Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2: From Rome to the End
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Franz Liszt; letters collected by La Mara and translated >> Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2: From Rome to the End
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Would you send me Victor Hugo's "Le theater en liberte"? We will
settle our accounts at Bayreuth.
383. To Eduard Reuss
My Dear Friend,
The weakness in my eyes is increasing, and on that account I
cannot write to you "mano propria." I wish to bring good luck to
Wilhelm Franz. Meanwhile I thank you heartily for making me
godfather.
In sincere friendship yours most truly,
F. Liszt
Sondershausen, June 5th, 1886
384. To Frau Reuss-Belce, Opera-Singer to the Court of Baden
My Dear Lady,
The thanks which I have just expressed to your husband I double
to you, as you have played the principal part in the family-drama
of Wilhelm Franz.
With the most heartful wishes for the continued prosperity of
parents and child I remain
Yours most truly,
F. Liszt
Sondershausen, June 5th, 1886
385. To Eduard Reuss
Very Dear Friend,
I have just received the enclosed reply from Hartel. Send him,
therefore, the score with the Piano part, and recommend him to
print this complete score--not the orchestral score alone--if
possible by next October, that is to say, end of September. Then,
for the present, two copies of the complete score will be wanted
for performance--one for the conductor and one for the soloist
who has so long had to play the Piano part out of the score,
until you, perhaps with little delay, arrange the orchestral part
for a second Piano, and the Concerto comes out in an edition like
the E-flat Concerto.
Yours in all friendship,
F. Liszt
Weimar, June 22nd, 1886
N.B.--On the 1st July I am leaving here for a couple of months.
386. To Sophie Menter
Bayreuth, July 3rd, 1886
My very dear Friend,
Tomorrow, after the religious marriage of my granddaughter
Daniela von Bulow to Professor Henry Thode (Art-historian), I
betake myself to my excellent friends the Munkacsys, Chateau
Colpach, Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.
On the 20th July I shall be back here again for the first 7-8
performances of the Festspiel [Festival Play]: then, alas! I must
put myself under the, to me, very disagreeable cure at Kissingen,
and in September an operation to the eyes is impending for me
with Grafe at Halle.
For a month past I have been quite unable to read and almost
unable to write, with much labor, a couple of lines. Two
secretaries kindly help me by reading to me and writing letters
at my dictation.
How delightful it would be to me, dear friend, to visit you at
your fairy castle of Itter! But I do not see any opportunity of
doing so at present. Perhaps you will come to Bayreuth, where,
from the 20th July to the 7th August, will be staying
Your heartily sincere
F. Liszt
[This was the very last letter written by the Master's hand. He
returned in bad health from Colpach to Bayreuth. Yet once again
he heard "Parsifal" and "Tristan" then he lay down upon his
death-bed, and at 11 o'clock on the night of the 31st July his
great soul had passed away into everlasting peace.]
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Supplement of Some Letters Received During The Printing:
387 To Hofmarschall Freiherr Von Spiegel In Weimar
[Autograph in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar.]
Monsieur Le Grand Marechal,
I am very happy to learn through you that Her Imperial Highness
the Grand Duchess has deigned to accept with kindness my
translation of the beautiful work of Beethoven which I have
permitted myself humbly to offer to her. For musicians, the
original of this work marks the summit of perfection of the
classical style (an extremely arbitrary designation, in my
opinion) among non-symphonic instrumental compositions.
Beethoven--as well as many great geniuses in the history of Art--
is like the ancient Janus; one of his two faces is turned towards
the past, the other towards the future. The Septet to a certain
extent marks the point of intersection, and is thus unreservedly
admired both by the devotees of the past and the believers in the
future.
On this account I thought there was a suitability in paying my
respectful homage to Her Imperial Highness by means of it, until
such time as I should be allowed to place a longer work at her
feet, and one which will more particularly express my personal
gratitude.
It is only yesterday that the very flattering lines of Your
Excellency have reached me. It is therefore not my fault that I
have not sooner replied to the gracious request which you are
pleased to make me with reference to my journey to Weimar.
Without any doubt I eagerly accept Your Excellency's invitation
for the month of October. Allow me only to beg you to be so good
as to let me know whether you consider it will be best for me to
arrive at the beginning or end of the month. Not being entirely
master of my time, I should be particularly glad to know from you
the most favorable week.
I have the honor, Monsieur le Grand Marechal, to be, with
respect, Your Excellency's very humble and obedient servant,
F. Liszt
Paris, September 30th, 1841
19, Rue Pigalle (Permanent Address).
388. To Eugenio Gomez, Organist of the Cathedral at Seville
[Autograph, without address, in the Liszt-Museum in Weimar. The
addressee (born 1802) was both pianist and composer.]
You have been pleased, my dear Monsieur Gomez, to ask my
perfectly frank opinion of your "Melodies harmonisees," and-quite
frankly [Liszt uses the same expression--tout franc--in each
case.]--I am much embarrassed by it, for it is in vain I turn
them over and over again; on every side I find only compliments
to make you about them. It is true that you could not doubt their
sincerity any more than you could the real merit of your work. It
is needless to speak of the modesty of true talent; this modesty
cannot go to the extent of foolishness, and the Artist and
supreme Architect of the spheres gives us Himself the example of
this legitimate satisfaction which the consciousness of having
done well brings us, by rejoicing over His work each day of the
Creation.
One defect, nevertheless, and a very grave defect, which I have
discovered in your "Harmonies" by dint of searching, is, that
there are only 12 instead of 24 or 48--as all true lovers will
wish. Make haste, my dear Monsieur Gomez, set yourself to work,
and repair as quickly as possible this unpardonable defect in
your labor; and, while extending it to the utmost, think
sometimes of your most affectionate and devoted servant,
F. Liszt
389. To Madame(?).
[Autograph, without address, date, and conclusion, in the Liszt-
Museum at Weimar.]
[Sevilla, end of December, 1844]
You have not told me too much of the wonders of Seville, Madame,
and, nevertheless, you could hardly have told me beforehand of
that which I have found the most charming--the letter from
Mademoiselle Caroline. Thanks to her charming lines, I found
myself in the best possible frame of mind for the enjoyment of
all imaginable chefs d'oeuvre, and I could not have been more
disposed to admiration and wonderment! During the ten days which
I have just spent in Seville I have not allowed a single day to
pass without going to pay my very humble court to the cathedral,
that epic of granite, that architectural Symphony whose eternal
harmonies vibrate in infinity!--
One cannot use any set phrases about such a monument. The best
thing to do would be to kneel there with the faith of the
charcoal-burner (if one could do so), or to soar in thought the
length of these arches and vaulted roofs, for which it seems that
there is even now "no longer time"!--As for me, not feeling
myself enough of the charcoal-burner or of the eagle, I am
constrained to stand with my nose in the air and mouth open.
Nevertheless my prayer sometimes climbs up like useless ivy,
lovingly embracing those knotted shafts which defy all the storms
of the genius of Christianity.
Whatever you may think of my enthusiasm for your cathedral, it is
a fact that I have been entirely absorbed by it during the ten
days I have spent in Seville; so much so, that it was only on the
evening before my departure that I could prevail on myself to
visit the Alcazar.
In truth, if one might wish for the re-introduction of the
bastinado, it would be to apply it exclusively to those malicious
wretches who have dared to besmear so many ravishing flights of
fancy, so many fairy-like vagaries, with lime and plaster.
What adorable enchantment and what hideous devastation!
The heart expands--and then contracts at every step. Little do I
care for the gardens (which, by the way, slightly resemble the
ornamental gardens of a priest); little do I care even for the
baths of Maria Padilla, which, in fact, have slightly the effect
of an alkaline; but what outlines, what harmonious profusion in
these lines, what incredible voluptuousness in all this
ornamentation! Would that I could send them you in this envelope,
such as I have felt and devoured them with my eyes!
Here are, indeed, many marks of admiration, and you will
certainly smile at me, will you not, Madame? But what can I do?
And how, after that, can I speak to you of myself and my paltry
individuality?
390. To Madame (?)
[Autograph sketch of a letter, without address, date, and
conclusion, in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar.]
[Probably beginning of 1845]
What are your travelling plans for this winter, Madame? Mine are
quite unsettled. I did not succeed in leaving Spain, and the fact
is that, being well, there is no sense in searching for better
elsewhere.The only thing that provokes me is the necessity in
which I am placed of having to give up the rest of my duties at
Weymar for this winter. But I shall try to take a brilliant
revenge in the course of this very year.
In spite of our agreement I have not sent you the bulletin of my
peaceful victories in the arena of Madrid [Liszt gave concerts in
the Teatro del Circo in Madrid from October till December
1844.](and elsewhere), because you know that there are certain
things which are moreover very simple, but which I cannot do.
