Auden, Wystan Hugh: Brief an Henze, Hans Werner. Kirchstetten (Westbahn), Montag, 31. August 1964
author: Auden, Wystan Hugh
language: en
availability: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Copyright by the Estate of W. H. Auden. By courtesy of the Estate of W. H. Auden. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

August 3Ist. 1964 [The date has been derived from the content of the letter, particularly the poem Auden includes here, which he wrote in 1964.]
Dearest Hans:

Many thanks for your letter. I t ru st that the copy of the libretto with your notations and ours arrived back safely.

Was delighted to read in the British Pr re ss of your triumph with Ariosi which we are dying to hear.[^1]

[^1: Auden is most likely referring here to an article by A. K. Holland published on 25 August 1964 in the Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition) with the title Velvet Tones of Richter. The article states: Colin Davis introduced one of the commisioned Festival works last night. It was Hans Werner Henze's Ariosi, five love poems by Tasso set for soprano (Irmgard Seegried) violin obbligato (Wolfgang Schneiderhan) and a fragmented orchestra. It is a sad, retrospective, nocturnal work, not very difficult to listen to as such works go, but abominably taxing, one would think, to sing and Miss Seefried accomplished artiste as she is, appeared to be tormented as much by the notes as by the poetic sentiments. Both she and the violinist did wonders with material that seems resistant to charm and graciousness. See A. K. Holland, Velvet Tones of Richter , p. 3.]

Desmond S–T has some dotty ideas about the Limey [North American slang for a British person, here used to indicate British pronunciation.]pronunciation of Greek Proper Names which should be disregarded. I am going to ask Professor Do d ds for an authoritative ruling.[^2]

[^2: The philologist and friend of the librettists, Erich Robertson Dodds, also played a significant role in choosing the title of the opera The Bassarids, see the Introduction to the Correspondence between Hans Werner Henze, Wystan Hugh Auden and Chester Kallman.]

On thinking it over, I don't believe it will even be necessary in the printed libretto to indicate the bits unset. Nobody reads a libretto by flashlight during the performance,and,if they follow in the score,the unset bits will not be there to puzzle them.[^3] All it needs is a short note by us, explaining what we have done and why.[^4]

[^3: The issue of publishing the complete libretto of The Bassarids, even the parts not set to music by Henze, had already been discussed by the librettists in a previous letter, in response to the fact that Henze wanted to cut part of the libretto because the opera would otherwise become too long.]

[^4: Auden may be alluding here to the notes in the program of the opera's premiere, a copy of which is preserved at the Paul Sacher Foundation. The texts about the opera written by the librettists and printed in the booklet for the premiere are Stammbaum, Der mythologische Hintergrund, Religiöse Einstellung der Personen and Zusammenfassung der Handlung (without page numbers). See also the first (unnumbered) pages of the study score of The Bassarids, on which the same texts are printed in German and in English.]

I offer you an extra Arioso for performance in private circles[^5].

[^5: The fact that Henze could have used this poem in private circles would seem to suggest that Auden did not intend this poem for the public, and in fact this poem was not published until after his death.]

At Grey Of Dawn At grey of dawn He takes a street–car,happy After a night of love.

Happy. But sleepily wondering How many away is the night

When an ecto-endomorph Cock-sucker must put on The widow’s cap. [The title of this poem, written by Auden in 1964, was later changed from At Grey Of Down to Aubade. It was first printed, posthumously, in Collected Poems (1976).]

much love
Wystan.