(p. 108 ff.)
The year 1876 was that of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, and its directors had offered Thomas the musical directorship of the opening ceremonies. A supplementary engagement to give Summer Night Concerts during the six months of the Exposition, was suggested by the Women’s Committees of the Board of Directors, at the head of which was Mrs. EK. D. Gillespie.
These ladies, who represented the wealth and culture of Philadelphia, had acquired, through the gift of a generous fellow citizen, the use of the mansion and grounds formerly owned by Edwin Forrest. A hall seating 4,000 persons was added, and the house itself was fitted up as a restaurant. The use of this apparently ideal place was tendered to Thomas for summer concerts, and, as the Exposition closed at sunset every day, it seemed inevitable that the thousands of strangers in the city would gladly avail themselves of such a delightful way of spending their otherwise unoccupied evenings as these concerts would afford. The Women’s Committees did not guarantee the concerts in any way, nor did Thomas consider it necessary, but they promised to promote their success by every means in their power, and under such favorable auspices Thomas felt confident that the season would be a very profitable one.
The president of the Women’s Committees, Mrs. Gillespie, was a descendant of Benjamin Franklin, and as public-spirited in her generation as her famous ancestor had been in his. Brilliant, witty, fascinating, courageous, and strong of mind,as she was warm of heart, this remarkable woman stands out as one of the first and best of her country and century. Her whole life was given to promoting the educational and philanthropic advancement of her city, and her work as the president of the Woman’s Department of the Centennial Exposition of 1876 set the model for all similar expositions since.
She was a connoisseur of music as of many other things, and when Thomas accepted the directorship of the opening ceremonies of the Exposition, she wrote him that her committees would be responsible for all the expenses of a chorus for the occasion, and also that they would pay an honorarium for the composing of an inaugural march, if he would arrange with some famous European composer to undertake the work. Thomas agreed to do this and at once opened negotiations with Wagner on the subject.
The correspondence was carried on partly by Thomas in person, and partly by Mr. Federlein, who wrote on his behalf, and the following letters (Translated from the original German) from the great composer were in answer to one or the other of them. Wagner accepted the commission, and the very large honorarium— which he took good care should be in the hands of his banker before Thomas had a chance to examine his score,—but the rest of his part of the transaction was anything but creditable to a man of his preeminence in the world of art. For he not only demanded a disproportionately large price for his work, but broke his promise in regard to with- holding its publication in Europe until six months after its publication in America, and, without Thomas’s knowledge or consent, actually had a European edition of Rubinstein’s arrangement of it printed and shipped to America before the score itself was transmitted to Thomas. But, worst of all, when the score did finally arrive, the composition proved to be so poor that it was practically worthless.
I.
Bayreuth, Dec. 22, 1875.
Dear Mr. Federlem: Please express to Herr Musik-Director Thomas my best thanks for his kind efforts in America in behalf of myself and my enterprises over here. As regards his latest request to me, I will say that it is quite possible that for the opening of the American national festival, something may occur to me—perhaps in broad March form—that I can make use of, although I have not written a note of music for a long time, and have quite got out of the way of so-called composing, which you will easily understand. Well—if I send you the thing, I shall expect, in return, that the Americans will behave well towards me, especially as regards the furtherance of my festival plays, which I have postponed with special reference to them, to the second half of August, at the cost of considerable trouble in regard to the singers to be engaged. I hope soon to be assured of the American visitors.
Yours truly,
Richard Wagner.
II.
Bayreuth, Feb. 8, 1876.
Mr. Theodore Thomas,
Dear Sir:
I seize this opportunity to express to you my hearty thanks for your labors in America, so helpful in promoting the spirit of German music, and which have been also of use in my undertaking.
In respect to the affair, hitherto conducted through Mr. Federlein, I must first express my regret that our correspondence—rendered difficult by the great distance, and recently also by your absence from New York—has been so protracted. I wish, therefore, that this thing may be concluded, and declare myself ready to execute a composition for grand orchestra, of the caliber and character of my Kaiser March, for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of American Independence. To deliver it for shipping March 15, to a banking house in Germany, desig- nated by you, against the payment of five thousand dollars for the receipt of the manuscript. For this sum, demanded by me, I confer upon you the entire ownership of the work in question for America, not, however, for Europe, for which I am bound by contract to B. Schott and Sons. I pledge myself, however, not to allow the German publication to be issued till six months after the American.
I do not know whether it will seem wise to you to pay the sum mentioned for the unrestricted ownership (and naturally also performances) of my composition, but for the largeness of my demand recent experiences determined me. I have already been offered $2,250 for a similar composition, by a Berlin publisher, which, by the way, would have been unconnected with a national celebration. Mr. Verdi has received from his publisher, Recordia, $100,000 for the absolute copyright and performances of his Requiem. Therefore it may be allowed me to draw the conclusion of the value of the composition of an author already celebrated. In this respect also, I have to pay great attention to the value of works until now given away for nothing, because, until now, I have not been able to save from the receipts of the same a penny.
I beg you to communicate to me, therefore, by a telegram, your acceptance of my conditions, and I authorize you to deduct the cost of the telegram from my honorarium. Or, if I do not receive the telegram at the right time, I will take it for granted that you cannot conform to my demand. In either case I will always remain,
Your very humble and obliged servant,
Richard Wagner.
