Chapter X: Part 10

Frau Land-Goldschmidt stands as incomparable in her glittering renown as a singer as Handel in his as a composer, with the difference--which is in Frau Lind's favor to boot--that Handel's works weary many people and do not always succeed in filling the coffers, whereas the mere appearance of Frau Lind secures the utmost rapture of the public, as well as that of the cashier. If, therefore, we place the affairs of the Musical Festival simply on the satisfying and commercial debit and credit basis, certainly no artist, and still less any work of Art, could venture to compete with, and to offer an equal attraction to, the high and highly celebrated name of Frau Lind. Without raising the slightest objection to this, I must express my common-sense opinion that with this magnet all others would be quite superfluous, which, however, cannot be quite so indifferent to me; for, as Louis XIV. represented the State, so Frau Lind would constitute the Musical Festival proper. This avowal (for which I deserve, at the very least, stoning with the usual ingredients of operations of that kind in our civilized age, if I did not happen to implore grace of the divine Diva herself)--this avowal I already made last year, on occasion of the Dusseldorf Musical Festival, to my esteemed friend of many years, Ferdinand Hiller. What is the use of orchestra and singers, rehearsals and preparations, pieces and programmes, when the public only want to hear the Lind, and then hear her again--or, more correctly speaking, when they must be able to say they leave heard her, in order to be able to wallow at ease in their enthusiasm for Art? What I foresaw then was also confirmed to a hair, for it proved, as everybody knows, that all the sympathy of the public went in favor of whatever Frau Lind did, so that the so-called Artist- concert on the third day was the most fully attended, because in it there were an aria from "Beatrice di Tenda" and Swedish songs as special attraction--for which marvels the very simplest pianoforte accompaniment was no doubt sufficient.--Should the Committee of Aix-la-Chapelle be minded to take to heart the motto of Hiller's Symphony, "Es muss doch Fruhling werden," ["The spring will surely come."] in all its artistic endeavour, and, as you write, to steer clear towards the goal of a "fresher rekindling of the Musical Festival," we shall be obliged, alas! to do without the Swedish Nightingale and Europe's Queen of Song.

In short, the point of the matter of this year's Musical Festival at Aix-la-Chapelle is, as concerns myself, as follows:-

If they decide on having the "Messiah," I must beg to be pardoned for having to excuse myself from coming. [Liszt finally dropped his objection to the "Messiah." He had it performed at the Musical Festival, conducted by him.]

If the Committee accepts the programme I have drawn (Schubert Symphony, etc., including the last numbers) for the second day, then it will be a pleasing duty to me to accept the honor of the invitation, always supposing that the means for a brilliant performance of the Beethoven Mass and the other works are forthcoming, as one cannot doubt will be the case in Aix-la- Chapelle--if my share in the Festival does not in any way give offence to the neighboring towns, in which case I should of course gladly and quietly retire, in order not to occasion any disturbance, or unsatisfactorily prepared discord in the customs of the musical Rhine-lands. I think there is no need for me to accentuate the fact that a musical conductor cannot blindly subscribe to just every programme that is put before him, and I hope that the honorable Committee will not consider that there is any assumption in my proposition to place the Aix-la-Chapelle programme more in accord with my own collective endeavors.

I am writing a few lines of thanks by the next post to President Herr Van Houten for the distinction shown to me about the consideration contained in this letter, which I beg that you will communicate to him verbally.

Awaiting further communications from the Committee, I remain, dear Herr Capellmeister, with warm acknowledgements and high esteem,

Yours very truly,

F. Liszt

171. To J. W. von Wasielewski in Dresden

Dear Friend,

Your letter reached me, after some delay, in Zurich, where I had to keep my bed for several weeks--and today I write to you still from my bed, and sulking because the geographical change which I have made has not brought about any improvement in my pathological condition (which, by the way, is quite without danger).

How are you, dear Wasielewski? Have you settled yourself pleasantly in Dresden? Are you working at music industriously and methodically?--How far have you got in your biography of R. Schumann? With regard to this work, the publication of which I am awaiting with great interest, I am sorry to be unable to follow the wish you so kindly express. Many letters addressed to me by Schumann in earlier years are lost, and since my residence in Weymar (from the year 1848) we certainly wrote to one another from time to time, but only when theater or concert performances of his works gave a sort of business occasion for it. Weymar does not deserve the reproach of having kept itself too much in the background in this respect. At the Goethe Festival in 1849 I had the great closing scene to the second part of "Faust" given, which was, later on, repeated; at the beginning of 1852 the music to Byron's "Manfred," with a stage performance of the drama such as he desired, was given several times, and, as far as I know, up to now no other theater has made this attempt. [Liszt was actually the first.] The Weymar theater is likewise the only one which contains in its repertoire Schumann's "Genoveva" (which was indeed given here for the first time in April 1855). It goes without saying that, during the years of my work here, most of his chamber music--Quartets, Trios, Sonatas--as well as his Symphonies, Overtures, and Songs, have been cherished with particular preference and love, and have been frequently heard in various concerts, with the exception of one of the most important; but the very slight amount of public activity of our Vocal Union has prevented, as yet, any performance of the "Peri," which, however, has already been partly studied, and will ere long be given at last.

