Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2: From Rome to the End

F >> Franz Liszt; letters collected by La Mara and translated >> Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2: From Rome to the End

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With sincere esteem I remain yours very truly,

F. Liszt

Weimar, June 18th, 1869

89. To Franz Servais

Dear Monsieur Franz,

.--. Although older than you, yet my enthusiasm for "Tristan" is
not second to yours.--I am delighted that the performance has
come off so well, but I should not wish this marvellous chef-
d'oeuvre to become for you a sort of upas tree under the shadow
of which you would go to sleep.--Great manifestations of genius
ought to do the part of the sun,--to illuminate and fertilise.

Believe in my sentiments of devoted affection.

F. Liszt

Rome, July 4th, 1869

90. To Madame Jessie Laussot

Dear Maestra,

I do not know why the name of Boccherini always recalls to me the
valley of Tempe. There could be nothing more flattering and more
salutary for me than to be admitted into so fortunate an abode,
and you have certainly made the stroke of a Maestra in
introducing me there (a little bit in a contraband way!).--I hope
Mr. Delatre will be kind enough to send me under cover the first
number of the paper containing La Mara's article [The Liszt-
sketch from the first vol. of the "Musakalischen Studienkopfe,"
which the authoress had translated into Italian.]; directly
afterwards I will subscribe to the Boccherini, so that I may get
the whole of the biography regularly.

A thousand thanks for your intelligent solicitude; I entirely
approve of the word tedesco being left out on the title-page;
"tradotto dall' Autore" is evidently the better indication, and I
guarantee you that the authoress will be perfectly satisfied and
will add her thanks to mine, without thinking of making the
slightest observation or difficulty about anything whatever. When
you are passing through Leipzig I will make you acquainted with
my very amiable panegyrist.

I am certainly intending to be present at the first performance
of "Rheingold," announced for the 25th August; but I doubt
whether they will be in a position to give this work so soon. Mr.
de Bulow absolutely must take some rest after the Conservatoire
examinations; the Servais are pressing him much to settle down
with them for the months of August and September at Hal (in
Belgium); I want him to accept their invitation, and he will, I
hope, decide to do so. Now without him "Rheingold" at Munich
seems to me at least problematical. I will let you have positive
tidings, which I myself shall receive shortly. Please tell me
where to address you.

I have set to work again, and with the exception of the fortnight
at Munich, in honor of "Rheingold," I shall remain here, or else
in the neighborhood, until next spring.

Sgambati kisses your hands. Pinelli is at the baths of Lucca,
where Buonamici [Giuseppe Buonamici, pupil of Liszt and Bulow,
now one of the most celebrated pianists of Italy. Lives at
Florence] will probably join him.

Very cordially yours,

F. L.

I will write two words of thanks to Delatre and beg you to give
me his address.

In your walks at St. Gall make my salutations to the concert room
in which were heard, some 10 or 12 years ago, the "Symphonie
Heroique" conducted by Wagner, and two Symphonie Poems, conducted
by your very humble servant. Szadrowski was at that time
conductor at St. Gall; since then he is settled in the Grisons
(at Graubunden); if you should go that way do not fail to see
him; I recommend him to you as one of our friends.

Rome, July 16th, 1869

91. To Camille Saint-Saens in Paris.

[The celebrated French composer, pianist and organist (born in
Paris 1835) was, as is well known, in sympathy with the New
German School, and fosters, amongst others, the genre of
"Symphonic Poems" made known by Liszt.]

Very honored Friend,

Your kind letter promised me several of your compositions; I have
been expecting them, and, while waiting, I want to thank you
again for your second Concerto, which I greatly applaud. The form
of it is new and very happy; the interest of the three portions
goes on increasing, and you take into just account the effect of
the pianist without sacrificing anything of the ideas of the
composer, which is an essential rule in this class of work.

At the very outset the prelude on the pedal G is striking and
imposing: after a very happy inspiration you do wisely to
reproduce it at the end of the first movement and to accompany it
this time with some chords. Among the things which particularly
please me I note: the chromatic progression (last line of the
prelude) and that which alternates between the piano and
orchestra (from the last bar of page 5--repeated then by the
piano alone, page 15); the arrangement of thirds and sixths in
demisemiquavers, charmingly sonorous, pages 8 and 9, which opens
superbly on the entry of the subject fortissimo; the piquant
rhythm

