Tirsdag 13.11.1894 Carl Nielsen til Orla Rosenhoff, København. Afskrift

Wien den 13de Nov. 94

Kjære Ven!

Tak for Deres Brev. Det er det bedste saaledes som De skriver, nemlig: at tales ved om Sagen. Det gjør mig ondt at De ikke har det godt for Tiden; men sè blot at holde Humøret oppe, thi jeg er overbevist om, at der inden længe kommer en Tid for Dem, hvor De atter vil vinde baade fuldkommen Sundhed og hvor ogsaa Deres Ønsker og Forhaabninger vil gaa i Opfyldelse. Der vil inden længe ske store Omvæltninger i det musikalske Liv derhjemme: sè nu ad!

I Onsdags kom Dr. Schiff Kl. 11 til mig og vi gik saa til Brahms sammen. Nu følger et Udtog af min Dagbog vedrørende Besøget: ”Pigen lukkede op og Dr. Brahms var hjemme. Først var der en Korridor, hvorfra flere Døre førte ind til Værelserne. Schiff bankede paa men Ingen svarede og vi lukkede op og stod i Brahms Soveværelse. En smagfuld, tarvelig udstyret Mahogniseng med Bachs Billede over, nogle Stole og et Skab udgjorde Møblementet. S. bankede paa næste Dør og en klar, stærk Røst raabte ”herein”. Da jeg syntes det lød som om Brahms var ifærd med at klæde sig paa, lod jeg Schiff gaa ene ind og blev i Soveværelset. Jeg hørte dem gjennem den aabne Dør tale sammen, og da jeg saa hørte Schiff nævne mit Navn, gik jeg ind til dem. Brahms hilste temmelig ligegyldig paa mig og bad mig tage Plads; jeg satte mig ned paa den første den bedste Stol som tilfældigvis var en Gyngestol der svingede mig helt tilbage, saa jeg fik Benene ivejret. Da jeg havde fundet en roligere Plads, begyndte han at tale med Dr. Schiff om alle mulige Ting uden at tage ringeste Notits af mig; hvilket var mig rigtig tilpas, da jeg saa i Ro og Mag kunde se paa ham og faa et rigtigt Indtryk af ham. Brahms er en middelhøj, meget undersætsig Mand, tæt og velbygget helt igjennem, staar sikkert og fast paa Benene og gjør Indtryk af at have ret gode Kræfter. Han er meget korthalset og lidt duknakket og ser man ham fra Ryggen sidder Hovedet noget mellem Skuldrene og Ryggen er ikke fri for at runde lidt. Udtrykket i hans Ansigt veksler under Samtalen og snart har Øjnene en sarkastisk, næsten ond Glans som atter snart gaar over i noget uendelig Hjerteligt og Godt. – Pludselig vendte han sig til mig og sagde i en temmelig skarp Tone: ”Naa, hvorledes gaar det saa med Thorvaldsens Museum?” Jeg huskede strax paa Historien med ham og Gades Svigermoder [Marie Erslev] [se 1:510], og svarede blot: ”Jo, det staar der endnu, Hr. Doctor.” Jeg havde lagt Mærke til, at han flere Gange, naar jeg saa til en anden Side, fixerede mig skarpt, ligesom {han} undersøgende, og om han nu har syntes om mit Svar, mit Udseende eller hvad, det vèd jeg ikke, men nok er det, at han lidt efter lidt blev mere venlig imod mig, bad om han maatte beholde mine Ting [CNW 56] [CNW 25], da han vilde se dem ordentlig igjennem og fortalte, at han desværre næste Dag skulde rejse bort men kom atter tilbage om nogle Dage og haabede saa, vi skulde have det rart sammen en Aften hos sig o.s.v. Da vi endelig sagde Farvel, paalagde han indstændig Dr. Sciff [Eduard Schiff] at være elskværdig imod mig og vise mig rundt, og fulgte os helt ud til den yderste Dør, hvor han bred og smilende stod midt paa Tærskelen og vinkede til os.”

Imorgen eller Torsdag kommer han hjem og saa skal jeg fortælle Dem videre en anden Dag, naar jeg har truffet ham. De hjerteligste Hilsener

Deres hengivne

C.N.

Tuesday 13 November 1894 Carl Nielsen to Orla Rosenhoff, Copenhagen. copy

Vienna 13th Nov. 94

Dear friend!

Thank you for your letter. It is best as you write yourself, that is: to talk about the matter another time. I am sorry that you do not feel well at the moment; but see if you can just keep your spirits up for I am convinced that, before long, the time will come for you when you will return to full health and where your wishes and hopes will be fulfilled. Before long, there will be major ructions in musical life back home. Just you wait and see!

Last Wednesday, Dr Schiff came to see me at 11 o'clock and we went to visit Brahms together. There follows an extract from my diary about the visit. 'The maid opened the door and Dr Brahms was at home. First, there was a corridor, from which several doors led into the rooms. Schiff knocked but no one answered, so we opened the door and found ourselves in Brahms' bedroom. A tasteful, plainly equipped mahogany bed with a picture of Bach hanging above it, a few chairs and a wardrobe made up the furnishings. S. knocked on the next door and a clear, strong voice shouted "Herein" [come in]. As I thought it sounded as though Brahms was in the process of getting dressed, I let Schiff enter alone and remained in the bedroom. I could hear them talking to each other through the open door and, when I heard Schiff pronounce my name, I went in to them. Brahms greeted me rather indifferently and bade me take a seat; I sat down on the first chair that came along, which happened to be a rocking chair, which swung me right back so my legs went up in the air. Once I had found a quieter seat, he began to talk to Schiff about everything under the sun without paying the slightest attention to me; which was fine by me because I could then look at him in peace and quiet and get a proper impression of him. Brahms is a man of medium stature, very stocky, well-built and thick set. He stands firmly and solidly on his feet and gives the impression of having a really good constitution. He is very short in the neck and slightly stooping, and if you look at him from behind, his head sits down between his shoulders and his back is not without a hint of a hunch. The expression in his face varies as he talks, and sometimes his eyes have a sarcastic, almost evil look, which soon changes back to something infinitely warm and good. – Suddenly, he turned to me and said in a rather sharp voice: "So, how are things with Thorvaldsen's Museum?" I immediately recalled the story with him and Gade's mother-in-law [Marie Erslev] [See 1:510] and simply answered: "Well, it's still standing there, Herr Doctor." I noticed that from time to time, when I was looking another way, his eyes were on me as though inspecting me, and whether he thought well of my reply, my appearance or what, I do not know. Suffice it to say that he gradually became friendlier towards me, asked if he might keep my pieces [CNW 56] [CNW 25], as he wanted to look them through properly and said that he unfortunately had to leave the following day but would be coming back again a few days later and hoped that we, then, should have a pleasant evening together with him and so on. When we finally said goodbye, he earnestly pressed Dr Schiff to be so kind as to show me around, and he accompanied us right to the front door, where, smiling broadly, he stood in middle of the doorway and waved to us.'

He will be coming home tomorrow or Thursday and then I can also tell you more another day when I have met him. With warmest wishes

Yours sincerely,
C.N.