As a contribution to your biographical studies, dear Wasielewski, I should like to tell you truly with what sincere, heartfelt, and complete reverence I have followed Schumann's genius during twenty years and faithfully adhered to it. Although I am sure that you, and all who know me more intimately, have no doubt about this, yet at this moment the feeling comes over me--a feeling which I cannot resist--to tell you more fully about my relations with R. Schumann, which date from the year 1836, and to give them you here plainly in extenso. Have a little patience, therefore, in reading this letter, which I have not time to make shorter.

After the buzz and hubbub called forth by my article in the Paris Gazette Musicale on Thalberg (the meaning of which, be it said in passing, has been quite distorted), which was re-echoed in German papers and salons, Maurice Schlesinger, the then proprietor of the Gazette Musicale, took the opportunity of asking me to insert in his paper a very eulogistic article on anything new that came out in the world of Art. For months Schlesinger sent me with this object all sorts of novelties, among which, however, I could not find anything that seemed to me deserving of praise, until at last, when I was at the Lake of Como, Schumann's "Impromptu" in C major (properly variations), the "Etudes symphoniques," and the "Concert sans orchestre" [Concerto without orchestra] (published later, in the second edition, under the more suitable title Sonata in F minor) came into my hands. In playing these pieces through, I felt at once what musical mettle was in them; and, without having previously heard anything of Schumann, without knowing how or where he lived (for I had not at that time been to Germany, and he had no name in France and Italy), I wrote the critique which was published in the Gazette Musicale towards the end of 1837, and which became known to Schumann.

Soon afterwards, when I was giving my first concerts in Vienna (April to May 1838), he wrote to me and sent me a manuscript entitled "Gruss an Franz Liszt in Deutschland" ["Greeting to Franz Liszt in Germany"]. I forget at this moment under what title it was afterwards published; the opening bars are as follows:--

[Here, Liszt hand-writes the score for the opening bars. It is the beginning of the second Novelette Op. 21, but not quite correctly quoted by Liszt]

At about the same time followed the publishing of the great "Fantasia" (C major) in three movements, which he dedicated to me; my dedication to him in return for this glorious and noble work was only made three years ago in my "Sonata" in B minor.

At the beginning of the winter of 1840 I traveled from Vienna back to Paris by way of Prague, Dresden, and Leipzig. Schumann paid me the friendly attention of welcoming me immediately on my arrival in Dresden, and we then travelled together to Leipzig. Wieck, afterwards Schumann's father-in-law, had at that time a lawsuit against him to prevent his marriage with Clara. I had known Wieck and his daughter from Vienna days, and was friendly with both. None the less I refused to see Wieck again in Dresden, as he had made himself so unfriendly to Schumann; and, breaking off all further intercourse with him, I took Schumann's side entirely, as seemed to me only right and natural. Wieck without delay richly requited me for this after my first appearance in Leipzig, where he aired his bitter feelings against me in several papers. One of my earlier pupils, by name Hermann Cohen--a native of Hamburg, who in later years aroused much attention in France, and who, as a monk, had taken the name of Frere Augustin (Carme dechausse [Barefooted Carmelite])--was the scapegoat in Leipzig for Wieck's publicly inflamed scandal, so that Cohen was obliged to bring an action for damage by libel against Wieck, which action Hermann won with the assistance of Dr. Friederici, barrister-at-law.

In Leipzig Schumann and I were together every day and all day long--and my comprehension of his works became thereby more familiar and intimate. Since my first acquaintance with his compositions, I have played many of them in private circles in Milan, Vienna, etc., but without being able to win over my hearers to them. They lay, happily, much too far removed from the insipid taste, which at that time absolutely dominated, for it to be possible for any one to thrust them into the commonplace circle of approbation. The public did not care for them, and the majority of pianists did not understand them. In Leipzig even, where I played the "Carneval" at my second concert in the Gewandhaus, I did not succeed in obtaining my usual applause. The musicians, together with those who were supposed to understand music, had (with few exceptions) their ears still too tightly stopped up to be able to comprehend this charming, tasteful "Carneval," the various numbers of which are harmoniously combined in such artistic fancy. I do not doubt that, later on, this work will maintain its natural place in universal recognition by the side of the "Thirty-three Variations on a Waltz of Diabelli" by Beethoven (to which, in my opinion, it is superior even in melodic invention and importance). The frequent ill-success of my performances of Schumann's compositions, both in private circles and in public, discouraged me from including and keeping them in the programmes of my concerts which followed so rapidly on one another--programmes which, partly from want of time and partly from carelessness and satiety of the "Glanz- Periode" ["Splendor period"] of my pianoforte-playing, I seldom, except in the rarest cases, planned myself, but gave them now into this one's hands, and now that one, to choose what they liked. That was a mistake, as I discovered later and deeply regretted, when I had learned to understand that for the artist who wishes to be worthy of the name of artist the danger of not pleasing the public is a far less one than that of allowing oneself to be decided by its humors

--and to this danger every executive artist is especially exposed, if he does not take courage resolutely and on principle to stand earnestly and consistently by his conviction, and to produce those works which he knows to be the best, whether people like them or not.

