Germany this winter I cordially invite you to stay a little at Weimar, in order that we may thoroughly get to know each other.
Pray receive, sir, the assurance of my sentiments of esteem and very distinguished regard.
F. Liszt
Rome, December 29th, 1868
NEXT SECTION: WEIMAR.–PEST.–ROME.
82. To Commerzienrath Carl Bechstein in Berlin
[Head of the famous pianoforte-manufactory; our “Beflugler,” as Bulow and Tausig called him (A play on the word Flugel, which means both a “grand piano” and “wings.”)]
Very Dear Sir,
Accept a seven-octaved chromatic scale of thanks for your kindness in sending your magnificent piano for the Grand-Ducal Hofgartnerei in Weimar. I hope you will on some occasion allow me to have the pleasure of convincing you, de visu et audaitu, how glorious the instrument looks and sounds here.
According to report we are shortly to see Tausig again in Weimar. Tell him he may be sure of a hearty welcome from me.
With sincere esteem and grateful thanks I remain
Yours most sincerely
F. Liszt
Weimar, January 19th, 1869
P.S.–Enclosed are a few lines for Tausig, which kindly forward to him.
83. To Johann von Herbeck
Very Dear Friend,
Fraulein Ehnn’s amiable readiness to undertake the part has greatly pleased me, and I beg you to convey my sincerest thanks to our “Elizabeth.” The part will not cost her any immoderate effort; all possible alterations, pauses, dotted notes, ornamentations, shall be left ad libitum and entirely to the pleasure of the gracious singer. Do not write to me further on this subject, and endeavor merely to get Fraulein Ehnn to feel herself comfortably and pleasantly at home with my poor tone- melodies.
Friend Remenyi, whom I do not need now to introduce to you, will be the bearer of these lines to you. He has delighted and captivated every one here, the Court as well as the public, and this is verily no small matter, for in Weimar we are accustomed to the most distinguished violin-virtuosos. I requested him to tell you how grateful I feel to you for your idea of a concert of Liszt’s compositions.
But, in order to avoid every appearance of indiscretion or forwardness, I consider it well and advisable to keep exclusively to the Elizbeth on this occasion.
Hold fast, therefore, to two points:
a. all parts of the Elizabeth to be filled by native talent. b. Critics to be worried only with this one work.
[At the performance of the Elizabeth in the “ausserordentlichen Gesellschafts-Concert” (Company’s special concert) on April 4th, 1869, Liszt met with a genuine triumph. Herbeck writes: “After every number, and at the end of every part, there was no end to the calls for Liszt.” The performance was repeated on April 11th, and received with even greater enthusiasm.]
I have also requested Remenyi to ask you about the apartments I shall require. My stay in Vienna will be limited to eight or ten days, which I should like to spend in as quiet and peaceable a way as possible, and not within the circle of disturbing visitors.
With sincere esteem and friendly attachment yours,
F. Liszt
Weimar, January 27th, 1869
84. To E. Repos
Dear Sir and Friend,
A thousand sincere thanks for the kind zeal and love that you bestow upon the publication of my poor works. In order that the edition of the “Requiem” may be entirely correct, I will beg you to send me again proofs of the “Offertoire,” “Sanctus” and “Agnus Dei,” either to Weimar before the 18th March, or to Vienna from the 25th March to the 12th April. My address in Vienna is c/o Mr. Herbeck, Court conductor, etc., etc. Graben, Trattnerhof. Vienna. Austria.
I shall spend two or three days at Ratisbon towards the middle of April, in order to hear the Cathedral choir there, which has a great reputation in Germany. There also I shall find a manuscript of the highest interest, and one which up to now has been almost unknown: it is the opus musicum magnum of Orlandus Lassus. It is composed of more than five hundred pieces of music.
Are you in touch with Mr. Pustet, the most considerable publisher of religious music at Ratisbon?–
Your visit to Rome will be extremely agreeable to me. I expect to be back at the end of April and to pass the summer at Santa Francesca Romana.
Your very affectionately devoted
F. Liszt
Weimar, March 3rd, 1869
Probably I shall profit by your kind proposition, and shall send you shortly a Mass (for 4 voices, with a simple Organ accompaniment).
85. To Laura Kahrer, in Vienna
[Now married to Concertmeister Rappoldi in Dresden, and one of the lady-professors at the Conservatoire there. The above note, which was accompanied by a silver pen for composing, Liszt sent her after having been present at her first public appearance at a charity-concert in the Royal Opera House in Vienna. In 1870 she became a pupil of his in Weimar, and was soon considered one of the most distinguished lady-pianists; since 1879 she has enjoyed the title of Kammervirtuosin (Court pianist) of Saxony.]
Dear and astounding Artiste,
Accept this small remembrance of the hour when your extraordinary talent so joyfully surprised me, and be assured of the sincere and friendly devotion of yours,
F. Liszt
Vienna, April 15th, 1869
86. To Franz Servais
[Composer; conducted the Wagner performances in the Theater de la Monnaie, Brussels, in 1890-91.]
Dear Monsieur Franz,
The sincere pleasure caused me by your letter, which reached me at Pest at the end of April, is completed by the one you have addressed to me here. I am delighted to hear that my prophecy has been realised and that you enjoyed yourself at Munich. At this time you would not find anywhere else an ensemble of ideas, works, acts and instruction so suited to your artist-nature, and, consequently, so favorable to the full development of your fine powers. Thanks to M. de Bulow and his prodigious activity, on a par with his intelligence, Munich is becoming the new musical capital of Germany. You will therefore do well to stay some time there, in order vigorously to prepare yourself for the task which has devolved on you elsewhere.
Perhaps I may see you again this summer, for if, as announced, “Rheingold” is performed there on the 25th August I shall come to it.
Meanwhile I thank you for having so well listened to the “Elizabeth”; that is a presage to me that we shall meet more than once on the same path, in which I wish you the most complete success. .–.
Believe, dear Monsieur Franz, in my very devoted affection.
F. Liszt
Rome May 21st, 1869
87. To William Mason
Rome, May 26th, 1869
Dear Mr. Mason,
Mr. Seward has given me your kind letter and several of your compositions. These give me a double pleasure in that they prove that you have not lost your time at Weimar, and that you continue to make good use of it elsewhere.
The Etude de Concert (Op. 9) and the Valse Caprice (Op. 17) are of a distinguished style and make a good effect. I shall also sincerely praise the 3 Preludes (Op. 8) and the two Ballades, but with some reservation. The first Ballade appears to me somewhat cut short; it wants I know not what at the beginning and towards the middle (page 7) of something needed to make the melody stand out; and the pastorale of the 2nd Ballade (page 7) figures like a too-cheap piece of “padding.”… And, since I am in the vein for criticising, let me ask why you call your “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman”–“Caprice grotesque?” Apart from the fact that the grotesque style should not intrude into music, that title is unjust to the clever imitations and harmonies of the piece, very charming by the way, and which it would be more suitable to entitle “Divertissement” or “Variazione scherzose.”–
As to the Methode, you won’t expect me to make a deep study of that. I am much too old for such a thing, and it is only in self- defence that I still work sometimes at the piano in view of the incessant botherations and indiscretions of a heap of people who imagine that nothing would be more flattering to me than to amuse them!–
Nevertheless, in looking through your Methode I find some exercises much to be recommended, namely, the “interlocking passages” page 136 to 142;–and all the “accentual treatment” of Exercises. [The italics (here in quotations) in this sentence are written in English and in italics by Liszt.]
May your pupils and the editor obtain from them all the profit that I wish them!
A thousand thanks, dear Mr. Mason, and count on my very affectionate and devoted sentiments of old.
F. Liszt
88. To the Composer Heinrich Schulz-Beuthen
[Printed in Gottschalg’s “Chorgesang,” 1890.–Schulz-Beuthen was born in 1838.]
Very dear Sir,
That you have dedicated your 42nd and 43rd Psalms to me I feel to be an honor in the artistic sense, for which I am sincerely grateful. It is long since any new composition has given me the impression of intellectual strength and musical completeness such as I find in yours. And this work stands even above eminent compositions of the kind. It appears to me even more fully rounded, pregnant and powerful than your 29th Psalm, which I justly recognised as a distinguished work upon first reading it through. The grand impression produced by your 29th Psalm on the occasion of the Tonkunstler-Versammlung in Dessau confirmed my predictions, and I am convinced that wherever the 42nd and 43rd Psalms are heard every person with any depth of soul will feel their sublime beauty, and offer you something more valuable than mere ordinary applause. Do not look for word-making from me; I never knew much about it, and I can still less try my hand at it now in my old age. But allow me, very dear sir, to tell you quite frankly and briefly this:–
You must not hold yourself aloof and at a distance; your splendid works must be performed, printed and circulated. And although– owing to the idle and impudent chatter of many leaders of the press–my influence in musical matters has been reduced to a minimum, still I hope shortly to arrange a performance of your Psalms in one or two places.
