MUSICAL COURIER
54
January 26, 1922
this time that brought Nietzsche fully to an understanding of his own feelings toward Wagner and the final break. Wagner appears to have had no suspicion of the feelings of his long cherished friend, and as late as 1882, five years after the Sorrento meeting he said to Elizabeth: “Tell your brother that I am quite alone since he went away and left me.”
Parsifal Did It.
The actual determining cause of the break seems to have been Parsifal. Had Wagner contemplated it simply as an art-work all would have been, well, but that he should believe what he wrote, or pretend to believe it, seemed _ to Nietzsche the height of hypocrisy. He writes: “It is impossible for me to recognize greatness which is not united with candor and sincerity toward one’s self. The moment I make a discovery of this sort, a man’s achievements count for absolutely nothing with me.”
Had Nietzsche been less passionate and more logical he would have seen that in this poor old world of ours achievement counts for everything and nothing else matters very much. Wagner, too, was a sincere and devoted friend. Nietzsche never, had anything to complain of on that score. Wagner treated him like his own child, and when Nietzsche turned against him he must have felt that he had lost a very dear son through no fault of his own.
On the whole, with all the admiration in the world for his indubitable genius, it is impossible to find excuses for Nietzsche, or to admire him as a man. His treatment of Wagner has the appearance of having been selfish, unnecessary and inexcusable. Anything like loyalty, except to his own ideals (?), was foreign to his nature. The best that can be said for him is that, having changed his views, he was unwilling to play the hypocrite.
Althouse Appears in Greeley, Col.
Greeley, Col., January 10, 1922.—Under the auspices of the Artists’ Series at the College Gymnasium on Wednesday evening, January 4, Paul Althouse, tenor of the Metropolitan Opera Company, assisted by Rudolph Gruen, pianist, delighted a good sized audience in a program that left little to be desired. Mr. Althouse was in excellent voice and came in for full honors with his listeners. Nor must the artistic work of Mr. Gruen be forgotten. Both artists made a deep impression upon the audience.	K. L.
Helen Thomas Sings Krebs Song
At the concert given January IS in the Hotel Majestic, Helen Thomas, a soprano with clear tone and pleasing appearance, sang S. Walter Krebs’ “America, We Live for Thee!’’ She is going on a ten weeks’ tour and will include “America, We Live for Thee!” on her programs.
Musicians’ Club to Dine Coates
The Musicians’ Club will give a dinner at Delmonico’s on Thursday evening, February 9, to Mr. and Mrs. Albert Coates, at which most of the prominent local and visiting representatives of the tonal art will be present.
USODER-HUEGK
THE EMINENT VOICE TRAINEE AND COACH
Maker of many Singera now prominent before the publie. Famous for her eorreet Voice Placement and Tone Development. Engagements secured.
Write for Booklet
Metropolitan Opera House Studio» 1425 Broadway, New York
־־־־־■.a .
&BACH
/Xt s O ¿J. Í ¿lit
PIANOS
THE WAGNER-NIETZSCHE CORRESPONDENCE
(Continued from page 10)
of that place in the struggling, pre-festival days that Nietzsche first came upon the thought that he might some day break with his_ friend. “He was seized with the dread presentiment _ that in order to remain Wagner’s friend he would be obliged to renounce his own path of future growth an4 development.” He felt keenly disappointed at not finding in Bayreuth, as in the dear old days in Tribschen, the same understanding for his world of ideas.
How Nietzsche’s Success Came.
But to this, as has already been pointed out by Mr. Mencken, Nietzsche owed his ultimate success. It prevented him from sinking into the obscurity of a mere professor of philology, dreaming only of the problems of the Greeks. It brought his mind forcibly to modern problems, the problem of German culture, of Germany’s failure to understand Wagner, the greatest of all Germans; and it led^ to the production of the remarkable series of essays entitled “Thoughts Out of Season,” which first indicated his amazing originality. He determined to throw all of his energies into the Bayreuth endeavor, and wrote an “Appeal” to the German people, which, however, was never distributed. And it is hard to see, in fact, what Nietzsche ever did for Wagner in a practical way.
It is equally difficult to understand how and why at this time (1874) he should have suddenly begun to find fault with Wagner, not the man but his work. What his sister says of it does not appeal to the logical mind. “No stronger proof has ever been given of my brother’s sincerity and uncompromising love of truth than in thus accepting the challenge of his conscience, although this meant the shattering of one of his beautiful illusions.”
“Love of truth? ._ .	. beautiful illusions?” .
What truth? What illusions? Why this sudden change of front, this repudiation of his own earlier judgment? As a mere youth he had formed an amazingly correct opinion of Wagner’s art in the face of an almost solid front of adverse critical opinion. Then, some years later, in the interests of “truth” he discovers that this is an “illusion,” that he has wasted his enthusiasm upon something unworthy! How entirely incorrect this revised judgment was may be perceived from a single passage from his notebook written at the time and published posthumously: “The music is not of much value, likewise the poetry, and the drama even less.”
And when Wagner’s efforts were finally crowned with success, and the date of the first great Bayreuth festival fixed for 1876, he writes: “If this miracle be true, the result of my investigation will, nevertheless, remain.” This “miracle” as he called it was nothing more than Wagner’s self-confidence, perseverance and tenacity. That, indeed, was a miracle, though Nietzsche seems to have been unable to perceive it.
Nietzsche’s Mental State.