It is of no consequence, then, in how far my faint-heartedness in regard to Schumann's pianoforte compositions might possibly be excused by the all-ruling taste of the day, but I did without thinking of it thereby set a bad example, for which I can hardly make amends again. The stream of custom and the slavery of the artist, who is directed to the encouragement and applause of the multitude for the maintenance and improvement of his existence and his renown, is such a pull-back, that, even to the better- minded and more courageous ones, among whom I am proud to reckon myself, it is intensely difficult to preserve their better ego in the face of all the covetous, distracted, and--despite their large number--backward-in-paying We.

There is in Art a pernicious offence, of which most of us are guilty through carelessness and fickleness; I might call it the Pilate offence. Classical doing, and classical playing, which have become the fashion of late years, and which may be regarded as an improvement, on the whole, in our musical state of things, hide in many a one this fault, without eradicating it:--I might say more on this point, but it would lead me too far.

For my part I need not, at least, reproach myself with having ever denied my sympathy and reverence for Schumann; and a hundred of the younger companions in Art in all lands could bear witness that I have always expressly directed them to a thorough study of his works, and have strengthened and refreshed myself by them.

If these particulars have not wearied you, dear Wasielewski, I will gladly continue them, and tell you about everything from my second visit to Leipzig (at the end of 1841) which was brought about by Schumann, up to my last meeting with him at Dusseldorf (in 1851). Friendly greetings

From yours most sincerely,

F. Liszt

Weymar, January 9th, 1857.

172. To General Alexis von Lwoff in St. Petersburg

[1799-1877; in addition to his military position, he was a celebrated violinist, and conductor of the Imperial Court-Singers at St. Petersburg.]

Your Excellency and My Honored Friend,

Permit me to think that I am not quite effaced from your recollection, and to avail myself of the medium of Mdlle. Martha de Sabinin to recall myself to you more particularly. It being her wish to find herself in pleasant relations with the chief representatives of music in St. Petersburg, it was natural that I should introduce her in the first instance to you, and recommend her to you first and foremost as the protegee of Her Imperial Majesty the Grand Duchess Marie Pawlowna, as well as of the reigning Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weymar (in whose service she has been for several years as Court Pianist and Professor at the Institute for Young Ladies of the Nobility),--and, secondly, as a clever woman and excellent musician and pianist, who, after having gone through the most conscientious study, is perfectly fitted to teach others in a most agreeable manner. She especially excels in her execution of classical music and ensemble; and, this side of music being, from what I hear, more and more cultivated at St. Petersburg, especially through your care, I am pleased to think that Mdlle. de Sabinin will easily find an opportunity of coming out advantageously in this line. I much regret that you have, as yet, neglected Weymar since I have been settled here. It would have been a pleasure to me to place at your disposal a musical personnel, which has been justly spoken of with praise, for the performance of your "Stabat Mater" and other of your compositions, which we should have great pleasure in applauding. Let me hope that you will not always be so rigorous towards us, and pray accept the expressions of high esteem and respect with which I shall always be, dear and honored friend,

Your Excellency's very obedient servant,

F. Liszt

Weymar, January 10th, 1857

173. To Johann Von Herbeck in Vienna

[Hofcapellmeister (Court conductor), and an excellent conductor (1831-1877).--The above letter, as well as a later one addressed to the same musician, was published in "Johann Herbeck. Ein Lebensbild von seinem Sohne Ludwig." Vienna, Gutmann, 1885.--Date in Herbeck's handwriting.]

[Received January 12th, 1857]

Dear Sir,

On my somewhat delayed return to Weymar I find your friendly letter, for which I send you my

sincere and warmest thanks. I am very much pleased to learn from you that you have succeeded, thanks to your careful and intelligent preparation, in making such a good effect with the "Faust" (Student) Chorus. [It was the first choral composition which was conducted by Liszt in Vienna, and with the very same Mannergesangverein which Herbeck conducted.] This light little piece has been pretty successfully given several times by Mannergesangvereinen [Vocal societies of male voices] in Cologne, Berlin, etc., and even in Paris. When I published it fifteen years ago, I did not think much about making allowance for any possible laxity in the intonation of the singers; but today, when my experience has taught me better, I should probably write the somewhat steep and slippery passage as follows:--

[Here, Liszt illustrates with a vocal score musical excerpt at the point where the singer sings "Die Ko-chin hat ihr Gift gestellt, da ward zu eng ihr in der Welt, etc."]

Probably this version would also be more effective--with the alteration in the last verse (in honor of prosody!):--

[Here, Liszt illustrates with a vocal score musical excerpt at the point where the singer sings "ha, sie pfeift auf dem letzten Loch."]

I shall venture shortly to send you (by Herr Haslinger), my dear sir, a couple of other Quartets for male voices to look through. If, after doing so, you think you may risk a public performance of them, I leave the matter entirely in your hands.

There is not the slightest hurry about the Mass, [For men's voices. On the occasion of the Mozart Festival in Vienna in 1856, conducted by Liszt, he had played portions of this Mass to Herbeck, and the latter felt himself, as he wrote to Liszt, "electrified by the spirit of this work and its creator," and set himself "at the same time the artistic duty of a worthy rendering of this Song of Praise."] and I fear that the preparation of this work will cost you and your singers some trouble. Before all else it requires the utmost certainty in intonation, which can only be attained by practicing the parts singly (especially the middle parts, second tenor and first bass)--and then, above all, religious absorption, meditation, expansion, ecstasy, shadow, light, soaring--in a word, Catholic devotion and inspiration. The "Credo," as if built on a rock, should sound as steadfast as the dogma itself; a mystic and ecstatic joy should pervade the "Sanctus;" the "Agnus Dei" (as well as the "Miserere" in the "Gloria") should be accentuated, in a tender and deeply elegiac manner, by the most fervent sympathy with the Passion of Christ; and the "Dona nobis pacem," expressive of reconciliation and full of faith, should float away like sweet-smelling incense. The Church composer is both preacher and priest, and what the word fails to bring to our powers of perception the tone makes winged and clear.

You know all this at least as well as I do, and I must apologize for repeating it to you. If the extent of the chorus allows of it, it might perhaps be desirable to add a few more wind instruments (clarinets, bassoon, horns, indeed even a couple of trombones) to support the voices more. If you think so too, please send me a line to say so, and I will at once send you a small score of the wind instruments. [Herbeck himself undertook, at Liszt's desire (which, as he wrote, filled him with joy and pride), to write the instrumental accompaniment to the Mass.] You shall have the vocal parts from Jena immediately. For today accept once more my best thanks, together with the assurance of the highest esteem of

Yours ever,

F. Liszt

174. To Professor Franz Gotze in Leipzig

[The celebrated singer in Leipzig (1814-88); was a pupil of Spohr's, and was first violinist in the Weimar Hofcapelle, then went on to the stage, and both as a lyric tenor and as a singer of Lieder was incomparable. He was the first who publicly went in for Liszt's songs, in which his pupils imitated him.]

Dear Friend,

In consequence of an invitation of the directors, I shall have the honor of having several of my works performed at the concert on the 26th February for the Orchestral Pension Fund in Leipzig, and very much wish that you would do me the kindness to sing two of my songs ("Kling leise, mein Lied" and "Englein du mit blondem Haar"), and to rejoice the public with your ardent and beautifully artistic rendering of these little things.

Fraulein Riese is so good as to bring you the new edition of my six first songs (amongst which is the "Englein" in A major)--a couple more numbers will shortly follow.

Grant me my request, dear friend, and rest assured beforehand of the best thanks, with which I remain,

Yours in most sincere friendship, F. Liszt

Weymar, February 1st, 1857

175. To Dionys Pruckner in Vienna

Weymar, February 11th, 1857

From all sides, dearest Dionysius, I hear the best and most brilliant accounts of you. Without being surprised at this I am extremely pleased about it. To make a firm footing in Vienna as a pianoforte player is no small task, especially under present circumstances! If one succeeds in this, one can, with the utmost confidence, make a name throughout Europe. It is very important for you, dear friend, to appear often in public, so as to make yourself feel at home with them. In production the public have far more to care about the artist than he has to care about them, or indeed to let himself be embarrassed by them. At home, our whole life through, we have to study and to devise how to mature our work and to attain as near as possible to our ideal of Art. But when we enter the concert-room the feeling ought not to leave us, that, just by our conscientious and persevering striving, we stand somewhat higher than the public, and that we have to represent our portion of "Menschheits-Wurde," [Manhood's dignity] as Schiller says. Let us not err through false modesty, and let us hold fast to the true, which is much more difficult to practice and much more rare to find. The artist--in our sense-- should be neither the servant nor the master of the public. He remains the bearer of the Beautiful in the inexhaustible variety which is appointed to human thought and perception--and this inviolable consciousness alone assures his authority.

Through your father I learn that you are thinking of going to Munich in the course of the spring. I, on my side, had also the intention of giving you a rendez-vous there. But yesterday I definitely accepted the conductorship of the Musical Festival of the Lower-Rhine, which will take place this year in Aix-la- Chapelle at Whitsuntide, on the 31st May, and could not undertake a long journey before then, in order not to break in on my work too much.

At the beginning of September we shall have grand festivities here in honor of the centenary of Carl August. Rietschel's Schiller and Goethe group will then be put up, and there will be a great deal of music on this occasion at the theater, for which I must prepare. I hope we shall see each other before then.

Bronsart is in Paris. You shall have his Trio very soon. Bulow is playing in Rostock, Bremen, and Hamburg. The Aix-la-Chapelle Committee have also invited him to the Musical Festival. Singer goes next week to Rotterdam, and on the 26th February a couple of my Symphonic Poems will be given at the Gewandhaus (directed by myself). I yesterday finished the score of another new one, Die Hunnenschlacht, [The Battle of the Huns] which I should like to bring out in Vienna when there is an opportunity.

Yours in all friendship,

F. Liszt

176. To Joachim Raff

[February 1857]

You may rest assured, dear friend, that it was very much against the grain to me that I could not accept the kind invitation of the Wiesbaden Concert Committee, for which I have to thank your intervention; and your letter, in which you explain to me some other circumstances, increases my sincere regret. But for this winter it is, frankly, impossible for me to accept any invitations of that kind, and I think I have told you before now that I have had to excuse myself in several cities (Vienna, Rotterdam, etc.). Even for Leipzig, which is so near me (although I might appear somewhat far-fetched to many a one there!), it was difficult to find a day that would suit me. On the 26th of this month the "Preludes" and "Mazeppa" are to be given in the Gewandhaus under my direction (for the Orchestral Pension Fund Concert). Perhaps this performance will serve as a definite warning for other concert-conducting, which might have been thought of, to question my "incapability as a composer," so often demonstrated (see the proof number of the "Illustrirte

Monatsheft" of Westermann, Brunswick, the National Zeitung, and the "thousand and one" competent judges who have long since been quite clear on the matter!).

