Letter (with Enclosure) from M. Barnet to H. W. Henze, April 17, 1972 at the earliest

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[Typescript]

La Habana 1972 [Not before 17 April 1972] * Mi hermano;

Magnus me mandó un libro bellisimo[sic]‡ con color violeta brilante[sic]‡
y fotos de tí[sic]‡, de Stomu, del propio Leo.* ¿como no me lo habías
mandado antes?‡ Graci‡as por todo lo que escribes de El Cimarrón
y de mi persona.* Ese libro me puso feliz, en medio de todo.

Brother, hace unos días tuve una magnifíca[sic]‡ conversación, formi-
dable, con nuestra embajadora en London, Alba Griña‡n[sic]‡ . Puedo decirte‡
que ella te apr‡ecia mucho, así como a Peter Adams[sic]‡ *; me habló tanto de ti, con tanto
afecto y consider‡ación política que quedé maravilla-
do. Ella es de los que comprenden muchas cosas y son revolucionarios
profundos y completos. Yo sentí un gran alivio al conocer de labios
de ella tus últimas declaraciones‡ en el Financial y otros periódicos.*
Hans, parece que no recibiste la última carta * que te mandé con Leo.
Allí te digo muchas cosas, te hablo de mí, de mi obra, de mi perro
daschshund etc, etc. Tambien[sic]‡ le mando mucho‡s recados a
Faustino.*

Esta vez soy breve porque Leo se va en unas horas y tú sabes cómo
es eso.* (El día que Alba habló conmigo, en conversación muy fructí-
fera, tenía una entrevista con Célia Sánchez y a ella le iba a hablar
de tu situación.)* ojálá[sic]‡ todo h‡alla[sic]‡ salido bien. Sé que pronto te‡

veré aquí.
Hay que tener paciencia en la vida y mucha convicción revolucionaria.
Somos, a veces, poca cosa frente a toda una cantidad de problemas
mayor‡es y no queda más remedio que esperar a que nos toque el
turno a nosotros. Me gustó mucho Prison Song con textos de
Ho C‡hi Min como inspiración. Decidimd‡amente Stomu es una sensibi-
lidad peculiar y dotada del genio más poco frecuente.*

Gracias por el disco.* Si puedes mandame[sic]‡ otro disco tuyo con la
obra de Natascha... *… Esa no la conozco. Hans, cuando teng‡as un
momento de tristeza muy profunda pi‡ensa en mí, en la calle 16‡ ‡,
en el balcón de mi casa, en mi madre que siempre se acuerda‡ de
tí[sic]‡, en Rogelio, en Nancy, en Caita, en todos aquí que no podemos
olvidarte. Cuando te ibas, me di jiste[sic]‡ en el aeropuerto que veías
a Cuba como un gran fresco‡ fresco en e‡l que se léía[sic]‡ la palabra
Libertad. Bien, yo pienso en ti y es un gran fr‡esco también donde
se lee la palabra Amistad, en letras grandes.

Un gran abrazo,
Miguel Barnet

[Typescript]

Havana 1972 [Not before 17 April 1972] My brother;

Magnus sent me a beautiful, bright violet book and photos of you, Stomu, and Leo himself. Why didn’t you send it to me before? Thank you for everything you write about El Cimarrón and about me. That book made me happy, in the midst of all this.

Brother, a few days ago I had a magnificent, formidable conversation with our ambassador in London, Alba Griñán. I can tell you that she is very fond of you, as she is of Peter Adams; she spoke to me about you at length, with such affection and political consideration that I was amazed. She is one of those people who understand many things and are thoroughly and profoundly revolutionary. I was very relieved to hear about your latest statements in the Financial and other newspapers from her. Hans, it seems that you did not receive the last letter that I sent you with Leo. There I tell you a lot of things, I talk about myself, my work, my dachshund dog etc, etc. I also sent Faustino a lot of errands.

This time I will be brief because Leo is leaving in a few hours and you know how that is. (The day Alba spoke to me, in a very fruitful conversation, I had an interview with Célia Sánchez and I was going to talk to her about your situation). I hope everything went well.

