The sun., 1903-08-30
ON THE TRAIL OF LISZR.
a CRITICS MUSINGS AMONG THE
Music MASTERS.

Anh Also Among the Masters OF PaprikI
Scinitzi, n Poem In Veal-M OmderfIl
Melodies by Hat Passers--vhe Tripl
Rnd Mathematical TIP In Vienna
II is a holy and wholesome thought t.
visit tn graves of genius, for the memore,
aroused may serve both as an inspiration ant
a consolation in the spiritually arid tracts
Of everyday life. Following the trail o
Liszt from Weimar 10 Rome thence tC
Budapest. which cities We're the three he
Inhabited during his annual itinerary
might prove pretty diversion for those tc
whom the name of this Hungarian maste
means more than reputation for piano
forte virtuosity.
Franz Liszt was the greatest pianist the
world has ever heard; but he was a greater
man ard a great composer. Some day
these facts will be recognized and then ii
will not be necessary TO state them. Liszt
is now n classic in the making and that
indeterminate period is always a fascinat
ing one to the student.
But as my pilgrimage has been primarily
one devoted to the theatres and drama,
what Lszt was and what Liszt may be
need not now concern us. The emotions
aroused at the sight Of great mems relics
are profound only TO the irdNid lal--they
seldom make interesting reading so more
than record Of the fact that ] alighted at
Rouen to visit the tomb of Gustave Flau-
bert is not OF burning importance. Yet
cannot help protesting at the tardy official
a. ,T~l ,p 4, lao,
prose masters France can boast, and one
Of the great world noNelists.
In the Solferino Gardens there is the
marble memorial by the sculptor Chapu'
and up on the heights of the Monumental
Cemetery lie his remains in the Flaubert
family plot not far from the Joan of Arc
monument. The Government has done
nothing, though it has erected marble
auarries to mediocries not worthy to
unatch the shoes of Flaubert Guy de
NIaupassant is remembered in the Sol
ferino Gardens by n statue ris-dris 10 the
master whom he loved and to whom he
owed so much In Paris another loving me-
mortal stands in the Pare Monceau, yet for
Flaubert. giant compared 10 the unhappy
writer of Comics. there is nothing-not even
commemorative tablet.
The least reparation for this neglect
that the French Government can offer is
the purchase and preservation of the little
house in which "Mne Bovary" was COM
posed with such painful travail 1t still
stands. though fast crumbhng into decay
on the bank of the Seine at Croisset about
half an hour below Rouen. The paternal
house has vanished and occupying part of
the little park is a dismantled manufactory.
II is said that Abb" Prey ost wrote "Manon
Lescaut in the old house.
The faithful Colangp, for twenty years
servitor in the Faubert household, keers
small cafe near his former home, and is
always ready to talk of the master and of
his mother, Mime. Flaubert. For two sea-
sons have vainly tried o get from Coange
a pho ograph of the mother. To me the
mothers of great men are of extraordinary
interest. No money can tempt the old
man, though he could easily have the pict-
ure reproduced and sell the copies.
On the road to Weimar did not look for
Heines plums, but did leave the train at
Naumburg, hoping for a personal inter-
view with Elizabeth Forster Nietzsche.
1 was ulSdppolnleu IIls SlhleI Ol lne uedu
philosopher was not in the city.
Here was brought what was once tho
most brilliant and original mind Of his CEN
fury and here his body, mere functional
machine, died-the brain burned away
hv too strenuous thinking and feeling
A philosopher who is also lyric rhapsodist
must pay double debt to he Jealous gods
After rambling over Weimar and burrow-
ing in the LisZt museum, one feels tempted
to pronounce Liszt the happiest of COM
posers, as Yeats calls William Morris the hap
piest of the poets A career without parallel,
a victorious General at the head of his
ivory army; a lodestone for men and women;
poet, diplomat ecclesiastic, man of the
world, with the sunny nature of child.
loved by all, envious OF no one-surely
the fates forgot to spin evil threads at the
cradle of Franz Liszt. He too, like Fried
rich Met zsche had dsmonic fantasy; but
for him it was gift for the other a curse
Music IL an outlet and Nietzsche OF all men
would have benefited by it's healing powers.
In Weinar Liszt walked and talked,
smoked strong cigars, played, prayed-for
he never missed early mass-and composed
His old housekeeper, Frau Pauline APPEL,
81 i'll a hale woman, shows, with loving care,
I he memorials In the little museum on he
first floor of the Wohnhaus. which stands
in he gardens Of the beautiful ducaI park
Here Goethe and Schiller once prone
naded in a company that has become his
toric. And cannot Weimar lay claim TO
Tannhauser performance as early as 1919,
the -Lohengrin' production in 1850 and
the Flying Dutchman' in 1859? What
collection of musical manuscripts, trophies,
Jewels, pictures, orders, letters-l saw one
from Charles Baudelaire to Liszt and tes-
timonials from all over the globe, which
accumulated during the career of this
extraordinary man!
The Steinway grand pianoforte, once
so dearly priced by the master. has been
taken away to make room for the many
cases containing precious gifts from sover-
eigns, the scores of the Christus, Faust
Symphony, Orpheus, Hungaria Berg
Symphony, Totentanz and Festklange.
But the old instrument upon which he
played years ago still stands in one of the
rooms. Marble casts Of LisZt s., Beethoven's
aud Chopin's hands are in view; also Liszt 8
hand firmly clasping the slender fingers
of the Princess -Wittgenstein. Like
Chopin, Liszt attracted Countesses as sugar