How far are you in your Opera? When will one be able to see and hear something of it? As far as I have heard, you intend to perform "Samson" first in Darmstadt. If this does not happen at too awkward a time for me I shall come.

After having twice renounced the honor of conducting the approaching Musical Festival of the Lower-Rhine (to be held this year at Aix-la-Chapelle) a deputation of the Committee arrived here yesterday. In consideration of their courtesy I shall therefore go to Aix-la-Chapelle at Whitsuntide, and perhaps you will let yourself be beguiled into visiting me there. By that time also the Mass [The Gran Festival Mass] will probably have already come out, and you must have a copy of it at once. By the many performances, which have been of great use to me in this work, many additions, enlargements, and details of performance have occurred to me, which will enhance the effect of the whole, and will make some things easier in performance. An entirely new concluding fugue of the "Gloria," with this motive:--

[Here, Liszt illustrates with a vocal score musical excerpt at the point where the singer sings "Cum sanc-to spi-ri-tu, in Gloria."]

may not be displeasing to you.

Very shortly I will send you also the three numbers still wanting (1, 8, and 9) of the Symphonic Poems, so that you may again have some (for you) light reading as a rest from your work. The "Berg" Symphony was given, in its present form, a short time ago at Bronsart's farewell concert. Bronsart played the same evening a Trio of his own composition in four movements, which I esteem as a successful and very respectable work.

Once more best thanks for the fresh proof of your friendly attachment which your letter gives me, and don't let too long a time elapse without sending good news to

Yours most sincerely,

F. Liszt

177. To Concertmeister Ferdinand David in Leipzig

[Printed in Eckardt's "F. David and the Mendelssohn Family," Leipzig, Dunker & Humblot, 1888.]

Leipzig, February 26th, 1857, 10 o'clock

[Preceding the body of the letter, Liszt illustrates with a vocal score musical excerpt with the words "Away! Away!" written in English by Liszt. It is a quotation from Liszt's Symphonic Poem "Mazeppa," which he had conducted in the Leipzig Gewandhaus on the same day as the "Preludes," and with which he had had ill- success. David, who was present as leader of the orchestra, "disapproved"--according to Eckardt--of Liszt's composing tendency, but continued, till his life's end, "filled with admiration for the incomparable artist and genial man," in the friendliest relations with Liszt.]

Before I go to bed let me give you my most sincere and heartfelt thanks, my very dear friend, which I owe you for this evening. You have proved yourself anew such a thorough gentleman [Gentleman, put in English by Liszt] and high-standing artist at this evening's concert.

That is nothing new in you, but it gives me pleasure, as your old friend, to repeat old things to you, and to remain ever yours most gratefully,

Franz Liszt

178. To Wladimir Stassoff in St. Petersburg

[A Russian writer, a musical and art critic, at present director of the Imperial Public Library at St. Petersburg.]

An illness, not in the least dangerous, but very inconvenient, since it obliges me to keep my bed rather often (as at this moment), has deprived me of the pleasure of replying sooner to your very kind letter, firstly to thank you for it, and also to tell you how delighted I shall be to make acquaintance with Mr. Scroff's manuscripts, which you kindly introduce to me in so persuasive a manner. Many people who have the advantage of knowing Mr. Seroff, among others Mr. de Lenz and Prince Eugene Wittgenstein, have spoken of him to me with great praise, as an artist who unites to real talent a most conscientious intelligence. It will be of great interest to me to estimate the work to which he has devoted himself with such praiseworthy perseverance, and thus to avail myself of the opportunity offered to me of hearing those sublime works of the LAST PERIOD (I purposely put aside

the inappropriate word MANNER, and even the term STYLE) of Beethoven--works which, whatever Mr. Oulibicheff and other learned men may say who succeed more easily in POURING FORTH in these matters than in being well versed [A play on words--verser and verse.] in them, will remain the crowning point of Beethoven's greatness.

With regard to the edition of these scores of Mr. Seroff's for two pianos, I will willingly do what you wish, though at the same time confessing to you that my credit with the editors is not worth much more than my credit with the above-mentioned learned men, as these latter do their best to keep all sorts of cock-and- bull stories going, which prevent the editors from running any risk in mad enterprises they have so peremptorily been pointed out to be! And, more than this, you are not ignorant that arrangements for two pianos--the only ones adapted to show the design and the grouping of ideas of certain works--are but little in favor with music-sellers and very unsaleable, as the great mass of pianists is scarcely capable of PLAYING ON the piano, and cares very little (except sometimes for form's sake and human respect) for the interest of intelligence and feeling which might attach to the promenades of their fingers. In spite of all this, please rest assured, sir, that I shall neglect nothing that can justify the confidence you place in me, and pray accept the very sincere regards of

Yours most truly,

F. Liszt

Weymar, March 17th, 1857

I am awaiting with impatience the parcel you promise me, and beg you to make it as large as possible, so that I may make a thorough acquaintance with Mr. Seroff's work. Especially be so good as not to forget the arrangement of Beethoven's latter Quartets.

