ! farewell b eloved and b eautiful plan t ; mountains
,

an d valleys O ld tower farewell

, ,
Old S t E y n ard heaven .
,

of m y star farewell ! ,
Farewell my romantic childhoo d , ,

and the las t reflections of a pure love ! T he current of

time bears me onward Farewell Stella . S tella !
,

And I descended the mountain mourn f ul as a spectre ,

returning to the grave Again I passed th e avenu e

.

of her home The gentleman with the cigar had dis

.

1
appeared 5 he no longer d efil ed the precincts of my temple .

But still I dared not enter despite my passionate desire , .

I went on slowly slowly lingering at each step losing

, , ,

sight of each O bj ect with an anguish of regret N 0 need .

now to control the beatings of my heart I could not hear .

1
[W h at a curious r elic O f t h e O l d f ashion e d h atr e d o f tob acco
-
L XXV ] . AN U N S Y M PAT H E T IC C O U SI N . 317

them I was dead once more And everywhere there

. .

was S weet sunshine solitude and silence ,

T wo h ours , .

later I was crossing the Is e re and a little b efore sunset I ,

reached the ham l et Of Murianette on the opp osite bank ,

and found my cousins and their mother T he next day .

w e returned together to Grenoble My manner was .

,

no doubt s t range and preoccupied

,
When left alone .

f or a m oment with my cousin V ictor he could not help ,

“
saying : V h at s the matter with y ou ? I have never
V ’

” Vh ’
seen y ou like this V at s the matter with m e ? Well
.
,

y o u will certainly l augh at me ; but since y ou as k the

question I will answer it Besides it will relieve .
,
”
me f or I am stifling
,
Yesterday I was at Meylan . .

”
I know What did y ou find there ?
.

Among other things Madam e Gautier s house ,

’

1
D o you know her niece Madame F ,

“
Yes the one they used to call the beauti f ul E stelle
,
7)

Well I loved her to dis t raction when I was t welve

,

and I love her still

”
But y ou idiot replied Victor with a burs t of laughter
, , , ,

s h e is fif t one by this time Her eldest s on is twenty

y
-
.

”
t wo 5 he and I went through our law cours e together -
.

And his laughter broke out again 5 I j oined it but ,

mine was as convulsive and distorted and desolate as t he

rays of an April s un through the rain .

“
Yes it is absurd I know ; and yet it is
,
i t is
,

absurd but it is real

,
It is puerile but it is infinite
.
,
.

D on t laugh 5 or yes laugh if you will it does not signify

’
, , .

”
Where is S he now ? where is s h e ? Y ou must know .

“
Since her husband s death S he has been living at ’
,

1 H er gr and d aught er
-
.
318 M E Y L AN .
[ C HAR
”
V if is it f ar f rom here ?
”
About ten miles .

I s h all go there I want to s ee her

. .

Are y ou O ff your head ?

I shall find some excuse for going .

I beg of you He ctor not to do such a senseless

, ,

I want to s ee her .

You will never have t he pres ence Of mind to g e t

”
through such a visit properly .

”
I want to s ee her .

Y ou will only m ake a fool of yoursel f and com ,

’
promise her that s all
,

“
I want to s ee her .

But do just consider .

”
I want to s ee h er .

Fifty one years O l d

-
More than half a cen t ury - -

What will you find ? Would it not b e b etter to

keep your fresh and youth ful memories and preserve your ,

”
ideal ?
“
O execrable T ime horrible pro faner At any rat e I ,

will write t o her .

Write away Good heavens what a lunatic

.
,

He handed m e a pen and fell into an arm chair ,

-
,

with a fresh burst of merrimen t in which I j o ined by ,

fits and starts ; and in the midst of such sunshine and

rain wrote this letter which I was obliged to copy on
, ,

account of the tears that blurred all the lines

M A D A ME ,

“
There are certain faith ful an d p ersisten t admira
tions that only die with us I was twelve years ol d
.

when I beheld Mademoiselle E stelle for the first time

3 20 M E Y L AN .

You will probably never s ee me never know who I am ; ,

and I hope y ou will pardon the strange liberty I am now

t aking in writin g to y ou I forgive you beforehand i f
.

y ou smile at the recollections o f the man as you laughed ,

at the admiration of the child .

D E S P I S E D L O VE .

Gr enobl e D ec ember 6 th 1 8 48
, ,
.

’
And notwithstandin g my cousin s j okes I sent this letter .

I know not what became O f it Since then I never heard .

of Madame F again .

In a few months time I must re t urn to Grenoble And

’
.

then I f eel I shall not be able to resist I shall go to V if 2 . .

1 An ex pression o f S h ak esp ear e s in H a m l et

’
.

2
I n e ver w en t B ut fiv e y ears ago I h eard t h at
. M ad am e F
w as living at L yons . I s S h e s t ill a liv e ?
I d ar e no t fi nd ou t ( F e b ru ary ,

S h e is s till living ( Augus t

,
 C H AP T E R L X XV I .

D e t h my S ist
a of e —
o f my W i fe— H er Fun er al— M y posi tion
r And
in t h e M usic al VV orl d—I mpossi b ili t y O f bravin g t h e h at r e d fel t
f or m e— C abal at C ov en t G ard en —T h e C o t eri e at t h e P aris
~

C ons erv at oir e —S ymphony dre am e d an d f orgo tt en — C h armin g

w e lcom e in G e rm any — Kin g o f H a nov e r—D u k e o f W e im ar
Kin g o f S ax ony s I ntend an t —M y F arew ells
’
.

I M U ST done wi t h these memoirs which I find

h ave ,

almost as wearisome as a f euill eton When I shall have .

w ritten the few remaining pages I think I S hall have said ,

eno ugh to give a f airly accurate idea o f the principal

events in my life and of the vortex of f eelin g labour

, , ,

and sorrow in which I am destined to revolve until I shall ,

revolve no longer The road which remains w h atever its

.
,

length must cer t ainly stro ngly resemble that already

,

passed 5 everywhere the same deep ruts the sam e rough ,

s tones the same broken ground crossed here and there by

, ,

some clear brook shaded by some peaceful grove and s ur

, ,

m ounted by some sublime rock which I shall laboriously

a scend and there bathe myself in the evening sunshine
, ,

after th e cold rain endured all day in the plains Men .

an d things do indeed change but s o slowly that the,

cha n ge is hardly p erceptible in the s hort span of human

e xistence T o deriv e benefit f rom i t on e ought t o live
.
,

two hundred years .

VOL . II .
322 D EA T H O F MY S I ST ER, [ C HA R

I have lost my eldest sister Nanci She died of a , .

’
cancer after s ix months terrible suff ering that forced the
, ,

most heart rending cries from her day and night Ad e le

-
, .
,

my other dear sister who went t o Grenoble to nurse her

, ,

and never left her t ill all was over very nearly succumbed ,

to the fatigue and distress caused by such protracted

agony And no doctor was b old enough to put an end
.

to her sufferings by a dose O f c h lorofor m ! They give it

to a patient to prevent the pain of a brief surgical
op eration and yet refuse to employ it f or avoiding a
,

s ix months torture when it is certain that no remedy

’
, ,

not even time can cure the terrible diseas e and when
, ,

death is O bviously the supreme boon d eliverance j oy , , ,

happiness !
B ut the law forbids it and religion is not less formally,

O pposed to it .

And no doubt s h e herself would hav e refused such

deliverance had it been prop osed to her God s will be .
’

”
done .As if everything that happened were not the wil l
of God and as if deliverance by means of a gentle and
,

speedy death were not j us t as much the will of God as

useless and execrable torture 1
How absurd are all these questions of fatality divinity , ,

free will etc ! E ndless absurdity ! the human under

-
,
.

standing reels under them and cannot but lose itself In , .

any case the most horrible thing in this world for

,

living and sentient beings is in exorable su ffering and un

reasonable torture ; and one m ust either be a barbarian
or an idiot or both not to employ the sure and gentle
, ,

means used in these days for ending it The very savages .

are wiser and more humane .

My wife is also dead 5 but at any rate without any , ,

great su ff ering My p oor Henrietta ! After being para

.
3 24 A G O NY .
[ C HAR

impossibilit y of making hersel f unders t ood th e long v ista ,

of d eath and O blivion .

D estruction ! Fire and thunder ! B lood and t ears !

My brain shrivels at the thought O f such horrors .

Shakespeare Shakespeare where art thou ? He alone of

, ,

al l in t elligen t beings could have understood m e

,
have
understood us both H e alone could have looked with pity
.

on two poor ar t is t s at once loving and lacerating each o t her

,
.

Shakespeare the true man if he is still in existence must

, , ,

know how to succour the wretched He is our father our .

,

f ather in heaven — if there b e a heaven An almighty .

being existing in infinite indiff erence is an atrocious ab

, ,

surdity Shakespeare alone is the god of an artist R eceive

. .

us into thy bosom O f ather and hide us there D e p ro

, ,
.

f und is cl amavi a d te ! D eath annihilation what are they ? , ,

T he immortality o f —
genius what ? O f ool fool f ool , ,

I was unaided in my s ad duties The P rotestant .

past or required for the ceremony lived in the suburbs at

-

the other end of the town in the R ue M l e Prince I ,

. .

went to him at eight o clock in the evening An acci ’

.

dental circumstance led m e p ast the Od éon T h e theatre .

was lighted up for a fashionable piece It was there I .

s aw H a ml et for the first time twenty s ix years ago when ,

-
,

the glory of my poor d ead wife suddenly burst forth like

a brilliant meteor 5 there I saw a crowd in tears over the
grief the poetic and heart breaking insanity of Ophelia 5
,
-

there I s aw Henrietta Smithson when recalled after ,

t he final catastrophe in H a ml et by the most critical

audience in France re t urn to acknowle dge the plaudits of
,

her admirers There also I saw Juliet for the first and
.
, ,

last time How often on winter nights did I walk up

.
, ,

and down under those arcades in f everish anxiety T here .

was the door by which I s aw her en ter f or a rehears al

L XXV I ] . H E N R I E TT A ’
S F U N ER A L . 3 25

of did n ot then even know of my exis t ence ;

O th el lo . Sh e
and h ad a pale worn O bscure youth leaning against on e
, , ,

of the pillars of the thea t re and devouring her with wild

glances been p ointed out as her f ut ure husband s h e

, ,

would assuredly have treated the idea as absurd .

And yet it is he wh o is preparing f or t hy last j ourney ,

’
po or Ophelia he is on his way to a priest with L aer t e s
, ,

“ ”
words in his mouth What ceremonies else ? he who
s o tormented t hee and s o suff ered through thee after
, ,

having su ff ered f or thee 5 he who in spi t e of all his ,

wrongs might s ay like Hamlet

,

Fort y thous and bro th ers w ould no t h av e lov e d h er as I love d h er .

Shakespeare ! Shakespeare ! Again I feel my sorro w

overwhelming m e like a flood and again I seek thee ,

F at her fath er w h er e art t hou ?

T he next day three of my literary f riends

,
tw o or

D O rtigue B rize ux L éon de Wailly —

’

,
and sev eral artists
, ,

the good Baron Taylor and a few other kind hearted ,

-

p eople attended Henrietta to her last resting place out of

,
-
,

f r iend s h ip f or m e Twenty fi v e years before the whol e

.
-
,

o f intelligent Paris would have attended her O bsequies in ,

admiration and adoration of h er The poe t s pain t ers .

, ,

and sculptors th e actors to whom S h e had j ust given

,

such nobl e examples of movemen t ges t ure an d a tt itude, , ,

musicians who had felt the melody of her tender accen t s

and the lacerating reality of her cries of a nguish — lovers ,

dreamers philosophers — all would then have followed her

,

cofli n in tears .

And now while she is proceedin g thus almost in

,

solitude t o the ceme t ery ungrate ful and forgetful P aris ,

3 26 M O N T M A R T RE .
[ CHAR

is grovel lin g in its own smoke 5 and h e wh o with all his ,

love has no t the courage t o follow her to t he grave weeps

,

in her deserted garden 5 while h er s on ba t tling a g ains t ,

t he t emp es t f ar away is rocked on the topmas t of a ship

,

on t he gloomy ocean .

H ie j a cet ! She lies in the li ttle ceme t ery of Mon t

mart re on t he mp e of the hi l l her f ace turned towards
, ,

E ngland though sh e never wish ed to s ee it again Her

,
.

“
modest tomb b ears this inscription : Henrietta C onstance
Berlio z Smithson b orn at E nnis in Ireland ; died a t
-
, ,

Montmartre March 3 rd , ,

The newspapers announced her death in cold comm on ,

place language Janin alone had the heart and the

.

memory to pen the following lines

“
With what cruel rapidity pass away the divinities
of fable ! H ow f rail they are these f rail children of ,

Shakespeare and C orneil le Alas it is not so very long

ago wh en one summer s evening in all th e arrogance of
, ,
’
,

youth we were collected in a balcony overlooking the road

,

to V erona Juliet with her R omeo Juliet in all th e

,
.
,

delirium O f happiness was listening to the nightingale o f ,

the night and the lark O f the morning She was in .

white and listening dreamily with a sublime fire in her

, ,

half averted glance In a l o w pure voice s h e rang out

-
.
,

the prose and poetry of S hakesp eare in triu mphant tones ,

instinct with undying life A whole world was hanging .

on the grace the voice the enchanting p ower of that

, ,

woman .

“
Miss Smithson was scarcely t w enty when s h e thus
succeeded in winning the sympathy and admiration of
an audience enchanted by such a n ovelty And thus .
,

all unconsciously this young woman became an unknown

,

poem a new passion , an absolute revolu t ion She i t was

, .
3 28 MY T W O L O VE S .
[ C H AR
1
flowers It brought one down into the gloomy cavern
wher e Juliet lay slumbering and the mourn f ul melody ,

accomplished i t s task as it told of the horrors Of those

m ortuary vaults ‘
Throw flo wers throw flowers ! Juliet
.
,

is dead said the funeral song after the fashion o f a

,
’
,

‘
chorus of Father ZE s ch y l us Julie t is dead (throw
.

flowers death weighs her down like f rost on April

grass (throw flowers Thus do th e instru ments of
t he dance serv e as f uneral knell s th e marriage supp er ,

b ecomes a banque t of the dead th e wedding flowers ,

”
ornament a tomb .

S oon afterwards I received from L is zt an aff ectionat e

letter O f the sort that he alone could write She inspired .

” “ ”
y ou ,
he said 5 you sang o f her ; her t ask was done .

I have no more t o s ay with regard to t he two grea t

passions which influenced my heart and my intellect s o
long and s o p ower fully The on e was a memory of child
.

hood I t comes to me radiant with smiles adorned with

.
,

all the charms O f a per f ec t landscape the mere sight of ,

which was suffi cient to move m e E stell e was then the .

hamadryad of my valley at T empe ; and a t the age of

twelve I experienced for the first time and t ogether love , ,

and the love of nature .

The other love came t o me in my manhood ; with

Shakespeare in the burning bush of Sinai amid the ,

thunders and lightnings of poetry entirely new to me .

