UlNlVtKON T >F CALIFORNIA BERKELEY 30 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED MUSIC LIBRARY This book is due oo the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. Cue end of «3ffi quartef Snhii":t tn ff "'' '''*" OCT 3 3 197.1 mm LISZT. FEANZ LISZT THE STORY OF HIS LIFE BY RAPHAEL LEDOS DE BEAUFORT EDITOR AND TRANSLATOR OF "THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF GEOKGE SAND" Etc TO WHICH ARE ADDED LISZT AS A LITTERATEUR Essay by T. Carlaw Martin A LIST OF THE GREAT PIANISTS CHIEF COMPOSITIONS AND NAMES OF HIS PRINCIPAL PUPILS BOSTON Copyright, 1887, by OLIVER DITSON & CO NEW TORS CHICAGO PHILA C. H. DITSON & CO LYON , • the forced idleness of his long months of illness, he had not forgotten anything; his musical aptitudes now seemed indeed more apparent than before. He would play duets with his father, and eagerly try his hand with iv piece of music he could get hold of. His character had now acquired the bent which it was to ] 'reserve in after life. One of its most prominent features was the marked love of the boy for truth, which always caused him frankly to confess his little follies. Another of his characteristics that much influenced his success through life was the stubborn perseverance ami unwonted energy with which he would pursue the execution of whatever scheme he set his heart upon. Brought up, as it were, to the tune of Beet- hoven's music, he always showed a special partiality for the works of the great master, whose powerful and soul-stirring music he was destined to render with the artistic power and finish peculiar to his own genius. The music of the gipsies, too, so much in harmony with his :i warm ami passionate nature, seems to have on his mind a sort of mysterious and irrepressible charm. He would often, when a , listen to their unruly and frenzied out- Boyhood. 25 bursts, silent and motionless as if spell-bound by the magic power of the wild romances of those wandering sons of the plain. Like Beet- hoven's music, that of the gipsies left on his mind a lasting impression easily detected in his manner and productions. Although encouraging the musical aptitudes of his son, Adam Liszt did not neglect his general education. Franz was sent to the village priest, who taught him reading, writing, and arithmetic. Strange to say, though born a Hungarian, the young boy was never taught to speak his native tongue, which, indeed, was only used by the peasantry in like manner as Welsh or Gaelic are now used in Wales and in some parts of Scotland. This was also perhaps due to the fact of his mother's nationality ; at all events, Franz's father spoke Hungarian only with the village folk, in connection with his duties as steward. German, which, indeed, was the polite language of the land, was alone spoken in Franz's home. Young Franz used often now to accompany his father to the neighboring towns, chiefly to Eisenstadt and Oldenburg, where Adam Liszt had occasion to go on business connected with his duties. The father's pride could not refrain 26 Franz Liszt. from speaking of his boy's talent, so that at various times young Franz, who was already known under the name of Der Kiinstler (the artist), had been invited to play before some distinguished musicians, who, far from dissuad- ing Adam Liszt from encouraging the child's disposition, had strongly urged him to place Franz under the guidance of some efficient tutor. Adam was still, however, hesitating as to his son's future career, when an unexpected event soon enabled him to make up his mind in that respect. A young blind nobleman, Baron von Braun, whom the loss of his fortune had reduced to turn to account his musical talent, having heard some of his confreres speak most favor- ably of young Franz's playing, requested Adam Liszt to allow his son to play at a concert which was about to be given in Oldenburg. Inwardly flattered by the compliment, and delighted at having thus the opportunity of putting Franz's talent to the test, the father readily consented. The Concert at Oldenburg. 27 IV. Franz performs at public concerts in Oldenburg. — He plays before Prince Esterhazy in Eisenstadt. — Adam Liszt gives up his situation and leaves Raiding in order to go and settle in Vienna. — Concert in Presburg. — He obtains from some Hungarian nobles a pension for his son. — Franz is to study music. — Generosity of Hummel. "When the nine-year-old boy was informed of his father's decision, his joy knew no bounds at the prospect of playing for the first time in public. The desire for fame was indeed begin- ning to make itself felt in his youthful soul. It was a glorious day for Franz, that on which he started for Oldenburg in the company of his father. Though still suffering from a severe attack of intermittent fever, a disease endemic in the marshy district of Raiding, the boy would not hear of the concert being postponed, but insisted on playing. His performance consisted of the rendering of the concerto in E-sharp by Ferdinand Ries, and a free fantasia of his own composition, with orchestral accompaniment. 28 Franz Liszt. The fire, perseverance, power of execution, and discretion which the boy exhibited were indeed wonderful. Jn this first attempt Franz gave the proof of his possessing the two qualities indispensable to achieve success — talent and will. His father and all who heard him were delighted. Adam then made arrangements for a second concert to be given in Oldenburg by Franz on his own account. The success achieved by the youthful artist on this occasion was at least as great as at Braun's concert. Having then fully made up his mind that his son should become an artist, Adam Liszt at once returned to Raiding with Franz, in order to wind up his affairs and settle his accounts with the Prince; for now, and despite his wife's opposition, he had decided to give up his situation and to go to Vienna, in order to watch personally over his son's education. On his way to Presburg, Adam and his son called, in Eisenstadt, upon Prince Esterhazy, who showed great reluctance to accept the resignation of -so good and trustworthy an official as Franz's father had always been. On learning the intentions of Adam Liszt, the Prince, however, displayed the greatest interest in the boy's talent ; having expressed the wish The Concert at Presburg. 29 to hear him play, he was so delighted at his artistic aptitude that he gave him substantial encouragement, and even placed his castle at Presburg at Liszt's disposal for the concert which it was contemplated that Franz should give there ; the Princess herself treated the boy with the greatest kindness, and dismissed him with costly presents. Arrived in Presburg, Adam Liszt busied him- self with the preliminaries of the concert which was to have such a powerful influence on the career of the future virtuoso. Partly out of deference for Prince Esterhazy, partly also out of curiosity to hear the youthful artist whose fame was already spreading, every member of the Hungarian aristocracy then in Presburg promised to attend the concert. ' The per- formance was given under the most favorable auspices, in one of the gorgeous drawing-rooms of the prince's palace situated in the Yorstadt Blumenthal, then the most fashionable part of Presburg;. Among the audience were some of the highest magnates of Hungary : Counts Erdcedy, Szapary, Apponyi, and many others. Franz's concert was not a mere success — it was a triumph. The originality and fire of the child's execution took connoisseurs by surprise. 30 Franz Liszt. The enthusiasm was immense ; Franz's playing was received with almost frantic applause ; according to the custom that obtains among those warm and demonstrative Hungarian folk, the ladies, not satisfied with substantially ac- knowledging the pleasure he had caused them, as would have been the case with their more phlegmatic and formal sisters of England, gave vent to their feelings by embracing and fondly caressing the boy who had just given such a striking proof of talent. As for the men, they were unanimous in acknowledema; that such extraordinary abilities must be cultivated with- out delay. It was, indeed, with inexpressible delight that Adam Liszt watched the revival of the aspira- tions of his whole life and their near realization in his only son. He was, however, confronted by a stern difficulty : how long -could his scanty means enable him to face the expenses of his son's education and of his own keeping ? One of the noblemen who, since the Presburg concert, seemed to take exceptional interest in Franz's future, having one day, and more strongly than usual, urged upon Adam the necessity of giving instruction to the boy, the father frankly ex- plained to him the circumstances of his position. Franz s Education. 31 The Count, for such was the rank of- that noble- man, far from discouraging Adam, proposed to raise among his friends a subscription destined to cover the expenses of Franz's education, and to which he naturally was the first to contribute. The promise of a contribution having been obtained from five other noblemen, among whom were Counts Erdcedy, Szapary, and Apponyi, Franz's former patrons, it was agreed that they would severally contribute for six years a yearly income of six hundred Austrian gulden to be paid to Adam Liszt towards the expenses of Franz's musical education. Thus relieved of his anxiety, Adam, with his mind still full of the talent that had so much fascinated him when in the castle at Eisenstadt, and confidently relying on the old friendship which, from his youth, had existed between Hummel and himself, wrote to the musician, who was now bandmaster to the Court in Weimar, reminding him of their former affec- tion, explaining his son's aptitudes and successes, and requesting Hummel to undertake Franz's musical education. After some delay a letter arrived from Weimar, in which Hummel, after expressing his willingness to undertake the education of so talented a boy, wound up by 32 Franz Liszt. saying that, in his present position, he could not do so under a lois (Tor per lesson ! Considering Adam's circumstances, such a reply was equiva- lent to a refusal. Yet, sixty years later (April, 1881), although nearly seventy years old, Franz Liszt, with noble disinterestedness, gave a concert to cover the cost of a statue erected in Presburg to the memory of the same Hummel. At Vienna. 33 V. Franz receives instruction from Charles Czerny and An- tonio Salieri — The pupil's peculiarities. — Positive ad- vantage of Czerny's tuition. — Instruction from Salieri. — Wonderful progress in reading the score and in com- posing and playing at first sight. — Franz's favor with the aristocracy. — First concert in Vienna. Once in Vienna, Adam Liszt lost no time in seeking for the most distinguished teachers for Franz. His choice fell on Charles Czerny and Antonio Salieri. The former, having had the good fortune of being one of Beethoven's pupils, was then enjoying the reputation of being the best teacher of the pianoforte in Vienna. Czerny was of course an ardent admirer of Beethoven's music, and that was probably the motive that decided Adam Liszt to entrust to him his son's education. Owing to his reputa- tion, Czerny was overwhelmed with work, and at first declined to add to his labor by accepting a new pupil; but Franz having played before him, he was so delighted that he there and then altered his mind, and consented to give the talented child a course of instruction on the pianoforte. 34 Franz Liszt. Adam Liszt had thus the satisfaction of se- curing for his son the valuable tuition of an eminent artist, who thoroughly fulfilled his views of what artistic taste should be. His fees Czerny modestly put down to gulden — not to louis d'or. His character was, indeed, the reverse of Hummers. His generosity was pro- verbial. When, at the end of the twelfth lesson, Adam Liszt expressed the wish of paying the debt he had incurred, Czerny most generously refused to accept any compensation, and, during the whole of Franz Liszt's stay in Vienna — about eighteen months — he continued to in- struct his young pupil gratis pro Deo. Adam, who was anxious that his son should be in- structed in every branch of knowledge relating to music, had also requested Antonio Salieri, the old Italian composer and author of the successful opera of " Axur," to undertake the theoretical education of Franz, for Czerny' s tuition related solely to -the practice of pianoforte playing. Salieri, who was then a septuagenarian, alleged his advanced age, with needed rest, and, much to his regret, compelled him to decline Adam's proposal. Having, however, been prevailed upon to listen to the playing of the " little prodigy," as Franz was then generally known Peculiarities of the Pupil. 35 in the Vienna musical world, like Czerny, the Italian master altered his mind, and undertook to teach harmony to Adam's son. Franz, whom his father had previously al- lowed to play with unrestrained freedom and according to his fancy, could not now accustom himself to the formal and disciplined rules of Czerny's method of instruction. Quite heedless of his young pupil's peculiarities, and of his already asserted individuality, Czerny went on schooling the boy's fingers. Accustomed to fol- low his own musical impulse, Franz could not bear what to him was only a restriction put upon his playing ; his artistic nature revolted against methodical forms, and failed to under- stand the necessity of formal, dry, and mechan- ical rudiments, which became so antipathetic to him that he eventually became obstinate, and turned refractory. And yet, of the technicalities of music, he possessed then no foundation what- ever. What instruction his father had been able to give him was indeed but mere dilet- tantism. Owing to the rapidity of his fingering and to the ease with which he could read music at first sight, both of which were doubtless marvellous for his age, Franz believed himself already a great artist. It had never occurred 36 Franz Liszt. to his childish mind that smoothness of touch, clearness of execution, and correct technical knowledge, were the essential bases and condi- tions of artistic playing. Czerny's practised eye at once detected his pupil's deficiency, and sedulously contrived to remove it in his stern and systematic manner. Franz must now do nothing else but study finger exercises. Czerny placed in his hands Muzio dementi's " Gradus ad Parnassum," and various sonatas by the same master, all cal- culated to impart form and mechanism to the playing of his pupil. The etudes did not suit Franz, they were too monotonous ; as for the sonatas, they seemed " far too easy " to him; he could, as he fancied, play them all at first sight, and that wounded his childlike vanity. Czerny was, however, inexorable ; he would not be per- suaded, and insisted not on - rapidity, but on well-defined touch and correctness of execution in moderate time, and obliged Franz to play again and again the same themes, until he could master them to perfection. The boy, being of opinion that he long ago already knew them, grew ill-humored, and quite vexed at his inflexible teacher. Fancying that Czerny was impeding his progress, and that everything went Czerny s Tuition. 37 too slowly with him, he complained to his father and begged for another master. His grievance met, however, with no sympathy from Adam Liszt, who, however, noticing the discourage- ment of his son, called on Czerny, and, having explained to him Franz's displeasure with de- menti, induced the teacher to alter his plan of education, so as to take into account the pupil's inclinations respecting the choice of his music. Franz was now satisfied with Czerny' s guidance, and henceforth no fresh misunderstanding ever occurred between pupil and teacher. Since due regard was paid to his pupil's originality, Czerny observed with surprise the astonishing improve- ment noticeable in his playing. Franz, indeed, soon acquired a richness of feeling wonderful in so young a student. Without losing any of his power, feeling, and warmth of expression, his playing was now so easy and graceful, that when at the piano he seemed as moved by some invis- ible springs. Thanks to Czerny' s tuition Franz gained an artistic technicality and correctness of rendering which helped in no small degree to develop his natural faculties, a fact which, when grown up, he always thankfully remembered and acknowledged. Salieri's instruction was also highly successful. 38 Franz Liszt. His great merit is to have given his pupil a sound and reliable basis of theoretical musical education. He made him read, analyze, and play the scores, and diligently kept him to exer- cise in harmony, always insisting on correct notation. Those exercises in harmony were mostly in the form of short pieces of sacred music, which Franz always composed to the satisfaction of his teacher. The latter was par- ticularly pleased with a Tantum ergo, to the production of which Franz had devoted all his attention and knowledge. The young artist had now acquired such proficiency that he was able to read, quite unaided and with relative facility, Beethoven's scores. No music was difficult enough for Franz. One day he called at the chief musical publisher's in Vienna, and requested to be shown some music. As he was dismissing piece after piece, under the pretext of their being too easy, the assistant, quite out of patience, fancied he now would seize the opportunity of confounding the boast of the young artist, and forthwith produced Hum- mel's Concerto in B-flat, even now considered as technically one of the most difficult pieces of music ; but, to the amazement of all present, Franz played it off without the slightest hesitation. His Advantages. 