Letters of Franz Liszt
Chapter 87 : Herbeck, Court conductor, etc., etc. Graben, Trattnerhof. Vienna.Austria.I shall spend

Herbeck, Court conductor, etc., etc. Graben, Trattnerhof. Vienna.

Austria.

I shall spend two or three days at Ratisbon towards the middle of April, in order to hear the Cathedral choir there, which has a great reputation in Germany. There also I shall find a ma.n.u.script of the highest interest, and one which up to now has been almost unknown: it is the opus music.u.m magnum of Orlandus La.s.sus. It is composed of more than five hundred pieces of music.

Are you in touch with Mr. Pustet, the most considerable publisher of religious music at Ratisbon?--

Your visit to Rome will be extremely agreeable to me. I expect to be back at the end of April and to pa.s.s the summer at Santa Francesca Romana.

Your very affectionately devoted

F. Liszt

Weimar, March 3rd, 1869

Probably I shall profit by your kind proposition, and shall send you shortly a Ma.s.s (for 4 voices, with a simple Organ accompaniment).

85. To Laura Kahrer, in Vienna

[Now married to Concertmeister Rappoldi in Dresden, and one of the lady-professors at the Conservatoire there. The above note, which was accompanied by a silver pen for composing, Liszt sent her after having been present at her first public appearance at a charity-concert in the Royal Opera House in Vienna. In 1870 she became a pupil of his in Weimar, and was soon considered one of the most distinguished lady-pianists; since 1879 she has enjoyed the t.i.tle of Kammervirtuosin (Court pianist) of Saxony.]

Dear and astounding Artiste,

Accept this small remembrance of the hour when your extraordinary talent so joyfully surprised me, and be a.s.sured of the sincere and friendly devotion of yours,

F. Liszt

Vienna, April 15th, 1869

86. To Franz Servais

[Composer; conducted the Wagner performances in the Theater de la Monnaie, Brussels, in 1890-91.]

Dear Monsieur Franz,

The sincere pleasure caused me by your letter, which reached me at Pest at the end of April, is completed by the one you have addressed to me here. I am delighted to hear that my prophecy has been realised and that you enjoyed yourself at Munich. At this time you would not find anywhere else an ensemble of ideas, works, acts and instruction so suited to your artist-nature, and, consequently, so favorable to the full development of your fine powers. Thanks to M. de Bulow and his prodigious activity, on a par with his intelligence, Munich is becoming the new musical capital of Germany. You will therefore do well to stay some time there, in order vigorously to prepare yourself for the task which has devolved on you elsewhere.

Perhaps I may see you again this summer, for if, as announced, "Rheingold" is performed there on the 25th August I shall come to it.

Meanwhile I thank you for having so well listened to the "Elizabeth"; that is a presage to me that we shall meet more than once on the same path, in which I wish you the most complete success. .--.

Believe, dear Monsieur Franz, in my very devoted affection.

F. Liszt

Rome May 21st, 1869

87. To William Mason

Rome, May 26th, 1869

Dear Mr. Mason,

Mr. Seward has given me your kind letter and several of your compositions. These give me a double pleasure in that they prove that you have not lost your time at Weimar, and that you continue to make good use of it elsewhere.

The Etude de Concert (Op. 9) and the Valse Caprice (Op. 17) are of a distinguished style and make a good effect. I shall also sincerely praise the 3 Preludes (Op. 8) and the two Ballades, but with some reservation. The first Ballade appears to me somewhat cut short; it wants I know not what at the beginning and towards the middle (page 7) of something needed to make the melody stand out; and the pastorale of the 2nd Ballade (page 7) figures like a too-cheap piece of "padding."... And, since I am in the vein for criticising, let me ask why you call your "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman"--"Caprice grotesque?" Apart from the fact that the grotesque style should not intrude into music, that t.i.tle is unjust to the clever imitations and harmonies of the piece, very charming by the way, and which it would be more suitable to ent.i.tle "Divertiss.e.m.e.nt" or "Variazione scherzose."--

As to the Methode, you won't expect me to make a deep study of that. I am much too old for such a thing, and it is only in self- defence that I still work sometimes at the piano in view of the incessant botherations and indiscretions of a heap of people who imagine that nothing would be more flattering to me than to amuse them!--

Nevertheless, in looking through your Methode I find some exercises much to be recommended, namely, the "interlocking pa.s.sages" page 136 to 142;--and all the "accentual treatment" of Exercises. [The italics (here in quotations) in this sentence are written in English and in italics by Liszt.]

May your pupils and the editor obtain from them all the profit that I wish them!

A thousand thanks, dear Mr. Mason, and count on my very affectionate and devoted sentiments of old.

F. Liszt

88. To the Composer Heinrich Schulz-Beuthen

[Printed in Gottschalg's "Chorgesang," 1890.--Schulz-Beuthen was born in 1838.]

Very dear Sir,

That you have dedicated your 42nd and 43rd Psalms to me I feel to be an honor in the artistic sense, for which I am sincerely grateful. It is long since any new composition has given me the impression of intellectual strength and musical completeness such as I find in yours. And this work stands even above eminent compositions of the kind. It appears to me even more fully rounded, pregnant and powerful than your 29th Psalm, which I justly recognised as a distinguished work upon first reading it through. The grand impression produced by your 29th Psalm on the occasion of the Tonkunstler-Versammlung in Dessau confirmed my predictions, and I am convinced that wherever the 42nd and 43rd Psalms are heard every person with any depth of soul will feel their sublime beauty, and offer you something more valuable than mere ordinary applause. Do not look for word-making from me; I never knew much about it, and I can still less try my hand at it now in my old age. But allow me, very dear sir, to tell you quite frankly and briefly this:--

You must not hold yourself aloof and at a distance; your splendid works must be performed, printed and circulated. And although-- owing to the idle and impudent chatter of many leaders of the press--my influence in musical matters has been reduced to a minimum, still I hope shortly to arrange a performance of your Psalms in one or two places.

With sincere esteem I remain yours very truly,

F. Liszt

Weimar, June 18th, 1869

89. To Franz Servais

Dear Monsieur Franz,

.--. Although older than you, yet my enthusiasm for "Tristan" is not second to yours.--I am delighted that the performance has come off so well, but I should not wish this marvellous chef- d'oeuvre to become for you a sort of upas tree under the shadow of which you would go to sleep.--Great manifestations of genius ought to do the part of the sun,--to illuminate and fertilise.

Believe in my sentiments of devoted affection.