Auden, Wystan Hugh: Brief an Henze, Hans Werner. Kirchstetten (Westbahn), Sonntag, 10. Oktober 1965
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/)

Oct 10th 1965[^1]

[^1: The date is ascertained by the fact that, at the beginning of the letter, Auden mentions the exchange of telegrams concerning the completion of the full score of The Bassarids . The telegram from the two librettists dated 29 September 1965, replying to Henze, is preserved. The date is also confirmed by the fact that Auden is talking about his lectures in Oxford, which took place in October 1965. Moreover, Auden asks Henze about the date of the premiere of The Bassarids in Salzburg, that was to be held on 6 August 1966.]

Dearest Hans:

You can imagine what a red-letter day [The idiom red-letter day indicates an important day, because something of special significance happened.] it was for us when your telegram arrived.[^2] (I hope you got ours ). Have you any idea when Salzburg will decide on the exact date?[^3] I ask because of the difficulty of getting accommodation in the Festspiel season, unless booked well in advance. We are thinking of staying at a pension on the Mondsee rather than in Salzburg itself. [The two librettists booked a hotel on Lake Mondsee, an hour away from Salzburg. See Auden's letter on 10 October 1965.]

[^2: The telegram Auden refers to here has yet to be located. However, it can be assumed that the news Henze announces concerned the completion of the full score of The Bassarids, gives as 28 September 1965 in his Autobiography, p. 208.]

[^3: In his letter of 6 October 1965, Henze had already told Auden that The Bassarids was scheduled for 6 August 1966, but Auden (who was in Kirchstetten) had yet to receive this letter from Berlin, as it had only been five days.]

I should have written you before to tell you what nice things I heard from friends about the Juilliard Elegy. [Elegy for Young Lovers was performed in its US premiere on 29 April 1965, conducted by Henze himself at The Juilliard Opera Theate in New York.] The only trouble, I gathered was that Mittenhofer was too young to have authority, but that was inevitable.

Unexpectedly, Faber's have called for a new definitive Collected Shorter Poems [The Collected Shorter Poems by W.H. Auden would be published by Faber and Faber in London, in 1966.], so I have been mostly busy the last six weeks or so, revising Chester's work and gnashing my teeth at my incompetence and carelessness. I feel as if I am only now just beginning to get a grip on my craft.

I leave here on the 21st for ten days in England. [Auden would actually leave on 21 October 1965 for London, see also his letter of 20 October 1965.] during which your mother had to teach in Oxford. subject: Die menschliche Wörte und das Wort Gottes .[^4] Then on the 31st back to New York.

[^4: Auden gave a talk during the Evensong service at Christ Church, Oxford, on 24 October 1965, entitled Words & the Word, picking up the title of his course in Oxford. See Words and the Word, in The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, vol. 5, Prose: 1963-1968 , pp. 404-407.]

Chester plans to spend the winter in Wien.

much love from us both and do drop us a line when you have time.
Wystan.