Chapter IV: Part 4

My first step is naturally to beg you to be so good as to send us soon the score of your "Faust." If you should be able to spare any of the voice or orchestral parts it would be a saving of time to us; but if not we shall willingly submit to getting the parts copied out as quickly as possible.

Kindly excuse me, dear friend, for the manner in which this letter contradicts my last. I am very seldom guilty in such a way, but in this case it does not lie in me, but in the particulars of the matter itself.

For the rest I can assure you that your "Faust" shall be studied with the utmost sympathy and accuracy by the orchestra and chorus.--Herr Montag, the conductor of the Musik-Verein [Musical Union], is taking up the chorus rehearsals with the greatest readiness, and the rest will be my affair!--Only, dear friend, don't delay sending the score and, if possible, the parts.

Sincerely yours,

F. Liszt

Weymar, August 1st, 1849

If your opera is given not later than the 1st of September I shall certainly come to Leipzig.

63. To Carl Reinecke

Heligoland, September 7th, 1849

I am very sorry, my dear M. Reinecke, not to have met you at Hamburg. It would have been such a real pleasure to me to make acquaintance again with your Nonet, and it seems to me, judging from its antecedents in the form of a Concerto, that by this decisive transformation it ought to be a most honorably successful work.

The "Myrthen Lieder" have never been sent to me. If you happen to have a copy I should be very much obliged if you would send it me to Schuberth's address.

With regard to the article which has appeared in "La Musique" I have all sorts of excuses to make to you. The editors of the paper thought fit, I do not know why, to give it a title which I completely disavow, and which would certainly have never entered into my mind. Moreover the printer has not been sparing of changing several words and omitting others. Such are the inevitable disadvantages of articles sent by post, and of which the proof correctors cannot read the writing.

Anyhow, such as it is, I am glad to think that it cannot have done you any harm in the mind of the French public, which has customs and requirements that one must know well when one wishes above all things to serve one's friends by being just to them.

Two numbers of your "Kleine Fantasie-Stucke" have been distributed, up to about a thousand copies, with the paper "La Musique," under the title of "Bluettes,"--a rather ill-chosen title to my idea,--but, notwithstanding this title and the words "adopted by F. Liszt," which the editors have further taken the responsibility of putting, I am persuaded that this publication is a good opening (in material) into the musical world of France, and, looking at this result only, I am charmed to have been able to contribute to it.

I shall return to Hamburg by the last boat from Heligoland on the 27th of September, in order to go to the baths of Eilsen, where I expect to spend all the month of October. In November I shall be back in Weymar for the rest of the winter.

If you would have the kindness to send to Schuberth's address a case of 250 cigars of a pretty good size from the Bremen Manufactory, I should be very much obliged to you, and would take care to let you have the money (which in any case will not be a very great sum) through Schuberth. The samples you sent me to Weymar did reach me, but at a moment when I was extremely occupied, so that I forgot them. Pray let me hear from you from time to time, my dear M. Reinecke, and regard me as a friend who is sincerely attached to you.

F. Liszt

64. To Breitkopf and Hartel

My dear Sir,

The arrival of your piano is one of the most pleasant events in my peacefully studious life at Weymar, and I hasten to send you my best thanks. Although, to tell the truth, I don't intend to do much finger-work in the course of this year, yet it is no less indispensable for me to have from time to time a perfect instrument to play on. It is an old custom that I should regret to change; and, as you kindly inquire after the ulterior destination of this piano, allow me to tell you quite frankly that I should like to keep it as long as you will leave it me for my private, personal, and exclusive use at Weymar. In being guilty of the so-called indiscretion I committed in claiming of your courtesy the continued loan of one of your instruments I thought that, under the friendly and neighborly relations which are established between us (for a long time to come, I hope), it would not be unwelcome to your house that one of its productions should play the hospitable to me, whilst receiving my hospitality at the same time. However retired and sheltered I live from stir and movement at Weymar, yet from time to time it does happen that I receive illustrious visitors, or curious and idle ones who come and trouble one for this or that; henceforth I shall be delighted to be able to do the honors of your piano both to the one and to the other, and that will be, besides, the best proof of the strength of the recommendation that I have had the pleasure of making, for a long time past, of your manufactory. If however, contrary to expectation, it should happen that you were in pressing need of an instrument, very little played upon, the one at Weymar would be at your disposal at any moment.

With regard to the Beethoven Lieder-Cyclus I have just received a letter from Mr. Haslinger which I do not communicate in full because of the personal details it contains, but this is the passage, as laconic as it is satisfactory, with regard to this publication:--

"I give you with pleasure my fullest consent to the edition of the Beethoven Liederkreis by Breitkopf and Hartel."

So by tomorrow's post I shall have the honor of returning you the proofs of the Lieder-Cyclus, which forms a continuation to the Beethoven Lieder which you have already edited, and which you will publish when you think well. .--.

