Henze-Digital, Briefedition
author: Henze, Hans Werner
language: en
availability: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Hans Werner Henze-Stiftung (Dr. Michael Kerstan). (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

July 19th, '82
My dear Miguel,

your stay in Marino was so wonderful that still now it seems you've left only yesterday. I received your letter, and your admirable lecture on documentary novel, [Barnet is likely to have sent Henze a script of a lecture on his last novela testimonio, Gallego, first published in 1981.] thank you very much, also for the clippings from Granma and Juventud Rebelde . [See Barnet's previous letter, in which he announces that he sent some newspaper clippings.] While you were in Amsterdam still, I tried to reach you there by phone, but it didn't work. [Barnet had visited Amsterdam during his European trip in spring 1982. See his description of the city in Barnet's previous letter.]

I loved the little sculpture by Osvaldo Castilla, too, it is very charming and yet strong, it speaks to you in a very clear and direct way. [About Barnet's present, see his previous letter.]

While you were in Holland still, I had the world premiére of my Miracle de la Rose in London which had a big effect on the audience[^1] and then did a tour, through Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, with the London Sinfonietta.[^2] I did not conduct, I went home and worked on the English Cat[^3] instead and succeeded in sketching quite a lot. Then, end of June and the first week of July, I conducted a series of 7 concerts with the London Symphony Orchester ,[^4] lots of acclaim and big audiences and very good press. Now I'm quite exhausted, and I cannot work, so I sleep most of the time. In August I shall work in the North of Scotland, on a little island belonging to the Hebrides, it should be nice and cool there, which I 2 need, and a friend and collaborator, Jens Brockmeyer, a Hegelian philosopher, will come with me. [Henze spent his holidays at Harrison Birtwistle's house on the Inner Hebridean island of Raasay. See Henze's Autobiography, p. 397.] 4 weeks of concentrated work, it should be quite wonderful. I am rather much pressed with time, a hateful feeling, and depressed with loneliness. And the years go by, and nothing happens, well, that isn't true, things are changing all the time. I hope I can give Rogelio his well-deserved holiday soon, it would be a good thing, I'm sure. Sometimes we are terrified there might be a big world war, that is happening in the Lebanon (not far from here) is an open provocation and a marvelous one, a true holocaust has been made, and more is to come, it seems unbelievable, and no reason seems to be able to prevail.[^5]

[^1: Le Miracle de la Rose was premiered by the London Sinfonietta with the clarinetist Anthony Pay on 26 May 1982 in London. Henze was the conductor, even if in his Autobiography, p. 396, he wrote that the conductor was Pay.]

[^2: The dates of the performances in the three countries Henze mentioned could not be traced. See Henze's letter to Paul Sacher of 21 January 1982 in which the composer talks about a possible performance of Le Miracle de la Rose in Zurich.]

[^3: Henze had started working on the opera The English Cat set to Edward Bond's libretto as early as March 1980. See Henze's Autobiography, pp. 383–384. The opera was premiered on 2 June 1983 during the Schwetzingen Festival.]

[^4: Henze recounts these concerts at the Barbican Centre in London with the London Symphony Orchestra in his Autobiography, p. 397. Details of the pieces played in the concerts can be found in the Concert Annals of the London Symphony Orchestra for 1982.]

[^5: Here, Henze refers to the 1982 Lebanon War between the Palestine Liberation Organization operating in southern Lebanon and the Israeli military, which began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon.]

Were the puppies born when you were here? In case you didn't know, Tania had six, and Cosima seven, and they are very sweet (like all puppies) and Fausto is delighted. He took off his moustache, so I'm delighted, too. Yoichi is working, all day long, for his exhibition next year in March. [It is not known which Ohira exhibition Henze is alluding to here.] It is unusually warm here, and I'm tired and rather bored or unhappy and not inspired.

My body is bored, my brain as well, it is all a bit too much, I suppose. I hope you are very well – and are you thinking of the opera we should write together, and are you collecting material, and reading black fairy tales?[^6]

[^6: As is also evident later in this letter, during their meeting in May 1982 they had imagined developing a musical project on fairy tales, of African Yombe origin. Both Henze and Barnet had recently worked with fairy tales, Henze composing Pollicino in 1980, Barnet publishing Akeké y la jutía: fábulas cubanas in 1978. This project, however, did not come to fruition. See also Barnet's letter of 15 December 1984.]

I make you a list of my whereabouts when you come to your DAAD stay.[^7] I would love you see We come to the River in Stuttgart on October 1st, can't you arrange things in a way that you will be there? It is my most important 3 stage work, and my own production. [See Henze's schedule attached to this letter and Henze's Autobiography, pp. 369-370.] in Oct. and Nov. I shall mainly be in Marino, as you can see, and that's when I must finish the opera, [At the end of 1982, Henze was to work on the composition of The English Cat, which he finished on 31 January 1983. See Autobiography, p. 400.] so make sure you'll have a visa for Italy so that you can come to visit me, and discuss the fairy tale project. If that proves difficult, I shall come to see you in Berlin, of course. Wonderful idea to see you again soon. [The correspondence located to date cannot confirm that Barnet and Henze met again at the end of 1982.] Please give my love to all my friends in Cuba, who knows maybe I will be able to come to see them all soon?!

[^7: In his previous letter, Barnet told Henze that he would return to Germany with the DAAD scholarship from June or July to September 1982. From the dates Henze writes in the schedule attached to this letter, however, it can be deduced that Barnet's European stay had been later shifted to September/December 1982, perhaps also because of his hernia operation. However, a later letter from Barnet informs that his trip to Europe in the second half of 1982 would not take place.]

A big hug, and greetings from everyone here – yours,
hans