PYRMONT, August 15, 1874.
My concert came off yesterday evening, and Deppe says it was a complete success. I did not play any solos, after all, though I had prepared some beautiful ones, for Deppe said the programme would be too long, and he was not quite sure of my courage. "You'd be frightened, if you were a Herr Gott!" said he; but, contrary to my usual habit, I wasn't frightened in the least, and I think I did as well as such a shaky, trembly concern as I, could have expected, particularly as my hands are two little fiends who won't play if they don't feel like it, do what I will to make them!—My programme was à la Joachim (!)—only three pieces of Chamber Music:—
| 1. | Quintette, Op. 87, E major, | Hummel. |
| 2. | Quartette, G major, | Haydn. |
| 3. | Sonata for piano and violin, Op. 12, E flat. | Beethoven. |
Deppe arranged the whole thing most practically. We had a large salle in the Hotel Bremen which was admirably proportioned, and a new grand piano from Berlin. Deppe had only so many chairs placed as he had given out invitations, and the consequence was that every chair was filled, and there were no rows of empty seats. My "public" was very musical and critical, and there were so many good judges there that I wonder I wasn't nervous; but a sort of inspiration came to me at the moment.
The musicians who accompanied me were exceedingly good ones for such a place as Pyrmont, and my strictly classic selections were received with great favour by the audience! That quintette of Hummel's is a most charming composition—so flowing and elegant—and one can display a good deal of virtuosity in the last part of it. I played first and last, and the quartette in between was performed by the stringed instruments alone. After I had finished the quintette, Deppe, who was at the extreme end of the hall, sent me word that I was "doing famously, and that he was delighted," and this encouraged me so that my sonata went beautifully, too. When it was over, ever so many people came up and congratulated me, and Fräulein Timm, Deppe's head teacher in Hamburg, even complimented me on my "extraordinary facility of execution." I couldn't help laughing at that, with my stubborn hand which never will do anything, and which only the most intense study has schooled—but in truth I was quite surprised myself at the plausible way in which it went over all difficulties! Quite a number of Deppe's scholars were present, all of them critics and several of them beautiful pianists. Two nice American girls, sisters, from the West, came on from Berlin on purpose for my concert. They helped me dress, and presented me with an exquisite bouquet. One of them is taking lessons of Deppe, and the other has a great talent for drawing, and has been two years studying in Berlin. She says she has only made a "beginning" now, and that she wishes to study "indefinitely" yet.—So it is in Art! I think her heads are excellent already.
After the concert was over, Deppe gave me a little champagne supper, together with Fräuleins Timm, Steiniger, and these two young ladies. When he poured out the wine he said he was going to propose a toast to two ladies; one of them, of course, was myself, "and the other," said he, "is in America, namely, the friend of Fräulein Fay, whom I judge to be a woman of genius, so truly and rightly does she feel about art (I've translated H's letters to him), and so nobly has she sympathized with and stood by Fräulein Fay.—To Mrs. A., whose acquaintance I long to make!"—You may be sure I drank to that toast with enthusiasm. Ah, it was a pleasant evening, after so many years of fruitless toil! The fat and jolly old landlord came himself to put me into the carriage and to say that everybody in the audience had expressed their pleasure and gratification at my performance. I rather regret now that I did not play my solos, but perhaps it is just as well to leave them until another time. I have "sprung over one little mound"—to use Deppe's simile—and got an idea of the impetus that will be necessary to "carry me over the mountain."
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PYRMONT, September 4, 1874.
After the unwonted exaltation of the success of my little concert, I have been suffering a corresponding reaction, partly because Fräulein Timm, Deppe's Hamburg assistant, with whom I am now studying, began her instructions, as teachers always do, by chucking me into a deeper slough of despond than usual. Consequently, I haven't been very bright, though I am gradually coming up to the surface again, for I'm pretty hard to drown!
Fräulein Timm belongs to the single sisterhood, but is one of the fresh and placid kind, and as neat as wax. She's got a great big brain and a remarkable gift for teaching, for which she has a passion. I quite adore her when she gets on her spectacles, for then she looks the personification of Sagacity! She has been associated with Deppe for years in teaching, and "keeps all his sayings and ponders them in her heart." Indeed, she knows his ideas almost better than he does himself, and carries on the whole circle of pupils that he left in Hamburg when he came to Berlin. Every now and then he runs down to see how they are getting on, gives them all lessons, reviews what they have done, and brings Fräulein Timm all the new pieces he has discovered and fingered. She also comes occasionally to Berlin to see him, takes a lesson every day, fills herself with as many new ideas as possible, and then returns to her post. Together, they form a very strong pair, and I think it a capital illustration of your theory that men ought to associate women with them in their work, and that "men should create, and women perfect."