# A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Liszt, Franz

From volume 2 of the work.
​LISZT, Franz, is one of the favourites of fortune, and his success is perhaps unequalled, certainly unsurpassed in the history of Art. At his first public appearance at Vienna, Jan. 1, 1823, his genius was acknowledged with an enthusiasm in which the whole musical republic, from Beethoven down to the obscurest dilettante, joined unanimously. His concert tours were so many triumphal progresses through a country which extended from Madrid to St. Petersburg, and in which he was acknowledged as the king of pianists; and the same success accompanied all he undertook in life. When, tired of the shallow fame of the virtuoso, he devoted himself to composition, he had, it is true, at first to encounter the usual obstacles of popular indifference and professional ill-will. But these were soon overcome by his energy, and Liszt is at present living to see his works admired by many and ignored by none. As an orchestral conductor also he added laurels to his wreath.
Franz Liszt was born Oct. 22, 1811, at Raiding, in Hungary, the son of Adam Liszt, an official in the imperial service, and a musical amateur of sufficient attainment to instruct his son in the rudiments of pianoforte-playing. At the age of 9 young Liszt made his first appearance in public at Oedenburg with such success that several Hungarian noblemen guaranteed him sufficient means to continue his studies for six years. For that purpose he went to Vienna, and took lessons from Czerny on the pianoforte and from Salieri and Randhartinger in composition. The latter introduced the lad to his friend Franz Schubert. His first appearance in print was probably in a variation (the 24th) on a waltz of Diabelli's, one of 50 contributed by the most eminent artists of the day, for which Beethoven, when asked for a single variation, wrote thirty-three (op. 120). The collection, entitled Vaterländische Künstler-Verein, was published in June 1823. In the same year he proceeded to Paris, where it was hoped that his rapidly growing reputation would gain him admission at the Conservatoire in spite of his foreign origin. But Cherubini refused to make an exception in his favour, and he continued his studies under Reicha and Paër. Shortly afterwards he also made his first serious attempt at composition, and an operetta in one act, called 'Don Sanche,' was produced at the Académie Royale, Oct.17, 1825, and well received. Artistic tours to Switzerland and England, accompanied by brilliant success, occupy the period till the year 1827, when Liszt lost his father and was ​thrown on his own resources to provide for himself and his mother. During his stay in Paris, where he settled for some years, he became acquainted with the leaders of French literature, Victor Hugo, Lamartine and George Sand, the influence of whose works may be discovered in his' compositions. For a time also he became an adherent of Saint-Simon, but soon reverted to the Catholic religion, to which, as an artist and as a man, he has since adhered devoutly. In 1834 he became acquainted with the Countess D'Agoult, better known by her literary name of Daniel Stern, who for a long time remained attached to him and by whom he had three children. Two of these, a son and a daughter, the wife of M. Ollivier the French statesman, are dead. The third, Cosima, is the wife of Richard Wagner. The public concerts which Liszt gave during the latter part of his stay in Paris placed his claim to the first rank amongst pianists on a firm basis, and at last he was induced, much against his will, to adopt the career of a virtuoso proper. The interval from 1839 to 1847 Liszt spent in travelling almost incessantly from one country to another, being everywhere received with an enthusiasm unequalled in the annals of Art. In England he played at the Philharmonic Concerts of May 21, 1827 (Concerto, Hummel), May 11, 1840 (Concertstück, Weber), June 8, 40 (Kreutzer sonata), June 14, 41 (Hummel's 7tet). His reception seems to have been less warm than was expected, and Liszt, with his usual generosity, at once undertook to bear the loss that might have fallen on his agent. Of this generosity numerous instances might be cited. The charitable purposes to which Liszt's genius has been made subservient are legion, and in this respect as well as in that of technical perfection he is unrivalled amongst virtuosi. The disaster caused at Pesth by the inundation of the Danube (1837) was considerably alleviated by the princely sum—the result of several concerts contributed—by this artist; and when two years later a considerable sum had been collected for a statue to be erected to him at Pesth, he insisted upon the money being given to a struggling young sculptor, whom he moreover assisted from his private means. The poor of Raiding also had cause to remember the visit paid by Liszt to his native village about the same time. It is well known that Beethoven's monument at Bonn owed its existence, or at least its speedy completion, to Liszt's liberality. When the subscriptions for the purpose began to fail, Liszt offered to pay the balance required from his own pocket, provided only that the choice of the sculptor should be left to him. From the beginning of the forties dates Liszt's more intimate connection with Weimar, where in 1849 he settled for the space of 12 years. This stay was to be fruitful in more than one sense. When he closed his career as a virtuoso, and accepted a permanent engagement as conductor of the Court Theatre at Weimar, he did so with the distinct purpose of becoming the advocate of the rising musical generation, by the performance of such works as were written regardless of immediate success, and therefore had little chance of seeing the light of the stage. At short intervals eleven operas of living composers were either performed for the first time or revived on the Weimar stage. Amongst these may be counted such works as Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, and The Flying Dutchman of Wagner, Benvenuto Cellini by Berlioz, Schumann's Genoveva, and music to Byron's 'Manfred.' Schubert's Alfonso and Estrella was also rescued from oblivion by Liszt's exertions. For a time it seemed as if this small provincial city were once more to be the artistic centre of Germany, as it had been in the days of Goethe, Schiller and Herder. From all sides musicians and amateurs flocked to Weimar, to witness the astonishing feats to which a small but excellent community of singers and instrumentalists were inspired by the genius of their leader. In this way was formed the nucleus of a group of young and enthusiastic musicians, who, whatever may be thought of their aims and achievements, were and are at any rate inspired by perfect devotion to music and its poetical aims. It was, indeed, at these Weimar gatherings that the musicians who now form the so-called School of the Future, till then unknown to each other and divided locally and mentally, came first to a clear understanding of their powers and aspirations. How much the personal fascination of Liszt contributed to this desired effect need not be said. Amongst the numerous pupils on the pianoforte, to whom he at the same period opened the invaluable treasure of his technical experience, may be mentioned Hans von Bülow, the worthy disciple of such a master.
