30. To Eduard Liszt
Very dear Eduard,
Assuredly I have not been "complaining" of you to Count
Gallenberg nor to anybody else in the world. Quite the contrary,
and on every occasion I boast of my beloved cousin, and am happy
and proud of his loyal, delicate and noble friendship, which is
one of the sweetest kindnesses of Providence to me.
Nevertheless I am much obliged to Count Gallenberg for having
somewhat driven you to write to me, extra, so good and tender a
letter, for which I thank you from my heart and soul.
The electoral circular you added to it gives me real
satisfaction, and I am pleased at the public evidence that has
been attained of your "honorableness, firmness of character and
great capability." It seems to me that it was not possible, under
the actual circumstances, to have obtained a more complete
success in the competition with Schuselka; [Eduard Liszt was at
that time standing against Schuselka as a andidate for the
Reichstag (Parliament), but without success.] but I hope that
your turn will come soon. The waiting is painful for you, without
doubt, and is also too prolonged as regards your deserts...still
one must be resigned to it, and that as simply as possible, by
abstaining from useless words and taking useless steps. To be
ever deserving, though only occasionally obtaining--much or
little--is still the wisest thing to do in this world, where "he
who endures little will not endure long!"--
.-. Shall I see you at Carlsruhe at the end of August? I hope so
most truly. Before returning here (at the beginning of October) I
shall spend a few days with my mother in Paris. You will not be
vexed with me for beginning with her first, and for postponing
till another year my transient visit to you at Vienna, which I
accept in the same manner as you offer it, and for which the
occasion will be found when I return to Hungary, supposing that
they are inclined (as appears likely) to give me an order similar
to that of the "Graner Messe." Otherwise, and unless there be any
determining circumstance for me, I am resolved not to tire people
with my presence, as also to withdraw myself from the idle
fatigue that people cause me. Thank God I have something to work
at without disturbing myself at my work further than is necessary
for the good conscience I hope always to keep. For this Rome is
peculiarly adapted to me, and I shall not go away for the
smallest thing without well knowing what it is for.
I send herewith my answer to the Committee of the Association in
aid of poor musicians in Hungary, [See the foregoing letter of
18th June.] to which I beg the Princess to authorise you to add
the sum of 200 florins. Let them be sent at once to the
Committee, begging for an acknowledgment, which you will send to
me.
Remenyi will come and see you shortly. He has spent nearly two
months here, and has been heard very often at the Argentina
Theater with extraordinary success. I have invited him to come to
Carlsruhe, as I am persuaded that he will succeed no less well
there than in Rome. Meanwhile I beg you to give him a cordial
reception.
Yours ever affectionately,
F. Liszt
June 22nd, 1864 [Rome]
Greetings and love to your dear ones.
It goes without saying also that I think most affectionately of
Cornelius and Tausig, which you will tell them.
31. To Dr. Franz Brendel
Dear Friend,
.--. I can assure you of Remenyi's co-operation. By the middle of
July I expect a letter from him with his fuller address. It will
be superfluous to mention him in the preliminary programme of the
concert-performances. But what about Wagner?--Frau von Bulow
sends me very sad news of him...If he definitely refuses to
attend the Tonkunstler-Vers. all we can do is to obtain his
consent to give the extracts--previously enumerated in the
programme--from his "Meistersanger" and other of his works
(together with the scores and voice parts). In my opinion these
pieces are indispensable for the principal day of the Carlsruhe
programme. It would be best if Bulow alone brought the matter to
the desired issue. It seems to me impossible that Wagner could
give him and all of us the pain of an absolute refusal! At all
events everything must be done to avoid such a misfortune--nay, I
may even say, such a scandal.
For the future, dear friend, you shall be totally relieved of the
trouble of sending me these detailed communications. Frau von
Bulow is going to report to me of the further progress of the
preliminary arrangements concerning the Tonk.-Vers.; you yourself
have more than enough to do with writing, negotiating, deciding,
preparing, weighing to and fro, and in thinking things out, etc.,
etc.
It is settled, therefore, that I am coming, and you will have to
look after me during my couple of weeks' stay in Germany, as it
is mainly your fault that I am coming. Between ourselves I may
tell you that, had it not been for your pressing letters, I
should probably have confined myself to giving the Bulows a
rendez-vous in Marseilles, and to paying my mother a few days'
visit in Paris. Of other roads there are extremely few for me
nowadays--and those that I have still to tread are not to be
found in journeys, but only indeed at my quiet writing-table!
With hearty greetings and in all friendship, yours,
F. Liszt
July 1st, 1864
Yesterday I received a friendly letter from Seroff. Could not
some fragment from his "Judith" be fitted into your Carlsruhe
programme?
32. To Walter Bache in London
[The addressee (1842-1888), a pupil of Liszt's, settled in London
as teacher, pianist and conductor, devoted his whole life there
to making Liszt's music known in England. His annual Recitals and
Orchestral concerts were devoted mainly to this object.]
I reply to your letter, dear Mr. Bache, by assuring you once more
of my very sincere and affec-* *tionate interest. You will never
find me wanting or behindhand when it is a question of proving
this to you; be very sure of that.
The good news you give me of Madame Laussot is very welcome to
me. I hope she will give me the pleasure of coming again to Rome,
for I see no chance of my coming to Florence. Towards the middle
of August I shall start for Carlsruhe, where I have promised to
be present at the third Tonkunstler-Versammlung. Thence I shall
go to Weimar, and shall take Paris on the way in order to see my
mother again before returning here at the beginning of October.
Please tell Madame Laussot that she would wrong me if she did not
count me amongst her most truly affectionate and devoted
adherents. I especially preserve a grateful remembrance of her in
connection with the "Ideale," and all that attaches to it. She is
of the very small number of noble and intelligent exceptions in
the too great number of my friends and acquaintances. I was
speaking to this purpose the day before yesterday to a young
person of Grecian origin who lives in Florence at the Count de
Sartiges' house (and who frequents Madame Laussot's concerts).
The Athenian plays the piano marvellously and charmingly.
You will bring me Ehlert's Scherzo with other of his
compositions.
Meanwhile I commission you to give my best compliments to Ehlert.
A thousand cordial and affectionate things, and a revoir next
winter.
July 2nd, 1864, Madonna del Rosario
F. Liszt
Thanks for the triple photograph, [Probably of Mme. Laussot,
Pinelli and Bache, who were taken together.] which is thrice
welcome.
33. To ?
[Autograph letter (without address) in the possession of Monsieur
Etienne Charavay in Paris. The letter appears to be addressed to
a friend in Vienna.]
Dear Friend,
The parcel of music you kindly announce has not yet come; but I
will not delay in sending you my thanks, as I am about to leave
here for six or seven weeks.
The day after tomorrow I travel to Carlsruhe to attend the
Tonkunstler-Versammlung, the concerts there (conducted by Bulow)
being given between August 22nd and 26th. Thence I go to Weimar
on a visit. By the end of September I shall be with my dear
mother in Paris, and back here by the middle of October. You must
not be surprised if in newspaper-fashion I leave it undecided
whether or not I change my abode and remain in Rome for ever.
The words for ever remind me of the 22nd Psalm (according to the
usual Protestant numbering the 23rd) which, in reality, I
composed for a tenor, whereas the 137th is meant for a mezzo-
soprano (Fraulein Genast, now married to Herr Merian, in Basle).
I am therefore surprised that you should have proposed the latter
Psalm and not the 22nd for Herr Erl, and I fear the effect of it
will not be good sung by a tenor. The violin accompaniment which
on several occasions is in unison, as well as the concluding
chorus, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem," are written exclusively for
women's (or boys') voices, and thus demand a female soloist.
Besides which it seems to me that the sentiment and spiritual
tonality of the Psalm do not move in the masculinum. Israelitish
gentlemen must not be called upon to sigh, to dream and to
abandon themselves to their grief in any such way.
I shall be much pleased to become fully acquainted with the new
works by Kremser, Hasel and Ziehrer, which you promise me, on my
return.
Meanwhile with best thanks and kind greetings, yours in all
friendship,
F. Liszt
Rome, August 7th, 1864 (Madonna del Rosario)
34. To Eduard Liszt
Weimar, September 7th, 1864 (In the blue room of the Altenburg)
It grieved me to have to do without your presence at the
Tonkunstler-Versammlung in Carlsruhe, dearest Eduard. Your
letter, however, speaks of your having made some advance in your
career, and this greatly delights me. I hope you will soon have
more definite news to communicate to me on the subject. You know
that to see you prosperous is one of the satisfactions I most
desire in life!--
As regards the Tonkunstler-Versammlung you will find a kindly and
satisfactory resume of the proceedings in the supplement of the
Allgemeine Augsburger Zeitung--3lst August, 1st to 3rd September.