39 Imbued with the prejudices of the eighteenth century, when it was the fashion to say that an artist must neglect all that is foreign to his art, Adam Liszt had strictly limited his son's edu- cation to music. But with age, Franz became alive to the necessity of general knowledge, which he acquired alone ; and when, thanks to his genius and to the influential friendships he had won, he had already ascended the steps of the ladder of fame (for Franz Liszt was not only the eminent musician whose wonderful perform- ances the world delighted to hear), he also achieved no mean success as an erudite and graceful writer. However great Liszt's talent, it cannot be denied that the extraordinary chance he had of making at an early age the acquaintance of the most influential members of the proud Austrian aristocracy, allied by marriage to the most ex- alted families of Europe, was partly the cause of his eminently successful career. Thanks to the recommendation of his noble Hungarian patrons, he was welcomed in the best society in Vienna. His remarkable talent, his youth, his vivacity, and the charm of his appearance, soon gained new patrons for him. The protection now ex- tended to him was no longer formal; it became 40 Franz Liszt. the natural expression of the interest felt for his person and for his talent. His peculiarly graceful and attractive features also contributed in no small degree to win for him the favor of the fair sex, a circumstance which was to have a lasting influence on his life. Thus eighteen months were spent in Vienna. Daring the leisure left by his studies, Franz was often invited to play in the most fashionable salons, and his artistic progress was such that, in musical circles, people used to say that, as a pianist, Franz could now compete with the most talented virtuosi of the day. Adam, being now satisfied of his son's ability, made up his mind to bring him before the Vienna public. The boy's popularity was already so great, that, as soon, as the father's intention became known, everybody looked forward with the greatest expectation to this first public appearance. • The concert was announced for the 1st of December, 1822 ; the municipal authorities had courteously placed the town-hall at Adam Lizst's disposal, and Franz was assisted by several popular artists, foremost among whom was the youthful and promising Karoline Unger, for whom Beethoven was then writing his " Melusine." The Vienna Concert. 41 Franz's appearance was quite an event. On the appointed day, a numerous and princely audience crowded the hall. Far from being discountenanced, the young virtuoso seemed proudly to enjoy the spectacle of the numerous audience assembled to hear him. With sparkling eyes and beaming face, he sat at the piano and played with even more skill, fire and confidence than he ever hitherto had done. His perform- ance exceeded, indeed, the expectations of his most sanguine admirers. The phenomenal play- ing of that child, eleven years of age, roused the enthusiasm of his hearers, who cheered him frantically. This success won for Franz his letters of naturalization as an artist ; henceforth, his assistance was eagerly courted at the best concerts. He thus went on playing, daily in- creasing his dawning reputation and acquiring fresh laurels wherever he performed. On the 12th of January, 1823, Franz played again in the Vienna town-hall, at a matinee, which was but the repetition of the success achieved in Decem- ber. This new triumph induced Adam to make arrangements for a second concert to be given in Vienna in April following. From this period dates the sympathetic enthusiasm and admiration 42 Franz Liszt. of the Viennese for Liszt, an enthusiasm which has endured to the present day, and to which must be ascribed the grateful, though somewhat affected, partiality which Franz Liszt has always displayed towards the city and the people who were the first to acknowledge his rising talent. VI. Beethoven. — Conversation with Schindler. — Franz's sec- ond concert in Vienna (April 13, 1823). — Beethoven honors the young artist's performance with his presence. It was only after this concert that the rising reputation of his ardent little admirer reached the ears of Beethoven in the then secluded life to which the master had elected to retire. Until Anton Schindler, Beethoven's secretary and faith- ful companion of his solitude, mentioned Franz's name to the maestro, the latter had no idea of the existence of one who was to enable the world to grasp the wonderful genius hidden in his own mighty compositions. Beethoven, whose time was now entirely devoted to his beloved art, was inaccessible; his door was inflexibly closed to strangers, whether provided with letters of introduction or not. Several times already, Franz, accompanied by his father, had endeavored to gain admittance to the master's presence, but without success. The perseverance of the boy seems, however, to have specially attracted the notice and won for him the sym- (43) 44 Franz Liszt. pathy of Schindler, who wrote the following lines, which are to be found in Beethoven's diary for the year 1823 : — "Little Liszt has entreated me to beg you to write for him a theme, on which to play a fantasia at the concert he is to give to-morrow. Ergo rogo humiliter domination em vestram, si placeat, scribere unum thema; he will not break the seal until the concert begins. As for the little one's fantasias, they are not very serious, and the day is still dis- tant when one will be able to say of him, ' Er phantasirt.'" Beethoven's curiosity was aroused, and having expressed the desire to know something more of the " interesting little boy/' Schindler wrote further : — "Carl Czerny is his teacher — the boy is only eleven years old. Come to his concert, it will surely amuse Karl * to hear the little fellow play. What a pity he is in the hands of Czerny ! " He even so exaggerated and extolled Franz's talent that, being pressed for further informa- tion, he wrote : — 44 You might have guessed it. But it is a pity that your lofty genius is buried in pianoforte compositions (Ihr hoher Genius in Klaviersachen hegraben wird . . . ) ; for the most distinguished works of this kind are unfortunately neglected, because pianists nowadays are losing more and more the taste for what is good and beautiful." * Beethoven's nephew, then sixteen years old. Beethoven at the Concert. 45 He now urged his master in the following: good-humored manner : — " But you will make up for your late somewhat unfriendly reception by being present to-morrow at little Liszt's concert. Will you not? It will encourage the boy. Promise me that you will go ? " Thus requested, the master went, but he gave no theme for a fantasia. The second concert was given in the "Re- doute " on the 13th of April. It was even more numerously attended than the first. The hall was overcrowded. When Franz stepped before the public, who were expectantly looking up to him, he perceived Beethoven seated near the platform, and noticed the master's earnest eye meditatively fixed upon him. Far from being bewildered by so great an honor as this visit from the prince of musicians, Franz was filled with pride and joy. Among other pieces, he played Hummel's Concerto in B-flat, and, as usual, concluded his performance by a " free fantasia," but not from a theme written by the great man — much to the boy's disappointment. This concert only added fresh fame to Franz's name. After each measure his playing became more glowing and fiery, and his whole being seemed elevated and kindled, so to speak, by 46 Franz Liszt. some invisible power. The most profound si- lence reigned throughout the performance, but when this was over, the public gave vent to their feelings of enthusiasm and admiration without the slightest restraint. Never yet had Franz scored such a success. Beethoven himself could not restrain his admiration, and ascending the platform, he repeatedly kissed the glorious hoy, amid the frantic cheers of the assembled multitude ! VII. Consequence of the second Vienna concert. — On the way to Paris. — Concerts in Munich, Stuttgard, Strasburg. — Paris. — Cherubini. — Paer gives Franz instruction in composition.- — Performances in the salons. — The aris- tocracy. — First appearance before a French public. — Franz's execution and manners. — His improvisations. — His success. — Humor of the time. The concert of the 13th of April was important to Franz in many respects ; it left him recollec- tions never to be forgotten, and consecrated his enthusiasm for the immortal Beethoven. The consequences of that concert on Liszt's artistic career were also remarkable ; the press now began to echo the admiration his performance had awakened. The welcome intelligence of the existence of a new musical genius borrowed still more significance from the fact of its proceeding from Vienna, the then musical city, par excellence, where not long before Haydn and Mozart had lived and worked, and where Beethoven was still engaged in the production of his gigantic creations. The world-wide reputation of Liszt as a pianist dates, indeed, from the second (47) 48 Franz Liszt. Vienna concert ; a reputation which through life clung to him with so much persistence that Franz's name became identical with the consum- mate skill of a virtuoso : and when, later on, his creative power, that had revealed itself in so astonishing a manner in the " free fantasias " of his youth, had reached full perfection, his repu- tation as a pianist cast in the eyes of the public an injurious shadow over the new manifestation of his manifold genius. Another consequence of the second Vienna concert was to enable Adam Liszt to foresee the realization of the dream he had long cherished, of giving his son a similar universal musical edu- cation to that which Mozart had enjoyed before him. This did not occur to Franz's father by mere chance. It had often been remarked in Vienna society that the child's genius expressed itself in the same way as Mozart's. The follow- ing lines, written by Beethoven's nephew, are indeed found in the great composer's diary : — " Last week he (Czerny) was with me, and begged me not to omit going to 3 oung Liszt's concert ; he then began to extol his pupil's talent, and to compare him with you and Mozart (when you were both at his age), etc." Just as Leopold Mozart had taken dear Wo- Preparing for Paris. 