Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 1, From Paris to Rome:

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This etext was produced by John Mamoun
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Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 1, "From Paris to Rome: Years of
Travel as a Virtuoso"

by Franz Liszt; letters collected by La Mara and translated by
Constance Bache

CONTENTS

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
DEDICATION
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION, BY CONSTANCE BACHE
TABLE OF LETTER CONTENTS
THE LETTERS OF FRANZ LISZT, VOL. 1
INFO ABOUT THIS E-TEXT EDITION

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

The Austrian composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a pianistic
miracle. He could play anything on site and composed over 400
works centered around "his" instrument. Among his key works are
his Hungarian Rhapsodies, his Transcendental Etudes, his Concert
Etudes, his Etudes based on variations of Paganinini's Violin
Caprices and his Sonata, one of the most important of the
nineteenth century. He also wrote thousands of letters, of which
260 are translated into English in this first of a 2-volume set
of letters.

Those who knew him were also struck by his extremely
sophisticated personality. He was surely one of the most
civilized people of the nineteeth century, internalizing within
himself a complex conception of human civility, and attempting to
project it in his music and his communications with people. His
life was centered around people; he knew them, worked with them,
remembered them, thought about them, and wrote about them using
an almost poetic language, while pushing them to reflect the high
ideals he believed in. His personality was the embodiment of a
refined, idealized form of human civility. He was the consummate
musical artist, always looking for ways to communicate a new
civilized idea through music, and to work with other musicians in
organizing concerts and gatherings to perform the music publicly.
He also did as much as he could to promote and compliment those
whose music he believed in.

He was also a superlative musical critic, knowing, with few
mistakes, what music of his day was "artistic" and what was not.
But, although he was clearly a musical genius, he insisted on
projecting a tonal, romantic "beauty" in his music, confining his
music to a narrow range of moral values and ideals. He would have
rejected 20th-century music that entertained cynical notions of
any kind, or notions that obviated the concept of beauty in any
way. There is no Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Cage, Adams
and certainly no Schoenberg in Liszt's music. His music has an
ideological "ceiling," and that ceiling is "beauty." It never
goes beyond that. And perhaps it was never as "beautiful" as the
music of Mozart, Bach or Beethoven, nor quite as rational (Are
all the emotions in Liszt's music truly "controlled?"). But it
certainly was original and instructive, and it certainly will
linger.

DEDICATION

To the Memory of
MY BROTHER WALTER,
AND TO OUR
DEAR AND HONORED FRIEND
A.J. HIPKINS, ESQ.,
I DEDICATE THIS TRANSLATION.

--C.B.

PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION, BY CONSTANCE BACHE

In writing a few words of Preface I wish to express, first and
foremost, my appreciation of the extreme care and
conscientiousness with which La Mara has prepared these volumes.
In a spirit of no less reverence I have endeavored, in the
English translation, to adhere as closely as possible to all the
minute characteristics that add expression to Liszt's letters:
punctuation has, of necessity, undergone alteration, but italics,
inverted commas, dashes and other marks have been strictly
observed. It may be objected that unnecessary particularity has
been shown in the translation of various titles, names of
Societies or newspapers, quotations, etc.; but there are many
people who, while understanding French, do not read German, and
vice versa, and therefore it has seemed better to translate
everything. Where anything has been omitted in the printed
letters I have adhered to the sign .--. employed by La Mara to
indicate the hiatus. It has seemed best to preserve the spelling
of all proper names as written by Liszt, and not to Anglicise
any, as it is impossible to do all; and therefore, even at the
risk of a seeming affectation, the original form of the name has
been preserved. In the same spirit I have adhered to the correct
form of the name of our adopted composer Handel, and trust I may
be pardoned for so doing on the strength of a little joke of
Liszt's own "The English," he said, "always talk about Gluck and
Handel!"

