Letter from M. Barnet to H. W. Henze, June 4, 1971
¿Cómo empezar una carta para ti? ¿Qué decirte que quepa en
estas simples hojas para que tú pueda s‡
‡ entender cuáles son mis sentí-
mientos hacia la vida, hacia los amigos, hacia los camaradas como tú?
Realmente esta carta
h‡
h‡e intentado comenzarla varias veces sin e‡
exito[sic]‡ al-
guno. Aunque te parezca ridículo, hasta Debussy ha tenido que ver en todo.*
He puesto los preludios, me he sentado a la máquina y he comenzado, luego
ha resultado un tono cursi, melodramático, en fin… la he roto mil veces.
Hasta hoy. Ya no puedo esperar más. Te escribo como quiera que salga, con
toda libertad, con toda soltura, diciendo lo que verdaderamente pienso con
relación a nuestras problemáticas, que no son tan difere‡ntes, porque ambos
estamos por lo mis‡mo, no solo en el terreno político sino en el del arte.
Además este impulso realmente se debe en parte a que en estos días escribí
tres poemas
* que mis amigos más íntimos consideran mucho porque son muy
básicos dentro de mi obra, ya que no solo reflejan estados de animo[sic]‡
si no[sic]‡
también conceptos. Derriban pequeños muros de piedra dentro de los cuales displaced
hemos vivid‡o por años y que ya resul‡tan inoperantes, como esos viejos
castillos-fortalezas que se usan hoy para bibliotecas o muse‡os. Así son
muchos de nuestros muros represivos, muros que nos hemos forjado nosotros
mismos y que solo nosotros debemos derribar. En fin, que cuando han pa‡sa-
do casi tres meses y uno no ha escrito nada*, ni siquiera ha podido concen-
trarse en la lectura y luego un día salen como del sombrero de un mago tres
poemas, hay algo que le dice a uno desde muy adentre que nada puede derro-
tarlo,que el hombre es más fuerte y resistente de lo que muchos se imaginan.
Por eso te escribo, Hans, porque en realidad me siento bastante mejor, creo
que con la ayuda de mis amigos, de mi intensa reflexión y de mi trabajo he
salido de una crisis de silencio y amargura que nunca antes había experimen-
tado de manera tan violenta. Leer revive. Escuchar música remueva[sic]‡ el espí-
ritu. Y esa música maravillosa de Mozart que tú me has enviado es lo que
más te agradezco. Especialmente No. 29. Hace días que no hago‡ nada más que[sic]‡
escuchar los discos, todos, y el de Mina fabulosa, delirante, salida de una
caverna sicodélica, gracias Faustino, cómo conoces mis puntos débiles que
sel‡eccionaste ese disco estupendo.* Así es. La vida es un río tempuestuoso[sic]‡,
a-‡rrasador, pero dejémonos llevar, no querramos[sic]‡ siempre ir contra la corrien-
te, que eso es lo que más daño nos puede h‡acer en ciertos momentos. La co-
rriente cristalina, depuradora, sana de los grandes procesos transformadores,
de la Revolución. Tú sabes que yo no soy un pesimista pero tampo‡co un ilusio-
nado. Creo que mi equilibrio me salva de muchas cosas. Y en estos momentos
de cambio, es muy necesario el análisis profundo, pesar, balancear las co-
sas y luego tomar una decisión. La lección que he recibido de los últimos
acontecimientos es grande y definitiva. El hombre se me ha‡ mostrado más comple-
jo, más primitivo, sensoria‡l, suceptible[sic]‡ al máximo, ambiguo, en fin más rico.
Nunca sospeché que hu‡biera que darle‡ tanto margen a las gentes. Quizá por
ingenuidad mía creí demasiado en ciertas posiciones, en ciertas actitudes,
o mejor creí en su parte más sobresaliente, desconociendo el verdadero fondo.
Ahora va a ser distinto. El hombre no es un claroscuro. Es mucho más.
(2)
Y en ocasiones lo que no expresa, lo que está más oculto es lo predominante.
Eso lo digo por los últimos ejemplos.*
Todo esto es arduo y dific il[sic]‡ y re‡quiere de uno una gran voluntad y un‡a
gran confianza revolucionaria, una gran firmeza de carácter y mucha base
filosófica.
,¡[sic]‡
‡ Pero qué importante es un artista en un proceso revolucionario.!‡
Siento que todo lo que escribo es inevi table[sic]‡
‡, como una función fisiólógica[sic]‡.
In-‡
‡ evitable y orgánico. Vivimos históricamente. Parece que los pueblos
más jovenes[sic]‡, los que no tenemos una historia milenaria ni mucho menos,‡ somos
los más históricos, los más vivos. Al menos yo me siento en medio de una
verdadera conmoc‡ión social, con lados buenos y lados malos, con altas y
bajas pero realmente‡ convulsionante, a real turmoil. C‡ada día es un día
de estudio práctico‡ de la filosofía, un ensayo de la vida verdadera, la
que se vive arriesgá‡
‡ndol‡o todo, obra, conceptos, vida. Hans, este destino
es duro, pero yo no lo cambio por ninguno, porque cada día voy madurando
más, en todo,‡ hasta en mi idea del amor. Siento que mi obra tiene sentido,
que se hace coherente dentro de un contexto, func‡ional, que con ella estoy
fundando algo que todavía no tiene forma definida. Leo y yo hemos hablado
mucho en estos días, nuestra amistad se ha fortalecido mucho, yo voy a su
casa y allí conversamos porque él está solo y un poco perturbado con lo
de su mujer-caso.*
Leo es muy inteligente y opinamos de modo muy parecido
a pesar de que sabes muy bien que no somos idénticos.* Sin embargo creo
que la amistad contigo lo ha humanizado mucho, la[sic]‡ ha hecho comprender
muchas cosas directamente; Leo ha constat‡ad‡o cosas. Él siente‡
tambien[sic]‡
que su obra aquí tiene una importancia, a reservas de que se escuche o no.
No hablo de
la obra publicada o demostrada‡. Sino eso que uno escribe por
verdadera necesidad y que luego
tiene su destino, cualquiera que pueda ser.
Algún día seremos mejor comprendidos. Hoy todavía no. El hombre está en la
luna,* el laser hace milagros,* pero la moral sigue estancada, es una puta
vieja que no quiere morir y somos nosotros los que le tenemos que entrar
a palos diariamente. Ese es nuestro rol principal. La moral en toda sus
dimensiones. Que contradicción, verdad? La ciencia en una car‡rera ganada
y la moral atrás como una tortuga miserable. Yo quiero luchar por mis ideas
porque sé, estoy convencido que son nobles y constructivas. Jamás he pensa-
do en utilizar mi obra para un prestigio personal si no para el conocimien-
to cabal de mi país y su transformación. Un poco mi afán es el de contri-
buir ha crear una historia, una tradición, partiendo‡ de ideas nuevas y de
elementos intrínsecos, nacionales. Ese es mi objetivo. Podré hacerme mil
autocríticas, mi conducta no siempre ha sidola más comprensiva, he sido
quizá algo burgués, pero mi obra nunca ha sido hecha para fines personales.
De esto hemos hablado y yo he apre ndido[sic]‡ de ti mucho. Porque creo que
eres
un revolucionario hone sto[sic]‡, desasido, y no un viejo burgués
como dic‡es .[sic]‡
*
Sólo que a veces las circunstancias nos llevan a
extremos y entonces apa-
recen ciertos resabios Pero se superan.
Yo creo firmemente en ti, en tu
condición humana y revolucionaria. Eres un
hombre de izquierda. Y un artista
moderno. No eres, mi querido
Hans, ningúna lacra de la vieja sociedad.
Pero las
circunstancias nos precipitan a la falta, al error. Y luego el
arrepentimiento es más doloroso que el móvil que nos llevó a caer en
el
error. El arrepentimiento hay que asumirlo también con decoro y con
valor.
(3)
Es otra prueba de fuego. Otra actitud revolu cionaria[sic]‡. Lo único que no
podemos hacer es q‡uedarnos en casa y retirarnos del mundo por una des‡ilusión,
o un error. Eso sería demasiado
egoiísta[sic]‡ de nuestra parte. Quizá hasta un
poco vanidoso.
Porque la lucha es de todos.La[sic]‡ revolución es de todos los
hombres
nobles y honestos. A la larga quedaremos pocos de los que empezamos
unidos.
Porque en el camino caen los farsantes y descreídos, los debiles[sic]‡
e
impotentes, eunucos vulgares. Frente a ellos q‡ue
nos engañan, que nos traicio-
nan, jugando con nuestros s‡entimientos y valiendose[sic]‡ de nuestra obra
artística
responderemos con firmeza y modestia revolucionarias. Por
enci ma[sic]‡ de todo
queremos cambiar el mundo porque está ya
podrido y feo. Y si Cuba es un
sitio donde existe esa posibilidad, no
abandonarla nunca es la
actitud. Ni
aún cuando
nuestros pequeños intereses se puedan ver lesionados.
Todo‡
ox‡ a la distancia se ve más pronunciado, más gigante. Las cosas se vuel-
ven mon‡struosas. Yo entiendo tu inquietud y tu desconcierto. Entiendo que
hayas firmado una carta, la primera q‡uiero decir, donde muestras tu duda
frente a un hecho cuyas causas desconoces. Pero las cosas están aclaradas.*
La revolución ha sido generosa y
magnánima con gentes que consciente e incons-
c entemente[sic]‡ le han querido hacer daño. Nosotros
hemos hablado algo sobre la
conducta de Heberto en Cuba, ¿Te acuerdas? Pues bien, la
revoluci ón[sic]‡ demostró
que había resultado dañina. Él se arrepintió sinceramente. En su tono, en
su
lenguaje que no es moderado sino lleno de pasión y de pala bras[sic]‡.
