Letter from M. Barnet to H. W. Henze, between 15 and February 28, 1974
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Absolute Chronology
Preceding
- 1973-12-31: to Henze
- 1974-02-11: from Henze
Following
- 1975-02-08: to Henze
- 1979-06-19: from Henze
Aprovecho hacerte estas líneas porque un amigo
mío parte para Italia y quiero que ponga la carta
enseguida.* Ye estoy trabajando mucho, muchísimo.
Tengo dos tomos de poemas y muchos son del tema
del amor, en todas sus facetas.* Clare, que en
este campo nos entendemos. Pero, sobre todo porque
estamos colocados en una dimensión que trasciende
las vulgaridades de lo cotidiano. Amamos porque
estimamos las cosas positivas de la vida. Y porque
en el fondo, creemos en nosotros mismos.
Además, escribo mi tercera novela testimonio.*
El tema es complejísimo, así come el languaje.
En sintesis se trata de la experiencia de un niño
cubano en un colegio norteamericano, mundo cerrado
de un ambiente colonial y mundo abierto, cosmopolita
y contrastante de un barrio pequeño burgués de La Ha-
bana, años 1952–62. El título, La Mala Memoria.* Evidente-
mente denunciará los elementos más visibles del colonia-
lismo yanquí en la vida interior de Cuba.
Trabajo con entusiasmo, pero lenta y paladeablemente,
nadie me apura, despues de todo, eso es bueno...
Ugné Karvelis estuvo en Cuba, la esposa de Julio Cortazar,
ella te contará de mi y de mi vida con lujo de detalles.
Sabe casi tanto de mí como tú. Y es mi hermana fiel.
Trata de verla alguna v ez[sic]‡ en Gallimard, Paris.
Hans, cómo me alegró tu carta llena de amor y de entusias-
mo. Que pena que esta vez tenga que escribierte tan pace.
Tu trabajo veo que es muy fertil. Eso es lo importante,
mi hermano. Carlos Fariñas está muy contento porque le
he prestado la Sexta
* y el Disco con lo de Ho ChiMin[sic]‡
*. ––
Tambien tiene otras cosas tuyas. El es muy buen amigo mio y te
respecta y quiere muchísimo. El rapport entre nosotros ha crecido
desde que tú te fuiste. Su música es muy buena, muy humana y muy
intensa en color. Hace días asistí a un estreno de una sinfonía
suya para cuerdas.* Fue un gran éxito de público. El mensaje llegó
a todos con perfecta nitide‡z.
A Leo lo veo muy poco. Dedica todo el tiempo a su mujer, está como
encerrado en sus brazos, aunque trabaja sin fatiga. Su salud tengo
entendido no anda del todo bien. De todos modos le daré tu teléfono
de nuevo.* Quiero que sepas que demoró meses en entregarme el disco
que tú me enviaste con las cosas tuyas y las de Peter Maxwell,* que
tambien es muy interessante.
Henze, ne dejes de enviarme tus discos Decca.* Por favor, hermano,
necesito que al menos tú música esté siempre cerca de mis posibili-
dades auditivas. Escuchándela, recuerdo tu vez, nuestras conversacio-
nes, nuestro diàlogo fundamental, el arco invisible que fabricamos
y que cada día es más tenso y seguro. Parece que Cancer y Acuario
son signos o se odian o se aman. Lo último para nosotros, por
supuesto.* Te envío tres poemas míos del tema del amor.* Estos van
porque están publicados en Cuba. Los inéditos quisiera conservarlos
aquí hasta que los publique. Luego te los mando. Me algro mucho que
estés escribiendo una obra con textos de Edward Bond
*, es muy importante
seguro. Brother‡, noté que un tú última carta, que por cierto está escrita
con agua del Adriático, azul obispo, resaltaban los rasgos japoneses.*
Tu felicidad es la mía, that’ś[sic]‡ all. Mia‡ amores son also angustiosos, pero
son.* Ahora con 33 años*, me doy cuenta que voy desarrollando un sentimiento
más paternal y lo disfruto. Parece que esta vez me quieren naturalmente.
One never knows.
Hans, te envíe mis sentimientos por la muerte de Ingebor[g]
.
Veo que no los recibiste.* Espero que me contestes si recibiste esta carta.
Así te podré escribir con mayor certidumbre. Siempre escribo con descon-
fianza en el correo.* Tranquílizame con este asunto, acusando recibo.
