Project Gutenberg Etext of Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2: "From Rome to the End" collected by La Mara and Translated by Constance Bache
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Title: Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2: "From Rome to the End"
Author: Franz Liszt; letters collected by La Mara and translated by Constance Bach
Release Date: February, 2003 [Etext #3750]
[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule]
[The actual date this file first posted = 08/20/01]
Edition: 10
Language: English
The Project Gutenberg Etext of Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2,
"From Rome to the End," by Franz Liszt; letters collected by
La Mara and translated by Constance Bache
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Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 2: "From Rome to the End"
by Franz Liszt; letters collected by La Mara and translated by Constance Bache
CONTENTS
BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH FRONTISPIECE TO VOLUME II, HONORING LISZT TABLE OF LETTER CONTENTS THE LETTERS OF FRANZ LISZT, VOL. 2 INFO ABOUT THIS E-TEXT EDITION
BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
The Austrio-Hungarian composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a pianistic miracle. He could play anything on site and composed over 400 works centered around "his" instrument. Among his key works are his Hungarian Rhapsodies, his Transcendental Etudes, his Concert Etudes, his Etudes based on variations of Paganinini's Violin Caprices and his Sonata, one of the most important of the nineteenth century. He also wrote thousands of letters, of which 399 are translated into English in this second of a 2-volume set of letters (the first volume contains 260 letters).
Those who knew him were struck by his extremely sophisticated personality. He was surely one of the most civilized people of the nineteeth century, internalizing within himself a complex conception of human civility, and attempting to project it in his music and his communications with people. His life was centered around people; he knew them, worked with them, remembered them, thought about them, and wrote about them using an almost poetic language, while pushing them to reflect the high ideals he believed in. His personality was the embodiment of a refined, idealized form of human civility. He was the consummate musical artist, always looking for ways to communicate a new civilized idea through music, and to work with other musicians in organizing concerts and gatherings to perform the music publicly. He also did as much as he could to promote and compliment those whose music he believed in.
He was also a superlative musical critic, knowing, with few mistakes, what music of his day was "artistic" and what was not. But, although he was clearly a musical genius, he insisted on projecting a tonal, romantic "beauty" in his music, confining his music to a narrow range of moral values and ideals. He would have rejected 20th-century music that entertained cynical notions of any kind, or notions that obviated the concept of beauty in any way. There is little of a Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Cage, Adams, and certainly none of a Schoenberg, in Liszt's music. His music has an ideological "ceiling," and that ceiling is "beauty." It never goes beyond that. And perhaps it was never as "beautiful" as the music of Mozart, Bach or Beethoven, nor quite as rational (Are all the emotions in Liszt's music truly "controlled?"). But it certainly was original and instructive, and it certainly will linger.
FRONTISPIECE TO VOLUME II, HONORING LISZT
I.
We welcome thee, from southern sunnier clime,
To England's shore,
And stretch glad hands across the lapse of time
To the once more.
II.
Full twice two decades swiftly have rolled by
Since thou wast here;
A meteor flashing through our northern sky
Thou didst appear.
III.
Thy coming now we greet with pleasure keen,
And loyal heart,
Adding tradition of what thou hast been
To what thou art.
IV.
No laurel can we weave into the crown
Long years entwine,
Nor add one honour into the renown
Already thine:
V.
Yet might these roses waft to thee a breath
Of memory,
Recalling thy fair Saint Elizabeth
Of Hungary
VI.
We welcome her, from out those days of old,
In song divine,
But thee we greet a thousand fold,
The song is thine!
—C.B.
[Presumably written by Constance Bache, this trite paean would likely not have appealed to Liszt, who repeatedly affirmed his humility.]