More than once, nevertheless, I have regretted you in your
founder's loge--the first in front--and I have turned to that
side in expectancy of the inciting bravos which used to begin
before all the others at the brilliant passages!
La Melinetti will doubtless have given you my ancient news from
Pau! Poor woman, with her luxury of a husband (a superfluity
which was not in the least a necessary thing for her), and her
little impulsive ways,...she has really promised me to be at
length reasonable, steady, and deliberate. I hope she will keep
her word. With a little wit, behavior, and tact, she could make
herself a very good position in Pau. Mme. d'Artigaux, [When
unmarried, as Countess Caroline St. Criq, sixteen years before
this time, she had possessed Liszt's whole heart, while hers
belonged to him. But the command of her father, Minister St.
Criq, separated eir ways, because he--was only an artist. Liszt
thought of her in his last Will, but she left this world before
him, at the beginning of the seventies.] who is the most ideally
good woman I know, takes a real interest in her. Several other
people sincerely wish her well--it only depends on herself to
take a good position there--but unfortunately she is too
outspoken, and inclined to play tricks.
What do you know of the elegaic and seraphic Chopin? I wrote a
few lines from Pau to Mme. Sand, but my letter hardly asked for a
reply, and she has, moreover, better things to do.
391. To Madame (?) in Milan
[Autograph in the Liszt-Museum in Weimar]
[1846]
I am at your feet, Madame, and kiss your hands--but it is
impossible not to quarrel with you, and that seriously, over the
last lines of your letter! Through what absence of mind, let me
ask you, could you have written to me, "I do not speak to you of
our affairs because I remember that your sympathies are not with
us"? Frankly, if you were to tell me that I have never played any
but false notes on the piano, and that my calling was that of a
retail grocer, this opinion would offer, to my thinking, a
greater degree of probability. Evidently, in my double character
of citizen and musician, I am not even to exonerate myself from
the fault you [ascribe] to me. Suffer me then not to dwell longer
upon it, and deign for the future to spare me the pain which all
suspicion of this kind would cause me.
Otherwise your letter was a great joy to me; first, as coming
from you; and then, as announcing the realization of a wish, an
idea, to the postponement of which I had resigned myself as well
as I could, but which I had hardly relinquished. Your
Sardanapalus comes in the nick of time, just as the 2000 francs
will be opportune to the poet. The mode of payment is very
simple. Belloni's sister being in Milan, she will have the honor
of calling upon you, and an return for the restoration of the
manuscript she will discharge the total of my debt, viz., two
thousand francs. Allow me only a last request, which is that you
will kindly take the trouble to read the whole libretto through
again, and, if it should be expedient, to communicate to the poet
direct any observations which you consider necessary. The notes
and commentaries which you have added on the margin of Rotondi's
libretto (which I keep very carefully) showed such a complete
virtuosity in this style of subject that one could not possibly
do better than submit with confidence to your decision.--[The
plan of composing an opera "Sardanapalus" occupied Liszt for
years.]
Thanks to God, and to this good star which has let me live many
years pretty uprightly, "as if I were immortal," as you put it,
behold me now since the end of September in last year entirely
out of the circle of concerts--and it does not seem likely that I
shall soon return to this drudgery.--I shall remain in Weymar
till the 15th August; then I shall go and make a tour in the
Crimea by way of the Danube, probably returning by Constantinople
if I can manage it.--
Next spring "Sardanapalus" will be ready,--and I shall perhaps
have to speak to you about another matter at the same time, a
matter about which it is worth while speaking to you.--
Be good enough to acknowledge the receipt of these lines; but
pray spare me abuse, and be pleased to do me the honor of
believing without reserve or restriction in the upright sincerity
of my sympathies, and in my frank and firm good-will to transform
them into acts or deeds, according to circumstances, in the
degree of which I am capable.
Yours ever, with admiration and friendship,
F. Liszt
392. To Frau Charlotte Moscheles (?)
[Draft of an undirected autograph letter in the Liszt-Museum at
Weimar.--Presumably written to the wife of the distinguished
piano-virtuoso and teacher Ignaz Moscheles]
I am most grateful to you, Madame, for wishing to keep me in
remembrance on the occasion of the publication of the Album of
Workers, and I hasten to reply as quickly and as well as I can.
