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9th January, 1931.

Ezra Pound, Esq.,
RAPALLO,
Via Marsala, 12 int., 5
I t a l y.

Dear Mr. Pound,

I am sorry I have not written
before to thank you for the translation
which you made so quickly for us. It
was exactly what I wanted.

The history of the matter is this.
I was making a programme for New Year's Eve
and wanted, in part of it, to use those two
verses from Villon's 'Le Petit Testament'.
To have done so in the original would have
pleased me but would have been meaningless
to the majority of listeners. The
difficulty was to get quickly a translation
which would preserve the spirit and the
sense of the original. I thought of your-
self and Mr. Eliot as the two poets most
likely to be able to do this, and so,
hearing that you were abroad, I went to see
Mr. Eliot. He was too busy to do it him-
self but suggested that you might do so:
hence the telegrams.

I wish you could have heard the
context in which your translation was
broadcast. There is not much sense, I
think, in sending you a script since radio
scripts, like cinema scenarios, are only
notations of works which do not completely
exist until they are performed. In other
words, some form of sound recording is the
only means of completely preserving them, and
as yet broadcast programmes are not recorded.
I could, however, show you the script some
time when you are in England if you would
care to see it. Broadcasting is, after
all, sooner or later going to free poetry
from the limitations of print.

Yours truly,

UB:

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PR/EAFH

6th March, 1931.

Ezra Pound, Esq.,
RAPALLO,
Via Marsala, 12 int., 5,
I t a l y.

Dear Mr. Pound,

Thank you for your letter and the suggestions
in it. I am glad that you are not prejudiced against
broadcasting. Working for so blind a medium, in default
of any reaction at all, one is apt to assume an un-
favourable one.

I saw Miss Rudge on the day she broadcast, and
she told me more about your Villon opera, and played some
of the songs from it. I am very excited about it,
because I think that to broadcast it would fulfil a
project I have in mind this year, (the fifth centenary of
Villon's birth, therefore a peg): to make a programme
about him which would worthily present his work to people
who, for the most part, think of him, if at all, either
as the romantic hero of the musical comedy, 'The Vagabond
King', or as the subject of academic lectures by dons on
fifteenth century French slang. It seems to me that your
opera would do this admirably. As you suggest, in form
it is perfectly adapted to radio, and the only difficulty is
to make it immediately intelligible, as drama, to people
who do not know French. The only way I can think of is to
add a Speaker, who would, with or without a background of
music, set, in English, the scene of some, if not all, of the
songs. It would be best if you yourself would write this
part, for it should, as it were, grow out of the work instead
of consisting of Programme Notes inserted into it by anybody.

The alternative is to broadcast it from some 'klein
Kunst' platform such as the Arts Theatre Club, but I,
personally, have too great a respect for your and Villon's
work to be satisfied with such a restricted audience for it;
especially as I am certain that, properly presented, it would
appeal to a general audience as opposed to one whose reactions
are partly conditioned by the desire merely to be in the swim.
Any way, the first thing to be done is to get hold of the full
score, with words. If you would send me one, I would go through
it carefully to see how it could be done. Miss Rudge telle me
that the whole thing would last about an hour; a good length for
a broadcast. I am most anxious to put it on.

Incidentally, I am not 'Captain', being a contemporary
and friend of Claud Cockburn who met you, I think, in Paris a
year or two ago. He is now in the United States, writing for
the "Times".

Yours sincerely,

UB:

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PR/ΕΑΦ

15th April, 1931.

Ezra Pound, Esq.,
RAPALLO,
Via Marsala, 12 int.5,
I t a l y.

Dear Mr. Pound,

I am sorry I have not answered your letter
before, but, in the intervals of a lot of other work,
I have been trying to get down some generalisations
about adaptation and composition for the radio.
Having come to the conclusion that I can't make these
intelligible within the bounds of a letter, I think
the best thing to do is for me to make a skeleton
scenario out of your libretto, and to send you a copy,
which we can then use as the basis for making an
adaptation of the work for this medium. I don't
think this will be as difficult as I thought it would
be before I saw the libretto. I hadnt realised from
the programme of the part done in Paris that there was
so much significant action in it, or I should not have
suggested the insertion of a narrator, standing, as it
were, outside the scene. Drama on the radio is generally
more effective if one can do without such a figure, the
existence of which tends to emphasise the disadvantages
of the "blindness" of radio instead of exploiting its
advantages. I have experimented in various works with
narrators standing (mentally) in various relations to
the body of the work they were compere-ing, but only in
two instances did one feel that this device made the most,
dramatically, of the work. In the others, they tended
to destroy the illusion by going behind it and explaining
it. In this respect, the least destructive were the ones
given formalised utterances like those of a chorus: (this,
incidentally, is a convention which modern listeners have
learned to accept.) Anyway, in your work one could, I
think, by slightly elaborating the dialogue and pointing
it - or amplifying it by sound effects - (No! Not the
sound of footsteps and wind-machines, but bells, and various
degrees of echo on speech to get evocative resonances, etc.)
make the drama self-explanatory. Thus, the line "Prends -
les - tous" given in your stage version before the rising of
the curtain, might form the climax of a few lines of
dialogue which would indicate the fact that a warrant for

-1-

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15th May, 1931.