TABLE OF LETTER CONTENTS (LETTER NUMBER, FOLLOWED BY ADDRESSEE)
1. Dr. Franz Brendel. December 20th, 1861 2. A. W. Gottschalg in Tieffurt. March 11th, 1862 3. Dr. Franz Brendel. April 12th, 1862 4. Mme. Jessie Laussot in Florence. May 3rd, 1862 5. Dr. Franz Brendel. June 12th, 1862 6. the same. July 12th, 1862 7. the same. August 10th, 1862 8. the same. August 29th, 1862 9. the same. November 8th, 1862 10. A.W. Gottschalg. November 15th, 1862 11. Eduard Liszt. November 19th, 1862 12. Dr. Franz Brendel. December 30th, 1862 13. Breitkopf and Hartel. March 26th, 1863 14. A.W. Gottschalg in Weimar. April 14th, 1863 15. Dr. Franz Brendel. May 8th, 1863 16. Eduard Liszt. May 22nd, 1863 17. Dr. Franz Brendel. June 18th, 1863 18. the same. July 18th, 1863 19. Breitkopf and Hartel. August 28th, 1863 20. Dr. Franz Brendel. September 7th, 1863 21. Dr. Gille in Jena. September 10th, 1863 22. Dr. Franz Brendel. October l0th, 1863 23. Mme. Jessie Laussot. October 15th, 1863 24. Dr. Franz Brendel. November 11th, 1863 25. Breitkopf and Hartel. November 16th, 1863 26. Dr. Franz Brendel. January 22nd, 1864 27. the same. May 28th, 1864 28. Dr. Franz Brendel. June 13th, 1864 29. The Committee of the Society for the Support of Needy Hungarian Musicians in Pest. June 18th, 1864 30. Eduard Liszt. June 22nd, 1864 31. Dr. Franz Brendel. July 1st, 1864 32. Walter Bache in London. July 2nd, 1864 33. ? August 7th, 1864 34. Eduard Liszt. September 7th, 1864 35. Breitkopf and Hartel. September 14th, 1864.93 36. the same. October 1st, 1864 37. Mme. Jessie Laussot. March 6th, 1865 38. Dr. Franz Brendel. April 3rd, 1865 39. Prince Constantine (Hohenzollern-Hechingen). May 11th, 1865 40. Breitkopf and Hartel. May 27th, 1865 41. Dr. Franz Brendel. July 21st, 1865 42. Abbe Schwendtner. September 20th, 1865 43. Dr. Franz Brendel. September 28th, 1865 44. Eduard Liszt. November 1st, 1865. 45. Dr. Franz Brendel. January 14th, 1866 46. the same. June 19th, 1866 47. the same. October 2nd, 1866 48. Breitkopf and Hartel. October 4th, 1866 49. Dr. Franz Brendel. January 6th, 1867 50. Dr. Cuturi in Pisa. January 22nd, 1867 51. Julius von Beliczay in Vienna. April 29th, 1867 52. Mme. Jessie Laussot. May 24th, 1867 53. Eduard Liszt. June 20th, 1867 54. William Mason. July 8th, 1867 55. E. Repos in Paris. July 12th, 1867 56. Prince Constantine Czartoryski.October 14th, 1867 57. Eduard Liszt. October 16th, 1867 58. the same. October 20th, 1867 59. Peter Cornelius. October 23rd, 1867 60. Eduard von Liszt. November 6th, 1867 61. E. Repos. November 8th, 1867 62. Mme. Jessie Laussot. January 13th, 1868 63. DP. Franz Brendel. January 26th, 1868 64. Walter
Index of Supplemental Letters
387. Freiherr von Spiegel in Weimar. September 30th, 1841 388. Eugenio Gomez in Sevilla. December 27th, 1844 389. Mme.? End of December, 1844 390. Mme.? Beginning of 1845 391. Mme.? in Milan. 1846 392. Frau Charlotte Moscheles (?). June 22nd, 1848 393. Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. May 30th, 1801 394. Josef Dessauer (?). Beginning of the fifties 395. Testimonial for Joachim Raff. Beginning of the fifties. 396. Dr. Eduard Hanslick in Vienna. January 31st, 1856. 397. Minister von Bach in Vienna. September 18th 398. ? in Leipzig. Spring, 1859 399. Dr. Eduard Hanslick. September 24th, 1859
THE LETTERS OF FRANZ LISZT, VOLUME 2: FROM ROME TO THE END
1. To Dr. Franz Brendel
[Rome,] December 20th, 1861
Dear Friend,
For the New Year I bring you nothing new; my soon ageing attachment and friendship remain unalterably yours. Let me hope that it will be granted to me to give you more proof of it from year to year.
Since the beginning of October I have remained without news from Germany. How are my friends Bronsart, Draseke, Damrosch, Weissheimer? Give them my heartiest greetings, and let me see some notices of the onward endeavors and experiences of these my young friends, as also of the doings of the Redactions-Hohle [Editorial den] and the details of the Euterpe concerts.