Es una
cuestión de gusto, de estilo. Yo no hablo así, no escr‡ibo así. Pero ese
lenguaje en Europa
ha sido mal interpretado. Muchos han dicho que fue tortu-
rado. Eso es absolutamente falso y
denigrador. Él es así, barroco, desgarrado.
Tr‡atemos de entenderle. Y de entender a la Revolución.
No hay paraiso‡s en este mundo. Pero todos sabemos que infierno sí hay. Es
el capitalismo imperialista, en América Latina, en
Vietnam…*
Contra eso hay que luchar a brazo partido. Lo demás es secundario.
Cuba
se ha propuesto a‡biertamente, desde el campo de la cultura luchar contra
el colonialismo colonialxxxxxxxx‡, yo veo que es la forma más inmediata y‡‡ idónea que
tenemos los artistas de luchar cuando no tenemos fusiles, cuando no somos
soldados. Toda mi obra es eso. Entonces yo no tengo otro‡ camino qu‡e Cuba,
asu‡mir mi historia, con sus lados malos y sus lados buenos. Y tú sabes que
para mí la lucha, como para tí[sic]‡, es más difícil. En lo personal ,[sic]‡ todav‡ía
no somos comprendidos, y hay quienes nos rechazan. Pero nosotros somos más
fuertes porque estamos convencidos, ¿no es así? Entonces a girar en el tonel
como Diogenes[sic]‡, pero girar convencidos, con argumentos y con nuestra verdad.*
No importa que le den patadas al tonel, que le entren a
hachazos, nosotros
persistimos siempre. Si a alguien le he escuchado ideas positivas y progr‡e-
sistas
es a ti, si con alguien me he identificado plenamente es contigo.
Entonces no concibo que tú‡
‡ estés allá y yo aquí, no, estamos los dos por lo
mismo, olvídate de las llamadas telefónicas, de las carticas, de los que te
quieren utilizar. Ellos son resentidos, muchos, quiero decir. Piensa más
en
tu realización artís‡tica y en su utilidad. Yo te aseguro que p ocas[sic]‡
obras
musicales son tan desalienantes, tan necesarias para la libertad del
hombre
como tu Cimarrón. En cada nota, en cada
cuerda de la guitarra, en cada matiz
de la voz increíble de Pearson he
sentido lo que inspiró mi libro, ese inmenso
afán de gr-itarle[sic]‡ al mundo un
canto de amor, de libertad, y de desalienación.
(4)
Yo le decía a Leo que aunque no soy un músico yo entendía muy bi‡en cada
nota de esas partituras porque sabía qué las había mov‡ido, cuántas verda-
des interiores, c‡uantos[sic]‡ deseos, cuant‡as[sic]‡ ambiciones. Y no solo cuando Pe‡ar-
son cantaba, sino cuando Leo tocaba la guitarra, cuando ese japonés ,[sic]‡
q‡ue
parece una panterita, ejecutaba sacando todos los misterios del mundo,
queriendo exponerlos al hombre total. Qué[sic]‡ puedo decirte de la parte dedicada
a la amistad?‡
Friendl‡iness‡
* es maravillosa, solidaria, un gran abrazo
que me llegó de lejos a mí, a Esteban, a Rogelio, a Nancy, a Enrique, a
Leo,* a todos Hans, yo soy muy sentimental. Para mí Cimarrón es una obra
en común, tan en común que yo creo que si hu‡biera sido músico la h ubiera[sic]‡
escrito igual. Quie‡ro hablarte más de eso que de nada. Porque decirte que
el son de las mujeres* es extraordinario,‡ con esa flauta final que me recuer-
da tantas cosas, tantos bailes populares, tantas sensaciones eróticas.
Una vez yo ,‡ escuchaba un son convencional y me imaginaba, ‡me imagaba‡
en música lo que yo hubiera hecho con él para un gran ballet. Y ahora lo
veo plasmado en tu son. Leo y yo hemos escuchado Cimarrón sentados en el
suelo de su casa con la partitura que es un jeroglifíco[sic]‡ tremendo y él me
ha enseñado paso a paso toda la música.* Yo quedé maravillado. Aquí todos
los amigos están encantados con la música, los más entusiastas son Rogelio
Martínez Furé que la ha oído seis veces en mi casa, Carmen Valdés, Harold,
y‡ mi pequeño círculo,‡que[sic]‡ como tú sabes te quiere y admira tanto.
Bueno Hans
,‡ yo no puedo hablarte tecnicamente[sic]‡ de Cimarrón. Ah, olvidab‡a
decirte que la parte The machines‡
* es verdaderamente fantástica. Has logra-
do todo el caótico y desesperante escándalo del progreso técnico en medio
del gran atraso moral. Es, para mí, como un canto y una queja. ¿No c‡rees?
