Letter from W. H. Auden to H. W. Henze, July 14, 1966
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Preceding
- 1966-05-08: to Henze
- 1966-04-19: from Henze
Following
- 1966-07-15: to Henze
- 1966-08-27: from Henze
[Manuscript]
Kirchstetten (Westbahn)
Hinterholz # 6
N.Ö.‡
Many thanks for your letter
*. I’m sorry that
you and Chester seem to have been the victims
of a gossip-writer. I can assume that I and, I
am sure, Chester, too ‡, will behave with the utmost
circumspection.*
On one point, I must take issue with you – that
of wearing or not wearing tails.* I don’t think
conventions have changed that much since I was
a young man. I was taught that tails were the
correct wear for two occasions:
- 1) A big ball
- 2) for male‡ artistes of any kind who have to take
a bow from the stage.
As you know, I hate spending a penny on clothes
but I have just spent
5000 Austrian Schillings on
a new Frack. Of course, we will do as you
wish in
this matter, but I think you are mistaken. You cannot,
I’m
sure, believe that tails cause raised eyebrows.*
As for the Easter Mysterium, it is difficult
for
us‡
me‡
to have ideas‡ till we can talk to you.
I am a little alarmed at the idea of getting
a choir
of schoolchildren to perform anything.
Their dancing capacities are very limited. There
is also the question of Th‡ theme. Easter as such is a
Christian Feast which Jews and pagans cannot be expected to
participate in. We might be able to do something along the
lines of a Mummer’s‡ play about the birth‡ resurrection‡ of the New Year.*
But we will speak of that when we meet.*
much love
Wystan.
P.S. As you know, we arrive on the 25th at
Hotel
Swarzindien[sic]‡
, am Mondsee.* Tel. 416.
Where are you staying?
P.P.S. A ’queer’ reputation is an opportunity‡ provides
some people with a motive for malice and ill-will,
but is something we all have to put up with.
Vanessa failed, not because Sam Barber is que
[er]‡
,
but because the work is no‡ good.*
All that‡
The most that the‡ queerness did was to make
some cuties‡ hope it would be no good, and their
hopes were rewarded. From what Chester tells
me about the music of the Bassarids, you are
going to disappoint these‡ the shits.*
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
- Weißes Papier
- Faltung: 1mal quer, 1mal längs
- 1 folio
- 2 written pages
- Dimensions: 298x210 [mm] (HxW)
- Gelocht
- Rand: 5 cm
- Absätze eingerückt
Material
Extent
Condition
Layout
Writing styles
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1.Handwriting, Auden, Wystan Hugh, ballpoint pen (blue).
Text Constitution
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" too "added above
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"male"added above
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"us"added inline
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"me"crossed out
-
"ideas"uncertain transcription
-
"Th"crossed out
-
"birth"crossed out (uncertain transcription)
-
birth
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"resurrection"added above
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"Swarzindien"sic
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"is an opportunity"crossed out
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"er"Text loss by punch
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"no""" crossed out and replaced with "no"
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"All that"crossed out
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"the"uncertain transcription
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"cuties"uncertain transcription
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"these"crossed out
Commentary
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"N.Ö."abbreviation of "Niederösterreich".
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"… July 14 th. 1966"The date is confirmed by references to the premiere of The Bassarids, which was to take place on 6 August 1966 in Salzburg.
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"… Many thanks for your letter"The letter to which Auden refers here was not found among those kept at the Paul Sacher Foundation.
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"… behave with the utmost circumspection."An as-yet unidentified gossip may have commented on Henze’s and Kallman’s homosexuality. See also the second “P.S.” below.
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"… wearing or not wearing tails."The three authors of The Bassarids discuss how to dress for the premiere of their opera in Salzburg on 6 August 1966. Auden’s idea was to dress in tails, as did the opera’s main character Dionysus in one of his stage appearances. See Auden’s previous letter to Henze on 29 August 1964 and his subsequent letter to Henze on 15 July 1966.
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"… that tails cause raised eyebrows."Henze probably disagreed and raised some concerns about wearing tails.
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"Mummer’s"recte "Mummers’".
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"… resurrection of the New Year."Here, Auden alludes to the idea of an opera for the school that was probably to become Moralities, for which Auden wrote the libretto from Aesop’s fables in 1967.
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"… of that when we meet."Auden’s, Kallman’s and Henze’s next meeting was most likely in Salzburg on the occasion of the premiere of The Bassarids.
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"… Hotel Swarzindien , am Mondsee."Auden and Kallman preferred not to stay in the centre of Salzburg for the premiere of the opera The Bassarids on 6 August 1966, but on Lake Mondsee, an hour away from the city centre. See also Auden’s letter on 10 October 1965.
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"… the work is no good."The opera Vanessa had its European premiere on 16 August 1958 at the Salzburger Festspiele, with the original production of the world premiere, first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on 15 January 1958.
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"… to disappoint these the shits."From this sentence it follows that Kallman had already been able to get an idea of Henze’s music for the work.