Please send the numbers of the paper, from October onwards, to me at the address of the library Spithover-Monaldini, Piazza di Spagna, Rome. Address your letter "Herrn Commandeur Liszt," Via Felice 113. "Signor Commendatore" is my title here; but don't be afraid that any Don Juan will stab me—still less that on my return to Germany I shall appear in your Redactions-Hohle as a guest turned to stone!—
Of myself I have really little to tell you. Although my acquaintance here
First send me the paper, that I may not run quite wild in musical matters. At Spithover's, where I regularly read the papers, there are only the Augsburger Allgemeine, the Berlin Stern-Zeitung [Doubtless the Kreusseitung], and several French and English papers, which contain as good as nothing of what I care about in the domain of music.
Julius Schuberth wrote a most friendly letter to me lately, and asks me which of Draseke's works I could recommend to him next for publication. To tell the truth it is very difficult for me in Rome to put myself in any publisher's shoes, even in so genial a man's as Julius Schuberth. In spite of this I shall gladly take an opportunity of answering him, and shall advise him to consult with Draseke himself as to the most advisable opportunity of publishing this or that Opus of his, if a doubt should actually come over our Julius as to whether his publisher's omniscience were sufficiently enlightened on the matter!—
Remember me most kindly to your wife.
Yours most sincerely,
F. Liszt
Please give my best greetings to Kahnt. Later on I shall beg him for a copy of my songs for a very charming Roman lady.
2. To A.W. Gottschalg, Cantor and Organist in Tieffurt
["Der legendarische Cantor" [the legendary Cantor] the Master jokingly named this faithful friend of his. "I value him as a thoroughly honest, able, earnestly striving and meritorious comrade in Art, and interest myself in the further progress— which is his due," wrote Liszt to the late Schuberth. Meanwhile Gottschalg was long ago advanced to the post of Court organist in Weimar. He is widely known as the editor of the "Chorgesang" [chorus singing] and of the "Urania."]
Dear Friend,
Although I cannot think otherwise than that you remain ever equally true to me, yet the living expression of your kindly feelings towards me is always a pleasure and a comfort. First of all then accept my warmest thanks for your two letters, which bring back to me the best impressions of your morning and evening visits to me in my blue room on the Altenburg.
It goes without saying that I have no objection to make to the publication of the Andante from the Berg Symphony in the Jubilee Album in honor of Johann Schneider. I only beg, dear friend, that you will look the proof over accurately, and carefully correct any omissions or mistakes in the manuscript.
I should be very glad if I could send you a new Organ work, but unfortunately all incentive to that sort of work is wanting to me here; and until the Tieffurt Cantor makes a pilgrimage to Rome all my organ wares will certainly remain on the shelf.
Ad vocem of the Tieffurt Cantor, I will tell you that I have been thinking of him very particularly these last few days, whilst I was composing St. Francis's Hymn of Praise ("Cantico di San Francesco"). The song is a development, an offspring as it were, a blossom of the Chorale "in dulci jubilo," for which of course I had to employ Organ. But how could I be writing an Organ work without immediately flying to Tieffurt in imagination?—And lo, at the entrance to the church our excellent Grosse [The trombonist of the Weimar orchestra (died 1874), who was so faithfully devoted to Liszt, and whom the latter remembered in his will] met me with his trombone, and I recollected an old promise—namely, to compose a "piece" for his use on Sundays. I immediately set to work at it, and out of my "Cantico" has now arisen a Concertante piece for Trombone and Organ. I will send you the piece as an Easter egg by the middle of April. [Published by Kahnt in Leipzig] Meanwhile here are the opening chords:—
[Here, Liszt illustrates with a musical score excerpt of the opening chords of the Concertante, in F major]
and on a lovely evening in May will you play the whole with Grosse in your church at Tieffurt, and perpetuate me with Organ and Trombone!—
It has struck me that your name is not mentioned among the fellow-workers in the Johann Schneider Jubilee Album. If there is still time and space you might perhaps contribute your arrangement of the Fugue from the "Dante Symphony" (with the ending which I composed to it for you). This proposal is open to amendment, on the supposition that Hartels are willing to agree to it—and, above all, that it suits you.