[Figure: Musical score excerpt of the rhythm in 6/8]

of the second subject of the Allegro scherzando, page 25.
Possibly this would have gained somewhat by more combination and
development, either of the principal subject or of some secondary
subject; for instance, a little anodyne counterpoint, it seems to
me, would not be out of place on pages 26, 27. etc., etc., and so
on. Item for pages 50 to 54, in which the simple breadth of the
period with the holding on of the accompaniment chords leaves
rather a void; I should like there to be some incidence and
polyphonic entanglement, as the Germanic Polyphemuses say. Pardon
me this detailed remark, dear Monsieur Saint-Saens, which I only
venture to make while assuring you in all sincerity that the
total of your work pleases me singularly. I played it again the
day before yesterday to Sgambati, of whom Plante [Francis Plante
(born 1839), the exquisitely refined Pianist] will speak to you,
as of an artist above the common run and even more than
ordinarily distingue. He will let the public hear your Concerto
next winter, which ought to meet with success in every country.

When is the performance of the "Timbre" ["Le timbre d'argent"
(the silver bell), an Opera] to be? I wish it to give you
abundantly all the satisfaction that you deserve, and shall only
regret that I cannot be present at the performance of it. At my
age the role of young composer is no longer suitable--and there
would not be any other for me at Paris, as I cannot continue
indefinitely that of an old disabled pianist. Thus I have
judiciously made up my mind not to trouble myself about my
compositions any further than the writing of them, without in the
least thinking of spreading them. Supposing that they have any
value it will always be found out soon enough either during my
life or afterwards. The sympathy of my friends (a very well
chosen sympathy, I flatter myself) amply suffices me; the rest of
the world may talk in its own way. As to the "Elizabeth" I do not
think it is adapted to the Parisian taste. I am moreover very
tired of that score through the performances at the Wartburg,
Pest and Vienna; and the difficult task of a suitable French
translation, plus the rehearsals with a set of artists little
disposed to take trouble, frightens me. I much prefer to employ
my time in a manner less ungrateful and more agreeable;
consequently I shall not put out anybody in Paris, which I shall
not visit; and invite you to come and see me in Rome. Here, dear
Monsieur St. Saens, we can talk and musiquer [make music] at our
ease. Try and procure me this great pleasure soon, and believe
fully in my sentiments of high esteem and devoted affection.

F. Liszt

Rome, July 19th, 1869

92. To Camille Saint-Saens

Very honored Friend,

At last your compositions have come, and I spent all yesterday in
their amiable society.

Let us speak first of the Mass: this is a capital, grand,
beautiful, admirable work--so good that, among contemporary works
of the same kind, I know perhaps of none so striking by the
elevation of the sentiment, the religious character, the
sustained, adequate, vigorous style and consummate mastery. It is
like a magnificent Gothic Cathedral in which Bach would conduct
his orchestra!

After having read your score three times I am so thoroughly
imbued with it that I venture to risk a few remarks.

In the Gloria one should, I think, preserve the literal text
entire: "Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam."--
Consequently add four or five bars.

At the beginning of the Sanctus it would be better to continue
the voices, and to complete by them the sense of the orchestra;
similarly it would be advantageous to interlace, by means of an
alto solo, the text of the Benedictus (which you have omitted) to
the Organ melody, pages 77 and 78 after the Hosanna, as well as
to add the chorus to the final phrase of the "Dona nobis pacem,"
pages 88 and 89.

You will find all these small matters carefully noted down on
your score, which I will venture to return to you, begging you to
let me have it back again soon, for I must possess this
extraordinary work, which has its place between Bach and
Beethoven.

Bear with one more liturgical question, and, in addition, a
proposition boldly practical in the Kyrie, the spire of your
Cathedral. The inspiration and structure of it are certainly
admirable..."omnia excelsa tua et fluctus tui super me
transierunt." Nevertheless, during these 300 bars, about, of a
slow and almost continuous movement, do you not lose sight of the
celebrant, who is obliged to remain standing motionless at the
altar? Do you not expose him to commit the sin of impatience
directly after he has said the confiteor?...Will not the composer
be reproached with having given way to his genius rather than to
the requirements of the worship?

In order to obviate these unpleasant conjunctures it would be
necessary for you to resign yourself to an enormous sacrifice as
an artist, namely, to cut out 18 pages! (for church performance
only, for these 18 pages should be preserved in the edition to
your greater honor as a musician, and it would suffice to
indicate the "cut" ad libitum, as I have done in several places
in the score of the Gran Mass).

