BERLIOZ (Hector). - Lot 242

BERLIOZ (Hector). Autograph letter signed to his sister Nanci Pal, dated Paris June 29 [1846], 4 p. in-8, autograph address and postmarks. Letter on La Damnation de Faust. Berlioz has just spent a week in Lille, where his cantata Chant des chemins de fer, specially composed for the inauguration ceremony of the Chemin de fer du Nord, was performed on June 14, 1846. ... The 250 military musicians did their duty bravely. The cantata was sung with uncommon verve and fresh voices that we cannot find in Paris for our choirs." ... "We can't get an idea of the hustle and bustle. Jules Janin [author of the cantata's lyrics] lost his Turkish diamond decoration at the ball, which was worth 800 fr. We were dying of thirst, and there was a shortage of lodgings for the Parisians and Belgians who had disembarked the same day." On the subject of "La Damnation de Faust, it's an immense score, and I'll have finished it just in time for November, when I must have it performed" [the premiere took place, but without much success, on December 6, 1846]... It's not what you think, there's only one hellish scene at the end, the denouement is in heaven. If you don't believe me, I'll tell you the final chorus, which will give you an opportunity to admire my verses, of which you've never had the pleasure of seeing the slightest sample"... Correspondance générale, ed. by P. Citron, t. III, letter 1045, p. 346.