Muchas máquinas, muchos ruidos, pero y el hombre qué? Magnífico.‡
‡
En los próximos días vamos a escuchar la obra en casa de Leo con un gru-
po de amigos que áún[sic]‡ no la han escuchado como Héctor Angelo[sic]‡
, Berroa, y
algunos escritores.
‡
(I am sorry, Héctor Angelo[sic]‡
, heard it twice. Really, he’s turned crazy.)
He says its the ¡most most most ..!! of all.
‡
‡
Me alegra que estés escribiendo para violín, un nuevo concierto
*. Pero
no sé por qué me parece que debías hacer otros experimentos más en el
recital operático.* La gente necesita que se le digan cosas, habladas
o cantadas y eso tú lo puedes hacer muy eficazmente.
Se que no fuiste a EE.UU. por Angela Davis.* Muy bien hecho. Aquí están
creando un fuerte movimiento en su favor. Yo voy a escribir un poema
de ocasión para Angela.* Me hablas del‡ estreno de Rachel en RDA.*
No one
knows if I coul‡d be there. ¡Ojalá! Estoy loco por verte, por hablar
contigo. Y yo preferíría[sic]‡ sinceramente, que fuera en Cuba. Aunque tambien[sic]‡
me gustaría viajar. Pero en estas circun‡stancias prefiero verte aquí.
Mandame[sic]‡ la traducción española de Cimarrón cuando la tengas.* Para ense-
nseñarsela[sic]‡ a Berroa. El dió[sic]‡ un recital de canciones con poemas míos. Y quedó
muy bien. Cantó una joven muy dúctil ‡
e‡ in‡teligente que se llama Alina.*
No nos olvides, Hans. La distancia es terrible, lo sé. Pero estamos
siempre aquí, los mismos, con mayores sentimientos cada día hacía tí[sic]‡.
Pronto te mandaré nuevos poema míos, fábulas y quizá el texto que es-
cribí, un largo poema llama-do[sic]‡
Claves para Rita Montaner‡.* Trata de venir.
Yo nada puedo hacer ahora. Todo depende de ti.
Por la revolución que es más grande que nos,‡ y por nos.‡ tambien[sic]‡,
Miguel
Chao[sic]‡, Fausto, pon mucho animo en Hans.
Y acuerdáte siempre de tu amigo Miguel y gracias mil por los discos. "¡Io vivro[sic]‡ senza te!"
‡
*
¡Come back!
How to begin a letter to you? What to tell you so that it fits in these simple pages so that you can understand my feelings towards life, friends, comrades like you? I have actually tried to start this letter several times without any success. Although it may seem ridiculous to you, even Debussy had a hand in it.
I put on the preludes, sat down at the typewriter and started, then it turned out cheesy, melodramatic, in short... I tore it up a thousand times. Until today. I can’t wait any longer. I am writing to you however it comes out, with complete freedom, with complete ease, saying what I really think in relation to our problems, which are not so different, because we are both fighting for the same thing, not only in the political arena but also in that of art.
Moreover, this momentum is really partly due to the fact that in the last few days I wrote three poems that my closest friends regard highly because they are very central to my work, as they not only reflect states of mind, but also concepts. They bring down small stone walls in which we have lived for years and that now prove to be ineffective, like those old castles-fortresses that are used today for libraries or museums. Many of our repressive walls are like that, walls that we have built ourselves and that only we can tear down. In the end, when nearly three months have gone by and one hasn’t written anything, or has even been able to concentrate on reading and then one day three poems emerge as if from magician’s hat, there is something that tells you from deep inside that nothing can defeat him, that man is stronger and more resistant than many imagine.
That’s why I am writing to you, Hans, because in fact I feel a lot better. I think that with the help of my friends, my deep reflection and my work I have emerged from a crisis of silence and bitterness that I had never experienced before in such a brutal way. Reading revives. Listening to music revives the spirit. And that wonderful music by Mozart that you sent me is what I thank you for most. Especially No. 29. For days now I have done nothing but listen to records, all of them, and the one by Mina fabulous, delirious, out of a psychedelic cave, thank you Faustino, you know my weaknesses so well that you chose that wonderful record. That’s it. Life is a stormy river, devastating, but let’s allow ourselves to be carried along, we don’t always want to go against the tide, which is what can do us the most harm at certain times. The crystalline, purifying, healthy tide of the great transformative processes, of the Revolution. You know that I am not a pessimist, but neither am I an idealist. I believe that my stability saves me from many things. And in these moments of change, in-depth analysis is very necessary, weighing up, balancing things and then making a decision. The lesson I have learned from recent events is great and definitive. Man has shown himself to me to be more complex, more primitive, more sensorial, susceptible to the maximum, ambiguous, in short, richer. I never thought it was necessary to give people so much leeway. Perhaps it was my naivety that I believed in certain positions, in certain attitudes too much, or rather I believed in the most salient part of them, ignoring the real substance. Now it will be different. Man is not a 'chiaroscuro'. He is much more.
