Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869). - Lot 5

Lot n° 5
Go to lot
Estimation :
1800 - 2000 EUR
Result without fees
Result : 2 000EUR
Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869). - Lot 5
Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869). L.A.S., Paris December 6 [1855], to Théodore RITTER; 4pages in-8 (slight cracks at folds). Important letter about piano reductions of his works. [Pianist Théodore Ritter (1840-1886) produced the piano reductions of La Damnation de Faust, L'Enfance du Christ and Roméo et Juliette]. "I'm furious with you, but furious! Just think, when I went through Romeo's Adagio, which you've reduced to Piano misery, I discovered four abominable mistakes, thanks to which I can and must be credited with stupid harmonies!... Page 5 - 4th and 5th bars, you have had the ingenious idea of putting four times D # in the right hand!!!!! and four times D natural. Where on earth did you get this invention from? And he gives the musical quotation for the horns in D... "Perhaps in the music of the future this note will become D#, because of the upward trend of art. But at this hour, by all the five hundred thousand devils!... no, I don't want to swear, I won't swear; but, thunder of God! can one betray one's friends like that?"... He went to Brandus to correct the remaining copies, "and to have the plates corrected. The plague be on arrangers, one attributes one stupidity to me, the other another! And you, on this very page, had already attributed three diatonic fifths in a row to the left hand; the #'s of the right hand were put there no doubt to compensate". He indicates that he has proceeded to pay "the choir and orchestra" [for his concerts at the Palais de l'Industrie with his cantata L'Impériale]: "They led to scenes of incredible tumult and the utmost indecency. We had to resort this morning to the authority of five city sergeants to maintain order. [At last we're out of this mess; Rocquemont is furious [...] and Mr. Momigny, Mr. Ber's cashier, is astonished to find such people among the artists. I know that there are dishonest people everywhere, and that artists are exceedingly rare, so I'm hardly surprised. He worries humorously about not having any news of the Nancy concert: "The whole of Paris, at this hour, is teeming with expectation and anxiety. I won't tell you the number of people approaching each other in the streets, from the Place Bréda to the Jardin des Plantes, [...] the electric telegraph is mute.... l'Empereur n'en dort pas"... He adds: "Ha! and in the piece from Faust where you forgot to mark the movement at the beginning of the waltz! He adds a P.S. at the head of the letter, advising Ritter not to go and see Marschner, "and to shower Joachim with friendships, if he is in Hanover, and the young Müller (Charles's son) who is part of the Chapelle Royale, and Mr. Rose the 1st Oboe who plays the English horn like an archangel"... Correspondance générale, t. V, n° 2059.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue