Letter from W. H. Auden to H. W. Henze, December 11, 1964
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Absolute Chronology
Preceding
- 1964-11-23: to Henze
- 1964-10-26: from Henze
Following
- 1964-12-21: to Henze
- 1965-10-06: from Henze
77 St Mark’s Place
New York City 3
New York 10003
Just received Teil I of Becky and a photoshot
of Reinold’s translation.*
I see a problem. For a‡ German is not my mother tongue
nor Chester’s. If Reinold intends to make trouble, his
lawyer will dwell on this fact, and demand that we
The on‡
‡ justify an‡ objection by chapter and verse citations.
The only solution I can see is that you write
a fairly detailed description of what is wrong with
the translation from both a literary and a musical
point of view, which Chester and I could then
present under our names (via Curtis Brown).*
As the composer, you, after all, are the only one
who can really say why the translation will not
do. I‡
love
Wystan.
Editorial
Responsibilities
- Editor(s)
- Elena Minetti
- Transcription
- Elena Minetti; Joachim Veit
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
- Dickes, weißes Papier
- Faltung: 1mal längs und 1mal quer; zusätzlich 1mal längs
- Faltspur 4 cm vom linken und rechten Rand
- Wasserzeichen: “Artesian Bond” (“Permanized | ARTESIAN BOND | 50% COTTON FIBER | USA”)
- 1 folio
- 1 written page
- Dimensions: 280x216 [mm] (HxW)
- Rand: 4 cm
- Eingerückte Absätze
Material
Extent
Layout
Writing styles
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1.Handwriting, Auden, Wystan Hugh, ballpoint pen (blue).
Text Constitution
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"For a"crossed out
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"The on"crossed out
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"… demand that we The on"This strange misspelling (see line below) suggests that Auden was copying from a copy of this letter and that at this point he made a mistake, that is, he had written the next sentence before the one he actually had to transcribe.
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"an"uncertain transcription
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"I"crossed out
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"symbols"uncertain transcription
Commentary
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"… a photoshot of Reinold’s translation."Reinold’s translation of the libretto from English to German was ultimately not accepted by the three authors. The study score of The Bassarids states indeed that the text was arranged by Reinold, but the libretto was translated into German by Maria Bosse-Sporleder. For more information see the correspondence between Henze and Reinold kept at the Paul Sacher Foundation.
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"… names (via Curtis Brown )."As stated in Auden’s letter of 21 December 1964, the librettists actually signed a telegram, expressing their disapproval with Helmuth Reinold’s translation.
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"… sent mimeographs of the symbols"The word is difficult to decipher, but it could be “symbols”. However, there is no legend of symbols in the score of The Bassarids. Perhaps Auden may have wanted to print the list of accented words he sent to Henze in the previous letter. Among the documents preserved in the W.H. Auden Collection of Papers at the New York Public Library is a 57-page “typescript (mimeographed) libretto” of The Bassarids. This document might help to clarify this word.
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"programm"recte "program".
