[a letter from Charles E. Halle 9Carl) to his parents from Darmstadt, 1863]

The Kapellmeister, a very nice man, at once made the proposal, if I wished to attend the rehearsals of the orchestra, that I should go any morning at 10 o'clock to the Court Theatre. I went this morning, and my joy was quite indescribable. The orchestra consists of more than sixty members ; they play like angels, I have never heard anything like it, and I must describe it more closely another time. To-day they played Beethoven's ' Eroica Symphony ' that is, indeed, a mighty composition at times an icy cold shiver ran through me, but more of this later.