Dear Nathaniel, Thank you very much for your telephone call, and thank you especially for telling me about your plans for the New Year's concert and the associated lectures. It's presumptious of me, but I will write: I think it's a very constructive idea, and I will do whatever you ask me, as best as I'm able, to help you. As we agreed on the 'phone, yours must be considered an experimental project, the consequences and complications of which are not forseeable. You (We) must design it in a "fail-safe" dimension, so that the adverse effects of problems, if they should occur, will be minimized. My primary concern is the time and energy available to you. You (we) must consider the possibility that you have planned more work than you are in fact able to accomplish. Therefore you (we) must design the program so that it can be down-sized without embarrassment, and that if it _is_ shortened what remains will still be splendid and worthwhile. My second concern is that you are too "idealistic" about the reactions of various members of your audience. As I mentioned to you on the 'phone, I believe the spirit is "imprinted" with music at an early age, and that the reaction of hearers in their forties, fifties, sixties and beyond will be determined much more by pre-existing inward disposition than by the message which you deliver. Rather that message will serve as a catalyst or as a trigger to set off an emotional (chain) reaction with probably limited, but certainly unpredictable consequences. I'm vividly reminded of Goethe's realistic, if somewhat cynical description of the theater audience in "Vorspiel auf dem Theater" introductory to Faust. The stage director is speaking: Ein solcher Vorwurf läßt mich ungekränkt: Ein Mann, der recht zu wirken denkt, Muß auf das beste Werkzeug halten. Bedenkt, Ihr habet weiches Holz zu spalten, Und seht nur hin, für wen Ihr schreibt! Wenn diesen Langeweile treibt, Kommt jener satt vom übertischten Mahle, Und, was das Allerschlimmste bleibt, Gar mancher kommt vom Lesen der Journale. Man eilt zerstreut zu uns, wie zu den Maskenfesten, Und Neugier nur beflügelt jeden Schritt; Die Damen geben sich und ihren Putz zum besten Und spielen ohne Gage mit. Was träumet Ihr auf Eurer Dichterhöhe? Was macht ein volles Haus Euch froh? Beseht die Gönner in der Nähe! Halb sind sie kalt, halb sind sie roh. Der, nach dem Schauspiel, hofft ein Kartenspiel, Der eine wilde Nacht an einer Dirne Busen. Was plagt ihr armen Toren viel, Zu solchem Zweck, die holden Musen? Ich sag Euch, gebt nur mehr und immer, immer mehr, So könnt Ihr Euch vom Ziele nie verirren Sucht nur die Menschen zu verwirren, Sie zu befriedigen, ist schwer-- Ein solcher Vorwurf läßt mich ungekränkt: Your remonstration leaves me unoffended; Ein Mann, der recht zu wirken denkt, A man, who wants to be effective, Muß auf das beste Werkzeug halten. Must be selective with his tools. Bedenkt, Ihr habet weiches Holz zu spalten, Remember, you are splitting balsam wood, Und seht nur hin, für wen Ihr schreibt! And take a look, for whom you're writing! Wenn diesen Langeweile treibt, If this one comes because he's bored, Kommt jener satt vom übertischten Mahle, the next one from too liberal a meal, Und, was das Allerschlimmste bleibt, And, what remains the worst of all, Gar mancher kommt vom Lesen der Journale. There's many a one who just put down the Globe. Man eilt zerstreut zu uns, wie zu den Maskenfesten, They come to us distracted, as if we had masked balls, Und Neugier nur beflügelt jeden Schritt; It is curiosity which makes them fly; Die Damen geben sich und ihren Putz zum besten The ladies put their finery on display Und spielen ohne Gage mit. And join the act although they have no roles. Was träumet Ihr auf Eurer Dichterhöhe? What dreams you entertain on poets' thrones! Was macht ein volles Haus Euch froh? Why should you care if all the seats are sold? Beseht die Gönner in der Nähe! Look at your patrons from a closer view! Halb sind sie kalt, halb sind sie roh. One half is cold, the other half is crude. Der, nach dem Schauspiel, hofft ein Kartenspiel, He, when the play is over, wants a game of cards, Der eine wilde Nacht an einer Dirne Busen. The next, a wild night at his girl friend's bosom. Was plagt ihr armen Toren viel, Why would you poor fools make such fuss, Zu solchem Zweck, die holden Musen? And for such purpose plague the noble muses? Ich sag Euch, gebt nur mehr und immer, immer mehr, I tell you, give them more and more and ever more, So könnt Ihr Euch vom Ziele nie verirren and you will never stray far from your goal. Sucht nur die Menschen zu verwirren, Seek merely to confuse your audience, Sie zu befriedigen, ist schwer-- True satisfaction is beyond your power. Please forgive my lapse into