Letters to Melanie Köchert by Hugo Wolf; Franz Grasberger; Louise McClelland UrbanReview by: Christopher HatchNotes, Second Series, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Jun., 1993), pp. 1452-1453Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/899386 .

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NOTES, June 1993 NOTES, June 1993

Jack Stein (Poem and Music in the German Lied from Gluck to Wolf [Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971]) seem to have created a dangerous inhibition. In Stein's eagerness to defend the rights of poetry within the Lied he ignored the power of music to create its independent expressive analogue to the poetry, as Rufus Hallmark has pointed out (in his review of Stein's book in Journal of the American Mu- sicological Society 27 [1974]: 361). Geyer is able to counter Stein's view and show the intimate reflections between the music and the poetry's independent workings in a way few have attempted. However, having demonstrated this successful reconciliation, Geyer's claims for Wolf s musical signifi- cance might have been taken further still. For despite the wide-ranging historical and aesthetic context of his study, he somewhat ignores the wider significance the Lied ac- quired in the wake of Wagner's musical achievements. The genre was seen as a way of paying homage to Wagner's musico- poetic relationships without composers' at- tempting to match the scale of music drama itself. Wolfs conscious adherence to lyrical ideals turned homage into criticism and the Mbrike songs' many references to Wagner's musical style served to highlight the dif- ferent aesthetic ends to which they were applied. As Geyer hints, in passing com- parisons of Wolfs songs to those by Anton Webern and Arnold Schoenberg, their ana- lytical calculation anticipated the aesthetics of the twentieth century in a way still hardly recognized. Geyer's impressive assertion of Wolf s musical autonomy and control should, perhaps, increase our appreciation not only of the composer's achievement within the tradition of Lieder, but also of his wider role in the crucial transition from Romanticism to Modernism.

AMANDA GLAUERT Colchester Institute

Letters to Melanie Kochert. By Hugo Wolf. Edited by Franz Grasberger. English edition and translation by Louise McClelland Urban. New York: Schirmer Books, 1991. [xxxviii, 293 p. ISBN 0-02-873021-6. $29.95.]

For the last twenty-two years of Hugo Wolfs life, Melanie Kbchert was (to apply

Jack Stein (Poem and Music in the German Lied from Gluck to Wolf [Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971]) seem to have created a dangerous inhibition. In Stein's eagerness to defend the rights of poetry within the Lied he ignored the power of music to create its independent expressive analogue to the poetry, as Rufus Hallmark has pointed out (in his review of Stein's book in Journal of the American Mu- sicological Society 27 [1974]: 361). Geyer is able to counter Stein's view and show the intimate reflections between the music and the poetry's independent workings in a way few have attempted. However, having demonstrated this successful reconciliation, Geyer's claims for Wolf s musical signifi- cance might have been taken further still. For despite the wide-ranging historical and aesthetic context of his study, he somewhat ignores the wider significance the Lied ac- quired in the wake of Wagner's musical achievements. The genre was seen as a way of paying homage to Wagner's musico- poetic relationships without composers' at- tempting to match the scale of music drama itself. Wolfs conscious adherence to lyrical ideals turned homage into criticism and the Mbrike songs' many references to Wagner's musical style served to highlight the dif- ferent aesthetic ends to which they were applied. As Geyer hints, in passing com- parisons of Wolfs songs to those by Anton Webern and Arnold Schoenberg, their ana- lytical calculation anticipated the aesthetics of the twentieth century in a way still hardly recognized. Geyer's impressive assertion of Wolf s musical autonomy and control should, perhaps, increase our appreciation not only of the composer's achievement within the tradition of Lieder, but also of his wider role in the crucial transition from Romanticism to Modernism.

AMANDA GLAUERT Colchester Institute

Letters to Melanie Kochert. By Hugo Wolf. Edited by Franz Grasberger. English edition and translation by Louise McClelland Urban. New York: Schirmer Books, 1991. [xxxviii, 293 p. ISBN 0-02-873021-6. $29.95.]

For the last twenty-two years of Hugo Wolfs life, Melanie Kbchert was (to apply

a faddish phrase) his only enduring "sig- nificant other." Frank Walker, the tireless researcher who more than anyone else es- tablished the facts of this composer's bi- ography, believed that without her, "Wolf's life-work, the songs on which his reputa- tion rests, would probably never have been written" (Hugo Wolf: A Biography, 2d ed. [London: J. M. Dent, 1968]: 168). A dif- ferent, if lesser reflection of their intimacy shows itself in Wolf's many letters to Kochert-a "wonderful series ... incom- parably the most beautiful, interesting, and revealing [letters] that he ever wrote, some of them in their way as consummate as his finest songs" (Walker, p. 167). All that re- mains of the Wolf-Kbchert correspondence was gathered together by Franz Grasberger and published in 1964 (Briefe an Melanie Kochert [Tutzing: Hans Schneider]); now this collection of 245 letters has been capa- bly translated by Lousie McClelland Urban.

Despite Walker's praise, what remains may create disappointment. K6chert's let- ters to her beloved have not survived, for none apparently escaped the destruction that Wolf wished for them. As for Wolf's part in the correspondence, it was exact- ingly culled with an eye to preserving only those letters that could cause neither anger nor distress if seen by K6chert's husband, who was, after all, Wolf's patron and friend. Today's readers, like Heinrich Kochert, are left to guess what Wolf may have written in the secret communications. Their very absence gives a mysterious poig- nancy to the letters still extant. (Walker [pp. 364-65] was able to quote at length from one of the secret letters, but this "solitary survivor" did not find its way into Gras- berger's volume.)

The 245 published letters possess a va- riety of merits. Dating almost exclusively from the years 1890 to 1897 and clustered chronologically so that messages seem at times to tumble one over the next, the let- ters both trace Wolf's intellectual and mu- sical life and report his social activity. Sev- eral of the most informative and self- contained runs of letters result from his trips to Germany-to Bayreuth, Berlin, and the Rhineland. In a telling sentence or two Wolf can sketch, often amusingly, the persons and situations that are new to him. His anecdotes and observations usually dis- close some underlying trait of his-a nearly

a faddish phrase) his only enduring "sig- nificant other." Frank Walker, the tireless researcher who more than anyone else es- tablished the facts of this composer's bi- ography, believed that without her, "Wolf's life-work, the songs on which his reputa- tion rests, would probably never have been written" (Hugo Wolf: A Biography, 2d ed. [London: J. M. Dent, 1968]: 168). A dif- ferent, if lesser reflection of their intimacy shows itself in Wolf's many letters to Kochert-a "wonderful series ... incom- parably the most beautiful, interesting, and revealing [letters] that he ever wrote, some of them in their way as consummate as his finest songs" (Walker, p. 167). All that re- mains of the Wolf-Kbchert correspondence was gathered together by Franz Grasberger and published in 1964 (Briefe an Melanie Kochert [Tutzing: Hans Schneider]); now this collection of 245 letters has been capa- bly translated by Lousie McClelland Urban.

Despite Walker's praise, what remains may create disappointment. K6chert's let- ters to her beloved have not survived, for none apparently escaped the destruction that Wolf wished for them. As for Wolf's part in the correspondence, it was exact- ingly culled with an eye to preserving only those letters that could cause neither anger nor distress if seen by K6chert's husband, who was, after all, Wolf's patron and friend. Today's readers, like Heinrich Kochert, are left to guess what Wolf may have written in the secret communications. Their very absence gives a mysterious poig- nancy to the letters still extant. (Walker [pp. 364-65] was able to quote at length from one of the secret letters, but this "solitary survivor" did not find its way into Gras- berger's volume.)

The 245 published letters possess a va- riety of merits. Dating almost exclusively from the years 1890 to 1897 and clustered chronologically so that messages seem at times to tumble one over the next, the let- ters both trace Wolf's intellectual and mu- sical life and report his social activity. Sev- eral of the most informative and self- contained runs of letters result from his trips to Germany-to Bayreuth, Berlin, and the Rhineland. In a telling sentence or two Wolf can sketch, often amusingly, the persons and situations that are new to him. His anecdotes and observations usually dis- close some underlying trait of his-a nearly

1452 1452

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Book Reviews Book Reviews

obsessive love of order, cleanliness, and quiet; moodiness and irritability; or a need for success and an unconscious exploitation of his patrons and friends. At the same time, his thoughts repeatedly convey an ex- traordinary susceptibility to nature's beauty in all its guises, and here especially the reader may surmise that Wolf is evoking states of mind in which his distant beloved would surely join, were they together. On the other hand, he can be a churl, making a small boy's demands on Kochert for ma- terial favors in the form of books, clothing, or food.

Boyish too, but in an entirely positive sense, are Wolfs problematic relations with his creative gifts. One can rightly separate the man from his talent in this way, since Wolf knew that his compositional abilities lay beyond his will's control. For instance, during the fallow years 1892-94 he once told Kochert: "I've managed to write down four measures, but the instantaneous rea- lization that a 'wanting to' rather than a 'having to' brought about this venture made me blush with shame and-so I gave it up again and was even happy about the fact that I'd caught myself in an act of de- ception" (letter no. 82; 26 May 1893). And when the spirit did move him, we see Wolf innocently delighting in his genius, because he took it to be quite literally a gift.

So dedicated Wolfians should get plea- sure in meeting the correspondent who speaks in the Letters to Melanie Kochert. His lively mind and brisk, informal style are well represented in Urban's translation, which turns American colloquial English to very good advantage. In addition to the letters, Urban has carried over the editorial features of the German edition. Grasberg- er's eighteen-page introduction, interpre- tatively rich but niggardly with facts, has been supplemented with a chronology that outlines the major events in the composer's life. Urban has also identified many of the quotations that Wolf resorted to, supplied a glossary of frequently mentioned names, and somewhat expanded Grasberger's an- notations, though the letters' text provides no symbols pointing the reader to these notes at the back of the book. Finally, one may question the retention of the original, largely German bibliography, which has been enlarged by the introduction of only a few new items. Certainly readers of the

obsessive love of order, cleanliness, and quiet; moodiness and irritability; or a need for success and an unconscious exploitation of his patrons and friends. At the same time, his thoughts repeatedly convey an ex- traordinary susceptibility to nature's beauty in all its guises, and here especially the reader may surmise that Wolf is evoking states of mind in which his distant beloved would surely join, were they together. On the other hand, he can be a churl, making a small boy's demands on Kochert for ma- terial favors in the form of books, clothing, or food.

Boyish too, but in an entirely positive sense, are Wolfs problematic relations with his creative gifts. One can rightly separate the man from his talent in this way, since Wolf knew that his compositional abilities lay beyond his will's control. For instance, during the fallow years 1892-94 he once told Kochert: "I've managed to write down four measures, but the instantaneous rea- lization that a 'wanting to' rather than a 'having to' brought about this venture made me blush with shame and-so I gave it up again and was even happy about the fact that I'd caught myself in an act of de- ception" (letter no. 82; 26 May 1893). And when the spirit did move him, we see Wolf innocently delighting in his genius, because he took it to be quite literally a gift.

