Pfitzner, Hans Eric. (1869–1949)
Four Signed Letters, 1932 - 1940
An important grouping of four letters from the German composer and self-described anti-modernist, dated 1932 - 1940 and addressed to various figures at the Munich National Theater concerning the production of his operas. The first letter of minor content, the following three - culminating with an impassioned letter to conductor Clemens Krauss - are important letters, concerning some of his most enduring works and showing Pfitzner struggling to navigate the cultural landscape of the period and stay true to his artistic visions. Much has been written about Pfitzner's complex relationship with National Socialism (see Hans Peter Vogel and Michael Kater, in particular) and these letters - one signed "Heil Hitler!" and one griping about "the Jewish press," are highly interesting documents from a key period in the composer's life and work.All letters typed and signed in ink in full at the conclusions, all in fine condition, with pencil notations in black, red and blue on several pages. Translated from the German, complete in chronological order as follows:
TLS. 1 p. Letterhead of Munich 27, Wasserburgerstrasse 21. April 8, 1932. To Deputy Assistant Under-Secretary Dr. Mezger (Munich, Salvatorplatz, Ministry of Culture). Translated in full:
"Esteemed Deputy Assistant Under-Secretary,
With many thanks for your friendly notification, I inform you that the suggested meeting on April 11, Monday afternoon at 4:00 pm suits me, and unless I hear otherwise, I will be in your office at that time. I have no objection against bringing in the three gentlemen from the board of directors, but I do set a high value on your presence during the discussion, venerated Deputy. With sincere regards, respectfully yours, Hans Pfitzner"
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TLS. 3 1/2 pp. Letterhead of Munich 27, Wasserburgerstrasse 21. February 4, 1934. To General Artistic Director Clemens von and zu Franckenstein (Munich, National Theater). Translated in full:
"Dear Baron,
Allow me to get back to our last talk. You said at that time, that the reason for the complete cancellation of my opera "The Heart" (Das Herz") was, that first of all, the organization "German Stage" ("Deutsche Buehne") had refused to tolerate that this piece be played, and secondly, that the opera had already gone through a subscription.
Regarding "The German Stage", this organization is, after all, only an emergency measure in order to fill the theater, but at such minimal prices, that even a full house does not equal one of good or medium patronage of another, paying audience. Therefore I do not place much value on having my works performed on evenings of the "German Stage", and such performances cannot be a criterion for its popularity.
Concerning the second point, the subscription, you appear to be wrong. For "The Heart" has gone through subscription only in the year of its debut performance, in 31. In 32 it was only in the subscription one single time, otherwise at canceled seat rental. In 33 it was not in subscription at all, but at canceled seat rental. To speak only of the financial value of this piece, it has proven through this, that it is an opera, which can be performed all together without a subscription, which cannot be said about all works. Thus, what causes you, dear Baron, to take "The Heart" off the repertoire, is not comprehensible to me, after it has proven itself to be no less and no more popular than many other operas, which remain on the repertoire. Thus the reasons cannot be financial. That "The Heart" should be artistically so inferior, that it should not appear at the Munich State Theater, cannot be your opinion, or the opinion of the gentlemen of the board.
That would leave the assumption, that a purely personal reason existed, which would move you to dismiss such a piece, which I consider entirely equal in value and effect to my other stage works. But I am not aware of any unfriendly action or attitude on my part. For to hand over the debut performance of two of my greatest works to the Munich State Theater, namely of "Palestrina" and "Heart", cannot seriously be considered as something that gets punished. And I do not think, that I would have been rewarded, if I had not given a single one of my works to the Munich State Theater for the debut performance.
With the expression of sincere respect, Hans Pfitzner"
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TLS. 3 1/2 pp. Letterhead of Munich 27, Wasserburgerstrasse 21. June 6, 1934. To General Artistic Director Clemens von and zu Franckenstein (Munich, National Theater). Translated in full:
"Dear Director,
I have the honor to respond to your letter, dated June 5, in the following manner. You are wrong, if you think, that I had called Deputy Assistant Under-Secretary Mezger, in order to find out from him, whether or not I will conduct the "Vampyr" on the 14th. Undersecretary Mezger called me; I will discuss in moment, why. In the course of this telephone conversation, I said among other things, that I did not know, whether or not I was going to be conducting the performance on the 14th, but that it was important for me to know, as I had to be in Stuttgart on the 15th. Contrary to your opinion, that it was understood, that I was to conduct the work on the 14th, and that any doubt about this could not be possible, I have to say, that I could not know it for the following reasons:
1.) I do not know by heart, if I am at the end of my conducting duties or not, that is, how many times I have conducted. This should be something about which the State Theater would inform me.
2.) Conductor Tutein had been designated to conduct the performances of the Vampyr, which are not lead by me.
3.) In my estimation, the State Theater cannot know, if I am even in Munich on June 14, and if I am available,
for I could not have thought it possible, that the second performance of the "Vampyr" was not scheduled until almost three weeks (exactly 17 days) after the first performance. It was this fact, which to my sense and theater knowledge is terrible, about which I spoke in the Ministry of State (not with Under-Secretary Mezger). This I did on the occasion of a visit I made there after receiving a letter concerning the case Kinz. Of course I do not make any judgment about the leadership of the Munich State Theater on the part of the General Artistic Directorship. But this case concerns me very directly and immediately. (This is not about financial matters, as it is in the case of other agents of the case, for as you know, I do not receive a penny in royalties. If the publisher receives any, I do not know.) It concerns me in regard to my artistic endeavors and efforts concerning the repertoire in Germany, for which of course I do not expect any other reward than artistic success. That success was clearly there to a great degree, as the 18 curtains at the end, and the wholehearted agreement of the entire press has proven. That after such a success the opera was not scheduled for almost three weeks, looks as if, or can easily lead to, that the success will be changed into a failure. And nobody should resent, that I must comment on that.
