Your "Studio sinfonico" is fine poetry in music. It reminds me of
Venice when I was twenty. The solemn, sad motive (5/4)
corresponds to the lagoons and to the gloomy stroke of their
waves round the Bridge of Sighs: the other subject soars on high
accompanied by the gentle sound of the belfries, announcing, as
it were, from a distance the joyfulness of divine hopes.
My cordial sympathy and friendship.
F. Liszt
Weimar, June 4th, 1880
261. To Marie Lipsius
Dear Friend,
Hearty thanks for your persistent kindness; "Carmen" has just
arrived, and I now beg you to find out for and send to me another
tale of Merimee's, called "Les ames du Purgatoire" [Souls in
Purgatory]. It narrates the adventures of Don Juan de Marana,
immortalised by Mozart and Lord Byron. Grabbe has also turned his
poetical attention towards this mauvais sujet, and gives him as a
companion to Faust, which might perplex His Excellency von
Goethe.
I hope soon to see you either in Leipzig or Weimar.
Ever yours gratefully,
F. Liszt
Weimar, June 10th, 1880
Tomorrow I shall write to Hartel's that the edition of my
"Gesammelte Schriften" could not do better than begin with your
excellent version of the "Chopin."
262. To Kornel von Abranyi
Highly Esteemed Dear Friend,
My hearty thanks for the dedication copy of your charming
"Nocturnes." "Near the chapel" and "Starry night" belong to my
most select intimate Programme.
Aladar Juhasz needs but health to stand forth and hold his own as
an excellent artist, virtuoso and composer. The matter of his
stipend is now arranged--as we wished it. Juhasz will certainly
also greatly distinguish himself at the Klausenburg Musical
Festival. My lines of introduction to Trefort, the Minister, must
no longer be presented to His Excellency as mustard after dinner.
The less scribbling and gossiping the better. "Vitam impendere
vero."--
I request that the two accompanying letters in Hungarian may be
answered by the General Secretary of the Royal Hungarian National
Academy of Music, Abranyi Kornel, in my name. Before I left
Budapest we read together the polyphone tattoo by J. K., and I
then requested you to make the composer understand that
Meyerbeer's far-famed "Rataplan, Rataplan, plan, plan" (in the
"Huguenots") is quite enough henceforth for the audience.
Do not delay any longer returning his score to J. Beg Herr P. A.
to excuse me for not being a millionaire.
Till the end of July remains in Weimar Yours most faithfully and
gratefully,
F. Liszt
Weimar, June 20th, 1880
263. To Freiherr Hans von Wolzogen
Highly esteemed Freiherr and Friend,
.--. Wagner has shown and taught us triumphantly "what style is."
You explain the mighty matter admirably in your last writing,
dear Sir. That a "School for the culture of style in Bayreuth"
should be established, is wished by no one more seriously than by
Yours most sincerely,
F. Liszt
Weimar, July 28th 1880
149. To Friedrich Hofmeister, Music Publisher in Leipzig
Weimar, August 17th, 1880
Dear Sir,
For the last twenty years or more Kirchner has known how
sincerely I esteem his compositions. I rejoice to see that he
continues adding to their number with freshness and vigor, and am
much obliged to you for sending me his "Toys," "Caprices,"
"Leaves," etc., which you have brought out.
Yours truly,
F. Liszt
265. To Baroness Helen Augusz, Sister of Mercy in Graz
[Daughter of Liszt's late friend, Baron Anton Augusz, of Szegzard
in Hungary]
Most revered Sister of St. Vincent de Paule,
Pray always dispose of my feeble services. I am writing to the
Baroness de Roner according to your instructions, and request
that you will send her the enclosed lines.
M. Tirindelli's [Professor at the "Liceo Marcello" in Venice;
violinist and composer.] abilities deserve attention,
consideration and encouragement. This you have well understood,
and it will be a pleasure to me to second you.
How can I be of use to him?
By recommending him to some publisher in Germany?
Does he intend to travel and give concerts? Your protege, M.
Tirindelli, may count upon my sincere readiness to oblige him:
the only thing I ask is, that he should write me distinctly in
what way I can be of service to him. Yesterday I took the liberty
of noting several alterations in his melody "All' Ideale," his
Mazurka, and in the Adagio of the Trio which pleases you by its
fine feeling.
By the way, this Adagio has been so badly copied that another
less faulty one will have to be made before sending it to print.
By this same post you will receive the three works with my
alterations.
Having arrived here last Saturday, I shall remain at the Villa
d'Este till New Year. In the middle of January will return to
Budapest
Your very respectful and devoted servant,
F. Liszt
Rome, September 1st, 1880
The most convenient address for me during the next months is:
Albergo a Via Alibert, Roma.
