Be so easy to
attain; - but simply the thinking and creative artist must not
allow himself to be misled by it, and must go his own gait
quietly and undisturbed, as they say the hippopotamus does, in
spite of all the arrows which rebound from his thick skin. An
original thinker says, "As one emblem and coat of arms I show a
tree violently blown by the storm, which nevertheless shows its
red fruit on all the boughs, with the motto, Dum convellor
mitescunt; or also, Conquassatus sed ferax."
When you have an opportunity I beg you to give my best thanks to
my old friend Lowy for the letter he wrote me directly after the
performance of the "Preludes." I know that he means well towards
me, in his own way, which, unfortunately, cannot be mine,
because, to me, friendship without heart and flame is something
foreign; and I cannot understand, for instance, why at the
concert in question he did not take his customary place, but kept
back in a corner, as he tells me. Pray when have I given him any
occasion to be ashamed of me? Do I not then stand up in the whole
world of Art as an honest fellow, who, faithful to his
conviction, despising all base means and hypocritical stratagems,
strives valiantly and honorably after a high aim? Given that I,
deceived by my many-sided experiences (which really cannot be
estimated as very slight, since I have lived and worked through
the periods - so important for music - of Beethoven, Schubert,
Mendelssohn, as well as Rossini and Meyerbeer), led astray by my
seven years' unceasing labour, have hit upon the wrong road
altogether, would it be the place of my intimate friend, in the
face of the opposition which is set up against me because I bring
something new, to blush, hide himself in a corner, and deny me?
You did otherwise and better in this, dearest Eduard, and your
conduct with Castelli was, as ever, perfectly right. My few
friends may take a good example from you, for they assuredly need
not let themselves be frightened by the concert which the bullies
and boobies raise against my things. I have, as usual, thought
over your musical remarks and reflections. The fourth movement of
the Concerto, [No. I, in E flat major.] from the Allegro
marziale,
[a score appears here]
corresponds with the second movement, Adagio: -
[a score appears here]
It is only an urgent recapitulation of the earlier subject-matter
with quickened, livelier rhythm, and contains no new motive, as
will be clear to you by a glance through the score. This kind of
binding together and rounding off a whole piece at its close is
somewhat my own, but it is quite maintained and justified from
the standpoint of musical form.
The trombones and basses
[a score appears here]
take up the second part of the motive of the Adagio (B major): -
[a score appears here]The pianoforte figure which follows
[a score appears here]
is no other than the reproduction of the motive which was given
in the Adagio by flute and clarinet,
[a score appears here]
just as the concluding passage is a Variante [various reading]
and working up in the major of the motive of the Scherzo,
[a score appears here]
until finally the first motive
[a score appears here]
on the dominant pedal B flat, with a shake accompaniment,
[a score appears here]
comes in and concludes the whole.
The Scherzo in E flat minor, from the point where the triangle
begins, I employed for the effect of contrast.
[a score appears here] As regards the triangle I do not deny that
it may give offence, especially if struck too strong and not
precisely. A preconceived disinclination and objection to
instruments of percussion prevails, somewhat justified by the
frequent misuse of them. And few conductors are circumspect
enough to bring out the rhythmic element in them, without the raw
addition of a coarse noisiness, in works in which they are
deliberately employed according to the intention of the composer.
The dynamic and rhythmic spicing and enhancement, which are
effected by the instruments of percussion, would in more cases be
much more effectually produced by the careful trying and
proportioning of insertions and additions of that kind. But
musicians who wish to appear serious and solid prefer to treat
the instruments of percussion en canaille, which must not make
their appearance in the seemly company of the Symphony. They also
bitterly deplore, inwardly, that Beethoven allowed himself to be
seduced into using the big drum and triangle in the Finale of the
Ninth Symphony. Of Berlioz, Wagner, and my humble self, it is no
wonder that "like draws to like," and, as we are treated as
impotent canaille amongst musicians, it is quite natural that we
should be on good terms with the canaille among the instruments.
Certainly here, as in all else, it is the right thing to seize
upon and hold fast [the] mass of harmony. In face of the most
wise proscription of the learned critics I shall, however,
continue to employ instruments of percussion, and think I shall
yet win for them some effects little known.
I hear from Paris that at all the street corners there they are
selling a little pamphlet for a sou entitled "Le seul moyen de ne
pas mourir le 13 Juin a 1'apparition de la Comete." ["The only
means how not to die on the 13th of June at the appearance of the
comet."] The only means is to drown oneself on the 12th of June.
Much of the good advice which is given to me by the critics is
very like this seul moyen. Yet we will not drown ourselves - not
even in the lukewarm waters of criticism - and will also for the
future stand firm on our own legs with a good conscience.
