Letter from W. H. Auden to H. W. Henze, August 16, 1964

[Typescript]

W. H. Auden

Kirchstetten
Hinterholz 6
N.-Ö. ‡, Austria

August I6th [1964]
1954 ‡ probably (Bassarids, premiered ’66 in Salzburg)* Dearest Hans:

Many thanks for the annotated copy of Bassy.*

First,a general observation.

C and I are vain enough to believe that our text is worth reading
an-und-für-sich. That is to say,whatevercuts[sic] ‡ are made in the setting –
and,of course,we have always known that there would have to be many – we
want our text to be printed as is. It ‡ should be quite easy to devise a
way of indicating ‡ which bits have not been set. One of our reasons for
wanting this is a p ‡rofessional one which you will,I know,appreciate.
The libretto is strictly metered th r ‡oughout – there is no free verse.
In listenex ‡ing to your opera,no on xxxxx ‡ the ear cannot,of course,detect this,but,
when,as you have every right to do,you omit words or parts of lines in your
setting,if these are also omi t ‡ted from the printed text,the reader’s ear
will be vexed.* Similarly,for the reader,certain mythological and genealogical
information is a help, to undxxx ‡ undersax ‡tanding the work,even though,from a
musical point of view,it can and should be dispensed with.*

Now,as to details.

p ‡ 5,eight lines from bottom. for Great Dionysus read Greet Dion y ‡sus.*

p ‡ 7. instead of cutting stanza 3( xx ‡ 4(Sun-baked Persia submitted) cut
stanza 3(The Nile paid homage)*

p ‡ 8. middle. Revise thus.

Capax ‡tain I had not been told to go there,Madam.‡

Agave Your brave dog,I trust, is well.

Captain He’s well,Madam. Please. The King etc*

p ‡ I5 from line 4. Revise thus.

Cadmus No,King Pentheus,no. I fear most for my king.
But,King,have you no awe? No fear?

Pentheus Cadmus’ gods may punish: the gods do not.
Chance rules us when we now them not. I fear
Man that sly chaos of need. The true gods
Have my awe. Your shrine was to a lie.

Cadmus Great T e ‡ebes pro s ‡pered when I was King.

Pent heu ‡s How great Thebes was! We shall root out that greatness etc*

p ‡ I6. Pentheus’ aria. revise thus.
Faithful Beroe/! To you al o ‡ne Can I open my heart. The best In[sic] ‡ Thebes O ‡f the True Good (over)

(2

Truth and righteousness Glimmer through The ancient rites: But they shall not worship The Ungood *

p ‡ 25 seexxx ‡ Stranger’s Aria. Seeex ‡ comments on text (sent under separate cover).*
The only possible cut is stanza 2(Blue[sic] ‡ into white)* and cutting will
require some alterations in the next stanza)

p. ‡ 27. from line 5. Revise thus.

Pentheus (nodding) You/‡are right(to Captain)No. Wait. Go.Go lock the gate
Yes. Go. And then you must return.
Close by. We must think first. We are King.*

p. ‡ 3I from line 8 ‡. Revise thus

Captain ...and shepherdesses.

All Ayayalya

Tiresias Whom Bacchus blesses.

Autonoe Or so wie hope.
But She...*

p. ‡ 34. Middle. NO! The wranglesx ‡ between Proserpine and Venus gives us a little
accx ‡tion without which the scene will become too static.*

p ‡ 36 Trio . If by off you don’t mean off-stage,but cut,NO. Surely,from a
purely musical point of view,let alone a dramatic,a troxxx ‡ trio
by the principal characters is essential here.*

p ‡ 40. after line 8 a line is missing. the passage should go thus.

Dionysus Herself. Look. Blood will tell. Take this. Hold it above you.
Now dance,your right foot firstxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ‡
Now dance,your right foot and right hand at the same time,
Your head up. Now a cry etc.*

P ‡[sic] ‡ 40. Bottom. The last three lines (Who will know Pentheus etc.) must ‡ stay.*

p ‡ 47. five lines from bottom. Agave’s couplet
Behold the head of the young wi l ‡d lion,
The cub I hunted and have brought home! Must stay *

p. ‡ 52. Agave’ aria.[sic] ‡ No!No!No! She must have a proper three stanza aria as
bellini[sic] ‡ -like as you can make it.*

p. ‡ 53. exchange between Dionysus and Cadmus. If you keep Cadmus’ outcry
"All/find peace beyond Acheron. Not I" *,and I agr e ‡e that you
should,then you must keep the preceding lines by Dionysus.
Otherwise,there is no explanation for what he says.

As you will see when you get back the text,all your other cuxx ‡ suggested cuts
are O.K. by us with certain queries raised in the margin.

love
Wystan

Letter from W. H. Auden to H. W. Henze, August 16, 1964

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Capax ‡tain	I had not been told to go there,Madam.‡
Agave	Your brave dog,I trust, is well.
Captain	He’s well,Madam. Please. The King etc*

Cadmus	No,King Pentheus,no. I fear most for my king. But,King,have you no awe? No fear?
Pentheus	Cadmus’ gods may punish: the gods do not. Chance rules us when we now them not. I fear Man that sly chaos of need. The true gods Have my awe. Your shrine was to a lie.
Cadmus	Great T e ‡ebes pro s ‡pered when I was King.
Pent heu ‡s	How great Thebes was! We shall root out that greatness etc*

Captain	...and shepherdesses.
All	Ayayalya
Tiresias	Whom Bacchus blesses.
Autonoe	Or so wie hope. But She...*