It prostrated me and my heart and whole b ein g were

,

invaded by a cruel maddening passion in w hich the love

, ,

of a great artist and a great art were mingled together ,

intensifyi ng the o t her .

1J anin allud es h er e t o t h e chorus o f t h e fun er al proc ession in

my symphony o f R omeo a n d J u liet w h er e i t is t ru e t hos e w ords are
, , ,

const antly ch anted .

L xxv r
.
] THE R O S E AN D T HE H AR P . 3 29

Th e p ower of such an antithesis may b e imagined i f ,

indeed t here be any antithesis B e t ween Henrietta and

.

m yself th e Meylan idyll was no mys t ery S h e knew how

,
.

vividly it remained in my mind Who has not had his .

first idyll ? Notwithstanding her j ealous temper s h e had ,

too much s ens e to b e hur t Indeed Sh e used sometimes

.
,

to rally m e gently on the subj ect .

Those who cannot understand this will still less enter

into another peculiarity of my n ature I have a vagu e .

f eeling of poetic love whenever I smell a rose and f or a ,

long time past have felt the same at S igh t of a beautiful

harp . When I s ee that instrument I can hardly re ,

strain myself from falli n g on my knees and embracing it .

“ ”
E stelle was the rose left blooming alone 5 Henrietta
,

was the harp t h at took part in all my concerts in all my

, ,

j oys and s orrows 5 and of which alas ! I broke man y ,

strings .

And now i f not a t th e end of my career I am at any

, ,

rate on the last steep decline— exhaus t ed consumed 5 but ,

ever ardent and full o f an energy that sometimes revolts

,

with an almost overwhelming force I begin to kno w .

French to write a page of music verse or prose f airly

, , ,

well ; I can dire ct and animate an orchestra 5 I ador e

and v enerate art under all forms But I b elo n g .

to a nation which has ceased to be interested in t h e

nobler manifestations of intelligence and whose only ,

deity is the golden calf The P arisians have become a

.

b arbarous people In the rich houses you will scarcely

.

find a single library I am n ot speaki n g of musical

.

li braries N O 5 books are no lo n ger bought Miserabl e

. .

novels are hire d from the circulating library at a p enny

p er volume 5 such is the literary f ood of all classes of
society In t he same way people subscribe to the music
.
,
3 30 MY P O SI T IO N I N PA R I S , [ C H AR

shop f or a f ew francs a month in order to select f rom

, ,

the infini t e commonplace rubbish of our day some ch ef ,

d es um e of the sort which R ab elais has characteri sed by

’ '

that contemptuous epithet .

The industrialism of art f ollowed by all the base ,

instincts it fl atters and caresses marches at the head of ,

an absurd procession f ull of stupid disdain for its van

,

q ui s h ed enemies .

In P aris there f ore I can do nothing f or there I am

, , ,

considered only too fortunate to be able to fulfil th e

task O f writing f euil l etons — the only on e some would ,

s ay ,
for which I was sent into the world I kno w .

well w hat I could accomplish in the way O f dramatic

music but it would be both useless and dangerous to
,

attemp t it In the first place most of our lyrical

.
,

theatres are bad musically sp eaking the Op éra especially

, ,

d isgraceful In the next place I could not give f ull

.
,

scope to my thoughts in this style O f comp osition ,

unless I felt myself to b e as completely master o f a

great theatre as I am of my orchestra when conduc t ing

a symphony .

I should require everyone to b e und er my orders ,

f rom the first S oprano and the first tenor s ingers , ,

musicians dancers an d sup ernumeraries down to the

, , ,

carpenters and scene— shifters A lyrical theatre as I .

take it is first and foremost a vast musical instrument

, .

I can play it but in order to play it well it must be

, p

entrusted to me without reserve T hat is j ust what .

will never tak e place The intrigues conspiracies .

, ,

and cabals of my enemies would only have too full

scope They dare not come and hiss m e in a concert
.

ro om but in a h uge theatre like the O p era they would

,

not f ail t o do s o .
3 32 AN D I N G ER M ANY .
[ C HA R

Messrs Broadwood the celebrated piano makers

.
,
It -
.

would hav e been al t ogether inconsistent with French

habits for m e to accept this gift though dictated by genuine ,

kindness and generosity We are not all Paganinis . .

However I was far more touched by these proofs Of

,

affection than wounded by the insults of t he cabal .

In Germany no doubt I should have nothing o f this

, ,

sort to encounter But I do not know German I should

. .

have to compos e to a French text which would hav e ,

after wards to be translated 5 and that is an immens e

disadvantage The composition of a grand O pera would
.

also take at least a year and a hal f during which time I ,

should earn nothing 5 nor should I receive any other

compensation since in Germany th e comp osers of O peras
,

do not receive fees Besides th e first performance o f.

,

F aus t in Prussia shows what hostilities I had provoked

among the musicians o f the Berlin orchestra by a harm
less observation published in the Journal d es D éba ts .

At L eip zig als o although my music is now heard with

,

ears very d iff erent from those that listened to it in Men

d el ss oh n s time (as I s aw for myself and as I am assured
’
,

by Ferdinand D avid ) there are still certain small fanatics

, ,

pupils of th e C onservatoire who regard me without know , ,

ing why as destructive and as the Attila of music wh o

, , ,

hono u r m e with a furious hatred write me insolent letters , ,

and make faces behind my back in the corridors o f

the Ge wandhaus C ertain kapell meisters also whose
.
-
,

p eace I disturb play m e rather mean tri cks now an d then

,
.

But this in evitable antagonism even when j oined t o ,

th e p erfectly natural O pp osition of a small section of the

1
German press is as nothing in comparison of the fury
,

1 I n t h e G erm an , as in t h e P aris pr ess th er e are m en o f fi xe d

,

id eas, wh o get int o a f ury at t h e m er e sight o f my n am e on a pl ac ard

L XXV I ]
.
“
LE S T ROYE NS ”
I N PR O S P E C T . 3 33

t ha t would b e ven t ed against m e in P aris i f I showed

myself at the t heatre .

For the las t t hree years I have been t ormen t ed by the

idea of a vast O pera of which I S hould write both words
,

an d m usic as I did f or L E nf a nce d u C h r is t

’
,
I am .

resisting the tempta t io n and trust I shall con t inue t o

,

1
resist it t o the end .

T o m e the subj ec t seems gran d and d eeply t ouching ,

—a sure proo f that to the P arisians it would be insipid

and wearisome E ven were I mistaken in attributing to
.

th em a t aste s o utterly unlike my own —t o quote the

'

great C orneille— I S hould never find anyone su fficien t ly

clever and devoted t o interpret the principal part S ince it ,

requires beauty a grand voice and real dramatic talent a

, , ,

p er f ect musicianship and a hear t and soul O f fire Still

, .

less could I hope for all the other various resources

which must b e absolutely at my own disposal without ,

let or hindrance from anyone My blood boils at th e .

bare notion Of again encoun t ering those senseless O b

s t acl es t o the moun t ing of su ch a work which I ,

m yself have endured and daily s ee endured by other

,

composers writing f or our grand opera A collision b e .

tween mysel f and such malevolen t idiots would now b e

or in a p ap er lik e a bull at t h e sight o f a red rag T h ey attribu te

,
.

t o m e a w hol e w orld o f a bsurdit i e s th at are h at ch e d in th eir o w n

sm all br ains im agin e t h ey h ear t hings in my w orks w hich do no t
,

ex ist an d do n ot h ear w h at is t o b e h e ard 5 t h ey fi gh t w indmills w i th

a nobl e ze al an d i f a sk e d t h e ir O pinion on t h e chord o f D m a jor
, ,

h avin g b een t old b ef oreh and th at I h ad w ri tten i t th ey w ould ,

ex cl aim indign an tly A d etes t abl e chord ! T hos e poor w r et ch es

,
“ ”

a e m ani acs
r th er e are such an d h av e b een such ev ery w here an d in
, ,

al l t im es .

1 Al a s no I could no t r esist I h av e jus t fi nishe d t h e book an d

.
,

music o f L es T roy ens an O p era in fiv e ac t s W h at is t o b ecom e O f

,
.

this hug e work ?

334 MY E N E MIE S [ C H A R

f ull of risk I feel quite capable Of anythi n g as far as they

.

are concerned and should slay the rascals like dogs

, .

I do n ot feel the least desire to add to the number of

useful and agreeable works called comic operas daily ,

turned out in Paris like tarts from the oven In that .

respect I am not like the corp oral in the play whos e ,

“ ”
ambition was to b e a servant I prefer to remain a .

1
simple soldier .

I must als o add that Meyerbeer s influence and the ’

,

pressure exercised by his immense fortu ne not less than ,

by his genuine eclectic talent on managers artists critics , , , ,

and public alike are such as to render any serious

,

success at the Op éra almost impossible That deleterious .

influence w il l probably continue to be felt ten years after

his death Henri Heine declares that he h as p aid in
.

a dvance
?
A S f or the musical concerts which I might
give in Paris I have already said how I am circumstance d
, ,

and how indi fferent the p ublic has become to everything

outside the theatre .

Meantime the coterie of th e C onservatoire has shut

,

its doors up on me The Minister O f the Interior came

.

f orward one day at a distribution of prizes and announced ,

t o the audience that this room (the only good one in

P aris ) was the exclusive property of the C onservatoire
Society and was not henceforth t o h e lent to anyone for
,

1 A f ew y ears ago how ev er no t w it hst andin g t h e a bov e I did

, , ,

cons en t t o w ri t e a w or k o f th at sor t M y fri end C arv alho h ad .

con tr act ed und er a p en lt y o f t en thous and f r ancs t o giv e m e a

,
a ,

l i b r ett o b y a s t ate d t im e w hich I w a s t o s et t o music f or t his t h eat r e

, .

But w h en t h e t im e arriv ed C arv alho h a d f orgo tt en his eng agem en t 5

,

an d cons e qu e n tly t h at promis e w as no b ett e r k e p t t h an a ll t h e r e s t

, ,

h ad b ee n !
2 I b eli ev e I h av e s a id e ls ew h er e an d I n ow r ep e at t h at M ey e r
, ,

b eer h as no t m er ely t h e luc k t o h av e t al en t bu t in a v ery high d egr ee

,

t h e t al en t t o h av e luck .
3 36 A CO M P O S ER S ANN O YAN C E S
’
.
[ C H AR

n o connection with a theatre One must be content .

with mutilat ed incomplete uncertain and consequently

, , , ,

more or less imp erfect p erformances for wan t of rehearsals ,

for which one cannot pay ; inconvenient and un com

1

f ortabl e rooms ; annoyances of all sorts arising f rom the

necessity of employing the players from the theatres wh o ,

think more O f the interests of their own managers than of

t he composer .

One h as to endure the robb ery of the tax collectors for -

the d roits d es h osp ices who never take i n to account the

,

expenses O f the concert and aggravate one s loss by de

,
’

?
ducting their eighth from the gross receipts O n e has
further to hear hasty and necessarily f alse j udgments
, ,

on complicated works heard under the above conditions ,

and s eldom h eard more than once or twice 5 and last of all , ,

o n e has to spend a great deal of time and money to s a

y ,

nothi ng of the strength of mind and will which it is h umil i

ating to have to use against such O bstacles The artist .
,

h owever gifted he may be with these qualities is therefore ,

like a loaded shell which goes straight to its p oint and

,

overthrows everything on its way but is doo m ed to burst ,

an d perish at the end O f its course Speaking generally .

,

I would make every p ossible sacrifice ; but there are cir

1 T h e mos t absurd t h eat ric al pupp et sho w is r eh e ars e d n early

-

e v ery d ay f or a mon th , w hil e I h ad t o produc e my R omeo a nd J u liet

in pu b lic after f our r eh ears als , an d m any o th er w or k s a fter only
t wo .
[T his wil l a l w ays b e t h e c a s e , e v ery w h er e, till t h e public
is so hi ghly duc at ed in music s t o pr efer t h e good w ork s to t h e
e a
“
pupp et sho w s —in o th er w ords t ill i t is as much t h e p ecuni ary
-
”
,

int er es t o f m an agers t o produc e p er f ec t p er form anc es o f s y m

phoni es an d s erious op er a s as o f d anc e music an d op er ettas W e .

do no t s eem t o be much n ear er th at h appy t im e t h an w e e v er

w er e ]
[ T his p e culi ar t ax is th ank goodn ess at pr e s en t con fi n ed t o
‘
2
, ,

Fr anc e
L XXV I ]
. A S Y M P HO N Y REL I N Q U ISH ED . 3 37

cums tan ces in which sacrifice ceases to be g enerous and ,

becomes in th e highest deg ree culpable .

T wo years ago before my wife s health had becom e

’
,

hopeless and when it was the cause of great expense

to me I dreamt that I was composing a symphony On
, .

awaking next m orning I recollected nearly the whole of

the first movement which I can still remember was an,

a l l egr o in 2 time in the key of A minor

, .

I had gone to my table to write it do wn when I s u d

d en l y reflected : If I write this part I shall let mys elf b e
carried on to write the rest The n atural tendency of my .

mind is sure to make it very lon g I may p erhaps spend .

three or four months up on it (I took s even to write R omeo

and Ju liet) 5 meantime I shall do n o f euil l etons or next ,

to none and my incom e will suff er When the s y m

,
.

phony is finished I shall b e weak enough to allow m y

copyist to copy it out and thus imm ediately incur a debt
,

of on e thousand or twelve hundred francs Once the .

parts are copied I shall be harassed by the temptation to

have the work performed 5 I shall give a concert in which ,

the receipts will barely cover half the exp enses ; I shall
lose what I have not got 5 I shall want the necessaries of
life for my p oor invalid and shall have n o money either ,

f or mysel f or for my son s keep on board ship

’
These
thoughts made m e shudder ! I threw down my p en ,

sayin g Bah I shal l have forgotten t he symphony

,

to m orrow
- But the followin g night the obs tinate sym
phony again presented itself and I distinctly heard th e ,

a l l egro in A minor and what was more s aw it written

, , ,

down I awoke in a state of f everish agitation and

.
,

hummed the theme The f or m and character of it pleased

.

me extremely 5 I was about to rise but the reflections

o f the preceding night again restrained me I hardened .

VOL . II . Z
3 38 RE S O LU T IO N .
[ C HA R

myself against temptation I clu ng to the hope of f or

.

getting At last I fell asleep again and when I awoke

.
,

next day all recollection had vanished for ev er .

S ome youn g fanatic — whose contempt I forgive be f ore

hand — will s ay : C oward ! you should have dared !
Y ou should hav e written ! Y ou should have ruined
yourself ! Y ou have no right thus to banish thought ,

and allow a work O f art to perish because you are

”
struggling f or life ! My friend you wh o call m e a , ,

coward would b e less severe if you s aw the sight that was

,

then too constantly b e f ore m y eyes In early d ays when .

,

the consequences of m y b old ventures were still doubtful ,

I never hesitated At that time there was a small select

.

audience in Paris The Orleans family an d the Q ueen

.

h erself took an interest in music My wife was then in .

“
her prime and was ever the first to encourage me
,
You .

” “
ought to brin g out this work s h e would say ,
and have ,

it properly and grandly p erformed Fear nothing we .

,

will b ear whatever it may cost us We must G O on.

A n d I did go on . But at th e ti m e of my dream when ,

s h e was lying there half dead only able t o groan and

-
, ,

requiring t hree nurses and a daily V isit from the doctor 5

w hen I was certain — as absolutely certain as that the
P arisians are barbarians — to make nothing of all m y
w ork but a dead loss it was no cowardice to abstain
,
NO ! .

my conscience tells m e that I was S imply humane 5 and

while convinced that I am quite as much devoted to art
as any of my young critics I b elieve that I honour it by
,

not treating it as a m onster greedy for human victims ,

and by proving that it has not left m e s o wholly devoid

O f reason as not to b e capable of distinguishing courage
from ferocity If I have gradually y ielded t o the allure
.

ments O f music in writing my sacred trilogy L E nf ance d a ’

3 40 AN O FF ER .
[ C H AR

C ordelia ! h ow you have painted her ! s o tender and s o ‘

timid ! it is heartren ding and h o w b eauti f ul ,

Wh en I last visited Hanover the Q ueen begged m e ,

to insert two pieces from R omeo and Juliet in my pro

gramm e ; one in particular which was a great favourite
o f hers — the love — scene T he King afterwards formally
.

requ ested m e to return in the winter to sup erintend th e ,

performance of the whole of R omeo a nd Juliet which ,

had been then only partially given If you do not find .

”
our resources sufficient added he you S hall have artists
, ,
”
from Bruns w ick Hamburg and even D resden
, ,
.

The new Grand duke of Weimar said as I was leavin g

-
,

after my last visit Give me your hand M Berlio z that ,

.
,

I may press it with sincere and w arm admiration ; and

neve r forget that the Weimar T heatre is always open t o
”
you . M d e L ut ich au intendant to the King o f S axony
.
, ,

o ffered m e the p ost of kap ell m eister at D resden on it s -

”
next vacancy If you would take it ( I quote his own
.

words ) what grand things we would do with our artists

, ,

whom you think s o firs t rate and who are s o fond O f you
-
,

and whom you conduct as no on e else can D resden .

would become the musical centre o f Germany I do .

not know whether I shall d ecide on settling in S axony

when the moment comes It is a matter for much
.

consideration L is zt is of opinion that I ought t o accept

. .

My friends in Paris think diff erently I have not mad e .

up my mind and b esides the post is not yet vacant

, ,
.

T hey are now prop osing at D resden to bring out my

C ell ini which has already be en revived at Weimar by th e
,

admirable L is z t .

1
I n ev er s aw my H enri ett a in t h at p ar t w hich I can w e ll b eli ev e
,

t o h av e b een on e o f h er sublim es t but I h av e h eard h er r ecite som e

,

o f t h e scen es .
L XXV I ]
. T H ANK S AN D C UR S E S . 3 41

In tha t case I must certainly superintend the firs t p er

f orm an ces But I will not now occupy myself with the
.

f uture ; indee d I have alrea d y expatiated too much on

,

the past though many curious episodes and sad details

,

are still left untold I end with fervent thanks

.

to that sacred Germany wher e the worship of art is

still kep t pure 5 to generous E ngland ; to R ussia wh o ,

saved me ; to all my kind friends in France and to all ,

th e noble hearts and lo f ty minds that I hav e ever

known in any na t ion I am happy t o have kno w n you
.
,

an d I shall always retain the most tend er recollections of

o ur relations And as f or y ou madmen m ore stupid than

.
,

d ogs or bulls m y Guildensterns my R osen cran zes m y

, , ,

Iagos my precious Osrics you reptiles and insects fare

, , ,

well my friends I despise y ou all and trust t o hav e

, ,

f org o tt en y ou b e f ore I die .

P A R IS , O ctober 1 8 th , 1 8 5 4 .
 P OS T S C R I P T .

L E TT E R t o M a ccomp anyin g t h e M S S o f my M emoir s f or t h e

. .
,

purpos e o f supplying hi m w i th No t es f or my Biogra phy 1 .

YOU wish to kno w the grounds for the opposition I have

encountered in P aris as a composer for fiv e and twenty - -

years T hey are many in numb er but happily they have

.
,

?
now partially disappeared
The kindly feel ing O f the whole press (always except
ing the R evue d es D eum M ond es whos e musical critic ,

is a monomaniac and whose editor honours me with his

,

hatred) on the occasion of my latest work L E nf ance d a

, ,
’

C hr is t seems to prove the fact

,
In that work many .

people imagined that they could detect a radical change

in my style and manner This O pinion is entirely with
.

out foundation Th e subj ect naturally lent itself to a

.

gentle and simple style of music and for that reason ,

alone was more in accordance with their taste and intel

l igen ce Time o l d probably h ave develop ed thes e
.

qualities but I should have written L E nf ance d a C h ris t

,
’

in the same style twenty years ago .

1
H t oo k good c ar e no t t o m ak e us e o f t h em H is boo k is f ull o f
e .

ab surd an e c d o te s an d ex t r a v aga n t e ulo gi e s .

2
T h e y h a v e r et urn e d in f ull f orc e and t h e O pposi t ion is mor e
,

inv eter ate th an e v er .

344 P O ST SC R I P T .

never f orgive my j okes E ighteen or twenty years ago I .

was imprudent enough to m ake f un of a very dull little

work of R ossini s It consists of three pieces entitled
’
.
, ,

L a Foi l E sp ér ance et l a C h ar ité A f ter hearing them

’
, , .
,

“
I said that his H op e h a d d eceived ours his F aith woul d ,

never remove m ounta ins ,f a nd as or h is C h ar ity , i t would

”
n ever r uin h im It is n ot di fficult to imagine the f ury
.

O f the R os s inis ts although I had also writ t en a long

,

laudatory analysis of G uil la ume T el l and repea t ed a d ,

na usea m that th e B ar bier e was on e O f t h e fin est works of

this cen t ury .

P ans eron having sen t me an absurd prosp ec t us e u ,

n oun cin g in very vulgar French the O pening Of a musical

consulting O ffice where amateurs might have their songs

,

corrected f or the s um of a hundred francs I published ,

th e affair in the Journa l d es D éba ts including the pro ,

s p ectus in f ull under the title of

,

C ons ul ting Ofiice f or S ecr et M el od ies .

Some years ago M C araffa had an O pera p erformed .

,

entitled L a G r a nde D uch es se O f which b u t two repre ,

s en t at ion s were given Being obliged to give an account

.

o f the second I confined myself to quoting B os s uet s

,
’

celebrated words over Henrietta Maria of E ngland

“
M a d a me s e m eur t M a d a me es t m orte ”
. M C araff a . .

never forgave me —I must confess also tha t I sometimes

.
, ,

u sed words in the cours e o f conversation which might

fairly be taken f or regirl ar sword thrusts One eveni n g I .

was at D O rtigue s house with s everal others among the m

’ ’
, ,

M de L amennais and a clerk in the Ministry of the

.

Interior ; the conversation turned upon the discontent

felt by everyone with his own circumstances M P . .

the clerk was no t at all dissatisfied with his : I would

,
 L IFE OF C O MB A T . 345

“
ra t her b e what I am said he than anything else
, , .

“ “
For my part said I thoughtlessly
,
I am no t like ,
”
y ou ; I would rather be anything than wha t you are .

My friend had su fficient self command to make n o -

retort but I am quite sur e that our roars of laughter

, ,

e specially thos e Of L amenn ais mus t hav e rankled in his ,

heart .

For some years past I have had fresh enemies owing

to my supposed superiority in con ducting an orchestra .

N early every conductor in Germany has been made my

enemy through the players owing to their extraor dinary ,

success under my baton their t oo eager demonstrations ,

and their careless expressions in my f avour It was .

the same in P aris for a long t ime Y ou wil l s ee in m y .

1
m emoirs the eff ects of this kind of thing on Girard
an d H ab en eck In L ondon C osta does m e secre t injuries
.
,

2
wherever he can .

Y ou will admit that I have had a fine phalanx to

fight without mentioning the singers or virtuosi whom I
, ,

always call to order when they take irreverent liberties

with the music nor the envious beings who are al ways
,

ready to be exasperated at anything more brilliant than

themselves .

And this li f e of combat is no t without a certain char m

when opposition has come down to reasonable prop ortions ,

as it has now It is o f ten pleasanter to smash through a

.

gat e than to j ump it .

But this is the natural result of my passion for music

a passion which is always at white h eat and never satisfied ,

f or more than a moment or t wo With this passion love .

of m oney has never under any circumstances ,

anythi n g ,

t o do 5 on the contrary I had never any di fficulty in ,

1
[S ee ch apters xl v . an d l i.
] [M or e t h an doubt f ul ]
.
3 46 P O S T SC R I P T .

making any kind of sacrifice in pursuit of t h e beauti ful ,

or in keeping clear o f the miserable commonplaces which

are the delight of the crowd Offer me a fortune t o.

compose some of the most p opular works O f the day and ,

I should refuse it without hesit ation It is my nature . .

It is not di fficult to understand the p osition of such a

temp er as this placed in an atmosphere like that of th e
,

musical world in Paris twenty years ago .

I should have no di fficulty in sketching the revers e

sid e of the picture tho ugh it would b e at the expense of
,

m odesty Th e sympathy I have encountered in France

.
,

E ngland Germany and R ussia has consoled me f or m any

, ,

troubles .I might even mention some very sin gular

’
instances o f enthusiasm O f which P aganini s royal gift
, ,

and the cordially artistic letter accompanying it are no ,

solitary examples .

But I will confine mys elf to rep eating a charmi n g

saying of L ipinski s at D resden three years ago After
’
.

a splendid performance O f my Fa us t L ipinski brought ,

m e a musician wh o wished to congratulate me but did not ,

kno w a word of French As I was equally I gnorant O f

.

German L ipinski was about to act as interpreter w hen

, ,

he was interrupted by the artist himself who rushes ,

for w ard takes me by the hand stammers out some w ords

, , ,

and bursts into a flood of tears L ipinski then turning .

,

to me and p ointing to his friend s emotion said S imply ’

,

You understand
I will quote another saying quite antique in its turn
, .

It was at Bru n s w ick where a selection from R omeo and

,

Ju l iet was given in th e theatre On the morn ing before .

1
the concert a stranger sitting n e x t m e at the ta bl e
,

1 T h e B aron von D onop , C h am b erl a in to th e Princ e Of L ipp e

D et mold .
3 48 P O S T SC R I P T .

f ound to s ay Such a school exists in Germany and I

.
,

hold it in d etestatio n It is easy t o s ee that without

.
,

confin ing mysel f to a short air for the theme o f a piece ,

as the great masters often d o I hav e always taken care ,

that my compositions shall b e pervaded with rich melody .

T he value of the melodies their distinction novelty and

, , ,

charm may of course b e dispute d It is not for me t o

, .

estimate them but to deny th eir existence is unfair

,

and absurd But as they are O ften on a very large scale

.
,

an immature or unappreciative mind cannot properly

distinguish their forms 5 or they m ay b e j oined t o other
secondary m elodies which are invisible t o that class of
,

mind ; and lastly su ch melodies are S O unlik e the little

,

absurdities t o which that term is applied by the lowe r

stratum of th e musical world that it finds it impossibl e ,

to give the same na me t o both .

T he prevai l ing characteristics of my music are pas

s ion at e expression intense ardour rhythmical animation
, , ,

and unexpected eff ect s When I s ay passionate expres

“
.

sion I mean an expression determined on enforcing th e

,

inner m eaning o f its subj ect even when that subj ect ,

i s the contrary o f passion and when the f eeling to be

,

expressed is gentle and tender or even profoun dl y calm , .

This is the sort of expression that has been discovered in

the E nf ance d a C h r is t the C iel scene in the D amnation
,

d e F a us t and the S anctus of the R equiem

, .

A p rop os to the R equiem I will mention a class of ,

ideas which I have been almost the only modern composer

t o deal wit h and the mere imp ort of which has entirely
,

escaped the O l d er writers I refer to th e enormous com

.

p ositions which some critics have called architectural or

monumental music and which made Heine speak of m e
,

“
as a colossal nightingale or gigantic lark ; a creature of
 HEIN E S ’
M I S T AK E . 3 49

the an t ediluvian world Berlio z s music h e con

.
’

“
t in ues
,
has generally something primitive or primeval
about it It makes m e think of vast m ammoths or other
.

extinct animals 5 of fabulous empires filled with fabulous

crimes and other enormous imp ossibili t ies
,
He is a .

magician and he calls up Babylon the hanging gardens of

, ,

Semiramis the marvels of Nineveh th e vast temples of

, ,

Mizraim as we s ee them in the pictures of M artin t h e

,
”
E nglishman .

In the same paragraph of his L utece he continues his

comparison Of m e w ith the eccentric painter and declares ,

that I have littl e mel ody and no s imp licity Three weeks .

after the appearance of L utece the first performance o f ,

the E nf ance d a C hris t took place and the next day I ,

received a letter f rom Heine writ t en f rom h is bed of

,

suff ering in which he expresses his deep regret at havi n g

,

“ ”
j u dged m e s o f alsely I h ear on a ll s ides he w rites
.
, ,

“
that your oratorio is a perfec t bouquet of sweet flowers
Of melody and m asterpiece of simplicity I shall never
,
.

”
f orgive mysel f for havin g been s o u njust t o a friend I .

called on him and as he was beginning again to blam e

,

himself I said But why did y ou act s o like an ordinary

critic in allowing yoursel f to express a p ositive O pinion
about an artist o f whose w orks as a whole you kno w
s o little ? Y ou are always thinking o f the S a bba t th e ,

M ar ch e a u S upp lice the D ies I r ce and the L acry mos a

, , .

And yet I think I have done and can do things of , ,

”
a totally diff erent character from those T he pieces which .

led Heine astray are exceptional because they require ,

exceptional methods In the R equiem f or example I

.
, ,

employ four distinct brass orchestras answering each other ,

at certain distances round the main orchestra and chorus .

In the T e D eum the organ at on e end of the church

,
3 50 P O S T S C R I PT .

answers the orchestra and two choirs at the other whilst a ,

third large choir represents the mass of the p eople taking ,

p art from time t o tim e in a vast sacred concert But it .

is more esp ecially the form of the pieces the breadth O f ,

style and th e unusual extent and apparent vagueness of

,

som e of th e progressions that give those works their

strange gigantic physiognomy and colossal aspect The .

result of this immensity of form is that ei t her on e ,

entirely misses t he drift of the whole or is crushed by ,

tremendous emotion At many performances of th e .

R equiem I have seen on e man listening in terror shaken ,

to the very d epths of his soul while his next neighbour ,

could not catch an idea though tryi n g with all his might,

to do s o The latter was in the position of t h e tourists

.

who go inside the statue of St C arlo Borromeo at C omo .

,

and are afterwards told to their surprise that the room , ,

in which they have just been sitting is the inside o f the

’
saint s head .