La Mara says in her Preface that this collection can by no means
be considered a complete one, as there must exist other letters--
to Liszt's mother, to Berlioz, Tausig, etc.--which it is hoped
may yet be some day forthcoming. In like manner might there not
also be letters to his daughter Madame Ollivier (not to mention
his still-living daughter Madame Wagner)? [Another volume of
Liszt's letters, of a still more intimate character, addressed to
a lady friend, will be published later on.]

The English edition is increased by four letters one to Peter
Cornelius, No. 256A in Vol. I., which is interesting in its
reference to the "Barbier"; and, in Vol. II., a kind letter of
introduction which the Master gave me for Madame Tardieu, in
Brussels; one letter to Walter Bache, and one to the London
Philharmonic Society (Nos. 370A and 370B); one of these, it is
true, is partially quoted in a footnote by La Mara, but at this
distance of time there is no reason why these letters should not
be inserted entire, and they will prove of rather particular
interest, both to my brother's friends, and also as having
reference to that never-to-be-forgotten episode--Liszt's last
visit to England.

This visit, which took place in 1886, a few months before the
Master's death, was for the purpose of his being present at the
performance of his Oratorio of St. Elizabeth (see Letter 370 and
subsequent letters).

More than forty years had elapsed since Liszt's previous visit to
our shores; times had changed, and the almost unknown, and wholly
unappreciated, had become the acknowledged King in a realm where
many were Princes. Some lines embodying in words England's
welcome to this king--headed by a design in which the Hungarian
and the English coats-of-arms unite above two clasped hands, and
a few bars of a leading theme from the St. Elizabeth--were
written by me and presented to Liszt with a basket of roses
(emblematic of the rose miracle in the Oratorio) tied with the
Hungarian colors, on his entrance into St. James's Hall on April
6th, 1886.

As a memento of that occasion it has been chosen as frontispiece
to the Second Volume.

Constance Bache

London, December 1893

TABLE OF LETTER CONTENTS (LETTER NUMBER, FOLLOWED BY ADDRESSEE):