266. To Madame A. Rubinstein
Allow me, dear Madame Rubinstein, to dedicate to you my
transcription of your husband's charming and very famous Lied. To
the very conservative burden "Ach! wenn es doch immer so bliebe"
[Ah! could it remain so for ever!] I add that what will certainly
always remain as now is, your most respectfully and
affectionately obedient servant,
F. Liszt
(Villa d'Este,) October 24th, 1880
267. To Frau Amalie von Fabry in Budapest
Dear Madame,
I do not know whether I talk too much; but I certainly write too
little to those who remain constantly in possession of my sincere
gratitude. I crave your kindly indulgence therefore for my
involuntary shortcomings.
Through your nephew Imre [Baron Augusz, son of Anton Augusz. He
died at an early age.] I hear that his mother, Baroness von
Augusz, has been so good as to look at my new dwelling in the
Academy of Music, and that the arrangement of it, as yet unknown
to me, meets her approval. The solicitude you have shown, Madame,
in this matter--as well as in other similar ones in the
Palatingasse and Fischmarkt during the last 8 years--I beg to
acknowledge with warmest thanks. It never enters my head to make
exaggerated pretensions with regard to my residential
requirements. Decency without display continues to be the right
thing for me. I only have one wish at all times: never to be a
trouble to my friends anywhere.
It will be agreeable to me if Fanny feels disposed to undertake
my modest household service again this winter. She adapts herself
well to it with her pretty smiling face.
Pray accept, dear Frau von Fabry, the renewed expression of my
old devoted affection.
F. Liszt.
Villa d'Este, Tivoli, November 1st, 1880
On the 15th January I shall again arrive at Budapest.
268. To Frau Anna Benfey-Schuppe
[Autograph belonging to Herr Fritz Donebauer at Prague.--The
addressee is an authoress residing at Weimar.]
Dear Madam,
A thousand apologies. I ought long ere this to have written you
and my esteemed friend, Dr. Benfey, a letter of thanks, and to
have sent your sheetful of questions back answered. [The answers
follow in the letter.] Pray excuse this delay.--
I frankly confess that the title of the pamphlet, "Beethoven and
Liszt," [Alludes to a pamphlet contemplated by the late husband
of the lady addressed.] at first frightened me. It called to my
mind a reminiscence of my childhood. Nearly fifty years ago, at
the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, I used often to notice a
harmless poodle keeping company in the same cage with a majestic
lion, who seemed to be kindly disposed towards the little
chamberlain. I have exactly the same feeling towards Beethoven as
the poodle towards that forest-king.
With sincere thanks and regards,
Yours, F. Liszt
November 11th, 1880 (Villa d'Este, Tivoli)
At the end of September, Breitkopf and Hartel sent my own duet
arrangements of my twelve "Poemes Symphoniques" at my request to
Gottschalg (Weimar). This copy is intended for Dr. Benfey.
Gottschalg will likewise willingly place the scores of the
"Dante" and "Faust" Symphonies, as well as the arrangement for
two pianos of both these works, at your disposal.
The names of the greatest performers figure in the Court
concerts, such as, Joachim, Ernst, Vieuxtemps, Bulow, Rubinstein,
Bronsart, Tausig, Madame Viardot-Garcia, etc., etc. A few of
these concerts were conducted by Berlioz, and their programmes in
every case contained nova et vetera (as prescribed in the
gospel).
During my direction of the Opera at Weimar, from '49 to '58, the
following works were performed there, together with the standing
repertoire of Mozart's, Weber's, Rossini's, Meyerbeer's Operas,
etc.
February '49 "Tannhauser;" August 28th, '50, "Lohengrin" (first
performance); later on "The Flying Dulchman," and Wagner's
splendid edition of Gluck's "Iphigenia in Aulis."--Berlioz's
"Benvenuto Cellini;" Schumann's "Manfred" (first performance),
Raff's "King Alfred," two of Lassen's Operas, Spohr's "Faust"
(with the recitatives), Sobolewski's "Comala," Dorn's
"Nibelungen" (first performance), etc., etc.--Finally, Peter
Cornelius' "Barber of Bagdad"--the last operatic performance
which I directed there.
This short list will suffice for your purpose of the pamphlet; to
it we may add that several Oratorios and Symphonic works were
performed under my direction, such as Marx' "Moses," Rubinstein's
"Paradise Lost," Schumann's "Paradise and the Peri" and his
concluding scenes in "Faust," etc.; as for Symphonies, the Great
Pyramid--Beethoven's "Ninth" (for Goethe's Jubilee in '49),
nearly all Berlioz's Symphonies and Overtures, besides other
Symphonies and Overtures by Schumann, Raff, Hiller, Bronsart,
Joachim, Bulow, etc., most of which were at that time scarcely
known or entirely new.