.—. N.B.—I beg you most particularly to make no further use of the two Psalms "By the waters of Babylon," of which you have a copy, because I have undertaken to make two or three essential alterations in them, and I wish them only to be made known and published in their present form. I send the new manuscript at the same time as the Cantico di San Francesco.
My best greetings to your wife, and rest assured always of my sincere thanks, and of the complete harmony of my ideas with your own.
F. Liszt
Rome, March 11th, 1862
When I am sending several manuscripts at Easter, I will write a couple of letters to Weimar and thank Jungmann [A pupil of Liszt's in Weimar; died there in September 1892] for his letter. I feel the want of time almost as much in Rome as in Weimar, and I have observed a strict Fast in correspondence as a rule, so that for three months past I have hardly sent as many as three to four letters to Germany.
Remember me most particularly to Herr Regierungsrath Miller! [A friend of Liszt's, a multifarious writer on music; died 1876]
3. To Dr. Franz Brendel.
[Autograph in the possession of Herr Alexander Meyer Cohn in
Berlin.]
Dear Friend,
Your friendly letter has again brought me a whiff of German air, which is all the more welcome to me here as I have not too much of it. One sees extremely few German papers in Rome—also I read them very irregularly—and my correspondents from Germany are limited to two, of whom friend Gottschalg, my legendary Tieffurt Cantor, is the most zealous. His letters flow from his heart—and are therefore always welcome to me.
For all of good news that you tell me I give you twofold thanks. Firstly, because you have for the most part brought it about, prefaced it, and seen it through. And then, because you tell it me in so friendly a fashion. Although I have long been prepared to bear the fiasco of my works quietly and unmoved, yet still it is pleasant to me to learn that the "Faust" Symphony in Leipzig did not have such a very bad fate. [In one of the "Euterpe" concerts, under Bronsart's conducting, at which Schnorr of Carolsfeld sang the tenor solo.] Do not fail, dear friend, to give Herr Schnorr my best thanks—and if perchance my songs would be a little pleasure to him will Kahnt be so good as to send Schnorr a copy (bound) at my order?
With regard to the Bronsart affair, I sincerely regret that I had not the opportunity of smoothing matters down sooner. Between people of one mind dissension and variance should never appear— much less lead to an outbreak. As you ask me for my opinion, I openly confess that in the main Bronsart appears to me perfectly justified in vindicating his choice of new compositions for the musical
On the other side, I consider a change of persons in the management of a new institution is not desirable. In intellectual movements in particular the leaders of them are especially recommended to keep themselves conservative as regards their people. The public requires definiteness before all else—and just this is endangered by a change of persons. The substitute for B., whom you mention to me (his name also begins with B.), is certainly highly to be recommended in all that concerns talent, position, and I think also worthy character; none the less do I vote very decidedly that Bronsart be retained—if possible.
I do not need to add, dear friend, that this opinion of mine is a purely objective one. I have not heard a word from Bronsart since last September, and, as I said to you before, my musical news from Germany is limited to two, or at most three letters which Gottschalg wrote me.
With the wish that all difficulties may be smoothed in the best way by your intelligent gentleness and forbearance, I remain your warmly devoted
F. Liszt
[Rome] April 12th, 1862
P.S.—More next time (though little of interest to you, as absolutely nothing occurs here that could touch you closely).—I am preparing to stay here for the summer, and somewhat longer.— In order not to lose the post I only send you today these few lines.
4. To Madame Jessie Laussot in Florence
[Madame Laussot, an English lady, became later the wife of Dr. Carl Hillebrand, the celebrated writer. She was the intimate friend of Liszt, Von Bulow, etc., and is herself a musician of great repute, to whom many artists of note, Sgambati, Bache, Buonamici, etc., owe much of the success of their career. She started a musical society in Florence, the "Societa Cherubini;" which she conducted for many years, and introduced there much of the best music of Germany (Liszt's included).]
Your charming lines, Madame, reached me at the beginning of Holy Week. At that moment one no longer belongs to oneself in Rome; and I have felt this more than others, for the services and ceremonies of the Sistine Chapel and of St. Peter's, to which I attached a special musical interest, have absorbed all my time during the last fortnight. Pray excuse me therefore for not having thanked you sooner for your kind remembrance, which touches me much.
