with which I might be reproached as regards the programme of this
evening's concert. The indications which Her Royal Highness the
Grand Duchess condescends to give me are too precious to me for
me not to be most anxious to fulfill at least all my duties. If,
then, one of Beethoven's Symphonies does not figure in today's
programme, it is because I thought I could better satisfy thus
the intentions of H.R.H., and that I permitted myself to guess
that which she has not taken the occasion to explain this time.
The predilection of His Majesty the King of Saxony for
Beethoven's Symphonies assuredly does honor to his taste for the
Beautiful in music, and no one could more truly agree to that
than I. I will only observe, on the one side, that Beethoven's
Symphonies are extremely well known, and, on the other, that
these admirable works are performed at Dresden by an orchestra
having at its disposal far more considerable means than we have
here, and that consequently our performance would run the risk of
appearing rather provincial to His Majesty. Moreover if Dresden,
following the example of Paris, London, Leipzig, Berlin, and a
hundred other cities, stops at Beethoven (to whom, while he was
living, they much preferred Haydn and Mozart), that is no reason
why Weymar--I mean musical Weymar, which I make the modest
pretension of representing--should keep absolutely to that. There
is without doubt nothing better than to respect, admire, and
study the illustrious dead; but why not also sometimes live with
the living? We have tried this plan with Wagner, Berlioz,
Schumann, and some others, and it would seem that it has not
succeeded so badly up to now for there to be any occasion for us
to alter our minds without urgent cause, and to put ourselves at
the tail--of many other tails!--
The significance of the musical movement of which Weymar is the
real center lies precisely in this initiative, of which the
public does not generally understand much, but which none the
less acquires its part of importance in the development of
contemporary Art.
For the rest, dear Baron, I hasten to make all straight for this
evening by following your advice, and I will ask Messrs. Singer
and Cossmann to play with me Beethoven's magnificent trio (in B-
flat--dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph), as No. 3 in the
programme.
A thousand affectionate compliments, and
Yours ever,
F. Liszt
Monday, May 21st, 1855
138. To Anton Rubinstein
My dear Rubinstein,
On my return from the Musical Festival at Dusseldorf, where I
hoped to meet you, I found the parcel of oeuvres choisies and the
portrait, which is very successful, of Van II. I hasten to give
you my best thanks for this first sending, begging you not to
forget your promise to complete, in the course of their
publication, the collection of your works, which have for me
always a double interest of Art and friendship. This morning we
had a taste, with Singer and Cossmann, of the Trio in G minor, of
which I had kept a special recollection--and afterwards Princess
Marie Wittgenstein (who commissions me to give all her thanks to
you, until she can have the pleasure of giving them to you in
person) demanded the pieces dedicated to her, which had complete
success. A propos of dedications, the Grand Duchess Sophie is
enchanted with the "Persische Lieder" ["Persian Songs"], and this
she has probably already intimated to you. Shortly before her
departure for Dusseldorf she sang several of them over again,
taking more and more liking to them. Decidedly the first
impression that these "Lieder" made on me, when you showed them
to me, and when I begged you to publish them without delay, was
just, and I have not been deceived in predicting for them a
quasi-popular success. Mdlle. Genast, who has returned from
Berlin, tells me that she made a furor there with "Wenn es doch
immer so bliebe!" ["Oh, could it remain so for ever!"] But,
unfortunately, as an older song has it, "it cannot remain so for
ever under the changing moon!" The last time I was passing
through Leipzig (where they gave my "Ave Maria" exceedingly well
at the Catholic Church), I told Gotze to appropriate to himself
three or four of your "Persische Lieder," which he will sing
splendidly; and, as he comes here pretty often, I will beg him to
give us the first hearing of them at some Court concert. The
Grand Duchess Olga is expected for the day after tomorrow; and
if, as is probable, they treat her to a little concert, I shall
take advantage of the opportunity to make her become better
acquainted with the Trios you dedicated to her, and which I
consider as among your best works. In the parcel I noticed the
absence of "L'Album de Kamennoi-Ostrow," which I should like to
make known, or, better still, to offer from you to H.I.H. the
Dowager Grand Duchess, and which I want you to send me for this
purpose.
If by chance you pass through Bonn, do not forget to go and see
Professor Kilian, who has been interested in you from very old
times, and with whom we talked much of you and your works during
the journey from Cologne to Dusseldorf.
Write me word soon what you are doing now. I, for my part, shall
spend the summer at Weymar, up to the time of my journey to Gran
(June-August). I count on your promise to come and see me in the
autumn, unless your road should lead you into these parts sooner.
You may be very sure of being always most welcome at the
Altenburg--and, even if a number of those holding our musical
opinions should meet still less often than in the past, that
would not in any way influence the very sincere feelings of
friendship and esteem which I bear towards you and keep towards
you invariably. When we see each other again, you will find my
"Divina Commedia" pretty far advanced; I have sketched a plan of
it (a Symphony in three parts: the two first, "Hell" and
"Purgatory," exclusively instrumental; the third, "Paradise,"
with chorus): but I cannot set myself entirely to this work until
I have finished the new score of my choruses from Herder's
"Prometheus," which I am rewriting in order to have it printed
shortly after the publication of my Symphonic Poems, six of which
will come out next October.
I am very curious to see what your new case of manuscripts will
contain. Have you set to work on "Paradise Lost"? I think that
would be the most opportune work for taking possession of your
fame as a composer.
A thousand cordial expressions of friendship, and
Yours ever,
F. Liszt
June 3rd, 1855
139. To Dr. Franz Brendel
[Weimar, June 1855]
Dear Friend,
Best thanks for your munificence. The weed [Cigars] is very
welcome, and you will have to answer for it if it induces me to
importune you with some more columns. Meanwhile I send you the
proofs of the second Berlioz article, together with a fresh
provision of manuscripts, and with the next proofs you will get
the end.
I will also send you very soon a report of the Dusseldorf Musical
Festival (not by me), the authorship of which I beg you to keep
strictly anonymous. Probably he will be piquant and forcible. On
the whole, and also in detail, the Dusseldorf Musical Festival
can only be described as a great success, and I, for my part,
rejoice in this and every success without particularly envying
it. My task is quite a different one, the solution of which is by
no means troubled thereby.
If you should by any chance have read that I am going to America
(!--there are many people who would be glad to have me out of
sight!), and that a Leipzig virtuoso (in Leipzig such animals as
virtuosi are seldom to be met with!) is going to take my place
here, you can simply laugh, as I have done, at this old canard--
but don't say anything to contradict it in your paper; such bad
jokes are not worth noticing, and are only good as finding food
for inquisitive Philistines. In a few days I hope to be able
again to do something serious with my work, and shall not leave
Weymar until my journey to Hungary (at the end of August).
Gutzkow's appointment is still in suspense, but is not
impossible. Have you read Frau Marr's (Sangalli's) brochure,
brought out by Otto Wigand? The pages which she devotes to my
work here may perhaps interest you, and I have absolutely nothing
to complain of in them, especially in view of the fact that I
have not hitherto been able to go "hand in hand" with Marr. Marr
has, moreover, according to what he told me, given in his
resignation as artistic Director, [At the Weimar Court theater]
and one cannot get clear about the entire theater-management for
some weeks to come. I keep myself very passive in the matter, and
don't fish in troubled waters. Thus much is certain--that if
Weymar wants to do anything regular, it cannot do without my
ideas and influence. About the rest I don't need to trouble
myself. Last Sunday we held a satisfactory performance of
"Tannhauser" in honor of the Princess of Prussia--and next Monday
the opera will be repeated.
Friendly greetings to your wife from your almost too active
fellow-worker and friend,
F. Liszt
I am writing to Fraulein Riese one of these next days, to invite
her to the performance of my Mass at Jena. [The Mass for male
voices was performed there in the latter half of June.]
140. To Dr. Franz Brendel.
[The first sheet of the original is missing]
Evers' [Doubtless Carl Evers (1819-75), composed Sonatas, Salon
pieces, etc.] letter has amused me, and it will cost you but
little diplomacy to conciliate the sensitive composer. You know
what I think of his talent for composition. From people like that
nothing is to be expected as long as they have not learned to
understand that they are uselessly going round and round in what
is hollow, dry, and used up. That good Flugel [Music writer and
composer; at that time teacher in a school at Neuwied; now
organist at the Castle at Stettin.] has also little power of
imagination, although a little more approach to something more
earnest, which has at least this good in itself--that it checks a
really too naive productiveness...His letter on the Dusseldorf
Musical Festival is again a little bit of Barenzucker
[Liquorice.] (reglisse in French), and W.'s article in comparison
with it quite a decent Pate Regnault. When we see each other
again I will make this difference clear to you--meanwhile make
the Rhinelanders happy with the latter, and don't be afraid of
the whispers which it may perhaps call forth; for, I repeat, it
contains nothing untrue or exaggerated, and in your position of
necessary opposition it would be inconsistent if you were to keep
back views of that kind from the public.
With the most friendly greeting, your
F. Liszt
June 16th, 1855.
My Mass for male voices and organ (published by Hartel two years
ago) will be given next week at the church in Jena. As soon as
the day is fixed I will let Fraulein Riese know.
Once more I recommend you to keep the W. article strictly
anonymous.
141. To Concertmeister [Leader of orchestra] Edmund Singer.
Dear Singer,
If I write but seldom to my friends there is, besides other
reasons, one principal cause for it, in that I have but seldom
anything agreeable or lively to tell them. Since your departure
very little has happened here that would interest you. One half
of our colleagues of the Neu-Weymar-Verein [New Weymar Union] is
absent--Hoffmann in Holland, Preller in the Oldenburg woods,
Pruckner and Schreiber at Goslar, etc., etc.--so that our
innocent reunions (which finally take place in the room of the
shooting-house) are put off for several weeks. Cornelius is
working at a Mass for men's voices--on the 15th of August we
shall hear it in the Catholic Church. I, on my side, am working
also at a Psalm (chorus, solos, and orchestra), which will be
ready by your return, in spite of all interruptions which I have
to put up with by constant visits. An exceptionally agreeable
surprise to me was Hans von Bulow, who spent a couple of days
here, and brought with him some new compositions, amongst which I
was particularly pleased with a very interesting, finely
conceived, and carefully worked-out "Reverie fantastique." Until
the 15th of August (when his holidays end) he remains in
Copenhagen, where he will certainly meet with a friendly
reception. Perhaps next summer you would be inclined to go there.
You would find it a very pleasant neighborhood, and many pleasant
people there, who have also been agreeably remembered by me. If I
had time, I would gladly go there again for a couple of weeks, to
find a little solitude in the Zoological Gardens and to forget
somewhat other bestialities. [Probably a play on the words
Thiergarten (beast-garden) and Bestialitaten] This satisfaction
is not so easily attainable for me elsewhere.
I envy you immensely about Patikarius [Hungarian gipsy
orchestras] and Ketskemety. [Hungarian gipsy orchestras] This
class of music is for me a sort of opium, of which I am sometimes
sorely in need. If you should by chance see Kertbeny, who has now
obtained a logis honoraire, please tell him that my book on the
Gipsies and Gipsy Music is already almost entirely translated by
Cornelius, and that I will send it to him by the autumn. But beg
him at the same time not to write tome, as it is impossible for
me to start a detailed correspondence with K.
I sent the pianoforte arrangement (with the voices) yesterday to
Herr von Augusz, with the request that he would present them,
when he had an opportunity, to His Eminence Cardinal Scitowsky.
The Mass [Liszt's Graner Messe.] will not take up an excessively
long time, either in performance or studying. But it is
indispensable that I should conduct the general rehearsal as well
as the performance myself; for the work cannot be ranked amongst
those in which ordinary singing, playing, and arrangement will
suffice, although it offers but small difficulties. It is a
matter of some not usual trifles in the way of accent, devotion,
inspiration, etc.
When are you coming back, dear Singer? Only bring home with you
an orderly packet of manuscripts, that is to say to Weymar, where
I hope that you will feel yourself more and more at home.
The members of our Club who are still here send you the most
friendly greetings by me, to which I add a cordial "auf baldiges
Wiedersehen" ["May we soon meet again!"].
Yours ever,
F. Liszt
August 1st, 1855
P.S.--Joachim is going to make a walking tour in Tyrol. I hope he
will come and see us on his return. Berlioz proposes to give some
concerts in Vienna and Prague next December. I shall probably
postpone my journey to Wagner (at Zurich) until November. I shall
remain here for the next few months, in order to write several
things in readiness for the winter.