“
My architectural works are : the S y mp h onie Fune bre
et T r iom h a l e for t w o orchestras and chorus ; th e T e
p ,

D eum the J ud erc cred er is of which is without doubt my

, , ,

greatest creation 5 t h e cantata with two choirs

p erformed at the concer t s in the Palace of Industry in
1 8 5 5 and above all the R equiem
, ,
As for such of my
,
.

compositions as are conceived on an ordinary scale and ,

require no exceptional means of execution it is j ust their ,

inward fire their rhythmical expression and originality

, , ,

that are most inj urious t o them on account of the kind

'

of execution they deman d T o render them prop erly .

,

the p erformers and especially the conductor o ught to

, ,

f eel as I do T hey require

. a combination of extrem e
precision and irresistible verve a regulated vehemence a , ,

dreamy tend erness and an almost morbid melancholy

, ,
3 52 P O S T S C R I PT .

A d il ettante once complained at a party that he had

be en h umbugged in a m ost unpleasant way un d er the
followi n g circumstances
“ ” “
I went on e m orning h e said to a rehearsal of th e , ,

concert of S ainte C e cile con ducted by M S eghers

-
,
I . .

heard a brilliant orchestral piece extremely sp irited but , ,

diff ering e s sentially b oth in st y le and instrumentation

, ,

from any symphony that I knew I went up to M S eghers . .

,
‘
and said : What is t h at f ascinating overture you have
j ust b een playi ng ? ’

“ ‘
That is th e overt u re to the C arnaval R omain by ,

Berlio z .
’

You will admit certainly said on e of my friends

, ,
’
,

cuttin g him short that it is a shame to take in an honest

man in that way .

In France as elsewhere I have been unanim ously

, ,

regarded as chief in th e art of instrumentation especially ,

since the publication of m y treatise on the subj ect But I .

am accused of employing Sax s instruments ; of cours e ’

because I hav e O ften praised him as an able and skilful

maker . But I have never emplo y ed them till now ,

except in one scene Of th e P r is e d e T r oie an O p era of ,

which no one has yet seen a si n gle page I have als o .

been reproached with being excessively noisy and with a ,

lov e for the big drum which I only us e in a very few

-
,

pieces where there is good reason for it In fact I alone

,
.
, ,

o f all the critics h ave obstinately protested f or twenty

, ,

years past against t h e revolting abus e of noise and the

, ,

s enseless u s e of the big drum trombones etc in small -

, ,
.
,

theatres small orchestras small O peras and small songs

, , , ,

where even the tambourin e is now employed .

R ossini in th e S iege of C or inth was th e man who

, ,

really introduced noisy ins t rumentation into France 5 but

 A N O DD Q UE S T I O N . 53

Fre n ch critics nev er mention him in connection with this

subj ect ; nor ever reproach Auber Hal e vy Adam and, , ,

a score of others wit h their odious exaggerations ; but

they do reproach me and more absurd still Weber (see
, ,

Michaut s L if e of W eber in the B iogr ap hie Univers ell e)

’

Weber who only employed the d rum once in his orchestra

, ,

and used all instrume n t s with matchless care and ability !

A s far as I myself am concerned I think that the
cause of this absurd mistake is due to my h aving been
so often s een to conduct immense orchestras at the great
festivals For I nstance Prince Metternich once said to
.
,

me at V ien n a
,

“
Is it not you who compose music for five hundred
musicians
T O which I answered
Not always m ons eigneur 5 I sometim es wr i t e for four
,

”
hundred and fifty .

But w hat m atter ? my works are now publish ed an d ,

it is easy to check my statements A n d if not still .

, , ,

what matter ?
I remain my d ear S ir
, ,

Yours faithfully ,

H E C T O R B E R L roz
P AR IS
,

VOL . 11 .
 S U PP L E M E N T .

I ns t i t u te — C onc er t s P alais l I n d u s t rie — Julli en

’
T he at the de
T he D i ap a son o f E t erni t y — L es T r o ens— B ea tr ice
et B en ed ict
’

y
— E x cursion t o L ow e n b er g —C
onc rt s e ons erv at oir e
at t h e C
F e s t iv al a t S t ra s b urg— D eat h o f my S econd W i fe— C em eteri es
— All w ron g !

IT is nearly ten years since I finished the foregoi n g

memoirs and these years have been nearly as eventful
,

as those already described S om e account of them should

.

therefore b e given once and for all .

My career is ended — “
O thello s occupation s gone ’ ’
.

I compose no m ore musi c conduct no more concerts , ,

no longer write either pros e or verse I have resigned .

my post as critic All my musical undertakin gs are

.

finished ; I have no de s ire to do anythi n g more And .

all I n ow do is to read m e ditate struggle against dea d l y

, ,

weariness and suff er ceaseless agonies fr om incurable

,

neuralgia To my great surp rise I have been elected

.

member of the Academy and if m y occasional speeches

,

in my place there produce n o result I am at any rate ,

o n the most frien dly and even charmi n g terms w ith

, ,

m y colleagues .

I could tell m any anecdotes of Gluck s O rp h ée an d ’

A l ces te which I w as commissioned to produce at the

,
3 56 JULL I E N .

Since then most of the lyrical theatres have adopted th e

electric metronome for the choruses b ehind the scenes ,

w he n their leaders can neither s ee the conductor nor hear

the orchestra The O pera alone held out against it till
.

the rehearsals of A l ces te when I insiste d on th e preciou s

,

contrivance being adopted .

The eff ects produced at these concerts were very fine ,

especially in pieces where the h armony was broad and

the temp o moderate such as the chorus Ja mais d a ns , , ,

ces bea ux l ieuse from A r mid e ; T i bi omn es from my T e

, ,

and the Ap otheos e from the S y mp h onic Fune bre

’

D eum ,

et T r iomp h a l e .

F our or five years after this species of musical congress ,

Jullie n w hom I have already mentioned in connection

,

with the opera at D rury L ane cam e to Paris to give a ,

series of grand concerts in the circus at the C h amp s

El y s e es His bankruptcy prevented him from signi n g
.

th e n ecessary e ngagements 5 but I was happy e n ough t o

obt ain h is certificate for him and w ith it the p ower of ,

contracting The poor man on seei n g m e t hus give u p

.
,

my own claims on him was s o deeply m oved as to ,

embrace me in the bankruptcy court with a burst of

, ,

tears But from that m oment his m in d which no on e

.
, ,

either in L ondon or Paris wo u ld be l ieve to b e a ff ected , ,

went from bad to wors e For m any years before he h ad .

,

laid claim to an extraordin ary discov ery in acoustics ,

w hich he imparted to everybody Putting a finger in .

each ear he listened to the dull sound thus produced in

,

the head by t h e blood passin g through the arteries and ,

firm l y b elieved t h at it was a colossal A produced by th e

t er r es tr ia l gl obe r evol ving in sp ace Then w h istling a D .
,

an E flat or an F he would exclaim enthusiastically

, ,
 “
THE D I APA S O N O F E T E R N I T Y .
”
3 57

It is the A the real A the A O f the spheres the

, , ,

d iapason o f eternity
One day he came to me in great haste with a v ery ,

w ild air. He h ad seen G od he sai d in a bl ue cloud , , ,

a nd G od h ad commanded him t o m ake my fortune T he .

first step was to buy the score of L es T rogens which I ,

had lately finishe d and for which he O ff ered me thirt y

,

fiv e thousand francs The next spite O f my resistance

.
, ,

“
w as to pay off his D rury L ane deb t I have money .
,

”
I have money he cried taking han dfuls of gold and
, ,

“
bank notes out of his p ocket
-
L ook look there it is ;
.
, ,
”
p ay yourself . I had great di fficulty in making him take
“
back his money saying : Another time my dear Jullien
, , ,

we will settle this affair and s ee about the mission

,

e ntrusted to you For that y ou m ust be in a calmer con

.

d ition than you now are The fact w as tha t he had

.
”

already received consi d erable sums for his concerts at the

C hamps Ely s e e s from a contractor whom he had inspired
,

w ith the greatest confidence The following week after

.
,

havi n g created a pu blic scandal by pla y ing the piccolo on

the Boulevard des Italiens in his cabriolet and inviting
, ,

the people in the street to his concerts Jullien d ied ,

raving mad . How many musicians are there at the

present moment j ust as mad as he who are treated
, ,

q uite seriously
At this time I had completed th e dramatic work of
which I have j ust spoken and which is mentioned in a
,

n ote to o n e of the preceding chapters Four years .

previously I happened to b e sta y ing at Weimar with

the Princess Wittgenstein a devoted friend o f L is zt s
,
’

a woman of rare intelligence and feeling who has O ften ,

c omforted me in my fits of depression S omething .

led me to speak Of m y admiration for V irgil and ,

3 58 LE S TR O Y E N S .
”

an idea I h ad
formed of a grand op era on the Shakes
p earian m ode l to be founde d on the ,
second and fourth
books of the E n eid
Z
I added that I was too well
i .

acquainted with the necessary difficulties of such an

“ ”
undertaki ng ever to attempt it Indee d replied th e .
,

“
Princess your passio n for S hakespeare combined wit h
, ,

your love of th e antique ought to produce somethi ng ,

grand and uncommon You must write this opera or .

,

lyric p oem or w hatever you choose to c all it You must

, .

”
begin it and y ou must finish it
,
I continued my O bj ec .

“ ”
tions but she would hear none O f them
,
L isten said .
,

“
sh e . If you are shirking the inevitable di fficulties o f
the piece if you are s o weak as to be afraid to brave
,

everything f or D ido and C assandra never come to see ,

”
m e agai n f or I will not receive you
,
This was quit e .

eno ugh to decide m e On m y return to Paris I began .

,

the poem o f L es T r oy ens I next attacked the score and .

,

after thre e years and a half of corrections changes , ,

additions etc I finished it While t h us polishing and

,
.
, .

rep olishing my work after h avi ng read th e poem t o ,

many different perso n s and profited by their re m arks t o ,

the best of my ability I wrote the followi n g letter to th e ,

E mperor .

I hav e j ust completed a grand O pera o f which ,

I have written both words and music In spite O f th e .

b oldness and variety of the means employed the r e ,

sources at our disp osal in Paris are quite su fficient f or its

1
p erformance Permit me Sire to read you t h e b ook
.
, , ,

and afterwards to en t reat your patronage of t h e work

1
L es T r oy ens w as no t at th at t im e divid ed in t o two op er as 5 it
f orm ed a S ingl e on e ,
l as ting fiv e hours .
360 AN I M P O RT AN T “
IF .
”

the poem f ro m whenc e I have taken my subj ect A rma ,

cito I believe that I shall take L atium

p rop era te viro .

“
With the most profound respect and devotion I am , ,

your Maj esty s humble and obedient servant

’
,

H E C T O R B E R L roz ,

M emb e r o f t h e I ns ti t ute .

P aris ,
M arch 28 th , 1 85 8 .

I did not take L atium It is true that the p eople at .

th e Op éra took good care not to p rop erare a rma v iro and ,

the E mperor never read the letter since M de Morny ,

.

”
dissua d ed m e from sending it The E mperor he said
.
, ,

”
would not ha v e thought it a p r op er one And finally .
, ,

w hen L es T roy ens was given after a fashion h is Maj esty ,

did not even condescend to come and see it .

One evening at the Tuileries I managed to have a

, ,

moment s conversation with the E mp eror who authorised

’

me to bring him the libretto promising to read it if ,

he could find an hour s leisure But what leisure has

’
.

the E mp eror of the French ? I sent my manuscript to

his Maj esty who did not read it and despatched it
, ,

to the O ffice of th e direction of theatres There m y .

work was sl a ndered and treated as absurd ; a rumour

,

was circulated that it would take eight hours and

require two companies each as large as that of th e ,

Op éra and thre e hundred extra si ngers etc

, A year , .

later however they seemed disp osed to have something

, ,

to s ay to it One day Alphonse R oyer told me from

.
,

the Minister that h e was going to make them begin

,

upon it at the O p era and wished to give me entire ,

satisfaction .

T HI S S P O N T AN E O U S PR O M I S E W A S N o B E T T E R KE P T T H A N
A L L T H E B E ST AN D F R O M T H A T T I M E F O R T H E T C
, ,
.
 ’

“
LE S T R O Y E N S A C A R T H AG E .
”
361

And thus it happened t h at after a long and useless

d elay tired of submitting to s uch annoyance I yielded
, ,

to M C arvalho s entreaties and consented t o let him try

.
’
,

to bring out L es T r oy ens a C arth age at the Th e atre

1

L yrique although it was manifestly impossible f or him to

,

d o it justice He had j ust O btained an annual subvention

.

of a hun d red thousand francs But in spite Of this th e .

, ,

u ndertaki ng w as b eyond his p owers ; his theatre was

n ot large enough his singers n ot su fficiently skille d

, ,

his chorus and orches t ra inadequate We both mad e .

considerable sacrifices I paid th e m usicians necessary to

.

comp l ete the orches t ra out of my own p ocket M ore than .

once I even altere d th e scoring in order t o proportion it ,

to his resources Madam e O b erton D em eur the o nl y

.
-
,

w oman who could sing D ido s p art treated m e in a m os t

’
,

generous and friendly manner by accepti n g much l ess ,

money from C arvalho than was O fiered her by the Madrid

Theatre In spite of everything however the perform
.
, ,

ance was an imp erfect on e as it could hardly fail to b e, .

Madame C h art on did admirably at times M onj auze as .

,

E neas w as occasionally spirited and animated but t h e

, ,

m ise en s ce ne w hich C arvalho insisted on arra nging w as

, ,

quite unlike what I had directe d and w as absurd in some ,

parts and ri diculous i n others At the first representa .

tio n the scene shifter was nearly S p oiling everything and

,
-

ups etting th e whole piece by his awkwar dness in the ,

hunting scene At the Op éra this tableau would h av e

.
,

produced a striki ngly wild and beautiful e ffect ; here it

w as c ontemptible it took n early an hour to make the
,

chan ge and the result was that the whole scene was
,

suppressed at the second representation .

1
T he s econd p ar t o f t h e en t ir e w or k (L es T r oy ens ) t o w hich I
a dd e d a n ins t r um e n t al in t roduc t ion (L e L a mento) an d a prolo gu e .
3 62 O B S T A C LE S .

I have already said that in order prop erly t o organise

,

the p erfor mance of so great a work I should have to be ,

as absolutely master o f the theatre as I am of the orchestra

when reh ears ing a symphony I req uire th e help of every .

b ody and must b e obeyed by all without the slightest

,

d emur ; other wise my energy is ex h austed after a f e w

,

days by the opposition the puerile opinions and still

, ,

more puerile terrors by which I am bes et I end by resign .

ing and letting everything go to th e devil

,
I cannot .

describe the way in which C arvalho while protesti n g that ,

h e desired only to confor m to my wishes p ositively ,

tortured me into giving my cons ent to th e erasure of

certain passages When he dare d not ask for these him
.

self he used t o apply to m e through our mutual friends

, .

One would write me word that such and such a passage

was dangerous ; another implored me — also by letter— to
suppress something else And the criticisms were enough
.

to drive m e m ad .

