Anonymous - "The London and Country Brewer"

J. Storer Clouston - "The Lunatic at Large"

Jeffery Farnol et al - "The Amateur Gentleman"

Mme de Renneville - "Conversations d'une petite fille avec sa poupee"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

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

F >> Franz Liszt; Letters assembled by La Mara and translated >> Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 1, From Paris to Rome:




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,

The willingness which I had already expressed, at the first
mention of the impending Mozart Festival, becomes to me, by your
kind letter of the 19th of December (which I only received
yesterday, owing to the delay from its having gone to Berlin), a
duty, which it is equally my honor and pleasure to fulfill. With
the utmost confidence and conviction that the resolution of the
Town Council will meet with the fullest assent and most
gratifying recognition among all circles of society--the
resolution is as follows: "That all undertakings in connection
with the Mozart Secular Festival shall be conducted and carried
out in the name of the city of Vienna,"--and in agreement with
the honorable motives of the Town Council "to lend to the
festivities the worthy and higher expression of universal
homage," I, for my part, undertake with the most grateful
acknowledgments the commission to conduct the Festival Concert on
the 27th January, 1856, and its repetition on the 28th according
to your desire; and I hope to fulfill quite satisfactorily every
just claim which is made on the musical director of such a
celebration.

Although the excellent orchestra, chorus, and staff of singers in
Vienna--long intimate with Mozart's works--afford the complete
certainty of a most admirable performance, yet I think it is
desirable that I should come a couple of weeks before the concert
is to take place, in order to have time for the necessary
rehearsals; and immediately on my arrival. I shall have the honor
of paying my respects to you, dear Mr. Mayor, and of placing
myself at the service of the Festival Committee.

In the programme which has been sent to me, the music of which
will take about three hours in performance, I am pleased with the
prospect before us, that the glories which Mozart unfolds in the
different domains of Art--Symphony, Opera, Church, and Concert
music-are taken into account, and that thus the manifold rays of
his genius are laid hold of, as far as is possible in the limits
of a concert programme. Whilst thoroughly agreeing with the
performance of the different items as a whole, I have
nevertheless one request to make--namely, that you would be good
enough to excuse me from the performance of the Mozart Pianoforte
Concerto which has been so kindly designed for me, and that this
number may be given to some other pianist of note. Apart from the
fact that for more than eight years I have not appeared anywhere
in public as a pianist, and that many considerations lead me to
adhere firmly to my negative resolve in this respect, the fact
that the direction of the Festival will require my entire
attention may prove, in this case, my sufficient excuse.

Accept, Your Worship, the assurance of the high esteem with which
I have the honor to remain,

Dear Mr. Mayor, yours very truly,

F. Liszt

Weymar, December 26th, 1855.



148. To Eduard Liszt

My very dear Eduard,

Scarcely had I returned to Weymar [From the Mozart Festival at
Vienna.] when I again put on my travelling coat to help in
Berlioz' concert at Gotha, which took place the day before
yesterday--and the whole day yesterday was spent in rehearsals of
"Cellini;" followed by a Court concert in the evening (in honor
of H.R.H. the Prince Regent of Baden); so that this morning is
the first leisure moment I have had to take up my pen again and
my position...at my writing-table. I profit by it first of all to
tell you how happy I am in this earnest intimacy, as sincerely
felt as it is conscientiously considered--this real intimacy of
ideas and feelings at the same time--which has been cemented
between us in these latter years, and which my stay in Vienna has
fully confirmed. All noble sentiments require the full air of
generous conviction, which maintains us in a region superior to
the trials, accidents, and troubles of this life. Thanks to
Heaven, we two breathe this air together, and thus we shall
remain inseparably united until our last day!

I am sending you after this the document which serves as a basis
to the Bach-Gesellschaft [Bach Society], from which it will be
easy to make out an analogous one for the publication of Mozart's
complete works. I earnestly invite and beg you to carry out this
project to its realization.

According to my ideas, the "Friends of Music in Austria" should
constitute and set the matter going, and the Royal State Press
should be employed for it, especially as one can foresee that
special favors might be obtained from the Ministry. Probably the
whole Festival Committee of the Mozart Celebration will also
consent to this undertaking, in the sense that, by an edition of
Mozart's works, critically explained, equally beautifully
printed, and revised by a committee appointed for it, a
universally useful, lasting, and living monument to the glorious
Master will be formed, which will bring honor and even material
gain to all Austrian lovers of music and to the city of Vienna
itself. Without doubt, if the matter is rightly conducted, it
will also pay well and be pretty easy to carry through. In about
twelve years the whole edition can be completed. In the
composition of the Committee of Revision I stipulate to call your
attention to a few names. Spohr, Meyerbeer, Fetis, Otto Jahn,
Oulibicheff, Dr. Hartel--among foreigners these ought especially
to have a share in the matter; and a special rubric must be given
to the cost of revision. The work of proof-correcting, as well as
the special explanations, commentaries, comparisons of the
different editions, ought not to be expected gratis; therefore a
fixed sum should be applied to it. Haslinger, Spina, and Gloggl,
being Vienna publishers, ought specially to be considered, and
would be the best to direct the propagation and regular sending
out of the volume, which is to appear on the 27th of January
every year.

At Spina's you would find several volumes of the Bach-
Gesellschaft, to which is always added a list of the subscribers
and a statement of accounts for the past year.

I advise you to keep on good terms with Zellner, who was the
first to air the subject in his paper (after I had invited him to
do so), and to get him into the proposed Committee, if the matter
be taken up in earnest. In the Committee of Revision Schmidt (the
librarian) and Holz must not be forgotten. With regard to my
humble self, I don't want to be put forward, but simply to take
my place in alphabetical order; but please explain beforehand
that I am ready to undertake any work which they may think fit to
apportion to me. I likewise undertake to invite the Grand Duke of
Weimar, the Duke of Gotha, etc., to become subscribers.

The whole affair must bear the impress of an Art enterprise--and
in this sense the invitation to a Mozart-Verein [Mozart Union]
must be couched. (I leave you to decide whether you prefer the
word Mozart-Gesellschaft [Mozart Society] or Mozart-herein for
the Publication of the Complete Works of Mozart, or any other
title.) Together with this I repeat that certainly there is no
need to fear any loss in this matter, but that probably there
will be a not insignificant gain. This gain, according to my
ideas, should be formed into a capital, until the edition is
completed, to be then employed, or perhaps not till later, by the
Society of Austrian Lovers of Music for some artistic purpose to
be decided upon.

.--. Be so good as to give Herr Krall the sum (24 florins) for
the four seats kindly placed at my disposal for the two concerts
of the Mozart Festival. Although I have only paid in cash six
gulden of the amount, because the other gentlemen insisted on
sending me several gulden, yet I expressly wish that the receipts
should not be any smaller through me--any more than that the
performance should suffer by my conducting!--Therefore please
don't forget the twenty-four gulden.

Berlioz arrived here yesterday evening, and I shall be over head
and ears in work with Cellini, the great Court concert on the
17th, and the performance of Berlioz' Faust in the course of next
week, the preparations for which I have undertaken.

Cellini I shall conduct--with the two others I only direct the
rehearsals.

In faithful friendship thy Saturday, February 9th, 1856.
F. Liszt



149. To Dr. von Seiler, Mayor of Vienna. [Autograph in the
possession of M. Alfred Bovet, of Valentigney.]

Dear Sir,

As it was not permitted me to see Your Worship again at home
before my departure, I venture to express once more in these few
lines my warmest thanks for the very great kindness shown to me
during my stay in Vienna, the remembrance of which will not fade
from my grateful thoughts.

The worthy example which you, dear Mr. Mayor, and the Town
Council of Vienna have given on the occasion of the Mozart
Festival, guaranteed and attained the desired prosperity and
success of the affair. This example will doubtless bring forth
fruit in other places, so that the whole artist society will owe
you the most grateful acknowledgments for it. As regards myself
and my modest services on that occasion, I am very happy to think
from the kind letter signed by yourself and Herr Councillor
Riedel von Riedenau, that what I did so gladly was well done--and
I only cherish the wish that coming years may offer me an
opportunity of devoting my poor, but seriously well-intentioned
services in the cause of music to the city of Vienna, whose
musical traditions shine forth so gloriously. Accept, dear sir,
the assurance of high esteem with which I have the honor to
remain

