fmb-1833-03-19-01

            Berlin 19th March 1833. My dear Sir
It is long since I received your kind letter and indeed I feel ashamed to have been silent so very long; but the fact is I had little to tell about myself that could have given you pleasure and my dispositions of mind was such as not to allow me to forget myself for a while and give a description of the things around. So that I preferred being silent to a letter without interest, and I write at present only in order to tell you that I expect to see you in very short time and that I shall endeavour then to excuse my negligence in answering and in composing. That also was a reason why I felt not able to write to you; the compositions which I was to send you with my letter are still unfinished, soon after my first letter I began to feel so very unwell that I did everything with disgust and could not even think of music, it was I think still a remnant of the Cholera that I had in Paris, for I never felt anything like it before; I was obliged to leave off all musical occupations and only since some months I have felt well enough to set at work again. – Now I am happy to say I feel better then long before, my compositions are getting on, and even those that are begun since so many months I hope to finish before my departure and bring over with me. I cannot describe you how great a delight I anticipate from my visit to London this spring; I hope to enjoy it even more then during my former stay, when I was rather too fidgetty & hurried which shall not be so much the case this time, I think. You promised me in your last letter to give me more frequent opportunities of seeing you and your family; I hope you will not forget that kind promise and if you would I should remind you of it, for I must hear and make a great deal of music with you, you will have new compositions to show me, (I declare that this time I must hear you play the organ) and you will tell me your opinion of mine. The Organ fugue which you wanted to have is finished and I am exceedingly anxious to know whether you will approve of it or not, for till now I like it very much myself. But that may pass away before I give it to you, as I have often experienced it, particularly as it is just finished and as I like everything during my writing it and perceive the faults only after some time, when I grow colder. I was willing to give you a bad idea of our musical taste here, especially in the theatres, but I have heard these days a performance of Mozart’s Zauberflöte, which would have given you great pleasure, could you have been present. It was indeed one of the best performances of that Opera, that one might hear; every body the first singer as well as the last double bass player, were full of enthusiasm for that most beautifull master piece, and this feeling throughout the whole gave an unity to the performance as is seldom heard here. It showed again how great the powers are, and what a pity it is they are not better, or not at all employed; for every man in the orchestra knows music well and feels it, and only the „chefs“ are cold, negligent or incapable. The reason of it appears to be a very complicated one, for this is not only in the theatre, but in almost all our public institutions and establishments, in sciences as well as in political affairs and in arts etc. to be complained of, when in other countries it is often the contrary.
I saw Mr. Simpsone some time ago, he then promised me to send me the portrait, which Mrs. Novello wanted to have, that I might take it over with me for you; but he informed me last week he had sent it already with another opportunity, and was to give me other things for your family before I should leave Berlin, which I shall probably do on the 15th of next month. I think therefore to be in London not later than the 22d of April; this is sooner than I formerly intended, but I shall lose a week or more of my residence, as in the course of May I must go back to Dusseldorf on the Rhine, where I am to conduct the annual musical festival, after which I shall return to London. These festivals are so very famous in this country, that I could not decline it, though I regret the time, that I lose by it in England.
Pray, my dear Sir, excuse this bad and negligent letter, but I am not able to write quietly, when I know I shall see you again in few weeks and tell what I had to write to you. My best compliments and wishes to your daughter and to your son Edward and believe me very truly yours
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.          