49 ferl * to France and England, there to put him in contact with the greatest musicians of the day, so Adam Liszt was anxious that his dear Franz should go to Paris, for there lived Cheru- bini, the celebrated composer of operatic and sacred music, and at that time director of the world-famed Conservatoire. There, under Cher- ubini's direction, Franz should win his spurs as a composer. Like Leopold Mozart with his son, Franz Liszt was not satisfied with Franz's ca- reer as a virtuoso — albeit that career brought fame, honor, and admiration to his name. That, with his keen appreciation of his son's talent, he merely regarded as a stepping-stone to Franz's becoming a composer. When he thought his plan ripe for execution, he informed Franz of his intention to take him to Paris, in order to obtain his admission to the Conservatoire, and thus secure for him the in- valuable training of the best masters. This news, as Franz himself relates, in his " Gesam- melte Schriften," he received with overwhelm' ing emotion. It was now the spring of the year 1823 ; with the following autumn came the execution of * The diminutive of " Wolfgang," one of Mozart's Chris- tian names. 50 Franz Liszt. the long-cherished project. Franz and his father left the Austrian capital, and took the road to Paris. They, however, stopped on their way in the various cities through which they had to pass, and Adam Liszt arranged for concerts to be given in them by his talented son, who met everywhere with as enthusiastic and as favorable a reception as in Vienna. In Munich the press proclaimed him " a second Mozart,'' and in Stuttgard it pointed him out as being the equal, and, in some respects, even superior to the best pianists of Europe. In Strasburg Franz gave two performances : one in the " Zum Geist " Hall, and the other in the theatre ; at both he was received with the same enthusiasm that had greeted his previous performances. Two months had scarcely elapsed since their departure from Vienna, when Adam Liszt and his son entered Paris. It was then about the middle of December. Provided with warm letters of recommendation in Prince Metternich's own hand, Adam felt confident respecting the realiza- tion of his dearest wish : the admission of his son to the Conservatoire, then the best school of counterpoint and composition, reckoning, as it did, among its professors such eminent men as the immortal Cherubini, whom Beethoven and At Paris. 51 Haydn regarded as the greatest dramatic com- poser of the day ; Anton Reicha, the friend of Beethoven, Haydn, and Salieri ; and the Parme- san Ferdinando Paer, who had succeeded Spontini in the direction of the Theatre Italien, and whose opera entitled "Leonora," so pleased Beethoven that he made it the theme of his " Fidelio." In his " Gesammelte Schriften," Liszt devotes a passage to the reception Cherubini gave to his father and himself. It was ten o'clock in the morning when, on the day following their arrival in Paris, Adam Liszt and his son reached Cherubini's house. The maestro had already left for the Conservatoire, where they eventually found him. After the first few words, Adam mentioned Prince Metternich's letters of recom- mendation and was about to produce them in support of his application, when Cherubini, rather bluntly, refused to even look at them, adding that in no case could a foreigner, how- ever powerfully recommended and however gifted, be admitted to the French National School of Music. Adam remonstrated, and Franz himself, with tears in his eyes, begged that an exception might be made in his favor, but Cherubini remained inexorable. Some peo- ple have ascribed to petty jealousy the maestro s 52 Franz Liszt. refusal to throw open the doors of the Conserva- toire to Franz. Such allegations do not, how- ever, rest upon any serious ground, for it would be foolish to suppose that Cherubini, whose reputation was solidly established and who had already acquired world-wide fame as a composer, could have felt either jealousy or envy at the talent of a twelve-year-old youth. However that may be, the decision seems to have come like a thunderbolt on father and son alike. Disheartened by this unexpected issue, Adam seems to have regarded his journey to Paris as an utter failure ; he had even made up bis mind to leave Paris at once, when he made the ac- quaintance of Ferdinando Paer, who, having heard the young virtuoso play, engaged to give him lessons in composition. Franz, always eager for new difficulties, dis- played the greatest energy in his study, and soon became remarkably proficient in the mas- tery of the rules of composition. Paer having informed Adam Liszt of the progress of his pupil, the father, seeing tbat his son must now follow up the former successes of his career as a virtuoso, considered the moment opportune for making use of the letters of recommendation he had been provided with on leaving Vienna by Popularity at Paris. 53 the leading members of the Hungarian nobility for their French fellow noblemen. All the salons of the aristocracy in Paris were, as if by magic, thrown open to Adam Liszt and his son. Franz was even invited to play before the Duchess of Berri and before the Duke of Orleans, who, a few years later, was to become King of France, under the name of Louis Philippe. The latter bestowed every attention upon the youthful prodigy ; he, it is said, was the first person in Paris who dubbed Franz le petit Mozart. In Paris, as in Vienna, Franz became the fashion ; everybody was anxious to secure his attendance at soirees. Thus it was that le petit IAtz, as the Parisians used to write and pro- nounce his name, was invited to perform at the delightful concerts then organized by Rossini in the gorgeous mansions of the best Parisian society. There Franz met with the most distin- guished musicians of the day — the pianists Henri Herz and Moscheles ; the violinists Lafont and De Beriot ; the harpist Nadermarm ; Tulon, the flutist of Charles X., and numerous other virtuosi of the highest order. Franz soon became the pet of the ladies : they delighted to hear his broken French, and used 54 Franz Liszt. to spoil and fondle him quite as much as their Viennese sisters. Indeed, in Paris as in Vienna, the social distance which divided Franz's position from that of the proud aristocracy seemed not to exist for that enfant gate of society. On the 8th of March, 1824, Franz performed for the first time in public since his arrival in Paris. The performance took place in the beau- tiful Italian Opera House. This concert was attended by the elite of Parisian society. As a tribute of admiration for the talent of the young pianist, it was arranged that the orchestra of the Italian Opera, then the best in France and in Europe, should assist him ; but from the moment Franz began to play, the musicians were so spell-bound by his masterly execution that their whole attention was bent upon hear- ing and watching his performance, so much so that they quite forgot to take up the ritomella with him. The execution was all the more difficult that the music rendered was one of Hummers concertos, and that young Franz played it off by heart and without the slightest hesitation, then a feat unheard of before. Franz's success was such that he could never hope thereafter to surpass it. The highest person- ages in the audience, in accordance with French Tlie Paris Concert. 