Some one has made a mistake in telling you that I am coming to Florence. I have no longer any taste for moving about from one place to another, and, unless something very unforeseen happens, I shall not stir from here so soon. Rome is a more convenient place than others for those who ask nothing better than to work in their own fashion. Now, although I have become very indifferent as to the fate of what I write, work none the less continues to be the first need of my nature. I write therefore simply to write—without any other pretensions or care—and for this it suits me best to remain in one place.
Will you be so kind, Madame, as to give my very affectionate respects to Madame Ritter [Mother of Carl Ritter—Wagner's friend—and of Alexander Ritter, the composer of "Der faule Hans."], to which please add my best remembrances to her family, and pray accept also the expression of my very sincere and affectionate regards.
F. Liszt
May 3rd, 1862 (Via Felice, 113—Rome.)
5. To Dr. Franz Brendel
Rome, June 12th, 1862
Grand, sublime, immeasurably great things have come to pass here lately. The Episcopate of the whole world assembled here round the Holy Father, who performed the ceremony of the canonisation of the Japanese martyrs at Whitsuntide in the presence of more than 300 bishops, archbishops, patriarchs, and cardinals. I must abstain, dear friend, from giving you any picture of the overpowering moment in which the Pope intoned the "Te Deum;" for in Protestant lands that which I might call the spiritual illumination is wanting. Let us therefore, without any other transition, return to our everyday musical matters!
I am convinced that your determination to make a change in the choice of conductors of the Euterpe has been made only after mature consideration. .—. In my last letter I pointed out, as the chief thing, that in concert societies the principle of stability in the matter of the Musical Direction is the most important thing, whereby I did not in the least mean to say that one must on that account agree to extreme consequences—or rather inconsequences. Well, as your decision is made, any further discussion is useless. Blassmann [He moved to Dresden some years later, and there he died.] has now to approve himself, and actively to fulfil the favorable expectations which his talent and good name justify. So be it, and as Schuberth says, Punktum [a full stop.]
As regards the place of meeting for the next Tonkunstler- Versammlung I am quite of your opinion. First of all I advise you to consult Bulow. Owing to his long connection with the Court at Carlsruhe he is best qualified to take the preliminary measures ("to pave the way"!). If the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess take up the matter favorably, then without doubt all that is requisite and necessary will be done in the most desirable manner. The most essential things are
(a) Letting us have the theater free of charge for two to three evenings—(as at Weimar—would not it perhaps be best to mention this in the 1st letter?).
(b) Official preparatory measures by the Intendant to ensure the co-operation of the Carlsruhe orchestra and chorus, also free of charge.
You will have to consult more fully with Dr. Devrient and Kalliwoda as to the best time for it. But the thing to be done before all else is to gain the Grand Duke's interest—and if you think it would be practicable for me to write a few lines to H.R.H. later on I will do so with pleasure. I only beg that you will give me exact particulars of the steps already made and their results.
For my part I think that to Bulow, a priori, ought to be entrusted the conducting of the Musical Festival, and this point should be at once mentioned as settled in the introductory letter to the Grand Duke. Otherwise Bedow's position in the affair would not be sufficiently supported.
To sum up briefly: Request Bulow to undertake the conductorship of the Musical Festival; and address the Grand Duke of Baden, either by letter or by word of mouth (as opportunity may warrant), with the request that H.R.H. would graciously support the proposed Musical Festival of the third Tonkunstler- Versammlung, by giving it his patronage, as the Grand Duke of Weimar did last year, etc., etc.
.—. That excellent Pohl has quite forgotten me. I asked him, through Gottschalg, to send me my Gesam- melte Lieder [complete songs], the "Dante Symphony" (in score and arrangement for 2 Pianos), the 4-hand Symphonic Poems, and a couple of copies of my Catalogue (published by Hartel).
I
The Berlioz parts have remained at Weimar. Grosse knows about them—and possibly they have also gone to Pohl with the rest of the scores. As soon as they are found I shall be happy to make a present of them to the library of the Musikverein for their use, as well as the scores, and I authorise you with pleasure, dear friend, to do the same with the score and parts of the "Gran Mass."
The newspaper has not reached me from Pohl any more than the parcel.
Hearty greetings to your wife from yours in all friendship,
F. L.
6. To Dr. Franz Brendel
Dear Friend,
Well, as the parcel has come at last, Pohl shall not be scolded any more, and his "innocence" shall shine out in full splendor! .—.