            <TEI xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0 ../../../fmbc_framework/xsd/fmb-c.xsd" xml:id="fmb-1833-03-19-01" xml:space="default"> <teiHeader xml:lang="de"> <fileDesc> <titleStmt> <title key="fmb-1833-03-19-01" xml:id="title_31cdf0f4-7089-475f-9ccd-5a7b67316321">Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy an Vincent Novello in London<lb></lb>Berlin, 19. März 1833</title> <title level="s" type="incipit" xml:id="title_8096c3ef-4adb-4901-90f4-955a92ec9f88">It is long since I received your kind letter and indeed I feel ashamed to have been silent so very long; but the fact is I had little to tell about myself that could have</title> <title level="s" type="sub" xml:id="title_d9174cf0-4718-4c5b-84b7-f125c786c769">Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Correspondence Online (FMB-C)</title> <title key="not_yet_determined" type="precursor">noch nicht ermittelt</title> <title key="not_yet_determined" type="successor">noch nicht ermittelt</title> <author key="PSN0000001">Mendelssohn Bartholdy (bis 1816: Mendelssohn), Jacob Ludwig Felix (1809-1847)</author><respStmt><resp resp="writer"></resp><persName key="PSN0000001" resp="writer">Mendelssohn Bartholdy (bis 1816: Mendelssohn), Jacob Ludwig Felix (1809-1847)</persName></respStmt><respStmt resp="transcription"> <resp resp="transcription">Transkription: </resp> <name resp="transcription">FMB-C</name> </respStmt> <respStmt resp="edition"> <resp resp="edition">Edition: </resp> <name resp="edition">FMB-C</name> </respStmt> </titleStmt> <publicationStmt> <publisher>Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Correspondence Online-Ausgabe (FMB-C). Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Medienwissenschaft. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin</publisher> <address> <street>Am Kupfergraben 5</street> <placeName> <settlement>10117 Berlin</settlement> <country>Deutschland</country> </placeName> </address> <idno type="URI">http://www.mendelssohn-online.com</idno> <availability> <licence target="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)</licence> </availability> <idno type="MSB">Bd. 3, 688</idno> </publicationStmt> <seriesStmt> <p>Maschinenlesbare Übertragung der vollständigen Korrespondenz Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdys (FMB-C)</p> </seriesStmt> <sourceDesc source="edition_template_manuscript" xml:id="sourceDesc_81e03a59-3fde-4ef7-8f2a-d82164d6ba53"> <msDesc> <msIdentifier> <country>Großbritannien</country> <settlement>London</settlement> <institution key="RISM">GB-Lbl</institution> <repository>London, The British Library</repository> <collection>-</collection> <idno type="signatur">Add. MS. 11730, fol. 131-132.</idno> </msIdentifier> <msContents> <msItem> <idno type="autograph">Autograph</idno> <title key="fmb-1833-03-19-01" type="letter" xml:id="title_6c8c4a9d-cb05-4daf-a6e3-646a9b3367ea">Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy an Vincent Novello in London; Berlin, 19. März 1833</title> <incipit>It is long since I received your kind letter and indeed I feel ashamed to have been silent so very long; but the fact is I had little to tell about myself that could have</incipit> </msItem> </msContents> <physDesc> <p>4 beschr. S.; Bemerkung von fremder Hand auf der ersten Briefseite oben links: »(from Mendelssohn)«; Adresse, mehrere Poststempel, Bemerkungen von fremder Hand auf der Adressenseite: »Bis zur Visite / 14.« und »(From Felix Mendelssohn)«.</p> <handDesc hands="1"> <p>Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy</p> </handDesc> <accMat> <listBibl> <bibl type="none"></bibl> </listBibl></accMat> </physDesc> <history> <provenance> <p>-</p> </provenance> </history> <additional> <listBibl> <bibl type="copy_from_foreign_hand"> Druck </bibl> <bibl type="printed_letter">Max Unger, Von Mendelssohn-Bartholdys Beziehungen zu England. Fünf englische Briefe des Meisters, mitgeteilt, ins Deutsche übersetzt und besprochen (Musikalisches Magazin, Heft 30), Langensalza 1910, S. 12-17.</bibl> </listBibl> </additional> </msDesc> </sourceDesc> </fileDesc> <encodingDesc><projectDesc><p>Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Correspondence Online-Ausgabe FMB-C: Digitale Edition der vollständigen Korrespondenz Hin- und Gegenbriefe Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdys auf XML-TEI-Basis.</p></projectDesc><editorialDecl><p>Die Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Correspondence Online-Ausgabe FMB-C ediert die Gesamtkorrespondenz des Komponisten Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy 1809-1847 in Form einer digitalen, wissenschaftlich-kritischen Online-Ausgabe. Sie bietet neben der diplomatischen Wiedergabe der rund 6.000 Briefe Mendelssohns erstmals auch eine Gesamtausgabe der über 7.200 Briefe an den Komponisten sowie einen textkritischen, inhalts- und kontexterschließenden Kommentar aller Briefe. Sie wird ergänzt durch eine Personen- und Werkdatenbank, eine Lebenschronologie Mendelssohns, zahlreicher Register der Briefe, Werke, Orte und Körperschaften sowie weitere Verzeichnisse. Philologisches Konzept,  Philologische FMB-C-Editionsrichtlinien: Uta Wald, Dr. Ulrich Taschow. Digitales Konzept, Digitale FMB-C-Editionsrichtlinien: Dr. Ulrich Taschow. Technische Konzeption der Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Correspondence FMB-C Ausgabe und Webdesign: Dr. Ulrich Taschow.