The General Directorship expresses at the end of its letter the wish, that I should immediately and without detours contact the leadership of the State Theater directly in business matters, as has always happened until now. But the General Directorship itself makes it difficult for me to follow this suggestion. These detours could of course be avoided, and I would gladly avoid them, if a contact with the General Directorship would be made possible on their side, at least in so far, as to answer my letters. I have written a letter to Professor Knappertsbusch on May 16, and today, on June 6, I still have no reply, either orally or in writing. On May 29, I was told by Prof. Knappertsbusch that such a letter could only be replied to orally. However even today, another eight days later, I am waiting for it in vain.
Now, this letter also contained much of a personal matter, which of course has nothing to do with this. What does come into question for this case, is only that, which concerns the General Artistic Directorship directly, and which concerns my purely official relationship the the State Theater. Thus I must claim my right, in vital issues, which are important to me, to turn to an office, from which I can at least expect an answer.
As for the Vampyr performance on the 14th, I agree to take on the management for this evening, but I request to allow for one, better yet two, extensive ensemble rehearsals at the piano, and absolutely one rehearsal on the stage or practice stage for Mrs. Feuge, also the scenes of Malwina. Mrs. Feuge has not had a single stage rehearsal with orchestra, and, as is well know, has substituted without such a rehearsal, and is willing again, to perform without an orchestra rehearsal; however, it is an artistic necessity, for her security, to rehearse her scenes once more on stage with the piano. I should be able to ask your office to let me know the time and place of these rehearsals.
Heil Hitler!
Hans Pfitzner"
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TLS. 2 pp. Letterhead of Munich 27, Wasserburgerstrasse 21. March 20, 1940. To General Artistic Director Professor Clemens Krauss. Translated in full:
"Esteemed Professor,
Following our discussion today, in which we briefly touched on the stage effect, or the lack of it, of "Heart" ("Herz"), I do not want to neglect to sum up my opinion on this matter for you. I do not think that you will suspect that I lack the necessary objectivity in regard to my works and their effect on the audience. In the "Rose of the Love Garden" ("Rose vom Liebesgarten") for instance, I decided to cut 3/4 of one act on account of the stage effect, and with it gave up a wealth of music, which was not among the worst of my compositions. And I do understand clearly, that in an age and environment, in which "Butterfly", "Tosca", etc. constitute indisputable theater successes and dominate the repertoire of every large and small German theater, that my operas will not just like that, and in any circumstance, draw the audience into the theater in droves. But that I do believe in the success of "Heart" with the public, is for the following reasons:
First of all, I have experienced it myself several times, also in Munich. The ten or twelve curtains at the end of the performance, which occurred in the last one I was in, did not happen because of appointed claqueurs. Also on very small stages like, for example, Ulm, which, much more so than the great State Opera of Munich, is dependent on money, it was performed, I believe, eight times.
Secondly, "Heart" has a special place among my stage pieces, insofar as it is much more adaptable to the needs of the stage than my four other operas. "Palestrina" so to speak breaks open the frame of the stage, and really is only to be presented on very large stages. [It is similar with "Rose"; the poor Henry (der arme Heinrich), ein Weihespiel (a consecration play), "The Little Christ Elf", ("das Christelflein") only a Christmas opera.]
Thirdly however, and, primarily, bad fairies stood, not at the cradle of the work, but at its debut performance. As is well-known, it took place in Berlin and in Munich at the same time. In case you are not familiar with the story of the treacherous trick, which the so-called librettist Mr. Mahner-Mons and Mr. Tietjens have played me, I will gladly tell it to you, if you attach importance to it. The fact, that Mr. Mahner-Mons figures as the only librettist on the title page - which is a lie - was suited to discredit the work from the start, because through that, the opinion was circulated, that I had a book written by a writer of kitsch and thriller novels. In reality, he only gave me the plot and the characters, with the exception of the main character. It is understandable, that the German and especially the Jewish press used this chance of attack, and berated the book (the words of which are 7/8 mine) from the start, in a way, that they fulfilled their purpose to a great extent, and made the opera impossible with the public. The libretto: "below Pfitzner's standard, no, below any standard", "Bastard opera", - in a similar vein went 3/4 of the entire reviews. I want to state here emphatically and authoritatively, that I consider the libretto excellent, and the music entirely equal to the best, which I have written.
It will take some time and some artistic work however, as well as campaigning for me, in order to ultimately disperse these unworthy prejudices. But there are not only enemies of this opera, but on the contrary, in reality there are many enthusiastic friends, especially here in Munich.
With these lines, venerated professor, I do not want to prompt you to any action directly. If you will perhaps value these words with time, I will of course be very glad, as I have experienced myself, what you are capable of, when you give yourself completely to a cause. But I did think, that I needed to shed some light upon opinions, prejudices, and circumstances, which, according to my perception, need clarification and discussion. And you will surely not hold it against me, that this should benefit a work of mine, which I do not consider my worst, but which I do see as having been treated unfairly.
With best regards, Sincerely yours, Hans Pfitzner"
This letter is addressed to Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor who became director of the Berlin State Opera in 1935 after Erich Kleiber resigned in protest over Nazi rule. Krauss's own position on Nazism was unclear, although he enjoyed a close relationship with Nazi official Alfred Frauenfeld and it has been claimed that he sought Nazi Party membership in 1933. In 1937 he was appointed Intendant of the National Theatre Munich, following the resignation there of Hans Knappertsbusch. (7919)
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