This whole period in the life of Nietzsche was full of strange contradictions (and it is to be observed that, although we are considering the Wagner-Nietzsche correspondence, we are dealing more with Nietzsche and his mental state than with Wagner, who was concerned with more important and practical things than introspection and psychoanalysis). Nietzsche fell into a state of melancholy which arose from his disappointment in regard to Wagner and Wagner’s failures to realize his (Nietzsche’s) ideal of the artist and the man. What he expected is not clear. However, in the third of his “Thoughts Out of Season” he turns about again and declares that it is only by clinging with devotion to some great man that the individual is vouchsafed the first consecration of culture, and then again he takes another turn and writes: “The tyrant admits no individuality other than his own and that of his most intimate_ friends. The danger is great for Wagner when he is unwilling to grant anything to Brahms or to the Jews.”
Nietzsche’s sister, in editing this correspondence, apparently wishes to defend her brother, and endeavors to show that Wagner was partly to blame for the ultimate breaking of the friendship. That is a point of view that is not borne out by_ any of the correspondence here published. At the very time when Nietzsche was filling his notebooks with secret denunciations of Wagner, Wagner was welcoming his writings with his usual show of devoted attachment and appreciation. Furthermore, and what is far more practical and more to the point, Wagner, in building his Bayreuth home, “Wahnfried,” made arrangements to offer Nietzsche “an asylum at any time such as was never offered to me even in the time of my direst necessity.” But Nietzsche had no idea of accepting this sort of beneficient hospitality, and spent his time writing Wagner gloomy, melancholy and despairing letters while at the same time, he was enjoying a gay social life at Basle.
In 1875 Nietzsche’s old admiration for Wagner and his art was revived, and for a time his severe criticism was relegated to the background, but the festival of 1876 seems to have filled him with disgust and he says of it, referring, presumably, to the Nibelungen Ring: “The preponderance of strong spices, the ugly and the grotesque thoroughly repelled me.” He blamed Wagner for the quality of his audience, and seems to have felt that the wealthy people who made the festival possible should have stayed away from it because they were unable to attain to such exalted heights of art as Nietzsche dreamed of. This, indeed, seems to have been the beginning of his madness. His nerves were in such an exhausted state that that which deeply thrills most of us aroused in him a feeling of irritation. His criticisms are interesting: “His music is addressed to inartistic persons . . . Wagner has no genuine confidence in music ... He tunes himself to the key of others . . . His soul does not sing . . . The music is never quite natural, but is a sort of acquired language ... It is_ inarticulate music, as wild as a bad dream . . . This volubility with nothing to say is distressing _. . . How it all disgusts me ... We are witnessing the death agony of the last great art: Bayreuth has convinced me of this.”
And so, full of disgust, Nietzsche fled Bayreuth and went, for his health, to Italy—Sorrento. On his way to Italy he learned that the Wagners had also chosen Sorrento as their plaee e* sojourn, and it was the close association of
THE HIGHER TECHNIQUE OF SINGING w. Y”W	T1 Author of the Unique Book
HENRI	“£he Poetical Psychology of
״	.	.	, ,	Voice, pub. G. Schirmer
Complete vocal method Studio: 50 West 67th Street
RENATO ZANELLI
BARITONE, METROPOLITAN OPERA COMPANY
ARTHUR J. HUBBARD INSTRUCTOR
Assistants { CaioUnVia (foker" ^ SYMPHONY CHAMBERS, BOSTON
GEORGE E. Teacher of Vocal Art
and Operatic Acting.
545 W. 111th St, New York ,Phone Cathedral 6149
CARL BEUTEL
American Pianist and Composer CONCERT AND LECTURE RECITAL
Management: JOHN WESLEY MILLER. 1400 Broadwnj, New York Cltr
EDGAR
STILLMAN KELLEY
NEW YORK. N. Y.
STEINWAY HALL
£tlRIIRIIRI!RRRIIRIIRIIRIIRIIRIIRIIRIIRIIRIIRIIRIIRilRtlRIIRI|R||R|jR||R|[RllRI|R||R||R|[R||R|jR|||||R|iajianjL
! Celestine Gornelison I
I	MEZZO-SOPRANO
TEACHER OF SINGING
1 STUDIO, 3122 EUCLID AVE.	CLEVELAND, OHIO |
rill ■IIR1I RII RIIRIIRIiaillliaiiail III aiiaiiaiiaiiaiiaiiaiia]ia]iaiiaijaiiaiiai|a||a||a||l||l|jll|a|laila||lHailp
l RIEMENSCHNEIDER
PIANIST
(with LESCHETIZKY 1903-06) STUDIO: 722 The Arcade, Cleveland, O.
Information Bureau
OF THE MUSICAL COURIER
This department, which has been in successful operation for the past number^ of years, will continue to furnish information on all subjects of interest to our readers, free of charge.
With the facilities at the disposal of the Musical Courier it is qualified to dispense information on all musical subjects, making the department of value.
The Musical Courier will not, however, consent to act as intermediary between artists, managers and organizations. It will merely furnish facts.
All communications should be addressed Information Bureau, Musical Courier 437 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y.
OSCAR
SAENGER
Studios: 6 East Eighty-first Street
Consultation* and voice trials by appointment only Tel. Lenox 687	L. Lilly, Sec’y
Music and Musicianship
Developed by
Scientific Musical Pedagogy
Demonstrations for
Singers, Pianists and Teachers EFFA ELLIS PERFIELD
Bryant 7233. 41^ West 45th Street New Y ork City