With sincere esteem I remain yours very truly,
F. Liszt
Weimar, June 18th, 1869
89. To Franz Servais
Dear Monsieur Franz,
.–. Although older than you, yet my enthusiasm for “Tristan” is not second to yours.–I am delighted that the performance has come off so well, but I should not wish this marvellous chef- d’oeuvre to become for you a sort of upas tree under the shadow of which you would go to sleep.–Great manifestations of genius ought to do the part of the sun,–to illuminate and fertilise.
Believe in my sentiments of devoted affection.
F. Liszt
Rome, July 4th, 1869
90. To Madame Jessie Laussot
Dear Maestra,
I do not know why the name of Boccherini always recalls to me the valley of Tempe. There could be nothing more flattering and more salutary for me than to be admitted into so fortunate an abode, and you have certainly made the stroke of a Maestra in introducing me there (a little bit in a contraband way!).–I hope Mr. Delatre will be kind enough to send me under cover the first number of the paper containing La Mara’s article [The Liszt- sketch from the first vol. of the “Musakalischen Studienkopfe,” which the authoress had translated into Italian.]; directly afterwards I will subscribe to the Boccherini, so that I may get the whole of the biography regularly.
A thousand thanks for your intelligent solicitude; I entirely approve of the word tedesco being left out on the title-page; “tradotto dall’ Autore” is evidently the better indication, and I guarantee you that the authoress will be perfectly satisfied and will add her thanks to mine, without thinking of making the slightest observation or difficulty about anything whatever. When you are passing through Leipzig I will make you acquainted with my very amiable panegyrist.
I am certainly intending to be present at the first performance of “Rheingold,” announced for the 25th August; but I doubt whether they will be in a position to give this work so soon. Mr. de Bulow absolutely must take some rest after the Conservatoire examinations; the Servais are pressing him much to settle down with them for the months of August and September at Hal (in Belgium); I want him to accept their invitation, and he will, I hope, decide to do so. Now without him “Rheingold” at Munich seems to me at least problematical. I will let you have positive tidings, which I myself shall receive shortly. Please tell me where to address you.
I have set to work again, and with the exception of the fortnight at Munich, in honor of “Rheingold,” I shall remain here, or else in the neighborhood, until next spring.
Sgambati kisses your hands. Pinelli is at the baths of Lucca, where Buonamici [Giuseppe Buonamici, pupil of Liszt and Bulow, now one of the most celebrated pianists of Italy. Lives at Florence] will probably join him.
Very cordially yours,
F. L.
I will write two words of thanks to Delatre and beg you to give me his address.
In your walks at St. Gall make my salutations to the concert room in which were heard, some 10 or 12 years ago, the “Symphonie Heroique” conducted by Wagner, and two Symphonie Poems, conducted by your very humble servant. Szadrowski was at that time conductor at St. Gall; since then he is settled in the Grisons (at Graubunden); if you should go that way do not fail to see him; I recommend him to you as one of our friends.
Rome, July 16th, 1869
91. To Camille Saint-Saens in Paris.
[The celebrated French composer, pianist and organist (born in Paris 1835) was, as is well known, in sympathy with the New German School, and fosters, amongst others, the genre of “Symphonic Poems” made known by Liszt.]
Very honored Friend,
Your kind letter promised me several of your compositions; I have been expecting them, and, while waiting, I want to thank you again for your second Concerto, which I greatly applaud. The form of it is new and very happy; the interest of the three portions goes on increasing, and you take into just account the effect of the pianist without sacrificing anything of the ideas of the composer, which is an essential rule in this class of work.
At the very outset the prelude on the pedal G is striking and imposing: after a very happy inspiration you do wisely to reproduce it at the end of the first movement and to accompany it this time with some chords. Among the things which particularly please me I note: the chromatic progression (last line of the prelude) and that which alternates between the piano and orchestra (from the last bar of page 5–repeated then by the piano alone, page 15); the arrangement of thirds and sixths in demisemiquavers, charmingly sonorous, pages 8 and 9, which opens superbly on the entry of the subject fortissimo; the piquant rhythm
[Figure: Musical score excerpt of the rhythm in 6/8]
of the second subject of the Allegro scherzando, page 25. Possibly this would have gained somewhat by more combination and development, either of the principal subject or of some secondary subject; for instance, a little anodyne counterpoint, it seems to me, would not be out of place on pages 26, 27. etc., etc., and so on. Item for pages 50 to 54, in which the simple breadth of the period with the holding on of the accompaniment chords leaves rather a void; I should like there to be some incidence and polyphonic entanglement, as the Germanic Polyphemuses say. Pardon me this detailed remark, dear Monsieur Saint-Saens, which I only venture to make while assuring you in all sincerity that the total of your work pleases me singularly. I played it again the day before yesterday to Sgambati, of whom Plante [Francis Plante (born 1839), the exquisitely refined Pianist] will speak to you, as of an artist above the common run and even more than ordinarily distingue. He will let the public hear your Concerto next winter, which ought to meet with success in every country.
When is the performance of the “Timbre” [“Le timbre d’argent” (the silver bell), an Opera] to be? I wish it to give you abundantly all the satisfaction that you deserve, and shall only regret that I cannot be present at the performance of it. At my age the role of young composer is no longer suitable–and there would not be any other for me at Paris, as I cannot continue indefinitely that of an old disabled pianist. Thus I have judiciously made up my mind not to trouble myself about my compositions any further than the writing of them, without in the least thinking of spreading them. Supposing that they have any value it will always be found out soon enough either during my life or afterwards. The sympathy of my friends (a very well chosen sympathy, I flatter myself) amply suffices me; the rest of the world may talk in its own way. As to the “Elizabeth” I do not think it is adapted to the Parisian taste. I am moreover very tired of that score through the performances at the Wartburg, Pest and Vienna; and the difficult task of a suitable French translation, plus the rehearsals with a set of artists little disposed to take trouble, frightens me. I much prefer to employ my time in a manner less ungrateful and more agreeable; consequently I shall not put out anybody in Paris, which I shall not visit; and invite you to come and see me in Rome. Here, dear Monsieur St. Saens, we can talk and musiquer [make music] at our ease. Try and procure me this great pleasure soon, and believe fully in my sentiments of high esteem and devoted affection.
F. Liszt
Rome, July 19th, 1869
92. To Camille Saint-Saens
Very honored Friend,
At last your compositions have come, and I spent all yesterday in their amiable society.
Let us speak first of the Mass: this is a capital, grand, beautiful, admirable work–so good that, among contemporary works of the same kind, I know perhaps of none so striking by the elevation of the sentiment, the religious character, the sustained, adequate, vigorous style and consummate mastery. It is like a magnificent Gothic Cathedral in which Bach would conduct his orchestra!
After having read your score three times I am so thoroughly imbued with it that I venture to risk a few remarks.
In the Gloria one should, I think, preserve the literal text entire: “Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.”– Consequently add four or five bars.
At the beginning of the Sanctus it would be better to continue the voices, and to complete by them the sense of the orchestra; similarly it would be advantageous to interlace, by means of an alto solo, the text of the Benedictus (which you have omitted) to the Organ melody, pages 77 and 78 after the Hosanna, as well as to add the chorus to the final phrase of the “Dona nobis pacem,” pages 88 and 89.
You will find all these small matters carefully noted down on your score, which I will venture to return to you, begging you to let me have it back again soon, for I must possess this extraordinary work, which has its place between Bach and Beethoven.
Bear with one more liturgical question, and, in addition, a proposition boldly practical in the Kyrie, the spire of your Cathedral. The inspiration and structure of it are certainly admirable…”omnia excelsa tua et fluctus tui super me transierunt.” Nevertheless, during these 300 bars, about, of a slow and almost continuous movement, do you not lose sight of the celebrant, who is obliged to remain standing motionless at the altar? Do you not expose him to commit the sin of impatience directly after he has said the confiteor?…Will not the composer be reproached with having given way to his genius rather than to the requirements of the worship?
In order to obviate these unpleasant conjunctures it would be necessary for you to resign yourself to an enormous sacrifice as an artist, namely, to cut out 18 pages! (for church performance only, for these 18 pages should be preserved in the edition to your greater honor as a musician, and it would suffice to indicate the “cut” ad libitum, as I have done in several places in the score of the Gran Mass).
Sacrifice, then, 18 pages as I said, and put the “Christe eleison” on page 6, instead of the “Kyrie eleison,”
[Here, Liszt illustrates with a 3-bar musical excerpt at the point where the words “Chri————-ste e-le——” are sung.]
concluding pp on page l0. From the musical point of view exclusively, I should blush to make such a proposition; but it is necessary to keep peace, especially in the Church, where one must learn to subordinate one’s self in mind and deed. Art, there, should be only a correlative matter, and should tend to the most perfect concomitance possible with the rite.
Be assured, dear Monsieur Saint-Saens, of the sentiments of high esteem and great sympathy which I entertain towards you.
