5. With regard to the co-operation of Messrs. v. Milde and
Singer, it has its difficulties. They are both not without
scruples in regard to the Euterpe, which, though they do not say
so in so many words, might be summed up as follows: "If we co-
operate in the Euterpe, we shut the golden doors of the
Gewandhaus in our faces, and injure ourselves also in other
towns, in which the rule of the Gewandhaus prevails. Ergo, it is
more desirable, prudent(!), for us to act..." The rest you can
add for yourself. Milde complains of the thanklessness of the
part in the "Sangers Fluch," ["The Singer's Curse," by Schumann]
the awful cold of the winter season, all the disagreeables in
connection with obtaining leave, etc. Singer does not know what
piece to choose, and also the E string of his violin is not quite
safe, and more of that kind.
6. Fraulein Genast is in a still worse position, for she is not
quite independent of the intimidation (on classical grounds) of
her father, and is, moreover, engaged for the next Gewandhaus
concert (for the part of the Rose in Schumann's "Rose's
Pilgrimage"). None the less she said to me from the beginning
that she was perfectly ready to do whatever I thought advisable.
In view of this surmise I must naturally be all the more
cautious. She sings on the 22nd in Zwickau, on the 24th
(probably) at the Gewandhaus, and on the 31st in Aix-la-Chapelle.
I have therefore advised her to come to an understanding with you
herself personally in Leipzig on the 23rd, and to co-operate with
you by preference as a singer of Lieder (with pianoforte
accompaniment) at the soiree of the Euterpe on the 29th.
Yesterday evening I marked the following three songs for her, as
the most suitable for the purpose: -
A. "The Pilgrimage to Kevlaar" (composed for E. Genast lately by
Hiller, and still in manuscript).
B. A song of Rubinstein's: for instance, "Ah! could it remain so
for ever!" (Tender allusion to the Gewandhaus!)
C. The three Zigeuner (by me).
The three songs would make up two numbers of the programme. -
I especially beg of you, dear friend, not to make any protest
against the song of Hiller. The plainly fair and just thing,
which has nothing in common with the "elevated right" which is
bestowed exclusively on Capellmeister Rietz and his associates
(as the Leipzig University expressed it), consists simply in not
shutting the door to publicity in anybody's face, or maliciously
and slyly casting stones and mud at him. Regardless of the fact
that we must not expect that they on their side will deal thus
with us, we must consistently and faithfully carry out and
fulfill this simple justice and fairness, and thus show the
gentlemen how people of a nobler mind and more proper cultivation
behave.