I must, nevertheless, confess to you in all sincerity that I am a
little embarrassed as to the choice to be made among the number
of useless and unusable manuscripts which I should be charmed to
put at your kind disposal. After the Arbeiter Chor [workman's
chorus] and the Arbeiter Marsch [workman's march] with which I
have just gratified two Albums in Vienna, your gracious letter
comes as a surprise rather short of apropos. How malapropos, is
it not? But let us see how to remedy this.--
I thought first of a "Marche funebre" for the use of the bankers;
then of an "Elegie" dedicated to the idle; next of "Jeremiades
Omnibus" [lamentations for all];--but nothing of that sort quite
satisfies me.
In default of perfection, permit me to be satisfied with the
relative best (which will be, it seems to me, a better choice): a
Paraphrase--charitably adapted to the fingers of charitable
pianists who will have the charity to buy and to play it--of
Rossini's "Charite;" which I shall have the honor of sending to
you through Mr. Kistner early in July. An old saying of a very
old Father of the Church would, if needful, justify this choice.
"In things necessary, Unity; in matters doubtful, Liberty; in all
things, Charity!"--
Will you have the goodness, Madame, to remember me very kindly to
my excellent master and friend, Moscheles? and accept again, I
beg you, the expression of my respect, and of my most
affectionate sentiments.
F. Liszt
Weymar, June 22nd, 1848
393. To Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst
[Portions of this, as of the previous letter, were printed in the
"Voltaire."--Addressee the famous violin virtuoso and composer
(1814-1865)]
May 30th, 1849
Dear Friend,
Weymar has not forgotten you, and I hope soon to be able, after
the return of the Hereditary Prince whom we expect for the day of
his fete, by the 24th of May at the very latest, to forward to
you the token of the distinguished remembrance in which you are
held. It pleases me to think that it will be agreeable to you,
and that it will tend to attach you more in the sequel to people
worthy to appreciate you.
I should have desired to tell you sooner of this, but the
inevitable delays in present circumstances postpone more than one
wish.
After the deplorable days in Dresden Wagner came here, and only
departed again in order to escape from a warrant (lettre de
cachet) with which the Saxon government is pursuing him. I hope
that at the present moment he will have arrived safe and well in
Paris, where his career of dramatic composer cannot fail to be
extended, and in grand proportions. He is a man of evident
genius, who must of necessity obtrude himself on the general
admiration, and hold a high place in contemporary art. I regret
that you have not had the opportunity of hearing his
"Tannhauser," which is for me the most lyric of dramas, the most
remarkable, the most harmonious, the most complete, the most
original and selbstwurdig (the most worthy of its country), both
in foundation and form, that Germany has produced since
Weber. Belloni has, I believe, written to you on the subject of
Wagner, to ask for information as to the actual state of the
English Opera in London. I make no doubt that if it were possible
for Wagner to obtain from the directors a tour of performances in
the course of the year for a new work ("Lohengrin," the subject
of which, having reference to the Knights of the Round Table who
went to search for the Holy Grail, is of the most poetic
interest) he would make a great sensation and large receipts by
it. As soon as he tells me the news of his arrival in Paris,
allow me to induce him to write to you direct if his plans do not
change in this matter.
394. To Joseph Dessauer
[Draft of an autograph letter, without address, date, and
conclusion, in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar.]
[Probably at the beginning of the fifties.]
Heartiest thanks for your Songs. I rejoice that you consider me
worthy of a dedication, and I promise you that if we meet again I
will sing you the songs by heart. Perhaps you will bring me again
into such a mood for songs as will impel me to write something of
that sort. My earlier songs are mostly too ultra sentimental, and
frequently too full in the accompaniment.
395. Testimonial for Joachim Raff
[Draft of an autograph letter, without address and date, in the
Liszt-Museum at Weimar]
[Probably at the beginning of the fifties.]
The talents of M. Raff as composer and musician are a fact so
evident and certain, his recent orchestral compositions as well
as his works for voice and piano furnish such forcible proofs of
it, that I consider it superfluous to add to this evidence and to
certify it further.
Having had more opportunity than others, during the few years of
our intercourse, of appreciating his capacities (notably at the
time of the Musical Festival at Bonn for the inauguration of
Beethoven's monument in 1845,-and of those to Herder and Goethe
at Weymar in 1850, etc.), knowing thoroughly both the score of
his four-act Opera "King Alfred," given many times with great
success in Weymar under the author's conductorship, as well as
many of his manuscript works, which I sincerely esteem, I shall
always make it my duty seriously to recommend M. Raff to those of
the Musical Institutes which attach a value to the possession of
an intelligent director and one well acquainted with the
exigencies and the progress of the art.