With the proofs of my third piece on the "Prophete" I will also send you all the pieces on it (piano and voice) which you have been so good as to lend me, as well as the piano score, which I don't require any more; for, unless I should have a success which I dare not hope for (for these three pieces), and an express order from you for another series of three pieces, which I could easily extract from that vast score, I shall make this the end of my work on the "Prophete." I come at last to a question, not at all serious, but somewhat embarrassing for me,--that of fixing the price of the manuscripts that you are so good as to print. I confess that this is my "quart d'heure de Rabelais!" [The "quart d'heure de Rabelais" refers to an incident in his life, and means, in round terms, the moment of paying--i.e., any disagreeable moment.] In order not to prolong it for you, allow me to tell you without further ceremony that the whole of the six works together, which are as follows:--

Lieder of Beethoven, Lieder-Cyclus of Beethoven, Consolations (six numbers), Illustrations of the "Prophete" (three numbers), published by your house, are worth, according to my estimation, 80-100 louis d'or.

If this price does not seem disproportionate to you, as I am pleased to think it will not, and if it suits you to publish other pieces of my composition, I shall have the pleasure of sending you in the course of the year:--

1. A "Morceau de Concert"(for piano without orchestra), composed for the competition of the Paris Conservatoire, 1850.

2. The complete series of the Beethoven Symphonies, of which you have as yet only published the "Pastorale" and the "C minor." (In the supposition that this publication will suit your house, I will beg you to make the necessary arrangements from now onwards with Mr. Haslinger; perhaps it will even be expedient that the Symphony in A (7th), which Haslinger published several years ago from the arrangement that I had made, should reappear in its proper place in the complete series of the symphonies.)

3. Bach's six fugues (for organ with pedals), arranged for piano alone.

In the middle of February I shall send you the complete manuscript of my little volume on Chopin, and a little later in the same month we shall set ourselves to work here on the study of Schubert's opera, the performance of which will take place in the first days of April. If, as I do not doubt, the performance of the "Prophete" draws you to Dresden, I shall certainly have the pleasure of seeing you there, for I have just begged Mr. de Luttichau to be so good as to reserve me a place for that evening, and I shall not fail to be there. Meanwhile, my dear M. Hartel, believe me,

Yours sincerely and affectionately,

F. Liszt Weymar, January 14th, 1850

On the occasion of Schubert's opera I shall probably set to work on the arrangement of the symphony, of which, meanwhile, I hold the score.--Compliments and best regards to Madame Hartel, which I know you will be kind enough to convey to her.

65. To Breitkopf and Hartel

February 24th, 1850

My dear Sir,

.--. With regard to Schubert's opera ["Alfonso and Estrella." It was given for the first time on June 24th, 1854, the birthday of the Grand Duke (but not without some necessary cuts)], a recent experience has entirely confirmed me in the opinion I had already formed at the time of the first rehearsals with piano which we had last spring--namely, that Schubert's delicate and interesting score is, as it were, crushed by the heaviness of the libretto! Nevertheless, I do not despair of giving this work with success; but this success appears possible only on one condition--namely, to adapt another libretto to Schubert's music. And since, by a special fate, of which I have no reason to complain, a part of Schubert's heritage has become my domain, I shall willingly busy myself, as time and place offer, with the preparatory work and the mise-en-scene of this opera, for which it would be advantageous, in my opinion, if it could be first produced in Paris. Belloni informs me that it will be pretty easy for you to ensure me the entire rights of this work for France. If such be the case I would take suitable measures for the success of this work, on occasion of which I should naturally have to make a considerable outlay of time and money, so that I should not be disposed to run any risk without the guarantee of proportionate receipts from the sale of the work in France, and author's rights which I shall have to give up to the new poet.

This matter, however, is not at all pressing, for I shall only be able to set to work in the matter in the course of next year (1851); but I shall be very much obliged to you not to lose sight of it, and to put me in possession, when you are able, of the cession of the French and English rights, in consideration of which I will set to work and try to get the best possible chances of success.

Many thanks to you for so kindly sending the score of Schubert's Symphony. That of the "Prophete" not being wanted by me any longer, I enclose it in the parcel of proofs and manuscripts which I beg you to undertake to send off to Mr. Belloni's address in Paris.

On Easter Monday we shall give the first performance of "Comte Ory." [By Rossini] Would you not feel tempted to come and hear it? It is a charming work, brimming over and sparkling with melody like champagne, so that at the last rehearsal I christened it the "Champagner-Oper" ["Champagne Opera."] and in order to justify this title our amiable Intendant proposes to regale the whole theater with a few dozens of champagne in the second act, in order to spirit up the chorus.

"Qu'il avait de bon vin le Seigneur chatelain!"

Cordial remembrances from yours affectionately,

F. Liszt

I should be glad for the publication of No. 3 of the pieces on the "Prophete," and the "Consolations," not to be put off long.

66. To Professor J. C. Lobe in Leipzig

[Autograph in the possession of M. Alfred Bovet at Valentigney.-- The addressee (1797-1881), a writer on music (formerly Court Musician at Weimar), lived from 1846 in Leipzig.]

My esteemed Friend,

It is with much pleasure I send you the good news that H.R.H. the Grand Duchess has graciously accepted the dedication of your "System of Composition." [Published in 1850.] Our gracious protector [feminine] started yesterday for The Hague, and will not be back till towards the middle of August.

I hope you will be sure not to fail us at the Herder Festival in Weymar (August 25th), as well as at the "Lohengrin" evening (28th); we have been already waiting for you so long!

Between the performances of the "Messiah" and "Lohengrin" (to say nothing of my "Prometheus" choruses) will also be the best opportunity for you to present your work in person to the Grand Duchess.