142. To Bernhard Cossmann In Baden-Baden
Wilhelmsthal, August 15th, 1855
Here am I really on the road to Baden-Baden, dear friend; but
that does not advance matters at all, and in spite of myself I
must resign myself to remain en route. Tomorrow morning I return
to Weymar, where I have promised to meet my two daughters, as
well as Mr. Daniel [Liszt's son], who has pretty well
distinguished himself at the general competition. After passing
ten days or so with me the girls will take up their abode with
Madame de Bulow at Berlin, who is good enough to take charge of
them, and Daniel will return to Paris to continue his studies
there. I was hoping also to be able to spend a week or two there-
-but that cannot possibly be arranged, and on reflection I was
obliged to limit myself to conducting the Princess W[ittgenstein]
as far as Eisenach, whence she has continued her journey to Paris
with her daughter (with the special view of seeing the exhibition
of pictures there); and for my exhibition I shall content myself
with that to the north, which I can enjoy from the windows of my
room!--This picturesque solemnity is almost up to the height of
the musical solemnities of Baden which you describe to me in such
bright and lively colors, but with this difference, that at
Wilhelmsthal we are very much favored by the element of damp,
whereas at Baden the artists who give concerts are drained dry.
At Weymar all the world is out of doors, and the town is pretty
full of nothing, offering to the curiosity of travelers only the
trenches and practical circumvallations in honor of gas-lighting
which they are going to start in October. Singer is bathing in
the Danube (at Ofen), and tells me he shall be back by the roth
of September; Raff is promenading amid the rose and myrtle
shrubberies of his "Sleeping Beauty" at Wiesbaden; Stor is
returning with his pockets full of new nuances which he has
discovered at Ilmenau, where he has composed (as a pendant to my
Symphonic Poem) "Ce qu'on entend dans la vallee"! ["What is heard
in the valley." Liszt's work bears the title "Ce qu'on entend sur
la montagne" ("What is heard on the mountain.")] Preller
[Friedrich Preller, the celebrated painter of the Odyssey
pictures] has found beautiful trees in the Duchy of Oldenburg
which serve him as a recovery of the "Recovery" [Or a "recreation
of the Recreation." I do not know which is meant. The original is
"qui lui servent d'Erholung von der 'Erholung.'"--Translator's
note.]; Martha Sabinin [A pupil of Liszt's, a Russian] is
haunting the "Venusberg" in the neighborhood of Eisenach in
company with Mademoiselle de Hopfgarten; Bronsart [Hans von
Bronsart, Liszt's pupil, now General-Intendant at Weimar] is gone
to a sort of family congress at Konigsberg; and Hoffman [Hoffmann
von Fallersleben, the well-known poet] is running through Holland
and Belgium to make a scientific survey of them; whilst Nabich is
trying to gain the ears of England, Scotland, and Ireland with
his trombone!
I, for my part, am in the midst of finishing the 13th Psalm (for
tenor solo, chorus, and orchestra), "How long wilt Thou forget
me, O Lord?" which you will hear this winter; and I shall not
leave Weymar till November to go and pay a few days' visit to
Wagner at Zurich. Don't altogether forget me, my dear Cossmann,
in the midst of your solemnities----[The end of the letter was
lost.]
143. To August Kiel, Court Conductor in Detmold
[Autograph (without address) in the possession of M. Alfred
Bovet, of Valentigney. The contents lead to the conclusion that
the above was the addressee (1813-71).]
I have been prevented until now, by a mass of work and little
outings, from sending you my warmest thanks for your kind
forwarding of the opera text of "Sappho," and I beg that you will
kindly excuse this delay. The manner in which Rietz's composition
to the Schiller dithyramb is to be interwoven with the poem I
cannot venture fully to explain. I confess also that the
dramatico-musical vivifying of the antique is for me a sublime,
attractive problem, as yet undecided, in the solution of which
even Mendelssohn himself has not succeeded in such a degree as to
leave nothing further to be sought for. Some years ago "Sappho"
(in three acts--text by Augier, music by Gounod) was given at the
Paris Opera. This work contains much that is beautiful, and
Berlioz has spoken of it very favorably in the Journal des
Debats. Unfortunately it did not appear in print, and up to the
present time no other theater has performed it, although it made
a sensation in Paris and ensured a first-rate position to the
composer. If it would interest you, dear sir, to get to know the
score, I will willingly write to Gounod and beg him to give me
the work to send to you.
I have repeatedly heard the most gratifying tidings of the
sympathy and care which you bestow in Detmold upon the works of
Wagner and Berlioz. Regardless of the many difficulties,
opposition, and misunderstandings which meet these great
creations, I cherish with you the conviction that "nothing truly
good and beautiful is lost in the stream of Time," and that the
pains taken by those who intend to preserve the higher and the
divine in Art do not remain fruitless. In the course of this
autumn (at the end of November at latest) I am going to see
Wagner, and I promise to send you from Zurich a little autograph
from his hand. I would gladly satisfy your wish sooner, but that
the letters which Wagner writes to me are a perfectly inalienable
benefit to me, and you will not take it amiss if I am more than
avaricious with them.