You might obtain better and more detailed information concerning
musical life at Weimar (from '49 to '58) from some who took part
in it either as performers or friends, especially Gille, Lassen,
Gottschalg, Grosse (trombone-player and contrapuntist),
Wahlbrull, Milde and his wife, and Fran Dr. Emilie Merian, than
from the theater archives.
I have no doubt, moreover, that the present Intendant, Baron
von Loen, will readily permit you to inspect the archives of the
theater and see any programmes of the Court concerts of that time
which may still be forthcoming. You may likewise count upon the
obliging readiness of Lassen and Muller-Hartung in making your
pamphlet known.
During my summer stay in Weimar in latter years, some pianists
have taken to coming there regularly who play my Symphonic Poems
well and willingly. I am not able to name any of those who come
during the winter. Ask Lassen and Muller-Hartung about this.
Enclosed you will find an introduction from me to Madame Merian.
She sings my songs with fervent intelligence, from heart to
heart.
F. Liszt
November 11th, 1880 (Villa d'Este)
269. To the Committee of the Antwerp Musical Society
Very Honored Gentlemen,
The expression of my sincere gratitude for your very kind letter
has been delayed owing to a circumstance which was independent of
my will.
I am acquainted with the high character which the Antwerp Musical
Society bears; many of those who were present at your Festivals
in 1876, '77, and have spoken to me in the liveliest terms of
praise of those great musical performances, of the far-famed
merits of your director, Peter Benoit, of his Rubens Cantata and
of his Oratorio [La Guerre, De Oorlog.] recently sung at Brussels
on the occasion of the national commemoration by 900 members of
your Society. Greatly flattered by your invitation, I hope,
Gentlemen, that my answer to it may not appear discourteous to
you. Allow me to decline the honor of directing the Festival you
have in view for 1881 and to be present at it as a simple
listener. Should any work of mine have been admitted to your
programme, I would fain request M. Peter Benoit [One of the chief
representatives of Belgian national music (born 1884), Director
of the Antwerp Conservatoire] to conduct it, since for the last
fifteen years I have declared myself unfit for this work in all
countries.
My engagements keep me at Budapest till Easter. After that time I
shall be charmed to have the opportunity of assuring you again
personally at Antwerp of the sentiments of high consideration and
distinguished esteem with which I remain,
Yours faithfully,
F. Liszt
November 16th, 1880 (Villa d'Este,) Tivoli
[The Lisztt-Festival given by the Societe de Musique d'Anvers
took place on the 26th May, 1881, under Benoit's direction, in
Antwerp. The programme comprised the Gran Mass; the E flat
Concerto, played by Fran Falk-Mehlig; the Dance of Death, played
by Zarembski; Mignon and other songs, sung by the ladies
Kufferath and Schauenburg; and the Preludes.
In a second Festival-Concert on 29th May, arranged by Liszt's
former pupil F. von Servais and Jules de Zarembski, Tasso and the
Faust Symphony, the Concerto Pathetique (played by M. and Mme.
Zarembski), and "Loreley" with orchestra (Mdlle. Kufferath) were
performed. Gevaert, the celebrated musical savant, apostrophised
Liszt in the opening speech as "the incomparable Virtuoso whose
prestige has never been surpassed, nor even equalled; the
prolific and inspired composer, who in the numerous domains of
Art which he has touched has opened new roads, explored new
shores, and left everywhere the luminous imprint of his bold and
innovating genius; the eminent head of a School, who may without
exaggeration be described as the initiator, par excellence, of
the musical movement of our epoch; one of those rare favorites of
the gods for whom posterity begins even during their life-time,"
etc.]
270. To Sophie Menter
Dear, Highly Valued Friend,
If I rightly understand your letter and telegram you are soon
going to Paris and London, and also soon coming to Rome. When?--
tell me this clearly. A Roman Sophie Menter Concert is easily
arranged and will be a great pleasure for me.
Although introductions from me are quite superfluous for you, I
beg you to consider them always at your disposal. The best person
to safeguard your interests with the German Ambassadors in France
and England will be Frau Grafin Schleinitz. Alter, shorten and
improve anything you like in the Fantaisie on the Huguenots.
Pieces of this sort ought only to be brought forward by super-
eminent virtuosi--Sophie Menter, for instance. The transcriber
then hardly serves as "Klecks." [Klecks is the name of Mme.