Remember me kindly to your dear family, and remain my friend as I am yours

Most truly,

F. Liszt Weymar, July 10th, 1850

67. To Friedrich Wieck in Dresden

[published in the "Neue Musik-Zeitung" in 1888.--The addressee was the well-known pianoforte master, the father of Clara Schumann (1785-1873).]

Esteemed Sir,

It will be a real pleasure to me to welcome you here, and your daughter [Marie Wieck, Hohenzollern Court Pianist in Dresden], whom I have already heard so highly commended. Weymar, as you know it of old, offers no brilliant resources for concerts; but you may rest assured beforehand that I, on my side, shall do everything that is possible in this connection to make things easy for you. To me it seems especially desirable that you should wait until the return of H.R.H. the Grand Duchess, which will be within a fortnight; should you, however, be tied by time and come here before that date, I bid you heartily welcome, dear sir, and place myself at your disposal.

Yours truly,

F. Liszt

Weymar, August 4th, 1850

68. To Simon Lowy in Vienna.

[Autograph in the Royal Library in Vienna. Printed in a German translation, La Mara, "Letters of Musicians during Five Centuries," vol. ii.]

Weymar, August 5th, 1850

Dear Friend,

My cousin Edward writes me word that you are a little piqued at my long silence,--and I, shall I tell you frankly? am a little piqued that you have not yet thought of coming to see me, and of transferring your bath season to some place in the neighborhood of Weymar. Will you make peace with me?--

Accept as a friend the invitation I give you in all friendship. Arrive at Weymar the 23rd of August, and stay till the 30th at least. You will find several of your friends here,--Dingelstedt, Jules Janin, Meyerbeer (?), etc.,--and you will hear, firstly, on the evening of the 24th, a good hour and a half of music that I have just composed (Overture and Choruses) for the "Prometheus" of Herder, which will be given as a Festal Introduction to the inauguration of his statue in bronze by Schaller of Munich, which is fixed for the 25th; secondly, on the evening of the 25th, Handel's "Messiah"; thirdly, on the 28th, the anniversary of Goethe's birth, a remarkably successful Prologue made, ad hoc, for that day by Dingelstedt, followed by the first performance of Wagner's "Lohengrin." This work, which you certainly will not have the opportunity of hearing so soon anywhere else, on account of the special position of the composer, and the many difficulties in its performance, is to my idea a chef-d'oeuvre of the highest and most ideal kind! Not one of the operas which has entertained the theaters for the past twenty years can give any approximate idea of it.

So don't be piqued any longer, or rather, dear friend, be piqued with curiosity to be one of the first to hear such a beautiful thing. Sulk with Vienna, for a few weeks at least, instead of sulking with me, which is all nonsense, and believe me always and ever your most sincerely attached, but very much occupied, very much pre-occupied, and oftentimes very absorbed friend,

F. Liszt

69. To Mathilde Graumann

[Given by the addressee, subsequently celebrated as Mathilde Marchesi, teacher of singing, in "Aus meinem Leben" (Bagel, Dusseldorf)]

Mademoiselle,

Here is the letter for the Grand Master de Luttichau, which M. de Ziegesar has just written in your honor and glory, with all the good grace and obligingness which he keeps for you.

As regards introductions to Berlin there is a provoking contretemps for you. H.R.H. the Princess of Prussia will pass the winter at Coblentz.

Meyerbeer, to whom I beg you to remember me respectfully, will certainly be your best patron with the Court, and I have no doubt that he will receive you with sympathy and interest.

I will also send you, in the course of the week, a letter for the Chamberlain of H.R.H. Princess Charles of Prussia, which Ziegesar has promised me.

As to our concert, fixed for the 19th (Saturday next), I assure you frankly that I should not have ventured to speak to you of it, and that I hardly venture now.

The receipts are to be devoted to some pension fund, always so low in funds in our countries; consequently I am not in a position to propose any suitable terms. Now as, on the occasion of the performance of the "Messiah," you have already been only too kind to us, it really would not do for me to return to the charge, unless you were to authorize me to do so quite directly and positively, by writing me an epistolary masterpiece somewhat as follows:--

"I will sing in a perfunctory manner, but with the best intentions and the best will in the world, the air from...(here follows the name of the piece), and the duet from "Semairamide" with Milde or Mademoiselle Aghte, next Saturday; and in order not to put anybody out, I will arrive at the exact time of the rehearsal, on Friday at four o'clock."

If any such idea as this should come into your head please let me know (by telegram if need be), so that by Monday night, or, at latest, Tuesday midday, I may be able to make the programme, which must appear by Wednesday morning at latest.

With homage and friendship,

F. Liszt

Friday, October 11th, 1850 Be so kind as to give a friendly shake of the hand from me to Joachim; recommend him not to be too late in arriving at Weimar, where we expect him for the evening of the 14th.

P.S.--At the moment when I was going to send my letter to the post the following lines reached me. I send them to you intact, and you will see by them that you could not have friends better disposed towards you than those of Weimar.

Please do not fail to write direct to Ziegesar to thank him for his kindness, of which you have been sensibly informed by me (without alluding to his letter, which you will return to me), and at the same time say exactly which week you will arrive in Berlin; unless, however, you prefer to come and tell him this verbally on Friday or Saturday evening at the Altenburg, after you have again chanted to us and enchanted us. [Literal translation, on account of play on words.]