179. To Wilhelm von Lenz in St. Petersburg

For pity's sake, dear friend, don't treat me like Moscheles; don't think I am dead, although I have given you some little right to think so by my long silence. But there are so many "demi"-people, and demi-clever people (who are at least as dangerous to Art as the demi-monde is to morals, according to Alexandre Dumas), who say such utter stupidities about me in the papers and elsewhere, that I really should not like to die yet, if only not to disturb their beautiful business. You were even complaining of one single whistling blackbird [Merle; means also a whistling or hissing fellow.] pastorally perched on your book-- what shall I say then of the croaking of that host of ravens and of obliques hiboux [Oblique owls; the term is repeated afterwards, and evidently refers to some joke, or else to some remark of Lenz's.--Translator's note.] that spreads like an "epidemic cordon" all the length of the scores of my Symphonic Poems?--Happily I am not made of such stuff as to let myself be easily disconcerted by their "concert," and I shall continue steadfastly on my way to the end, without troubling about anything but to do what I have to do--which will be done, I can promise you. The rest of your "Beethoven," of which you speak, has never reached me, and for six months past I have not had any news of B., who, I am afraid, finds that he is clashing with some rather difficult editorial circumstances, but from which I presume he will have the spirit to free himself satisfactorily. A propos of Beethoven, here is Oulibicheff, who has just hurled forth a volume which I might well compare with the dragons and other sacred monsters in papier-mache, with which the brave Chinese attempted to frighten the English at the time of the last war.--The English simply replied by bombs, which was the best mode of procedure. If I find time in the course of the summer, I shall answer Oulibicheff very respectfully in a brochure which may be a pretty big one. For the moment I am still pinned to my bed by a lot of boils which are flourishing on my legs, and which I consider as the doors of exodus for the illness which has been troubling me rather violently since the end of October.

Mr. Stassoff, having written to me about Mr. Seroff, I wrote him word quite lately that I should have real pleasure in making acquaintance with the arrangement for two pianos of Beethoven's later Quartets, etc. As soon as he lets me have them I will examine them with all the attention that such a work merits, and will write him my opinion, such as it is, with sincerity. As to the question of the edition, that is not so easy to solve as you seem to think. I wrote to Mr. Stassoff that arrangements for two pianos, which are the only ones that give a suitable idea of certain works, have very little currency with the public, as it is very rare to find two instruments with most amateurs. In spite of this, if, as I am inclined to think, Mr. Seroff's work answers to the eulogies you pronounce on it, I shall try to find him a publisher, and ask you only to get Mr. Seroff to let me know what sum he expects.

Why, dear friend, don't you decide to make a trip to Germany, and to come and see me at Weymar? I asked you this three years ago, and I again assure you that such a journey would not be without use to you. It is in vain for you and Oulibicheff to enumerate the advantages and improvements of Russia in musical matters; people who know anything of the matter will beware of taking you literally. Art at Petersburg can only be an accessory and a superfluity for a long time to come, in spite of the very real distinction and, if you will, even the superiority of some persons who work at it with predilection, and who reside there. Proofs abound in support of this opinion, and could not be so soon changed.

Believe me, my dear Lenz, if you wish to get to know the heart of the musical question, come to Germany and come and see me.

Meanwhile don't trouble yourself any more than I do about either "merles" or "obliques hiboux"; go on familiarizing yourself with the smiles and glances of your "chimera," and believe me your most sincerely affectionate and devoted

F. Liszt

Weymar, March 24th, 1857

180. To Eduard Liszt

Best and excellent Eduard,

At last I send you the pianoforte edition of the Mass, which I could not get in order sooner, much as I wished to do so, partly owing to the excess of matters, letters, and business which have been pressing upon me, and partly also on account of my illness, which has obliged me to keep my bed for more than three weeks past. As regards the edition, which can be got up in two styles, according to whether one wants it to be economical or luxurious, I send you word of all that is necessary on the accompanying note-sheet (first page of the score--written by my hand), and beg you, best friend, to use your influence to get the proofs sent to me and to get the work published as quickly as possible. [The Gran Mass.]

Your last letter was again a great pleasure to me, owing to your loving comprehension of my works. That in composing them I do not quite work at haphazard and grope about in the dark, as my opponents in so many quarters reproach me with doing, will be gradually acknowledged by those among them who may be honest enough not to wish entirely to obstruct a right insight into the matter through preconceived views. As I have for years been conscious of the artistic task that lies before me, neither consistent perseverance nor quiet reflection shall be wanting for the fulfillment of it. May God's blessing, without which nothing can prosper and bear fruit, rest on my work!--