Your rhapsodist with his four stringed lyre is intended -

,

I know to account f or t h e four notes struck by the

,

harp in the orchestra You wanted to S how off a little

.

”
arch ae ology .

”
Well ?
That is dangerous P eopl e will laugh
. .

It certainly is a great matter for laughter Ha ha .

ha ! a tetrachord ! An antiqu e lyre striki ng only four ,

”
n otes ! ha ! ha ! ha !

There is on e word in your prologue that alarms m e .

”
What is that ?
The word triomp h a ux .

And why should that alarm you ? I s it n ot the plural

of t r iomp h a l as ch eva ua
,
c is o f ch eva l origina ux of origina l , ,

m a dr igaux of m adr iga l , municip a ux of m unicip a l

364 F I R S T P R OD U CT IO N .

three there to suit some mis c en s ce ne of his o wn con

,

t riv an ce In his eyes the mise en s cene of an O pera is not

.
,

m ade f or th e m usic but the music for the mise en s ce ne

,
.

Just as if in writing my score I had not calculated

on the resources of the O pera a fter s tudying them ,

for f orty years The actors at any rate took care not
.
, ,

to torment me and I must do them the justice to s ay

,

that they sang their parts j ust as I gave them witho ut ,

cha n ging a single note This m ay seem incre d ible but it

.
,

is true and I thank them The first representation of

,
.

L es T roy ens a C a rth age took place on the day promised ,

November the 4 t h 1 8 6 3 The work still required thre e

, .

or four serious general rehearsals 5 nothing went with

certainty particularly on the stage But C arvalho w as

,
.

at his wits end to keep up his r ep ertoire the house was

’
,

empty every night and he wanted to e x tricate himself

,

from this unfortunate position as quickly as p ossible .

E verybody knows that in s u ch cases m anagers are

f erocious My friends and I expected a stormy evening
.

an d all sorts o f hostile demonstrations but nothi n g h ap ,

p ened My enemies d ared n ot S how themselves 5 a

.

s olitary h iss w as heard at th e en d when I was called for , ,

an d that was all The indivi dual wh o had hissed e v i

.

d en tl y determined t o continue h is insults f or he returned ,

with a comrade and hissed exactly at the same place at

,

the third fifth seventh and tenth performances O thers

, , , .

held forth in th e lobbies with comical vehemence

sayi n g that such m usic could not and ought not to b e
a ll owed Five pap ers insulted m e in terms expressly
.
,

ch osen to wound my feelings as an artist B u t on the .

other hand more than fifty articles app eared d uri ng th e

,

first fortn ight in a tone of appreciative criticis m by

, ,

M essrs Gasperini Fiorentino D O rtigue L eon Kreut zer

.
, ,
’

, ,
 E FF E C T O F THE O P ERA . 36 5

D amck e, J C ann es Web er an d many others wri tt en with

, ,

an enthusias m and ability that filled me with delight suc h

as I had not felt for a long time past Besides this I .

received a great many letters som e eloquent others , ,

n aif but al l in earnest and all touching m e deeply

, , .

I s aw the people in tears at several of the p erformances ,

and during the two months following the first ap pearance

of the piece I was often stopped in the street by strangers
‘

asking permission to S hak e hands with me and thanking ,

m e for having produced it T his was surely ample com .

p en s at ion for the insults O f p eople whose enmity was

due less to my criticisms than to my musical tendencies ,

and whose h atred indeed was such as to honour me

, , .

I confess that I was myself p owerfully impressed when

I heard certain pieces from the T roy ens well p er f ormed .

’
ZE n eas S song ,

Ah qu and V i endr a l in s t an t ’
d es supr em e s adi eu x ,

’
and still m ore ,
D ido s solo ,

J e v ais mourir ,

D ans m a doul eur imm ens e s ub m ergée .

quite overcame m e Madam e C h art on rendered this p assage

.

in a grandly dramatic manner

E n ée , E n ée ,

Ah mon am e t e sui t
and shrieked in despair as s h e struck her breast and tore
,

her hair just as V irgil intende d

,
.

T erqu e q u at er q u em anu pe c t us p ercus s a d ecor em

F l av en t es q u e a b sciss a com a s .

It is curious that not on e o f my howling critics S hould

h ave reproached me with having presumed to create tha t
vocal effect 5 and y et I think it is certainly worthy o f their
anger Of all the passionately s ad music I have ev e r
.
36 6 S U PP RE S SIO N S
’
comp osed I know n othing to compare to D ido s part in
,

that scene and the following air except those of ,

C assandra in certain parts O f the P r is e d c T roie which

, ,

have never yet been p erfor m ed

Ah my noble C assandra my heroic V irgin I must
, , ,

needs resig n myself to n ever hearing thee ! And I

a m like the young C h oreb us

I ns ano C as s an d rae in cen s us a mor e .

The f ollowing pieces were suppressed in L es T r oy ens a

C a r th age at the Th e atre L y rique both at rehearsal and ,

after the first representation

1 T he entry of the builders
. .

2 That o f the sailors

. .

3 That of th e labourers
. .

4 Instrumental interlude (hunting scene and tempest )

. .

S cene and duet b etween Anna and Narbal

r
o .

a S econd a ir d c ba l l et .

x The verses of I op as
i

8 The sentinels d u c t
’
. .

9 The song o f Hylas

. .

1 0 T h e grand d uet o f ZE neas and D ido

. E rra nte s ur .

tes p as .

As for the first three of these , C arvalho thought the

general eff ect c old 5 and the s tage was too small for such
processions The mis e en s ce ne of the hunti n g interlude
.

was wretched Instead of a real waterfall there was a

.
,

painted on e ; the danci ng satyrs were represented by little

girls O f twelve and th e bla zi n g branches which they
,

ought to have waved were for bidden for fear of fire ;

s o were the nymphs who were to rush thro ugh the fores t
“
with dishevelled h air cry ing It aly ! The femal e
,
”

ch orus singers w ere placed in the side scenes an d could

- -

,
 I AM F REE .

T o see a work o f that nature prepared f or sale wi t h the ,

erasures and trimmin gs of the publisher ! Is there any

torture like that ? A s core lying dismembered in th e
pu blisher s w indo ws l ike the body of a cal f on a butcher s
’
,
’

stall with its fragments O ff ered for sale like cat s meat I
,
’
-

I n spite ho wever o f all C ar v alho s corrections and

’

, ,

cuts the T r oy ens a C a r th age only ran t w enty one nights

,
-
.

As the receipts did not come up to his exp ectations h e ,

c onsented to cancel th e engagement of Madame C h art on .

S h e accordingly left f or Madrid and the work disappeared ,

fro m the bills to my g reat relief My fees from thes e

,
.

t wenty one representations were considerable owing t o

-
,

my having written both words and music and as I had ,

disposed of the piano f orte arrangement both in Paris and

L ondon I found to my intense delight that the interest o f
,

the s u m total was about equal to my annual salary from

the Jour na l d es D éba ts I therefore at once resigned .

my post as critic At last after thirty years bondage I

.
,
’

am free ! No more f euill etons to write no m ore com ,

m on p l aces to excuse no more mediocritie s to praise n o

, ,

more indignation to suppress 5 no more lies no mor e ,

comedies no more mean c ompromis es — I am free

,
I
n eed n ever again s et foot in a lyrical theatre nor speak of , ,

nor listen to n or even laugh at the queer medley of music

,

pr o duced there G l oria in excels is D eo et in terra p aw

.
,

h ominibus boncc vol un ta tis .

The T roy ens was at any rate the means of rel easing on e
w retch ed f eu ill etonis te from his bondage .

Between the completion and representation O f the opera

1 ’
I wrote by M B en azet s desire both words and musi c
,
.
,

of an op e ra c omigu e in two acts B ea tr ic e ct B ened ict , ,

1 M an ager at B ad en .
 A G ER M AN P R I N C E . 3 69

f ounded on Shakespeare s M uch A d o a bout N othing It ’

.

was very successfully played under my own direction , ,

at the n ew Baden Baden Theatre August 9th 1 8 6 2

-
, , .

S ome months later at the request of the Grand duchess

,
-
,

it was got up with equal success at Weimar after being ,

translated into German by Herr R ichard Pohl I w as .

invited to conduct the first two p erformances an d over ,

whelme d as usual with all sorts of kind attention T he

, ,
.

P rince of Hoh enzollern Hechingen was equally gracious -

,

an d s ent his kapell meister t o m e at Weimar to invite

-

me t o conduct a concert at L O wenb erg his present resi ,

dence He requested me t o draw up an instrumental

.

programme consisting entirely of my own works w ith

, ,

which his orchestra was quite familiar .

”
Monseigneur I answered ,
I am at your orders but , ,

since your orchestra is familiar with my symphonies and

overtures will y ou kindly arrange the programme yourself
, ,

”
and I will conduct whatever you please ?
The Prince therefore chose th e overture to King L ear
, , ,

the banquet and love scene from R omeo a nd Juliet th e

-
,

overture to th e C arnaval R omain, and t he entire sym

phony of H a rol d As the Prince had no harp he ex
.
,

tended his invitation to Madame Pohl the Weimar ,

harpist and s h e and her husband took the j ourney very

,

w illingly .

The Prince was m uch changed since my trip to

H echingen in 1 8 4 2 being such a martyr to gout that
,

h e could not leave his b ed and w as n ot able even to ,

attend the concert T his was a real grief to b i rri and h e

.
,

did not attempt to conceal it .

” “
You are n ot a conductor he said y ou are t h e , ,

orchestra itself and it is V ery hard that I cannot profit by

,

”
your stay here .

VO L IL .
3 70 A M U S IC AL HO U S E

He h as had a fine concert room buil t in the castle -

,

excellent f or sound and there a select audience of sincere

,

and erudite lovers O f musical art assembles some ten or

twelve times a year T he concerts are gratuitous at
.
,

tended by p eople from t he neighb ourhood and even from ,

B urtzl au and D resden and a great man y distant places

, .

T he orchestra contains only forty fiv e musicians but I -

,

cannot describ e their intelligence attention and good , ,

training or the rare talent and patience with which they

,

are direct ed by the conductor Herr S eif rids Moreover , .

,

they are not compelled t o teach and are not wearied ,

either by ch urch or theatre duty but are en t irely at the ,

s ervice of the Prince I stayed in his house and the first

.
,

day of the rehearsal a s ervant cam e to tell m e that

”
th e orchestra was waiting I went along a gallery .
,

entered the concert room for the first time and there
-
,

found the forty fiv e performers in S ilence instrument in

-
,

hand 5 no tuning up no noise whatever— all were ready

, .

On the principal desk was th e score of King L ear I .

lift my arm I commence : all start together with ver ve

,

and precision ; the strong rhythmical eccentricities in th e

a ll egro are attacked without the slightest hesitation and ,

I say to myself as I conduct the overture — for th e

“
first time for ten or twelve years : Why it is over ,
”
whelming ! D id I really write that ? It was the sam e
with all the rest and at last I said to the mu s rcran s
, ,

“
T his is a good j oke gentlemen we are only rehearsing
, ,

”
for amusement I h ave no remarks to make
. .

T he kapell meister played the solo tenor in H a rol d

-

to perfection with a fine tone and a rhythmical ap lom b

,

that filled me with del ight R ichard Pohl played the .

cymbals I may truly s ay that I never heard a more

.

fascinating p erformance But oh ! the a dagio from

.
,
 B EAT R IC E E T B E N ED I C T .

to b ed embrace d me at parting sayi n g : Farewell my

, , ,

dear Berlio z You are going to y ou r frien d s at Paris 5 tell

.

the m they are m y f riends too ”

.

To return to th e op era of B ea tr ice I h ad taken th e b ook

’

from M uch A d o a bout N oth ing and added the songs and ,

the episode of th e musician T h e duet V ous s oup irez .

, ,

M ad a me ! the trio b et w een Hero Beatrice and U rsula , , ,

Jc va is d u n coeur a ima nt and Beatrice s grand song D ieu !

’ ’
, ,

gue v iens j c d enten d re ? ( which was sung at Baden by

’
-

Madame C h arto n with feeling verve immense fire and , , ,

rare beauty of style) produced a tremendous e ffect

, .

C ritics co m e expressly from P aris praised the music

, ,

warmly esp ecially the song and the duet S om e thought

,
.

that there was a great deal of rubbish in th e rest of the

score and that the spoken dialogue was stupid It is
,
.

?
copied almos t word for word from S hakespeare
T his work is di fficult of p erformance especially in the ,

m en s parts 5 but I thi n k it one of the m ost spirite d and

’

o riginal I ever wrote U nlike L es T roy ens its pro duction

.
,

entails no expense Ho w ever they will take good care

.
,

not to ask me to give it in Paris and t h ey will do well , ,

f or it is not Parisian music .

M B en azet with his usual generosity pai d me two

.
, ,

thousand francs for the wor d s o f each act and the sam e ,

f or the music 5 that is to s ay eight thousand francs in all , ,

and gave me an additional thousand f or directing the

p erformance the followi ng year The piano edition has .

been engraved and the ful l score is shortly to b e pub

,

1
[ T hisis o f a pi ec e w i th t h e s t ori es w hich M end elssohn us ed t o
t ell w ith so much gus to a p rop os t o his M ids u mmer N igh t s D rea m ’

music S om e o f t h e B erlin f ashion ab l e s dispu t ed w h eth er t h e pl ay

.

w er e by S h ak esp ear e or T i e ck 5 an d a v ery gr eat p erson ag e con d ol ed

w i th M end elssohn on h avin g t o w a s t e his music on so s tupid a
d r am a ]
 “
VO U S S O U P I RE Z , M AD A M E .
”
373

l is h ed, with B envenuto C el l ini, L a P r ise d e T roie, and

L es T r oy ens a C ar th age,
if I am rich enough C h oudens .
,

when he purchased L es T roy ens gave m e a written pro ,

mise to publish the full score within a year ; but this

promise was no better kept than all the others and fro m ,

that time forth I never heard a word more ab out it etc , .

T he duet in B eatr ice ct B enedict is O ften sung in

Germany and v ery p opular A p rop os thereto I re
1
,
.
,

member on my last visit to Weimar that the Grand

duke used sometimes to invite me to s up with h im in
private and ask m e numberless questions about my life
,

at Paris and various other details He was astonished .

and disg usted whe n I opened his eyes to the realities

of ou r musical world One eveni n g however I m ade
.
, ,

him laugh He asked me when and where I had wri t ten

.

Vous soup ir ez, M a d a me .

“
must surely have composed it by m oonligh t in
Y ou ,
”
some romantic S p ot ?
“ ” “
Mons eigneur said I it contains on e of thos e im
, ,

pressions of nature that artists hoard up and which ,

burst f orth after wards f rom the s oul when they are
wanted no matter where I sketched it on e day while
,
.

listening t o a speech f rom on e of my colleagues at th e

Institute .

“ ” “
By Jove ! e x claimed the Grand duke the orator -
,

must surely have been wonder fully eloquent .

The duet was also performed at one of the concer t s at

t he C onservatoire where it excited a mos t unexampled
,

enthusiasm It was encored with applause enough to

.

bring down the house and my f aithful f oes did no t ,

d at e to utter a si ngle hiss It must be said also that .