So dedicated Wolfians should get plea- sure in meeting the correspondent who speaks in the Letters to Melanie Kochert. His lively mind and brisk, informal style are well represented in Urban's translation, which turns American colloquial English to very good advantage. In addition to the letters, Urban has carried over the editorial features of the German edition. Grasberg- er's eighteen-page introduction, interpre- tatively rich but niggardly with facts, has been supplemented with a chronology that outlines the major events in the composer's life. Urban has also identified many of the quotations that Wolf resorted to, supplied a glossary of frequently mentioned names, and somewhat expanded Grasberger's an- notations, though the letters' text provides no symbols pointing the reader to these notes at the back of the book. Finally, one may question the retention of the original, largely German bibliography, which has been enlarged by the introduction of only a few new items. Certainly readers of the

present book do not need to know, for ex- ample, that a German translation of Ernest Newman's work on Wolf became available in 1910.

Physically this sturdy book is well pro- duced. The layout is attractive, and some twenty or so photographs, mainly pictures of persons and manuscripts, have greater clarity here than in the earlier Grasberger volume. Despite a few typographical and other small errors, the whole undertaking has skillfully achieved its primary purpose; that is, the edition of 1964 has been ably transformed into a faithful and accessible English-language version. Moreover, the readers who enjoy this book might in the future be drawn to a fresh non-scholarly collection of letters by Wolf addressed to several different recipients. Such an anthology could be designed to bring out interconnections in Wolfs activity and sequences of events that are scarcely dis- cernible in the Letters to Melanie Kichert. For any enterprise of this sort one can hope that Urban's knack as a translator will be called upon.

CHRISTOPHER HATCH

Dorset, Vermont

How Quaint the Ways of Paradox! An Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan Bibli- ography. By Philip H. Dillard. Metu- chen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1991. [viii, 208 p. ISBN 0-8108-2445-0. $25.00.]

"How quaint the ways of Paradox!" sings Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, when he is reminded that although his chrono- logical age is twenty-one, when counting by his February 29th birthdays, he is but a boy of five. Another paradox is that the cryptic title to this brief volume is one of the prin- cipal clues to its audience and purpose. The compiler's acknowledgements are a light- hearted paean to Interlibrary Loan leading to two pages of introduction devoted to a partial synopsis of Pirates and a capsule overview of the W. S. Gilbert-Arthur Sul- livan collaboration. The table of contents is a bare outline of the classified arrange- ment, leaving the reader to discover by trial and error the scope of materials included and to speculate on the criteria applied to them.

present book do not need to know, for ex- ample, that a German translation of Ernest Newman's work on Wolf became available in 1910.

Physically this sturdy book is well pro- duced. The layout is attractive, and some twenty or so photographs, mainly pictures of persons and manuscripts, have greater clarity here than in the earlier Grasberger volume. Despite a few typographical and other small errors, the whole undertaking has skillfully achieved its primary purpose; that is, the edition of 1964 has been ably transformed into a faithful and accessible English-language version. Moreover, the readers who enjoy this book might in the future be drawn to a fresh non-scholarly collection of letters by Wolf addressed to several different recipients. Such an anthology could be designed to bring out interconnections in Wolfs activity and sequences of events that are scarcely dis- cernible in the Letters to Melanie Kichert. For any enterprise of this sort one can hope that Urban's knack as a translator will be called upon.

CHRISTOPHER HATCH

Dorset, Vermont

How Quaint the Ways of Paradox! An Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan Bibli- ography. By Philip H. Dillard. Metu- chen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1991. [viii, 208 p. ISBN 0-8108-2445-0. $25.00.]

"How quaint the ways of Paradox!" sings Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, when he is reminded that although his chrono- logical age is twenty-one, when counting by his February 29th birthdays, he is but a boy of five. Another paradox is that the cryptic title to this brief volume is one of the prin- cipal clues to its audience and purpose. The compiler's acknowledgements are a light- hearted paean to Interlibrary Loan leading to two pages of introduction devoted to a partial synopsis of Pirates and a capsule overview of the W. S. Gilbert-Arthur Sul- livan collaboration. The table of contents is a bare outline of the classified arrange- ment, leaving the reader to discover by trial and error the scope of materials included and to speculate on the criteria applied to them.

1453 1453

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