Your very devoted
F. Liszt
Rome, August 4th, 1869
93. To Madame Jessie Laussot
I have had to write a great many notes this last week. Pardon me for being so late in thanking you for your friendly lines, and kindly tell Mademoiselle Alexandrine Ritter how sincerely I feel for her in her affliction. Her mother expressed in a rare degree and in her whole personality the high and sweet dignity of the human soul. Respect attached itself to her naturally,–and she inspired the noble serenity of it.
In a few days a little surprise will reach you in the form of an “Ave Maria” written for the Cherubim Society, and dedicated to the society’s dear Maestra. However simple these few bars may be (in which there is not a single repetition of a word, nor ornamenting of any kind) I hope they will not be unpleasing to you, and I beg you to play them in the form of a prayer for
Your very affectionate
F. Liszt
Rome, October 7th, 1869
In acknowledging the receipt of the “Ave Maria” tell me when you expect Bulow, of whom I have had no tidings since Munich.
Sgambati returned here last week.
94. To Dr. Ludwig Nohl
[The well-known writer on musical subjects (1831-1885)]
Dear Friend,
Let my best thanks for your letter be, to take it to heart–and to comply with it. Meanwhile this much is certain–that we shall see each other in Weimar next May, and that at the Tonkunstler- Versammlung there you will officiate as the worthy biographer of Beethoven.
In spite of too modest a remark in your letter I am convinced that you are peculiarly well qualified for thoroughly grasping, and making others comprehend, the question of the “more modern style of Art.” Proofs of this have been gathered recently from all the admirable things you have said in your brochure on Wagner; for instance, in regard to the “refined, firm and proud position held by Music,” its “most expressive physiognomy,” and “that spirit of love which Music has created for itself”–and also, if you will allow me such presumption in contrast to your modesty, on p. 63, where you say, “The logos alone regulates the thought and gives life to the risings and fallings of the poetic idea”–
Sic vos non vobis–
Innumerable interruptions prevent my beginning the Beethoven Cantata today. But I have at last secured quiet: I shall remain all the winter at the Villa d’Este (3 or 4 hours out of Rome), and take care that I do not lose an immoderate amount of time.
With sincerest thanks and in all friendliness yours,
Villa d’Este, November 17th, 1869
F. Liszt
95. To the Princess Caroline Sayn-Wittgenstein
[According to the Weimarer Zeitung it was printed as follows, fragmentarily, in the Leipziger Tageblatt of December 6th, 1888.]
November 27th, 1869.
.–. The death of Overbeck reminds me of my own. I wish, and urgently entreat and command, that my burial may take place without show, and be as simple and economical as possible. I protest against a burial such as Rossini’s was, and even against any sort of invitation for friends and acquaintances to assemble as was done at Overbeck’s interment. Let there be no pomp, no music, no procession in my honor, no superfluous illuminations, or any kind of oration. Let my body be buried, not in a church, but in some cemetery, and let it not be removed from that grave to any other. I will not have any other place for my body than the cemetery in use in the place where I die, nor any other religious ceremony than a quiet Mass in the Parish Church (not any kind of Requiem to be sung). The inscription on my tomb might be: “Et habitabunt recti cum vultu suo.”.–.
96. To Franz Servais
Your kind letter has given me very sincere pleasure, dear Monsieur Franz. I hope your health is quite re-established, and that you are plunging into Bach to your heart’s content,–that admirable chalybeate spring! I will bear you company, and have given myself, for a Christmas present, the little 8vo edition of Peters of the two “Passions,” Masses and Cantatas of Bach, whom one might designate as the St. Thomas Aquinas of music. Kahnt, who sends me these scores, tells me of his earnest desire to get Cornelius settled at Leipzig, in the position of editor-in-chief of the Neue Zeitschrift, founded, as you know, by Schumann, and bravely carried on by Brendel. It is the sole paper which has, for thirty years past, sustained with steadfastness, knowledge and consistency the works and the men of musical progress. If, as I wish, Cornelius undertakes Brendel’s task, I think you would do well to follow out your project of staying again in Leipzig.–In any case I hope to see you again this spring at Weimar; I shall arrive there towards the middle of April, and shall stay till the end of June. During the winter I shall abstain from all travelling, and shall not leave my retreat at the Villa d’Este except to stay a few days in Rome. Many people have very kindly invited me to go to Paris; I have excused myself from doing so for reasons of expediency which you know. Henceforth it is not myself that I have to bring forward, but simply to continue to write in perfect tranquillity and with a free mind. To do this obliges me to seclude myself, to avoid the salons, the half- opened pianos and the society drudgery imposed by the large towns, where I very easily feel myself out of place.
Thank you cordially for your propaganda of the “Missa Choralis;” I shall be much obliged if you will write me a couple of words after the performance. Will you also please tell M. Brassin that I thank him much for not having been afraid of compromising his success as a virtuoso by choosing my Concerto? Up to the present time all the best-known French pianists–with the exception of Saint-Saens–have not ventured to play anything of mine except transcriptions, my own compositions being necessarily considered absurd and insupportable. People know pretty well what to think by what they hear said, without any need of hearing the works.
How did the orchestra go with the piano in the Concerto? Had they taken care to have enough rehearsals? There are several passages that require minute care; the modulations are abrupt, and the variety of the movements is somewhat disconcerting for the conductor. And, in addition to this, the traitor triangle (proh pudor!) [Oh shame!], however excited he may be to strike strong with his cunning little rhythm, marked pianissimo, provokes the most scandalous catastrophe…
Notwithstanding all the regrettable parleying, for in such a matter all sensible people ought to be of the same opinion, I presume that Mr. Godebski’s bust of Chopin will shortly be placed in the lobby of the theater at Warsaw. Certainly Chopin well merits this mark of honor, which moreover need in no wise prevent people from busying themselves about a larger monument to Lemberg, and from collecting a sufficient sum for that purpose.
At Weimar we will talk of Hal and the pleasure it will be to me to pay you a visit there. Pray present my respectful thanks to your mother, and my affectionate remembrances to Madame Godebski,–and believe me, dear Monsieur Franz, your sincere friend,
F. Liszt
Villa d’este, December 20th, 1869
(Address always Rome.)
97. To Dr. Franz Witt in Ratisbon
[Like all the subsequent letters to Dr. Witt, this letter is without date or ending, as printed in Walter’s biography of Witt (Ratisbon, Pustet, 1889).–Dr. Witt (1834-80) was a distinguished musical scholar, also a composer, the founder and first general president of the Cacilien-Verein [St. Cecilia Society], and died as a clergyman in Landshut.]
[Rome, towards the end of 1869.]
Very Dear Sir and Friend,
Before I had the honor of knowing you personally the manuscript of your “Litaniae lauretanae” aroused in me sincere interest and religious sympathy towards you. This first impression is now increased by my deeper knowledge of the substantial value of your compositions and my fuller appreciation of the great services you have rendered to Church Music. That you act as admirably in practice as in precept is evident in other of your works, but especially in the Mass and the Te Deum which were performed here on the Emperor of Austria’s name-day in the Church of the Anima under the leadership of our dear friend Haberl [On the 4th October, 1869] Both of these works are of rare value–and, what is still more rare, both are equally devoted to Art and the Church. The “Litaniae lauretanae” breathes also a spirit of nobility of soul, and diffuses its pleasant aroma notwithstanding the necessary musical limitation. The collective character of the invocations shows uniformity; and yet the lines of melody are very finely drawn; especially touching to me is
[Here, Liszt writes a 2-bar musical excerpt where the words “Sa– lus infirmo—rum Refugium peccatorum, Conso-la-trix afllicto— rum” are sung]
My hearty thanks for the dedication, my very dear friend; it brings me justifiable and joyful pride, which your own exaggerated modesty should dispel.–Next summer I will again come to you for a few days on my way to Szegzard (Hungary), where my Mass for male voices (2nd very much corrected edition,–now published by Repos, Paris) is to be performed. A few months after my visit you will I hope receive most satisfactory news (through Haberl) about the Cacilien-Verein [Haberl had endeavored, through the intervention of the Bishops assembled in Council in Rome, to obtain the Pope’s approbation of the Cacilien-Verein, and his efforts met with success.], to which, in fullest conviction, I remain firmly attached–as well as to its much esteemed President.
98. To Prof. Dr. Siegmund Lebert
Dear Friend,
The proofs of Weber’s and Schubert’s Sonatas were despatched to Stuttgart in two parcels by rail the day before yesterday. This is the cheapest and quickest way of sending things, and I beg of you in future to send parcels in this way, as packages sent by spediteur come slowly and cost a great deal. N.B.–The parcels must not be too thick, and must have the address written on the wrapper. As soon as you send me the D minor Sonata, that is still wanting, and Weber’s Conzertstuck, I will revise them at once; ere long you will receive Schubert’s Impromptus, Valses, etc.
