Saint-Saëns, Camille. (1835–1921) [Klein, Herman. (1856–1934)]
Autograph Letter about "The Promised Land"
Important autograph letter from the French composer to the English music critic and pedagogue Herman Klein, regarding their collaboration on the oratorio The Promised Land (La Terre promise), op. 140. Paris, October 18, 1887. Saint-Saëns thanks Klein for good news about a performance about his "Psaume" [Coeli enarrant, op. 42], and apologizes for missing Klein on his visit to Paris: "I sent you a message to ask you to dine with me but, either because I had the wrong address or for some other reason, the message did not reach you." He goes on to write about the proposed oratorio, for which Klein would be the librettist: "If the oratorio can be arranged for Norwich, that will be very good; as you say, I will have all the time necessary to devote myself to it, which seems indispensable for a work of this scope. You will take care of dealing with an editor; I would like Novello, but Mr. Littleton junior has been so disagreeable to me recently that I would not like to deal personally with him. Perhaps the success of the Psaume will make him more manageable. Moïse will probably be my last work; it must crown my career worthily." 4 pp. on a bifolium. Light toning; overall very fine. 4.25 x 6.5 inches (10.6 x 16.6 cm).The Promised Land, also La Terre promise (Op. 140) is an English and later French-language oratorio by Camille Saint-Saëns, written for the Three Choirs Festival of 1913 and which the composer conducted at Gloucester Cathedral. Saint-Saëns had asked Herman Klein to arrange the Biblical text for an oratorio, commissioned by the English publisher Novello and originally called The Death of Moses, in 1887, for Norwich. However the Norwich authorities were unwilling to pledge themselves in advance to a work of unknown proportions, and the project was shelved. In the winter of 1912, the composer took Klein's revised text to Cairo and finished setting it by 15 February 1913. It was then chosen by the Gloucester Festival for performance that year, in part due to Klein's advocacy.
A partial translation of the present letter is printed in Klein's memoirs, Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870–1900 (London, 1903). (15655)
Autograph Letter Classical Music