I have just received a few lines from Berlioz; Schuberth, whom I commissioned, before I left, to send the dedication-copy of the "Faust" score to Berlioz, has again in his incompetent good nature forgotten it, and perhaps even from motives of economy has not had the dedication-plate engraved at all!!—Forgive me, dear friend, if I trouble you once more with this affair, and beg you to put an execution on Schuberth in order to force a copy with the dedication-page from him. The dedication shall be just as simple as that of the "Dante Symphony," containing only the name of the dedicatee, as follows,
"To Hector Berlioz."
After this indispensable matter has been arranged I beg that you will be so kind as to have a tasteful copy, bound in red or dark green, sent, perhaps through Pohl (?), to Berlioz at Baden (where he will be at the beginning of August. In case neither Pohl nor his wife should go to Baden this summer (which however I scarcely expect will be the case), send the copy to Fraulein Genast (who, as I learn from the "Zeitschrift" [periodical], is at present in Carlsruhe) with the request that she will give it to Berlioz.
Is there not any talk of bringing out an arrangement of the "Faust Symphony" for 2 Pianofortes?—Schuberth is sure to have far greater things in contemplation, and I almost regret having incommoded him by giving up the manuscripts!—
Nonetheless, please take him to task about it, or, better, bully him into action with "Faust-Recht" [Faust rights or Faust justice.] In truth the final chorus of Part III. of the Faust tragedy, "faithful to the spirit of Part II. as composed by Deutobold-Symbolizetti-Allegoriowitsch-Mystifizinsky"—
"Das Abgeschmackteste
Hier ward es geschmeckt,
Das Allvertrackteste
Hier war es bezweckt"
[A parody on the concluding lines of Goethe's Faust. The parody may be freely translated as follows:—
The most insipid
Here was tasted;
In queerest nonsense
Here all was wasted."]
can often be applied to matters of publishing. And while I am touching on this, to me, very disagreeable chapter, may I also take the opportunity of inquiring how long our amiable friend and patron Julius Schuberth is intending to ignore the 2 Episodes from Lenau's "Faust" ("Nachtlicher Zug"—and "Mephisto Walzer"), which I recommended to his good graces more than a year ago, and gave him in manuscript?
Must the pages perchance become quite mouldy, or will he bring them out as an oeuvre posthume [posthumous work]? I am tired of doing silent homage to this noble mode of proceedings, and intend next time to help the publisher out of all his perplexities [Untranslatable pun on "Verleger" and "Verlegenheiten."] by putting the manuscripts back in their place again.—
—
"O Freunde, nicht diese Tone, sondern lasst uns angenchmere anstimmen!" [A quotation from Schiller's "Ode to joy" in Beethoven's "Choral Symphony:" "O friends, not tones like these, but brighter ones let us sing."] (I am perhaps not quoting exactly, although the sense of the apostrophe remains clearly present, especially in musical enjoyments and experiences!) Amongst the "more pleasant" things I at once place much information given in your letter and the newspaper (which reached me at the same time in some 16 numbers with Pohl's parcel). My most earnest wishes are, first and foremost, bound up in the complete prospering, upspringing, and blossoming of the "grain of mustard-seed" of our Allgemeine Deutsche Musik-Verein. With God's help I will also support this in other fashion than mere "wishes." According to my opinion the third Tonkunstler- Versammlung will be the chief factor in strengthening and extending the Allgemeine Deutsche Musik-Verein, which comprises in itself the entire development and advancement of Art.
Various reasons led me to recommend Carlsruhe to you in my last letter as the most suitable place for the third Tonkunstler- Versammlung, that is, supposing that H.R.H. the Grand Duke gives his countenance to the matter, and grants us favorable conditions with regard to the disposal of the theater, orchestra, and chorus. It behoves Bulow, as conductor of the musical performances, to undertake to "pave the way" towards a favorable promise on the Grand Duke's side. Within two to three months the necessary preliminaries can be fixed, and I shall then expect fuller tidings from you about the further plans and measures.