(2)
And sometimes what is not expressed, what is more hidden is predominant.
I say that because of the most recent examples.
All this is arduous and difficult and requires that one has a great will and a great revolutionary confidence, a great firmness of character and a great deal of philosophical grounding. But how important is an artist in a revolutionary process! I feel that everything I write is inevitable, like a physiological function. Inevitable and organic. We live historically. The youngest nations, those who do not, by any means, have a thousand-year history seem to be the most historical, the most alive. At least I feel like I am in the midst of a real social upheaval, with good and bad sides, highs and lows, but really convulsive, a real turmoil. Every day is a day of practical philosophical study, a rehearsal for real life, which one lives by risking everything, work, concepts, life. Hans, this destiny is hard, but I would not change it for anything, because every day I am maturing more, in everything, even in my idea of love. I feel that my work makes sense, that it becomes coherent within a context, functional, that with it I am founding something that still has no definite shape. Leo and I have spoken a lot lately, our friendship has grown much stronger, I go to his home and there we talk because he is alone and a little disturbed about his wife’s case. Leo is very intelligent and we have very similar opinions even though you know very well that we are not identical. But I think his friendship with you has humanised him a lot, it has made him understand many things directly; Leo has noticed things. He also feels that his work here has an importance, regardless of whether it is heard or not.
I’m not talking about published or proven works. But that which one writes out of real necessity, and which then has its destiny, whatever that may be.
One day we will be better understood. Not yet today. Man is on the moon, the laser works miracles, but morality is still stagnant, it is an old whore who doesn’t want to die and we’re the ones who have to beat her up on a daily basis. That is our main role. Morality in all its dimensions. What a contradiction, right? Science is a won race and morality is behind like a miserable turtle. I want to fight for my ideas because I know, I am convinced that they are noble and constructive. I have never thought of using my work for personal prestige but for the full knowledge of my country and its transformation. My aim is partly to contribute to the creation of history, of tradition, starting from new ideas and from intrinsic, national elements. That is my objective. I can criticise myself a thousand times, my behaviour has not always been the most forgiving, I have perhaps been somewhat bourgeois, but my works have never been created for personal ends.
We have talked about this and I have learned a lot from you. Because I think you are an honest, unattached revolutionary, and not an old bourgeois as you say. It’s just that sometimes circumstances lead us to extremes and then certain resentments appear. But they are overcome. I firmly believe in you, in your human and revolutionary condition. You are a left-wing man. And a modern artist. You are not, my dear Hans, a scourge of the old society. But circumstances lead us to fail, to make a mistake. And then regret is more painful than the motive that led us to make the mistake. Repentance must also be accepted with decorum and courage.
(3)
It is another litmus test. Another revolutionary attitude. The only thing we cannot do is stay at home and withdraw from the world because of a disappointment, or a mistake. That would be too selfish of us. Perhaps even a little vain. Because the struggle belongs to us all. The revolution belongs to all noble and honest men. In the long run there will be few of us left who started out united. Because along the way the phonies and disbelievers, the weak and impotent, the vulgar eunuchs fall. In the face of those who deceive us, who betray us, playing with our feelings and exploiting our artistic work, we will respond with revolutionary firmness and modesty. Above all, we want to change the world because it is already rotten and ugly. And if Cuba is a place where this possibility exists, the attitude is never to abandon it. Not even when our small interests might be harmed.
Everything looks more pronounced, more gigantic from a distance. Things become monstrous. I understand your unease and your bewilderment. I understand that you have signed a letter, the first I mean, where you show your hesitation in the face of a fact whose causes are unknown to you. But things are clear.
The revolution has been generous and magnanimous with people who consciously and unconsciously wanted to harm it. We have spoken a little about Heberto’s behaviour in Cuba. Do you remember? Well, the revolution showed that it had been harmful. He sincerely regretted it. In his tone, in his language, which is not moderate but full of passion and of words. It is a question of taste, style. I don’t speak like that. I don’t write like that. But in Europe this language has been misinterpreted. Many have said that he was tortured. That is absolutely false and denigrating. He is like that, baroque, torn. Let us try to understand him. And to understand the Revolution.
There are no heavens in this world. But we all know that there is a hell. It is imperialist capitalism, in Latin America, in Vietnam…
This must be fought tooth and nail. Everything else is secondary. Cuba has openly proposed to fight against colonialism from the field of culture. I see it as the most immediate and most suitable way for us artists to fight when we don’t have rifles, when we are not soldiers. That’s what all my work is about. So, I have no other way than Cuba, to accept my history, with its good sides and its bad. And you know that for me the struggle is more difficult, as it is for you. Personally, we are still not understood, and there are those who reject us. But we are stronger because we are convinced, aren’t we? So, let’s turn around in the barrel like Diogenes, but turn with conviction, with arguments and with our truth.
It doesn’t matter if they kick the barrel, if they come in with an axe, we always persist. If I have listened to anyone for positive and progressive ideas, it is you, if I have fully identified with anyone, it is you.