My endeavor with this work is to avoid all quibbling and pretentiousness, and to make the edition a practical one for teachers and players. And for this reason at the very last I added a goodly amount of fingering and pedal marks; kindly get the printers to excuse this, and I trust that the trouble it causes will not prove superfluous.–With regard to the deceptive Termpo rubato, I have settled the matter provisionally in a brief note (in the finale of Weber’s A flat major Sonata); other occurrences of the rubato may be left to the taste and momentary feeling of gifted players. A metronomical performance is certainly tiresome and nonsensical; time and rhythm must be adapted to and identified with the melody, the harmony, the accent and the poetry…But how indicate all this? I shudder at the thought of it.
Also kindly excuse me from writing a preface, and write it yourself, dear friend. For you know exactly what I should wish to say, and you would say it much more clearly than I could, for my very small amount of pedagogism is, for the most part, confined to the words of St. Paul: Littera occidit, spiritus vivificat!
Your success delights without surprising me. It is only what ought to be, that Lebert and Stark’s Pianoforte Method should meet with general acceptance, and that the Stuttgart Conservatoire should continue to prosper. Both of these points of merit I took the opportunity of mentioning with due honor to H.M. the Queen of Wurtemberg–on the occasion of her visit to the Villa d’Este here.
Best thanks for sending the Bach Fugue, the 2 Etudes (separate edition) and the last volume of the Method, which I found to contain many, to me, new and praiseworthy items, among others the Etudes of Hiller and Brahms.
Ever, in all friendship, yours
F. Liszt
Villa d’Este, January l0th, 1870
I shall remain here till the end of April, and then go direct to Weimar.
99. To C. F. Kahnt, the Music Publisher
Dear Friend,
The life’s object of the Neue Zeitschrift remains firmly to stand by the colors of Rheingold and the Nibelungen, and unfailingly to represent the interests of the Deutsche Musikverein. This embraces all essential consequences for us.
At the end of next week I will send you the piano-forte score of the Beethoven Cantata, and write full particulars to Riedel.
By the middle of April I hope to reach Weimar. Best thanks for sending the Ave maris stella–and in all friendliness I remain yours,
F. Liszt
Rome, February 14th, 1870
100. To Herr Gille, councillor of justice
Dear Friend,
The best thing I have to tell you today is that we shall soon see each other again. At the beginning of April I shall visit Bulow in Florence, and then go direct to Weimar.
Last week I had a correspondence with Riedel about matters of the Tonkunstler-Versammhung. The most important points are as follows:–The utmost economy that is possible to making a perfectly suitable orchestra and chorus. The spaces at our disposal in Weimar (churches, theater and refreshment room) will not allow of any great expenditure as regards the personnel. It is to be hoped that Muller-Hartung can obtain a respectable contingent for the Beethoven Mass, which will lessen the number of outside co-operators; and I in like manner reckon chiefly on the Weimar Vocal Union for the more important numbers of the concert programme-Psalm by Schulz-Beuthen, Prometheus by Saint- Saens, my Beethoven Cantata, etc. The arrangement of the orchestra is to be as it was at the Carl August Festival and at the Tonkunstler-Versammlung of ’61–10 first violins, 6 to 7 double basses, etc. Riedel conducts Beethoven’s Mass; Lassen the concerts in the theater; and Muller-Hartung my Cantata. Conzertmeister David and Director Hellmesberger will preside over the 1st violins. Both gentlemen will also determine about the performance of the Beethoven Quartet. Any other special violin virtuoso would be superfluous this time. Riedel must arrange the distribution of the solo parts of the Beethoven Mass according as he thinks best. Milde only requires, in my Cantata,
“Dieser Brave sei verpflichtet
Das zu thun, was wir gedichtet.”
[“May this brave one be constrained
That to do which we ordained.”]
(Schober, 49. Goethe-Feier.)
I flatter myself, by-the-bye, that Milde will also find a pleasure in the “Sternen-Cantabile”–
[Here, Liszt illustrates with a musical score excerpt where the words “Viel tau-send hal-ten nach-tig” (“Vide the accompanying page”) are sung. It contained the Cantabile in question for Milde from Liszt’s Beethoven Cantata.]
Riedel asks me who shall play the pianoforte?
If our meeting were at Jena I should decidedly invite Bulow to do it; he is the veritable Beethoven player and interpreter, the one who knows and who can do [Kenner und Konner]; but unfortunately the shades of Dingelstedt and Gutzkow warn him from Weimar’s doors…
Meanwhile there is no hurry about the choice of a pianist (he or she). Only arrange the principal things in a suitable manner, the chorus, orchestra, solo singers and the Beethoven Quartet; all the rest will soon be arranged after my arrival at Weimar in the middle of April.
Yours most faithfully,
F. Liszt
Villa d’Este, February 26th, 1870
The piano arrangement of my Cantata must be written out again, and cannot therefore be sent off for 8 or 10 days. The entire work lasts about three-quarters of an hour. I am so far ready with it, that there are only two or three more passages to be instrumented.
101. To the Baroness E. M. Schwartz in Crete
[Autograph in the Liszt Museum at Weimar.–The addressee was widely known as the writer Elpis Melena.]
My winter villeggiatura at the Villa d’Este is drawing to its close; the day after tomorrow I return to Rome, and when you receive these lines I shall be at Weimar. Address to me there till the middle of June.
When will your Cretan volume, crowned [Untranslatable pun on the words “cretois” and “crete.”] with erudition and philhellenism, be finished? Shall you return this summer for its publication? I hope you will, and I will confess to you without any compliments that you are among the very small number of my friends whose absence I feel to be a privation. Now, to accustom one’s self to this kind of privation does not become easier with age.
You doubtless know the novel of your great historical friend, published now by the “Gaulois” (if I am not mistaken) under the title “La Domination du Moine” (or “Clelia.”) I question whether another of your friends–less historical although very distinguished–M. St. Rene Taillandier, recently appointed Secretary General to the Minister of Public Instruction, would subscribe to many copies of G.’s novel for the Imperial libraries; but he will have a fine opportunity of ministerial revenge when the biographer of the hero of l’unita italiana (not the “cattolica,” relegated to Turin) brings out “la Crete,” in which the Cretans will at last be relieved from the anathema of their Epimenides narrated in St. Paul’s Epistle to Titus,– “Cretenses semper mendaces, malae bestiae, ventres pigri.”–In the matter of “mendaces” and “ventres pagri” there would be a tremendous competition with the rest of Europe.
My plans for the spring and summer remain always the same. Weimar–from the 10th April till the 20th June–with the Tonkunstler-Versammlung (which has the honor of counting you amongst its illustrious members); then in the last week of May I should be very much tempted to be present at the famous “Passion Play” at Ober-Ammergau; at the end of August I shall go to my odd friend August at Szegzard (Hungary), who is anxious that a new Mass of mine should be performed on the day of the dedication of a church (29th September); and in October I shall return to Rome.
I suppose you receive the Allgemeine Zeitung. It gives but too much news, and little edifying, about serious things here by its “Roman Letters,” no less widespread than badly put together. If you want to obtain complete information on these difficult questions you must read l’ Univers and the letters of Veuillot, or at least l’Unita cattolica; but it would be exacting too much from your impartiality. Moreover you have better things to do than to read; your chief duty is to make yourself read, consequently to write and to write again;–in a secondary manner occupy yourself a little with your beautiful vines, and, above all, don’t forget to bring soon some samples of their excellent product, which will enliven our material and intellectual “substantials,” at which, hoping to participate again in the year of grace 1870, I am,
Your very affectionate and very devoted servant,
F. Liszt
Villa d’Este, March 15th, 1870
As handy gossip I send you the following: they say that Odo Russet [sic] will shortly go to England for his wife’s confinement, and will not return to his post in Rome. It is also said that Schlozer will pay a visit here in the spring;–and that the daughter of Countess Garcia is to marry a nephew of Cardinal Antonelli, and will bring a fortune of ten thousand pounds sterling.
Tarnowski will return to his Penates in Gallicia at Easter, and will write to you. Wider continues to be president of the German circle. Next door to one another, there are many concerts given at the Sala Dante, and our friend Sgambati is acquiring more and more the reputation of a great artist, which he merits. Remenyi spent the winter in Hungary. I should very much like to invite him to come to the Tonkunstler-Versammlung at Weimar; but our programme is already over-full. In any case I shall meet Rem. again at Szegzard.