70. To Carl Reinecke

Dear Reinecke,

Here are the letters for Berlioz and Erard that I offered you. I add a few lines for the young Prince Eugene Wittgenstein, with whom you will easily have pleasant relations; he is an impassioned musician, and is remarkably gifted with artistic qualities. In addition, I have had a long talk about your stay in Paris, and the success which you ought to obtain, with Belloni, who came to me for a few days. You will find him thoroughly well disposed to help you by all the means in his power, and I would persuade you to have complete confidence in him. Go and look for him as soon as ever you arrive, and ask him for all the practical information you require. Make your visit to Messrs. Escudier with him. (N.B.--He will explain why I have not given you a letter for Brandus.)

The greater number of your pieces have hitherto been printed exclusively by Escudier, and in my opinion you would do well to keep well with them in consequence. In your position it is not at all necessary to make advances to everybody--and, moreover, it is the very way to have no one for yourself. Look, observe, and keep an intelligent reserve, and don't cast yourself, German-wise, precipitately into politeness and inopportune modesty.

In one of your leisure hours Belloni will take you to Madame Patersi, who is entrusted with the education of my two daughters, for whom I beg a corner of your kind attention. Play them your Polonaise and Ballade, and let me hear, later on, how their very small knowledge of music is going on. Madame Patersi, as I told you, will have much pleasure in introducing you to her former pupil, Madame de Foudras, whose salon enjoys an excellent reputation.

Need I renew to you here the request of my four cardinal points?- -No, I am sure I need not!--Accept then, dear Reinecke, all my heartiest wishes for this new year, as well as for your journey to Paris. Let me hear of you through Belloni, if you have not time to write to me yourself, and depend in all circumstances on the very cordial attachment of

Yours sincerely and affectionately,

F. Liszt January 1st, 1851 My return to Weymar is unfortunately again postponed for twenty days, by the doctor's orders, to which I submit, although not personal to myself. [They referred to Princess Wittgenstein, who was ill.]

71. To Leon Escudier, Music Publisher in Paris

[autograph in the possession of M. Arthur Pougin in Paris.--The addressee was at that time the manager of the periodical "La France Musicale," in which Liszt's Memoir of Chopin first appeared in detached numbers (beginning from February 9th, 1851).]

Weymar, February 4th, 1851

My dear Sir,

The proofs of the two first articles of my biographical study of Chopin ought to have reached you some days ago, for I corrected and forwarded them immediately on my return to Weymar. You will also find an indication of how I want them divided, which I shall be obliged if you will follow. Both on account of the reverence of my friendship for Chopin, and my desire to devote the utmost care to my present and subsequent publications, it is important to me that this work should make its appearance as free from defects as possible, and I earnestly request you to give most conscientious attention to the revision of the last proofs. Any alterations, corrections, and additions must be made entirely in accordance with my directions, so that the definitive publication, which it would be opportune to begin at once in your paper, may satisfy us and rightly fulfill the aim we have in view. If therefore your time is too fully occupied to give you the leisure to undertake these corrections, will you be so good as to beg M. Chavee [an eminent Belgian linguist, at that time a collaborator on the "France Musicale"] (as you propose) to do me this service with the scrupulous exactitude which is requisite, for which I shall take the opportunity of expressing to him personally my sincere thanks?

In the matter of exactitude you would have some right to reproach me (I take it kindly of you to have passed it over in silence, but I have nevertheless deserved your reproaches, apparently at least) with regard to Schubert's opera ["Alfonso and Estrella," which Liszt produced at Weimar in 1854]. I hope Belloni has explained to you that the only person whom I can employ to make a clear copy of this long work has been overwhelmed, up to now, with pressing work. It will therefore be about three months before I can send you the three acts, the fate of which I leave in your hands, and for which, by the aid of an interesting libretto, we may predict good luck at the Opera Comique. I will return to this matter more in detail when I am in the position to send you the piano score (with voice), to which, as yet, I have only been able to give some too rare leisure hours, but which I promise you I will not put off to the Greek Calends!

As far as regards my opera, allow me to thank you for the interest you are ready to take in it. For my own part I have made up my mind to work actively at the score. I expect to have a copy of it ready by the end of next autumn. We will then see what can be done with it, and talk it over.

Meanwhile accept, my dear sir, my best thanks and compliments.

F. Liszt

The proofs of the third and fourth articles on Chopin will be posted to you tomorrow.

Has Belloni spoken to you about F. David's "Salon Musical" (twenty-four pieces of two pages each, very elegantly written and easy to play)?--I can warmly recommend this work to you, both from the point of view of art, and of a profitable, and perhaps even popular, success. [Presumably Ferdinand David's "Bunte Reihe," Op. 30, which Liszt transcribed for piano alone.]

72. To Carl Reinecke

My dear Mr. Reinecke,

I am still writing to you from Eilsen; your two kind and charming letters found me here and have given me a very real pleasure. You may rest quite assured during your life of the sincere and affectionate interest I feel for you, an interest of which I shall always be happy to give you the best proofs as far as it depends on me.

Madame Patersi is loud in her praises both of your talent and of yourself,--and I thank you sincerely for having so well fulfilled my wishes with regard to the lessons you have been so kind as to give to Blandine and Cosima. [Liszt's daughters. Blandine (died 1872) became afterwards the wife of Emile Ollivier; Cosima is the widow of Wagner.] Who knows? Perhaps later on these girls will do you honor in a small way by coming out advantageously with some new composition by their master Reinecke, to the great applause of Papa!

