Volume I Part 7 (1/2)

Yet another thing, another string to your bow Should you think it inconvenient to publish a book of vocal compositions,--lieder or ballads, ? For a work of this class signed with your name I can easily find a publisher and insist upon a decent honorariu in a path which Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Rossini have not disdained I quite understand what you say of ret you did not hear my ”Tasso” overture, which, I flatter ood opinion which you kindly express ofto ask you a favour if the idea h the volume of Lord Byron which has scarcely ever quitted ain upon theit once ood account by preserving the difference of character between the toe as a purely instrumental piece for the denoue out of this an oratorio of ed to you

Read over the Mystery, and tell me whether you like my plan In the course of the summer my ”Sardanapalus” (in Italian) will be cohted to undertake another work at once

If you reply before the end of Nove, for I shall not return to Wey of Decener, and in all circumstances rely upon my devoted friendshi+p and admiration

F LISZT

BOCKEBURG, October 28th, 1849

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MY DEAR FRIEND LISZT,

God knows, the more I look into my future, the more I feel what I possess in you Such as I am and such as you are, I coree of friendshi+p and kindness you must have towards me to show me the most active sympathy of all my friends, in spite of reeable to you You resemble in this the true poet ith perfect i to its essence As regards your anxiety about me, I can assure you that if you had sent me some assistance in answer to my last request, I should not have beenwith you your sorrow at having to confess that for the ti I helpedto my friends here If I had not a wife, and a ho has already gone with h such hard times, I should be much less anxious about the future; but for her sake I frequently sink into deep dejection But that dejection does not help me on; and, thanks to e Having lately expressed my whole view of art in a work entitled ”The Art-work of the Future,” I aot so far as to care about nothing but doing art-work I should have liked best to cofried,” but this wish I could realize only in exceptionally favourable circumstances, namely if I could look forward to a year free from material care This is not the case, and the care for ether to think more seriously of my appointed tasks than has hitherto been possible a i ti an opera for Paris was a certain artistic dislike of the French language which is peculiar toat home in all Europe, while I came into the world in a specifically Teutonic manner But this dislike I have conquered in favour of an i

The next question was the poem and a subject, and here I must confess that it would be absolutely impossible for me simply to write music to another man's poems, not because I consider this beneath me, but because I know, and know by experience, that less What operatic subjects I had in my head would not have done for Paris, and this was the cause of my hesitation in the whole affair which you had initiated so well Since then I have clearly discovered what task I have in reality to perform in Paris, so as to remain true to myself and yet keep Paris always in my mind's eye As to this, dear friend, we shall perhaps understand each other perfectly, and you will agree with me when I determine not to become a Frenchman (in which I should never succeed, and which the French do not want from a German), but to remain as I am and in my own character to speak to the French comprehensibly Well, in this sense the subject for a poem has quite recently occurred to me, which I shall ihly original and suitable to all conditions More I will tell you as soon as I have finished the scenario Belloni has asked me for the scores of my overtures to ”Tannhauser” and ”Rienzi,” the first for a concert at the Conservatoire; I believe it is to be perforo to Pariswith Gustave Vaez, and to co-operate with hi rin” to lie by and decay Latterly I have accusto it to the world at first in a foreign language, and I now take up your own forlish, so as to make its production in London possible I am not afraid that this opera would not be understood by the English, and for a slight alteration I should be quite prepared

As yet, however, I do not know a single person in London With the publisher Beal I made acquaintance par distance when he printed the overture to ”Rienzi,” but apart froe, dear friend, to write to London and to introduce , and could you also let o to London, in order to settle the matter if possible

You perceive that I aested by you Do not be angry withit in hand so late At first it was your plan exclusively, and I had to make it mine; my aardness in this you must kindly attribute to my extraordinary position and mental trouble

But now it is important, dear Liszt, to provide me with means for this definite object That you alone cannot supportas I do your position, it is altogether with a heavy heart that I ask you for further sacrifices I have therefore applied to a friend at Dresden (hiet me some money from my other friends, so as to help reatest difficulties His news so far does not lead reat success from his efforts, and in any case it will not ah to promise me some assistance frory if I assure you that I shall be compelled to count upon your kind fulfillment of this proe in any further illusions Of a concert in Zurich I have thought myself The local concert society have asked me to study with their orchestra, which is feeble, a symphony by Beethoven and one of e a benefit concert lor s, which I had to demand as a point of honour, has delayed theof January before the subscription concert takes place which is to be, so to speak, the captatio benevolentioe for my benefit concert It is therefore not unlikely that I shall not be able to wait for the favourable moment, as I expect to be su of next year Any assistance froht ofto set aside part of the receipts of an intended concert at Haood man; and every day, alas! I feel more sure that I have no friend like you In any case my niece shall interest herself in the concert; that sly undertake

All I want is to providemy absence with the money necessary for her subsistence, which will not amount to much, also to enable me to pay for et me a small, cheap room, and I promise to be as careful as possible in every way I trust you and the above-mentioned friends will be able to provide me with the necessary means Let us hope that success will reward your beautiful and rare sympathy

Farewell, dear and valued friend! Reenstein, and be assured at all tinition of your rare and beautiful nature

Always your deeply obliged friend,

RICHARD WAGNER

ZURICH, December 5th, 1849 The subject from Byron I shall certainly consider As yet I do not know it, nor have had time to make myself acquainted with it, for which you lad to be of any service to you, and a me the way to do it Let me only finish my opera sketch for Paris first

My address is ”A, in den hinteren Escherhausern,” No

182

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DEAR FRIEND,

I have just returned to Weymar, and hasten to send you a bill on Rothschild for five hundred francs According to what you tell me, I hope it will be of service to you in Paris, where, I am convinced, you will find the best field for your activity and your genius

I quite agree with your decision ”to rehly faithful to yourself and yet always to have Paris before your eyes in the conception and execution of your designs” I anticipate soon the ht in not wishi+ng to become a Frenchman; apart from the fact that you would scarcely succeed, your task is a different and even a contrary one, viz, to Germanize the French in your sense of the word, or rather to inspire theeneral, more comprehensive, hted to learn what operatic subject you have selected, and my earnest desire is that you will use all your ti the representation In actual circumstances it is almost impossible for you to think of a speedy return to Gerreeable things, envy, and enmity Paris and perhaps London are absolutely necessary for your present and future career Whatever the annoyances and sufferingsthe period of transition in which you are unhappily placed, take courage and have full confidence in the star of your genius The day after your first performance in Paris you will be ”as one new-born and content like a Greek God”