Auden, Wystan Hugh: Brief an Henze, Hans Werner. New York, Samstag, 11. November 1967
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/)

77 St Mark’s Place
New York City
New York 10003

Nov 11th 1967 ,[^1]
Dearest Hans:

[^1: From a reference to the death of Emma Eiermann, Auden and Kallmans' housekeeper in Kirchstetten, on 4 November 1967, it can be concluded that the letter was written in 1967. Moreover, the date is confirmed by the fact that Auden notes some corrections for the study score of the children's opera Moralities for which he wrote the libretto based on Aesop's fables between 1966 and 1967.]

Delighted to rece ive from Schott’s scores of Moralities. I have detected a few misprints which don’t matter now, but should be corrected in Cincinnati .[^2]

[^2: Here, Auden is referring to the place the premiere of the children's opera Moralities was scheduled to take place on 18 May 1968. It could not be ascertained whether these corrections were actually considered for the Cincinnati premiere. However, it is certain that the misprints were not corrected by Schott, even in the most recent study score published in 2000.]

- 1) for tobasco read tabasco. (page 29)[^3]
- 2) for what a gurgling storm and great waves (33) read to with a gurling gale and great waves[^4]
- 3) for send her to Charlie Calver (47) read send her to Charlie Colver[^5]

[^3: The word tobasco can be found in the following verses of the Speaker in Moralities, Part II, Section 8: But crows are no more horses / than chutney is tobasco: / Their efforts at aggiornamento / ended in fiasco. In the study score of Moralities published by Schott in 2000, p. 80, the name of the sauce is still printed incorrectly as tobasco.]

[^4: This sentence can be found in the following verses of the Captain in Moralities, Part III, Section 1: Wild will be tonight / with a gurgling storm and great waves. In the study score, p. 88, the word storm has not been replaced with the word gale.]

[^5: This sentence is located in Moralities, Part III, Section 6, where the Boys sing: Kiss her once, kiss her twice, / bring her orchids on a salver: / split in her eye if she starts to cry / and send her to Charlie Calver. As in the previous two cases, the suggestions provided by Auden for the Cincinnati premiere are not taken into account in the study score, pp. 125-126, published after the performance.]

I trust you got our Dionysus prelude alright, as we didn't hear from you.[^6]

[^6: Dionysus is the main character in the opera The Bassarids, which at the time of this letter had already been completed and premiered in Salzburg on 6 August 1966. It is not clear which prelude Auden is referring to. Probably a text for a new version of Dionysus' entrance in this opera.]

All well here but a catastrophe in Kirchstetten. On Nov 4th , Frau Eiermann died of a heart attack.[^7]

[^7: Emma Eiermann was Auden and Kallman's housekeeper in Kirchstetten. After her death she was celebrated in a memorial poem by Auden entitled Elegy in Memoriam Emma Eimermann. See the poem in The Complete Works of W. H. Auden: Poems, Volume II: 1940–1973 by W. H. Auden, p. 576.]

The immediate consequence is, I imagine, that all the cats must destroyed. Also then, how am I to get anyone else.

Hope your health is better. much love
Wystan.