Part 17 (1/2)
You will perceive that I am still here, by the advice of Herr Frank and other Strassburg nates, but I leave this to-morrow
In ive a kind of sample of a concert, as concerts here fare worse than even at Salzburg It is, of course, over I played quite alone, having engaged no ; briefly, I took three louis-d'or The chief receipts consisted in the shouts of Bravo! and Bravissimo! which echoed on every side Prince Max of Zweibrucken also honored the concert by his presence I need not tell you that every one was pleased I intended then to pursueSaturday, in order to give a grand concert in the theatre I did so, and, to the surprise, indignation, and disgrace of all the Strassburgers, my receipts were exactly the same The Director, M de Villeneuve, abused the inhabitants of this most detestable town in the most unmeasured terms I took a little more money, certainly, but the cost of the band (which is very bad, but its pay very good), the lighting, printing, the guard at the door, and the check-takers at the entrances, &c, made up a considerable su of hands almost deafened me, and one crazy Those ere present, loudly and publicly denounced their fellow- citizens, and I told them all that if I could have reasonably supposed so few people would have coratis,the theatre well filled And in truth I should have preferred it, for, upontable laid for fifty, and only three at dinner Besides, it was so cold; but I soon warentle ti a concertoIt is now over, but at all events I gained honor and faht louis-d'or, as a precaution, for no one can tell what may happen on a journey; and I HAVE is better than I MIGHT HAVE HAD I have read the fatherly well- letter which you wrote to M Frank when in such anxiety about me [Footnote: ”Your sister and I confessed, and took the Holy Communion,” writes the father, ”and prayed to God fervently for your recovery Our excellent Bullinger prays daily for you also”] When I wrote to you fro myself, you of course could not know, that I should have to wait so long for a good opportunity Your mind may be quite at ease about the ht man in the world, takes eand Munich, and possibly even to Salzburg We actually shed tears e think that we must separate He is not a learned ether like children When he thinks of his wife and family whom he has left in Paris, I try to comfort him, and when I think of my own people he speaks comfort to me
On the 31st of October, my name-day, I amused myself (and, better still, others) for a couple of hours At the repeated entreaties of Herr Frank, de Berger, &c, &c, I gave another concert, by which, after paying the expenses, (not heavy this time,) I actually cleared a louis-d'or! Now you see what Strassburg is! I wrote at the beginning of this letter that I was to leave this on the 27th or 28th, but it proved i to a sudden inundation here, when the floods caused great dae You will probably see this in the papers Of course travelling was out of the question, which was the only thing that induced ed to reence to Mannhein countries it is expedient to follow the advice of those who know froers who go to Stuttgart (NB, by the diligence) do not object to this detour of eight hours, because the road is better and also the conveyance I must now, dearest father, cordially wish you joy of your approaching name-day My kind father, I wish you froood father, whohty that He has perain to pass this day in the enjoyment of perfect health, and i the whole of ood ratulate you every year However strange, and perhaps ridiculous, this wish may seem to you, I do assure you it is both sincere and well-intended
I hope you receivedfurther of M Gri forward raved, or at all events that I have not got them, and when I do I shall probably find theer in Paris, I could have revised theraver was desperate when I told him that I could not correct them, butresolved not to be three days longer in the same house with Gri to stay with Count Sickingen, when he replied, his eyes sparkling with rage, ”If you leave my house before you leave Paris, I will never in ain In that case do not presume ever to come near me, and look on me as your bitterest enemy” Self- control was indeed very necessary Had it not been for your sake, who knew nothing about the matter, I certainly should have replied, ”Be my enemy; by all means be so You are so already, or you would not have preventedmy affairs in order here, which would have enabled me to keep my word, to preserve my honor and reputation, and also to make money, and probably a lucky hit; for if I present o to Munich, I shall thus keep my promise, probably receive a present, and make my fortune besides” But as it was, I only bowed, and left the roo Paris, however, I said all this to him, but he answered me like a man totally devoid of sense, or rather like a malicious man who affects to have none I have written twice to Herr Heina, but have got no answer The sonatas ought to have appeared by the end of September, and M Grimm was to have forwarded the promised copies immediately to ; but M Gri of them, but as soon as he does they are to be forwarded, and I hope to have the can scarcely do without me You cannot think how much I am esteemed and beloved here People say that I am disinterested as well as steady and polite, and praise my manners Every one knows me As soon as they heard anist) came to call on me, and also Capellmeister Richter He has now restricted himself very much; instead of forty bottles of wine a day, he only drinks twenty! I played publicly on the two best organs that Silbermann has here, in the Lutheran and New Churches, and in the Thomas Church If the Cardinal had died, (and he was very ill when I arrived,) I ood situation, for Herr Richter is seventy-eight years of age Now farewell! Be cheerful and in good spirits, and re that his happiness daily draws nearer Last Sunday I heard a new ly written