classical comedy. The chapter in my novel which I mentioned to you for which you asked the URL is http://home.earthlink.net/~jochenmeyer/freunde/f047.html however, I don't think you should spend time on it now. The German is too dense; and in this short chapter, the plot is indiscernable. It's the 13th of 14 chapters (35 through 48) satirizing my Nantucket experience. The three protagonists, Maximilian Katenus, Jonathan Mengs and Joachim Magus have been capriciously and arbitrarily "detained" by the Chief of Police who is the only judicial officer on the Island. They have been locked up for the night in the jury deliberation room of the police station, and each of them has had an intricate dream. Das 47. Kapitel relates the dream of the youngest of the three, Joachim Magus, who before he fell asleep had discovered in an unlocked cabinet the court records of the appeal of one Dr. Selbstmacher who had been prevented from completing a house he was building on the Island by an order that the plumbing he installed without a permit should be destroyed. Joachim is haunted by the account that he has read, dreams that he himself is Selbstmacher. Symbolic of the anarchy on the Island is the related case of Joachim's friend Katenus whom the police chief Martin Brandes has condemned to death so as to get his hands on Elly, Katenus' live-in housekeeper. In chapter 47, Joachim dreams he is in a romanesque cathedral, which is also a law library, and that he has unsuccessfully scoured a table heaped with law books, a desperate last minute attempt to save Katenus' life. Katenus, incidentally, has lost his appeal because he insisted on defending himself. Joachim who is despairing of finding legal arguments or lawyers to save Katenus, is "assisted" by two librarians in succession. When the first, "Justitia" forbids Joachim use of the books because he is not a lawyer, he mocks her by saying her prohibition is too late, since he has read the law books and has found them contradictory and full of nonsense, and the judges who endorse them are "betrogene Betrueger" (deceived deceivers, Lessing, Nathan der Weise). Joachim inadvertently repeats his arguments to the second librarian, "Anadayomene" who praises him for his honesty and gives him the low-down on the corruption of the legal system. Anadyomene will help Joachim save Katenus, because she is in love with him and is also on very intimate terms with all the judges. She gives Joachim documents certifying his admission to the bar and rescinding the death penalties both for Katenus and for the plumbing. By the time Joachim reads the documents, the beautiful librarian has disappeared and Joachim sees that they are all signed Venus Anadyomene, Oberrichterin (Chief Justice) of Humanity. Joachim relieved that his legal problems have been resolved now falls into a deep sleep. When he awakens not in the romanesque cathedral but in the (bugged) jury deliberation room, no librarian and no documents, he laments: Ach, Anadyomene, Oberbetruegerin der Menschheit. (Chief deceiver of humanity). While the three prisoners are having breakfast of break, margarine and cold coffee, the door opens and in its frame stand police chief Martin Brandes and next to him as if his bride, Katenus' housekeeper Elly. Katenus, who has become pale with rage and despair, requires to be supported by Joachim and Mengs while Brandes gives a speech telling them that for his studies on Nancy Drew (the popular girl detective) the Swedish Academy has awarded him the Nobel Prize for literature, and that he has invited Elly to accompany him to Stockholm to receive it, that because he is the only judicial officer on the Island, his prisoners would have to be transfered to the Mainland where the Island Court of Equity is not recognized. Therefore he releases all three prisoners threatening them with re-arrest if they are still on the Island when he returns from Stockholm. Once on the street, Katenus who has streaks of the clown in him, sings the dungeon aria from Fidelio (In des Lebens Fruehlingstagen, ist das Glueck von mir geflohn, Wahrheit wagt ich kuehn zu sagen, und die Ketten sind mein Lohn...) Elly of course has declined Brandes invitation to Stockholm and walking up Main Street, the four of them join in the Prisoners' Chorus from Fidelio. O welche Lust, in freier Luft den Atem leicht zu heben ... Dear Nathaniel, My advice, that you NOT spend time on my novel. Interpret my writing as the pole with which the trapeze artist balances himself to keep from falling off the high wire. I apologize for the length of this letter, but as you probably know from experience, once the flood gates are opened, there's no stopping the torrent. Please let me know what I can do to help you. Jochen