But, in a still higher sense, the soil of Weimar, with its great traditions, was to prove a field of richest harvest. When, as early as 1842, Liszt undertook the direction of a certain number of concerts every year at Weimar, his friend Duverger wrote 'Cette place, qui oblige Liszt à séjourner trois mois de l'année à Weimar, doit marquer peut-être pour lui la transition de sa carriere de virtuose à celle de compositeur.' This presage has been verified by a number of compositions which, whatever may be the final verdict on their merits, have at any rate done much to elucidate some of the most important questions in Art. From these works of his mature years his early compositions, mostly for the pianoforte, ought to be distinguished, In the latter Liszt the virtuoso predominates over Liszt the composer. Not, for instance, that his 'transcriptions' of operatic music are without superior merits. Every one of them shows the refined musician, and for the development of pianoforte technique, especially in rendering orchestral effects, they are of the greatest importance. They also tend to prove Liszt's catholicity of taste; for all schools are equally represented in the list, and a selection from Wagner's 'Lohengrin' is found side by side with the Dead March from Donizetti's 'Don Sebastian.' To point out even the most important among these selections ​and arrangements would far exceed the limits of this notice. More important are the original pieces for the pianoforte also belonging to this earlier epoch and collected under such names as 'Consolations' and 'Années de pélerinage,' but even in these, charming and interesting in many respects as they are, it would be difficult to discover the germs of Liszt's later productiveness. The stage of preparation and imitation through which all young composers have to go, Liszt passed at the piano and not at the desk. This is well pointed out in Wagner's pamphlet on the Symphonic Poems:—
'He who has had frequent opportunities,' writes Wagner, 'particularly in a friendly circle, of hearing Liszt play—for instance, Beethoven—must have understood that this was not mere reproduction, but real production. The actual point of division between these two things is not so easily determined as most people believe, but so much I have ascertained beyond a doubt, that, in order to reproduce Beethoven, one must be able to produce with him. It would be impossible to make this understood by those who have, in all their life, heard nothing but the ordinary performances and renderings by virtuosi of Beethoven's works. Into the growth and essence of such renderings I have, in the course of time, gained so sad an insight, that I prefer not to offend anybody by expressing myself more clearly. I ask, on the other hand, all who have heard, for instance, Beethoven's op. 106 or op. 111 (the two great sonatas in B♭ and C) played by Liszt in a friendly circle, what they previously knew of those creations, and what they learned of them on those occasions? If this was reproduction, then surely it was worth a great deal more than all the sonatas reproducing Beethoven which are "produced" by our pianoforte composers in imitation of those imperfectly comprehended works. It was simply the peculiar mode of Liszt's development to do at the piano what others achieve with pen and ink; and who can deny that even the greatest and most original master, in his first period, does nothing but reproduce? It ought to be added that during this reproductive epoch, the work even of the greatest genius never has the value and importance of the master works which it reproduces, its own value and importance being attained only by the manifestation of distinct originality. It follows that Liszt's activity during his first and reproductive period surpasses everything done by others under parallel circumstances. For he placed the value and importance of the works of his predecessors in the fullest light, and thus raised himself almost to the same height with the composers he reproduced.'
These remarks at the same time will to a large extent account for the unique place which Liszt holds amongst modern representatives of his instrument, and it will be unnecessary to say anything of the phenomenal technique which enabled him to concentrate his whole mind on the intentions of the composer.