I have read with attention and interest the discussions in the Vienna papers, to which the performance of the Preludes and the concert gave rise. As I had previously said to you, the doctrinaire Hanslick could not be favorable to me; his article is perfidious, but on the whole seemly. Moreover it would be an easy matter for me to reduce his arguments to nil, and I think he is sharp enough to know that. On a better opportunity this could also be shown to him, without having the appearance of correcting him. I suppose the initials C. D. in the Vienna paper mean Dorffl--or Drechsler? No matter by whom the critique is written, the author convicts himself in it of such intense narrowness that he will be very welcome to many other people less narrow than himself. His like has already often existed, but is constantly in demand. The musician nowadays cannot get out of the way of all the buzzing. Twenty years ago there were hardly a couple of musical papers in Europe, and the political papers referred only in the most rare cases, and then only very briefly, to musical matters. Now all this is quite different, and with my "Preludes," for instance (which, by the way, are only the prelude to my path of composition), many dozen critics by profession have already pounced on them, in order to ruin me through and through as a composer. I by no means say that present conditions, taken as a whole, are more unfavorable to the musician than the earlier conditions, for all this talk in a hundred papers brings also much good with it, which would not otherwise be so easy to attain;--but simply the thinking and creative artist must not allow himself to be misled by it, and must go his own gait quietly and undisturbed, as they say the hippopotamus does, in spite of all the arrows which rebound from his thick skin. An original thinker says, "As one emblem and coat of arms I show a tree violently blown by the storm, which nevertheless shows its red fruit on all the boughs, with the motto, Dum convellor mitescunt; or also, Conquassatus sed ferax."

When you have an opportunity I beg you to give my best thanks to my old friend Lowy for the letter he wrote me directly after the performance of the "Preludes." I know that he means well towards me, in his own way, which, unfortunately, cannot be mine, because, to me, friendship without heart and flame is something foreign; and I cannot understand, for instance, why at the concert in question he did not take his customary place, but kept back in a corner, as he tells me. Pray when have I given him any occasion to be ashamed of me? Do I not then stand up in the whole world of Art as an honest fellow, who, faithful to his conviction, despising all base means and hypocritical stratagems, strives valiantly and honorably after a high aim? Given that I, deceived by my many-sided experiences (which really cannot be estimated as very slight, since I have lived and worked through the periods--so important for music--of Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, as well as Rossini and Meyerbeer), led astray by my seven years' unceasing labour, have hit upon the wrong road altogether, would it be the place of my intimate friend, in the face of the opposition which is set up against me because I bring something new, to blush, hide himself in a corner, and deny me? You did otherwise and better in this, dearest Eduard, and your conduct with Castelli was, as ever, perfectly right. My few friends may take a good example from you, for they assuredly need not let themselves be frightened by the concert which the bullies and boobies raise against my things. I have, as usual, thought over your musical remarks and reflections. The fourth movement of the Concerto, [No. I, in E flat major.] from the Allegro marziale,

[a score appears here]

corresponds with the second movement, Adagio:--

[a score appears here]

It is only an urgent recapitulation of the earlier subject-matter with quickened, livelier rhythm, and contains no new motive, as will be clear to you by a glance through the score. This kind of binding together and rounding off a whole piece at its close is somewhat my own, but it is quite maintained and justified from the standpoint of musical form.

The trombones and basses

[a score appears here]

take up the second part of the motive of the Adagio (B major):--

[a score appears here]The pianoforte figure which follows

[a score appears here]

is no other than the reproduction of the motive which was given in the Adagio by flute and clarinet,

[a score appears here]

just as the concluding passage is a Variante [various reading] and working up in the major of the motive of the Scherzo,

[a score appears here]

until finally the first motive

[a score appears here]

on the dominant pedal B flat, with a shake accompaniment,

[a score appears here]

comes in and concludes the whole.

The Scherzo in E flat minor, from the point where the triangle begins, I employed for the effect of contrast.

[a score appears here] As regards the triangle I do not deny that it may give offence, especially if struck too strong and not precisely. A preconceived disinclination and objection to instruments of percussion prevails, somewhat justified by the frequent misuse of them. And few conductors are circumspect enough to bring out the rhythmic element in them, without the raw addition of a coarse noisiness, in works in which they are deliberately employed according to the intention of the composer. The dynamic and rhythmic spicing and enhancement, which are effected by the instruments of percussion, would in more cases be much more effectually produced by the careful trying and proportioning of insertions and additions of that kind. But musicians who wish to appear serious and solid prefer to treat the instruments of percussion en canaille, which must not make their appearance in the seemly company of the Symphony. They also bitterly deplore, inwardly, that Beethoven allowed himself to be seduced into using the big drum and triangle in the Finale of the Ninth Symphony. Of Berlioz, Wagner, and my humble self, it is no wonder that "like draws to like," and, as we are treated as impotent canaille amongst musicians, it is quite natural that we should be on good terms with the canaille among the instruments. Certainly here, as in all else, it is the right thing to seize upon and hold fast [the] mass of harmony. In face of the most wise proscription of the learned critics I shall, however, continue to employ instruments of percussion, and think I shall yet win for them some effects little known.

I hear from Paris that at all the street corners there they are selling a little pamphlet for a sou entitled "Le seul moyen de ne pas mourir le 13 Juin a 1'apparition de la Comete." ["The only means how not to die on the 13th of June at the appearance of the comet."] The only means is to drown oneself on the 12th of June. Much of the good advice which is given to me by the critics is very like this seul moyen. Yet we will not drown ourselves--not even in the lukewarm waters of criticism--and will also for the future stand firm on our own legs with a good conscience.

I had still much more to say to you, but the letter has become so long that I should not like to take up any more of your time. It is to be hoped that we shall see each other in the course of this summer, when we shall be able again to talk over everything to our hearts' content. Meanwhile I thank you again warmly for your friendship, and remain yours from my heart.

