Your
F. L.
WEYMAR, January 25th, 1855.
Best remembrances to your wife. For the first year she will, I suppose, remain at Zurich.
Do not keep me waiting too long for a letter, and send me your
"Faust." The Princess and the Child greet you cordially.
I shall send you in a few days an English translation of your three opera poems in manuscript; it may be of use to you in London.
173.
Herewith, dearest Franz, you receive my remodelled "Faust" overture, which will appear very insignificant to you by the side of your "Faust" symphony. To me the composition is interesting only on account of the time from which it dates; this reconstruction has again endeared it to me: and with regard to the latter, I am childish enough to ask you to compare it very carefully with the first version, because I should like you to take cognisance of the effect of my experience and of the more refined feeling I have gained. In my opinion, new versions of this kind show most distinctly the spirit in which one has learned to work and the coarsenesses which one has cast off. You will be better pleased with the middle part. I was of course unable to introduce a new motive, because that would have involved a remodelling of almost the whole work; all I was able to do was to develop the sentiment a little more broadly, in the form of a kind of enlarged cadence. Gretchen of course could not be introduced, only Faust himself:—
"ein unbegreiflich holder Drang, trieb mich durch Wald und Wiesen hin," etc
The copying has unfortunately been done very badly, and probably there are many mistakes in it.