Sacrifice, then, 18 pages as I said, and put the "Christe
eleison" on page 6, instead of the "Kyrie eleison,"

[Here, Liszt illustrates with a 3-bar musical excerpt at the
point where the words "Chri-------------ste e-le------" are
sung.]

concluding pp on page l0. From the musical point of view
exclusively, I should blush to make such a proposition; but it is
necessary to keep peace, especially in the Church, where one must
learn to subordinate one's self in mind and deed. Art, there,
should be only a correlative matter, and should tend to the most
perfect concomitance possible with the rite.

Be assured, dear Monsieur Saint-Saens, of the sentiments of high
esteem and great sympathy which I entertain towards you.

Your very devoted

F. Liszt

Rome, August 4th, 1869

93. To Madame Jessie Laussot

I have had to write a great many notes this last week. Pardon me
for being so late in thanking you for your friendly lines, and
kindly tell Mademoiselle Alexandrine Ritter how sincerely I feel
for her in her affliction. Her mother expressed in a rare degree
and in her whole personality the high and sweet dignity of the
human soul. Respect attached itself to her naturally,--and she
inspired the noble serenity of it.

In a few days a little surprise will reach you in the form of an
"Ave Maria" written for the Cherubim Society, and dedicated to
the society's dear Maestra. However simple these few bars may be
(in which there is not a single repetition of a word, nor
ornamenting of any kind) I hope they will not be unpleasing to
you, and I beg you to play them in the form of a prayer for

Your very affectionate

F. Liszt

Rome, October 7th, 1869

In acknowledging the receipt of the "Ave Maria" tell me when you
expect Bulow, of whom I have had no tidings since Munich.

Sgambati returned here last week.

94. To Dr. Ludwig Nohl

[The well-known writer on musical subjects (1831-1885)]

Dear Friend,

Let my best thanks for your letter be, to take it to heart--and
to comply with it. Meanwhile this much is certain--that we shall
see each other in Weimar next May, and that at the Tonkunstler-
Versammlung there you will officiate as the worthy biographer of
Beethoven.

In spite of too modest a remark in your letter I am convinced
that you are peculiarly well qualified for thoroughly grasping,
and making others comprehend, the question of the "more modern
style of Art." Proofs of this have been gathered recently from
all the admirable things you have said in your brochure on
Wagner; for instance, in regard to the "refined, firm and proud
position held by Music," its "most expressive physiognomy," and
"that spirit of love which Music has created for itself"--and
also, if you will allow me such presumption in contrast to your
modesty, on p. 63, where you say, "The logos alone regulates the
thought and gives life to the risings and fallings of the poetic
idea"--

Sic vos non vobis--

Innumerable interruptions prevent my beginning the Beethoven
Cantata today. But I have at last secured quiet: I shall remain
all the winter at the Villa d'Este (3 or 4 hours out of Rome),
and take care that I do not lose an immoderate amount of time.

With sincerest thanks and in all friendliness yours,

Villa d'Este, November 17th, 1869

F. Liszt

95. To the Princess Caroline Sayn-Wittgenstein

[According to the Weimarer Zeitung it was printed as follows,
fragmentarily, in the Leipziger Tageblatt of December 6th, 1888.]

November 27th, 1869.

.--. The death of Overbeck reminds me of my own. I wish, and
urgently entreat and command, that my burial may take place
without show, and be as simple and economical as possible. I
protest against a burial such as Rossini's was, and even against
any sort of invitation for friends and acquaintances to assemble
as was done at Overbeck's interment. Let there be no pomp, no
music, no procession in my honor, no superfluous illuminations,
or any kind of oration. Let my body be buried, not in a church,
but in some cemetery, and let it not be removed from that grave
to any other. I will not have any other place for my body than
the cemetery in use in the place where I die, nor any other
religious ceremony than a quiet Mass in the Parish Church (not
any kind of Requiem to be sung). The inscription on my tomb might
be: "Et habitabunt recti cum vultu suo.".--.