Brother, only because you live there and create music for the soul, life
is worthy. Remember me to Fausto and always write, please.
Fausto, quiero me
envies con alguien
un traje de baño sexy
(Trusa)‡
*
Hans,
I heard‡ comments on The Voice
of Americana
saying the La Cubana
¿Rachel?
*
‡
was a comm‡unist play by a communist
author. ¡What truth! ¡I am proud!
I’m taking this opportunity to write these lines to you because a friend of mine is leaving for Italy and I want him to post the letter right away. I am working very, very hard. I have two volumes of poems and many of them are on the topic of love, in all its facets. Of course, we understand each other in this field. But above all because we are positioned in a dimension that transcends the vulgarities of everyday life. We love because we value the positive things in life. And because deep down, we believe in ourselves.
I am also writing my third testimonial novel. The subject is extremely complex, as is the language. In short, it is about the experience of a Cuban boy in an American school, the closed world of a colonial environment and the open, cosmopolitan and contrasting world of a petit bourgeois neighbourhood in Havana, 1952-62. The title, La Mala Memoria. Evidently, it denounces the most visible elements of Yankee colonialism in Cuba’s inner life.
I work with enthusiasm, but slowly and palatably, nobody rushes me, in the end, that’s a good thing...
Ugné Karvelis was in Cuba, Julio Cortazar’s wife. She will tell you about me and about my life in great detail.
She knows almost as much about me as you do, and she is my faithful sister. Try to see her sometime in Gallimard, Paris.
Hans, your letter full of love and enthusiasm made me so happy. What a pity that this time I have to write to you so quickly. I see that your work is very rich. That is the important thing, my brother. Carlos Fariñas is very happy because I have lent him the Sixth and the record with that of Ho Chi Min. ––
He also has some other things of yours. He is a good friend of mine and he respects and loves you very much. The rapport between us has grown since you left. His music is very good, very human and very intense in colour. A few days ago, I attended a premiere of one of his symphonies for strings. It was a great success with the audience. The message reached everyone with perfect clarity.
I see very little of Leo. He devotes all his time to his wife, he is sort of locked in her arms, although he works tirelessly. I understand that her health is not too good. Anyway, I’ll give him your phone number again. I want you to know that he took me months to give me the record you sent me with your works and those of Peter Maxwell, which is also very interesting.
Henze, keep sending me your Decca records. Please, brother, I need to at least always have the chance to hear your music. Listening to it, I remember your voice, our conversations, our fundamental dialogue, the invisible arch that we made and that every day is tighter and more secure. It seems that Cancer and Aquarius are signs that either hate or love each other. The latter in our case, of course. I’m sending you three poems of mine on the topic of love. I am sending these ones because they are published in Cuba. I would like to keep the unpublished ones here until I publish them. Then I will send them to you. I’m very happy that you are composing a work with texts by Edward Bond, it is very important for sure. Brother, I realised that in your last letter, which by the way is written with deep blue Adriatic water, the Japanese features stood out.
Your happiness is mine, that’s all. My love affairs are somewhat anguished, but they are love. Now at age 33, I realise that I am developing a more parental feeling and I am enjoying it. It seems that this time they love me more naturally. One never knows. Hans, I sent you my condolences for the death of Ingeborg. I see you didn’t receive them. I hope you will answer me if you received this letter. Then I can write to you with more certainty. I always write with mistrust in the post. Reassure me in this regard by acknowledging receipt.
Brother, only because you live there and create music for the soul, life is worthy. Remember me to Fausto and always write, please.
MiguelitoFausto, I want you to send me a sexy bathing suit with someone (trunks)
Hans, I heard comments on The Voice of Americana saying the La Cubana Rachel? was a communist play by a communist author. What truth! I am proud!
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, beiges Papier
- Faltung: 1mal längs
- 1 folio
- 2 written pages
- Dimensions: 223x215 [mm] (HxW)
- unterer Bereich an einer Knickfalte abgetrennt
- linker Rand zur Anrede: 3,3cm, zum Text: 6,5cm (auf verso: 3cm).
- rechts Flatterrand mit meist großzügigen Abständen
Material
Extent
Condition
Layout
Writing styles
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1.Typescript.
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2.Handwriting, felt pen/fineliner (black).