F. Liszt

What you tell me of your idea for Daniel [Liszt's son] is very agreeable and soothing. I must beg the Princess to correspond with you in reference to the matter. My decision to send D. to Vienna, in order to finish his law there, and to entrust him to your protection, is pretty much unchanged.

Weymar, March 26th, 1857

In the next number of Brendel's paper appears a long letter from R. Wagner on my individuality as a composer, which will be of interest to you.

181. To Georg Schariezer, Vice-President of the Church Musical Society at the St. Martin's Coronation Church in Pressburg

[From a copy of Herr Stadthauptmann Johann Batka in Pressburg.-- The Church Musical Society, which has been in existence since 1833, and which undertakes the performance of classical instrumental Masses during the service every Sunday and saint's day, performed Beethoven's Grand Mass as early as 1835, and many times since, and has given Liszt's Gran Mass every year since 1872.]

Dear Sir,

The friendly intention of the highly renowned Pressburg Kirchenmusikverein [Church Musical Society] to give a performance of my "Missa Solemnis" is an uncommon pleasure to me, and I send Your Honor my special thanks for the kind letter with which you have honored me in the name of the Kirchenmusikverein. Much as I should like to meet your wishes without any ceremony, and to send you the score and parts at once, yet I am constrained to beg for a long delay, for the reason that the score, together with the pianoforte arrangement, is obliged to remain for some months longer in the Royal State Printing House in Vienna, and I cannot get the parts copied out afresh until the publication of the work next September. The copies which were used at Gran and Prague have been lost, and several essential alterations which I have finally made in the score necessitate the making of an entirely new copy.

I hope, however, that you, dear sir, as well as the K.-M.-V, will continue your kind intention towards me, whereby I may have the prospect of my Mass being performed by you later on. If I am not quite mistaken, the Church element, as well as the musical style of this work, will be better understood and more spiritually felt after frequent performances than can be the case at first in the face of the prevailing prejudice against my later compositions, and the systematic opposition of routine and custom which I have to meet with on so many sides. Thus much I may in all conscientiousness affirm, that I composed the work, from the first bar to the last, with the deepest ardor as a Catholic and the utmost care as a musician, and hence I can leave it with perfect comfort to time to form a corresponding verdict upon it.

As soon as the score comes out I shall have the pleasure of sending Your Honor a copy; and should your present design perhaps come to pass in the spring, I shall be delighted to be present at the performance, and to conduct the final rehearsals myself.

Accept, dear sir, my best thanks, together with the expression of my high esteem.

Yours most truly,

Franz Liszt

Weymar, April 25th, 1857

182. To Eduard Liszt

Dearest Eduard,

I have been thinking over the matter of supporting the voices by some wind instruments and brass in my Mass for men's voices, without being able to make up my mind to write out this accompaniment. I ought properly to hear the Vienna chorus in order to hit the right proportion, which is very various, according to the size of the church, and also the class of instruments, and the less or greater ability of the musicians. It would be very agreeable to me if Herbeck, who appears to take an interest in my work, would take the decision upon himself according to what he thinks best, and would either keep in the printed organ accompaniment, or write a small additional score as support to the voices. In the latter case I think that horns, clarinets, oboes, and bassoons cannot be dispensed with, and that probably trombones would also make a good effect in the Kyrie and Credo.

Remember me most kindly to Herbeck, and tell him my idea as well as my request. In the studying of the Mass he will best ascertain which passages most require a supplement-accompaniment.

Owing to my long-continued illness, which obliges me for the most part to keep my bed, I have not yet been able to hear his Quartet, which he was so good as to send me; but I shall shortly give it over to our excellent Quartet Society (Singer, Cossmann, Stor, Walbruhl) for a performance.

By today's post I send you an alteration in the Agnus Dei of my Gran Mass, which I beg you to hand to the compositor. The voice parts remain as before, but in the pauses I make the first subject come in again in the basses, which makes the movement more completely one whole. The compositor must work by this proof for the whole Agnus Dei, and only revert to the general score where the "Dona nobis pacem" (Allegro moderato) comes in.

Wagner's letter has been published in a separate form, and you will receive several copies of it, as I believe you take interest in it, and will make a good use of it.

The Princess has been a prisoner to her bed for more than three weeks, and is suffering from acute rheumatism. Princess Marie has also been poorly, so that the whole house has been very dismal. The last few days I have pulled myself together, and have had my choruses to Herder's "Prometheus" performed, which have unexpectedly made a very good impression, and were received with unusual sympathy. In the course of the summer I shall have the whole work printed. The eight choruses, together with the [spoken] text, which has been skillfully compiled after Herder and Aeschylus [By Richard Pohl], and the preliminary Symphonic Poem (No. 5 of those published by Hartel), take about an hour and a half in performance. If I am not mistaken, the work will, later on, approve itself in larger concerts.

About the 15th May I shall be going to Aix-la-Chapelle, to conduct the Musical Festival there at Whitsuntide. That will be another good opportunity for many papers to abuse me, and to let off their bile!--If the programme which I shall put forward is realized at the September Festival you must come here and hear it with me.

My mother writes from Paris that Blandine has been living with the Countess d'A. since the 20th of this month. Cosima's marriage with H. von Bulow will probably take place before September. About Daniel the Princess will write to you fully when she is better.

God be with you and yours. Yours from my heart,

F. Liszt

Weimar, April 27th, 1857

183. To Frau von Kaulbach