Ezra Pound, Esq.,
Hôtel du Perigord,
2, rue de Grammont,
Paris.

Dear Mr. Pound,

Unfortunately, Woodgate - our particular musical adviser - is having all his teeth taken out, and is not in a condition to go through the "Villon" score in detail. He has, however, looked through it and says that, as far as the notation is concerned, it is perfectly clear. On the other hand, at first sight, he finds it difficult to hear, and is pretty certain that he will want to see you before the show is put on. He cannot come over to Paris for the week-end of the 23rd May, but as he is going to Italy for his holiday this year, somewhere round about the end of June and the beginning of July, the best thing to do, I think, is for him to stop off at Rapallo for a couple of days on his way back, and go into it with you. He expects to be in Venice at the beginning of July, and if Miss Rudge were there at the same time he would get into touch with her and hear her play some of the music on the fiddle. You, I take it, will be at Rapallo during July. In the meantime, as soon as he has recovered, he will get into touch with Agnes Bedford and Robert Maitland, and will think seriously about casting. He says that Marquesita has no voice now, but he is keen on Roland Hayes, and appreciates your point about Jewish cantors, East End glee clubs, etc. He cannot say anything definite yet about Yvette Guilbert, so there is not much point in writing to her. If we do have her, though, Woodgate, after seeing you, should be able to produce her properly.

-1-

Ezra Pound, Esq.

15.5.31

-2-

In the meantime, I will get the new libretto
typed out and send you a copy of it. That, anyway, is
fixed now. I have arranged, provisionally, for the
show to go in in the last week of October. Until Woodgate
is better, I cannot get ahead with money details, contracts,
etc.

It was very kind of you to give me so much of
your time in Paris. I appreciated it very much. I am
sending my brother to see Douglas. Incidentally, I find
that there is a copy of "Credit, Power and Democracy" in
the house. I have got a copy of Wilfred Owen's poems
for you, which I will have sent on to you at Rapallo.
They have put in a lot more in this edition; not an improve-
ment, I think. They are very unequal, but one or two are
the best poems I know written directly on the War.

UB:

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23rd June, 1931.

Ezra Pound, Esq.,
RAPALLO,
Via Marsals, 12 int, 5.
I T A L Y.

Dear Mr. Pound,

I am sorry I haven't done anything about "Villon" before now, but I have been "sunk" in a Spanish programme, of which I send you a script. It might amuse you.

We are hoping to put on "Villon" in the last week of October. Mr. Woodgate, who is dealing with the music side, very fortunately is going to Italy for his holiday, and wants to come and see you at Rapallo, on July 2nd. He is proposing to stay there for about three or four days, so that he can find out everything necessary. He will call on you as soon as he arrives. He is leaving this Friday, so if by chance you want to make any particular arrangements for meeting him, would you send me a telegram?

What We are trying to make out a preliminary budget, and with the number of rehearsals that the class of singer and orchestral player we shall need, it is going to turn out pretty expensive. Yvette Guilbert is the real snag, as I hear she opens her mouth pretty wide. However, if we can get her interested first, she might not ask so much.

I am hoping to send Woodgate a typed copy of the libretto, as we fixed it in Paris. He will tell you everything else.

VS.

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26th June, 1931.

Ezra Pound, Esq.,

RAPALLO,

Via Marsala, 12 int, 5.

ITALY.

Dear Mr. Pound,

Here is the typescript of the "Villon"
libretto, in the form decided on in Paris. I
think it looks nice, and, if properly produced,
it should be, from a dramatic point of view,
intelligible to any reasonably well-informed
listener. The more I see of it, the more I
realise how complicated production is going to
be.

I have made a preliminary estimate of
the cost for two performances, and a dozen re-
hearsals for singers and cast, and six for
orchestra - the minimum we shall need, I think.
This amounts, with a small margin, to about
£470, made up as follows:-

For the necessary orchestra of twenty
first-class solo instrument players, about £225;
for the singers (allowing £50 for whoever does
the Heaulmiere, and I doubt whether Guilbert
will do it for that), about £210; and about
£25 for actors to double the speaking parts.