1
[I nE ngl and t oo i t h as b een given a mong o th er pl ac es
, , , , at t he
C ryst al P al ac e more t h an onc e an d is a d elight ful pi ec e ]
,
3 74 “
L E NFAN C E D U
’
C HRI S T .
”

the singin g of Mesda m es V iardot and V andenh euf el

D uprez was simpl y d elicious Th e orchestra played with .

m arvellous grace an d delic acy and it was a performance

’

that on e sometimes hears in one s dreams ’

.

The C oncert S ociety was kind enough this year to do

the second part of my sacred trilogy L E nf a nce d a C h ris t ,
’
.

It was admirably p erform ed and also produced a great ,

eff ect but the public for some reason or other d eparted
, , ,

from its usual habit of encoring L c R ep os d c l a S ainte

F a mil l e and my O pp onents condescended to insult
,

the room by a few hisses The C onservatoire is n ow .

under the direction of my frien d M Georges H ainl ; ,

.

it has ceased its hostilities and occasionally performs my ,

pieces I have made over to it all the music in my p os

.

session separate orch estral and choral parts engraved and

, ,

M S co n taining all that is necessary f or a grand per

.
,

f orm an ce of every on e of my works the operas alone ,

excepted This musical library will b e of great value b y

.

and b y 5 m eantime it could not p ossibly b e in better hands

-
,
.

I must not forget the Strasburg festival to which I ,

was invited a year and a half ago to direct the per ,

f or man ce O f L E nf a nce d a C h ris t A h uge hall had been

’
.

built to accommodate six thousand persons and five hun

dred performers One would have supposed that this .

oratorio being in a uniformly s oft and tender style would

, ,

have been almost inaudible in s o vast a room To my .

astonishment it aroused profound em otion and the unac ,

companied chorus at the end 0 m on dmc drew tears , ,

from many I am happy when I see my audience weep

.
?

[ T his is
exact opposite o f B eethov en s f eeling A t t h e '
1 th e .

e n d o f o n e o f his improvis at ions w h e n e v e ryon e w as dum b w i t h

w e epin g h e ros e an d s t orm e d

,
An art is t do e s no t w an t tears
.
,

s aid h e h e w an t s a ppl aus e 5 t h at is w h at s t imul ate s

,
3 76 A LL G O N E !

co ffin to light H e then bent down took up the hea d

.
, ,

which was already parted from the trunk — the bald un ,

cro wned decayed head of the p oor Op h el ia — and laid it in

,

a n ew co ffin awaitin g it at the e dge of the grave .

The municipal officer stood a few feet O ff looking at ,

the sad spectacle S eeing m e l eaning against the trunk O f

.

“
a cypress he called out : D on t stay there M Berlio z 5
,
’

, .

”
come here come here !
,
And as though something
grotesque were to be added to the horrible scene h e adde d , ,
“
with a mistak e in the word : Ah poor inh umanity ,

A f ew moments later we fo l lowed the hearse down t h e

hill to the n ew vault in the larger Montmartre cemetery .

There both the dead S leep tranquilly awaiting the time ,

when I mys el f shall b e brought to the same charnel hous e -

of corruption .

I am in my sixty firs t year ; I have neither hopes nor

-
,

illusions nor great thoughts left My s on is nearly

,
.

always absent ; I am s olitary My contempt for the folly

.

and m eanness of men my hatred O f their detestable

,

“
ferocity are at t heir height and I s ay hourly
, ,
When :

death wills
Why does it delay ?
 THE L A S T C H AP T E R O F A L L .

Visi t t o D aup h in y —S econd Pilgrim age t o M e yl an —A D ay at

L yon s — I s ee M a d am e F again —C onvulsions o f h e ar t .

S E L D O M have I b een m ore d readfully depressed than I

was in th e early part of S eptember 1 8 6 4 Most of my
, .

frien ds had left Paris according to custom S t ephen

, .

Heller alone remai n ed — at once a charming humorist

and a learned musician who has wri tt en s o many ad
,

mirable piano f orte works and whose m elancholy spirit

,

and z eal for the true divinities of ar t hav e always h ad

a p owerful attraction for m e .

Fortunately my s on arrived from M exico and was able

,
.

to spare m e a few days He also was in low spirits and

.
,

we three often compared notes on our m elancholy One .

day we dined at Asni e res Towards evening as w e

.
,

walke d along the banks Of t he S eine and talked of

Shakespeare and Beethoven I remember we got into a
,

state of immens e excitement in which my s on only

,

shared as far as Shakespeare was concerned being then ,

unacquain te d with Beethoven We all agreed finally

.
,

however tha t it was good to b e alive to worship the

, ,

beautiful and that if we could not destroy its opp osite

, , ,

we must rest satisfied with despising and forgetting it .

T he s un was se t ting After walking f or s om e time

.
,
3 78 V I E NN E .

we s at d own on t h e grassy bank of the river O pposite the ,

island of Neuilly We amused ourselves by watching the

.

s wallows skimming along the water when I suddenly ,

recognised the spo t I looked at my son. I thought ’

O f his mother T hirty six y ears b ef ore in on e o f m y

.
-
,

fits o f 1
despair while wandering ab out Paris I had thrown ,

myself down in the snow on this very sp ot and all but ,

fallen asleep T hen I recollected Hamlet s cold sp eech

.
’
,

when told that the funeral was that of Ophelia no ,

“ “
longer beloved : What ! the f a ir Op h el ia ? O ne
”
winter s day ages ago I said to my two companions
’
, , ,

I was very nearly drowned j ust here in trying to cross ,

the S eine on the ice I had been wan dering aiml es s l y

.

about the fields all day .

L ouis sighed .

The following week he had to return his leave b eing ,

up A sudden and intense d esire sei zed me to revisit

.

V ienne Grenoble and especially Meylan and my nieces

, , ,

and . someone else if I could find out her address

,
.

I had written the day b efore and I started accordingly ,

.

My brother in law and his two daughters met m e at

- -

the V ienne station and soon brought m e to E s tress in

, ,

a place some d istance O ff in the country where they ,

spend three or four months every summer It was a .

great delight t o these charming girls on e O f whom was ,

n ineteen and the other t wenty on e 5 but the ir pleasure -

w as somewhat troubled when I went into the drawin g

room of th e house at V ienne and there caught sight of
the picture of their mother my sister Ad e le who had , ,

been dead four years It upset me terribly and my .

,

emotion was witnessed with painful surprise both by

them and their f ather To th em the room the furniture
.
, , ,

1
[S ee vol i p
. . .
3 80 THE PA S T ,

Once at Meylan I did not lose my way this tim e in

,

climbing up the mountain and soon found the f ountain , ,

th e avenue of trees and the house E verythi ng w as ,

.

as p er f ect to me as if I had been there only the d ay

before It is but S ixteen years ago I pass b efore the
. .

avenue and press on to the tower without a glance

, ,

b ehind m e L uxuriant v egetation covered the neigh

.

b ourin g hills the vines were spreading out their ripe

,

branches On reachin g the foot of th e tower I turned as

.
,

b efore and took in the whole of the lovely valley at a

,

glance Hitherto I had contented myself with murmuring

.
,

“ ”
in a l ow voice E stelle ! E stelle ! E stelle ! but now over
, ,

whelmed by emotion I fell to the ground an d there lay

, ,

for a long tim e listening with a mortal sadness to th e

,

echoes in my brain which at each pulsation s eemed to

s ay : The past ! the past ! T ime ! N ever ! never !
never !

I arose I snatched a stone f rom the tower wall which

,

must have seen h er which perhaps s h e had touched ; I

,

tore o ff a branch from the oak On my way down I

. .

recognised in the corner of a field the rock so anxiously ,

sought for in 1 8 4 8 on which s h e had once stood Y es

, .
,

there it was
I ascend it 5 my f eet stand where hers once stood n o
—
doubt of t I fill the space once occupied by her lovely
i
f orm I h ear away a tiny fragment from my granite altar
. .

But the sweet peas ! this cannot be their season for

flowering or else they have been destroye d f or my search
, ,

f or them is vain But there is the cherry tree 5 h ow it

.

has grown ! I take a piece of the bark ; I embrace the

trunk and press it convulsively to my heart
,
Beautiful
tree ! thou must surely remember her 5 thou canst under
stand me .
 AN D THE P RE S E N T . 381

Having descended the hill wi thout m eeting a soul on

t he way I su ddenly made up my mind at the avenue
,

gate to go in and s ee the house and garden The present .

owners will hardly think m e a burglar And if they do .

I enter the garden An ol d lady makes a sudden m ove

.

ment O f alarm at my unexpected app earance round on e of

the alleys .

“
E xcuse m e madame ,
I murmured almost inaudibly
, ,

and kindly allo w m e to V isit your garden 5

”
recalls m emories .

P ray come in and walk about where you please

, .

”
Oh I only want to go once round
,
.

A f ew p aces farther on I came upon a young girl

mounted on a ladder gathering pears I bowed as I ,
.

passed I crossed a wilderness of shrubs that almost

.

stopped m y way such is the state of dilapi dation to

,

which the l ittle garden is reduced I cut a branch of .

syringa which I hid in m y breast and cam e away A S I

, , .

passed before th e O pen door I stopped for a moment on ,

the threshold to look in The young lady followed m e 5.

s h e had come down f rom h er pear tree and h ad doubt ,

less heard from her mother of my absurd visit She .

accosted m e with courtesy and said ,

“ ”
Pray come in .

T hanks mademoiselle 5 I accept your kind O ff er

, .

And there I was at l ast in the little room looki n g o ut

on the plain below from which s h e had pointed out
,

to me then a boy O f twelve the beauties of the romantic

, ,

valley E verything was j ust as it had been 5 the drawin g

.

room close by had the ol d furniture I gnawed my .

p ocket handkerchief in my agitation T he you n g lady

-
.

looked at m e in some alarm .

“
D o n ot b e astonished m adem oiselle ; it is forty ni n e
,
-
382 L YO N S .

years since I s aw these thi ngs And I made m y .

escape s obbi n g What could th e ladies h ave thought o f

.

this strange scene the significance of which they will

,

never understand ?
He h as said this before says the reader T oo tru e ,
. .

The same memories and regrets the same yearning ,

towards the past the same pitiable eagerness to retain

,

th e ever— fl y in g present the same useless struggles with

,

time the same madness in attempting to realise the

,

impossible the same imp erative craving f or boundless

,

a ff ection How should I n ot repeat myself ? The s ea

.

repeats hersel f 5 all h er waves are alike .

That sam e evening I w as at L yons I passed a .

strange sleepless n ight m u sin g over my intended visit to

,

Madame F I determined to go to h er house at twelve

o clock Whilst awaiti ng the hour which seemed as if
’
.
,

it would never arrive and thinking it very possible that

,

S h e might not at first wish to receive me I wrote t he ,

f ollowing letter for her to read be f ore hearing the name

of her visitor

I have been again at Meylan T his s econd .

pilgrimage to the spot haunted by th e dreams of my

childhood was even more painful than that which I
made sixteen years ago when I ventured to write to you
, .

Now I venture still further and ask you to receive m e , .

Y ou will have nothi n g to fear from the emotions of a

heart revolted by the restraint of a pitiless reality I .

shall know h ow to control myself S pare m e a f ew .

moments I implore you to let me s ee you once again

. .

H E CT O R B E R L I oz .

S eptemb er 23r d , 1 86 4 .
 A S A D C O NV ER S AT IO N .

By M e ry I think I b ought it some years ago

,
. .

Oh do n ot attribute to M e ry wh o is on e of my
, ,

friends and a cl ever artist and a clever m an such a pack

, ,

o f absurdities .There shall b e a true biography of me ;

”
I will write it myself .

“
Ah no doubt ! You write s o well
,
.

It was not to my style that I was alludin g madame , ,

but to the correctness and sincerity of my story As f or .

my feelings towards yourself I have S poken of them ,

”
without reserve ; but I have not mentioned your name .

Silence.

I have also continued Madam e F

,
heard much
about y ou from on e of your frien ds wh o married a niece
of my h usba n
”
ds ’
.

“
Indeed I asked him to find out th e fate of the letter
which I m ade bold to write to you sixteen years ago I .

wanted at least to k n o w if you had received it But I .

never s aw him again He is now dead and I could learn

.
,

”
nothing.

Silence.

“
Madame F As f or my life it has b een very ,

si m ple and very s ad I have lost several of my children

. .

The ot h ers I have educate d My husband died when .

they were quite little I have done my duty as a

.

mother as best I could .

S ilence
.

I was much touched M Berlio z by the feelings ,

.
,
”
y o u avowed for me and most g,
rateful .

At these k ind words my heart began to beat V iolently

, .

I g azed at her with hu n gry eyes beh olding anew in m y ,

imagination her vanished youth and beauty 5 and at last

I said
Give me your hand madame , .
 ADELI NA PAT T I . 38 5

S he gav e i t t o m e immediately I carried i t t o my lips .

,

and I thought I could feel my hear t melting and every ,

nerve thrill in g .

“ “
May I hope said 1 a f ter a lo ng sil ence that y ou
, , ,

will s ometimes allo w me to wri t e to y ou and occasionally ,

”
to V isit you ?
C ertainly 5 but I shall n ot b e much longer a t L yons .

One of my sons is going t o b e married and I am to liv e ,

”
with him at Geneva .

Not darin g to prolong my V isit f urt her I arose S h e ,

.

accompanied me to the door where s h e said onc e m ore : ,

“
Farewell M Berlio z fare well I am deeply gra t e ful
, .
,
.

f or the f eelings you have preserved towards me .

And bowing to her I again took her hand laid it for a

, ,

f ew moments a g ains t my forehea d and then tore mysel f ,

f orci bly away .

I was wandering abou t t he neighbourh ood of her

house n ow knocking up against the trees of the B rott eaux
, ,

now s t opping to watch the storm y course o f the R hone

from the Morand bridge then resuming my fevered walk , ,

not knowing why I went to one side rather than the other ,

when I met M S trak os ch brother in law to Adelina P atti

.
,
- -
.

Berlio z h ow fortunate Adelina will b e delighted to

s ee y ou . S h e is giving per f ormances here Would you .

”
like a box f or the B ar ber of S evill e to morrow night ? -

“
Thanks but I shall probably b e leaving this evenin g
, .

Well at any rate come and dine with us to night 5

, ,
-

”
you know how pleased we always are to s ee you .

’
I can t promise it will dep end ,
I am not very .

”
Where are y ou s t epping ?
”
At the Grand Hotel .

S o am I Well if I am not t oo unsociable this even

.
,

ing I will d ine with you but don t expect me

, ,
’
.

VOL . II .
3 86 T HE S E CO N D I N T ERV I E W .

I had got an idea a pretext f or seeing Madam e F

,

once m ore I hastened to her house and l earnt th at s h e

.
,

h ad just gone out T hen I charged her maid to tell her

.

that I had a box f or the theatre on the f ollowing evenin g ,

that if Madam e F would kin d ly accep t it an d

’

come and hear Mdlle Patti I would stay at L yons and .