102. To Camille Saint-Saens
Dear Friend,
The rehearsals of your “Noces de Promethee” (Marriage of Prometheus) are proceeding well at Weimar and Jena; we shall pay particular attention to the 4 harps, the saxophones, etc. But what is of the greatest consequence is yourself. I have announced your coming at the Court and in the town. A revoir then! Try to be here on the 24th, [Saint-Saens came to Weimar for the Tonkunstler-Versammlung of the “Allgemeine Deutsche Musik- Verein,” with which the Beethoven Centenary was simultaneously celebrated; and for the first time, on the 27th May, 1870, Saint- Saens’ name appeared on the programme of these concerts. He also appeared as a pianist, and Liszt played with him at a Matinee on two grand pianos.]–and believe me yours ever in sincere friendship,
F. Liszt
Weimar, May 12th, 1870
103. To Johann von Herbeck
Very dear friend,
Being perfectly convinced of your genuine friendship I am quite willing to follow the instructions you will briefly give me concerning the Beethoven Festival [For the benefit of the Beethoven Memorial. It took place in Vienna on the 18th March, 1877. Liszt played the E-major Concerto and the pianoforte Fantasia (with chorus), and accompanied the Scotch songs sung by Caroline Bettelheim.] in Vienna. Whether, and in what way, I may be able to take part in it will be decided when we have discussed the subject. Meanwhile I most modestly determine to consider myself unusable. [There is here a play on the word bescheiden, the German being ich bescheide mich bescheidenst, which is untranslatable.]
About the beginning of August I shall pay you a visit in Vienna, whence my road leads onwards to Szegzard. My earlier halting points will be: 3rd July, Leipzig–performance of my Missa choralis; 13th and 17th July, “Rheingold” and the “Walkure” in Munich; and after that the Passion Play at Oberammergau.
The favorable reception accorded to the Coronation Mass [By Liszt] is essentially due to your having conducted it. My best thanks for this. The score is to be printed shortly, and I must ask you to hand over to the publisher Schuberth the manuscript which I gave you in Munich last summer. Schuberth is going to Vienna in a few weeks.
With sincerest esteem, I remain your ever gratefully devoted
F. Liszt
Weimar, June 20th, 1870
104. To Sophie Menter
[The favorite and most distinguished of Liszt’s lady-pupils, of whom he wrote to Navratil on 29th September, 1881, that he had “for many years past regarded her as the most brilliant and accomplished of the lady-pianists of the day.” Since 1874 she has held the appointment of Court pianist at the Imperial Court of Austria.]
Dear and Very Honored One,
A telegram from Abranyi informs me that an invitation, addressed to Capellmeister O.B. in Salzburg, has already been sent to you to ask you to take part in the Sangerfest in Pest. Hence, after having triumphantly played in the Mozarteum on the 18th, your triumphs are to be continued forthwith in Pest on the 20th. Baron Augusz and your humble servant expect you there from the 19th. Kindly let me know (per telegram) by which train you will arrive, and–a few days afterwards–my rigidly adhered-to plan of carrying you off to Szegzard shall be brilliantly fulfilled. Here in this house you will find rest, comfort, friendly sympathy and harmless affability, and, in addition, music too, and that not of the worst kind, for we shall arrange it ourselves.
Your sincerely attached and devoted
F. Liszt
Szegzard, August 11th, 1870
105. To Sophie Menter
Your hearty and humorous little note closes delightfully with the promise that you are soon coming to Szegzard. You will not find here any vestige of all the artistic enjoyments and glories of the Mozarteum; the whole symphonic contingent of Szegzard is limited to half a dozen gypsies with instruments out of tune and harmonising in pell mell fashion one with the other; the choruses are free and performed in the open air, namely: soprano and alto- -flocks of geese; tenor and bass–cattle;–so that a conductor like O.B. would have nothing further to do than to pose as a mythological figure…
Nevertheless I promise you, dear kind patroness, many pleasant and befitting things in this restful, genial and refined home of our mutual friend Baron Augusz.
You will be most heartily welcome to us all–especially to your most sincerely attached
F. Liszt
Szegzard, August 29th, 1870
Between the middle and the end of September Remenyi, Mosonyi and Mihalovich will be staying here.
106. To Kornel von Abranyi in Budapest
[Autograph in the possession of Herr E. von Mihalovich in Budapest.–The addressee was a musician, writer and critic there.]
Dear Friend,
The death of Mosonyi puts our hearts in mourning. [Michael Mosonyi, the friend of Liszt, and to whose sudden death the latter here refers, was famous in Hungary as a composer, teacher and author.] It makes us sorrow also for Music in Hungary, of which Mosonyi was one of the noblest, most valiant and praiseworthy representatives. One might be proud of walking side by side with him in the right road. In truth his name had not its due eclat and renown abroad; but he did not trouble himself the least about that, and possibly he did not even take enough trouble about it,–as much by wisdom as by contempt of equivocal and vulgar means, which were repugnant to the elevated rectitude of his soul. He felt what esteem was due to him, and thought of nothing but real glory; that which is attained by conscientious perseverance in the Good and the Beautiful.
Let us honor his memory by setting ourselves to make his examples and teaching bear further fruit!–
Many of the published compositions of Mosonyi deserve to be more and better known; others, still in manuscript,–his last great dramatic work “Almos” in particular–will soon be spread abroad, I hope.
We will talk about this shortly at Pest. For today I wish merely to share with some friend, such as yourself, dear Abranyi, the grief at the loss which we have sustained. Yours from my heart,
F. Liszt
Szegzard, November 2nd, 1870
107. To Sophie Menter
Dear Patroness,
Your dear little notes joyfully alarm the whole household. All beg you urgently to come as soon as possible, and I all the more urgently as I have to go to Vienna at the end of April.
Your bewitching description of the “Ambrosia-Concerto” makes me most inquisitive: be sure not to forget to bring the tremendous manuscript with you; we will arrange an historically memorable performance of it in the salon of the Town-Vicarage.
Hearty greetings, and in all friendliness yours,
F. Listz
Pest, March 22nd, 1871.
In musical matters as follows: this evening and Friday concerts by Remenyi; next Sunday and on the Wednesday before Easter Philharmonic concerts;–in between a grand concert at the Musik Academie of Ofen, and on Good Friday a performance of the Stabat Mater, etc., etc.
Our programme shall be arranged here, forthwith, by word of mouth, at any quarter of an hour that my dear patroness Sophie may feel disposed to appoint.
108. To Edmund von Mihalovich in Budapest
[Composer of several operas and large orchestral works (born 1842), now director of the Music Academy in Budapest.]
.–. Augusz, in his last letter, speaks of fresh proposals on the subject of my settling in Hungary. I answer him, as before, that I am quite disposed to show myself accommodating, devoted, useful, obedient and grateful. The only condition that I make relative to my return to Pest next winter is–a place to live in; for, on the one hand, the modesty of my income forbids me to increase my expenses, and, on the other hand, politeness demands, as it seems to me, that if they seriously want me they will also show me that they do, by sparing me the onerous trouble of having to find a home. On the four occasions on which I have stayed at Pest since 1865 Schwendtner has shown me the utmost and most cordial hospitality. I feel a most true gratitude to him, but should be afraid of showing it ill by taking too great advantage of his kindness to me.
.–. Mme. de Moukhanoft [The cultivated musical friend of Liszt and Wagner, to whom the latter dedicated his “Judenthum in der Musik,” whilst Liszt dedicated an Elegic to her memory] writes, “Has Mihalovich received my letter of tender invectives and entreaties to make him come to Weimar?”
It will be difficult to persuade her that walks on the shore at Ostend ought to be preferable to the charm of the talks on the “Goethe Platz,” and even at the “Erb-Prinz,” which she will again favor with her presence towards the middle of June, I hope. Tausig also promises me to spend a fortnight here.
Mlle. Brandt sang several songs admirably yesterday morning at the “Hofgartnerei” I shall accompany her in yours tomorrow.
Yours in cordial friendship,
F. Liszt
Weimar, May 29th, 1871
Till the end of June address–Weimar.
109. To Marie Lipsius
Dear and kindest Biographer,
Again an excellent suggestion; follow it without hesitation and present us ere long with a pleasantly powerful and characteristic portrait of Tausig. [Liszt’s great pupil (born in 1841) had died in Leipzig on the 17th July, 187l.] In what year of the fifties his father brought him to Weimar, I do not now recollect; but I do remember how greatly astonished I was at his extraordinary talent when I first heard him play. The intellectual claws and pinions were already giving signs of mighty power in the youth who was scarcely 14 years of age, and somewhat delicate in appearance. I felt some compunction in undertaking to give him further instruction, determined not to undertake the task, and therefore informed the father that in the case of such a stupendous organisation the wisest plan was to leave it free, independent development without a teacher. However Tausig insisted upon remaining with me. He studied immoderately; as a rule kept very much to himself while in Weimar, and got into various little scrapes in consequence of his quick, ironical humor. I was accused of being over-indulgent with him, and of thus spoiling him; but I really could not have acted otherwise, and I loved him with all my heart. On various occasions when I had to undertake short journeys in connection with the performances of my works he accompanied me; among other places to Dresden, Prague and Vienna. Subsequently he lived in Vienna for some length of time, and got up some concerts there with the view of having some Symphonic Poems performed which he himself conducted–but he was unable to get a proper start. He had to struggle on and to endure many privations before attaining the success he deserved. His brilliant vocation did not become firmly established till a few years ago, in Berlin, Leipzig, etc.