Whether we shall give it a double
performance I can't say at all yet; it does

Ezra Pound, Esq.

2.

26th June, 1931.

not really rest with me. For a single perform-
ance it would come cheaper, of course, but not
proportionately by so very much - say about £100.

What we can offer you yourself I haven't
been able to get down to; and as Mr. Woodgate has
now got the score, I shan't be able to show it to
the people concerned until he sends it back to me
from Rapallo.

We put on a performance the other night
of De Falla's "Puppet Show" which, from a singing
point of view, in some respects seems to need the
same qualities that "Villon" wants. There was a
notably successful performance in this by a soprano
(Mary Hamlin), and if she can manage the old French,
I think she might possibly be able to the Heaul-
miere; but before we can cast it, we shall have to
give auditions to as many people as we can get hold
of fairly easily. It's no good rushing blindly
into these commitments.

Do you know anything of a singer called
Panzera, who has been suggested to me for Villon?
He is singing in a broadcast concert on July 12th,
but unfortunately I shan't be able to hear him, as
I am going to Germany on July 11th. Incidentally,
I shan't be back here until August 17th. However,
as things are en train now, that won't matter.

As Woodgate will tell you, we thought of
beginning rehearsals in the middle of September;
we don't want to rush it. I hope you and he will
be able to get all the musical details settled by
the end of your meeting. When we know a little
more where we are, at the end of August, we must
set about the publicity side.

I hope you are well.

VS.

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15th September, 1931.

Ezra Pound, Esq.,
RAPALLO,
Via Marsala, 12 Int.5
I t a l y.

Dear Mr. Pound,

I have refrained from writing all this time
because I wanted to settle a lot of things before I did.

I have at last had the score looked at by our
contract people and they propose to offer you £50 for the
rights of two performances; the same sum to be paid you
if we decide to give only one performance. If you agree
to that, would you let me know, and I will get them to
send you a contract. Also, if that's all right, we propose
at the present to give two performances:-

1. On 26th October, 9.50 - 10.50 p.m., over the
National wavelength, (radiated by
London National and Daventry National)

2. On 27th October, 9.15 - 10.15 p.m., over the
London Regional wavelength.

After a good deal of fussation about the score -
it seems to strike terror into the hearts of musicians - we,
Woodgate and I, have finally decided to broadcast the original
concert version, scored thinly, that is:- 1 violin, 2 trombones,
1 bassoon, 1 'cello, 1 guitar, 2 double basses and 1 piccolo,
apart from the percussion needed for the Loge scheme, which we
are going to get recorded.

Before making this decision I got Maitland and
Agnes Bedford in on it, and they agree that in the circum-
stances - the probable impossibility of getting a largish
orchestra to play music notated in a way they are unaccustomed
to, with only twelve rehearsals, (all we can manage) - it
would be best to rehearse it thoroughly with a smaller number,
for the sake of a better performance. I am disappointed about
this; the musicians were solid for it.

For the libretto I have prevailed, and it is going
to stay in English. I hope to meet people's objections by
the method of production, in which I intend, as far as possible,
to formalise the speaking of the dialogue passages so that they
will sound half-way between more or less naturalistic dialogue
and clear description of the scene.

-1-

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25th September, 1931.

Ezra Pound, Esq.,
RAPALLO,
Via Marsala, 12 int., 5
I taly.

Dear Pound,

I feel like Atlas about this show, and spend
all day shoring up one bit of it only to find that the
other side has collapsed.

The position at this moment is that fifty de-
valuated quid actually is the sum to be exported to you,
minus United Kingdom Income Tax at the rate of 5/- in
the £, which, I must say, seems to me a bit thick; but
apparently it is the invariable practice. I now find
that we don't go in for special contracts with authors,
and, therefore, this letter is to be regarded as such.