96. To Franz Servais

Your kind letter has given me very sincere pleasure, dear
Monsieur Franz. I hope your health is quite re-established, and
that you are plunging into Bach to your heart's content,--that
admirable chalybeate spring! I will bear you company, and have
given myself, for a Christmas present, the little 8vo edition of
Peters of the two "Passions," Masses and Cantatas of Bach, whom
one might designate as the St. Thomas Aquinas of music. Kahnt,
who sends me these scores, tells me of his earnest desire to get
Cornelius settled at Leipzig, in the position of editor-in-chief
of the Neue Zeitschrift, founded, as you know, by Schumann, and
bravely carried on by Brendel. It is the sole paper which has,
for thirty years past, sustained with steadfastness, knowledge
and consistency the works and the men of musical progress. If, as
I wish, Cornelius undertakes Brendel's task, I think you would do
well to follow out your project of staying again in Leipzig.--In
any case I hope to see you again this spring at Weimar; I shall
arrive there towards the middle of April, and shall stay till the
end of June. During the winter I shall abstain from all
travelling, and shall not leave my retreat at the Villa d'Este
except to stay a few days in Rome. Many people have very kindly
invited me to go to Paris; I have excused myself from doing so
for reasons of expediency which you know. Henceforth it is not
myself that I have to bring forward, but simply to continue to
write in perfect tranquillity and with a free mind. To do this
obliges me to seclude myself, to avoid the salons, the half-
opened pianos and the society drudgery imposed by the large
towns, where I very easily feel myself out of place.

Thank you cordially for your propaganda of the "Missa Choralis;"
I shall be much obliged if you will write me a couple of words
after the performance. Will you also please tell M. Brassin that
I thank him much for not having been afraid of compromising his
success as a virtuoso by choosing my Concerto? Up to the present
time all the best-known French pianists--with the exception of
Saint-Saens--have not ventured to play anything of mine except
transcriptions, my own compositions being necessarily considered
absurd and insupportable. People know pretty well what to think
by what they hear said, without any need of hearing the works.

How did the orchestra go with the piano in the Concerto? Had they
taken care to have enough rehearsals? There are several passages
that require minute care; the modulations are abrupt, and the
variety of the movements is somewhat disconcerting for the
conductor. And, in addition to this, the traitor triangle (proh
pudor!) [Oh shame!], however excited he may be to strike strong
with his cunning little rhythm, marked pianissimo, provokes the
most scandalous catastrophe...

Notwithstanding all the regrettable parleying, for in such a
matter all sensible people ought to be of the same opinion, I
presume that Mr. Godebski's bust of Chopin will shortly be placed
in the lobby of the theater at Warsaw. Certainly Chopin well
merits this mark of honor, which moreover need in no wise prevent
people from busying themselves about a larger monument to
Lemberg, and from collecting a sufficient sum for that purpose.

At Weimar we will talk of Hal and the pleasure it will be to me
to pay you a visit there. Pray present my respectful thanks to
your mother, and my affectionate remembrances to Madame
Godebski,--and believe me, dear Monsieur Franz, your sincere
friend,

F. Liszt

Villa d'este, December 20th, 1869

(Address always Rome.)

97. To Dr. Franz Witt in Ratisbon

[Like all the subsequent letters to Dr. Witt, this letter is
without date or ending, as printed in Walter's biography of Witt
(Ratisbon, Pustet, 1889).--Dr. Witt (1834-80) was a distinguished
musical scholar, also a composer, the founder and first general
president of the Cacilien-Verein [St. Cecilia Society], and died
as a clergyman in Landshut.]

[Rome, towards the end of 1869.]

Very Dear Sir and Friend,

Before I had the honor of knowing you personally the manuscript
of your "Litaniae lauretanae" aroused in me sincere interest and
religious sympathy towards you. This first impression is now
increased by my deeper knowledge of the substantial value of your
compositions and my fuller appreciation of the great services you
have rendered to Church Music. That you act as admirably in
practice as in precept is evident in other of your works, but
especially in the Mass and the Te Deum which were performed here
on the Emperor of Austria's name-day in the Church of the Anima
under the leadership of our dear friend Haberl [On the 4th
October, 1869] Both of these works are of rare value--and, what
is still more rare, both are equally devoted to Art and the
Church. The "Litaniae lauretanae" breathes also a spirit of
nobility of soul, and diffuses its pleasant aroma notwithstanding
the necessary musical limitation. The collective character of the
invocations shows uniformity; and yet the lines of melody are
very finely drawn; especially touching to me is

[Here, Liszt writes a 2-bar musical excerpt where the words "Sa--
lus infirmo---rum Refugium peccatorum, Conso-la-trix afllicto---
rum" are sung]

My hearty thanks for the dedication, my very dear friend; it
brings me justifiable and joyful pride, which your own
exaggerated modesty should dispel.--Next summer I will again come
to you for a few days on my way to Szegzard (Hungary), where my
Mass for male voices (2nd very much corrected edition,--now
published by Repos, Paris) is to be performed. A few months after
my visit you will I hope receive most satisfactory news (through
Haberl) about the Cacilien-Verein [Haberl had endeavored, through
the intervention of the Bishops assembled in Council in Rome, to
obtain the Pope's approbation of the Cacilien-Verein, and his
efforts met with success.], to which, in fullest conviction, I
remain firmly attached--as well as to its much esteemed
President.