So, I can’t conceive of you being there and me being here, no, we’re both here for the same thing. Forget the phone calls, the letters, the people who want to use you. They are resentful, many of them, I mean. Think more about your artistic achievement and its usefulness. I assure you that there are few musical works as unalienating, as necessary for the freedom of man as your Cimarrón. In each note, each guitar string, each nuance of Pearson’s incredible voice I felt what inspired my book, that immense desire to shout out a song of love, freedom and disalienation to the world.
(4)
I said to Leo that although I am not a composer, I understood each note of those scores very well because I knew what had moved them, so many inner truths, or so many desires, so many ambitions. And not only when Pearson sang, but when Leo played the guitar, when that Japanese guy, who looks like a little panther, played, bringing out all the mysteries of the world, wanting to present them to the whole man. What can I tell you about the part dedicated to friendship? Friendliness is wonderful, supportive, a big hug that came from far away to me, to Esteban, to Rogelio, to Nancy, to Enrique, to Leo, to all Hans, I am very sentimental. For me Cimarrón is a work written in common, so in common that I think that if I had been a composer, I would have written it in the same way. I want to talk to you more about that than anything else. Because I want to tell you that the sound of "Las mujeres" (Women) is extraordinary, with that final flute that reminds me of so many things, so many popular dances, so many erotic sensations.
Once I was listening to a conventional sound and I imagined in music what I would have done with it for a grand ballet. And now I see it embodied in your sound. Leo and I have listened to Cimarrón while sitting on the floor of his house with the score, which is a tremendous hieroglyphic, and he taught me all the music, step by step. I was amazed. All of our friends here are delighted with the music, the most enthusiastic are Rogelio Martínez Furé, who has listened to it six times in my house, Carmen Valdés, Harold, and my small circle, who as you know love and admire you very much.
Well Hans, I can’t speak to you technically about Cimarrón. Ah, I forgot to tell you that the part "The machines" is truly fantastic. You have achieved all the chaotic and desperate scandal of technical progress in the midst of great moral backwardness. For me, it’s like a song and a complaint. Don’t you think? Lots of machines, lots of noise, but what about man? Magnificent. In the coming days we are going to listen to the work at Leo’s place with a group of friends who haven’t heard it yet like Héctor Angelo, Berroa, and some writers. (I am sorry, Héctor Angelo, heard it twice. Really, he’s turned crazy.) He says its the ¡most most most ..!! of all.
I’m glad that you are composing a new violin concerto. But I don’t know why I feel that you should do more experiments in opera recitals. People need to be told things, spoken or sung, and that can be done very effectively.
I know you did not go to the USA because of Angela Davis. Very well done. Here they are creating a strong movement in her favour. I am going to write a special poem for Angela. You told me about the premiere of Rachel in the GDR. No one knows if I could be there. I hope so! I am crazy to see you, speak to you. And sincerely, I would prefer that it was in Cuba. Although I would also like to travel. But in these circumstances, I would prefer to see you here. Send me the Spanish translation of Cimarrón when you get it. So I can show it to Berroa. He gave a recital of songs with my poems. And it went very well. A very bright and intelligent young woman called Alina sang. Don’t forget us, Hans. The distance is terrible, I know. But we are always here, the same people, with stronger feelings for you every day. Soon I will send you my new poems, fables and maybe the text I wrote, a long poem called Claves para Rita Montaner. Try to come.
There is nothing I can do now. Everything depends on you.
To the revolution that is bigger than us, and to us too,
Bye, Fausto, cheer up Hans.
And always remember your friend Miguel and a thousand thanks for the records. "Io vivrò senza te! (I will live without you!)"
Come back!
Translation by Yolanda Acker
Editorial
Responsibilities
- Editor(s)
- Elena Minetti
- Transcription
- Elena Minetti; Joachim Veit
- Translation
- Yolanda Acker
Tradition
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Text Source: Basel (Schweiz), Paul Sacher Stiftung (CH-Bps), Sammlung Hans Werner Henze, Abteilung: Korrespondenz
Shelf mark: Barnet, MiguelPhysical Description
- Document type: Letter
- Dünnes, weißes Papier
- Faltung: 1mal stark in der Mitte; 1mal 8,5cm von oben und 1mal 7,8cm von unten.
- 4 folios
- 5 written pages
- Dimensions: 330x213 [mm] (HxW)
- Blätter in der Mitte leicht überlappend gefaltet, so dass sie hier teils etwas eingerissen sind. Einriss am rechten unteren Rand der vierten Seite.
- Rand: 2cm
- 1,5zeilig
Material
Extent
Condition
Layout
Writing styles
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1.Typescript, Barnet, Miguel, red.
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2.Typescript, Barnet, Miguel, dark.
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3.Handwriting, Barnet, Miguel, ballpoint pen (dark red).
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4.Handwriting, ballpoint pen (dark).