, ,

h ave the h onour Of accompanying her to this performance ,

but tha t otherwis e I should leave this very eveni n g 5 that

I there f ore b egged Sh e would let me have an answer
before s ix O clock I went home T wenty minutes passed
’
. .
,

in which I vainly tried to read a b ook of travel I had

b ought at Grenoble Not a word of it could I u nder .

stand I walked about my room I thre w myself on my

. .

bed I O pened th e window I went down and going out

. .
,

soon found myself b efore the door of her h ouse N o 6 6 ,

.
,

Avenue de N oail l es I h ad gone there mechanically I

. .

could restrain myself no lo nger and again I rang the b ell ,

.

The door was n ot opened A gloomy idea immediately .

b egan to torment me 5 had s h e suspected my intentions of

returning an d denied herself to m e ? It was an absurd
,

notion but it tortured m e not withstandi ng An h our

, .

afterwards I came back and this time I sen t the porter s ,

’

little boy to ring Madame F s bell

’
.

He was not let in either .

What was to b e done ? Stay there on guard before the

house ? It would have been ridiculous H ow unlucky ! .

Wh ere was I to go — home — into th e R hone ?

Perhaps s h e is really out and does not want to avoid m e ,
.

An hour later I again mounted her staircase I heard

, .

’
her door closing above and the so und of women s voices ,

in German I continued to ascend ; I met an unkno w n

.

lady coming down then a second and finally a t h ird It

, ,
.

was S he holding a letter in her h and

,
.
388 A LL THE D I FF E RE N C E .

t he f ascinating d iva rushed up to me after her usual

fashion and presented her v irgin forehead to be kissed
, .

I s at down to table with her her f ather her brother in , ,

-

l aw and some friends

,
D uring dinner s h e over whelmed
.

me with charming civilities continually rep eating : There s ,

’

s omethin g the matter with him What are you thin king .

’
about ? I don t like y ou to b e in trouble When the .

ho ur for my departure arrived they determined to go ,

down with m e to the station ; the charming creature her

s el f on e O f her lady friends and her brother in l aw came
, ,
- -
,

with me in th e carriage We were all allowed on to the .

plat f orm Adel ina would not leave me till the las t
.

m oment when the signal was given f or the train to start

, .

When we had to part the mad girl ju mped up and put ,

her arms round my neck .

Good bye good bye till next week We shall b e

-
,
-
.

returning to Paris on T ues day 5 you will come and s ee

’ ” ’
u s on Thursday It s settled isn t it ? Y ou won t fail ?
.
,
’

And s o I departed .

What would I not have given to receive such marks of

aff ection from Madame F and to have been greeted
by Mdl le P atti with cold p oliteness
.

D uring all these gushing speeches from the melodious

Hebe I felt as if a marvell ous bird of paradise were
,

wh irlin g round my head perching on my shoulder , ,

p ecking at my hair and singing its gayest songs I was

, .

dazzled but not touched The fact was I had no l ove

,
.

for the youn g beautiful radiant and celebrated artist

, , ,

who at the age of twenty two had brought all the

,
-
,

musical world o f E urope and America to her feet ;

whereas my whole soul went out to the aged saddened , ,

and O bscure woman to whom art was unknown as it had

, ,

ever done , ever will do to my dyin g day .

 AG I T AT IO N S . 3 89

Bal zac nay Shakespeare himsel f the grea t pain t er of

, , ,

the passions never dream t of such a thing as this Only

,
.

on e poet T homas Moore believed that it was possible

, , ,

and described tha t rar e feeling in these exquisi t e lines ,

which recur to my mind as I wri t e

B eli ev e m e i f al l t hos e end earin g young ch arms

, ,

W hich I ga ze on so f ondly t o d ay -
,

W er e t o ch an g e by t o morro w an d fl e e t in my arms
-
,

L ik e f airy gi ft s f ading aw ay
-
,

T hou w oulds t s t ill b e ador e d as this mom en t t hou art

, ,

L et thy love lin ess f a d e as i t w ill 5

And around t h e d ear ruin each w ish O f my h ear t
W ould e n tw in e it s el f v erd ant ly s till .

I t is no t w hil e b eau t y an d youth are thin e own ,

And thy ch eeks u n p rof an d by a tear '

T h at t h e f e rvour an d f ai t h O f a soul c an b e kno wn ,

T o w hich tim e w ill bu t m ak e th ee mor e d ear ;

N O t h e h ear t th at h as t ruly l O V d n e ve r f org et s
,
’
,

But as t ruly lov e s on t o t h e clos e ,

As t h e sun fl o we r t urns on h er god w h en h e s et s , ,

T h e s am e look w hich s h e t urn d w h e n h e ros e

’

How many times during that s ad night in the t rain

“
I repeated to mysel f : Fool ! why did you go away ?
Better to h ave stayed If y ou had stayed you would
.
,

have seen her again to morro w morning What necessi t y

-
.

”
was there to go back to Paris ? None of course except , ,

the fear of being troublesome What should I h ave

.

d one at L yons during those long hours when though only ,

a f ew steps away I could not s ee h er ? It would have

,

been torture .

After some days of misery in Paris I wrote her a ,

letter It will b e s ee n by it and those which f ollow

.
, ,

n o less than by her answers wha t a wretched state my

,

mind was in and h ow calm s h e was My feelings no w

, .
,

th at I hav e not even the consolation Of writing to her ,

3 90 MY LE TT ER .

may be easily imagined It would have been to o sweet

.

an endin g t o my lif e to have cultivated this f utile lov e

in to a ro mantic friendship But I was to b e crushed and
.

lacera t ed to t he very end .

F RSI T LE TT ER .

P aris ,
S e p temb er 27 t h 1 8 6 4
,
.

M A D A ME
,

“
Your greetin g was characterised by a simple and
dignified kindliness of which few women wo ul d have been
capable un der such circumstances A thousand blessin gs .

on y o u ! Nevertheless I have su ff ered cruelly since I

,

left you In vain do I tell mys elf that nothi ng could

.

have been kinder than your reception that any other ,

would have been either unsuitable or inhuman ; my

wretched heart bleeds as though it had been wounded I .

ask myself the reason and this is what I find : It is

,

a bs ence ; it is that I s aw too little of y ou that I did not ,

s ay a quarter of what I had to s a and that I went away

y ,

a l most as though there were to be an eternal separation

between s And yet you gave m e your hand I pressed
u .
—

it to my forehead and my l ips and I restrained my tears

, ,

as I had resolved t o do But I feel an imp erious in

.
,

exorable necessity for further sp eech with you which I ,

hop e you wil l n ot refuse me R emember that I have.

loved you for forty— ni ne years that I have loved you from
,

childhood notwithstandin g the storms that have devas

,

t at ed my life The proof of this is the deep emotion I

.

n ow feel ; if it had really ceased to exist even for a day , ,

it could never have revived under existing circumstances .

Has any woman ever l istened to such a declamation a s

this ? D on t take m e for a fool who is the sport of his
’

imagination I am not a fool ; I am gifted with a keen

.
3 92 THE A N S W ER .

f ew and far between but I shall know that in tho ught w e

,

are no longer apart and that after the many years in

,

which I have been nothi ng to y ou I have at last th e h ope ,

of bec o mi n g your f riend And a devoted f riend such as

.

I shall be is rare I s h all surround you with tenderness

.

profoun d and sweet and with an entire affection in which

,

t h e in nocent effusion of the child will m i ngle with th e

feel ings of the man P erhap s y ou will find some charm

.

‘
in it perhaps y ou will one day say I am your f rien d
, , ,
’

and admit that I am d eservin g of your friendship .

Farewell madame 5 I have j ust re read your note of

,
-

the 23rd and at the end I perce ive the assurance of

,

your aff ectionate sentiments T his is not a commonplace .

f ormality is it — is it ?
,

Yours eternally ,

H E C T O R B E R L roz .

— I am sending you three b ooks ; p erhaps you wi l l

P S . .

n ot mind looking at them in y o ur spare moment s You .

u nderstand it is a pretext o f the author s t o lead ou to

’

y 0
”
think a little of him .

I T
F RS A NS W ER FR OM MA D A ME F

L yons S e ptem b er 29t h

, , 1 86 4 .

M O N S I E UR ,

“
I should f eel guilty towards b oth myself and
y ou if I did not at once reply to your last letter and to ,

your dream of the relation which you wish to establ ish

between us I am going to speak — my hand on m y
.

heart .

I am but an old a very O ld wo m an s ix years ol d er

, ,

than you ; my heart is withered by days of anguish ,

physical and mental distress of all sorts which h ave l eft ,

 I S F R I E N D S HI P P O S S I B LE ? 3 93

me wi thout illusions as t o the j oys and sentimen t s of this

world Twenty years have p assed since I lost my b est
.

friend I have sought no other ; only kept up such as

.

arose from O ld relationships and natural family ties since ,

the fatal day on which I was left a widow I have said .

good bye to all pleasures and amusements in order to

-
,

devote myself entirely to my childre n and my home .

T his has been my life for t he pas t twenty years 5 it has

become a habit wi t h me th e charm of which cannot n ow
,

be broken f or in such close intima cy alon e can I find

,

p eace f or the f ew d ays remain ing to me on this earth ,

and everything that troubled their u niformity would be

painful and burdensome .

“
In your letter of the 27 th you tell me that y our ,

only wish is to become my friend through an interchange

of le tters D O y ou seriously think that this is possib l e ?
.

I scarcely know y ou I s aw y ou f or a f ew m inutes las t

.

Friday the first time f or f orty nine years

,
I cannot -
.
,

there f ore rightly estimate either your tastes your temper

, , ,

or your qualities which alone can form a foundation of

,

f riendship When two individuals have the same way

.

of feeling and seeing things there is a possibility of ,

sympathy between them ; but wh en they are separated ,

correspondence alone cannot establish what y ou look for

f rom me For my part I believe it to be impossible
.
, .

Besides I must confess that I am extremely lazy about

,

wri ting 5 my m ind is as inert as my fi n gers I have the .

great est difficulty in fulfilling even my most necessary

duties in this respect I could not therefore promise to
.
, ,

keep up a sustained corresp ondence with y ou I should .

break my promise too O ften I forewarn y ou If y ou . .

like to write to me s ometimes I shall receiv e your letters

, ,

but do not look f or exact or sp eedy answers .

3 94 DRE AM S AN D I LLU SIO N S .

Y oualso wish m e sometimes to as k you to come and

s ee me .That is no more possible than to s ay Y ou will ,

find m e alone On Friday I chanced to be alone when I

.
’

received you 5 but when I shall b e l iving with my s on

and his w ife at Geneva if I am by m yself when you come
, ,

well and good 5 but if they are with m e at the time y ou ,

w ill have to put up with their presence for I sho ul d be ,

extremely displeased if it were otherwise .

I have told y ou my thoughts and feelings with perfect

frankness I think I o ught to remind you that there are
.

certain dreams and illusions which S hould b e abandoned when

w e come to white hairs and with them to the disenchant
,

ment of all fresh feelings even thos e of friendship which

, ,

can have no char m unless t h ey are the result of relations

established in the happy days of youth T o my m ind it .
,

is not a moment for beginn ing them when the weigh t of

years is beginning to be felt and when their number has ,

taught us h ow easy it is to b e deceived I confess that I .

have arrived at that p oint The future is daily advancin g

. .

Why form relations to be born to day and perish t o -

morrow ? Why give occasion to fresh regrets ?

“
In all that I have j ust said do not think I have any ,

intention of ofien dmg aga inst your remembrance O f me .

I respect its p ersistency and am much touched by it

, .

You are still very young in heart but with me it is other ,

wise . I am altogether O ld I am good for nothi ng .

,

except to keep b elieve me a larg e place in my memory

, ,

for y ou I shal l always hear of your future triumph s

.

with pleasure Farewell monsieur Again I S ign myself

.
, .

aff ectionately yours ,

E ST F .

I received the three volumes y o u s o kindly sent m e

!
y esterday morning Ma n y thanks.for them .
3 96 AN O T H ER LE TT ER .

your address As soon as you know it send it to me f or ,

pity s sake I f your silence be meant as pitiless refusal

’
.
,

a f ormal prohibition of the very slightest intercourse with

you if you thus roughly thrust m e aside as tho ugh I were
,

da ngerous or unworthy you will put the finishin g touch

,

to a sorrow which y ou might so easily have alleviate d .

Then madame may God and your own conscience forgive

, ,

you I shall remain in the cold darkness into which you

w ill have plunged m e su ff erin g desolate and devoted to
, , ,

you till death .

H E C T O R B E R L I oz .

( W h at contradictions and disorder there are in this

letter ! )

MAD A M E F— ’
S S E C O N D AN S W E R .

L yons O c t ober 1 4th

, ,
1 86 4 .

M O N S IE UR ,

“
As I do not know when I shall b e able to write
to you I hasten to send y ou a f ew lines S O that you may
, ,

not think I have any intention of treating y ou as either

d angerous or unwor th y My s on is coming to m e to .

morrow to b e married on the 1 9th and my house will be

, ,

f ull for some days As his mother and as mistress of the

.

house I shall have a great many thi n gs to do and shall

, ,

not therefore find it possible to get a m oment s peace or ’

leis ure Immediately after the m arriage I must m ake

.

preparations for my j ourney to Genev a which will not be ,

by any means a light undertaking for me as my health ,

does not always allow m e to do what I should like I .

shall leave about the beginning of November and when I ,

am settled in my new hom e you shall h ave my address ,

w hich I cannot give y ou to day because I do not kno w -

,
 H OW L I TT LE C O N T E N T S A L O VER ! 3 97

it mys el f I would have waited for my son s arrival to

.
’

ascertain it did I not fear that you might misinterpret my

,

long silence — Aff ectionately y ours

.
,

E ST . F

T HI R D L E TT E R .

P aris O ct ob er 1 5t h
, , 1 86 4 .

MA D A M E ,

I thank you I thank you I will wai t My b est

,
. .

w ishes f or th e happiness of the newly married pair .

D ear madame may th e sweetest happiness fill y our heart

,

at this solemn moment H ow good you are .

“
D o not doubt m e I S hall b e discr eet in my ado
.

ratio n — E ver your dev oted ,

H E C T O R B E R L I oz .

A f ter twelve weary days I received a letter an nouncing ,

the marriage of M C harles F Th e address was in

.

his mother s handwri ting which filled me with a delight

’
,

that few will understand I was in the seventh heaven .

,

and wrote immediately .

F O UR T H L E TT E R .

P aris O c t ob er 28t h
, ,
1 86 4 .

L ife is b eautiful when illuminated by certai n

feelings I have received th e letter o f announcement ad
.
,

dressed by you dear m adame — I recognise the hand

, .

You thought of the poor exile What angel shall .

reward you f or the good you have done m e

“
Yes life is beautiful but death would be more
, ,

beautiful still To be at your feet m y head in your lap , ,

your hands in mine and thus to die ,

“
HE CT O R BE R L IO Z .
3 98 E S T ELLE ’
S SON .