The works of Liszt's mature period may be most conveniently classed under four headings. First: works for the pianoforte with and without orchestral accompaniments. The two Concertos in E♭ and A, and the fifteen Hungarian Rhapsodies are the most important works of this group, the latter especially illustrating the strongly pronounced national element in Liszt. The representative works of the second or orchestral section of Liszt's works are the Faust Symphony in three tableaux, the Dante Symphony, and the twelve 'Symphonic Poems.' Of the latter a full list is given on p. 149b. It is in these Symphonic Poems that Liszt's mastery over the orchestra as well as his claims to originality are chiefly shown. It is true that the idea of 'Programme-Music,' such as we find it illustrated here, had been anticipated by Berlioz. Another important feature, the so-called 'leading-motive' (i.e. a theme representative of a character or idea, and therefore recurring whenever that character or that idea comes into prominent action), Liszt has adopted from Wagner. [Leit-motif.] At the same time these ideas appear in his music in a considerably modified form. Speaking, for instance, of Programme-Music, it is at once apparent that the significance of that term is understood in a very different sense by Berlioz and by Liszt. Berlioz, like a true Frenchman, is thinking of a distinct story or dramatic situation, of which he takes care to inform the reader by means of a commentary; Liszt, on the contrary, emphasizes chiefly the pictorial and symbolic bearings of his theme, and in the first-named respect especially is perhaps unsurpassed by modern symphonists. Even where an event has become the motive of his symphonic poem, it is always from a single feature of a more or less musically realisable nature that he takes his suggestion, and from this he proceeds to the deeper significance of his subject, without much regard for the incidents of the story. It is for this reason that, for example, in his Mazeppa he has chosen Victor Hugo's somewhat pompous production as the groundwork of his music, in preference to Byron's more celebrated and more beautiful poem. Byron simply tells the story of Mazeppa's danger and rescue. In Victor Hugo the Polish youth, tied to
'A Tartar of the Ukraine breed Who looked as though the speed of thought Was in his limbs,'
has become the representative of man 'lié vivant sur ta croupe fatale, Génie, ardent coursier.' This symbolic meaning, far-fetched though it may appear in the poem, is of incalculable advantage to the musician. It gives æsthetic dignity to the wild, rattling triplets which imitate the horse's gallop, and imparts a higher significance to the triumphal march which closes the piece. For as Mazeppa became Hetman of the Cossacks, even so is man gifted with genius destined for ultimate triumph:
'Chaque pas que tu fais semble creuser sa tombe. Enfin le temps arrive … il court, il tombe, Et se relève roi.'
A more elevated subject than the struggle and ​final victory of genius an artist cannot well desire, and no fault can be found with Liszt, provided always that the introduction of pictorial and poetic elements into music is thought to be permissible. Neither can the melodic means employed by him in rendering this subject be objected to. In the opening allegro agitato descriptive of Mazeppa's ride, strong accents and rapid rhythms naturally prevail; but, together with this merely external matter, there occurs an impressive theme (first announced by the basses and trombones), evidently representative of the hero himself, and for that reason repeated again and again throughout the piece. The second section, andante, which brings welcome rest after the breathless hurry of the allegro, is in its turn relieved by a brilliant march, with an original Cossack tune by way of trio, the abstract idea of triumphant genius being thus ingeniously identified with Mazeppa's success among 'les tribus de l' Ukraine.' From these remarks Liszt's method, applied with slight modification in all his symphonic poems, is sufficiently clear; but the difficult problem remains to be solved, How can these philosophic and pictorial ideas become the nucleus of a new musical form to supply the place of the old symphonic movement? Wagner asks the question 'whether it is not more noble and more liberating for music to adopt its form from the conception of the Orpheus or Prometheus motive than from the dance or march?' but he forgets that dance and march have a distinct and tangible relation to musical form, which neither Prometheus and Orpheus, nor indeed any other character or abstract idea, possess. The solution of this problem must be left to a future time, when it will also be possible to determine the permanent position of Liszt's symphonic works in the history of Art.
The legend of St. Elizabeth, a kind of oratorio, full of great beauty, but sadly weighed down by a tedious libretto, leads the way to the third section—the Sacred compositions. Here the Gran Mass, the Missa Choralis, the Mass for small voices, and the oratorio Christus are the chief works. The 13th Psalm, for tenor, chorus, and orchestra, may also be mentioned. The accentuation of the subjective or personal element, combined as far as possible with a deep reverence for the old forms of church music, is the keynote of Liszt's sacred compositions.
We finally come to a fourth division not hitherto sufficiently appreciated by Liszt's critics—his Songs. It is here perhaps that his intensity of feeling, embodied in melody pure and simple, finds its most perfect expression. Such settings as those of Heine's 'Du bist wie eine Blume,' or Redwitz's 'Es muss ein wunderbares sein' are conceived in the true spirit of the Volkslied. At other times a greater liberty in the rhythmical phrasing of the music is warranted by the metre of the poem itself, as, for instance, in Goethe's wonderful night-song, 'Ueber allen Gipfeln ist Ruh',' the heavenly calm of which Liszt has rendered by his wonderful harmonies in a manner which alone would secure him a place amongst the great masters of German song. Particularly, the modulation from G major back into the original E major at the close of the piece is of surprising beauty. Less happy is the dramatic way in which such ballads as Heine's 'Loreley' and Goethe's 'König in Thule' are treated. Here the melody is sacrificed to the declamatory element, and that declamation, especially in the last-named song, is not always faultless. Victor Hugo's 'Comment dissient-ils' is one of the most graceful songs amongst Liszt's works, and in musical literature generally.
The remaining facts of Liszt's life may be summed up in a few words. In 1859 he left his official position at the Opera in Weimar owing to the captious-opposition made to the production of Cornelius's 'Barber of Bagdad,' at the Weimar theatre. Since that time he has been living at intervals at Rome, Pesth, and Weimar, always surrounded by a circle of pupils and admirers, and always working for music and musicians in the unselfish and truly catholic spirit characteristic of his whole life. How much Liszt can be to a man and an artist is shown by what perhaps is the most important episode even in his interesting career—his friendship with Wagner. The latter's eloquent words will give a better idea of Liszt's personal character than any less intimate friend could attempt to do.
'I met Liszt,' writes Wagner, 'for the first time during my earliest stay in Paris, at a period when I had renounced the hope, nay, even the wish, of a Paris reputation, and, indeed, was in a state of internal revolt against the artistic life which I found there. At our meeting he struck me as the most perfect contrast to my own being and situation. In this world, into which it had been my desire to fly from my narrow circumstances, Liszt had grown up, from his earliest age, so as to be the object of general love and admiration, at a time when I was repulsed by general coldness and want of sympathy.… In consequence I looked upon him with suspicion. I had no opportunity of disclosing my being and working to him, and, therefore, the reception I met with on his part was altogether of a superficial kind, as was indeed natural in a man to whom every day the most divergent impressions claimed access. But I was not in a mood to look with unprejudiced eyes for the natural cause of his behaviour, which, though friendly and obliging in itself, could not but wound me in the then state of my mind. I never repeated my first call on Liszt, and without knowing or even wishing to know him, I was prone to look upon him as strange and adverse to my nature. My repeated expression of this feeling was afterwards told to him, just at the time when my 'Rienzi' at Dresden attracted general attention. He was surprised to find himself misunderstood with such violence by a man whom he had scarcely known, and whose acquaintance now seemed not without value to him. I am still moved when I remember the repeated and eager attempts he made to change ​my opinion of him, even before he knew any of my works. He acted not from any artistic sympathy, but led by the purely human wish of discontinuing a casual disharmony between himself and another being; perhaps he also felt an infinitely tender misgiving of having really hurt me unconsciously. He who knows the selfishness and terrible insensibility of our social life, and especially of the relations of modern artists to each other, cannot but be struck with wonder, nay, delight, by the treatment I experienced from this extraordinary man.… At Weimar I saw him for the last time, when I was resting for a few days in Thuringia, uncertain whether the threatening prosecution would compel me to continue my flight from Germany. The very day when my personal danger became a certainty, I saw Liszt conducting a rehearsal of my 'Tannhäuser,' and was astonished at recognising my second self in his achievement. What I had felt in inventing this music he felt in performing it: what I wanted to express in writing it down, he expressed in making it sound. Strange to say, through the love of this rarest friend, I gained, at the moment of becoming homeless, a real home for my art, which I had hitherto longed for and sought for always in the wrong place.… At the end of my last stay at Paris, when ill, miserable, and despairing, I sat brooding over my fate, my eye fell on the score of my "Lohengrin," which I had totally forgotten. Suddenly I felt something like compassion that this music should never sound from off the deathpale paper. Two words I wrote to Liszt: his answer was, the news that preparations for the performance were being made on the largest scale that the limited means of Weimar would permit. Everything that men and circumstances could do, was done, in order to make the work understood.… Errors and misconceptions impeded the desired success. What was to be done to supply what was wanted, so as to further the true understanding on all sides, and with it the ultimate success of the work? Liszt saw it at once, and did it. He gave to the public his own impression of the work in a manner the convincing eloquence and overpowering efficacy of which remain unequalled. Success was his reward, and with this success he now approaches me, saying: "Behold we have come so far, now create us a new work, that we may go still further."'
In addition to the commentaries on Wagner's works just referred to, Liszt has also written numerous detached articles and pamphlets, those on Robert Franz, Chopin, and the music of the Gipsies, being the most important. It ought to be added that the appreciation of Liszt's music in tins country is almost entirely due to the unceasing efforts of his pupil, Mr. Walter Bache, at whose annual concerts many of his most important, works have been produced. Others, such as 'Mazeppa' and the 'Battle of the Huns,' were first heard in England at the Crystal Palace.
The following is a catalogue of Liszt's works, as complete as it has been possible to make it. It is compiled from the recent edition of the thematic catalogue (Breitkopf & Härtel, No. 14,373), published lists, and other available sources.
I. ORCHESTRAL WORKS.
* Original.
* Arrangements.
II. FOR PIANOFORTE AND ORCHESTRA.
* Original.
* Arrangements, P.F. principale.
III. FOR PIANOFORTE SOLO.
* Original.
* Arrangements.
* Paraphrases, Transcriptions, etc., from Operas.
* Rhapsodies, etc.
* Partitions di Piano.
* Transcriptions of Vocal Pieces.