Hiller shows tact and taste in making sure of you as a coadjutor at the Rhenish Conservatorium, which seems to be taking a turn not to be leaky everywhere. Cologne has much good, notwithstanding its objectionable nooks. Until now the musical ground there has been choked up rather than truly cultivated! People are somewhat coarse and stupidly vain there; I know not what stir of bales, current calculations, and cargoes incessantly comes across the things of Art. It would be unjust, however, not to recognize. the vital energy, the wealth of vigor, the praiseworthy activity of this country, in which a group of intelligent men, nobly devoted to their task, may bring about fine results, more easily than elsewhere.

At any rate I approve of what you have done, and compliment you on having accepted Hiller's offer, [Namely, a position as Professor at the Conservatorium of Cologne, which Reinecke occupied from 1851 to 1854.] and shall have pleasure in sending to your new address some of my latest publications, which will appear towards the end of May (amongst others a new edition, completely altered and well corrected, I hope, of my twelve great Etudes, the Concerto without orchestra dedicated to Henselt, and the six "Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses"). I have also written a very melancholy Polonaise, and some other trifles which you will perhaps like to look over.

Let me hear from you soon, my dear Mr. Reinecke, and depend, under all circumstances, on the faithful attachment of

Yours affectionately and sincerely,

F. Liszt

Eilsen, March 19th, 1851

73. To Dr. Eduard Liszt in Vienna

[An uncle of Liszt's (that is, the younger half-brother of his father), although Liszt was accustomed to call him his cousin: a noble and very important man, who became Solicitor-General in Vienna, where he died February 8th, 1879. Franz Liszt clung to him with ardor, as his dearest relation and friend, and in March, 1867, made over to him the hereditary knighthood.]

[Weimar, 1851]

Dear, excellent Eduard ,

It will be a real joy to me to take part in your joy, and I thank you very cordially for having thought first of me as godfather to your child. I accept that office very willingly, and make sincere wishes that this son may be worthy of his father, and may help to increase the honor of our name. Alas! it has been only too much neglected and even compromised by the bulk of our relations, who have been wanting either in noble sentiments, or in intelligence and talent--some even in education and the first necessary elements--to give a superior impulse to their career and to deserve serious consideration and esteem. Thank God it is otherwise with you, and I cannot tell you what a sweet and noble satisfaction I derive from this. The intelligent constancy which you have used to conquer the numerous difficulties which impeded your way; the solid instruction you have acquired; the distinguished talents you have developed; the healthy and wise morality that you have ever kept in your actions and speech; your sincere filial piety towards your mother; your attachment, resulting from reflection and conviction, to the precepts of the Catholic religion; these twenty years, in fine, that you have passed and employed so honorably,--all this is worthy of the truest praises, and gives you the fullest right to the regard and esteem of honest and sensible people. So I am pleased to see that you are beginning to reap the fruits of your care, and the distinguished post to which you have just been appointed [He had been made Assistant Public Prosecutor in 1850.] seems to justify the hopes that you confided to me formerly, and which I treated, probably wrongly, as so much naive ambition. At the point at which you have arrived it would be entirely out of place for me to poke advice and counsel out of season at you. Permit me, for the sake of the lively friendship I bear you, and the ties of relationship which bind us together, to make this one and only recommendation, "Remain true to yourself!" Remain true to all you feel to be highest, noblest, most right and most pure in your heart! Don't ever try to be or to become something (unless there were opportune and immediate occasion for it), but work diligently and with perseverance to be and to become more and more some one.--Since the difficult and formidable duty has fallen upon you of judging men, and of pronouncing on their innocence or guilt, prove well your heart and soul, that you may not be found guilty yourself at the tribunal of the Supreme Judge,--and under grave and decisive circumstances learn not to give ear to any one but your conscience and your God!--

Austria has shown lately a remarkable activity, and a military and diplomatic energy the service of which we cannot deny for the re-establishment of her credit and political position. Certainly by the prevision of a great number of exclusive Austrians--a prevision which, moreover, I have never shared--it is probable that the Russian alliance will have been a stroke of diplomatic genius very favorable to the Vienna Cabinet, and that, in consequence of this close alliance, the monarchical status quo will be consolidated in Europe, notwithstanding all the democratic ferments and dissolving elements which are evidently, whatever people may say, at their period of ebb. I do not precisely believe in a state of tranquility and indefinite peace, but simply in a certain amount of order in the midst of disorder for a round dozen of years, the main spring of this order being naturally at Petersburg. From the day in which a Russian battalion had crossed the Austrian frontier my opinion was fixed, and when my friend Mr. de Ziegesar came and told me the news I immediately said to him, "Germany will become Russian, and for the great majority of Germans there is no sort of hesitation as to the only side it remains to them to take."

The Princess having very obligingly taken the trouble to tell you my wishes with regard to my money matters, I need not trouble you further with them, and confine myself to thanking you very sincerely for your exactness, and for the discerning integrity with which you watch over the sums confided to your care. May events grant that they may prosper, and that they may not become indispensable to us very soon.--

Before the end of the winter I will send you a parcel of music (of my publications), which will be a distraction for your leisure hours. I endeavour to work the utmost and the best that I can, though sometimes a sort of despairing fear comes over me at the thought of the task I should like to fulfill, for which at least ten years more of perfect health of body and mind will be necessary to me.