</p></editorialDecl></encodingDesc> <profileDesc> <creation> <date cert="high" when="1833-03-19" xml:id="date_ea0ff8e4-9acc-45be-b1a0-8e160f107560">19. März 1833</date></creation> <correspDesc> <correspAction type="sent"> <persName key="PSN0000001" resp="author" xml:id="persName_f12d84bd-406e-487d-8a01-4e33cf319a4b">Mendelssohn Bartholdy (bis 1816: Mendelssohn), Jacob Ludwig Felix (1809-1847)</persName><note>counter-reset</note><persName key="PSN0000001" resp="writer">Mendelssohn Bartholdy (bis 1816: Mendelssohn), Jacob Ludwig Felix (1809-1847)</persName> <placeName type="writing_place" xml:id="placeName_47b8a7e0-fcf8-46fc-bb79-f7ae35c59af0"> <settlement key="STM0100101">Berlin</settlement> <country>Deutschland</country></placeName> </correspAction> <correspAction type="received"> <persName key="PSN0113627" resp="receiver" xml:id="persName_3c0cc51f-33b5-4fab-b86f-cc3ce6b82830">Novello, Vincent (1781-1861)</persName> <placeName type="receiving_place" xml:id="placeName_dbaf2b88-5a47-44e6-853c-b0a8eef2d3b4"> <settlement key="STM0100126">London</settlement> <country>Großbritannien</country></placeName> </correspAction> </correspDesc> <langUsage> <language ident="en">englisch</language> </langUsage> </profileDesc> <revisionDesc status="draft">  </revisionDesc> </teiHeader> <text type="letter"> <body> <div type="address" xml:id="div_16ec15a3-c382-4815-9151-c3ee407f8c53"> <head> <address> <addrLine>Esqu.</addrLine> <addrLine>London.</addrLine> <addrLine>67 Frith Street</addrLine> <addrLine>Soho Square</addrLine> <addrLine>Hamburgh &amp; steamboat.</addrLine> </address> </head> </div> <div n="1" type="act_of_writing" xml:id="div_832b1636-cfd7-4556-adf1-6162594b2c0c"> <docAuthor key="PSN0000001" resp="author" style="hidden">Mendelssohn Bartholdy (bis 1816: Mendelssohn), Jacob Ludwig Felix (1809-1847)</docAuthor> <docAuthor key="PSN0000001" resp="writer" style="hidden">Mendelssohn Bartholdy (bis 1816: Mendelssohn), Jacob Ludwig Felix (1809-1847)</docAuthor> <dateline rend="right">Berlin <date cert="high" when="1833-03-19" xml:id="date_15118bbd-c037-4c0e-ba41-2de8f7dcd7bc">19<hi rend="superscript">th</hi> March 1833</date>.</dateline> <salute rend="left">My dear Sir</salute> <p style="paragraph_without_indent">It is long since I received your kind letter and indeed I feel ashamed to have been silent so very long; but the fact is I had little to tell about myself that could have given you pleasure and my dispositions of mind was such as not to allow me to forget myself for a while and give a description of the things around. So that I preferred being silent to a letter without interest, and I write at present only in order to tell you that I expect to see you in very short time and that I shall endeavour then to excuse my negligence in answering and in composing. That also was a reason why I felt not able to write to you; the compositions which I was to send you with my letter are still unfinished, soon after my first letter I began to feel so very unwell that I did everything with disgust and could not even think of music, it was I think still a remnant of the Cholera that I had in Paris, for I never felt anything like it before; I was obliged to leave off all musical occupations and only since some months I have felt well enough to set at work again. – Now I am happy to say I feel better then long before, my compositions are getting on, and even those that are begun since so many months I hope to finish before my departure and bring over with me. I cannot describe you how great a delight I anticipate from my visit to London this spring; I hope to enjoy it even more then during my former stay, when I was rather too fidgetty &amp; hurried which shall not be so much the case this time, I think. You promised me in your last letter to give me more frequent opportunities of seeing you and <persName xml:id="persName_4179387a-379a-4789-8242-c65ccd9b25a1">your family<name key="PSN0113620" style="hidden">Novello, Familie von → Vincent N.</name></persName>; I hope you will not forget that kind promise and if you would I should remind you of it, for I must hear and make a great deal of music with you, you will have new compositions to show me, (I declare that this time I <hi rend="underline">must</hi> hear you play the organ) and you will tell me your opinion of mine. The <title xml:id="title_c46605b6-ddba-4b48-b0cd-d83871333ae8">Organ fugue<list style="hidden" type="fmb_works_directory" xml:id="title_s72xjsaz-y5n7-gdty-szcq-a44gawqw8ebw"> <item n="1" sortKey="musical_works" style="hidden"></item> <item n="2" sortKey="instrumental_music" style="hidden"></item> <item n="3" sortKey="organ_music" style="hidden"></item> <item n="4" sortKey="organ_works_for_one_player" style="hidden"></item></list><name key="PSN0000001" style="hidden" type="author">Mendelssohn Bartholdy (bis 1816: Mendelssohn), Jacob Ludwig Felix (1809-1847)</name><name key="PRC0100516" style="hidden">Fuge d-Moll, 29. März 