Letters of Franz Liszt
Chapter 93 : Last Sunday (22nd October) I had the great pleasure of a visit from Bulow. He is going

Last Sunday (22nd October) I had the great pleasure of a visit from Bulow. He is going to remain in Florence till the New Year, and he then begins a categorical concert tour in Vienna, Pest, Prague, Berlin, Leipzig, and at the end of April goes to London.

His perfect mastery as a virtuoso--in the finest sense of the word--is in its zenith. To him one might apply Dante's words: "A master to those who know."

Again my hearty thanks, and wis.h.i.+ng you an increase of La Mara's .--. writings, I remain with much esteem,

Yours very sincerely,

F. Listz

Rome, October 25th, 1871.

In a fortnight's time I travel to Pest.

113. To Breitkopf and Hartel

Dear Sirs,

In order justly to decide the question of plagiarism between Messrs. Altschul and Joseffy, [Both were pupils of Liszt; the former is now in Buda-Pest, the latter in New York.] one would need first of all to compare the ma.n.u.scripts of the two disputants. Altschul was kind enough last winter to play me his version in thirds and sixths of Chopin's "Valse" (in D-flat major); the other, questionable, version by Joseffy I do not know. If you think it advisable to send me both versions I am quite ready to let you have my opinion on the subject. Meanwhile I will only remark that the multifarious forms of pa.s.sages in thirds and sixths--upwards, downwards, to the right, to the left, or crossing, split up, etc., etc.--admit of a variety of forms of transcription in thirds and sixths of the Chopin Valse, and hence Herr Joseffy might quite innocently, in his love of sport as a virtuoso, have shot down his own bird even within Herr Altschul's range.

But whether two birds existed must be proved by the "corpus delicti."

With highest esteem I remain, dear sirs,

Most truly yours,

F. Liszt

Buda-Pest, November 22nd, 1871. (Palatinga.s.se 20.)

P.S.--Herewith is my yearly contribution to the "Bach- Gesellschaft."--

Allow me to reply, later on, to your kind inquiry in regard to a pianoforte piece.

114. To Madame A. Rubinstein in St. Petersburg

Madame,

Your talent of observation is as incontestable as your very charming amiability. With a sagacious eye you observed my predilection for the silent "compatriot," apparently rather sombre, but of excellent composition at bottom. [A box of caviare, which Madame Rubinstein had sent to Liszt.] Doubtless the advantages which appertain to it in its own right were peculiarly enhanced by the charm of your salon, where I hope to see it again and often. Meanwhile, since you are good enough to favor me with its uninterrupted company, I beg to a.s.sure you that I shall appreciate it even beyond its specific merits, which are moreover very real. Will you be so good as to renew to Rubinstein the expression of my old and admiring friends.h.i.+p, and accept, Madame, the most affectionate thanks and respects of your very devoted servant,

F. Liszt

Pest, Tuesday, January 9th, 1872

115. To Edmund von Mihalovich

Very Dear Friend,

Your new Song "Du bist wie eine Blume" ["Thou'rt like a tender flower"] is most welcome, and you have succeeded perfectly with it. It only remains to add a ninth to this No. 8, so that the volume may contain the number of the Muses. I hope that you will shortly bring me this No. 9 yourself, for we want you at the Tonkunstler-Versammlung (also the ninth), which will be held at Ca.s.sel from the 26th to the 30th June. Your "Geisterschiff"

figures on the programme of the first concert, and Riedel (our President) will write to you officially to invite you to fill the post of pilot and captain of your "phantom s.h.i.+p," in other words, to conduct the orchestra. At the same concert Volkmann's Overture "Richard III.," Raff's "Waldsymphonie," Rubinstein's Overture to "Faust" and a new Violin Concerto of Raff will be performed.

Wilhelmj will play the violin part, and I hope that other soloists of renown will also lend us their a.s.sistance. The programme of this year's Tonkunstler-Versammlung contains, besides these, a new old piece of goods--the "Elizabeth;" and an antiquated new one--"The Seven Words of O[ur]. S[aviour]., composed by Schutz at the end of the sixteenth century, and the ma.n.u.script of which was recently discovered at Ca.s.sel itself.

The "Elizabeth" will be given at Erfurt on the 2nd May, and on the 8th Riedel gives Berlioz's "Requiem" at Leipzig, for the benefit of our "Beethoven Scholars.h.i.+p." It goes without saying that I shall be present at these two performances.

.--. Schuberth has been very ill at New York, and is not yet sufficiently well to set out on his journey. I am expecting him here towards the middle of June: he will come to Ca.s.sel, where we will settle the little matter of your ma.n.u.scripts in five minutes.

Yours in all friends.h.i.+p,

F. Liszt

Weimar, April 18th, 1872

My most affectionate thanks to Count Albert Apponyi for his kind remembrance, with the a.s.surance of my cordial reciprocity.

P.S.--Augusz would give me great pleasure if he would send me a small provision of Hungarian tobacco (to smoke), for my old Weimar friend Grosse, the celebrated Trombonist.

Shall you not go to Bayreuth for the 22nd May? I shall invite you to do so.

116. To Johanna Wenzel

[The lady here addressed was a pupil of Liszt's at the time, and subsequently married Jules Zarembski, and is at present one of the teachers of the pianoforte at the Brussels Conservatoire.]

My Dear Young Lady,

In reply to your friendly lines I beg of you earnestly no longer to think of having the barbarous operation performed upon your fingers; rather all your life long play every octave and chord wrong than commit such a mad attack upon your hands.

With best thanks, I subscribe myself yours respectfully,

F. Liszt

Weimar, June l0th, 1872

117. To Wilhelm von Lenz

Very Honored Friend,

I owe you thanks in the 24 major and minor keys for the remembrance you keep of me, and the ardent style in which you publish it to the world. Your pamphlet ["Die grossen Pianoforte- Virtuosen unsrer Zeit" The Great Pianoforte Players of our Day.]

draws down upon itself a capital reproach; it is that you make me out too grand and too fine. I am far from deserving it, and I confess it without any false modesty; but since you have been pleased thus to overwhelm me I can but bow in silence,--and press your hand.

No one possesses less than myself the talent of talking with the pen, and the necessity of receiving more than a hundred letters a month (not counting bills, and the numerous sendings of ma.n.u.script or printed works which I have to read) makes correspondence again more than difficult for me. It is all I can do to get through the necessary epistolary work imposed upon me...Moreover the greater part of the things which are easily said is indifferent to me, and those that I wish to say resist ordinary language. On this subject some one well said to me: