Letters of Franz Liszt
Chapter 152 : Will you have the goodness, Madame, to remember me very kindly to my excellent master

Will you have the goodness, Madame, to remember me very kindly to my excellent master and friend, Moscheles? and accept again, I beg you, the expression of my respect, and of my most affectionate sentiments.

F. Liszt

Weymar, June 22nd, 1848

393. To Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst

[Portions of this, as of the previous letter, were printed in the "Voltaire."--Addressee the famous violin virtuoso and composer (1814-1865)]

May 30th, 1849

Dear Friend,

Weymar has not forgotten you, and I hope soon to be able, after the return of the Hereditary Prince whom we expect for the day of his fete, by the 24th of May at the very latest, to forward to you the token of the distinguished remembrance in which you are held. It pleases me to think that it will be agreeable to you, and that it will tend to attach you more in the sequel to people worthy to appreciate you.

I should have desired to tell you sooner of this, but the inevitable delays in present circ.u.mstances postpone more than one wish.

After the deplorable days in Dresden Wagner came here, and only departed again in order to escape from a warrant (lettre de cachet) with which the Saxon government is pursuing him. I hope that at the present moment he will have arrived safe and well in Paris, where his career of dramatic composer cannot fail to be extended, and in grand proportions. He is a man of evident genius, who must of necessity obtrude himself on the general admiration, and hold a high place in contemporary art. I regret that you have not had the opportunity of hearing his "Tannhauser," which is for me the most lyric of dramas, the most remarkable, the most harmonious, the most complete, the most original and selbstwurdig (the most worthy of its country), both in foundation and form, that Germany has produced since Weber. Belloni has, I believe, written to you on the subject of Wagner, to ask for information as to the actual state of the English Opera in London. I make no doubt that if it were possible for Wagner to obtain from the directors a tour of performances in the course of the year for a new work ("Lohengrin," the subject of which, having reference to the Knights of the Round Table who went to search for the Holy Grail, is of the most poetic interest) he would make a great sensation and large receipts by it. As soon as he tells me the news of his arrival in Paris, allow me to induce him to write to you direct if his plans do not change in this matter.

394. To Joseph Dessauer

[Draft of an autograph letter, without address, date, and conclusion, in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar.]

[Probably at the beginning of the fifties.]

Heartiest thanks for your Songs. I rejoice that you consider me worthy of a dedication, and I promise you that if we meet again I will sing you the songs by heart. Perhaps you will bring me again into such a mood for songs as will impel me to write something of that sort. My earlier songs are mostly too ultra sentimental, and frequently too full in the accompaniment.

395. Testimonial for Joachim Raff

[Draft of an autograph letter, without address and date, in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar]

[Probably at the beginning of the fifties.]

The talents of M. Raff as composer and musician are a fact so evident and certain, his recent orchestral compositions as well as his works for voice and piano furnish such forcible proofs of it, that I consider it superfluous to add to this evidence and to certify it further.

Having had more opportunity than others, during the few years of our intercourse, of appreciating his capacities (notably at the time of the Musical Festival at Bonn for the inauguration of Beethoven's monument in 1845,-and of those to Herder and Goethe at Weymar in 1850, etc.), knowing thoroughly both the score of his four-act Opera "King Alfred," given many times with great success in Weymar under the author's conductors.h.i.+p, as well as many of his ma.n.u.script works, which I sincerely esteem, I shall always make it my duty seriously to recommend M. Raff to those of the Musical Inst.i.tutes which attach a value to the possession of an intelligent director and one well acquainted with the exigencies and the progress of the art.

F. Liszt

396. To Dr. Eduard Hanslick in Vienna

[The renowned musical author and critic (born in Prague in 1825), professor of the history of music in the University of Vienna.-- The letter refers to the Mozart jubilee concert conducted by Liszt in Vienna, and to Hanslick's critique, in which he censured the want of courtesy with which Liszt, who had been invited to conduct this concert, was treated by the committee and the public.]

