ABSTRACT
As he had promised Dorabella, Jaeger's sortie to the Dusseldorf Telegraph Office also resulted in a bulletin to the Musical Times, 'By Telegram From Our Special Correspondent', which appeared in the January number. It covered familiar ground, summarizing Jaeger's hopes for the future: I t was an evening that will be long remembered, and one that may have a far-reaching influence upon the progress of British music in foreign lands.' That progress was monitored in a paragraph in the same number quoting from press reports of the Wiesbaden and Brussels Variations performances, and there was the suggestion of a further Gerontius performance in Germany at the Lower Rhine Festival in May. But meanwhile both Elgar and Jaeger now had to come down to earth again. Elgar felt the return to England after his reception in Dusseldorf very strongly: 'The horrible musical atmosphere I plunged into at once in this benighted country nearly suffocated me', he wrote from Malvern two days after arriving home. Jaeger continued much workaday correspondence with him over details of the printing of the score and parts of Gerontius, but kept the question of Elgar's future creative development to the fore by asking the Littletons to consider paying him a regular income. Jaeger himself was continuing in poor health, and it appeared that the operation suggested by MacDonald had been a failure. The news worried Elgar and he revealed the intensity of his concern, offering whatever further help was necessary.