Accept, my dear sir, the assurance of my highest esteem, with
which I remain
Yours most truly,
F. Liszt
Weymar, September 8th, 1855
Enclosed are Berlioz' letter and the manuscript of "Sappho."
144. To Moritz Hauptmann
[The celebrated theorist and cantor of the Thomashirche in
Leipzig (1792-1868)]
Very dear Sir,
By the same post I send you, with best and warmest thanks for
your friendly letter, the volume of Handel's works which contains
the anthems. The second of them, "Zadok the Priest and Nathan the
Prophet anointed Solomon King," is a glorious ray of Handel's
genius, and one might truly quote, of the first verse of this
anthem, the well-known saying, "C'est grand comme le monde." ["It
is as great as the world."]--
The cantata "L'Allegro, il Pensieroso," etc., enchants me less,
yet it has interested me much as an important contribution to
imitative music; and, if you will kindly allow me, I want to keep
the volume here a few days longer and to send it back with the
two others.
I agree entirely, on my side, with your excellent criticism of
Raimondi's triple oratorio ["Joseph," an oratorio by the Roman
composer, consisting of three parts, which was given with great
success in the Teatro Argentina in Rome in 1852]. There is little
to seek on that road, and still less to find. The silver pfennig
(in the Dresden Art-Cabinet), on which ten Pater Noster are
engraved, has decidedly the advantage of harmlessness to the
public over such outrages to Art, and the Titus Livius, composed
by Sechter, will probably have to moulder away very
unhistorically as waste-paper. Later on Sechter can write a
Requiem for it, together with Improperias over the corruption of
the taste of the times, which have found his work so little to
their taste.
With the pleasant expectation of greeting you soon in Leipzig,
and of repeating to you my best thanks, I remain, my dear sir,
with the highest esteem,
Yours truly,
F. Liszt
Weymar, September 28th, 1855
145. To Eduard Liszt
I have just received your last letter, dearest Eduard, and will
not wait till Vienna to give you my warm thanks for your faithful
friendship, which you always prove to me so lovingly on all
possible occasions. The Mozart Festival seems to me now to have
taken the desired turn--that which I suggested from the
beginning--and to shape itself into a festival of "concord,
harmony, and artistic enthusiasm of the combined Art-fellowships
of Vienna." [Liszt was invited by the magistrate of the city of
Vienna to conduct two concerts on the 27th and 28th of January,
1856, for the celebration of the centenary of Mozart's
birth.]
It is to be hoped that I shall not stick fast in my task, and
shall not let this opportunity go by without attaining the
suitable standpoint in Vienna.
Meanwhile I rejoice at the satisfactory prospects which present
themselves for the Mozart Festival, and greet you heartily.
F. L.
Berlin, December 3rd, 1855
You will have the most favorable news from Berlin.
146. To Frau Meyerbeer in Berlin
[The wife of the composer of the Huguenots (1791-1864), with whom
Liszt stood all his life in such friendly relations that it is
very extraordinary that there are no Liszt letters extant among
Meyerbeer's possessions.]
Madame,
Your gracious lines only reached me at the moment of my leaving
Berlin, so that it was no longer possible for me to avail myself
of the kind permission you were good enough to give me.
Nevertheless, as it is to be presumed that neither the brilliant
departure of which I was the hero a dozen years ago, nor the less
flattering dismissal with which the infallible criticism of your
capital has gratified me this time, will prevent me from
returning from time to time, and without too long an interval, to
Berlin (according to the requirements of my instructions and of
my artistic experiments), I venture to claim from your kindness
the continuation of your gracious reception, and thus venture to
hope that the opportunity will soon arise for me to have the
honor of renewing viva voce, Madame, the expression of my
respectful homage.
Your very devoted servant,
F. Liszt
Weymar, December. 14th, 1855
The Princess Wittgenstein is much pleased with your remembrance,
and would be delighted to have the opportunity of thanking you
personally.
147. To his worship Dr. Ritter von Seiler, mayor of the city of
Vienna, etc.
[Autograph in the possession of M. Alfred Bovet, of Valentigne--.
VOL. I.]
Your worship and dear Mr. Mayor,