55 fashion, sent him word to call upon them in their boxes, in order to receive their congratu- lations. The press itself indulged in extrava- gant praise, pointing to Franz as being " the eighth wonder of the world ; " people put him in a paralel with Mozart, and affected to say that his talent as a pianist was superior to Mos- cheles's. Gall, the celebrated phrenologist, in- sisted on taking a plaster-cast of his skull and forehead, in order to study upon it. Talma, the great tragedian, clasped him to his bosom with tender affection, and foretold for him a great future. From that concert dates the affection of the Marquess of Noailles for young Liszt. The latter' s execution must indeed have exer- cised a powerful influence on the Marquess's mind, for in spite of the fact of his being a thorough misanthropist, owing to the dire mis- fortunes he had had to endure through the stormy period of the Revolution and of the Empire, he allowed the child so completely to win his sym- pathy that he himself took the trouble of ar- ranging for his young protege an album contain- ing a collection of excellent copies from the best painters, so as to enable Franz to acquire a knowledge of the masterpieces of painting. It may here be remarked that circumstances 56 Franz Liszt. themselves seemed to compete to bring success to the young virtuoso. Indeed, the spirit of the time in France favored Franz's debut in Paris in the happiest possible manner. It was then the zenith of the Restoration. The mental weariness and insouciance which followed the wild excite- ment brought about by the storms and terrors of the Revolution, and the anxious anguish caused by the wars of the Empire, had now been replaced by the elasticity of mind and warmth of feelings peculiar to French people. VIII. Franz's first attempt to set an opera to music. — Clouds. — Travelling projects. — Liszt's mother returns to Austria. — England. — Debut in London. — In the drawing-rooms ; in the concert-hall ; at Court. — Return to Paris. — Tour in the French provinces. — To England again. — Awakening self-consciousness. — Feels repugnance for the artiste's vocation. The most sanguine hopes of Adam Liszt were now even surpassed. Franz stood at the head of virtuosi. Fame and honors now flowed in. Nor was that all, for the concerts had proved such a pecuniary success that Adam had been able to save already one thousand gulden, which he at once invested with Prince Esterhazy, his former employer. Paer, who, as seen previously, was teaching Franz composition, having remarked his innate aptitude in that respect, urged him to try and compose an operetta. Delighted at the sugges- tion, Franz at once sought a libretto. He had several offers, but decided in favor of a one-act opera written by Theaulon, a fertile though now almost forgotten poet. The title chosen by the • (57) 58 Franz Liszt. young composer was " Don Sancho, ou le Chat- eau de r Amour." Having settled this point, Franz devoted all his energy and talent to set the words to music, under the direction of Paer. But the extraordinary talent of the young mu- sician eventually aroused the envy and the hatred of his competitors, and their jealousy dictated to them anonymous threatening letters, which became daily more numerous. These frightened the quiet and rather retired disposition of Adam Liszt, so much so that life in Paris now became intolerable to him, and caused him to wish as anxiously to leave that city as he had been desirous to come to it. A short time after the arrival of the Liszt family in Paris, Franz's father made the ac- quaintance of Pierre Erard, the eminent piano- forte manufacturer, who, being about to start for London, where he possessed a branch busi- ness, and seeing that the season in Paris was now over, invited Adam to accompany him to England with Franz. Erard having pointed out to Adam Liszt the advantage likely to accrue from their journey, it was agreed that the latter should accompany Erard with Franz to London, where the boy was to give concerts Parting from his Mother. 59 during the remainder of the season, after which father and son should return to France, there to undertake a tour in the provinces. Adam would be thus enabled to rest quietly and recruit his failing health, and to forget the molestations he had been subjected to by unprincipled persons, jealous of the success achieved by his son ; while Franz himself could continue the career he had embraced. But, before starting, and in order to avoid unnecessary expense, Adam decided that his wife, who had followed them to Paris, should return to Austria and stay with her sister at Gratz until the completion of the con- cert tours. This indeed was sad news to Franz; he had never lived away from his dear mother, whom he loved deeply. He urged upon his father that since he himself was earning the livelihood of the family with his performances, they might well make some sacrifice in order to retain the dear company of his mother. He begged and cried and prayed; all his entreaties failed. Being of a harsh and stern nature, Adam only looked at the positive side of things ; sentiment bad no hold on him. Besides he failed to un- derstand the beneficial influence of a woman's teachings on a young boy ; it never occurred to 60 Franz Liszt. him that if brought up too exclusively by men, the judgment of a boy will become vitiated and take a wrong direction. The father was inex- orable, although, had he foreseen he was taking leave of his wife for the last time in this world, there is little doubt that he would have altered his mind. The separation was a cruel one for Franz ; he felt heart-broken, and for a long time afterward the mere mention of his dear mother's name would bring tears to his eyes. In the month of May, 1824, father and son started, in the company of Erard, on their first journey to England, London being their ultimate destination. Although the ways and manners of the English people contrasted strong- ly with those of the warmer and more im- pulsive races he had until then mixed with, Adam felt relieved on his arrival in London : he was no longer worried by -the threats and menaces which of late made life in Paris intoler- able to him. As for Franz, young and cheerful as he then was, he could not reconcile himself to the dull sky and smoke-begrimed buildings of the British capital ; besides, the dry and cold formalism of British society were so opposed to his exuberant nature and to the warm out- bursts of both Viennese and Parisians, that he In London. 61 felt quite disappointed. In Paris he had been the hero of the day, the fondling of the most ex- alted and handsomest members of the fair sex : whereas here everybody called him " Master Liszt"; for all he was " ein jiinger Herr," a virtuoso no doubt gifted with a talent unheard of at his age, toward whom all professed ad- miration, but a measured, cool and reserved admiration, unlike the outbursts he had been accustomed to ; the dallying and playing with the boy was now at an end, enthusiasm kept within due bounds, everything being formal and correct in this land of social proprieties. No doubt the London aristocracy appreciated the boy's talent quite as fully as their Vienna and Paris colleagues, but they expressed their ad- miration in strict conformity with the strictest rules of the most rigid etiquette, though often carrying the same to extremes. As in Paris, Franz's concerts in London were confined principally to private circles, and more especially to those of the highest society. The fame of the young musician having reached the ears of George IV., that monarch commanded Franz's attendance at court, and was so pleased by the performance that he treated young Liszt with the utmost favor. 62 Franz Liszt. On the 21st of June, 1824, Franz gave his first public concert in London. His performance consisted in the rendering of- one of Nepomuk Hummers concertos, and in the execution of an improvisation. During the concerto, he had the honor of being accompanied by an orchestra under the distinguished and able leadership of Sir G. Smart. His playing secured general ap- plause, and the artists, who had followed his execution with perfect amazement, encored him repeatedly and unanimously. Yet that was nothing to the ovation he received after he had performed an improvisation on a theme quite unknown to him. The Morning Post of June 23rd, 1824, said with reference to this concert : " ... When Sir G. Smart had requested the public for a theme on which Master Liszt could work, a lady having suggested ' Zitti-Zitti,' a a melody from Rossini's ' Barbiere,' and which Franz had never seen or heard, the latter at once resumed his seat at the piano (after the orchestra had played the melody once through), and improvised a fugue thereon." London was as surprised as Paris had been by the manifestations of such extraordinary, talent. In London, as in the French capital, Franz's name became a household word expres- His Return to Paris. 63 sive of wonderful mastery of the pianoforte. Numerous are the anecdotes that used to be told then respecting the young virtuoso. It is said that being once invited to a soiree, he arrived, but very late, so that a certain pianist among the company had been requested to take Liszt's place at the piano ; but the performance of the musician proved so dull and unattractive that it left the audience quite indifferent. Franz being then called upon to sit at the piano, quite charmed and delighted those present. And yet he only played by heart, whereas the other pianist had done so from the notes ! The season being over, Adam Liszt and his son retired into private life, and remained in London until the early part of the year 1825. This period of rest Franz devoted to learn- ing English, without, however, neglecting his musical studies. But his future career, as also his projected opera, " Don Sancho," necessitated his return to Paris. Rather reluctantly, Adam Liszt consented, to leave London. As for Franz, the latter city had not left a favorable impression on his youth- ful mind, and it was with intense pleasure that he again beheld his gay and beloved Paris ! As soon as " Don Sancho " was ready, it was submitted to 64 Franz Liszt. Paer's judgment, who deemed it good enough to authorize its performance. At last Franz's dear- est wish was about to be realized ; but it was still necessary to obtain the decision of the directors -of the Academie Roy ale de Musique ! With what joy did not Franz receive the intima- tion that his composition was accepted ! This news was to him sweeter than all his former suc- cesses. The operetta was to be brought out in October following. In the meantime Franz re- sumed his concerts in the salons of the French aristocracy, who were delighted at his return. In the spring of 1825, accompanied by his father, he undertook his projected tour in the French provinces ; after which, it was arranged that they should pay a second visit to England. During his provincial trip, Franz played suc- cessively in Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier, Nimes, Lyons, Marseilles, and other towns of importance. During his second journey to Eng- land he visited not only London but also the ^provinces. The following handbills may serve as an his- torical memento of Franz's second visit to this country. When reading the programme of his second concert in the English provinces, it is rather surprising to find a grand overture for Second Tour in English Provinces. 65 the pianoforte with accompaniment of orchestra, composed by the boy, and of which this an- nouncement is perhaps the only record. The first of the handbills ran thus : — THEATRE ROYAL, MANCHESTER. Thursday, June 16, 1825. Messrs. Ward & Andrews have great pleasure in an- nouncing that they have succeeded (at a great expense) in engaging MASTER LISZT, now only twelve years old ; who is allowed, by all those who have witnessed his astonishing talents, to be the greatest performer of the present day on the Pi AN OFORTE . The Concert will commence with the highly celebrated '.' Overture to der Freischutz," Composed by C. M. Von Weber, which received the most decided marks of approbation at Mr. Hughes* Concert, on Monday evening last. Recitative and Song — " The Eagle o'er the victor's head." Mr. Roylance. (Rook.) Duet — "Gay being born." — Messrs. Broadhurst and Isherwood. (Dale.) Song — "Una voce poco fa." — Miss Symonds. (Bossini.) Air, With Grand Variations and Orchestral Accompaniments, composed by Czerny (" Reichstadt Waltz") will be performed by MASTER LISZT, on Erard's New Patent Grand Pianoforte of Seven Octaves. 66 Franz Liszt. Ballad — " My ain kind dearie O ! " — Mr. Broadhurst. Round — "Yes, 'tis the Indian Drum." — Miss Symonds, Messrs. Roylance, Bennett, and IsHERWooD.(/?i.sAo^.) Grand Concerto (A minor) with orchestral Accompani- ments, composed by Hummel, will be performed on Erard's New Patent Grand Pianoforte, by MASTER LISZT. Part Second. Master Banks (only 9 years old, Pupil of Messrs. Ward and Andrews) will have the honor of making his First Appearance before the Manchester Public, and lead on the Violin, the favorite " Overture to Lodoiska," Composed by Kreutzer. Song — "The Spring with smiling face." — Mr. Isher- WOOD. (Shield.) Duet — "When thy bosom." — Miss Symonds and Mr. Broadhurst. (Braham.) An Extempore Fantasia on the Grand Pianoforte by MASTER LISZT, Who will respectfully request a written Theme from any person present. Song — "A compir." — Violin Obligate Mr. Cudmore, Miss Symonds. (Guglielmo.) Scotch Ballad — " John Anderson, my Jo." — Mr. Broad- hurst. Second Tour in English Provinces. 67 Glee — " Mynheer Vandunck." — Messrs. Bennett. Koy- lance, and Isherwood. (Bishop.) Leader Mr. Cudmore. Principal Second Violin . . . Mr. A. Ward. Mr. R. Andrews will preside at the Grand Pianoforte. The Orchestra will be completed on the following grand Scale : 12 Violins, 4 Tenors, 6 Basses, 2 flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarionets, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 bassoons. 3 Trom- bones, and drums. And to afford every possible advantage to the Voices and Instruments, the Orchestra will be so con- structed that they will be satisfactorily heard in every part of the House. Tickets may be had at all the Music Shops and Principal Inus. Mr. Eland will attend at the Box Office on Monday and Tuesday preceding the Concert, and on Thursday, the day of performance, from 11 to 2 o'clock each day. The Doors to be opened at six o'clock, and the Concert to commence at seven precisely. Boxes, 5s. ; Upper Boxes, 4s. ; Pit, 3s. ; Gallery, 2s. The Second Concert will take place on Monday the 20th inst. The particulars of this second concert will, perhaps, also be deemed interesting. The fol- lowing is a reproduction of the announcement bill : — 68 Franz Liszt. SECOND GRAND CONCERT. THEATRE ROYAL, MANCHESTER. Monday, June 20, 1825. A NEW GRAND OVERTURE, Composed by the celebrated MASTER LISZT, Will be performed (for the first time in public) by the Full Orchestra, M aste r Bank s, (Only nine years old), Pupil of Messrs. Ward and Andrews, Having received the most decided marks of Approbation at the First Concert on Thursday evening last, will have the honor of LEADING ON THE VIOLIN, the favorite Overture to Tancredi, Composed by Rossini, Mr. Broadhurst will (by particular desire) sing '* John Anderson, my Jo," and several of his most popular Ballads. Air, with Grand Variations by Herz, will be performed on the Grand Pianoforte by MASTER LISZT Who will likewise perform an Extempore Fantasia, And respectfully request Two written Themes, from any of the Audience, on which he will play his Variations. Second Tour in English Provinces. 69 Glee — " Hark, the Curfew, solemn sound," accompanied on the Harp by Mr. J. Horabin. The admired Hunting Chorus from " Der Freischutz," with Orchestral Accompaniments. A Grand Quintette, composed by Ries, Will be performed by MASTER LISZT, and Messrs. Cudmore, E. Sudlow, Scdlow and Hill. Principal Performers : MASTER LISZT (only twelve years of age) allowed to be the greatest Pianoforte Player of the present day. Miss Symonds (from the Nobility's Concert) . Master Banks (only nine years old) pupil of Messrs. Ward and Andrews. Mr. Broadhurst. Messrs. Roylance, Bennett, and Isherwood. Leader Mr. Cudmore. Principal Second Violin . . . Mr. A. Ward. Mr. R. Andrews will preside at the Grand Pianoforte. The Orchestra will be numerous and complete. Tickets and places may be had of Mr. Eland, at the Box Office, on Saturday and Monday next, from eleven till two o'clock each day. The doors to be opened at Six o'clock, and the performance to commence precisely at Seven. Boxes, 5s. ; Upper Boxes, 4s. ; Pit, 3s. ; Gallery, 2s. Bills, containing the words, will be given at the doors of the theatre on the evening of the performance. 70 Franz Liszt. Having fulfilled his engagement in Man- chester, Franz and his father returned to Lon- don, where they made but a short stay. They, however, remained long enough to enable the young musician again to play at private concerts and to obtain an engagement for a concert which was given at Drury Lane Theatre, and which his Majesty King George IV. honored with his presence. This new concert was an unrivalled success ; his Majesty was so pleased at the per- formance that he himself joined in the general applause, and gave young Liszt the most marked proof of favor and appreciation for his talent by ordering the repetition of one of the youthful virtuoso's pieces. During his second visit to London, Franz was deeply impressed by a choir of seven or eight thousand children, at which he was present with his father in Saint Paul's cathed'ral. This was quite a new sight to him, and unlike anything he had ever seen on the Continent. Indeed, Haydn and Mendelssohn, the immortal composers of the " Creation " and of " St. Paul," and Berlioz himself, the famous representative of French art, on hearing those choirs were struck with amaze- ment and deeply moved, as they themselves re- late. The singing of those thousands of voices Reaches His Fourteenth Year. 71 quite affected young Liszt, and left him, for sev- eral days afterward, serious and meditative. Franz had just reached his fourteenth year, an age at which the physical and mental devel- opment of most boys takes place and self-con- sciousness becomes strong, producing as often abruptness as reserve. His manner, indeed, had of late undergone a striking alteration ; he had lost his usual cheerfulness. All at once, he could not bear to hear himself