I know I will see you here soon. One has to have patience in life and a lot of revolutionary conviction. We are sometimes insignificant in the face of a whole host of bigger problems, and we have no choice but to wait for our turn. I really liked Prison Song with texts by Ho Chi Min as inspiration. Stomu definitely has a unique sensitivity and is gifted with a rare genius.

Thank you for the record. If you can, send me another record with the Natascha work...… I’m not familiar with that one. Hans, when you have a moment of very deep sadness, think about me, 16th street, the balcony of my house, my mother, who always remembers you, Rogelio, Nancy, Caita, all of us here who cannot forget you. When you were leaving, you told me at the airport that you saw Cuba as a vast fresco in which the word "Libertad" (Freedom) was written. Well, I think of you and it is also a vast fresco with the word "Amistad" (Friendship) in big letters.

Warm regards,
Miguel Barnet

Translation by Yolanda Acker

This is a reduced preview. For further information switch to the edition of the Dokument

Sexta Sinfonía

Para Hans Werner Henze

El Teatro se desploma en un aludde astillas invisibles. Una a una las columnas van perdiendosu vieja dignidad. El Teatro es ya un buque anclado en sombrasque es dispone a alcanzar su enorme transparencia.Un arco de fuego se desliza en medio del escenariocomo en un delicado lienzo japonés.Los gorriones revolotean en sus nidos de polvoy los angeles del techo belle epoque escapan horrorizadosal contrapunto y las flautas. Una melodía ya familiar invadelos nuevos pabellones –un ruido de tambores bajo el agua–La sombra que se proyecta en el angulo derechoes profundísima y atraviesa los metales y las maderasy los vientos.Alguien vive por nosotros, alguien no ajeno, canta paranuestros oídos, acaso inaugurando un tiempo que no alcanzamosa ver, a palpar. La orquesta se detiene a un ritmo de sílabascortantes. Los metales retoman su médula de agua, sus cortezaspulidas, sus hojas magnéticas.La orquesta vuela hecha pedazos. Más allá del primer balcón,de las ondulaciones de la platea, del zodíaco, se escucha esta música que no se parece a ninguna otra sobre la tierra.La orquesta se detiene finalmente.Unos aplauden con manos frágiles y dudas. A la salida agarranun fuerte resfriado. Otros permenecen silenciosos y no se muevende sus sillas y no hacen ruidos extraños y no aplaudeny no saludan al director y no inventan fábulas elogiosassino que se quedan allí.Para siempre.Miguel Barnet

Editorial

Responsibilities

Editor(s)
Elena Minetti
Transcription
Elena Minetti; Joachim Veit
Translation  
Yolanda Acker

Tradition

  • Text Source: Basel (Schweiz), Paul Sacher Stiftung (CH-Bps), Sammlung Hans Werner Henze, Abteilung: Korrespondenz
    Shelf mark: Barnet, Miguel

    Physical Description

    • Document type: Letter

      • Material

    • mitteldickes, helles Papier (aber Rückseite durchschlagend)
    • Faltung: 1mal längs, 1mal quer

      • Extent

    • 1 folio
    • 1 written page
    • Dimensions: 296x214 [mm] (HxW)

      • Condition

    • Einige Buchstaben, insbesondere oft zu tief (ein Viertel unter der Zeilenhöhe hängend)
      •

      Layout

    • 2,5zeilig beschrieben
    • Rand links 3,8cm

Writing styles

  • 1.
    Typescript, Barnet, Miguel.
  • 2.
    Handwriting, ballpoint pen (blue).
  • 3.
    Handwriting, black.