Bu t the d ay s succeeded each other and I received no ,

tidings I f ound out at L yons that Madame F

. had
left for Geneva three weeks b efore D id she mean to .

conceal the address which s h e had expressly promised to

send m e ? which I did not want t o know against her
will ? Was I to have the grief of s eeing her break
her word ? D urin g those last anxious days I came to ,

believe as I said above that I should no lo n ger have

, ,

even t h e comfort o f writin g to her and I felt utterly ,

d i s couraged .

But on e morning while sadly m using over my fire they ,

“
brought me a card on which I read these words
,
M et .

Mdme C harles F
. It was her son and daughter
in law whom she had charged to pay m e a visit during
-
,

their stay in Paris What a d elightful surprise ! S h e

.

had sent them ! I was quite overwhelmed at finding

him t h e living image of Mdlle E stelle at eighteen . .

The young wife appeared alarmed at my emotion ;

her husband seemed less surprised T hey evidently kne w .

all Mada m e F had sho wn the m my letters .

”
Was s h e then so very beautiful ? exclaimed th e
young lady suddenly .

”
Oh !
Yes interrupted her husband
,
I remember once .

s eeing my m other d ressed f or a ball when I was five years ,

ol d . It quite da zzled m e and I recollect it to this d ay

,
”
.

At last I succeeded in m asteri n g myself and sp eaking ,

more l ike a reasonable b eing to my two kind visitors .

Madame C harle s was a D utch C reole from Java S h e .

had lived at Sumatra and Borneo kne w the Malays and , ,

had seen R aj ah Brooke of S arawak H ow I should .

‘

have catechise d her if I had been in my usual fram e

of mind .
40 0 M O RE LE T T ER S .

when I could bear it no longer on the , 1 7 th sh e came

back and brought me the following letter

G en e v a D e c emb er l 6 t h
, ,
1 86 4 .

M O N S I E UR ,
“
I should have written much s ooner to thank y ou ,

for the warm welcome you gave to my s on and h is wi f e ,

if I had n ot been constantly unwell and for that reason ,

very i d le However I cannot let my d au ghter in law

.
,
- -

leave without expressi n g my gratitude for the pleasur e

y ou procured for the m which m ade their eveni
, n gs s o

agreeable Su zanne has promised to tell y ou all ab out our

.

life at Geneva w here I f or my part should be quite as

, , ,

happy as I was at L yons were it not for my regret at ,

b eing s eparated from two of m y sons and from real ,

friends wh o were fond of me and whom in my turn I ,

loved dearly Thank you once more for th e libretto O f

.

the T roj ans and for your delicate attention in sendin g

,

m e leaves from the Meylan trees which recall my y outh ,

and all its pleasures .

On S unday my s on and I will read your work and ,

’
take part in your success and in Su zanne s pleasure at ,

hearing your music .

“
Believe m e ever yours a ff ectionately , ,

“
E ST . F
T his was my answer
P aris ,
M ond ay , D ec emb er 1 9t h , 1 86 4 .

L ast Sep t ember as I passed through Grenoble I

, ,

paid a visit to on e of my cousins wh o was living at St , .

Georges a hamlet buried among the glo omy m ountains

,

on the left bank of the D rac inhabited by a most miser ,

able population My cousin s sister in l aw devotes herself

.
’
- -
 “
I KN O W THE TRUTH .
”
40 1

to th e alleviatio n of all this misery 5 s h e is the gracious

Providence of the country On th e day I arrived at .

St G eorges sh e heard that a distan t hovel had been

.

destitute of bread for three weeks She went off ther e .

i mmediately and said t o the mother

,

‘
H ow n o w Jeanne y o u are in want and y ou never
, , ,

told me 5 and y et y o u kno w h ow willin g we are to help

’
y ou as much as p ossible .

Oh mademoiselle we are no t in want 5 we have still

, ,

some pota t oes and cabbages left B ut t h e child ren wil l .

no t ea t them T hey cry f or bread Y ou kno w h ow

. .

’
unreasonable childre n are .

“
well madame ! dear madame y ou also did a g ood
, ,

deed in writing to m e I had determined to b e silent .

,

and not weary you with my let t ers and s o I waited f or ,

your daughter in law s return f or tidings of you She

- -
’
.

d ela y ed h er coming and I felt stifled like a man who

, ,

keeps his head under water and will n ot d ra w it out .

People like me are unreas ona bl e y ou kno w , .

And yet believe me I kno w the t ruth only too well

, , ,

and did not need the lesson which y ou hav e driven

home with such cruel force N o I do not wish t o .
,

give you the smallest annoyance ; I will write as s eldom

as p ossible Y ou can answer or not as y ou please I
.
, .

will go and s ee you onc e a year as though merely to pay ,

a pleasant visit You kno w what I f eel and y ou will b e

.
,

grateful to me for what I conceal .

I fancy y ou are s ad and that makes me doubly , .

But fro m this day forth I shall restric t mysel f t o a

certain mode of speaking and to indifferent subjects , .

“
Y ou have p erhaps heard that t h e per f ormance of m y
music did n ot take place yesterday at the C onservatoi re .

T h e committee tormented me in s o many different ways ,

VOL . II . 2 D
402 HO M E N E W S .

a sking now f or t he suppression of one piece and t hen of ,

another that I was f airly exasperated ; the singers were

,

d eprived of their chances O f success and were furious ,

too 5 and I there f ore withdre w the whole thing .

“
T hank y ou for having s o kindly tra nsp orted yoursel f
in thought to the concert room at half past t wo and f or- -
,

y our good wishes for my success .

“
At the very time when I was thus h arassed in P aris ,

they were keeping my birthday (D ecember 1 l th ) at

V ienna where a part O f the D a mnation of F a us t was
,

p erformed and two hours later the conductor sent m e the

,
‘
following telegram : A thousand good wishes f or y our
’ ’
birthday S oldiers and students chorus p erformed at the
.

M ann ergesang V erein concert Immense applause E n

-
. .

cored .
’
The cordiality of these German artists touched
m e f ar more than my success 5 an d I am sure that y ou
understand it Kin dness is a cardinal V irtue
. .

T wo days afterwards a Parisian stranger wrote m e a

,

most b eautiful l etter about the T r oy ens which he charac ,

t eris ed in terms that I dare not repeat My s on has j ust .

ar rived at St N azaire after a tedious voyage to Mexico

.
, ,

where he had an opportunity Of distinguishing himself .

He is now first lieutenant of the L ouis iana firs t rate He -

.

tells me that he must leav e again almost d irectly and ,

cannot possibly come to Paris I must therefore go t o .

him at St N azaire He is a fine fellow wh o has the mis

. .
,

fortune to take after m e in everything and can never ,

m ake up his] mind t o the platitudes and horrors of the

w orld. NV e love each other like twin s .

This is all my news at present My O ld mo ther in law .

- -
,

whom I have promised n ever to forsake takes the greatest ,

care of me and never troubles m e with questions as to

,

the cause of my bad spirits I rea d or rather re read .

,
-
40 4 THE E ND .

P S . .
—I t was v ery generous
t o make th e of y ou

youn g couple come an d s ee m e I w as struck by th e .

likeness of M C harles to Mdl le E stelle an d I f orgo t

. .
,
’

mysel f so f ar as to tell him s o although such compli ,

m ent s t o a man are not quite prop er .

S ome tim e a f ter receiving this letter s h e wrote me on e ,

“
in which thes e words occurred : Believe m e I hav e ,

some pity f or unreasonable children I have always .

fo und that the best way to mak e them calm and reason
able was to amuse an d give them pictures I take the .

li berty of sending you on e which will recall t o you t h e

”
reality of the present and destroy the illusions of the past
,
.

It was her portrait ! Adorable creature

And here I en d I can l ive more peacefully now I

. .

s h all sometimes write t o her ; s h e will answer me I .

shall go and s ee her I know where s h e is and I shall

.
,

never be left in ignorance of the changes that may occur

in her life 5 her s on has promised to keep m e informed Of
them By degrees in spite of her dread of new friend
.
,

s h ips s h e may p erhaps find her aff ectionate feeling s

,

to w ards m e growing stronger Already I am sensibl e

.

o f a cha n ge for the b etter in my li f e Th e past is n ot .

wholly past My sky I s not without its star and with

.
,

moistened eyes I watch it beaming on m e f rom afar .

True sh e does not love me 5 why indeed should s h e ?

, , ,

But sh e might have remained in total ignorance of me

and now sh e knows that I adore her .

I must try to console myself for not h aving known h er

sooner as I console myself for not having known V irgil
, ,

whom I should have loved s o well or Gluck or Beethove n ,

 A P R O B LE M . 40 5

or Shakespeare who perhaps migh t hav e loved me

,
.

(Nevertheless I am really inconsolable )

, .

Which o f th e two powers L ov e or Music can elevate

, ,

man to the sublimest h eigh t s ? It is a great problem ,

“
and ye t it seems t o m e that t h is is the answer L ove :

can give no idea of music ; music can give an idea of

”
love . Why s epara t e them ? They are t h e two
wings of the soul .

When I s ee t h e way in w h ich cert ain p eople look on

love and wha t they seek in ar tistic creat io n I am
, ,

involuntarily reminded of hogs rootin g and grun ti ng ,

for tru ffles amon g s t th e loveliest fl owers or under the ,

grandest trees .

But I must try to think n o m ore of art Stella .

Stella I can n ow die wi thou t an g er or bi tt ern ess .

J anua ry l s t , 1 8 65 .

FI NIS .
 L i fe s but a w alking sh ado w 5 a poor play e r
'

T h at s trut s an d f r et s his hour upon t h e s tag e ,

And th en is h eard no mor e i t is a t al e

T old by an idio t f ull o f sound and f ury
, ,

S igni fying no t hing .

S H A KE S PE A R E (M acbeth ) .

M . B e rlio z di ed f our y ea rs afte r t h e d ate

, on t h e p r e c e ding
p a g e on M a rch 9 1 8 6 9
, , .
 APPE NDI X .

C A T A L O G UE O F T HE W ORK S O F M . B ERL IO Z ,

M U S IC A L AN D L I T ER AR Y .

I . M U S I C A L W O R KS .

Op . 1 . O uv e r t ur e de “
W a v e rl e y .

Op 2 . . I rl an d e 9 m el o d ies p our un e et d e u x voi x sur d es

t r a duc t ion s d e T hom a s M oor e .

Op 3 O uv e r t ur e d e s Fr a nc s Jug e s
. . .

Op 4 O uv e r t ur e d a R oi Lea r
. . .
”

O p 5 Gr an d e M e ss e d es M ort s ( Re q ui e m )
. . .

O p 6 L e 5 M a i C h a n t s ur l a m or t d e l e m p e r e ur N a p o l é on
.
“
. .
” ’
,

p our voi x d e b a s s e a v e c ch oeurs e t orch e s t r e .

Op 7 L e s nui t s d et e S ix m elodi e s p our un e voi x a v e c

.
“
.
’
.
”

orch e s t r e ou p i ano .

Op 8 R é v e rie e t c a p ric e
.
“
. R om a n c e p our l e V iol on a v e c
.

orch e s t r e o n p i ano .

Op 9 L e C arn av a l R om ain O uv e r t ur e c ar ac t eris tiqu e

. .
,
.

O p 1 0 Gr and T r a i té d in s tr u m en tat ion e t d or c h es t rat ion

. .
’ ’

mod e r n e s Av e c s uppl em en t L e c h ef d orch es tr e

.
,
’
.
”

Op 1 1 S a r a l a B ai gn e us e
.
“
. B all a d e a t rois ch oe ur s a v e c
.

orc h e s t r e .

Op 1 2 L a C apt iv e
.
“
. R é v er ie p ou r m ezz o s o p r an o a v e c
.

orch e s t r e .

O p 13
.
“
Fl e urs d e s L and e s
. C in q m é lodi e s p o u r u n e voi x
.

av e c p i a no .

VO L . II .
410 APP E N D I X .

Op “
Ep is od e la d un a r t is te Sy m p honi c f an
’
. 14 . dc V ie .

t a s t iq u e cin q p a r t i e s
en .

Op 1 4 b is
.
“
Le lio o u L e r et our a l a V ie
.
,
M onodr a m e .

l y ri q ue 2 p a r t i e d c l ép is od c
,
e ’
.

Op 1 5 Grand e s y mphonic f un ebr e c t t riom p h al e p our gr a nd e

. .

h armoni c mi l itair e a ve c un orch e s t r e d in s t um e n t s a c ord e s et

,
’
r

u n ch oe ur a d libi t um .

Op 1 6 H a rold e n I t al ic
.
“
. S y m p h o n ic e n 4 p ar t i e s a v e c n u .
,

a l to p rinci p a l .

Op 1 7 . R om éo c t Juli ette
.
“
S y m p h oni c dr a m at i q u e a v e c .

choeurs solos d c ch a n t e t prologu e e n r é ci tat i f chor a l

, , .

O p 1 8 T ris t i a
.
“
. 3 C hoe u rs a v e c orch e s t r e
.
”
(
“
M ed i t a t ion .

r eligi e us e B allad e sur l a M or t d O p h élie M a rch e

,
’
,

Op 1 9 . F e uil l et s d A l b um
.
“
3 morc e au x d c ch a n t a v e c
’
.

p i ano .

O p 20 V ox p o p uli
.
“
. De u x gr ands choe urs a v e c orch e s t r e
. .

( La m e n ac e d e s Fr a nc s Hy mn e a l a Fr a nc e ) , .

Op 2 1 O uv e r t ur e d u C ors a ir e
. . .
”

Op 22 T e De um a t r ois choe urs a v e c orch e s t r e c t orgu e

. .
“
,
”

c onc e r tan t s .

Op 2 3 B e nv e nu t o C ellini
.
“
. O p é r a e n t rois a c te s P a rol e s . .

d e Lé on d e W a ill y e t A ugus t B a r b i e r ( Pa r t i tion d c p i ano . .

P a ris C h ou d en s )
, .

O p 24 . La Da mn at ion d e F a us t
. Lé g e nd e dr a m at i q u e e n .

qu at r e p a r ti e s .

Op 25 L E nf an c e d a C hris t
.
“
.
’
T rilogi e S a cr ée 1 Le . . .

L a f ui te e n E g yp te “
L arriv ee a
’ “ ” ”
s ong c d H ér o d e
’
2 . . 3 . .

S ais .
”

O p 2 6 L I m p érial e c a n t ate a d e ux ch oeurs c t orch e s t r e

. .
’
, .

Le T emple
uni v e rs e l C hoe ur a q u at r e voi x e t p i a no . .

Pri er e d a M at in C hoe ur a d e u x voi x e t p i ano

.
”
.

L a b e ll e I s ab eau C o nte p e n d a n t l or a g e a v e c choe u r ’

.
, .

L e C h a ss e ur d a nois Pour voi x d e b a ss e a v e c p i a no . .

L I n v it a t ion a l a v als e d c W e b e r O rch e s t r at ion

’ ”
. .

M a rch e M a roc ain e d c L d c M ey e r O rch e s tr at io n . . .

R eci tativ e s p our l e Fre is ch irt ”

z .
”