1. Carl Czerny in Vienna. December 23rd, 1828
2. De Mancy in Paris. December 23rd, 1829
3. Carl Czerny. August 26th, 1830
4. Alphonse Brot in Paris. Beginning of the 30th year
5. Pierre Wolff in Geneva. May 2nd, 1832
6. Ferdinand Hiller. June 20th, 1833
7. Abbe de Lamennais, La Chenaie. January 14th, 1835
8. Liszt's Mother 183-
9. Abbe de Lamennais. May 28th, 1836
10. Lydie Pavy in Lyons. August 22nd, 1836
11. Abbe de Lamennais. December 18th, 1837
12. Breitkopf and Hartel in Leipzig. April 5th, 1838
13. Robert Schumann in Leipzig. May, 1838
14. The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. June 1st, 1815
15. Simon Lowy in Vienna. September 22nd, 1838
16. Pacini in Paris. September 30th, 1838
17. Breitkopf and Hartel. January 3rd, 1839
18. Princess Christine Belgiojoso in Paris. June 4th, 1839
19. Robert Schumann. June 5th, 1820
20. Breitkopf and Hartel. June, 1839
21. The Beethoven Committee at Bonn. October 3rd, 1839
22. Count Leo Festetics in Pest. November 24th, 1839
23. Clara Wieck. December 25th, 1839
24. Robert Schumann. March 27th, 1841
25. Franz von Schober in Vienna. April 3rd, 1840
26. Maurice Schlesinger in Paris. May 14th, 1840
27. Franz von Schober. May or June, 1840
28. the same. August 29th, 1840
29. Buloz in Paris. October 26th, 1840
30. Franz von Schober. December 5th, 1840
31. Breitkopf and Hartel. May 7th, 1841
32. Simon Lowy. May 20th, 1841
33. Franz von Schober. March 3rd, 1842
34. The Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Konigsberg.
March 18th, 1842
35. Freiherr von Spiegel in Weimar. September 12th, 1842
36. Carl Filitsch2 or 1843
37. Franz von Schober. March 4th, 1844
38. Franz Kroll. June 11th, 1844
39. Freund. June 11th, 1844
40. Franz von Schober. March 3rd, 1845
41. Franz Kroll in Glogau. March 26th, 1845
42. Abbe de Lamennais. April 28th, 1845
43. Frederic Chopin. May 21st, 1845
44. George Sand. May 21st, 1845
45. Abbe de Lamennais. June 1st, 1845
46. Gaetano Belloni in Paris. July 23rd, 1845
47. Mme. Rondonneau in Sedan. February 11th, 1846
48. Grillparzer 1846 (?)
49. Franz von Schober in Weimar. April 11th, 1846
50. the same. May 28th, 1846
51. Alexander Seroff. September 14th, 1847
52. Carl Haslinger in Vienna. December 19th, 1847
53. Baron von Dornis in Jena. March 6th, 1848
54. Franz von Schober. April 22nd, 1848
55. Bernhard Cossmann in Baden-Baden. September 18th, 1848
56. Carl Reinecke. March 25th, 1849
57. Count Sandor Teleky(?) May 5th, 1849
58. Belloni(?). May 14th, 1849
59. Carl Reinecke. May 30th, 1849
60. Robert Schumann. June 5th, 1849
61. the same. July 27th, 1849
62. the same. August 1st, 1849
63. Carl Reinecke. September 7th, 1849
64. Breitkopf and Hartel. January 14th, 1850
65. the same. February 24th, 1850
66. J. C. Lobe in Leipzig. July 10th, 1850
67. Friedrich Wieck in Dresden. August 4th, 1850
68. Simon Lowy. August 5th, 1850
69. Mathilde Graumann. October 11th, 1850
70. Carl Reinecke. January 1st, 1851
71. Leon Escudier in Paris. February 4th, 1851
72. Carl Reinecke. March 19th, 1851
73. Dr. Eduard Liszt in Vienna1
74. Count Casimir Esterhazy. June 6th, 1851
75. Theodor Uhlig in Dresden. June 25th, 1851
76. Rosalie Spohr in Brunswick. July 3rd, 1851
77. the same. July 22nd, 1851
78. Breitkopf and Hartel. December 1st, 1851
79. Louis Kohler in Konigsberg. April 16th, 1852
80. Carl Reinecke. April 16th, 1852
81. Carl Czerny. April 19th, 1852
82. Gustav Schmidt in Frankfort-on-the-Maine. May 18th, 1852
83. Robert Schumann. June 8th, 1852 84.the same. June 26th, 1852
85. Peter Cornelius. September 4th, 1852
86. Clara Schumann. September 11th, 1852
87. Carl Czerny. September or October, 1852
88. Breitkopf and Hartel. October 30th, 1852