Your most obliged

F. Liszt

Weymar, February 10th, 1856



150. To Dr. Franz Brendel

Dear Friend,

Before everything else I must give you my warmest thanks for the
manifold proofs of your friendship and attachment which you have
given me lately; especially has the article in the last number
but one of the paper, taken from the concluding chapter of your
musical history, truly rejoiced me, and I should have written you
at once a couple of lines in grateful acknowledgment had I not
been so very much engaged, on my return here, that I have had no
leisure hour until now. In Leipzig I could only stay from the
time of one train to the other, and could not go to see any one
except Hartel, whom it was necessary for me to see. Scarcely had
I arrived here than I had to go to Gotha (where I was present at
Berlioz' concert), and the previous week we had enough to do with
the preparations and rehearsals of "Cellini" and the Court
concert. The performance this time was really capital. Caspari
had studied his part admirably, and made a good thing of it; the
opera, thanks to him, made quite a different impression from what
it did formerly, when poor Beck (now the proprietor of a cafe in
Prague, where I saw him lately) had to fit himself as best he
could into the Cellini jacket!--Probably Pohl will send you a
full account, and also mention the concert which took place the
day before yesterday at the Castle. Berlioz conducted it, and
Fraulein Bianchi very much pleased the nobility as well as the
rest of the audience--so that she is again engaged for a small
concert next Thursday.

In contrast to many other artists of both sexes, Fraulein Bianchi
is well-bred, without being stupidly stuck up, and, in addition,
a pleasant and well-trained singer whom one can safely recommend.

The few lines which she brought me from you were her best
introduction to me--only I will beg you, another time, not to be
in doubt as to "whether I still think of you with the old
friendship." Once for all, you may be perfectly certain on this
point, that I shall not develop any talent for Variations towards
you, but be always ready to give a proof, on every opportunity,
of how highly I prize your services in matters musical, and how
sincerely friendly I am to you personally.

F. Liszt

February 19th, 1856

Next Sunday "Lohengrin" will be given (with Fraulein Marx from
Darmstadt as Ortrude)--and on Thursday, the 28th February, the
entire "Faust" of Berlioz.



151. To Dionys Pruckner in Vienna

[Liszt's pupil; has been a professor at the Stuttgart
Conservatorium since 1858.]

Dearest Dionysius,

The joyful tidings of your success ever find the most joyful echo
in Weymar, and I thank you much for the pleasant tidings in your
letter. Haslinger, on his side, was so kind as to write me a full
account of your first concert, as well as the Court soiree at
H.R.H. the Archduchess Sophie's--and yesterday evening v.
Dingelstedt gave me also full details of your concert ravages in
Munich. All this plainly shows dass man Bock-Bier trinken kann,
ohne deswegen Bocke zu schiessen! [A play on words: that one may
drink "Bock" beer, without thereby making blunders.]

I entirely approve of your intention of spending some months in
Vienna and its charming environs--also of your closer intercourse
with the Master Czerny, whose many-sided musical experiences may
be of the greatest use to you practically and theoretically. Of
all living composers who have occupied themselves especially with
pianoforte playing and composing, I know none whose views and
opinions offer so just an experience. In the twenties, when a
great portion of Beethoven's creations was a kind of Sphinx,
Czerny was playing Beethoven exclusively, with an understanding
as excellent as his technique was efficient and effective; and,
later on, he did not set himself up against some progress that
had been made in technique, but contributed materially to it by
his own teaching and works. It is only a pity that, by a too
super-abundant productiveness, he has necessarily weakened
himself, and has not gone on further on the road of his first
Sonata (Op. 6, A-flat major) and of other works of that period,
which I rate very highly, as compositions of importance,
beautifully formed and having the noblest tendency. But
unfortunately at that time Vienna influences, both social and
publishing, were of an injurious kind, and Czerny did not possess
the necessary dose of sternness to keep out of them and to
preserve his better ego. This is generally a difficult task, the
solving of which brings with it much trouble even for the most
capable and those who have the highest aims.

When you see Czerny remember me to him as his grateful pupil and
devoted, deeply respectful friend. When I pass through Vienna
this summer, I shall rejoice to have a couple of hours with him
again. I shall probably find you still there. According to what
has been written to me, the consecration of the Gran Cathedral
will take place at the beginning of September, in which case I
shall start from here at the beginning of August.

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