Letter from M. Barnet to H. W. Henze, between January 15 and February 28, 1982

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[Manuscript]

Hans Werner Henze
Telef. 938 8328 *

[Between 15 January and February 1982] * Dear Hans:

I am sure everything will come
out fine; no obstacle at all, only I will be
operated of‡ an‡ hernia on my rightside on‡ March,*
but I am hoping to be well on‡ May.* I had good
professional luck on‡ this past year but it was to‡ good
perhaps and the eyes of evil provoked a minor
but painful accident on my left hand fingers and
my nail (2‡)‡ were taken out without anestesia‡.

I showed up‡ again my courage and estoicism[sic]‡.
I feel better but my fingers look awfull‡. Anyway I
feel optimistic and full of guts to keep ahead. You
know I have the spirit of two black‡ grandpas and
one is african‡ so all the withchery‡‡ is on my side.

Nevertheless, the eye of the evil has to be brushed
away from my way definitely and I am working in
that direction. The moment to see you and to hear
Cimarron[sic]‡ and Rachel is ‡ near‡.* But I need a formal

[Figure: ]
invitation from Rostock theatre * or whatever it is
because Cuba is short of money and they want
to have a concrete justification for their expen-
ses. Remember we are very poor and these trips
cost a lot. We might not be able to
get‡ go‡ to Horizonte Festival for political reasons;*
it is not clear yet so that means I could‡ go
first to see you on[sic]‡ at‡ Rostock or Marino * ‡, I don’t know,
and then as an individual go to West Berlin
to spend 3 months at DAAD (Bureau Berlin).*

That will be from June or July to September.*
I have arranged this with DR. Miguel Cossio ,
whom Micki Strausfeld (my very close friend) knows
very well. He went to RFA‡ with me last winter *
and is the Head of the editorial machinery in Cuba.*

Write a letter to me as soon as possible and please,
ask Rostock to send me an invitation with a copy
to Miguel Cossio , to‡ my address. This will be the
good and perhaps only opportunity to see you and hear
¡finally! the music of La Cubana and Cimarrón (in situ).*

A big
hug, Miguelito

‡

Editorial

Responsibilities

Editor(s)
Elena Minetti
Transcription
Elena Minetti; Joachim Veit

Tradition

  • Text Source: Basel (Schweiz), Paul Sacher Stiftung (CH-Bps), Sammlung Hans Werner Henze, Abteilung: Korrespondenz
    Shelf mark: Barnet, Miguel

    Physical Description

    • Document type: Letter

      • Material

    • mittelbraunes, mitteldickes Papier
    • Faltung: 3mal längs

      • Extent

    • 1 folio
    • 2 written pages
    • Dimensions: 280x215 [mm] (HxW)
      •

      Layout

    • Rand links: ca. 1,5cm, auf S. 2 allmählich bis 2cm

Writing styles

Text Constitution

  • 1.
    "2"uncertain transcription
  • 2.
    "… my nail ( 2 )"This number looks like a “I”, but a “2” makes more sense in this context.
  • 3.
    "up"erased (uncertain transcription)
  • 4.
    up
  • 5.
    "estoicism"sic
  • 6.
    "black"erased (uncertain transcription)
  • 7.
    black
  • 8.
    "withchery"uncertain transcription
  • 9.
    "Cimarron"sic
  • 10.
    ""erased
  • 11.
    "near"added above
  • 12.
    "get"crossed out
  • 13.
    "go"added above
  • 14.
    "could""will" crossed out and replaced with "could"
  • 15.
    "on"sic
  • 16.
    "at""" crossed out and replaced with "at"
  • 17.
    "or Marino "added above
  • 18.
    "to""at" (uncertain transcription) replaced with "to"
  • 19.
    at
  • 20.
    "… ). A big hug, Miguelito"This closing is written very tightly in the bottom right-hand corner, because Barnet had no more space on the page.

Commentary

  • 1.
    "… Werner Henze Telef. 938 8328"In general, Barnet does not indicate the name of the addressee Henze on the right hand side of his letters, nor the telephone number. It is likely that this addition was written for the letter carrier, who could possibly have called Henze for matters related to the dispatch of the letter.
  • 2.
    "… 15 January and February 1982"This letter appears to have been written after Barnet’s letter of 14 January 1982. Since the month of March is mentioned, it is assumed to have been written between 15 January and February 1982.
  • 3.
    "of"recte "on for".
  • 4.
    "an"recte "a".
  • 5.
    "on"recte "in".
  • 6.
    "… my rightside on March ,"Barnet’s hernia operation was not in March 1982, but on 28 July 1982, as he writes in a subsequent letter.
  • 7.
    "on"recte "in".
  • 8.
    "… be well on May ."May 1982 is the month in which Barnet planned to travel to Europe and visit Henze.
  • 9.
    "on"recte "in".
  • 10.
    "to"recte "too".
  • 11.
    "anestesia"recte "anaesthesia".
  • 12.
    "awfull"recte "awful".
  • 13.
    "african"recte "African".
  • 14.
    "withchery"recte "witchery".
  • 15.
    "… and Rachel is near ."Barnet was able to hear both of Henze’s works El Cimarrón and La Cubana, based on his books El Cimarrón. Biografia de un cimarrón and La Canción de Rachel live for the first time in Rostock. See Henze’s Autobiography, p. 395.
  • 16.
    [Figure Description]An arrow indicating a page turn.
  • 17.
    "… turn. invitation from Rostock theatre"It seems that Barnet got this invitation as the trip occurred. See also the subsequent letter in which Barnet writes that he could go to Rostock.
  • 18.
    "… Horizonte Festival for political reasons;"The second “Horizonte Festival der Weltkulturen / Lateinamerika” took place in West Berlin from 29 May to 20 June 1982. Regarding the political reasons, see Barnet’s letter of 11 December 1983.
  • 19.
    "… or Marino"Barnet visited Henze first in Marino and then they went to Rostock together.
  • 20.
    "… DAAD (Bureau Berlin ) ."Apparently, according to Barnet’s hypothesis, the Cuban government could have accepted his stay in West Berlin as recipient of the DAAD scholarship.
  • 21.
    "… or July to September ."Subsequent letters show that the three months as a DAAD recipient from June or July to September 1982 were first shifted to the period from September to December 1982 (see Barnet’s letter from summer 1982) and then did not occur at all (see Barnet’s letter on 11 December 1983), as he could not stay in Europe after May 1982.
  • 22.
    "RFA"abbreviation of "République fédérale d’Allemagne".
  • 23.
    "… d'Allemagne with me last winter"Barnet travelled to Europe from October 1981 until 13 January 1982 at the latest, but he did not meet Henze. See Barnet’s postcard from Seville on 5 October 1981.
  • 24.
    "… editorial machinery in Cuba ."It has not been possible to trace what role Cossio played in Cuban publishing circles, yet he wrote an article on this very subject in August 1982 titled “Un combat pour les lettres”.
  • 25.
    "… Cimarrón ( in situ )."A letter from Henze in response to this has yet to be located. As previously mentioned, Barnet obtained an invitation from the Theater in Rostock and was able to attend live performances of Henze’s two works.

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