Menter's favorite cat.]
Yours cordially,
F. Liszt
December 2nd, 1880 (Villa D'este, Rome)
Maybe you will tell me yourself soon in Rome where I am to send
the letters; if not, send me your address. I shall remain here
till January 5th and be at Budapest on the 15th.
271. To Dr. Friedrich Stade in Leipzig
[Musical writer (born 1844) in Leipzig]
Very Dear Sir and Friend,
Your transcription of "Gretchen" [Out of Liszt's Faust Symphony.]
for pianoforte and harmonium is capital, just as I wished. I only
take the liberty of very slightly altering it, and have added ten
bars at the end, which are to be henceforth inserted in the score
and in my own arrangements of the Faust Symphony. [They follow
herewith in the orchestral movement, according to Dr. Stade's
copy.]
If you will kindly take the trouble to arrange the entire Faust
Symphony for two performers on one piano, I shall be greatly
indebted to you. [This was done.] Deal as freely as possible with
the figurations and also with the distribution among the seven
octaves of the odious keyboard. It seems to me that what may be
more laterally accurate ought often to give way to what sounds
better and even to what is more convenient for the players at the
piano.
Thanking you once more, I remain,
Yours most cordially,
F. Liszt
Rome, December 11th, 1880.
We will play your duet arrangement together before it is
published, in Weimar--next spring.
[Here, Liszt illustrates with Musical score excerpts]
272. To Professor S. Jadassoiin in Leipzig
[Composer (born in 1831), teacher at the Leipzig Conservatoire
since 187l]
Dear Sir,
Your setting of the 100th Psalm is nobly religious in feeling and
excellent in style. The working out of the choruses is masterly
throughout, from beginning to end; a passage which comes out with
especial brilliancy is that on pages 14, 15-19, 20, "with
rejoicing," where the trombones, and then the trumpets and
trombones, joyously repeat the subject of the fugue in
augmentation.
The Arioso too which follows, "He made us," is most fervent in
expression. There is a fine field here for beautiful contralto
voices to rejoice in.
My sincere thanks, dear sir, for the dedication of this excellent
work. I shall recommend it for performance to such of my friends
as are conductors; above all, to Hofcapellmeister Muller-Hartung,
whom I shall request to bring out your Psalm at Weimar.
Yours sincerely,
F. Liszt
Villa d'Este, January 10th, 1881
273. To Frau Reisenauer-Pauly in Konigsberg
Dear Madam,
It is one of my duties to deal sparingly in letters of
introduction. Still I am quite willing to repeat my opinion that
your son Alfred is a highly gifted and brilliantly aspiring
pianoforte-player.
Should this conscientious opinion enable him to obtain further
recommendations, he is free to make use of it.
Yours sincerely,
F. Liszt
Budapest, January 29th, 1881
274. To Dionys von Pazmandy, Editor of the Gasette de Hongrie
[This letter is printed in French in the Gazette de Hongrie, but
is only known to the Editor in the German translation (Neue
Zeitschrift fur Musik?).]
Dear Sir and Friend,
You want to know my impression of yesterday's Bulow Concert? Yet
it must have been yours, that of all of us, that of the whole of
the intelligent audiences of Europe. To define it in two words:
admiration, enthusiasm. Bulow was my pupil in music five-and-
twenty years ago, as I myself, five-and-twenty years before, had
been the pupil of my much respected and beloved master, Czerny.
But to Bulow it was given to do battle better and with greater
perseverance than I did. His admirable Beethoven-Edition is
dedicated to me as the "fruit of my tuition." Here however it was
for the master to learn from the pupil, and Bulow continues to
teach by his astonishing performances as virtuoso, as well as by
his extraordinary learning as a musician, and now too by his
matchless direction of the Meiningen Orchestra.--Here you have
the musical progress of our time!
Yours cordially,
F. Liszt
Budapest, February 15th, 1881
275. To Frau Colestine Bosendorfer in Vienna
[The wife of the celebrated pianoforte-maker, who died young]
Not to see you in Vienna this time, Madame, was a grief to me. It
cast, as it were, a melancholy shadow over my stay there, which
otherwise was brightened by so cordial a reception.--
I am accompanied by the roses without thorns of my pleasant
recollections of you, and my hearty and respectful devotion
remains unaltered.
F. Liszt
Weimar, Easter Sunday, April 17th, 1881
Have the kindness to repeat to Bosendorfer the assurance of my
very cordial friendship.
276. To the Most Honorable Committee of the Wagner-Verein, Berlin
Addressed to Professor Otto Lessmann.
Gentlemen,
A distinction such as that which was conferred upon me yesterday
by the Berlin "Wagner-Verein" and by the audience has seldom been
received by the highest masters in the musical art, among whom I
can only count as an apprentice.
["Les Preludes" and "Festklange," the former under Lessmann's,
the latter under Mannstadt's direction, had been performed in the
winter garden of the Central Hotel before a numerous audience
assembled by invitation. Between the two symphonies, Marianne
Brandt sang "Jeanne d'Arc au bucher," and Heinrich Ernst some of
Liszt's songs. A banquet concluded the festival.]
Accept my warmest thanks for the "Liszt Festival Concert" of
Sunday, 24th April; it remains as a joyous incentive to lifelong
continuous work with
Yours respectfully,
F. Liszt
Berlin, Monday, April 25th, 188l
277. To Kornel von Abranyi
Weimar, May 13th, 1881
My Dear Friend,
Rather more than half of my concert-engagements for this year
have now been fulfilled. The two performances of "Christus" in
Berlin and Freiburg were admirable; the Liszt-Concerts in
Freiburg and Baden-Baden likewise; in the first of these the
three-part hymn "L'enfant au reveil" was also given, charmingly
sung by deliciously clear voices. By way of a rehearsal of this
piece the ladies gave a morning serenade in honor of me at the
house of my friendly hosts the Rieslers, whose villa will remain
most pleasantly in my remembrance. Felix Mottl conducted the
Liszt concert in Baden-Baden with "Mazeppa," the "Mephisto-
Waltz," the "Hunnenschlacht," and three pieces from the Oratorio
"Christus" in a most praiseworthy manner. Bulow's Liszt-evening
in Berlin glorious as at Pest and Vienna..--.
I shall stay here till Sunday, 22nd May. On the 24th I shall be
at Antwerp. On the 26th is the performance of the "Gran Mass"
there.
I am very glad that the Committee of the Musical Festival has
chosen just this particular work, which has hitherto been more
talked about and abused by the critics than heard. Of course I
had left the programme entirely to the discretion of the
Committee, for I really have no wish to recommend any work of my
own for performance anywhere. My mission is to work on
unpretendingly and without troubling myself about advancement.
Yours faithfully,
F. Liszt
My best regards to your wife and sons. I will send you programmes
from Antwerp and Brussels. I shall be back here again on the 4th
June. From the 9th to the 12th June Tonkunstler-Versammlung in
Magdeburg.
278. To Kornel von Abranyi,
Much Esteemed, Dear Friend,
The second copy (with the additional few hundred bars) of the
score of my second Mephisto-Waltz is admirably done. Thank Gyula
Erkel very particularly in my name for it. I request his
acceptance of the enclosed forty florins, as a slight
remuneration for the time he has spent on it. I depend upon your
firm friendship, which has stood the test of so many years, to
find a delicate mode of presenting them to him. The score of the
second Mephisto-Waltz will be published next autumn by Furstner
(Berlin), and then performances can take place at Budapest and
elsewhere.
I am writing to our esteemed Director of the Royal Hungarian
Academy of National Music, Franz Erkel, to have Chickering's
grand pianoforte, as an excellent and kind gift from America,
placed in the music-hall in the Radial-Strasse. This piano, as
well as the whole of my possessions in Budapest, will belong to
the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music at my death, which is not
far off. Correctness remains the motto of
Yours most faithfully,
F. Liszt
Weimar, May 22nd, 1881.
Tomorrow evening I shall be at Antwerp. The Committee there have
decided for the Gran Mass to be performed on the 26th May without
any pressure on my part. Therefore Eljen Hungaria--in all
countries. You may address to Weimar in the beginning of June.
279. To Frau Charlotte Blume-Arends
[A pupil of Liszt's now in Berlin.]
Weimar, August 29th, 1881
Dear Madam,
A good deal of irregularity has crept into my housekeeping during
my long indisposition. Your kind letter only reached me
yesterday. Thank you heartily for it; I accept the office of
godfather. So your son is to be named Franz, and to walk the
waters of life firmly and serenely, trusting securely in God,
like my patron Saint Francois de Paule, whose motto is:
"Caritas." I have long been wishing to thank you by letter for
the charming present which decorates my study in the new wing of
the Musical Academy at Pest. That elegant work of art is greatly
admired by my numerous visitors. It would be charming, were the
amiable donor to return and inspect it. The remembrance of you is
still vivid in Pest.
Best compliments to your husband from
Yours gratefully and truly,
F. Liszt
I hope to be quite recovered in ten days, and shall then go to
Rome.
280. To Otto Lessmann
Weimar, September 8th, 1881
Dear Friend,