Text Constitution

  • 1.
    "bellisimo"sic
  • 2.
    "brilante"sic
  • 3.
    "tí"sic
  • 4.
    "?"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (blue)
  • 5.
    "ci""ic" replaced with "ci"
  • 6.
    "magnifíca"sic
  • 7.
    "Griñ ? a n"sic
  • 8.
    "a""?" replaced with "a"
  • 9.
    "e""4" replaced with "e"
  • 10.
    "r""a" replaced with "r"
  • 11.
    "Adams"sic
  • 12.
    "er""ra" replaced with "er"
  • 13.
    "es"added inline, handwritten, ballpoint pen (blue)
  • 14.
    "Tambien"sic
  • 15.
    "o""a" overwritten with "o", handwritten, black
  • 16.
    "ojálá"sic
  • 17.
    " a h alla"sic
  • 18.
    "h""a" replaced with "h"
  • 19.
    "e""4" replaced with "e"
  • 20.
    "r""e" replaced with "r"
  • 21.
    "C""c" replaced with "C"
  • 22.
    "d""a" replaced with "d"
  • 23.
    "mandame"sic
  • 24.
    "g""t" replaced with "g"
  • 25.
    "i""e" replaced with "i"
  • 26.
    "16"uncertain transcription
  • 27.
    "… mí, en la calle 16"This number is unclear. It could be 16 or 10. It is overtyped so many times that the second number is indecipherable.
  • 28.
    "a""e" replaced with "a"
  • 29.
    "tí"sic
  • 30.
    "di jiste"sic
  • 31.
    "fresco"erased (uncertain transcription)
  • 32.
    fresco
  • 33.
    "e""a" replaced with "e"
  • 34.
    "léía"sic
  • 35.
    "r""e" replaced with "r"
  • 36.
    Following: handwritten, ballpoint pen (blue)

Commentary

  • 1.
    "… Not before 17 April 1972"In his letter of 17 April 1972, Henze wrote that he was in London to record his Sixth Symphony and that he had not heard from Barnet for a long time. It is likely that this letter was written after 17 April 1972 and that Barnet sent his poem on the Sixth Symphony to Henze as an attachment to this letter on the occasion of its recording in London.
  • 2.
    "… , del propio Leo ."Enzensberger had sent Barnet El Cimarrón: Ein Werkbericht, which contains a photo of Brouwer on page 30 and a photo of Yamash’ta on page 31 and whose cover is actually a bright magenta-purple color.
  • 3.
    "… Cimarrón y de mi persona."The text Barnet is thanking Henze for is entitled "Angaben über die Musik", pp. 39-43.
  • 4.
    "… así como a Peter Adams"In his Autobiography, p. 296, Henze mentions that ambassador Griñán had organised a concert on the initiative of BBC film director and Henze’s friend Peter Adam. It is therefore likely that Griñán also mentioned this person in her meeting with Barnet.
  • 5.
    "… Financial y otros periódicos ."It is not clear which articles Barnet is referring to here.
  • 6.
    "… no recibiste la última carta"This letter has yet to be located.
  • 7.
    "… s recados a Faustino ."In this correspondence Barnet sometimes asks Moroni for commissions, see for example the letter of 12 August 1970.
  • 8.
    "… tú sabes cómo es eso."Barnet sent this and numerous other letters through friends, in this case through Brouwer who was about to travel to Europe.
  • 9.
    "… a hablar de tu situación.)"Henze mentions the Cuban revolutionary Célia Sánchez in his Autobiography, p. 300, only once, erroneously writing that she committed suicide in the wake of "Padilla Affair". Instead, Sánchez died of lung cancer in 1980.
  • 10.
    "… del genio más poco frecuente." Prison Song was based on "The Leg-Irons" from Ho Chi Minh’s Prison Diary in November 1971. It was composed for the percussionist Stomu Yamash’ta, who had also taken part in the world premiere of El Cimarrón.
  • 11.
    "… Gracias por el disco."It is very likely that Henze sent Barnet the recording titled Stomu Yamash’ta, distributed by Decca in 1972, in which the percussionist performed Prison Song together with works by other composers.
  • 12.
    "… con la obra de Natascha..."Barnet is referring to a recording of Der langwierige Weg in die Wohnung der Natascha Ungeheuer, which was premiered and recorded in Rome in May 1971.

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