Text Constitution
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"alguna v ez"sic
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"ChiMin"sic
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"e""i" replaced with "e"
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"r""," replaced with "r"
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"ś"sic
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Following: handwritten, felt pen/fineliner (black)
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"Fausto, quiero me … baño sexy (Trusa)"added in the left margin, Text turned clockwise (270°), handwritten, felt pen/fineliner (black)
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"Hans, I heard … ¡I am proud!"added in the left margin, Text turned clockwise (270°), handwritten, felt pen/fineliner (black)
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"heard""" crossed out and replaced with "heard"
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"… saying the La Cubana ¿Rachel?"There is an arrow connecting "La Cubana" to "Rachel" with a question mark, slightly higher on the right.
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"m"added above
Commentary
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"… que ponga la carta enseguida."Several times in the course of the correspondence Barnet sent letters via people travelling from Cuba to Europe, probably both to avoid possible correspondence inspections by the Cuban government and to save postal costs.
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"… mi tercera novela testimonio ."The first two "novela testimonio" were El Cimarrón. Biografia de un cimarrón (1966) and La Canción de Rachel (1969). The third "novela testimonio" to be published by Barnet was Galleco (1981), while the fourth was La vida real, which he seems to summarising here.
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"… título, La Mala Memoria ."Barnet never seems to have written a novel entitled La mala memoria. This is the title of a work published by Padilla in 1989. Perhaps Barnet changed the title of this work in La vida real, a "novela testimonio" whose young protagonist, Juhán Mesa, indeed emigrates to the United States at the end of 1951. In Barnet’s letter to Henze on 8 February 1975, he states that he is still writing this novel. There, he also explains the meaning of title La mala memoria. He finished writing this work in 1976, as he explains to Henze in his letter on 9 December 1976.
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"… con lo de Ho ChiMin"Barnet is probably referring to the recording of Prison Song for one percussionist and tape, based on a poem taken from the prison diary of Ho Chi Minh, performed by Stomu Yamash’ta in 1972.
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"… sinfonía suya para cuerdas ."It has not been possible to ascertain which of Fariñas’ works Barnet is referring to here.
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"… las de Peter Maxwell ,"It’s very likely Barnet alludes here to the recording with the title Stomu Yamash’ta, distributed by Decca in 1972, in which the percussionist performs Turris Campanarum Sonantium, composed by Maxwell Davies in December 1970 and Henze’s Prison Song. Henze had sent Barnet this recording some months earlier and Barnet had probably lent it to Brouwer. See Barnet’s letter to Henze.
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"… último para nosotros, por supuesto."As Henze was born on 1 July, his zodiac sign is Cancer, while Barnet, born on 28 January, is Aquarius.
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"… obispo, resaltaban los rasgos japoneses."The references to the Adriatic Sea and Japan allude to Henze’s relationship with the Japanese glass sculptor Yoichi Ohira, who in 1973 studied at the "Accademia delle Belle Arti" in Venice, the city on the Adriatic Sea, from which Henze wrote his letter.
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"Mia"recte "Mis".
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"… son. Ahora con 33 años"Barnet was 33 years old between 28 January 1973 and 27 January 1974. So at the time of writing this letter he had recently turned 34 years old. For dating purposes, the content of the letter confirms that it is clearly a reply to Henze’s letter of 11 February 1974 and so Barnet’s age here is assumed to be an error.
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"… Veo que no los recibiste."This sentence refers to Barnet’s assumption that Henze did not receive his letter of condolence for Bachmann’s death, which has yet to be located. See Henze’s previous letter, in which the composer tells Barnet (perhaps again) about Bachmann’s death in Rome on 17 October 1973.
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"… descon fianza en el correo."Henze received this letter, which has yet to be located.
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[Figure Description]Little heart with an arrow.
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"… baño sexy ( Trusa )"Sometimes during the correspondence Barnet requests Henze’s partner Moroni to send him objects, such as glasses or here a bathing suit.
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"… saying the La Cubana ¿Rachel?" As in the correspondence between Henze and Enzensberger, Henze and Barnet referred to the work La Cubana as "Rachel", using the name of the main character of Barnet’s book. The question mark next to "Rachel" might suggest that Barnet had not yet been informed of the final title of the work.
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[Figure Description]Barnet’s small graphic signature is found to the right of the text under "Rachel" in the same felt-tip pen.