1833<idno type="MWV">W 13</idno><idno type="op">37/3b</idno></name></title> which you wanted to have is finished and I am exceedingly anxious to know whether you will approve of it or not, for till now I like it very much myself. But that may pass away before I give it to you, as I have often experienced it, particularly <title xml:id="title_dfad768a-7cb4-4619-b22d-495c17c18913">as it<list style="hidden" type="fmb_works_directory" xml:id="title_ivbzvxin-mfae-dzyl-er9q-iqquzb8bhqvc"> <item n="1" sortKey="musical_works" style="hidden"></item> <item n="2" sortKey="instrumental_music" style="hidden"></item> <item n="3" sortKey="organ_music" style="hidden"></item> <item n="4" sortKey="organ_works_for_one_player" style="hidden"></item></list><name key="PSN0000001" style="hidden" type="author">Mendelssohn Bartholdy (bis 1816: Mendelssohn), Jacob Ludwig Felix (1809-1847)</name><name key="PRC0100516" style="hidden">Fuge d-Moll, 29. März 1833<idno type="MWV">W 13</idno><idno type="op">37/3b</idno></name></title> is just finished and as I like everything during my writing it and perceive the faults only after some time, when I grow colder. I was willing to give you a bad idea of our musical taste here, especially in the theatres, but I have heard these days a performance of <title xml:id="title_61b47f46-754a-4cb5-845a-4dfda03cf45d">Mozart’s Zauberflöte<name key="PSN0113466" style="hidden" type="author">Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)</name><name key="CRT0110155" style="hidden" type="music">Die Zauberflöte KV 620</name></title>, which would have given you great pleasure, could you have been present. It was indeed one of the best performances of that Opera, that one might hear; every body the first singer as well as the last double bass player, were full of enthusiasm for that most <title xml:id="title_f90ca0ff-dec0-4724-b704-b55e6d4143fb">beautifull master piece<name key="PSN0113466" style="hidden" type="author">Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)</name><name key="CRT0110155" style="hidden" type="music">Die Zauberflöte KV 620</name></title>, and this feeling throughout the whole gave an unity to the performance as is seldom heard here. It showed again how great the powers are, and what a pity it is they are not better, or not at all employed; for every man in the orchestra knows music well and feels it, and only the „chefs“ are cold, negligent or incapable. The reason of it appears to be a very complicated one, for this is not only in the theatre, but in almost all our public institutions and establishments, in sciences as well as in political affairs and in arts etc. to be complained of, when in other countries it is often the contrary.</p> <p>I saw <persName xml:id="persName_1b8ccff7-7bd7-4129-9afb-f94e695078c7">Mr. Simpsone<name key="PSN0114928" style="hidden">Simpson (Simpsone), W.</name></persName> some time ago, he then promised me to send me the portrait, which <persName xml:id="persName_84bae1da-53d9-4568-bc33-578a622f3cd0">Mrs. Novello<name key="PSN0113625" style="hidden">Novello, Mary Sabilla (1787-1854)</name></persName> wanted to have, that I might take it over with me for you; but he informed me last week he had sent it already with another opportunity, and was to give me other things for <persName xml:id="persName_616a27ef-bd3a-4761-ae68-7f45e2372042">your family<name key="PSN0113620" style="hidden">Novello, Familie von → Vincent N.</name></persName> before I should leave Berlin, which I shall probably do on the 15<hi rend="superscript">th</hi> of next month. I think therefore to be in London not later than the 22<hi rend="superscript">d</hi> of April; this is sooner than I formerly intended, but I shall lose a week or more of my residence, as in the course of May I must go back to Dusseldorf on the Rhine, where I am to conduct the <placeName xml:id="placeName_6f10fc34-c699-4cd1-bd66-1671dc01c5e9">annual musical festival<name key="NST0100303" style="hidden" subtype="" type="institution">15. Niederrheinisches Musikfest (1833)</name><settlement key="STM0100109" style="hidden" type="">Düsseldorf</settlement><country style="hidden">Deutschland</country></placeName>, after which I shall return to London. These festivals are so very famous in this country, that I could not decline it, though I regret the time, that I lose by it in England.</p> <closer rend="left" xml:id="closer_7863c5de-2839-4aed-a4a3-124c6deca81c">Pray, my dear Sir, excuse this bad and negligent letter, but I am not able to write quietly, when I know I shall see you again in few weeks and tell what I had to write to you. My best compliments and wishes to <persName xml:id="persName_8b5c6164-a735-4263-8bec-6eb9a85158a9">your daughter<name key="PSN0113621" style="hidden">Novello, Clara Anastasia (1818-1908)</name></persName> and to <persName xml:id="persName_0bf84f95-6280-4497-a367-b189f021ac5c">your son Edward<name key="PSN0113622" style="hidden">Novello, Edward Petre (1813-1836)</name></persName> and believe me </closer> <signed rend="right">very truly yours</signed> <signed rend="right">Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.</signed> </div> </body> </text></TEI>