III.
Bayreuth, Feb., 1876.
Mr. Federlein, Dear Sir:
All that you write me makes me very sorry, and I regret very much the disappointment of Mr. Thomas. I thought little of the intention of the Ladies’ Society to make money out of my March, because, in buying it for this society, Mr. Thomas wrote me that no American publisher had wanted to undertake it, because the composition of a foreign composer has no international copy- right, therefore no compensating profit could be drawn from the work from Europe. The purchase of my work seemed, therefore, an affair of honor on the part of the Ladies’ Society, which presented the work, so to speak, to the Centennial Celebration.
I communicated the letter of Mr. Thomas to my publishers, B. Schott Sons, who, having then no hesitation on account of contract rights, which, (according to that letter), did not at all exist, undertook the immediate publication of my work. According to your letter received today there is something else said again. By this it appears that there is an American publisher, who will undertake to publish the March for an honorarium. I heartily grant this honorarium to Mr. Thomas, or who- ever it may be, and I immediately telegraphed to Schott to keep back their transmissions to America, but they answered me that the Rubinstein arrangement had already gone.
I regret this without being able to blame myself, and only hope that Mr. Thomas will, through the exclusive right, which the enclosed document secures to him, find in the course of time a remuneration for his pains. The score will, for the present, not be sent to America.
Very truly yours,
Richard Wagner.
IV.
Berlin, March, 1876.
Mr. Federlein,
Honored Sir:
I have not Mr. Thomas’ address at hand, and will therefore ask you to send him the following information:
The Festival March was sent to Paris to-day, according to my instructions, to be forwarded by Banker Feustel to America. I could have finished the score a fortnight ago, had it not been for the very exhausting concert work in Berlin and Vienna, to which I was pledged at this time, and which made it almost impossible to finish the score.
I hope, however, that it will arrive in time for them to copy the parts, and make the necessary corrections of same, for I am sure that by the first days of April, the score will be in the possession of Mr. Thomas—who, however, might have let me know his intentions in regard to the whole matter a little earlier.
The correct tempo is indicated by a little mark over the triad, (drawing). The always ponderous and heavy accentuation (drawing) of the same (drawing) should, on the other hand, not lead to a certain dragging of the tempo.
I indicated on pages 23 and 24, two grand pauses, the impressiveness of which could, especially in the first performance, be increased by the discharge of cannon, as well as muskets, at a place not too near Festival Hall. Perhaps at later performances, the very solemn effect of the artillery could be imitated by the bass drum and so-called rattles, such as Beethoven used in his “ Battle of Vittoria.” This, of course, should also sound from a distance, and might be placed in a room adjoining the hall.
I presume that part of the honorarium was contributed by the Directors of the Exposition, at least I would find this quite natural, Mr. Thomas has, moreover, the exclusive right of performance for the United States. At any rate, I would like to have a definite declaration as to when the score can be issued by my German publishers here. I believe that the publication should be made in Europe at the same time as in America, as this would be in keeping with the usual custom in regard to international copyright. And this should be done not only in Germany and America, but also in England.
And now I give you my best wishes. The March is very much liked by my friends, and I firmly believe, at least I hope, that it will be liked as well in America.
With best greetings, sincerely yours,
Richard Wagner.
V.
Berlin, March 25, 1876.
Theodore Thomas, Esq.
Honored Sir:
I am delighted to receive, at last, a few lines from you personally. As I write, I suppose the score has already completed the first half of its voyage to you. I sincerely hope that it will reach you in time, and I have already written to our mutual friend, Federlein, and told him my wishes in regard to its performance. In regard to the copyright and royalties for America, I would like to confess that I am not in full sympathy any more with the arrangements previously made, but I promise you to live up to the said agreements. Kindly let me know, in a written document, whatever formalities have to be carried out concerning the copyright, and I will sign and return it to you at my earliest convenience.
I cannot thank you enough for the great trouble you have taken in completing this transaction. I hope that the success of the work will bring you joy. It has cost me much hardship to complete the score in time, as I am almost worn out by the excessive demands upon me of a number of concerts in Berlin and Vienna.
By the motto that I have placed above the title, you will see that I have taken this matter quite seriously. A few soft and tender passages in the March are meant to depict the beautiful and talented women of North America, as they take part in the cortége. I am glad to say that it was my intention to have these noble-hearted women take the first place in the procession, rather than the men, because they were the chief promoters and most energetic workers for my composition. Will you also kindly trans- late the dedication into English:
Dedicated
To the
Women’s Centennial Committees
By Richard Wagner
With best wishes and greetings, I remain,
Yours very sincerely,
Richard Wagner.
It is needless to say that Wagner’s generosity in granting to the Women’s Committees (through Thomas) the “exclusive American rights” to a composition of which he had already stocked the New York music stores with a foreign arrangement was not taken advantage of.
However, it was perhaps fortunate for them that they were thus handicapped in the matter of publishing the work, for it was a total failure, and they would probably have lost whatever they spent in that way. Even Thomas, the first and most persistent worker for the Wagner propaganda in America, rarely performed the March, and I have never heard of its being played in Europe at all. Wagner himself is said to have remarked, in regard to it, “The best thing about that composition was the money I got for it,” and he certainly told the truth that time.