Give my tender respects to Madame Liszt; you two form henceforth my father's entire family; and believe in the lively and unalterable friendship of

Your truly devoted,

F. Liszt

74. To Count Casimir Esterhazy

[Autograph (without address) in the possession of Herr Albert Cohn, bookseller in Berlin.--The addressee was presumably Count Esterhazy, whose guest Liszt was in Presburg in 1840.]

Let me thank you very sincerely for your kind remembrance, dear friend, and let me also tell you how much I regret that my journey to Hohlstein cannot come to pass during your short stay there. But as by chance you already find yourself in Germany, will you not push on some fine day as far as Weymar?--I should have very great pleasure in seeing you there and in receiving you--not in the manorial manner in which you received me at Presburg, but very cordially and modestly as a conductor, kept by I know not what strange chance of fate at a respectful distance from storms and shipwrecks!--

For three weeks past a very sad circumstance has obliged me to keep at Eilsen, where I had already passed some months of last winter. The reigning Prince is, as you have perhaps forgotten, the present proprietor of one of your estates,--the Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. If by chance you are owing him a debt of politeness, the opportunity of putting yourself straight would be capital for me. Nevertheless I dare not count too much on the attractions of the grandeur and charms of Buckeburg! and I must doubtless resign myself to saying a longer farewell to you.

Let me know by Lowy of Vienna where I shall address to you some pieces in print which you can look over at any leisure hour, and which I shall be delighted to offer you. I will add to them later the complete collection of my "Hungarian Rhapsodies," which will now form a volume of nearly two hundred pages, of which I shall prepare a second edition next winter. Hearty and affectionate remembrances from

Yours ever,

F. Liszt

Eilsen, June 6th, 1851

75. To Theodor Uhlig, Chamber Musician in Dresden

[Autograph in the possession of Herr Hermann Scholtz, Chamber virtuoso in Dresden.--The addressee, who was an intimate friend of Wagner's (see "Wagner's Letters to Uhlig, Fischer, Heine"-- London: H. Grevel & Co., 1890), gained for himself a lasting name by his pianoforte score of Lohengrin. He died January, 1853.]

The perusal of your most kind and judicious article in Brendel's Musical Gazette on the "Goethe Foundation" [By Liszt, 1850. See "Gesammelte Schriften," vol. v.] confirms me in the belief that I could not fail to be understood by you in full intelligence of the cause. Allow me then, my dear Mr. Uhlig, to thank you very cordially for this new proof of your obligingness and of your sympathy--in French, as this language becomes more and more familiar and easy to me, whereas I am obliged to make an effort to patch up more or less unskillfully my very halting German syntax.

The very lucid explanation that you have made of my pamphlet, as well as the lines with which you have prefaced and followed it, have given me a real satisfaction, and one which I did not expect to receive through that paper, which, if I am not mistaken, had hitherto shown itself somewhat hostile to me personally, and to the ideas which they do me the small honor to imagine I possess. This impression has been still further increased in me by reading Mr. Brendel's following article on R. Wagner, which seems to me a rather arranged transition between the former point of view of the Leipzig school or pupils and the real point of view of things. The quotation Brendel makes of Stahr's article on the fifth performance of "Lohengrin" at Weymar, evidently indicates a conversion more thought than expressed on the part of the former, and at the performance of "Siegfried" I am persuaded that Leipzig will not be at all behindhand, as at "Lohengrin."

I do not know whether Mr. Wolf (the designer) has had the pleasure of meeting you yet at Dresden; I had commissioned him to make my excuses to you for the delay in sending the manuscript of Wiland. Unfortunately it is impossible for me to think of returning to Weymar before the end of July, and the manuscript is locked up among other papers which I could not put into strange hands. Believe me that I am really vexed at these delays, the cause of which is so sad for me.

If by chance you should repass by Cologne and Minden, it would be very nice if you could stay a day at Buckeburg (Eilsen), where I am obliged to stay till the 15th of July. I have not much pleasure to offer you, but in return we can talk there at our ease of the St. Graal...

My pamphlet "Lohengrin and Tannhauser" will appear in French at Brockhaus' towards the end of July. It will have at least the same circulation as the "Goethe Foundation," and I will send you by right one of the first copies.

Kind regards to Wagner, about whom I have written a great deal lately without writing to him; and believe me yours very sincerely,

F. Liszt

Eilsen (Buckeburg), June 25th, 1851.

76. To Rosalie Spohr in Brunswick

[niece of Louis Spohr, and an incomparable harpist,--"The most ideal representative of her beautiful instrument," according to Bulow; after her marriage with Count Sauerma she retired from public life and now lives in Berlin.]

After your amiable authorization to do so, Mademoiselle, I have had your concert announced at Eilsen for Tuesday next, July 8th, and you may rest assured that the best society of Buckeburg and of the Badegaste [visitors who go for the baths] will be present.

The price of the tickets has been fixed for 1 florin, which is the maximum customary in this country. With regard to the programme, I await your reply, in which I shall be glad if you will tell me the four or five pieces you will choose, amongst which will be, I hope, Parish Alvars' Fantaisie on motives from "Oberon" and the "Danse des Fees."