F. Liszt
396. To Dr. Eduard Hanslick in Vienna
[The renowned musical author and critic (born in Prague in 1825),
professor of the history of music in the University of Vienna.--
The letter refers to the Mozart jubilee concert conducted by
Liszt in Vienna, and to Hanslick's critique, in which he censured
the want of courtesy with which Liszt, who had been invited to
conduct this concert, was treated by the committee and the
public.]
Sir,
The manner in which you have given an account in the Presse of
the two concerts of Sunday and Monday, corresponds entirely with
the opinion which I had of you--and you have proved yourself on
this occasion, according to your custom, an eminent critic and a
perfect gentleman. [The word "gentleman" is in English in Liszt's
letter.]
Permit me to offer you my sincere thanks for the part you have
been pleased to devote to me, and to hope that the coming years,
in bringing us more together, will better enable me to prove the
sincere sentiments of esteem and distinguished regard, the
assurance of which I beg you to accept.
F. Liszt
January 3lst, 1856
397. To the Austrian Minister of the Interior, Freiherr von Bach
[Autograph sketch of a letter in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar. The
Gran Mass was in fact engraved and published by the State
printing-press at Vienna.]
Your Excellency,
The interest and protection which your Excellency extends to the
spiritual interests of the empire permit me to bring forward the
wish and the petition that the Mass which I composed by order of
His Eminence the Prince Primate of Hungary for the Dedication-
Festival of the Basilica at Gran, and performed there on the 3lst
August, may be printed and published in full score and piano
score by the Royal Imperial State printing-press at the cost of
the State.
Without improperly praising my own composition I venture humbly
to express the confidence that the Catholic significance and
spirit which form its groundwork and supplement its modest
porportions would gradually be more propagated and comprehended
by the publication of the work, so that I might hope to have
furnished a not unworthy contribution to Christian Art as well as
to the great Church and Country's Festival of the 31st August.
In the expectation that my request will meet with that assisting
favor which is indispensable to earnest and honest artistic
effort, I have the honor to remain most obediently
Your Excellency's most humble and devoted servant,
F. Liszt
Vienna, September 18th, 1856
398. To (?) in Leipzig
[Draft of an autograph letter, without address, date, and
conclusion, in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar.--The contents refer to
the Orchestral Concert of the Tonkunstler-Versammlung, planned
and carried out at Leipzig in the beginning of June, 1859.]
[Spring, 1859.]
Dear Friend,
At the same time with your letter I received from Brendel fuller
information about the Leipzig preliminaries, to which he will
also receive a fuller reply.
I am not of opinion that the Orchestral concert is to be given up
immediately on account of the negative decision of Rietz. Very
possibly David will undertake to conduct it, and I advise Brendel
to come to a good understanding with him about it. On the other
hand it might be expected, in a case of necessity, that the
Weimar and Sondershausen orchestras would unite to carry out the
Programme. But this latter must be as strictly adhered to as was
formerly determined, and not lose its exclusive character as
"compositions by collaborators of the newspaper only"--Schumann,
Berlioz, Wagner, R. Franz, and lastly my humble self. I cannot
therefore in any respect agree to the concession enjoined by
Brendel, of admitting works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, etc.,
nor do I see the motive of it. As far as the musical is
concerned, I consider it impossible to give such an exceedingly
rich programme on one evening without stupifying the public; that
would go beyond the ill-famed London concerts which last six
hours, not to speak of the fact that we should have to put the
recognised classics far too much in the shade!--But, above all,
such an over-loaded programme is thoroughly unsuitable to the
jubilee-celebration of the Neue Zeitschrift, which on this
occasion [ought] especially to emphasize its just claims and the
progress in Art which it aims at and supports. On this account it
is necessary to adhere to the limits of the programme originally
agreed upon.
Finally, in case insurmountable hindrances should arise to
prevent the carrying out of this same, I have no inclination to
substitute for the Orclaestral-concert one for Chamber-music. But
the word "Evening entertainment" must, as is self-evident, be
entirely dispensed with. Our business is to raise, to educate the
audience, not to amuse them; and if indeed, as Goethe very
pertinently says, "deep and earnest thinkers are in a bad
position as regards the public," we will therefore not so much
the less, but so much the more earnestly maintain this position.
Meanwhile it is advisable to advertise the first evening's
musical performance by the expression Concert in the Gewandhaus,
until we have quite decided whether it shall be a concert with
orchestra, or only with chamber-music. [An orchestral concert
took place in the theater, when compositions by Mendelssohn,
Schubert, and Chopin were, nevertheless, included among the
others.]
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