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.
I had still much more to say to you, but the letter has become so
long that I should not like to take up any more of your time.
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