89. the same. November 10th, 1852
90. Julius Stern in Berlin. November 24th, 1852
91. Wilhelm von Lenz in St. Petersburg. December 2nd, 1852
92. Robert Radecke in Leipzig. December 9th, 1852
93. Bernhard Cossmann. December, 1852
94. Wilhelm Fischer in Dresden. January 13th, 1853
95. Edmund Singer. January 15th, 1853
96. To Frau Dr. Lidy Steche in Leipzig. February 14th, 1853
97. Gustav Schmidt. February 27th, 1853
98. Heinrich Brockhaus in Leipzig. March 22nd, 1853
99. Dr. Franz Brendel in Leipzig. April 3rd, 1853
100. the same. April 30th, 1853
101. Louis Kohler. May 6th, 1853
102. the same. May 24th, 1853
103. the same. August 1st, 1853
104. Richard Pohl in Dresden. November 5th, 1853
105. Wilhelm Fischer. January 4th, 1854
106. Escudier in Paris. January 21st, 1854
107. the same. January 28th, 1854
108. Dr. Franz Brendel. February 20th, 1854
109. Louis Kohler. March 2nd, 1854
110. Dr. Franz Brendel. March 18th, 1854
111. Louis Kohler. April or May, 1854
112. Dr. Franz Brendel. April 26th, 1854
113. Louis Kohler. June 8th, 1854
114. Dr. Franz Brendel. June 12th, 1854
115. Carl Klindworth in London. July 2nd, 1854
116. Dr. Franz Brendel. July 7th, 1854
117. Anton Rubinstein. July 31st, 1854
118. Dr. Franz Brendel. August 12th, 1854
119. Anton Rubinstein. August, 1854
120. Alexander Ritter in Dresden. September 6th, 1854
121. Bernhard Cossmann. September 8th, 1854
122. Gaetano Belloni. September 9th, 1854
123. Dr. Eduard Liszt October 10th, 1854
124. Anton Rubinstein. October 19th, 1854
125. Dr. Franz Brendel. Beginning of November, 1854
126. Anton Rubinstein. November 19th, 1854 215
127. Dr. Franz Brendel. December 1st, 1854
128. J. W. von Wasielecvski in Bonn. December 14th, 1854
129. William Mason in New York. December 14th, 1854
130. Rosalie Spohr. January 4th, 1855
131. To Alfred Dorffel in Leipzig. January 17th, 1855
132. Anton Rubinstein. February 1st, 1855
133. Louis Kohler. March 16th, 1855
134. Dr. Franz Brendel. March 18th, 1855
135. the same. April 1st, 1855
136. Anton Rubinstein. April 3rd, 1855
137. Freiherr Beaulieu-Marconnay. May 21st, 1855
138. Anton Rubinstein. June 3rd, 1855
139. Dr. Franz Brendel. June, 1855
140. the same. June 16th, 1855
141. Edmund Singer. August 1st, 1855
142. Bernhard Cossmann. August 15th, 1855
143. August Kiel in Detmold. September 8th, 1855
144. Moritz Hauptmann. September 28th, 1855
145. Dr. Eduard Liszt December 3rd, 1855
146. Frau Meyerbeer in Berlin. December 14th, 1855
147. Dr. Ritter von Seiler in Vienna. December 26th, 1855
148. Dr. Eduard Liszt February 9th, 1856
149. Dr. von Seiler. February loth, 1856
150. Dr. Franz Brendel. February 19th, 1856
151. Dionys Pruckner in Vienna. March 17th, 1856
152. Breitkopf and Hartel. May 15th, 1856
153. Louis Kohler. May 24th, 1856
154. the same. July 9th, 1856
155. Hoffmann von Fallersleben. July 14th, 1856
156. Wilhelm Wieprecht. July 18th, 1856
157. Edmund Singer. July 28th, 1856
158. Joachim Raff. July 31st, 1856
159. Anton Rubinstein. August 6th, 1856
160. Joachim Raff. August 7th, 1856
161. Anton Rubinstein. August 21st, 1856
162. Dr. Eduard Liszt September 5th, 1856
163. Louis Kohler. October 8th, 1856
164. Dr. Gille in Jena. November 14th, 1856
165. Dr. Adolf Stern in Dresden. November 14th, 18293
166. Louis Kohler. November 21st, 1856
167. Dr. Eduard Liszt November 24th, 1856
168. Alexander Ritter in Stettin. December 4th, 1856
169. L. A. Zellner in Vienna. January 2nd, 1857 299
170. Von Turanyi in Aix-la-Chapelle. January 3rd, 1830
171. J. W. von Wasielewski. January 9th, 1857
172. Alexis von Lwoff in St. Petersburg. January 10th, 1857
173. Johann von Herbeck in Vienna. January 12th, 1857
174. Franz Gotze in Leipzig. February 1st, 1857