In the spring of ’69 I met Tausig in Paris (after the “Tannhauser” scandal), and returned with him to Weimar for the Tonkunstler-Versammlung. Bulow conducted the Faust Symphony by heart (at the rehearsals most accurately mentioning the letters!), and Tausig played the A major Concerto marvellously. Since then I have seen him only twice: last May at the Tonkunstler-Versammlung in Weimar (where he played Beethoven’s E- flat major Concerto) and now…
Countess Krokow could give you the most reliable information about him, and our friend R. Pohl may also be of use to you in your work. As far as I know, no one has understood Tausig’s genius, his demoniacally ideal nature, with so quick a perception, so refined and–I might say–with such womanly intuition, as Frau von Moukhanoff (nee Countess Nesselrode). Unfortunately the two letters in which she wrote me full particulars about Tausig are in Rome. Tausig dedicated his two lately published Etudes, Op. 1, to her, and she was ever a highly appreciative and kindly patroness of his. Remember to mention her specially in your delineation of his character.
Of Tausig’s publications those chiefly deserving the highest praise are his masterly transcriptions of the Beethoven Quartets, the Toccata and Fugue of Bach (D minor), Schubert’s March; the three pieces from “Tristan and Isolde,” the pianoforte score of the “Meistersinger,” of the Kaisermarsch, the “Nouvelles Soirees de Vienne” and his two last original Etudes. Recommend also, for the good of pianists, and as a very saleable work, an early publication of his very admirable and well-sustained arrangement of Chopin’s first Concerto (E Minor).
Accept the expression of my sincere esteem and gratitude.
F. Listz
Schloss Wilhelmsthal, Sunday, July 23rd, 1871.
In the middle of this week I return to Weimar and remain there till the 5th-10th of August.
110. To Franz Servais
Dear Franz,
In spite of the proverb “Every road leads to Rome” I shall not be able to return there by way of Hal this time. Will you give my very affectionate respects to your mother and tell her how much I regret to be unable to be present, except in thought, at the beautiful family fete at the time of the inauguration of the monument to your father, on the 10th September.–Shall you not invite the Prince de Chimay (the present governor of Mons, I believe)? He would have a right there owing to his sincere interest for Art and his very distinguished musical talent.
I am persuaded that Lassen will express in noble music the inspiration of this fete intended to perpetuate the memory of an illustrious and sympathetic artist. But however successful may be his composition, it does not absolve you from yours, which filial affection demands of you and will dictate to you. Write it without delay, and afterwards take advantage of your leisure at Hal to fulfil the praiseworthy programme indicated in your letter:
a. To work hard at the Piano.
b. To help towards your independence by making yourself capable of cutting a good figure as conductor.
c. To venture on the performance of your “Macbeth” sorceries and other of your compositions, with the reservation of not hearing yourself immediately proclaimed king by the sorcerers of criticism.
Shall you make your appearance at the composition competition next year? I invite you to do so.
You know that H. Richter has been appointed conductor to the National Theater of Pest, and will conduct “Lohengrin” there at the end of September. He will find, I trust, honor and satisfaction in more firmly implanting in his country the sublime works of Wagner, and in making the orchestra, the stage and the public profit by the exemplary rules and practices of M. de Bulow at Munich. Needless to say that I shall endeavor to make Richter’s task as easy as possible to him.
Count Tyszkiewicz, in passing lately through Weimar, was kind enough to explain to me his new system of musical mathematics, and to show me his tables of figures honored with commendatory letters from Mr. Gevaert and several notabilities. If, by means of his figures and measures, Tysz. succeeds, as you claim for him, in demonstrating that X…is a “pyramid,” this will be a more pyramidal glory even than the system.
Next Thursday I go to Eichstatt (Bavaria), where the (German) St. Cecilia Society meets. Its founder and president F. Witt–a much respected ecclesiastic, conductor of the Cathedral, composer and editor of two newspapers of sacred music published by Pustet at Ratisbon–gives evidence of a great capacity and a persevering zeal in endeavoring seriously to improve the uses and customs of Church music, and, by continuous publications, to propagate the old works of repute as well as the new ones of this class that are deserving of recommendation.–A pamphlet by Witt, which appeared in the spring, “uber das Dirigiren der Kirchenmusik” [“about the conducting of Church music”], corrects some grievous errors and furnishes much profitable instruction.
I shall be much obliged if you will send me a printed account of your fete of the 10th September; on that day I shall be in Rome, and shall not return thence till toward the end of October, to settle at Pest for the winter.
Remember me most kindly to your brother Joseph, [The excellent Violoncellist Joseph Servais, who died in 1885 at the age of 35] to Godebski and his wife, and believe, dear Franz, in my steadfast feelings of devoted affection.
F. Liszt
Wilhelmsthal, August 25th, 1871
Address Rome, Santa Francesca Romana, Campo Vaccino.
What are Joseph’s and your plans for the winter?
111. To Walter Bache
Dear Mr. Bache,
Your kind remembrance of the 22nd October has given me sincere pleasure, for which I thank you cordially. Please excuse me for not telling you oftener by letter my constant feelings of affection for you; the hindrance of occupations and cares drives me, alas! into an extreme parsimony as regards letter writing with my best friends, but I think that is my only omission towards them. To see M. de Bulow again was a real joy to me. His health is improving, and his prodigious maestria at its height. He is going to make a concert tour this winter in Vienna, Pest, Prague, Berlin, etc., and will come to London in May. I hope that the people there will be able to appreciate his superiority in its entirety. Bulow, more than any contemporary artist, takes the lead in celebrity. He is not only a very great virtuoso and musician, but also a veritable sovereign of music. Mme. Laussot, who has the genius of nobility of the heart, also came to fete me on Sunday. I shall see her again at Florence in a fortnight, on my way to Pest, where, as you know, I am henceforth fixed, by royal and national favor. Whether there or at Weimar, I hope we shall meet again next summer, dear Bache, in perfect harmony.
Your very cordially affectionate and devoted
F. Liszt
Rome, October 25th, 1871
Bravo and thanks for your concert programmes, which I beg you to continue sending me.
112. To Marie Lipsius
Dear Patroness,
To your .–. sketch of Tausig only a single objection could be raised; namely, that you bestow too high praise upon me. Pardon me if I cannot argue about it, and accept my cordial thanks for this new tribute of your generous kindness.
Last Sunday (22nd October) I had the great pleasure of a visit from Bulow. He is going to remain in Florence till the New Year, and he then begins a categorical concert tour in Vienna, Pest, Prague, Berlin, Leipzig, and at the end of April goes to London. His perfect mastery as a virtuoso–in the finest sense of the word–is in its zenith. To him one might apply Dante’s words: “A master to those who know.”
Again my hearty thanks, and wishing you an increase of La Mara’s .–. writings, I remain with much esteem,
Yours very sincerely,
F. Listz
Rome, October 25th, 1871.
In a fortnight’s time I travel to Pest.
113. To Breitkopf and Hartel
Dear Sirs,
In order justly to decide the question of plagiarism between Messrs. Altschul and Joseffy, [Both were pupils of Liszt; the former is now in Buda-Pest, the latter in New York.] one would need first of all to compare the manuscripts of the two disputants. Altschul was kind enough last winter to play me his version in thirds and sixths of Chopin’s “Valse” (in D-flat major); the other, questionable, version by Joseffy I do not know. If you think it advisable to send me both versions I am quite ready to let you have my opinion on the subject. Meanwhile I will only remark that the multifarious forms of passages in thirds and sixths–upwards, downwards, to the right, to the left, or crossing, split up, etc., etc.–admit of a variety of forms of transcription in thirds and sixths of the Chopin Valse, and hence Herr Joseffy might quite innocently, in his love of sport as a virtuoso, have shot down his own bird even within Herr Altschul’s range.
But whether two birds existed must be proved by the “corpus delicti.”
With highest esteem I remain, dear sirs,
Most truly yours,
F. Liszt
Buda-Pest, November 22nd, 1871. (Palatingasse 20.)
P.S.–Herewith is my yearly contribution to the “Bach- Gesellschaft.”–
Allow me to reply, later on, to your kind inquiry in regard to a pianoforte piece.