A distinguished amateur, Monsieur Lindemann of Hanover, has promised me to play one or two violoncello solos, and the rest of the programme will be easily made.

As to your route, you had better take the Schnellzug [express] next Monday, which starts about 11 in the morning from Brunswick, and brings you to Buckeburg in less than three hours. From here it will only take you thirty-five minutes to get to Eilsen. The most simple plan for you would be not to write to me beforehand even, but to improvise your programme according to your fancy here. Only let me beg you not to arrive later than Monday evening, so that the public may be free from anxiety, and to set my responsibility perfectly at rest in a corner of your harp- case.

May I beg you, Mademoiselle, to remember me affectionately to your father? and be assured of the pleasure it will be to see you, hear you, and admire you anew, to your sincere and devoted servant,

F. Liszt

Eilsen, July 3rd, 1851

I beg you once more not to be later than next Monday, July 7th, in coming to Eilsen.

77. To Rosalie Spohr

I am deeply sensible of your charming lines, Mademoiselle, the impression of which is the completion for me of the harmonious vibrations of your beautiful talent,--vibrations which are still resounding in the woods and in your auditors at Eilsen. While expressing to you my sincere thanks I should reproach myself were I to forget the piquant and substantial present that your father has sent me, and I beg you to tell him that we have done all honor to the savory product of Brunswick industry. The Buckeburg industry having a certain reputation in petto in the matter of chocolate, the Princess, who sends her best regards to you and your family, wishes me to send you a sample, which you will receive by tomorrow's post. The chocolate, in its quality of a sedative tonic, will, moreover, not come amiss in the intervals of your study.

May I beg you, Mademoiselle, to give my affectionate compliments to your parents as well as to the clever drawing-historiographer [The younger sister of the addressee, Ida Spohr, at that time sixteen years old, who was a most gifted creature, both in poetry, painting, and music. She died young, at the age of twenty-four] whom you know? and receive once more the best wishes of yours most truly,

F. Liszt

Eilsen, July 22nd, 1851

78. To Breitkopf and Hartel

Allow me, my dear Mr. Hartel, to make known to you, as a kind of curiosity, a very long piece I composed last winter on the chorale "Ad Nos" from the "Prophete." If by chance you should think well to publish this long Prelude, followed by an equally long Fugue, I could not be otherwise than much obliged to you; and I shall take advantage of the circumstance to acquit myself, in all reverence and friendship, of a dedication to Meyerbeer, which it has long been my intention to do; and it was only for want of finding among my works something which would suit him in some respect, that I have been obliged to defer it till now. I should be delighted therefore if you would help me to fill up this gap in the recognition I owe to Meyerbeer; but I dare not press you too much for fear you may think that my Fugue has more advantage in remaining unknown to the public in so far that it is in manuscript, than if it had to submit to the same fate after having been published by your care.

In accordance with your obliging promise, I waited from week to week for the preface that Mr. Wagner has added to his three opera poems. I should be glad to know how soon you expect to bring them out, and beg you to be so good as to send me immediately three copies.

Believe me, my dear Mr. Hartel,

Yours affectionately and most truly,

F. Liszt

Weymar, December 1st, 1851

P.S.--Would it perhaps do to bring out my Fugue on the "Prophete" as No. 4 of my "Illustrations du Prophete"? That was at least my first intention. [It was published in that form by Breitkopf and Hartel.] In the same parcel you will find the piano score of the "Prophete," which I am very much obliged to you for having lent me.

79. To Louis Kohler in Konigsberg

[An important piano teacher and writer on music, and composer of valuable instructive works (1820-86).]

Dear Sir,

The friendly kindness with which you have spoken of a couple of my latest compositions lays me under an obligation of warm thanks, which I must no longer delay having the pleasure of expressing to you. I should be very glad if you find anything that suits you in my next impending piano publication (the new, entirely revised edition of my Studies, the "Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses," and the two years of "Annees de Pelerinage, Suite de Compositions," etc.). In any case I shall venture to send this work, with the request that you will accept it as a token of my gratitude for the favorable opinion which you entertain of my artistic efforts.

At this moment I have to compliment you also very much on your arrangement of the Hungarian "Volkslieder" [Folk Songs]. For several years past I have been occupied with a similar work, and next winter I think of publishing the result of my national studies in a pretty big volume of "Hungarian Rhapsodies." Your transcriptions have interested me much through the correct perception of the melodies, and their elegant though simple style.

Senff [The well-known Leipzig music publisher.] showed me also in manuscript a book of Russian melodies, that seemed to me most successful. When will it come out?

If by any chance you have a spare copy of your new work, the exact title of which I do not remember, but it is somewhat as follows, "Opern am Clavier" [Operas at the Piano] or "Opern fur Clavierspieler" [Operas for Pianoforte Players] (or, in French, "Repertoire d'Opera pour les Pianistes"), I should be much obliged if you would let me have one.

Accept, dear sir, my best respects, and believe me

Yours truly,

F. Liszt

Weymar, April 16th, 1852

80. To Carl Reinecke

My dear Mr. Reinecke,

A very good friend of mine, Professor Weyden of Cologne, who has just been spending a few days with me here, kindly promises to give you these few lines and to tell you what pleasure your present of the "Variations on a Theme of Bach" has given me. It is a very eminent work, and perfectly successful in its actual form. While complimenting you sincerely upon it, I must also add my thanks that you have joined my name to it.