98. To Prof. Dr. Siegmund Lebert

Dear Friend,

The proofs of Weber's and Schubert's Sonatas were despatched to
Stuttgart in two parcels by rail the day before yesterday. This
is the cheapest and quickest way of sending things, and I beg of
you in future to send parcels in this way, as packages sent by
spediteur come slowly and cost a great deal. N.B.--The parcels
must not be too thick, and must have the address written on the
wrapper. As soon as you send me the D minor Sonata, that is still
wanting, and Weber's Conzertstuck, I will revise them at once;
ere long you will receive Schubert's Impromptus, Valses, etc.

My endeavor with this work is to avoid all quibbling and
pretentiousness, and to make the edition a practical one for
teachers and players. And for this reason at the very last I
added a goodly amount of fingering and pedal marks; kindly get
the printers to excuse this, and I trust that the trouble it
causes will not prove superfluous.--With regard to the deceptive
Termpo rubato, I have settled the matter provisionally in a brief
note (in the finale of Weber's A flat major Sonata); other
occurrences of the rubato may be left to the taste and momentary
feeling of gifted players. A metronomical performance is
certainly tiresome and nonsensical; time and rhythm must be
adapted to and identified with the melody, the harmony, the
accent and the poetry...But how indicate all this? I shudder at
the thought of it.

Also kindly excuse me from writing a preface, and write it
yourself, dear friend. For you know exactly what I should wish to
say, and you would say it much more clearly than I could, for my
very small amount of pedagogism is, for the most part, confined
to the words of St. Paul: Littera occidit, spiritus vivificat!

Your success delights without surprising me. It is only what
ought to be, that Lebert and Stark's Pianoforte Method should
meet with general acceptance, and that the Stuttgart
Conservatoire should continue to prosper. Both of these points of
merit I took the opportunity of mentioning with due honor to H.M.
the Queen of Wurtemberg--on the occasion of her visit to the
Villa d'Este here.

Best thanks for sending the Bach Fugue, the 2 Etudes (separate
edition) and the last volume of the Method, which I found to
contain many, to me, new and praiseworthy items, among others the
Etudes of Hiller and Brahms.

Ever, in all friendship, yours

F. Liszt

Villa d'Este, January l0th, 1870

I shall remain here till the end of April, and then go direct to
Weimar.

99. To C. F. Kahnt, the Music Publisher

Dear Friend,

The life's object of the Neue Zeitschrift remains firmly to stand
by the colors of Rheingold and the Nibelungen, and unfailingly to
represent the interests of the Deutsche Musikverein. This
embraces all essential consequences for us.

At the end of next week I will send you the piano-forte score of
the Beethoven Cantata, and write full particulars to Riedel.

By the middle of April I hope to reach Weimar. Best thanks for
sending the Ave maris stella--and in all friendliness I remain
yours,

F. Liszt

Rome, February 14th, 1870

100. To Herr Gille, councillor of justice

Dear Friend,

The best thing I have to tell you today is that we shall soon see
each other again. At the beginning of April I shall visit Bulow
in Florence, and then go direct to Weimar.

Last week I had a correspondence with Riedel about matters of the
Tonkunstler-Versammhung. The most important points are as
follows:--The utmost economy that is possible to making a
perfectly suitable orchestra and chorus. The spaces at our
disposal in Weimar (churches, theater and refreshment room) will
not allow of any great expenditure as regards the personnel. It
is to be hoped that Muller-Hartung can obtain a respectable
contingent for the Beethoven Mass, which will lessen the number
of outside co-operators; and I in like manner reckon chiefly on
the Weimar Vocal Union for the more important numbers of the
concert programme-Psalm by Schulz-Beuthen, Prometheus by Saint-
Saens, my Beethoven Cantata, etc. The arrangement of the
orchestra is to be as it was at the Carl August Festival and at
the Tonkunstler-Versammlung of '61--10 first violins, 6 to 7
double basses, etc. Riedel conducts Beethoven's Mass; Lassen the
concerts in the theater; and Muller-Hartung my Cantata.
Conzertmeister David and Director Hellmesberger will preside over
the 1st violins. Both gentlemen will also determine about the
performance of the Beethoven Quartet. Any other special violin
virtuoso would be superfluous this time. Riedel must arrange the
distribution of the solo parts of the Beethoven Mass according as
he thinks best. Milde only requires, in my Cantata,

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