Text Constitution
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Following: Typescript, dark, Barnet, Miguel
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Following: Typescript, red, Barnet, Miguel
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"… para que tú pueda s"Barnet put a mark over the "a" to the "s" in dark red pen to indicate that there should not be a space between the letters.
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"h"crossed out, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"h""e" replaced with "h"
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"e"crossed out, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"exito"sic
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"e""a" replaced with "e"
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"s""z" (uncertain transcription) replaced with "s"
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z
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"animo"sic
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"si no"sic
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"d""v" replaced with "d"
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"l""u" replaced with "l"
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"se"uncertain transcription
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"a""s" replaced with "a"
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"remueva"sic
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"o""a" (uncertain transcription) overwritten with "o", handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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a
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"más que"sic
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"l""i" (uncertain transcription) overwritten with "l", handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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i
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"tempuestuoso"sic
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"-"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"querramos"sic
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"h"added above
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"po""bp" replaced with "po"
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"ha"added above, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"ia""ai" replaced with "ia"
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"suceptible"sic
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"u""e" replaced with "u"
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"e""a" (uncertain transcription) overwritten with "e", handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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a
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"dific il"sic
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"e""q" replaced with "e"
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"n""a" replaced with "n"
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" ,¡ "added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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",¡"sic
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"!"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"inevi table"sic
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"… que escribo es inevi table"The "i" is displaced to the left. There seems to have been a problem with the typewriter when this letter was written such that there seems to be a blank space between the "i" and the "t".
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"fisiólógica"sic
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"-"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"… función fisiólógica . In -"The dash is intended to combine the two parts of words separated by a space.
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"jovenes"sic
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","added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"c""v" overtyped with "c"
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"e""o" replaced with "e"
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"C"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"o""e" replaced with "o"
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"á"added above, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"… que se vive arriesg á"Only the accent of the letter "á" was added.
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"l""d" overtyped with "l"
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","added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"c""d" replaced with "c"
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"la"sic
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"t""a" overtyped with "t"
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"d"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"tambien"sic
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"ar""ra" replaced with "ar"
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"o""e" overwritten with "o", handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"apre ndido"sic
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"hone sto"sic
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"c""e" replaced with "c"
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" ."sic
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"revolu cionaria"sic
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"q""e" replaced with "q"
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"s""x" replaced with "s"
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"egoiísta"sic
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"todos.La"sic
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"debiles"sic
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"q"added above
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"s""d" replaced with "s"
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"valiendose"sic
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"enci ma"sic
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"odo""dod" replaced with "odo"
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"o"deleted by overtyping
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"n""s" replaced with "n"
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"q""u" replaced with "q"
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"incons c entemente"sic
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"revoluci ón"sic
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"pala bras"sic
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"r"added above
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"r""a" overtyped with "r"
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"aiso""isos" overtyped with "aiso"
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"a""l" replaced with "a"
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"colonial"deleted by overtyping
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" e y "uncertain transcription
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"y""e" replaced with "y"
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"o""a" replaced with "o"
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"qu""ue" overtyped with "qu"
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"u""i" overtyped with "u"
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"tí"sic
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"personal ,"sic
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"v""a" replaced with "v"
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"r""e" overtyped with "r"
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"ú"added above, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"… no concibo que t ú"Only the accent of the letter "ú" was added.
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"s""t" overtyped with "s"
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"p ocas"sic
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"gr-itarle"sic
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"i"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"v""d" replaced with "v"
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" o c uantos"sic
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"c""o" overwritten with "c", handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"cuan d t as"sic
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"t""d" replaced with "t"
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"e""a" overtyped with "e"
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"ese japonés ,"sic
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"q""u" overtyped with "q"
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"total. Qué"sic
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"?"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"Friendl‡iness"Underlining, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"l""e" replaced with "l"
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"u""a" replaced with "u"
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"h ubiera"sic
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"ie""er" replaced with "ie"
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","added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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","crossed out, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"me imagaba"erased (uncertain transcription) , handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"… "Three letters are unclear.
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"jeroglifíco"sic
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"y""Y" overtyped with "y"
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"círculo,que"sic
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","added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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","added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"tecnicamente"sic
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"b""d" replaced with "b"
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"The machines"Underlining, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"c""v" replaced with "c"
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""crossed out
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"… y el hombre qué? Magnífico."Unreadable, at the beginning: "El"
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"áún"sic
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"Angelo"sic
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"(I am sorry, … ..!! of all."added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"… "This is written directly after the end of the paragraph in the free space next to it in 2 lines.
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"Angelo"sic
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"… most most ..!! of all."The brackets are so large that they should be considered as relating to both lines of the text.