IV. 6. ARRANGEMENTS FOR 2 PIANOFORTES.
V. PIANOFORTE AND VIOLIN.
VI. FOR ORGAN OR HARMONIUM.
VII. VOCAL.
* Masses, Psalms, and other Sacred Music.
* Oratorios.
* Cantatas and Other Choral Music.
* For Men's Voices.
* For Single Voice and P.F.
VIII. PIANOFORTE ACCOMPANIMENT TO DECLAIMED POEMS.
IX. REVISED EDITIONS OF CLASSICAL WORKS.
X. LITERARY WORKS.
[ F. H. ]
* ↑ Performed at Mr. Bache's annual concert in 1873.
* ↑ B. & H. = Breitkopf & Härtel.
Appendix:
​The last concert given by Franz Liszt for his own benefit was that at Elisabethgrad towards the end of 1847, since when his artistic activity was exclusively devoted to the benefit of others. No more striking evidence of the nobility of Liszt's purpose and of the gracious manner in which he fulfilled it could be wished for than that contained in the recently published correspondence between Liszt and Wagner. The two volumes cover the Weimar period, but by no means represent the extent of the friendship between these two great men, which was only interrupted by death. Liszt's character as here revealed calls for nothing less than reverence. His solicitude is so tender, so fatherly, so untainted with selfishness, and, above all, so wise! The letters tell the story of a struggle and of a victory for his friend, but they are silent upon the incidents of his own life. On being asked one day the reason of his abstention from creative work, Liszt replied by another question, 'Can you not guess?' To Wagner himself, who urged him to compose a German opera on his (Wagner's) tragedy of 'Wieland der Schmidt,' Liszt answered that he felt no vocation for such a task; he thought it more likely that he might give his first dramatic work a trial in Paris or in London. So he continued a life of self-abnegation, and died faithful to the last to the claims of friendship and of genius, many young composers besides the titanic Wagner owing their first successes in life to his generous sympathy and penetrating judgment. He made Weimar, during the twelve years of his residence, the centre of musical life in Germany. 'I had dreamed for Weimar a new Art period,' wrote Liszt in 1860, 'similar to that of Karl August, in which Wagner and I would have been the leaders as formerly Goethe and Schiller, but unfavourable circumstances brought these dreams to nothing.' Though Liszt did not accomplish all he wished for Weimar, the little city still ranks high among German art-centres, and in some degree carries on the work of advancement so firmly established between the years 1844 and 1861.
The resignation of the Weimar Kapellmeistership in 1861 was followed by what Liszt called his vie trifurquée, divided between Budapest, Weimar, and Rome. The Hungarian Government, in order to ensure Liszt's presence in Budapest during part of the year, invented for him (1870) the post of president of an institution which at the moment did not exist, but which soon afterwards rose as the Academy of Music. Impressive scenes occurred when the Magyars publicly fêted their compatriot, and hero-worship was at its height on such occasions as the jubilee of the master's career in 1873, when 'Christus' was performed at the Hungarian capital.
The aspect of Liszt's every-day life at Weimar has become known through the accounts of some of the host of aspiring pianists and music lovers who gathered around him there. Liszt's teaching ​had already borne fruit in the wonderful achievements of his most distinguished pupils—Von Bülow, Geza Zichy, D' Albert, the lamented Tausig, and others, and no wonder that the music room which the generous artist had thrown open to all comers was thronged by a number of more or less gifted young people in search of inspiration—no other word so well describes the ideal character of the instruction they were privileged to receive.
Liszt held his classes in the afternoon, during which several of the pupils would play their piece in the presence of the rest—some dozen or more, perhaps—all being expected to attend the séance. At times the master would seat himself at the piano and play, but this supreme pleasure could never be counted upon. It was noticeable that this most unselfish of geniuses was never more strict or more terrible than when a Beethoven sonata was brought to him, whereas he would listen to the execution of his own compositions with indulgent patience—a characteristic trait. Yet Liszt's thoughts often dwelt upon his great choral works, and he was heard to declare that sacred music had become to him the only thing worth living for.
A lively description of Liszt's professorial life has been given by an American lady who visited Weimar in 1873. Again, the unique qualities of Liszt's genius and his regal position among all sorts and conditions of men were recognized as unimpaired ten years later by Mr. Francis Hueffer, who had the opportunity of forming a judgment upon these things when visiting Bayreuth in 1884, thus affording another link in the chain of historical criticism.
In Rome again Liszt found himself the centre of an artistic circle of which Herr von Keudell and Sgambati were the moving spirits. The significance, however, of his residence in the Eternal City lies rather in the view he took of it as his années de recueillement, which ultimately led to his binding himself as closely as he could to the Church of Rome. He who in his youth, with the thirst for knowledge upon him, had enjoyed the writings of freethinkers and atheists (without being convinced by them), was now content with his breviary and book of hours; the impetuous artist who had felt the fascination of St. Simonianism before he had thoroughly understood its raison d'etre, who had been carried away by the currents of the revolution, and had even in 1841 joined the Freemasons, became in 1856 or 58 a tertiary of St. Francis of Assisi. In 1879 be was permitted to receive the tonsure and the four minor orders (doorkeeper, reader, exorcist, and acolyth), and an honorary canonry. The Abbé Liszt, who as a boy had wished to enter the priesthood, but was dissuaded therefrom by his parents and his confessor, now rejoiced in the public avowal of his creed as conveyed by his priestly garb, although he was indeed no priest, could neither say mass nor hear a confession, and was at liberty to discard his cassock, and even to marry if he chose, without causing scandal. Thus, in the struggle with the world which the youth of sixteen had so much dreaded, his religious fervour was destined to carry the day. Extracts from Liszt's private papers throwing further light on his inmost thoughts have been published, but can be only referred to in this place.
Liszt's former triumphs in England were destined to be eclipsed by the enthusiasm of the reception which awaited him when he was prevailed upon to return in 1886. In 1824 George IV. had given the sign to the aristocracy of homage to the child-prodigy; and his visits in the following year and in 1827 were successful enough. In 1840–41 the Queen's favour was accorded to him, and he shared with Thalberg a reputation as a skilful pianist in fashionable circles. But it was not until 1886 that the vast popularity which had hitherto been withheld from him, owing to the conditions of musical life in our country, was meted out to him in full measure. 'There is no doubt,' says a musical critic, 'that much of this enthusiasm proceeded from genuine admiration of his music, mixed with a feeling that that music, for a number of years, had been shamefully neglected in this country, and that now, at last, the time had come to make amends to a great and famous man, fortunately still living. It is equally certain that a great many people who were carried away by the current of enthusiasm—including the very cabmen in the streets, who gave three cheers for the "Habby Liszt"—had never heard a note of his music, or would have appreciated it much if they had. The spell to which they submitted was a purely personal one; it was the same fascination which Liszt exercised over almost every man and woman who came into contact with him.'
Liszt paused awhile in Paris on his way, and received much attention, his musical friends and followers gathering to meet him at the concerts of Colonne, Lamoureux, and Pasdeloup. At length on April 3, the Abbé Liszt reached our shores, and on the same evening three or four hundred people met at Mr. Littleton's house at Sydenham to do honour to the great artist, and a programme consisting entirely of his compositions was gone through by Mr. Walter Bache and others. The gracious and venerable appearance of the distinguished guest, and his kindly interest in all that went forward, won the hearts of those who witnessed the scene; all recognized the presence in their midst of a marvellous personality such as is rarely met with. On the following day Liszt played part of his E♭ Concerto before a few friends. On the Monday he attended the rehearsal of his oratorio 'St. Elisabeth' in St. James's Hall; and in the ​evening of the same day he astonished his host and a circle of friends by an improvisation on some of the themes. The 6th April was the date of the concert, and when the composer walked into the hall he received such ovations as had probably never been offered to an artist in England before. Even before he entered his arrival was announced by the shouts of the crowd outside, who hailed him as if he were a king returning to his kingdom. During the afternoon Liszt had been entertained at the Royal Academy of Music, where the Liszt Scholarship, raised with so much zeal by Mr. Walter Bache, was presented by him to the master. A short programme was performed, Messrs. Shakespeare and Mackenzie conducting, and when Liszt rose from his seat and moved towards the piano, the excitement of the students and of the rest of the audience knew no bounds. A visit to Windsor, where he played to Her Majesty a reminiscence of the Rose Miracle scene from 'St. Elisabeth,' filled up most of the following day (April 8), on the evening of which Mr. Walter Bache's Grosvenor Gallery Reception took place. The brilliant scene of Saturday was here repeated, with the very important additional feature of a solo from Liszt himself. [See Bache, vol. iv. p. 529.] The events which followed in the course of the great man's visit included a performance of 'St. Elisabeth' at the Crystal Palace on the 17th. On the 22nd, a week later than he intended, Liszt left England, pleased with his reception, and promising to repeat his visit. No wonder that his death was felt by English people as the loss of a personal friend. The last music he wrote was a bar or two of Mackenzie's 'Troubadour,' upon which he had intended to write a fantasia.
