SPOHR'S " FALL OF BABYLON." TO THE EDITOR OF THE
SPECTATOR.
SIR—Will you allow me, by way of Coda to your notice of SPORR'S new Oratorio, to mention a few circumstances attendant upon its birth and parent- age; under the persuasion that whatever is connected with the production of a great work of art will be interesting to its professors and amateurs, especially if the narrative shall serve to bring before us the character of its author.
The subject of the Fall of Babylon had long struck me as singularly adapted
for the libretto of an oratorio. Three great nations occupy the scene—the captive Jews, the Persians, and the Babylonians : three characters appear as their prominent representatives—Daniel, Cyrus, and Belshazzar. The com- poser hence obtains the power of giving to his work the interest of a varied style, while he is also enabled to realize to the hearer's imagination all the events of the story, which eminently invite the aid of his " so potent art." For my own amusement, some years since, I had drawn out the libretto of an oratorio founded on this subject, in prose ; and, with the assistance of my friend the Reverend H. HUTTON of Birmingham, a poetical version of it was afterwards completed. It lay by several years unused, and I bad ceased to think any more about it. Travelling in company with SPORE from the last Norwich Festival, I asked him on what great work he proposed next to employ his talents ? He replied, that he intended to write another oratorio; but that be had not been able to find a libretto that he entirely approved ; adding, "Yon know that poetry may be very good, nay, of the highest order, and yet not well fitted for association with music, or suited to the purpose of an oratorio." I then ventured to mention to him as a subject "the Fall of Babylon," and the way in which I bad endeavoured to treat it. He questioned me more closely as to the arrangement and sequence of the different scenes of the drama, and finally requested me to let him see it. To this I cheerfully acceded; stipulat- ing only that be would treat it as if it came from a perfect stranger, and use, alter, or wholly reject it, as he might think fit. I revised and sent it to him in November 1839.
Wholly unacquainted with the English language, SPOHR had to judge of the libretto from a literal prose translation into German. In December I received a letter from him, in which he thus speaks of it : "Accept my hearty thanks for the promised words of the Oratorio. My wife directly gave me a verbal translation, from which I could sufficiently form an opinion of it. I approve it so entirely that I have applied to a friend here to give me a poetical version of it in German—for it would be in vain for me to attempt to write it to English words. He has already brought.me a portion of the first act, and I have commenced my part of the work with hearty zeal." I communicated this to the Norwich Festival Committee; who expressed to
me their earnest wish to have the honour of producing the Oratorio at the Fes- tival of 1842 and gave me full power to treat with SPORE on the subject. In July 1840, I had the great pleasure of redeeming a promise long given, that I would visit him ; and I had the privilege and the happiness of spending a fort- night under his roof at Hesse Cassel—of witnessing his pure and ardent devo- tion to his art, and seeing with what affection as well as veneration he is there regarded by all ranks and classes. The first act of the Oratorio was now complete; and after having perused it, I was still more anxious that the wish of the Norwich Committee should be accomplished. I mentioned the subject to SPORE ; adding, "I am perfectly aware of what is involved in my request— for 1 am asking you to put off to a distant period the publication and perform- ance of this work in your own country. I know that this Oratorio is a bill payable at sight from your publisher; and I ask you to forbear to present it for payment for nearly two years. But I have full authority to treat with you, and to arrange the requisite compensation." SPORE immediately replied, with a look of benevolent rebuke, " 'What, my friend, are you and I going to enter into a traffic of dollars and kreutzers? /go, no. You say you wish our Ora- torio to be first performed at Norwich : that is enough—it shall : as for all the rest, we will talk of that another time." This was said so emphatically and from the heart, that I forbore to argue the point with him any further. But there spoke the true artist : in SPORE'S reply we recognize the spirit in which a man of real genius regards the object of his fondest devotion, as being in itself its own exceeding great reward; and while so many instances of in- satiable cupidity stain our musical annals and pass under our own notice, it 'is doubly grateful to record an instance of a very opposite kind. The text to which Sroun wrote being German I have had to bring it back into English ; and the German poet having needlessly altered the metre of almost every piece, the difficulty of accomplishingthis task has been consider- ably augmented : in fact, very few lines of the original English libretto remain. I regret this, because I am fully aware of my own incompetency to the duty which has thus devolved upon Toe: and if I could have obtained efficient help 1 should gladly have availed myself of it. But where the position, length, con- nexion, and accent of every individual word have to be weighed and measured, a true poet would soon find himself unable to move with grace and freedom, if he were able to move at all. I have only to hope that the music of SPORE will atone for the imperfections which exist In the labours of his very humble coadjutor.
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