called " Le petit Liszt ; " he was anxious to pass for full-grown, and felt himself to be so. He also began to grow tired of appearing in public and giving concerts. His experience of the world, young though he was, had already taught him that society, selfish as a rule, patronized him, as all virtuosi, not indeed because of his talent, but because of the pleasure it afforded them. From that period dates the awakening of Franz's relig- ious feelings in all their pristine intensity. He now went to church with scrupulous assi- duity. There was in his mind an innate and mysterious connection between the church and his beloved absent mother, whom he anxiously yearned to see again. As for Adam Liszt, the change of life and cli- mate had seriously told on his health : it had 72 Franz Liszt. brought on a physical and mental indisposition which rendered keen insight difficult and im- paired his judgment. He was now hypochon- driac, and in his fits of ill-humor and melancholy he would display undue severity in his watching over Franz's behaviour, the symptoms of whose maturity he unjustly ascribed to some reprehen- sible cause. Eventually the father's malady grew worse, and, though from widely different causes, the minds of Adam and of his son grad- ually disagreed. IX. To Paris again. — Performance of "Don Sancho." — The youthful productions of Franz Liszt. — Comparison be- tween his early works and Beethoven's. Adam Liszt and his son had now returned to Paris in order that Franz might bring out the long-contemplated operetta. The return of the young musician to the French capital was greeted with universal enthusiasm. His name became once more the topic of conversation in the ele- gant and refined salons of Parisian society, where he resumed his private concerts. At last the day so ardently wished for by Franz came. It was arranged that " Don San- cho " should be produced on the 17th of October, 1825, at the Royal Opera House, then the best house in Paris. On the appointed day, no room could be had at any price, all seats having long before been booked in advance. The most select society in Paris had made it a point to attend the first performance of the first operatic attempt of their pet virtuoso. No more brilliant audience had ever met under the roof of the " Rue (73) 74 Franz Liszt. Lepeltier house."* The orchestra was under the leadership of the celebrated Rudolph Kreutzer, then director of the Royal Opera. Adolphe Nour- rit, the delightful and unsurpassed tenor, well supported by eminent singers, undertook the principal part. Everything, indeed, concurred to secure success. From the beginning the brilliant public listened breathless and with intense in- terest to this first production of the boy com- poser. Every act secured rapturous applause. When the performance was over, the public called both the author and his talented interpreter be- fore the stage, and the enthusiasm reached a climax when the tall and stately Nourrit brought in his arms the yet slim and small figure of Franz Liszt, who, despite his being fourteen years of age, was hardly developed in proportion. Kreutzer having embraced the boy, the compli- ment was acknowledged by tremendous applause from all parts of the house. Adam Liszt, over- filled with emotion and delight, could not control his feelings, and freely shed tears of joy. As for Franz, he was radiant, though his delight was not altogether unmixed, owing to his transient disagreements with his father. * The Paris Opera House stood formerly in the Rue Lepeltier. Production of "Don SancJio " in Paris. 75 Two more equally successful performances of "Don Sancho" followed, after which the operetta was withdrawn- from the boards, and the score delivered over to the Academie Royale de Musique, never again to see the light. Al- though the general public, as well as the press, were unanimous in their praise of the boy's pro- duction, the enemies of Franz lost no opportunity of unfavorably and unjustly criticising his work, doing all in their power to injure his rising repu- tation as a composer, as they formerly had tried to underrate his merits as a virtuoso. Those, however, who saw the opera performed were all of opinion that the score was skilfully written, and after Mozart's style. It is, therefore, much to be deplored that this first production of the youthful master should have been destroyed in the fire by which, some years ago, the Paris Opera House in the Rue Lepeltier was burned down (October 28, 1873). The youthful compositions of Liszt were nu- merous : the u Tantum ergo " of Vienna ; the " Grande Ouverture " for orchestra, executed in Manchester, and which is believed to have been no other but that of " Don Sancho " ; various small sonatas ; the operetta of " Don Sancho " — all of which are only preserved in name, having 76 Franz Liszt. been either lost or destroyed during Liszt's travels. It is, therefore, now impossible to appreciate their worth ; but the fact of their having satisfied the most competent and fas- tidious judges in Paris and in London is a sufficient guarantee that they bore no small evi- dence of talent. It is worthy of remark that, unlike most coin- posers, Liszt's productions are written in 2 — 4 time. The same remark holds good as regards the key. Franz Liszt and Franz Schubert are, it is believed, the only composers who wrote their variations in G-ilat. There is a certain interest in comparing Liszt's youthful compositions with Beethoven's. The " variation " and the " impromptu" of the former may be placed beside two little songs which, when a boy thirteen or fourteen years old, the latter composed in 1783 and '1784 (" Schilde- runff eines Miidchens " and " An einen Sano;- ling "). The most important production of Liszt's youth is, however, his collection of studies (Opus 1), " Etudes pour le Piano en douze Exer- cises." It was first published in 1826, by the firm of Messrs. Boisselet, of Marseilles, and was dedicated to Mademoiselle Lydia Garella, a young lady with whom he frequently played a Liszt and Beethoven. 77 quatre mains, during his stay in Marseilles, and who had won his affection through her gentle attentions. The only youthful work of Beetho- ven which can bear comparison with those " Etudes " is two " Preludes in all the Twelve Keys " (' 'Praludien in alien zwolf Dur-Tonar- ten "), composed in 1789, and published in 1803. But then those works are entirely limited to counterpoint school exercises, and display little or no invention ; besides which Beethoven was nineteen years old when he wrote them, whereas Liszt was four or five years younger when he wrote his " Etudes for the Pianoforte." Like the youthful compositions of all musicians, Liszt's and Beethoven's were but the reproduction of the prevalent musical ideas of the times they lived in, although the earlier works of the former display sometimes far more originality than the similar productions of the immortal Beethoven. The latter, when a boy, was neither so rich in inventiveness as his emulator, nor was his spirit so ripe as that of Liszt. The " Allegro di Bravura," for instance, composed by the latter when a boy, is full of manly spiritedness not displayed in any of Beethoven's earlier works. Individual feeling, too, is far more apparent in Liszt's boyish productions than in those of Beethoven's youth. 78 Franz Liszt. Those amoncr the earlier works of Liszt which are known to have been composed by him when a boy are the following, in chronological order : — 1823 (when only eleven years of age). A " Tantum ergo " for the Vienna choir (manuscript lost). 1824 (when only twelve). An " Impromptu for the Piano- forte," printed in 1824. 1824 (ditto). The operetta of "Don Sancho," which man- uscript was burned. 1825 (?) (when only thirteen). A "Grande Ouverture pour le Pianoforte," which manuscript has been lost. 1825 (ditto). The "Allegro di Bravura " for the piano- forte, printed in 1825. 1825 (?) (ditto). A " Sonata for the Pianoforte," which manuscript has been lost ( ?) . 1826 (when only fourteen). The "Etudes en Douze Ex- ercises pour le Piano," printed in 1826. 