The remaining incidents in the life of Liszt may only be briefly touched upon. Paris gave him a performance of 'St. Elisabeth' at the Trocadéro. The master left Paris in May, and visited in turn Antwerp, Jena, and Sondershausen. He attended the summer festival here while suffering from weakness and cold. 'On m'a mis les bottes pour le grand voyage,' he said, excusing himself to a friend for remaining seated. His last appearance upon a concert platform was on July 19, when, accompanied by M. and Mme. Munkácsy, he attended a concert of the Musical Society of Luxemburg. At the end of the concert he was prevailed upon to seat himself at the piano. He played a fantasia, and a 'Soirée de Vienne.' It need not be said that the audience, touched and delighted by the unlooked-for favour, applauded the master with frenzy. In the pages of Janka Wohl's 'François Liszt' there is an account of a scene during Liszt's stay at the Munkácsys' house, according to the writer a record of the last time the greatest master of the pianoforte touched his instrument. A flying visit had been paid to Bayreuth on the marriage of Daniela von Bülow—Liszt's granddaughter—with Herr von Thode on July 4. Liszt returned again for the performance of 'Parsifal' on the 23rd. He was suffering from a bronchial attack, but the cough for a day or two became less troublesome, and he ventured to attend another play, an exceptionally fine performance of 'Tristan,' during which the face of Liszt shone full of life and happiness, though his weakness was so great that he had been almost carried to and from the carriage and Mme. Wagner's box. This memorable performance of 'Tristan,' in which the singers (Sucher, Vogl, etc.) and players surpassed themselves, lingered in Liszt's mind until his death. When he returned home he was prostrate, and those surrounding him feared the worst. The patient was confined to his bed and kept perfectly quiet. The case was from the first hopeless, the immediate cause of death being general weakness rather than the severe cold and inflammation of the lungs which supervened on July 31. His death that night was absolutely painless.
Since the funeral in the Bayreuth cemetery on Aug. 3, Liszt's ashes have not been disturbed, although Weimar and Budapest each asserted a claim to the body of the illustrious dead. Cardinal Haynauld and the Princess Wittgenstein (heiress and executrix under his will) gave way before the wishes of Liszt's sole surviving daughter, Cosima Wagner, supported as they were by public opinion and the known views of Liszt himself, who had not looked with favour on the removal of the remains of Beethoven and Schubert, and had expressed a hope that it might not also be his fate to 'herumfahren.' These towns, as well as others, have therefore raised a monument to the genius who was associated with them. The memory of Liszt has been honoured in a practical way in many places. Liszt societies existed during the master's lifetime, and they have now been multiplied. Immediately after the funeral a meeting of the leading musicians was held at Bayreuth, at which Richter made a speech and urged that all the living forces of the artistic world should unite to preserve the memory of the master by perfect renderings of his own and other modern works. The Grand Duke of Weimar, Liszt's friend and protector, sent the intendant of the theatre to Bayreuth to confer with Richter upon the best means of perpetuating Liszt's intentions. He proposed a Liszt foundation after the manner of the Mozarteum at Salzburg. A Liszt museum was to be established in the house where he lived at Weimar, and scholarships were to be offered to promising young musicians, and on similar lines scholarships have been instituted elsewhere.
An outcome of this project is the Fondation-Liszt, instituted by his firm friend the Duke of Weimar after his death, to continue instruction on the basis he had laid.
The first competition for the Liszt Royal Academy scholarship took place in April 1887. The scholarship is open for competition by male and female candidates, natives of any country, between 14 and 20 years of age, and may be awarded to the one who may be judged to evince the greatest merit in pianoforte playing or in composition. All candidates have to pass ​an examination in general education before entering the musical contest. The holder is entitled to three years' free instruction in the Academy, and after that to a yearly sum for continental study.
Among portraits of the master, the bust executed by Boehm, and exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1886, will have great interest for English people, as Liszt sat for it during his visit to Sydenham in the same year. Plaster casts of this bust have since been issued by Novellos. The head of Liszt upon his death-bed has been successfully represented in a plaster cast by Messrs. Weissbrod & Schnappauf of Bayreuth. On pp. 149 and 219 of Janka Wohl's volume a detailed account and list of portraits and paintings may be found.
The task of collecting Liszt's posthumous works has not been an easy one, the composer having distributed his MSS. amongst his friends and pupils. There have already been published during the last ten years, by Taborszky & Parsch, Budapest:—
'Ungarisches Königslled,' for male voices or mixed chorus with orchestral accompaniment; the same in PF. score, and in arrangements for baritone solo, and for 4 hands and 2 hands on the PF.
'Ungarn's Gott,' for baritone solo and ad lib. chorus of male voices. Also for PF., 2 hands; also for PF., left hand; also for organ or harmonium; also for cymbal.
Csádáas for PF., 2 hands.
Csárdás obstiné. Do.
Dem Andenken Petöfl's for PF., 2 and 4 hands.
16th Hungarian Rhapsody (Munkácsy), 2 hands; also 4 hands. 17th do. (Aus dem Figaro Album). 18th do. (Für das Album der Budapester Ausstellung). 19th do. (nach C. Abrányi's Csárdás nobles').
Published by Kahut's Nachfolger:—
'Christus,' PF. arrangements, 2 and 4 hands.
Antiphon for St. Cecilia's Day, contralto solo and 5-part mixed choir, and orchestral accompaniment. Also PF. or vocal score.
'Le Crucifix,' for contralto solo, with harmonium or PF. accompaniment.
Missa pro Organo.
Sacred Choruses. No. X, Anima Christi; No. XI, Tu es Petrus; No. XII, Dominus conservet eum.
'Salve Regina' (Gregorian), for harmonium or organ.
Songs: 'Verlassen,' 'Ich verlor die Kraft.'
Duet: 'O Meer im Abendstrahl.'