Without wishing to make any valid objection to Prague—rather with all due acknowledgment of what Prague has already accomplished and may still accomplish—yet it seems to me that the present political relations of the Austrian monarchy would make it inopportune to hold the Tonkunstler-Versammlung in Prague just now. On the other hand I am of opinion that a more direct influence than has yet been possible on South Germany, which is for the most part in a stagnating condition, would be of service. Stuttgart in particular, through Pruckner, Singer, Stark, etc., might behave at it differently from what it did at a previous Musical Festival in Carlsruhe!
Dr. Gille's interest in the statutes and deliberations of the M.V. [Musik-Verein] is very advantageous, as also Pohl's previous removal to Leipzig. .—. The constant intercourse with you, together with the Leipzig acids and gases, will be sure to suit him well.
From Weimar I have received a good deal of news lately from Count Beust, Dingelstedt, Gille, and Stor. To the latter my answer will be little satisfactory; but I cannot continue with him on any other road, and let the overpowering Dominant of his spasmodic vanity serve as the Fundamental note of our relations.
I am writing to Gille by the next post, and also to Muller, who rejoiced me lately by his Erinnerungs-Blatt [remembrance] from Weimar, (in the 8th November issue of the "Zeitschrift," which I have only now received). Will you, dear friend, when you have an opportunity, give my best thanks to Kulke for his article upon Symphony and Symphonic Poem—and also the enclosed lines to Fraulein Nikolas, from whom I have received a charming little note?
Already more than 140 pages of the score of my "Elizabeth" are written out complete (in my own little cramped scrawl). But the final chorus—about 40 pages—and the piano-arrangement have still to be done. By the middle of August I shall send the entire work
to Carl Gotze at Weimar to copy, together with the "Canticus of St. Francis," which I composed in the spring. ["Cantico del Sole," for baritone solo, men's chorus, and organ. Kahnt.] It would certainly be pleasanter for me if I could bring the things with me—but, between ourselves, I cannot entertain the idea of a speedy return to Germany. If later there seems a likelihood of
With hearty greetings to your wife, I remain
Yours in sincere and friendly attachment,
F. Liszt
Rome, July 12th, 1862
Your little commission about Lowenberg shall be attended to. Let me soon have news of you and of my intimate friends again. There is absolutely nothing to tell you from here that could interest you. In spite of the heat I shall spend the summer months in Rome.
7. To Dr. Franz Brendel
[Letters 7, 8, 9, 18, and 24 to Brendel have been partially published in La Mara's "Musikerbriefe" (Letters of Musicians), Vol. II.]
What a delightful bunch of surprises your letter brings me, dear friend! So Pohl has really set to work on the Faust brochure—and Schuberth is actually not going to let the piano-arrangement of the "Faust Symphony" lie in a box till it is out of date. How curious it all sounds, just because it is so exactly the right thing and what I desired!—If you are back in Leipzig please send me soon a couple of copies of the Faust brochure (those numbers of the journal containing Pohl's articles have not reached me), and also send me the 2-pianoforte arrangement of the Faust Symphony (a few copies when convenient). I have as yet received nothing of the parcel which Kahnt announced as having sent me with some of my 4-hand things; and as I have fished out here a very talented young pianist, Sgambati [A pupil of Liszt's, and now one of the first pianoforte players and composers of Italy; has been, since 1871, Professor at the Academia Sta. Cecilia in Rome] by name, who makes a first-rate partner in duets, and who, for example, plays the Dante Symphony boldly and correctly, it would be a pleasure to me to be able to go through the whole cycle of the Symphonic Poems with him. Will you be so good therefore, dear friend, as to ask Hartel for the whole lot in the 2-pianoforte arrangement (a double copy of each Symphonic Poem, for with one copy alone I can do nothing, as I myself can only play the thing from notes!), and also the 4-hand arrangement, with the exception of the "Festklange," which Hartels have already sent me?