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"l"uncertain transcription
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"l""d" replaced with "l"
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"preferíría"sic
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"tambien"sic
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"n""s" replaced with "n"
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"Mandame"sic
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"ense nseñarsela"sic
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"dió"sic
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""crossed out, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"e"added above, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"n""i" overtyped with "n"
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"tí"sic
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"llama-do"sic
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"Claves para Rita Montaner"Underlining, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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","added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"."added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark)
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"tambien"sic
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Following: Typescript, dark, Barnet, Miguel
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"Chao, Fausto, pon … vivro[sic]‡ senza te!""added in the left margin, Text turned clockwise (270°), handwritten, ballpoint pen (dark red), Barnet, Miguel
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"Chao"sic
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"vivro"sic
Commentary
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"pueda s"recte "puedas".
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"… estos días escribí tres poemas"It is not clear which poems Barnet is referring to here.
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"… uno no ha escrito nada"Nearly three months had passed since the poet Padilla and his wife Cuza Malé were imprisoned on 20 March 1971. The so-called "Padilla Affair" caused many intellectuals great bewilderment, which also manifested itself in Barnet’s inability to write. See also Henze’s first reaction to the "Padilla Affair" in the previous letter to Barnet.
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"… digo por los últimos ejemplos."The reference is again to the "Padilla Affair" and the realisation that they mistrusted Fidel Castro, first a spokesman for the ideals of the Cuban revolution, among which freedom of opinion was fundamental, and then the accuser of a poet because he dared to criticise his political system.
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"… lo de su mujer -caso."Barnet is referring to the suicide of Leo’s wife, Brito, after the "Padilla Affair". As Henze writes in his Autobiography, p. 300, she was "a much-loved pop star, [who] slashed her wrists in 1971, while her husband was on a concert tour of Europe".
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"… hombre está en la luna,"The moon landing of the Apollo 11 mission with American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins took place between 20 and 21 July 1969.
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"… luna, el laser hace milagros,"The laser was patented by two American physicists, Arthur L. Schawlow and Charles H. Townes, on 22 March 1960.
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"… Pero las cosas están aclaradas."Barnet is again referring to the "Padilla Affair" and to his signature on the open letter (see its publication in "De nombreuses personnalités s’émeuvent de l’arrestation du poète cubain Heberto Padilla") sent to Fidel Castro, which the composer together with other Latin American and European intellectuals signed to publicly show their concern over the arrest. See Henze’s Autobiography, pp. 299-300.
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"… Latina , en Vietnam …"Barnet’s use of the expression "capitalismo imperialista" refers to the threat of the American bloc during the Cold War. The "Vietnam War" (1954-1975) would end a few years later with the defeat of the US-backed South Vietnam, the victory of the communist-backed North Vietnam, ruled by Ho Chi Minh, and over three million dead soldiers and civilians. In citing Latin America, Barnet was probably thinking of other revolutionary struggles: in Cuba, of course, but also in Uruguay, where the communist-inspired "Movimiento de Liberación Nacional Tupamaros" fought against the official Uruguayan government and its North American backers, or in Argentina where the "montores" struggled to eliminate US political influences on their country.
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"… argumentos y con nuestra verdad."Here, Barnet refers to the Greek philosopher, founder of Cynicism, who lived in a barrel, heedless of those who mocked him, with a lifestyle devoid of the superfluous.
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"… Enrique , a Leo ,"Among some friends, Barnet also includes Esteban Montejo, the runaway slave protagonist of Barnet’s El Cimarrón. Biografia de un cimarrón, whom Henze met on 27 March 1969, during his first trip to Cuba.
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"… a paso toda la música."Barnet was finally able to hear the music of El Cimarrón Henze sent him (see previous Henze’s letter), even though the premiere had already taken place on 22 June 1970, almost a year earlier. Barnet complained that he had still not been able to hear the work in a letter of February 1971.
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"… más en el recital operático."Barnet would have evidently preferred that Henze continued composing something similar to El Cimarrón and La Cubana.
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"… de ocasión para Angela ."As Barnet recounts in an interview, he wrote for Angela Davis the poem Muchacha negra. See "Entravista", p. 51. The poem was published in 1982 in Carta de noche, p. 64. This edition of poems was kept in Henze’s library, now at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold.
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"… de Cimarrón cuando la tengas."See Henze’s previous letter as well as Henze’s Autobiography, pp. 290–291, which reveals that Berroa had begun to prepare a Spanish translation of El Cimarrón.
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"… que se llama Alina ."Barnet is probably referring to his collection of poems La Sagrada Familia, because he had already referred to Berroa’s work on these poems in his letter in May 1970.
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[Figure Description]Arrow pointing to the right, indicating there is more writing on the other side of the page.
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"… ¡ Io vivro senza te!"This is a reference to Mina’s cover of Lucio Battisti’s song, Io vivrò senza te (I will live without you), with lyrics by Mogol, released in 1971 by the PDU record company with the LP Del mio meglio. See Henze’s previous letter about Henze and Moroni sending the discs.
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[Figure Description]On the back of the page Barnet wrote "COME BACK!" in a very large letters in landscape format and signed it with his recurring graphic signature.