Sir,

The manner in which you have given an account in the Presse of the two concerts of Sunday and Monday, corresponds entirely with the opinion which I had of you--and you have proved yourself on this occasion, according to your custom, an eminent critic and a perfect gentleman. [The word "gentleman" is in English in Liszt's letter.]

Permit me to offer you my sincere thanks for the part you have been pleased to devote to me, and to hope that the coming years, in bringing us more together, will better enable me to prove the sincere sentiments of esteem and distinguished regard, the a.s.surance of which I beg you to accept.

F. Liszt

January 3lst, 1856

397. To the Austrian Minister of the Interior, Freiherr von Bach

[Autograph sketch of a letter in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar. The Gran Ma.s.s was in fact engraved and published by the State printing-press at Vienna.]

Your Excellency,

The interest and protection which your Excellency extends to the spiritual interests of the empire permit me to bring forward the wish and the pet.i.tion that the Ma.s.s which I composed by order of His Eminence the Prince Primate of Hungary for the Dedication- Festival of the Basilica at Gran, and performed there on the 3lst August, may be printed and published in full score and piano score by the Royal Imperial State printing-press at the cost of the State.

Without improperly praising my own composition I venture humbly to express the confidence that the Catholic significance and spirit which form its groundwork and supplement its modest porportions would gradually be more propagated and comprehended by the publication of the work, so that I might hope to have furnished a not unworthy contribution to Christian Art as well as to the great Church and Country's Festival of the 31st August.

In the expectation that my request will meet with that a.s.sisting favor which is indispensable to earnest and honest artistic effort, I have the honor to remain most obediently

Your Excellency's most humble and devoted servant,

F. Liszt

Vienna, September 18th, 1856

398. To (?) in Leipzig

[Draft of an autograph letter, without address, date, and conclusion, in the Liszt-Museum at Weimar.--The contents refer to the Orchestral Concert of the Tonkunstler-Versammlung, planned and carried out at Leipzig in the beginning of June, 1859.]

[Spring, 1859.]

Dear Friend,

At the same time with your letter I received from Brendel fuller information about the Leipzig preliminaries, to which he will also receive a fuller reply.

I am not of opinion that the Orchestral concert is to be given up immediately on account of the negative decision of Rietz. Very possibly David will undertake to conduct it, and I advise Brendel to come to a good understanding with him about it. On the other hand it might be expected, in a case of necessity, that the Weimar and Sondershausen orchestras would unite to carry out the Programme. But this latter must be as strictly adhered to as was formerly determined, and not lose its exclusive character as "compositions by collaborators of the newspaper only"--Schumann, Berlioz, Wagner, R. Franz, and lastly my humble self. I cannot therefore in any respect agree to the concession enjoined by Brendel, of admitting works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, etc., nor do I see the motive of it. As far as the musical is concerned, I consider it impossible to give such an exceedingly rich programme on one evening without stupifying the public; that would go beyond the ill-famed London concerts which last six hours, not to speak of the fact that we should have to put the recognised cla.s.sics far too much in the shade!--But, above all, such an over-loaded programme is thoroughly unsuitable to the jubilee-celebration of the Neue Zeitschrift, which on this occasion [ought] especially to emphasize its just claims and the progress in Art which it aims at and supports. On this account it is necessary to adhere to the limits of the programme originally agreed upon.

Finally, in case insurmountable hindrances should arise to prevent the carrying out of this same, I have no inclination to subst.i.tute for the Orclaestral-concert one for Chamber-music. But the word "Evening entertainment" must, as is self-evident, be entirely dispensed with. Our business is to raise, to educate the audience, not to amuse them; and if indeed, as Goethe very pertinently says, "deep and earnest thinkers are in a bad position as regards the public," we will therefore not so much the less, but so much the more earnestly maintain this position.

Meanwhile it is advisable to advertise the first evening's musical performance by the expression Concert in the Gewandhaus, until we have quite decided whether it shall be a concert with orchestra, or only with chamber-music. [An orchestral concert took place in the theater, when compositions by Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Chopin were, nevertheless, included among the others.]

N.B.-Please not to communicate these remarks to any one except perhaps Brendel, as the very outspoken opinions herein about the Concert-programme must absolutely be kept secret.