175. Dionys Pruckner. February 11th, 1857
176. Joachim Raff. February, 1857
177. Ferdinand David. February 26th, 1857
178. Wladimir Stassoff in St. Petersburg. March 17th, 1857
179. Wilhelm von Lenz in St. Petersburg. March 24th, 1857
180. Dr. Eduard Liszt March 26th, 1857
181. Georg Schariezer in Pressburg. April 25th, 1857
182. Dr. Eduard Liszt April 27th, 1857
183. Frau von Kaulbach. May 1st, 1857
184. Fedor von Milde in Weimar. June 3rd, 1857
185. Johann von Herbeck. June 12th, 1857
186. Countess Rosalie Sauerma. June 22nd, 1857
187. Ludmilla Schestakoff in St. Petersburg. October 7th, 1857
188. Carl Haslinger. December 5th, 1857
189. Stein in Sondershausen. December 6th, 1857
190. Alexander Ritter. December 7th, 1857
191. Max Seifriz in Lowenberg. December 24th, 1857
192. Alexander Seroff. January 8th, 1858
193. Basil von Engelhardt. January 8th, 1858
194. Felix Draseke. January Loth, 1858
195. Louis Kohler. February 1st, 1858
196. L.A. Zellner. February 8th, 1858
197. Peter Cornelius. February 19th, 1858
198. Dionys Pruckner. March 9th, 1858
199. Dr. Eduard Liszt March Loth, 1858
200. Fran Dr. Steche. March 20th, 1858
201. L. A. Zellner. April 6th, 1858
202. Dr. Eduard Liszt April 7th, 1858
203. Adolf Reubke in Hausneinsdorf. June 10th, 1858
204. Prince Constantin von Hohenzollern-Hechingen. August 18th,
1858
205. Frau Rosa von Milde. August 25th, 1858
206. Dr. Franz Brendel. November 2nd, 1858
207. Johann von Herbeck. November 22nd, 1858
208. Felix Draseke. January 12th, 1859
209. Heinrich Porges. March loth, 18379
210. Max Seifriz. March 22nd, 1859
211. Dr. Eduard Liszt April 5th, 1859
212. Music-Director N. N. April 17th, 1859
213. Peter Cornelius. May 23rd, 1859
214. Dr. Franz Brendel. May 23rd, 1859
215. Felix Draseke. July 19th, 1859
216. Peter Cornelius. August 23rd, 1859
217. Dr. Franz Brendel. September 2nd, 1859
218. Louis Kohler. September 3rd, 1859
219. Dr. Franz Brendel. September 8th, 1859
220. Johann von Herbeck. October 11th, 1859
221. Felix Draseke. October 20th, 1859
222. Heinrich Porges. October 30th, 1859
223. Ingeborg Stark. November 2nd, 1859
224. Johann von Herbeck. November 18th, 1859
225. Dr. Franz Brendel. December 1st, 1859
226. Anton Rubinstein. December 3rd, 1859
227. Dr. Franz Brendel. December 6th, 1859
228. Dr. Eduard Liszt December 28th, 1859
229. Josef Dessauer. December 30th, 1859
230. Wilkoszewski in Munich. January 15th, 1860
231. Johann von Herbeck. January 26th, 1860
232. Dr. Franz Brendel. January 25th, 1860
233. Friedrich Hebbel. February 5th, 1860
234. Dr. Franz Brendel. February, 1860
235. the same March or April, 1860
236. Louis Kohler. July 5th, 1860
237. Dr. Eduard Liszt July 9th, 1860
238. Ingeborg Stark. Summer, 1860
239. Dr. Franz Brendel. August 9th, 1860
240. Princess C. Sayn-Wittgenstein. September 14th, 1860
241. Dr. Franz Brendel. September 20th, 1860
242. Dr. Eduard Liszt September 20th, 1860
243. Hoffmann von Fallersleben. October 3oth, 1860
244. Franz Gotze. November 4th, 1860
245. Dr. Franz Brendel. November 16th, 1860
246. the same. December 2nd, 1860
247. C.F. Kahnt in Leipzig. December 2nd, 1860
248. the same. December 19th, 1860
249. Dr. Franz Brendel. December 19th, 1860
250. Felix Draseke. December 3oth, 1860
251. Dr. Franz Brendel. Beginning of January, 1861
252. the same. January 20th, 1861
253. the same. March 4th, 1861
254. Peter Cornelius. April 18th, 1861.
255. Hoffmann von Fallersleben. April 18th, 1861
256. Peter Cornelius. July 12th, 1861
256A. the same. July 14th, 1861
257. Alfred Dorffel. July 18th, 1861
258. Edmund Singer in Stuttgart. August 17th, 1861
259. C.F. Kahnt. August 27th, 1861
260. Dr. Franz Brendel. September 16th, 1861