Bulow was unfortunately prevented by serious illness from
conducting. From a personal as well as an artistic point of view
I felt his absence very keenly--however no complaint whatever can
be made about the performance, and the reception accorded by the
audience, especially to my Psalms, was extremely favorable. I
assuredly never expected to meet with such sympathetic
appreciation, after my experiences of former years. Friend Lowy
had, on this occasion, no reason to hide himself in a seat at the
back! In the Chamber-music soirees three of my Songs ("Es muss
ein Wunderbares sein," "Ich liebe Dich," and "Mignon") were sung
by Herr and Frau Hauser, and an encore was demanded. Remenyi
played magnificently, and Fraulein Topp [Alida Topp, a pupil of
Liszt's.] is a marvel.
At the conclusion of the Tonkunstler-Versammlung I started early
on Sunday morning for Munich with Cosima (who remained with me
the whole week of the concerts). Hans was confined to bed at the
Bairischer Hof; his nervous rheumatic complaint has now settled
in his left arm, which he will probably be unable to move for
several weeks to come. In addition to the physical pain he
suffers most grievously from this enforced state of inactivity.
To endure things patiently is to some natures an absolute
impossibility. He travelled back to Berlin, ill as he was, last
Saturday, accompanied by his wife, and I have promised to go and
spend a couple of days with him after my visit to Prince
Hohenzollern in Lowenberg, where I go in a day or so.
Of Wagner's wondrous fortune you are sure to have heard. No such
star has ever before beamed upon a tone-or a word-poet. N.B.--
H.M. the King of Bavaria addresses his communication, "To the
Word-and Tone-Poet, Richard Wagner." More by-and-by about this
remarkable affair of Wagner's. I saw him in Munich on several
occasions, and spent one day alone with him in his villa on the
Starnberger See.
I have been here since the day before yesterday. .--.
Continue to love me--as I do you.
With all my heart your
F. Liszt
Address me to Weimar (at the Altenburg). I must return here from
Lowenberg (between the 15th and 8th September) in order to await
the Grand Duke at the Wartburg.
35. To Breitkopf and Hartel
Dear Herr Doctor,
Together with the corrected proofs of the Pastoral and the C
minor Symphonies (in which I found one or two errors) I sent you
(from Weimar) my pianoforte arrangement of the 3rd instrumental
movements of the 9th Symphony. After various endeavors one way
and another, I became inevitably and distinctly convinced of the
impossibility of making any pianoforte arrangement of the 4th
movement for two hands, that could in any way be even
approximately effective or satisfactory. I trust you will not
bear me any ill-will for failing in this, and that you will
consider my work with the Beethoven Symphonies as concluded with
the 3rd movement of the 9th, for it was not a part of my task to
provide a simple pianoforte score of this overwhelming 4th
movement for the use of chorus directors. Arrangements of this
kind have already been made, and I maintain that I am not able to
furnish a better or a more satisfactory one for helpless
pianofortes and pianists, and believe that there is no one
nowadays who could manage it.
In my edition of the 9th Symphony for two pianos, prepared for
Schott, the possibility was offered to me of reducing the most
essential parts of the orchestra-polyphony to ten fingers, and of
handing over the chorus part to the second piano. But to screw
both parts, the instrumental and vocal, into two hands cannot be
done either "a peu pres or a beaucoup pres!"
In case other proofs of the remaining Beethoven Symphonies are
ready, you might send me them to Weimar before Tuesday, 20th
September. I should be glad at the same time to receive the
splendid 6 Mottets of Bach in eight-voice parts (among which is
"Sing unto the Lord a new song"). I am all the more in need of
reading such works, as I am at present unable to hear a
performance of them.
Next week I shall again spend a few days in Weimar (or
Wilhelmsthal); thence I go to pay my mother a visit in Paris, and
by 18th October, at latest, I shall be back in Rome.
Yours respectfully and sincerely,
F. Liszt
Schloss Lowenberg, September 14th, 1864
I requested Herr Kahnt to return to you with my best thanks the
copy of the Symphonic Poems which was kindly forwarded to me in
Carlsruhe.
36. To Breitkopf and Hartel
Dear Herr Stadtrath, [Town Councillor]
In compliance with the wish you so kindly express, I will again
make an attempt to "adapt" the 4th movement of the 9th Symphony
to the piano, and soon after my return to Rome will set to work
upon the required tentative. Let us hope that the variation of
the proverb: "Tant va la cruche a l'eau qu'a la fin...elle
s'emplit"--may prove true. [So often goes the pitcher to the
water that at last it is filled.]
While talking of various readings allow me to draw your attention
to an exceptionally valuable collection. A very carefully and
well-trained musician with whom I have been acquainted for many
years past--Herr Franz Kroll (in Berlin)--has, with industrious
and unceasing perseverance, been collecting, copying and
arranging for publication the noteworthy various readings of
Bach's manuscripts of the "Wohltemperiertes Clavier." [The well-
tempered Piano] Last week he showed me several of them, and I
became convinced of the substantial interest of the collection
and encouraged friend Kroll to send you a full account of them.
In now enclosing his letter to you--written at my instigation--I
take upon myself, with pleasure and the fullest conviction, the
musical duty of advocating the publication of these various Bach
readings, and of heartily recommending Kroll's work as an
essentially useful, complementary addition to your admirable
edition of the "Bach-Gesellschaft" [The Bach Society].
Pray accept, dear Herr Stadtrath, the assurance of my sincere
esteem and devotion.
F. Liszt
Wilhelmsthal, October 1st, 1864
37. To Madame Jessie Laussot
You will be good enough to excuse me, dear Madame, for having
delayed replying to your kind letter. Amongst your many rare
qualities there is one that I particularly admire; it is the
prowess of your musical sympathies. Nevertheless I must scruple
to expose you to too harsh trials, and, knowing by experience
with how little favor my works meet, I have been obliged to force
a sort of systematic heedlessness on to myself with regard to
them, and a resigned passiveness. Thus during the years of my
foreign activity in Germany I constantly observed the rule of
never asking any one whatsoever to have any of my works
performed; more than that, I plainly dissuaded many persons from
doing so who showed some intention of this kind--and I shall do
the same elsewhere. There is neither modesty nor pride in this,
as it seems to me, for I simply take into consideration this
fact--that Mr. Litz [Liszt quotes the very common misspelling of
his name which has frequently been seen since he was "le petit
Litz" in Paris.] is, as it were, always welcome when he appears
at the Piano (--especially since he has made a profession of the
contrary--) but that it is not permitted to him to have anything
to do with thinking and writing according to his own fancy. The
result is that, for some fifteen years, so-called friends, as
well as indifferent and ill-disposed people on all sides, sing,
enough to split your head, to this unhappy Mr. Litz, who has
nothing to do with it, "Be a pianist, and nothing but that. How
is it possible not to be a pianist when, etc., etc."
Possibly they are right--but it would be too much to expect me to
sign my own condemnation. Far from that, I confess that
contradiction ends by tempting me seriously, and that I am
resolved to pursue it to the end, without any illusion or
approbation whatever. Only at certain moments I fancy that that
judicious maxim of Champfort is somewhat applicable to me
"Celebrity is the punishment of talent and the chastisement of
merit."
Our friend Sgambati is happily in a fair way to incur this
punishment and chastisement--and certainly with very good reason.
He has done wonders this winter at his four concerts, which have
had a success both of fashion and of real good taste. I, for my
part, have gained a thorough affection for Sgambati, and the
remarkable development of his talent of so fine and noble a
quality interests me keenly.
A thousand very cordially affectionate and devoted things.
F. Liszt
Rome, March 6th, 1865
38. To Dr. Franz Brendel
Dear Friend,
While awaiting from you definite word about the next Tonkunstler-
Versammlung in Dessau, let me, meanwhile, thank you for your last
communication. The main interest of the musical performances is,
of course, on this occasion centred in Riedel and his Verein. In
the programme-sketch I notice my Psalm 137 at the very beginning.
What lady takes the solo?--mind and soul are indispensable in it.
Bronsart wrote to me at the beginning of March that he
entertained the idea of a concert-tour to the Russian provinces
on the Baltic. I should be glad to hear that the Euterpe squabble
and quarrel in connection with the T.K.V. in Dessau were at an
end, and that Bronsart was to undertake the conductorship.
As a supplement to this I send you herewith the programme of the
concert held in the hall of the Capitol, where for some years
past no special festivities have been given, and probably never
anything of this kind before. For the first time the different
orchestras in Rome (the Sistine, St. Peter's, Lateran and
Liberian) all united to give a performance which upon the whole
may be said to have been as successful as it was well received.
The concert was proposed to the Holy Father, and approved of by
him. Owing to the exceptional character of the undertaking,
which, like that of last year, was made to fit in with the plan
of the detailed arrangements--(some ladies belonging to the
aristocracy, and commissionaires distributed the tickets which
were sold at a minimum, no advertising, etc.), I determined to
give my co-operation. I played the "Cantique" (the last number of
the "Harmonies poetiques et religieuses" published by Kistner),
and, as there was no end to the applause, I added my
transcription of Rossini's "Charite" (published by Schott).
Everybody in Rome with any claim to culture was present, and the
hall was more than full.
With friendliest greetings, your sincerely devoted
F. Liszt
April 3rd, 1865
P.S.--Please get Kahnt to inquire of Hartel as soon as possible,
how far the printing of my arrangement of the Beethoven
Symphonies has progressed, and whether I may rely upon his
sending--during Easter week as already settled--the orchestral
parts (autographed) of several of my Symphonic Poems,--more
especially of the Dante Symphony? It is possible that the Dante
Symphony may be performed here towards the end of April. But you
shall have further news of me before that.
Bote and Bock will shortly publish a very simple Hymn of mine
(for pianoforte) entitled "The Pope's Hymn."
39. To Prince Constantine of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
Monseigneur,
Your Highness will understand that it is a necessity of my heart
to speak to you of a very happy juncture that assures me
henceforth, in full degree, the stability of feeling and of
conduct to which I aspired. It seems to me that I should be
guilty of ingratitude and wanting in respect to the condescending
friendship with which you are good enough to honor me, did I not
let you know of the determination I have taken. On Tuesday the
25th April, the festival of St. Mark the Evangelist, I entered
into the ecclesiastical state on receiving minor orders in the
chapel of H.S.H. Monseigneur Hohenlohe at the Vatican. Convinced
as I was that this act would strengthen me in the right road, I
accomplished it without effort, in all simplicity and uprightness
of intention. Moreover it agrees with the antecedents of my
youth, as well as with the development that my work of musical
composition has taken during these last four years,--a work which
I propose to pursue with fresh vigor, as I consider it the least
defective form of my nature.--
To speak familiarly; if "the cloak does not make the monk" it
also does not prevent him from being one; and, in certain cases,
when the monk is already formed within, why not appropriate the
outer garment of one?--
But I am forgetting that I do not in the least intend to become a
monk, in the severe sense of the word. For this I have no
vocation, and it is enough for me to belong to the hierarchy of
the Church to such a degree as the minor orders allow me to do.
It is therefore not the frock, but the cassock that I have
donned. And on this subject Your Highness will pardon me the
small vanity of mentioning to you that they pay me the compliment
of saying that I wear my cassock as though I had worn it all my
life.
I am now living at the Vatican with Monseigneur Hohenlohe, whose
apartment is on the same floor as the Stanze of Raphael. My
lodging is not at all like a prison cell, and the kind
hospitality that Monseigneur H. shows me exempts me from all
painful constraints. So I shall leave it but rarely and for a
short time only, as removals and especially journeys have become
very burdensome to me for many reasons...It is better to work in
peace at home than to go abroad into the world,--except in
important cases. One of these is awaiting me in the month of
August, and I shall fulfil my promise of going to Pest at the
time of the celebration of the musical fetes that are being got
up for the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the
Conservatoire. My Oratorio of "Saint Elizabeth" and the Symphony
of the "Divina Commedia" form part of the programme.
Next year, if Your Highness still thinks of realising your noble
project of a musical congress at Lowenberg, I should be very
happy to take part in it, and place myself entirely at your
orders and service.
Permit me, Monseigneur, to express anew to you my most grateful
thanks for the evidences of sympathy you have so generously
accorded to myself and to my works; and graciously accept the
homage of unchanging sentiments of most respectful devotion with
which I have the honor to be
Your Highness's most humble and affectionate servant,