About singers. After a lot of auditions, I
realise that if there are only three people who are
capable of adequately rendering the songs, then they'll
have to take all the parts between them, because to
multiply inefficients won't do us any good. I don't
believe there are more than eight people in this country
who are capable of singing the work, and of these I have
got five: Maitland, Marquesita, Raymonde Collignon,
Gustav Ferrari and Maisie Seneshall. The latter is a
great find, I think. She is an unknown diseuse. I got
hold of her purely by chance, but I think she will do the
Heaulmière grandly. She is just the type: a sort of
quintessential bermaid, with a splendid voice and plenty
of technique and intelligence. I am very relieved about
her because they are getting very sticky here about engaging
foreign artists. Apart from the fact that the Corporation
is making a "present" to the Exchequer of £200,000, there
is a definite putch at the moment against exporting a
penny piece abroad more than we can help. The one thing
I am stuck for now is a tenor. Since I wrote to you last,
Yves Tinsyre has written to say he cannot manage the dates.
This is too bad; and again this filthy economic situation
prevents me from being able to offer him such a sum that
he would cut his other engagements. If I can't find anyone
else, I may be forced to do that; but I can't tell you how
difficult it is keeping the thing on at all, and I have
only been able to do so by swearing I'd cut every penny.
Gustav Ferrari is a Frenchman, a light baritone of great
personality, and I am going to give him the Villon part,
transferring Maitland to Bozo. Marquesita is to be Villon's
Mother, Raymonde Collignon the 'Echo of Beauty' and Second
Voice in the Ganthière, and Seneshall the Heaulmière. It
is a pity about Guilbert, but she is out of the question now,
although I shall write to her along the lines you suggest in

-1-

27 Oct

Dear Harding

The Turin people ( either in response to yr/
letter or mine or both ) have been very amiable , telegraphed
their bo' here to put an apparatus . 5 other a parati
apparently got nothing. the doc's down stairs got some.

///

I don't know that I can make any useful criticism
until I hear from you . I mean until I know how much
you think you got right. I observed that conscientious work
had been done. That was clear.

The outstanding features being Raymonde's voice ,
and Woodgate getting rhythm in the Peré Noe .

NONE of the polyphony sounded in the Freres Humains.
Only the one voice and very occasionally the tenor
on an answering phrase ; but NEVER the two lines
and there ought to be four.

//

The contra bass sounded very well when heard/ The
trombones did not sound save once or twice. suspect ME
'em of being too god damned refined.

Until I know *exactly* what notation was used I can't
make any useful constructivecrit.

The bite is in the RHYTHM god damn it. Not to be got by sob-stuff or tears in voice.

In J.J. Je paings le temps de ma jeunesse.

The plaings and the temps should come out like pistol shots.

ETC. God damn pathos.

I don't know what chance there is of another performance. ^1^heatrical or other. ^1^ don't believe my being in London wd. have helped. But I must be there before the next performance.

Raymonde's voice is worth writing for. Evidently the microphone was all that was needed. I mean it is too small for anything but a few connoisseurs, but on air it has all the necessary dimensions.

So far as voice goes, she might have sung the whole thing, i.e. all the female roles.

Have you ever tried, by the way; to broadcast a clavicord?

Contrary to Woodgate's remarks to me about Contrabass; ( or mebbe it wuz only Holst's contrabass ) the big fiddles did sound; wide BARE even strip like back of a frieze.

I could see how much work had been done. I did not telegraph frantic instructions this a/m/ because I thought moral effect wd. be merely to scare the bloomin' performers.

The chap who sang Villon will never learn ... at least ...

oh well // I don't see that my presence wd. have helped. Nor cd. I have insisted etc. etc... It was prob/ a mistake not to have 'aitland sing the Villon role with the violinist I had in Paris.

Until I know exactly what notation the Villon $?? Ferrari I$ had; I can't tell how much he is to blame.

The gallant and Ythier both had some life in 'em.

The Villon role is difficult. All the parts done in Paris were better done. I mean better done in the Paris concert.

Or no, I won't say that. The False Beauté was about III even.

The gallant sang a few notes wrong but not enough to matter.

Your Villon sang absolutely NOTHING that was written for him. God damned drivveling mess that comes I suspect from liking the watered down duPare, Chausson post Débusy typical modern french puke.

One did hear his words. I don't say he is to blame. As probably no one has even mentioned, I did.

he just had to keep up with it.

Sadejo HAS a sense of rhythm.

The Villon was the only member of cast ª wd. absolutely
throw out. Seneschal ed. do something with six months
training under an absolutely pitiless boss.

Marquestita needs nothing more that someone to give her
a good full booted kick in the broad once in each line
when the stress comes. She understood her words. Knew what
she was saying when she said it.

For a first performance I dont on whole see that much more
ed. have been accomplished. Mistake not to cast Maitland
in the Villon , and to have kept the fiddle that II
KNOWS the line of the melody.

I take it A.B. had worked mostly with the women and they
had the best rhythm ( after the ªere Noe ).

In fact it was very interesting to listen to. The next
thing is to get it done RIGHT

The god damn bastard who sang Villon has no savagery
whatsoever. VVegetarian.

Your actors were all right, and the
cockney twang in Noe.

Has he ( as a matter of scientific
curiosity NO teeth, or falseteeth made of rubber , unvulcanized).