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Mannheim, Novereeably surprising all my kind friends God be praised that I am once more in my beloved Mannheim! I assure you, if you were here you would say the sa at Madaood friends here, was quite beside herself with joy at seeing , for she tellsmy absence I have not been able to dine once at ho to have me; in a word, just as I love Mannheih of course I don't know it positively, still I do think it possible that I et an appointment here But HERE, not in Munich, for my own belief is that the Elector will soon once more take up his residence in Mannhei subentlemen You know that the Mannheim company is in Munich There they hissed the two best actresses, Madame Toscani and Madame Urban There was such an uproar that the Elector himself leant over his box and called out, ”Hush!+” To this, however, no one paid any attention; so he sent down Count Seeau, who told some of the officers not to make such a noise, as the Elector did not like it; but the only answer he got was, that they had paid their ive them any orders But what a sih our
I have now so to say I may PERHAPS make forty louis-d'or here To be sure, I should have to stay six weeks, or at most two months, in Mannheim Seiler's company is here, who is the director He will not hear ofthis till I have written a duodra hesitate, for I have often wished to write this style of draet if I wrote to you about it the first time that I was here Twice at that tireatest pleasure; in fact, nothing ever surprisedof this kind would ing in it, but ato recitativo
At intervals there is speaking while theeffect What I saas Benda's ”Medea” He also wrote another, ”Ariadne auf Naxos,” and both are truly admirable You are aware that of all the Lutheran Capellmeisters Benda was always my favorite, and I like those torks of his so much that I constantly carry the the very thing I so much wished!
Do you knohat my idea is?--that most operatic recitatives should be treated in this way, and the recitative only occasionally sung WHEN THE WORDS CAN BE THOROUGHLY EXPRESSED BY THE MUSIC An Academie des Amateurs is about to be established here, like the one in Paris, where Herr Franzl is violin leader, and I a a concerto for violin and piano
I found my dear friend Raaff still here, but he leaves this on the 8th He has sounded my praises here, and shown sincere interest in me, and I hope he will do the same in Munich Do you knohat that confounded fellow Seeau said here?--that my opera buffa had been hissed at Munich! Fortunately he said so in a place where I am well known; still, his audacity provokes o to Munich, will hear the exact reverse
A whole flock of Bavarians are here, a others Fraulein de Pauli (for I don't know her present name) I have been to see her because she sent for me immediately Oh! what a difference there is between the people of the Palatinate and those of Bavaria!
What a language it is! so coarse! and their whole mode of address! It quite annoys me to hear once more their hoben and olles (haben and alles), and their WORshi+PFUL SIR Now good-bye!
and pray write to me soon Put only my name, for they knohere I am at the post-office I am so well known here that it is impossible a letter for me can be lost My cousin wrote to me, and by mistake put Franconian Hotel instead of Palatine Hotel
The landlord ied when I was last here What rejoices me most of all in the whole Mannheied his affairs so well They have now 1600 florins; for the daughter has 1000 florins and her father 400, and 200 more as prompter
Cannabi+ch did the most for them It is quite a history about Count Seeau; if you don't know it, I rite you the details next ti, dearest father, that you will ly and so decidedly, that the Archbishop may think it possible I ive me a better salary, for I declare I cannot think of it with composure The Archbishop cannot payAs I said before, I feel the greatest pleasure at the thought of paying you a visit, but only annoyance and arly court The Archbishop reat man with me as he used to do, or I may possibly play him a trick,--this is by no means unlikely,--and I am sure that you would participate in my satisfaction
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Mannheim, Nov 24, 1778
MY DEAR BARON VON DALBERG,--
I called on you twice, but had not the good fortune to find you at hoed, so I could not see you I hope you will therefore excuseyou with these few lines, as it is very important to me to explain myself fully Herr Baron, you are well aware that I am not an interested man, particularly when I know that it is in reat a connoisseur and lover of music as yourself On the other hand, I also know that you certainly would not wish that I should be a loser on this occasion; I therefore take the liberty to make my final stipulations on the subject, as it is iree to write a monodrama for the sum of twenty-five louis-d'or, and to stay here for two , and to attend all the rehearsals, &c, but on this condition, that, happen what may, I am to be paid by the end of January Of course I shall also expect free admission to the theatre Now, my dear Baron, this is all that I can do, and if you consider, you will adard to your opera, I do assure you I should rejoice to compose music for it, but you must yourself perceive that I could not undertake such a work for twenty-five louis-d'or, as it would be twice the labor of a monodrama (taken at the lowest rate) The chief obstacle would be your having told ed to write this work But were you even to give me fifty louis-d'or, I would still as an honest ers! what is to be done in such a case? Still, if on this occasion there is a prospect of its being perfore you; but it is no trifling one--of that I pledge you my word I have now set forth my ideas clearly and candidly, and request your decision
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Mannheiiveness for two things,--first, that I have not written to you for so long; and secondly, that this ti answered you sooner is the fault of no one but yourself, and your first letter to me at Mannheim