Letter from H. W. Henze to W. H. Auden, December 5, 1965
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Absolute Chronology
Preceding
- 1965-12-03: to Sacher
- 1965-11-25: from Sacher
Following
- 1965-12-28: to Sacher
- 1965-12-09: from Sacher
Mr
Wystan H. Auden
7, St.Marks Place
Greenwich Village / N.Y.City*
in a hurry:
Shortly before the Intermezzo, after the earthquake,
Pentheus says to the Captain:
"Yes, I know. I know. Take all your men. Pursue
Them to Cytheron. Root them out Kill. Kill. Kill.*"
It seems to me that the Captain is supposed to pursue
his men to Cytheron, and that those men should root the
Bassarids out.
If I’m right, than[sic]‡ this meaning does not come out
clearly, as the two "them"
refer to two different
groups of people.*
Please help me to get this straight, possibly by a
return of mail.
All those other things we have discussed on the phone
are being taken care of
immediately.
Love,
Editorial
Responsibilities
- Editor(s)
- Elena Minetti
- Transcription
- Elena Minetti
Tradition
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Text Source: Basel (Schweiz), Paul Sacher Stiftung (CH-Bps), Sammlung Hans Werner Henze, Abteilung: Korrespondenz
Shelf mark: Auden, Wystan HughPhysical Description
- Document type: Letter
- Durchschlagpapier
- 1 folio
- 1 written page
- Dimensions: 280x220 [mm] (HxW)
- Gelocht.
- Rand: 5,0 cm
- 1zeilig
- Absätze nicht eingerückte
Material
Extent
Condition
Layout
Writing styles
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1.Typescript.
Text Constitution
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"than"sic
Commentary
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"… Via S.Andrea delle Fratte, 36"Henze writes in his Autobiography, p. 209, that he had rented a small attic apartment in Via Sant’Andrea delle Fratte in Rome because he would have to go to the Teatro dell’Opera daily to prepare the opera Der junge Lord, which was to be given its Italian national premiere on 18 December 1965, with Henze as conductor. See also Henze’s letter to Paul Sacher on 20 October 1965.
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"… them out Kill. Kill. Kill."This sentence is pronounced by King Pentheus in Movement III, Part 1 of The Bassarids, immediately after the encounter between Pentheus and Dionysus disguised as the Stranger. An earthquake allows the Prisoners, followers of the cult of Dionysus, including Pentheus’ mother Agave, his aunt Autonoe, Tiresias and a young slave girl with her daughter, to escape to Cytheron.
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"… two different groups of people."The two groups of people to which Henze alludes are the captain’s men, on the one hand, and the prisoners, followers of Dionysus (i.e. Bassarids) escaping to the Cytheron, on the other.