I should have liked to be able to send you some of my new works for piano, of which I spoke to you before; but, as I have been altering them and touching them up, the publication of them has been delayed; nevertheless, I expect that in the course of this summer the twelve "Grandes Etudes" (definitive edition) and the "Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses" will successively appear, and in December or January next the "Annees de Pelerinage, Suite de Compositions pour le Piano," and the complete collection of my "Hungarian Rhapsodies." Meanwhile, let me offer you the "Concert Solo" and the two Polonaises which were written at Eilsen shortly after your visit to me there.

Joachim starts tomorrow for London, and I have commissioned him to persuade you to come and see me at Weymar on his return. I have been much attached to him this winter, and I hold his talent as well as himself in high esteem and true sympathy.--

Try not to delay too long the pleasure I should have in hearing your trio; I shall be delighted to make the acquaintance of Madame Reinecke, and would not wish to be among the last to congratulate you on your happiness.

In cordial friendship, yours ever,

F. Liszt

Weymar, April 16th, 1852

81. To Carl Czerny

[Autograph in the archives of the Musik-Verein in Vienna.]

My dearest and most honored Master and Friend,

A melancholy event which has thrown our Court into deep mourning- -the sudden death of the Duchess Bernard of Saxe-Weimar--has not allowed of my presenting your letter to Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess until a day or two ago. She has been pleased to receive your letter and your intentions with marked kindness, the expression of which you will find in the accompanying letter which she charged Baron de Vitzthum to write you in her name.

May I beg you then to advise Mr. Schott to send me immediately on the publication of your "Gradus ad Parnassum" a dedication copy, which I will get suitably bound in velvet here, and which I will immediately remit to H.I.H.--As regards the form of dedication, I advise you to choose the most simple:--

Gradus ad Parnassum, etc.,

Compose et tres respectueusement dedie a Son Altesse Imperiale et Royale Madame la Grande Duchesse de Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Marie Paulowna, par Ch. Czerny.

[Composed and most respectfully dedicated to Her Royal and Imperial Highness Marie Paulowna, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar- Eisenach by Ch. Czerny.]

Or if the title be in German:--

Componirt und I. kais. kon. Hoheit der Frau Grossherzogin zu Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach Marie Paulowna, in tiefster Ehrfurcht gewidmet, von C. Cz.

What you tell me of the prodigious activity of your Muse obliges me to make a somewhat shameful acknowledgment of my relative slowness and idleness. The pupil is far from the master in this as in other points. Nevertheless I think I have made a better use of the last three years than of the preceding ones; for one thing I have gone through a rather severe work of revision, and have remodeled entirely several of my old works (amongst others the Studies which are dedicated to you, and of which I will send you a copy of the definitive edition in a few weeks, and the "Album d'un Voyageur," which will reappear very considerably corrected, increased, and transformed under the title of "Annees de Pelerinage, Suite de Compositions pour le Piano-Suisse et Italie"): for another thing I have been continuing writing in proportion as ideas came to me, and I fancy I have arrived at last at that point where the style is adequate to the thought. Unfortunately my outside occupations absorb much of my time. The orchestra and opera of Weymar were greatly in need of reform and of stirring up. The remarkable and extraordinary works to which our theater owes its new renown--"Tannhauser," "Lohengrin," "Benvenuto Cellini"--required numerous rehearsals, which I could not give into the hands of anybody else. The day before yesterday a very pretty work, in an elegant and simple melodic style, was given for the first time--"Der lustige Rath," [The Merry Councillor (or counsel)] by Mr. de Vesque, which met with complete success. Carl Haslinger, who had arrived for the first performance of "Cellini," was also present at this, and can tell you about it. In the interval between these two works, on Sunday last, he had his Cantata-Symphony "Napoleon" performed, and conducted it himself (as a rather severe indisposition has obliged me to keep my room for several days).

In the course of the month of June my mother, who proposes to pay a visit to her sister at Gratz, will have the privilege of going to see you, dear master, and of renewing to you, in my name and her own, our expressions of sincere gratitude to you for the numerous kindnesses you have shown me. Believe me that the remembrance of them is as lively as it is constant in my heart.

I owe you still further thanks for the trouble you have taken to make Mr. de Hardegg study Schubert's Fantasia, scored by me, and I beg you to give him my best compliments. It is perhaps to be regretted that this work, which contains many fine details, should have been played for the first time in the Salle de Redoute, so "redoutable" and ungrateful a room for the piano in general; in a less vast space, such as the salle of the Musik- Verein, the virtuoso and the work would assuredly have been heard more to advantage, and if I did not fear to appear indiscreet I should ask Mr. de Hardegg to play it a second time, in a concert room of moderate size.

I have inquired several times as to the talent and the career of Mr. de Hardegg, in whom I naturally feel an interest from the fact of the interest you take in him. If by chance he should be thinking of making a journey to this part of Germany, beg him from me not to forget me at Weymar. I shall be delighted to make his acquaintance, and he may be assured of a very affectionate reception from me.

Accept, my dear and honored friend, every assurance of my high esteem, and believe that I shall ever remain

Your very faithful and grateful

F. Liszt

Weymar, April 19th, 1852