Besides these, I expect in the same parcel the Marches which
Schuberth has published (the "Goethe Marsch" and the Duke of
Coburg) and the "Kunstler Festzug" [Artists' procession] (for 4
hands), which I ordered previously.—
The "Legend of St. Elizabeth" is written out to the very last note of the score; I have now only to finish a part of the piano arrangement, and the 4-hand arrangement of the Introduction, the Crusaders' March, and the final procession—which shall be done by the end of this month at latest. Then I send the whole to Weimar to be copied, together with a couple of other smaller manuscripts. What will be its ultimate fate will appear according as…Meanwhile I will try one or two little excursions into the country (to Albano, Frascati, Rocca di Papa—and a little farther still, to the "Macchia serena" near Corneto, where in earlier times much robbery and violence took place!), and before the end of September I hope to be able to set steadily to work again, and to continue my musical deeds of "robbery and murder"! Would that I only could hear, like you, the Sondershausen orchestra, and were able to conjure friend Stein and his brave phalanx into the Colosseum! The locality would assuredly be no less attractive than the "Loh," [The Sondershausen concerts are, as is well known, given in the "Lohgarten."] and Berlioz's Harold Symphony, or Ce que l'on entend sur la montagne [One of Liszt's Symphonic Poems], would sound there quite "sonderschauslich" [curious] [Play of words on Sondershausen and "sonderbar" or "sonderlich"]. I often imagine the orchestra set up there, with the execrated instruments of percussion in an arcade—our well—wishers Rietz, Taubert, and other braggarts of criticism close by (or in the Aquarium!)—the directors of the Deutsche Musik-Verein resting on the "Pulvinare," and the members all around resting on soft cushions, and making a show in the reserved seats of the Subsellia, as senators and ambassadors used to do!—
Tell Stein of this idea, and give him my most friendly thanks for all the intelligent care and pains that he so very kindly gives to my excommunicated compositions. As regards the performances of the Sondershausen orchestra I am quite of your opinion, and I repeat that they are not only not outdone, but are even not often equalled in their sustained richness, their judicious and liberal choice of works, as well as in their precision, drilling, and refinement.—It is only a shame that no suitable concert-hall has been built in Sondershausen. The orchestra has long deserved such an attention; should such a thing ever fall to their lot, pray urge upon Stein to spread out the Podium of the orchestra as far as possible, and not to submit to the usual limited space, as they made the mistake of doing in the Gewandhaus, the Odeonsaal in Munich, etc., etc., and also, alas, in Lowenberg. The concert- hall of the Paris Conservatoire offers in this respect the right proportions, and a good part of the effect produced by the performances there is to be ascribed to this favorable condition.—
According to what I hear Bulow is not disposed to mix himself up in the preliminaries of the next Tonkunstler-Versammlung. Accordingly some one else must be entrusted with the afore- mentioned task in Carlsruhe, although Bulow was the best suited for it. If you do not care to enter at once into direct communication with Devrient, Pohl would be the best man to "pioneer" the way. It would not be any particular trouble to him to go from Baden to Carlsruhe, and to persuade Devrient to favor the matter. This is before all else needful, for without Devrient's co-operation nothing of the sort can be undertaken in Carlsruhe. If the Tonkunstler-Versammlung takes place not out of the theater season, then one or more theatrical performances can be given in conjunction with it, especially of Gluck's Operas; as also an ultra-classical Oratorio of Handel's might well be given over to the Carlsruhe Vocal Unions. .—.
What "astonishing things" are you planning, dear friend? This word excites my curiosity; but, on the other hand, I share your superstition to speak only of actions accomplished ("faits accomplis"). In Schelle you will gain a really valuable colleague. Has his "History of the Sistine Chapel" come out yet? If so, please be so good as to send me the book with the other musical things.—
My daughter, Frau von Bulow, writes to me that Wagner's new work "Die Meistersinger" is a marvel, and amongst other things she says:—
"These 'Meistersinger' are, to Wagner's other conceptions, much the same as the 'Winter's Tale' is to Shakespeare's other works. Its phantasy is found in gaiety and drollery, and it has called up the Nuremberg of the Middle Ages, with its guilds, its poet- artisans, its pedants, its cavaliers, to draw forth the most fresh laughter in the midst of the highest, the most ideal, poetry. Exclusive of its sense and the destination of the work, one might compare the artistic work of it with that of the Sacraments-Hauschen of St. Lawrence (at Nuremberg). Equally with the sculptor, has the composer lighted upon the most graceful, most fantastic, most pure form,—boldness in perfection; and as at the bottom of the Sacraments-Hauschen there is Adam Kraft, holding it up with a grave and collected air, so in the 'Meistersinger' there is Hans Sachs, calm, profound, serene, who sustains and directs the action," etc.
This description pleased me so much that, when once I was started on the subject, I could not help sending you the long quotation. The Bulows, as you know, are with Wagner at Biebrich—at the end of