Kallman, Chester: Brief an Henze, Hans Werner. New York, Mittwoch, 8. Februar 1961
author: Kallman, Chester
language: en
availability: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Copyright by the Estate of Chester Kallman. By courtesy of the Estate of Chester Kallman. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

77 St Marks Place

Feb 8th 1961
Loveboat,

Forgive our vulgar and prolonged silence. Wystan is ass-deep in translating Goethe [Here, Kallman is referring to Auden's translation (together with Elizabeth Mayer) of Goethe's Italienische Reise, published under the title Italian journey: 1786-1788 in 1962 in London.] and I' ve been suffering with a combination of inertia, sinus, and having just turned forty. [Kallman had turned forty on 7 January 1961.] And then, really, we've not got very much to say outside of composing like never before. Well, yes, there are two or three points now to be made, so I'll get to them.

Revelly is the only possible pronounciation [Auden added the English word reveille in this side note on the right as Revelly, with a spelling that better suggests the pronunciation, rather than in the correct spelling, derived from French.] One: reveille: Our English dictionary says: re-VEL-ly. Our American dictionary says: rev-elly (Like Embassy, like I told you) So you can take your i choice. Maybe you'd best have alternate accentuations for England and America. I don't know. But that suggestion of reveille as in Frog-talk is ridiculous. and the prosody here demands it into the longend [Auden adds the following two sentences by hand in blue pen in the free space (Revelly is the only possible pronounciation ) and below (and the prosody here demands it into the longend).][^1]

[^1: The word reveille appears in Act I, Scene II (The Order of the Day), when Carolina reads the list of instructions for the day that she has taken from the poet Mittenhofern. The second task is Check spelling of reveille.]

Two: You're right, we're wrong; it is Havisham, not Venables.[^2]

[^2: In the introduction to the libretto ( Genesis of a Libretto , p. 61), the two poets quote a female character from Dickens' novel Great Expectations as the inspiration for the character of Hilda Mack. Henze apparently must have pointed out that the name of the Dickens character quoted in their text was wrong.]

Three: This is important. It's about the possibility of restoring a cut in the second scene of the last act. [The final libretto Act III, Scene II is entitled Farewells and features Hilda, Carolina, Mittenhofer and the Doctor. Toni and Elizabeth are already on the Hammerhorn where the snowstorm is raging.] Since we don't have an uncut version on hand, I can't say definitely what I mean. but I think I can indicate so's you'll understand. What I mean is the whole d e tailed dialogue between Tony and Elizabeth about their imaginary future married life, the children, the infidelity etc.[^3] I find that people reading the libretto in its present shortened form get an impression of chilly abstract personality-lessness from the final scene. So that just the most important dramatic aspect of the scene, the lovers coming into their own personalities before their deaths, is missing; and what should be moving is, in its present form, merely theologically exalted. Am I clear? They need, I am certain, not only the specific looseness of this dialogue to establish themselves before their duo-peroration, but they also need the time to establish themselves in the public's eye as two people alone together and distinct before their death can be made fully effective. I also am convinced that the semi-reci tati ve the scene would seem to call for, is a necessary aural relaxation between the intensities of Caroline's madness plus snow storm and the double Liebestod.(Feel free, by this way, to shuttle back and forth in the voices in this, even though its marked as insieme in the text.) please co n sider this seriously. The last act is quite short as it is. For one thing, a little more length might convince Gl y ndebourne that they can put the intermission where God and Auden-Kall m an intended it--after the Second Act-[^4] For another thing, I've been listening to Homburg , and my main and most serious criticism of it is: too much intensity too closely placed.* * That is to say: Too german !The result is slightly wearing on the ear and mind, and one relaxes ones el f in self-defence by not paying attention or by thinking of other th i ngs. A work of art should have its own relaxations built into it; and in this case the relaxation is both dramatically important and emotionally touching. In other words, be less ernst to be more effective.

[^3: The detailed dialogue between the two young lovers about their married life, the children they had (Bruno, Olga, Detlef and Willi), Elizabeth's jealousy of Toni because of a girl from Munich takes place in Act 3, Scene VII (Husband and wife), before they die.]

[^4: As Henze mentioned in his letter on 7 July 1960, for the Glyndebourne premiere Rennert had suggested placing a short two-minute interval after the first act and the long interval about halfway through the second act after Elizabeth's reflection My own, the little planet flies.]

That's all. Please answer quickly and tell us the date of the Schwetzingen premiere, the cast, and when rehearsals start. [The premiere took place in Schwetzingen at the Schlosstheater, on 20 May 1961.] This last espescially so's we can plan when to come to Eu r ope. And it would be nice if we could possibly see a photo of the decor sketch. [Helmut Jürgens was in charge of the stage design.]

Love
Chester