THE LETTERS OF FRANZ LISZT, VOL. 1

1. To Carl Czerny in Vienna.

[Autograph in the possession of M. Alfred Bovet at Valentigney.--
The addressee was Liszt's former teacher, the celebrated Viennese
teacher of music and composer of innumerable instructive works
(1791-1857).]

My very dear Master,

When I think of all the immense obligations under which I am
placed towards you, and at the same time consider how long I have
left you without a sign of remembrance, I am perfectly ashamed
and miserable, and in despair of ever being forgiven by you!
"Yes," I said to myself with a deep feeling of bitterness, "I am
an ungrateful fellow; I have forgotten my benefactor, I have
forgotten that good master to whom I owe both my talent and my
success."...At these words a tear starts to my eyes, and I assure
you that no repentant tear was ever more sincere! Receive it as
an expiation, and pardon me, for I cannot any longer bear the
idea that you have any ill-feeling towards me. You will pardon
me, my dear Master, won't you? Embrace me then...good! Now my
heart is light.

You have doubtless heard that I have been playing your admirable
works here with the greatest success, and all the glory ought to
be given to you. I intended to have played your variations on the
"Pirate" the day after tomorrow at a very brilliant concert that
I was to have given at the theater of H.R.H. Madame, who was to
have been present as well as the Duchess of Orleans; but man
proposes and God disposes. I have suddenly caught the measles,
and have been obliged to say farewell to the concert; but it is
not given up because it is put off, and I hope, as soon as ever I
am well again, to have the pleasure of making these beautiful
variations known to a large public.

Pixis [a notable pianist (1788-1874)--lived a long time in Paris]
and several other people have spoken much to me of four concertos
that you have lately finished, and the reputation of which is
already making a stir in Paris. I should be very much pleased, my
dear Master, if you would commission me to get them sold. This
would be quite easy for me to do, and I should also have the
pleasure of playing them FROM FIRST HAND, either at the opera or
at some big concerts. If my proposition pleases you, send them to
me by the Austrian Embassy, marking the price that you would like
to have for them. As regards any passages to be altered, if there
are any, you need only mark them with a red pencil, according to
your plan which I know so well, and I will point them out to the
editor with the utmost care. Give me at the same time some news
about music and pianists in Vienna; and finally tell me, dear
Master, which of your compositions you think would make the best
effect in society.

I close by sending you my heartfelt greetings, and begging you
once more to pardon the shameful silence I have kept towards you:
be assured that it has given me as much pain as yourself!

Your very affectionate and grateful pupil,

F. Liszt

December 23rd, 1828

P.S.--Please answer me as soon as possible, for I am longing for
a letter from you; and please embrace your excellent parents from
me. I add my address (Rue Montholon, No. 7bis).

2. To De Mancy in Paris

[Autograph in the possession of M. Etienne Charavay in Paris.]