'Sonnenhymnus.' Baritone solo, male voice chorus, organ and orchestra. Also vocal score.
'Stanislaus,' oratorio. Full score. Vocal score. Single numbers.
'Salve Polonia,' Interludium. Full score. Also arrangement for PF.
'De Profundis,' Ps. cxxix, bass or alto solo, with PF. or organ.
'Le barde aveugle,' ballade for PF.
Collected Songs.
By Various Publishers:—
'Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe,' symphonic poem, after a drawing by Michael Zichy.
Varianten und Zusätze to 'Festklänge.'
'Le triomphe funèbre de Tasse.' epilogue to 'Tasso.'
Two new Mephisto-Walzer, orch. and PF., 2 or 4 hands (Fürstner).
'Crux,' Hymne des Marins, chorus and accompaniment ad lib.
'Pax Vobiscum,' motet, 4 male voices.
'Natus est Christus,' 4 male voices.
'Qui Mariam absolvisti,' baritone solo and chorus.
'O heilige Nacht,' tenor solo and 3-part female chorus (Fürstner).
'Nun danket Alle Gott,' chorus, organ, trumpets, trombones, and drums.
Antiphon for St. Cecilia's Day, contralto solo and 5-part female chorus.
Original, for Pianoforte:—
Années de Pélérinage. Troisième Année: No. 1. Angelus (also for string quartet). No. 2. Aux Cyprès de la Villa d'Este. No. 3. Do. No. 4. Les Jeux d'Eaux à la Villa d'Este. No. 5: 'Sunt lacrymae rerum' en mode hongrois. No. 6. Marche funèbre. No. 7. 'Sursum corda' (also for solo voices, Schott), 'Abschied,' russisches Volkslied. 'Die Trauer-Gondel' (Fritzsch). 3 Valses oubliées; Valse Élegiaque (Bote & Bock); Étude in C; Andante maestoso (Rosavölgy). 'Weihnachtsbaum,' 12 pieces, 2 or 4 hands (Fürstner). Grosses Concert-Fantasia über Spanische Weisen (Licht). Twelve books of Technical Studies, with more to follow (Schuberth).
Transcriptions:—
Processional March from 'Parsifal' (Schott). Other Wagner transcriptions (Schott, and B. & H.) Berlioz's 'Harold' Symphony (Leuckart). Verdi's 'Aïda' and 'Requiem.' Lassen's 'Hagen und Kriemhilde,' 'Faust,' and Intermezzo from 'Ueber allen Zaubern Liebe (Bote & Bock). Liebesscene and Fortuna's Kugel from Goldschmldt's 'Die sieben Todsünden.' Rubinstein's 'Gelb rollf and 'Der Asra' (Kistner). Schumann's 'Provençalisches Minnelied' (Fürstner). Forty-two Lieder by Beethoven, Franz, Schumann, and Mendelssohn (B. & H.). Paraphrase of themes from Handel's 'Almira.' Paraphrase of themes from modern Russian works. Wilhorsky's 'Romance.' Arrangements of Fest-Cantata for 4 hands; nocturne, 4 hands. Schubert's Marches, 4 hands. Beethoven's Concertos, 2 PFs.
Liszt had completed, or is said to have partly written:—New symphonic poem for organ, on lines by Herder, 'The Organ'; 'Lo sposalizio' (org.); Romance oubliée (violin); Mephisto Polka; new edition 'Soirées de Vienne'; score of Zarembski's duets; 'Die Macht der Musik,' song; Fantasia for orch. and PF. on Schubert's 'Der Wanderer'; 'Die Nebensonnen' and 'Aufenthalt' (Schubert) for PF.; 'Weihelied' to Leo XIII; 'Der ewige Jude,' for PF. with declaimed poem (Schubart).
[ L. M. M. ]
* ↑ Ramann's 'F. Liszt als Künstler und Mensch,' vol. ii. Breitkopf & Härtel.
* ↑ 'Briefwechsel zwischen Wagner und Liszt.' Breitkopf & Härtel.
* ↑ Janka Wohl's 'François Liszt.'
* ↑ 'Music Study in Germany,' Amy Fay.
* ↑ In the Fortnightly Review for September 1886.
* ↑ 'I neither officially nor unofficially belonged to the St. Simonians.' See Ramann, vol. 1. Heine is inaccurate on this and some other points.
* ↑ At Frankfort-on-the-Maine, during the period of his sojourn at Nonnenwerth with the Countess d'Agoult.
* ↑ Allgemeine Musik-Zeitung, May 13, 1887.
* ↑ His project of conducting German opera in London in 1842 came to nothing.
* ↑ Fortnightly Review, September 1886.
* ↑ For this England is indebted to the exertions of the late Mr. Walter Bache (who raised upwards of 1100l. for the purpose).
* ↑ All posthumous MSS. were handed over to the Allg. Deutsche Musikverein by the Princess Hohenlohe, the daughter of Liszt's faithful friend and testatrix, the Princess Wittgenstein, who died in 1887.