Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Relieved all well about the measles; does not think it will spread and is glad the little girl [May Enticknap: see 46/174] is getting better. Would very much like to see Julian; expects he will soon be crawling. Mary goes home tomorrow; she has been very good, and much amused her grandfather, with whom she has long conversations. Sidney Lee stayed last night; the Ernest Trevelyans are coming from Oxford on Sunday. C[harles] and M[ary] cannot come till Sunday morning as it is 'the Ministerial ?Amusement'. She and Sir George will go up to town about the 22nd; she has a ticket for Elizabeth for the concert then. Sends her regards if Mrs Hubrecht [wife of Ambrosius Hubrecht?] is still there; had thought it was 'Mrs Jan' staying with Elizabeth. Glad her son's [Jan or Paul?] expedition is interesting. Hopes Mr Carter recovers soon. Sends love to Robert; hopes 'the musician with the striking name [Benvingut Socias i Mercadé, see 46/174] ' is pleasant. 'What praise of Strauss's new opera ["Elektra"]!'. A postscript saying she is glad 'Patterson succeeded'.
S.Y. Zingara, 'floating in the neighbourhood of Skye, where it rains angoras and terriers'. - Hopes that Trevelyan and 'Mrs. Poet' are well, and that [their son] Paul is recovering. Has almost finished a 'declamatory sketch' of the first act [of "The Bride of Dionysus"]. Sets out the plan describing musical themes in some detail. Mentions some alterations he would like made at various points throughout the opera. Thinks the length is 'practical but formidable' but that it would be a 'great mistake' to cut it.
His theories about 'the possibilities of musical form in modern opera are vastly enlarged and changed': believes that much 'Wagnerism', such as 'the abnormal exaggeration of every pause in Wagner's sentences' will one day seem archaic. Wagner's 'business-technique' no longer impresses Tovey and he now feels, 'candidly' that he can do 'far better himself', in part because he has much better material. However, Tovey is 'driven to despair' by much of Wagner's music - he lists numerous examples - which can make him feel that the only point for him to write music is to amuse himself. Yet he thinks 'the musical patchiness of Wagner is an archaism' and 'the [Richard] Straussian development of the unmusical side of Wagner's technique is... the vilest humbug ever foisted on ignorant journalists by a cad'. Refuses to have anything more to do with 'modern tendencies' in musical drama; ready to learn many things from Debussy about timbre but cares nothing for the 'new doctrines & practices' from any other point of view.
Is visiting the Speyers around the 6 September and asks if they could meet there, or whether he could visit the Shiffolds after that or they could meet at the Dakyns' house over the Haslemere concert. Wants to run through what he's done on the piano, and would be very glad if Elizabeth Trevelyan could hear it.
Grosvenor House, Chiswick Lane, W. - has 'just taken off a pair of white kid gloves' after reading "Sisyphus" for the third time, this time aloud to [his wife] Agnes; claims to have worn them for each reading, as befitting 'a thing so elegant'. Is still 'too dizzy with the brilliance' of the piece to say anything coherent. Is curious about the 'appropriate sort of music'; imagines it as 'a mixture of Strauss the Waltz King with Strauss the composer of "Also sprach Zarathustra"', but there must be 'nothing gross... even the flattest farcical bits must be lightly covered in a starry enchantment'. Does not know how the musician can 'keep within the bounds of the verse', but expects this has been considered and is 'no good at metres'; in any case a listener can understand the lines 'even when mutilated by an unskilled reader', as Agnes followed them easily. Is afraid he took the first two acts 'too pompously', which was not the fault of the kid gloves as he forgot he was wearing them; took the last act 'more lightly and more colloquially' which he thinks Agnes wanted. Much refreshed by reading "Sisyphus", which came just as he had sent the second third of his "[Richard] Savage: [A Mystery Biography]" to the printer, and was kept at home and off his own work by sciatica. Hopes to get to the [British] Museum for more research tomorrow; supposes Trevelyan will not be in London for some time, but would like to meet, and hear more about the music. Postscript asking for a clarification of a point in the text.
Englefield Green, Surrey. - Thanks Trevelyan for 'Henry Adney' [Ariadne: i.e. Trevelyan's first draft of the libretto for "The Bride of Dionysus" and apologises for not acknowledging receipt sooner. Will calculate the length of scenes and the whole, but does not think it will need much altering; suggests replacing the Satyr and his song [Act III, Scene II] with a second chorus of Maenads, and ending the work with a 'short Bacchic-philosophic chorus' modelled on an earlier 'captive-chorus'. Is already very excited about the work, and feels it has 'any amount of poetry & contrast & flow': sketches out the moods of the four acts. Miss Weisse also thinks it very beautiful. Is not sure when he will be able to begin, but will try some 'crude extempore experiments' very soon; doesn't expect major rhythmic difficulties, though he may have to sacrifice certain 'verbal rhythmical effects' which will not be noticeable when set to music. Trevelyan can publish his poem before the opera is ready, as long as they ensure the rights do not interfere with those of the poem: it would be awkward if the opera had to be published without words, or if Richard Strauss were to 'combine Ariadne with an operatic version of Bernard Shaw's Philanderer' before he was ready. Will 'agitate at Oxford' as soon as he starts composition, and ask for help 'in wire-pulling & preparing the ground'. It will be a 'large undertaking' and he fears his intention of doing it with 'a pre-Wagnerian orchestra' will not be feasible; will know more when he has sketched out the first act, and will do it for a small orchestra if he can.
