Carl Baermann to Friedrich Wilhelm von Jahns, 30 October 1864
To Friedrich Wilhelm von Jahns
Source D-B, Weberiana Cl. X, Nr. 21
Transcription Complete Works of Carl Maria von Weber. Digital Edition, Weber-Gesamtaugabe (Version 4.8.1 of August 21, 2023) Last change of this document on July 25, 2023
Summary Baermann praises Jahns’s efforts with regard to Weber and his music. He answers Jahns’s questions about the additional cadenza passage in the F minor clarinet concerto added by Heinrich Baermann, stating that it had Weber’s ‘full approval’ ['volle Beistimmung']; he also gives his opinion on a cadenza for the Concertino in E flat by Heinrich; he discusses the authenticity of a manuscript of the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, which is partly in Weber’s hand and partly in Heinrich’s. He refers to Heinrich’s tendency to give away manuscript letters and scores by Weber as gifts, and tells of how a collection of 30 letters and sketches were lost during a visit to Berlin. He refers Jahns to the widow of the clarinetist J. G. Kotte in Dresden, who he suggests may have more information on the whereabouts of some manuscripts including the Concertino op. 26. He gives information about the relationship between Weber, Hermstädt and Heinrich Baermann in relation to the Grand Duo op. 48, which he says Weber did not dedicated to Hermstädt out of respect for Heinrich. He then states that the Silvana variations op. 33 were jointly composed by Weber and Heinrich. He then reports his efforts to locate Weber’s Trauer-Musik (JV 116) for Jahns in institutions in Munich, without success. Finally, Baermann encloses a photograph of himself and encourages Jahns to reciprocate, expressing the wish that they meet in Munich the following year.
Excerpt: Baermann on his father's cadenzas
"Die Cadenz im Concertino ist von meines Vaters Hand hineingeschrieben*, doch würde ich Sie bitten keinen Werth hierauf zu legen, da erstens mein Vater die Cadenzen sehr nach seinen Launen componirte und heute eine spielte welche er morgen wieder verwarf, und zweitens gerade die in die Partitur eingeschriebene mir offen gesagt als gänzlich unpaßend für dieses kleine liebenswürdige Stück erscheint, da dieselbe viel zu groß und prätentiös auftritt, und so das Stück aus seinen Rahmen herauswirft."
"The cadenza in the Concertino is written in my father's hand, but I would ask you not to attach any importance to it, firstly because my father composed the cadenzas very much according to his whims and played one today which he discarded tomorrow, and secondly because the one written in the score frankly seems to me to be completely unsuitable for this charming little piece, as it appears far too large and pretentious and thus throws the piece out of its framework."
Post-edited Deepl translation
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