114. To Madame A. Rubinstein in St. Petersburg
Madame,
Your talent of observation is as incontestable as your very charming amiability. With a sagacious eye you observed my predilection for the silent “compatriot,” apparently rather sombre, but of excellent composition at bottom. [A box of caviare, which Madame Rubinstein had sent to Liszt.] Doubtless the advantages which appertain to it in its own right were peculiarly enhanced by the charm of your salon, where I hope to see it again and often. Meanwhile, since you are good enough to favor me with its uninterrupted company, I beg to assure you that I shall appreciate it even beyond its specific merits, which are moreover very real. Will you be so good as to renew to Rubinstein the expression of my old and admiring friendship, and accept, Madame, the most affectionate thanks and respects of your very devoted servant,
F. Liszt
Pest, Tuesday, January 9th, 1872
115. To Edmund von Mihalovich
Very Dear Friend,
Your new Song “Du bist wie eine Blume” [“Thou’rt like a tender flower”] is most welcome, and you have succeeded perfectly with it. It only remains to add a ninth to this No. 8, so that the volume may contain the number of the Muses. I hope that you will shortly bring me this No. 9 yourself, for we want you at the Tonkunstler-Versammlung (also the ninth), which will be held at Cassel from the 26th to the 30th June. Your “Geisterschiff” figures on the programme of the first concert, and Riedel (our President) will write to you officially to invite you to fill the post of pilot and captain of your “phantom ship,” in other words, to conduct the orchestra. At the same concert Volkmann’s Overture “Richard III.,” Raff’s “Waldsymphonie,” Rubinstein’s Overture to “Faust” and a new Violin Concerto of Raff will be performed. Wilhelmj will play the violin part, and I hope that other soloists of renown will also lend us their assistance. The programme of this year’s Tonkunstler-Versammlung contains, besides these, a new old piece of goods–the “Elizabeth;” and an antiquated new one–“The Seven Words of O[ur]. S[aviour]., composed by Schutz at the end of the sixteenth century, and the manuscript of which was recently discovered at Cassel itself.
The “Elizabeth” will be given at Erfurt on the 2nd May, and on the 8th Riedel gives Berlioz’s “Requiem” at Leipzig, for the benefit of our “Beethoven Scholarship.” It goes without saying that I shall be present at these two performances.
.–. Schuberth has been very ill at New York, and is not yet sufficiently well to set out on his journey. I am expecting him here towards the middle of June: he will come to Cassel, where we will settle the little matter of your manuscripts in five minutes.
Yours in all friendship,
F. Liszt
Weimar, April 18th, 1872
My most affectionate thanks to Count Albert Apponyi for his kind remembrance, with the assurance of my cordial reciprocity.
P.S.–Augusz would give me great pleasure if he would send me a small provision of Hungarian tobacco (to smoke), for my old Weimar friend Grosse, the celebrated Trombonist.
Shall you not go to Bayreuth for the 22nd May? I shall invite you to do so.
116. To Johanna Wenzel
[The lady here addressed was a pupil of Liszt’s at the time, and subsequently married Jules Zarembski, and is at present one of the teachers of the pianoforte at the Brussels Conservatoire.]
My Dear Young Lady,
In reply to your friendly lines I beg of you earnestly no longer to think of having the barbarous operation performed upon your fingers; rather all your life long play every octave and chord wrong than commit such a mad attack upon your hands.
With best thanks, I subscribe myself yours respectfully,
F. Liszt
Weimar, June l0th, 1872
117. To Wilhelm von Lenz
Very Honored Friend,
I owe you thanks in the 24 major and minor keys for the remembrance you keep of me, and the ardent style in which you publish it to the world. Your pamphlet [“Die grossen Pianoforte- Virtuosen unsrer Zeit” The Great Pianoforte Players of our Day.] draws down upon itself a capital reproach; it is that you make me out too grand and too fine. I am far from deserving it, and I confess it without any false modesty; but since you have been pleased thus to overwhelm me I can but bow in silence,–and press your hand.
No one possesses less than myself the talent of talking with the pen, and the necessity of receiving more than a hundred letters a month (not counting bills, and the numerous sendings of manuscript or printed works which I have to read) makes correspondence again more than difficult for me. It is all I can do to get through the necessary epistolary work imposed upon me…Moreover the greater part of the things which are easily said is indifferent to me, and those that I wish to say resist ordinary language. On this subject some one well said to me:
“Words seem to me to intercept feeling rather than to express it; and actions, alas! seem to me sometimes like a thick veil thrown over our soul: looks even seem to be trammelled by phantom barriers, and souls which seek one another across the sufferings of life only find one another–such is my belief–in prayer and in music.”–
What wit, what sallies and what brilliant sparks in your “Quartet of Pianist Virtuosi!”–Don’t let us forget the etymology of the word “Virtuoso,” how it comes from the “Cicerone” in Rome–and let us reascend to Chopin, the enchanting aristocrat, the most refined in his magic. Pascal’s epigraph, “One must not get one’s nourishment from it, but use it as one would an essence,” is only appropriate to a certain extent. Let us inhale the essence, and leave it to the druggists to make use of it. You also, I think, exaggerate the influence which the Parisian salons exercised on Chopin. His soul was not in the least affected by them, and his work as an artist remains transparent, marvellous, ethereal, and of an incomparable genius–quite outside the errors of a school and the silly trifling of a salon. He is akin to the angel and the fairy; more than this, he sets in motion the heroic string which has nowhere else vibrated with so much grandeur, passion and fresh energy as in his “Polonaises,” which you brilliantly designate as “Pindaric Hymns of Victory.”
No need to tell you that I fully share in your admiration and sympathy for Tausig and Henselt. Do you know Wagner’s epigraph “Fur Carl Tausig’s Grab”?
“Reif sein zum Sterben, Des Lebens zogernd spriessende Frucht Fruh reif sic erwerben, In Lenzes jaherbluhender Flucht–War es dein Loos, war es dein Wagen: Wir mussen dein Loos wie dein Wagen beklagen.”
[For Carl Tausig’s Grave:–“Ripe for Death’s harvest, The fruits of life long tarrying, Full early to pluck them In the fleeting bloom of spring–Was it thy lot, was it thy bourn? Thy lot and thy destiny both must we mourn.”]
Allow me to be particularly grateful to you for one very comprehensive expression in your pamphlet (page 4)–“es war thematisch” [it was thematic]–and accept, dear Lenz, the expression of my old and very cordial devotion.
F. Liszt
Weimar, September 20th, 1872
In three weeks I return to Hungary, and shall stay there for the winter. The remainder of my existence will be divided henceforth between Pest and Weimar. When you return to Berlin (in the summer) I invite you to come this way. Are you in touch with the musical young Russia and its very notable leaders–Messrs. Balakireff, Cui, and Rimski-Korsakoff? I have lately read several of their works; they deserve attention, praise and propagation.
118. To Otto Lessmann in Charlottenburg
[Lessmann, a pupil of Bulow’s and F. Kiel’s, was at one time a teacher in Tausig’s School for the Higher Instruction in Pianoforte Playing, and is now well known as editor of the Allgemeine (deutsche) Musikseitung, representing the party of musical progress with energy and success.]
Very Dear Sir and Friend,
My best thanks for presenting me with your admirable edition of Bach’s “Preludes.” Such works are among the pleasant signs of the musical Present; inasmuch as they will drive away the old jog- trot style of pianoforte playing. Bulow’s edition of Beethoven outweighs in the matter of instruction a dozen Conservatoires. And the editions by Kroll and Lebert also deserve praise and ought to be widely circulated; and to your Bach Preludes I wish plentiful successors in the “Suites,” “Inventions” and “Variations” (especially the 30 in G major) of grand old Herr Johann Sebastian–of Eisenach.
Allow me also to add that reading over your Songs enables me more and more thoroughly to enjoy them when I hear them–intelligent singers shall be found for them–and accept, dear friend, the expression of my sincere esteem and affection.
F. Liszt
Eisenach, September 26th, 1872
119. To Eduard von Liszt
Horpacs, November 6th, 1872
Dearest Eduard,
My stay here has been somewhat prolonged, and I shall not reach Pest till next Sunday.
Szechenyi’s [Count Szechenyi was Austrian ambassador in Berlin up to 1892.] residence here is most decidedly pleasant and convenient, without noise. In the chapel attached to the house, the house-chaplain (a cultured and estimable priest) daily reads Mass. At table an old house-physician, Dr. M., contributes a good deal to the entertainment. Among other amusing things he said one day: “As to the cholera, no one knows anything definite about it yet except myself, for I have fathomed its nature. And its nature consists solely and wholly…of nothing but cholera!”
The day before yesterday we drove with Szechenyi and Mihalovich to Raiding, [Liszt’s birthplace.] in less than two hours. A Herr Wittgenstein (probably an Israelite), who lives in Vienna, now rents this Esterhazy estate, and sublets it again. I found no perceptible changes in the house where I was born since my last visit there 24 years ago. The peasants recognised me at once, came to pay me their respects at the inn, and rang the church bell as we drove away.
.–. I wrote to Kahnt from here that he was to send you immediately the 9 “Kirchen-Chorgesange” and my Mass for men’s voices (“Editio nova”).
The three Patronatsscheine [tickets of membership] for the Nibelung performance in Bayreuth (Bayern. N.B.–The King has commanded that henceforth Baiern [Bavaria] shall be spelt with a y), and your letter to Herr Feustel, please attend to without delay.
All cordial greetings to you and yours–from your faithfully attached
F. Liszt
Augusz I shall meet in Pest-Ofen.
Give Bosendorfer my friendly greetings, and at the same time tell him how I praise the excellent piano upon which I have been practising a little here.
