Letter from C. Kallman to H. W. Henze, February 8, 1961

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77 St Marks Place

Feb 8th 1961 ‡
Loveboat,

Forgive our vulgar and prolonged silence. Wystan is ass-deep in translating
Goethe * and I’ ‡ve been suffering with a combination of inertia, sinus, and
having just turned forty.* And then, really, we’ve not got very much to say
outside of compose[sic] ‡ like never before. Well, yes, there are two or three
points now to be made, so I’ll get to them.

Revelly is the only
possible pronounciation‡ * One: reveille: Our English dictionary says: re-VEL-ly. Our American
dictionary says: rev-elly (Like Embassy, like I told you) So[sic] ‡ you can take your choxxx ‡i[sic] ‡
choice. Maybe you’d best have alternate accentuations for England and America.
I don’t know. But that suggestion of reveille as in Frog-talk is ridiculous. and the prosody here demands
it into‡ the longend‡ ‡ ‡ *

Two: You’re right, we’re wrong; it is Haversham[sic] ‡, not Venables.*

Three: This is important. It[’]s about the possibility of restoring a cut in the
second scene of the last act.* Since we don’t have an uncut version on hand, I
can’t say definitely what I mean. but[sic] ‡ I think I can indicate so’s you’ll understand.
What I mean is the whole d e ‡tailed dialogue between Tony and Elizabeth about
their imaginary future married life, the children, the infidelity etc.* I find that
people reading the libretto in its present shortened form get an impression
of chilly abstract personality-lessness from the final scene. So that just
the most important dramatic aspect of the scene, the "lovers" coming into their
own personalities before their deaths, is missing; and what should be moving
is, in its present form, merely theologically exalted. Am I clear? They
need, I am certain, not only the specific looseness of this dialogue to
establish themselves before their duo-peroration, but they also need the
time to establish themselves in the public’s eye as two people alone together
and distinct before their death can be made fully effective. I also am convinced
that the semi-reci tati ‡ve the scene would seem to call for, is a necessary
aural relaxation between the intensities of Caroline’s madness plus snow storm
and the double Liebestod.(Feel free, by this way, to shuttle back and forth
in the voices in this, even though its[sic] ‡ marked as insieme in the text.) please
co n ‡sider this seriously. The last act is quite short as it is. For one
thing, a little more length might convince Gl y ‡ndebourne that they can put
the intermission where God and Auden-Kall m ‡an intended it--after the Second
Act-* For another thing, I’ve been listening to Homburg, and my main and
most serious criticism of it is: too much intensity too closely placed.*‡ * That is to say: Too german[sic] ‡ !‡The
result is slightly wearing on the ear and mind, and one relaxes ones el ‡f in
self-defence by not paying attention or by thinking of other th i ‡ngs. A work
of art should have its own relaxations built into it; and in this case the
relaxation is both dramatically important and emotionally touching. In other
words, be less ernst to be more effective.

That’s all. Please answer quickly and tell us the date of the Schwetzingen
premiere, the cast, and when rehearsals start.* This last espescially[sic] ‡ so’s[sic] ‡ we
can plan when to come to Eu r ‡ope. And it would be nice if we could possibly
see a photo of the decor sketch.*

Love
Chester

Letter from C. Kallman to H. W. Henze, February 8, 1961

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