December 23rd, 1829

My Dear M. de Mancy,

I am so full of lessons that each day, from half-past eight in
the morning till 10 at night, I have scarcely breathing time.
Please excuse me therefore for not coming, as I should have liked
to do, to lunch with Madame de Mancy, but it is quite impossible.
The only thing I could do would be to come about 10 o'clock, if
that would not be too late for a wedding day, and in that case I
will beg M. Ebner [Carl Ebner, a Hungarian, a talented violinist
(1812-1836)] to come with me. I don't write you a longer letter,
for there is a pupil who has been waiting for me for an hour.
Besides, we are not standing on ceremony. Ever yours,

F. Liszt

3. To Carl Czerny

[Autograph in the Musical Society's Archives in Vienna. Printed
in a German translation: "La Mara, Letters of Musicians extending
over Five Centuries." II. Leipzig, B. and H. 1887.]

My dear and beloved Master,

It would be impossible to explain to you the why and wherefore of
my leaving you so long without news of me. Moreover, I have now
only five minutes in which to write to you, for Mr. Luden, a
pianist from Copenhagen, is starting shortly, and for fear of
delaying his journey I must be brief; but what is postponed is
not lost, so cheer up, for very soon you will get a great thick
letter from me, which I will take care to prepay, as I should not
like to ruin you.

Among all the circles of artists where I go in this country I
plead your cause tremendously: we all want you to come and stay
some time in Paris; it would certainly do you a great deal of
good, and you are so widely esteemed that you will doubtless be
well satisfied with the reception you will meet with here. If you
ever entertain this idea, write to me, I entreat you, for I will
do for you what I would do for my father. I have been making a
special study of your admirable sonata (Op. 7), and have since
played it at several reunions of connoisseurs (or would-be
connoisseurs): you cannot imagine what an effect it made; I was
quite overcome by it. It was in a burst of enthusiasm caused by
the Prestissimo, that Mr. Luden begged for a few words of
introduction to you; I know your kindness, indeed I could never
forget it. I therefore commend him in all confidence of your
goodness, until the time when I am so happy as to embrace you
myself and to show you (however feebly) all the gratitude and
admiration which fill me.

F. Liszt

Paris, August 26th, 1830

4. To Alphonse Brot in Paris

[Autograph in the possession of M. Etienne Charavay in Paris.]

(Paris, Beginning of the 30th year.)

It would give us great pleasure, my dear M. Brot, if you would
come and dine with us without ceremony tomorrow, Monday, about 6
o'clock; I do not promise you a good dinner,--that is not the
business of us poor artists; but the good company you will meet
will, I trust, make up for that. Monsieur Hugo [the poet] and
Edgard Quinet [French writer and philosopher] have promised to
come. So do try not to disappoint us, for we should miss you
much. My good mother told me to press you to come, for she is
very fond of you. Till tomorrow then! Kind regards and thanks.

F. Liszt

I have been at least six times to you without having the pleasure
of seeing you.

61, Rue de Provence.

5. Monsieur Pierre Wolff (Junior), Rue de la Tertasse, Geneva,
Switzerland

[Autograph in the possession of M. Gaston Calmann-Levy in Paris.]

Nous disons: "Il est temps. Executons, c'est l'heure." Alors nous
retournons les yeux--La Mort est la! Ainsi de mes projets.--Quand
vous verrai-je, Espagne, Et Venise et son golfe, et Rome et sa
campagne,

Toi, Sicile, que ronge un volcan souterrain, Grece qu'on connait
trop, Sardaigne qu'on ignore, Cites de l'Aquilon, du Couchant, de
l'Aurore, Pyramides du Nil, Cathedrales du Rhin! Qui sait?--
jamais peut-etre!

[We say: "Now it is time. Let's act, for 'tis the hour." Then
turn we but our eyes--lo! death is there! Thus with my plans.
When shall I see thee, Espagna, And Venice with her gulf, and
Rome with her Campagna; Thou, Sicily, whom volcanoes undermine;
Greece, whom we know too well, Sardinia, unknown one, Lands of
the north, the west, the rising sun, Pyramids of the Nile,
Cathedrals of the Rhine! Who knows? Never perchance!]

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