If Zumbusch goes to Vienna, commission him–as we arranged–to make a bust of me in marble and a pedestal for Bosendorfer.
120. To Princess Caroline Sayn-Wittgenstein
[Printed by “order” in the Signale, 1873 (after the death of Napoleon), in which form the letter is reproduced here, as the original could not be procured. This letter does not indeed show us Liszt as a far-sighted politician, but simply as a man of noble impulses.]
Pest, January 10th, 1873
Napoleon III. is dead! A great soul, an all-embracing intelligence, experienced in the wisdom of life, a gentle and noble character–with a disastrous fate! He was a bound and gagged Caesar, but still closely related to the Divine Caesar who was the ideal embodiment of earthly power. In the year 1861, when I had a pretty long interview with Napoleon, he said, “Sometimes it seems to me as if I were over a hundred years old.” I replied, “You are the century yourself, Sire!”–And, in fact, I honestly believed at the time, and do so still, that Napoleon’s reign was the one most in keeping with the requirements and advances of our era. He has set noble examples, and accomplished or undertaken great deeds: amnesties which were more complete under him than under other governments; the protection of the Church in Rome and in other countries; the rejuvenescence of Paris and other great cities in France; the Crimean war and the Italian war; the great Paris Exhibition, and the rise of local exhibitions; the earnest attention paid to the lot and to the interests of the country people, and of the working classes; the generosity and encouragement to scholars and artists,–all these things are historical facts, and are things in which the Emperor took the initiative, and which he carried out in spite of all the difficulties that stood in his way.
These things will not be eclipsed by the misfortunes that befell him, however terrible these may have been, and, on the day of judgment, France will fetch the coffin of Napoleon III. and place it in all honor beside that of Napoleon I. It can be affirmed without adulation that throughout life the Emperor unswervingly practised those great virtues which are in reality one and the same thing and are known by the names of benevolence, goodness, generosity, nobility of mind, love of splendor and munificence. One of the fine traits of his character that he is acknowledged to have possessed, was his never-failing kindheartedness and his deep gratitude towards those persons who had ever done him a service. In all humility and lowliness of spirit I will imitate him in this, and begin with himself by blessing his memory and addressing my prayers for him to the God of Mercy who has so ordered things that nations may-recover from their wounds. .–.
121. To Eduard von Liszt
Dearest Eduard,
Long since you ought to have heard from me…However, I have not been altogether idle, and during the last weeks have been busy blackening some sheets of music paper which you shall see in print and hear me play. Bosendorfer heard some of it last night, and will bring you word about it to Pest. Be good enough to pay Zumbusch a visit, and beg him to have my bust done in good marble, and to have it finished and ready by the 2nd April (Franciscus di Paula). I intend to spend this name-day of mine with you quietly, [This was an established custom of Liszt’s for many years, and one to which–even after his cousin’s death–he adhered, and spent the day with the family up to the time of his death.] and to take the bust to Bosendorfer “in persona.”
I am told that the Gran Mass is to be performed on Easter Sunday in Pressburg. If so, we will go there together to hear it, with your wife, Marie [Eduard von Liszt’s daughter, now Baroness Saar in Vienna.] and Franz.
As to the Bayreuth affair, I have already told you what my wish and will is. It must remain thus. .–.
Probably Cosima will be going to Vienna in February.
God’s blessing abide with you and yours. Thine, with all my heart,
F. Liszt
Pest, January 13th, 1873
122. To Dr. Emil Thewrewk von Ponor, Professor at the University of Budapest.
[A classical philologist who published a little Hungarian work entitled “Die ungarische Rhythmik,” the German edition of which was to be dedicated to Liszt. The two men differed in their opinion respecting the origin of Hungarian music; however, in consequence of Von Ponor’s contribution to the subject, Liszt did in the end agree with the proof Von Ponor brought forward–with this reservation, that “the gypsies did bring harmony into Hungarian music,” a point which–Ponor thinks–“may readily be conceded.”]
Much-Esteemed and Dear Herr Professor,
I regret that my reply to your request about the Elizabeth-motive can only be somewhat unsatisfactory. It was sent to me together with some others–referring to Saint Elizabeth–about 13 years ago, by Mosonyi and Baron Augusz, and the Hungarian text is published in the concluding notice to the score of my Oratorio. A copy of the “Lyra Coelestis” I did not need; probably this (to me unknown) printed work will be readily found here, and is sure to be in the Library of the Martinsberg monastery.
If not inconvenient to you I should be glad to receive the honor of a visit from you; it would interest me greatly to hear of and to become acquainted with your researches concerning Hungarian rhythmic forms.
Meanwhile I thank you warmly for your friendly lines, and for communicating the Volkslied in the 5/4 time:–
[Here, Liszt illustrates with a musical score excerpt]
Yours with much esteem and sincerely,
F. Liszt
Pest, January 14th, 1873
123. To Dr. Franz Witt
January 20th, 1873
Much-Esteemed Friend,
At New Year I sent you a copy of the Stabat Mater by Palestrina “for the lecture arranged by R. Wagner.” The inaccuracies and errors of this copy I have carefully corrected, for in such a masterly and exemplary arrangement every iota is of importance. Wagner gave me his manuscript 18 years ago in Zurich, and forgot afterwards where it was. As regards its publication, which is much to be desired, it is not for me to interfere in the matter in any way, and I beg you to come to some understanding with Wagner about it. If he should wish to correct his old manuscript (the paper of which has become rather yellowish) I will gladly place it at his service.
124. To Eduard von Liszt
Dearest Eduard,
Having considered the matter about the certificate of death which Rothschild wished to have, I shall not make use of Belloni in connection with it. If Emile Ollivier were still in Paris it would be his place to procure the certificate. My dear good mother died in his house (Rue St. Guillaume, Faubourg St. Germain) at the beginning of January 1866. He looked after her and took tender care of her for several years; and finally had her body taken to the Church of St. Thomas d’Aquin for the funeral service, and followed it thence to its last resting-place in the cemetery of Montparnasse. This noble conduct and his speech at the grave I cherish in my innermost heart.
Since the winter of 1866 I have never been back in Paris, and my relations with trustworthy persons there are as good as entirely broken off. Hence I yesterday went and got good advice from friend Augusz, and have accepted his proposal, namely, to address a request to Count Alexander Apponyi–son of and Secretary to the Austrian ambassador in Paris–to procure the certificate of death of my mother and to send it to you. Let Rothschild know of this matter, which, let us hope, will soon be satisfactorily settled.
Many thanks for the trouble you are taking about the bust by Zumbusch, and which I very much wish personally to present to Bosendorfer in Vienna as an Easter egg. I know I can rely wholly upon your ever faithful and incomparable readiness to do me a favor.
Allow me one other request, which will cost you only half an hour’s time and a visit. The visit is to an extremely interesting, learned and distinguished man–Dr. Ambros, formerly Imperial Solicitor-General in Prague, now professor and referendary to the Officielle Zeitung in Vienna, always an eminent writer on aesthetics, history, the history of music, a polygraphist, composer–in fact, a good friend of mine. Be kind enough to tell him that I am awaiting his answer in the affirmative, respecting a lecture by him on Robert Franz at the extra Soiree arranged in honor of and for the benefit of Robert Franz; Dr. Ambros was at my request respectfully invited by Herr Dunkl (“Firma Roszavolgyi”) to give us his assistance. I take part too as pianist, collector and arranger of the Soiree, and hope that Dr. Ambros–who is so specially competent for the task, owing to his eloquent and valuable treatise on Robert Franz–will give us brilliant assistance, and give us a speech there without talking himself out. The warmest welcome and appreciation will await him on all sides. But obtain his kind consent as soon as possible, together with a written yea to Dunkl (Musikverlag Roszavolgyi, Christoph-Platz, Pest).
Heartiest greetings to your wife and children, and au revoir on the 2nd April.
Thine,
F. Liszt
Pest, January 28th, 1873
125. To Eduard von Liszt
My Dearest Friend,
Zumbusch’s letter seems to me pretty comforting, and if you would have the kindness to write to him again I hope the bust will reach Vienna by April 1st. Have you asked what it costs? If not do so in your next letter. Of course I do not mean to bargain with Zumbusch (that is a thing I do only in case of dire necessity–and even then am a bad hand at it). We must simply pay what he asks, and leave ourselves to his friendly feelings of moderation, which will not fail…
In spite of all your endeavors and persuasive powers Dr. Ambros is not coming to the Robert Franz Soiree in Pest. He wrote to Dunkl that he is unusually busy in Vienna with urgent affairs connected with the Zeitung–and hence cannot find any time to prepare an address–and besides this is afraid of taking cold on the journey…To all this we can raise no remonstrance, so I must just accept this refusal of Ambros, much as I should have liked a different answer. Some day I will tell you the preliminaries of this business. Last week I received from Freiherr Suttner, President of the Vienna Singakademie and Imperial Chamberlain, an