At Last
The Six First Numbers Have Come Out, And Even If They Are Very
Badly Done I Can No Longer Do Them Otherwise Or Better.
No doubt
you have already received from Hartel the copy destined for you,
and within a short time you
Will receive the somewhat freely
arranged pianoforte edition - for two pianos - of the same things.
I tried at first a four-hand arrangement of them, which would be
much more practicable for sale, but gave up this mutilation, as I
saw that in four-hand pieces the working into one another of the
hands stands too much in the way of my tone-picture. The two-
piano arrangement sounds passable, if I mistake not. Bulow,
Bronsart, Pruckner, etc., have played it several times, and you
will assuredly find in Konigsberg a partner (masculine or
feminine) who will beguile you into it. I shall be very glad if
the things please you somewhat. I have labored too much in order
to realize the requisite proportion and harmony, for them to be
able to give me any other pleasure if some sympathy, and also
some understanding of the spirit of them on the part of my few
friends, does not fall to my share. However that may be, tell me,
dear friend, quite candidly, without any compliments, what
impression the pieces have made on you. The three numbers which
will appear next are still longer, worse, and more venturesome.
But I cannot let matters rest there, for these nine numbers serve
only as Prolegomena [Prologue, preface] to the "Faust" and
"Dante" Symphonies.
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