Tovey returns to the letter 'three days later', with about twenty pages of detailed suggestions for the libretto: some of these are alterations of a word or two, others suggestions for additions or rearrangements, to best suit Tovey's conception of the characters and / or musical needs. Has other suggestions which he will make later. Emphasises that most of his alterations are very slight, a line or two only, except for the speeches of Minos and Dionysus in which he has suggested new arguments. Thinks Trevelyan has chosen a splendid story and succeeded despite Tovey's 'croaking'; he has written a play which 'cries out for music & is unlike any opera-book... that has ever been seen.' Will soon be 'boiling over with themes & contrasts'; finds it significant that all the musical ideas he has begun to have so far are connected with points which are 'most entirely [Trevelyan's]', who has taken up Tovey's past suggestions patiently but made them his own; he therefore has no hesitation in sending 'all this screed of details' as he knows Trevelyan will make of them something better than he could have imagined.
Gets through the first act in his head with extempore music, probably a little quick, in forty minutes; this is 'not very alarming' for four hundred lines out of fifteen hundred and fifty lines. Wishes Trevelyan would publish the text 'nicely got up' like his "Polyphemus", and omitting any alterations made by Tovey which are 'merely musical or practical'; it would 'aid its career as an opera if it is understood as literature' beforehand and even performed as such, maybe with choruses set to Tovey's music. Invites Trevelyan, his wife and son, to see 'the Miltonic Arcades' [at Northlands?] for which he has composed the songs.
25 Gillespie Road, Colinton, Edinburgh. - Thanks Trevelyan for the Homeric Hymn [in this year's "From the Shiffolds"]. Has no knowledge of Greek, but has always been 'attracted' Greek art and myth; there is a tendency in her family to believe they lived in Greece in a former incarnation. Repeats how much she admires Trevelyan's "Bride of Dionysus" [written with Donald Tovey]; was 'one of the greatest experiences' of her life to study it then see the performances; values above all the 'spiritual significance of Ariadne's translation'. Is currently studying the score of Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos", which will be performed at the Edinburgh Festival next year; it seems 'clever and amusing', and there are some 'charming melodies', but it is a great contrast to Trevelyan's version.
Her Christmas greetings are late as her housekeeper's son has been ill; they had an 'anxious time' but he is well now. Encloses a postcard of herself from the time when she '"created" the part of Solveig' in her sister Isabelle Pagan's translation of Ibsen's "Peer Gynt" in 1908. This, in Edinburgh, was the first production of "Peer Gynt" in Britain; it was later produced at the Little Theatre in London with the 'help of professionals'. Thinks the play can be compared with Goethe's "Faust", as it has 'the same "eternal womanly" theme', though Ibsen 'makes the ethical teaching clearer'. There was a performance of "Faust" here in Edinburgh in September, by a German company [Gründgens]; the diction and acting were very good, but the scenery 'disappointing' and the lighting 'far below' what she has seen in Britain; they 'avoided magical moments' with blackouts, which was 'very tantalising'.
Christ Church Vicarage, Penrith. - Has meant to write since he received Trevelyan's "The New Parsifal", which is a 'pure joy - so rich in humour and so wise'. Is 'rather sorry' that Trevelyan, in Klingsor's 'Hymn to the Phoenix', 'somewhat parodied a Christian Hymn to the Trinity'; does not himself find 'any irreverence in it', but fears many will who would otherwise 'enjoy the wit & fun of the rest'. Is totally stuck over Klingsor's distinction between those worthy and unworthy to approach the grail: unsure why Strauss and Marinetti are included with 'censors... classical moles... loud puritan asses' in the set of those unworthy to approach, and asks 'Can Klingsor reject Marinetti & Strauss & worship the post-Impressionists'. Apart from these points, has 'nothing but admiration' for the rest. Hears from [Gordon] Bottomley that Trevelyan is 'making progress with the "Agamemnon"' [his translation of Aeschylus's play]; hopes what Bottomley says about [preserving] 'the metre of the original apples to the iambics as well as the chorus'; it would be a 'welcome relief from the oppression of too much of our blank verse'. Hopes Trevelyan will stay for a night if he comes to Keswick or 'anywhere north' this year. Asks to be remembered to Mrs Trevelyan: often thinks of his 'delightful day' with them. Adds a postscript saying he supposes Bottomley is not with Trevelyan; is writing to him today and will address it to Silverdale.