1827 ( ?) (when only sixteen) . A "Concerto for the Piano- forte," which manuscript has been lost. X. Second journey through the French provinces. — Mademoi- selle Lydia Garella. — Once more in Paris. — Counter- point lessons with Reicha. — Third journey to England. — Religious feelings. — Wishes to become a priest. — Ideal and ethical reaction on Franz's manner and view of life. — Sea-bathing at Boulogne-sur-Mer. — Illness and death of Adam Liszt. Adam Liszt and his son prolonged their stay in Paris until the beginning of the year 1826, when they started on a second tour through the Southern French provinces, visiting all the towns of importance on their way to Marseilles, their ultimate destination. Everywhere they were received with the most cordial welcome, the wonderful playing of the young virtuoso provok- ing unheard-of enthusiasm on the part of the warm and music-loving Southerners. In Mar- seilles, where Franz and his father made a pro- longed stay, the triumph of young Liszt was almost unprecedented, and, if possible, greater than even in Paris. It was during his residence in the great French seaport that Franz wrote (79) 80 Franz Liszt. his "Etudes en douze Exercises," which, as pre- viously said, bear his first dedication to a lady, Mademoiselle Lydia Garella. The concert season being now over, father and son returned to Paris, there no longer to give concerts, but in order that Franz might devote all his time and energy to the study of counterpoint, under the tuition of Anton Reicha. That celebrated master taught his pupil all the difficulties of his art with the greatest devotion. As for Franz, he displayed so much zeal and intelligence in his arduous study that he soon mastered all the forms of polyphony, composi- tions for several voices, the glee form and the fugue, single as well as double. Even the counterpoint mysteries of the old masters, as well as the problematical canons and canon can- crizanSy were not unknown to him. To practice counterpoint to perfection seemed to him as necessary for a composer as finger-drilling for a virtuoso. He, indeed, displayed so much perse- verance and eagerness in learning that Reicha, usually of a retired and undemonstrative dispo- sition, could not sufficiently praise the ease with which his gifted pupil both understood the rules and worked upon them. Six months' study had sufficed Franz to thoroughly master the difficul- ties of counterpoint. Again Visits England. 81 Adam Liszt and his son spent the winter of 1826-27 in Switzerland, passing successively through Dijon, Geneva, Berne, Lucerne, and Basle, in which cities Franz gave a series of suc- cessful and brilliant concerts. Returning to Paris in the spring, it was decided to pay an- other visit to England, " the last for a long time." This journey was undertaken in May, 1827. The virtuoso's power of execution had much gained in brilliancy and spirit through constant practice. London society again heart- ily welcomed him, when, on the 9th of June, 1827, he gave his first concert since his arrival. At this concert Franz executed an original pro- duction of his ; his playing was superb, and his confidence and feeling seemed greater than ever before. Moscheles, who was present at that performance, says in his journal : " Franz Liszt's playing surpasses everything yet heard in power and the overcoming of the most intricate difficul- ties. . . The concerto in A-flat, which he played, is indeed full of chaotic beauties." Years of travel had not soothed the morbid sensitiveness of Franz ; indeed, the alteration in his manner was rather on the increase, and his temper, formerly so cheerful, had now be- come quite whimsical ; without apparent reason 82 Franz Liszt. or cause, he would be now radiant with joy and now overwhelmed with grief ; an indefinable something, a secret yearning, seemed to fill his soul and to exercise a disturbing influence on his artistic pursuits. Music, which he formerly loved with passion, seemed no longer to possess any charm for him. He seemed absorbed by a fixed idea ; although his mother's early teach- ings had implanted in his soul deep religious feelings, he had never before submitted to the rites of the Church so scrupulously as now. He seemed quite spellbound by the poetical mysti- cism of Catholicism. At last, giving way to his religious impulse, Franz one day explained to his father the real state of his soul, and begged to be allowed to enter into holy orders. Adam Liszt, who had sacrificed everything in order that Franz might become an artist, plainly perceived' that his son's request was the mere outcome of his excited mental state, and quietly refused his consent to any change of vocation. " Because one loves a thing," said Adam to Franz, " that is no war- rant that one is called to it. You belong to music, not to religion. Love God, be good and honest, and you will reach the highest summits in art, a vocation for which the natural gifts Religious Aspirations. 83 Providence lias bestowed upon you have des- tined you." In dutiful obedience to his father's wishes, Franz renounced his project of becoming a priest, went but seldom to church, and did all in his power to avoid arousing the paternal anger. He could not, however, entirely suppress his religious aspirations, but carefully concealed their manifestation from his father's watchful eye. The constant exertion of travelling and concert giving, as also the mental excitement brought about by his religious awakening at a time when his general health was being tried by his physical development, were not without bad results for his nervous system ; an irritability of temper and a ghastly paleness, most unusual in a boy of his age, could not fail to alarm Adam Liszt, who, being also in declin- ing; health, consulted the doctors. The latter recommended sea-bathing at Boulogne-sur-Mer and complete rest for both father and son. This was in the spring of 1827, and, the London musical season being now over, Adam and Franz started without delay for the French watering-place. Life in Boulogne, the sea-baths, the absolute rest they were now enjoying, benefited Franz 84 Franz Liszt. considerably, both from a physical and from a moral point of view. With health and strength his bright and genial cheerfulness returned, and he once more recovered his mental equilibrium. As for Adam, now free for a time from all care and anxiety, and comforted by the return of his son to health, he, at first, seemed to conquer his disease, and once more to regain the strength and good humor of bygone days. Unfortu- nately, he was attacked by gastric fever; his already broken-down constitution could not resist the disease, and, on the third day of his illness, Adam Liszt felt that he was doomed. He was, however, conscious to the last, and though not afraid to die, he gave free vent to the regret he felt at leaving behind him, with- out either friend or protector to guide and advise him, his young and inexperienced beloved son, whose genius had been through life his father's hope and conviction. Adam's last words to Franz were words of love, comfort, and warning. After but a few days' sufferings, his eyes closed for ever, on the 28th of August, 1827, at the relatively young age of forty-seven. He was buried at Boulogne-sur-Mer. XI. Result of Adam Liszt's death. — Return of Madame Liszt to Paris. — Music Lessons. — First Love. — Is not ac- cepted. — Fresh outburst of religious feeling. — Serious illness. — Recovery. Franz Liszt experienced the first poignant and real grief of his life at his father's death- bed. Never before had he looked in the sternly inexorable face of Death. Frantic with despair, he stood at the bedside where lay the mortal remains of his departed father. Franz had always through life felt the deepest respect and reverence for the author of his being, although his feelings toward his father had none of the tender affection and confident laisser-aller he felt for his mother. But now the sight of death seemed to work a sudden change in Franz's heart. Measuring now the full extent of the loss he had just incurred, he threw him- self, sobbing and disconsolate on his father's corpse, and in his anguish, felt, for the first time in life, that__tend_er affection is not inconsistent with the respect due to a father. A storm of (85) 86 Franz Liszt. feeling was breaking in his mind which ren- dered him mentally unconscious. Physical tor- por followed the first outburst of grief, and, quite heart-broken, he had to leave to strangers the arrangement of his father's funeral. That state of prostration lasted several days, and ceased only to make room for a feeling of unspeakable loneliness and desolation. In the most insignificant details of life, Franz now missed the helping hand of his father. Having all his life shared his father's room, played and studied under his eyes, taken his recreations by his side, been near him even at private and public concerts, he had scarcely ever spent a single hour away from parental sight ; and now, all of a sudden, he found himself for ever alone, and deprived of the parental protection and advice which he had quite grown accustomed to look to ! His youth, however, eventually overcame his grief and despondency, and brought him sober judgment. He again remembered his mother, whose departure for Austria had formerly so grieved his sensitive and affectionate heart. Though he had to deplore the loss of one parent, he thanked God for having spared his tender and blessed mother, whom he now Plans for the Future. 87 yearned to see again. With deep emotion, yet with manly energy, he wrote to his mother, acquainting her with the sad event, and inform- ing her of his plans for the future. His inten- tion, he wrote, was now to give up his concert tours, so as to live with her. She must come at once, for he is going back to Paris, there to earn a living for both by giving lessons on the pianoforte. Before, however, returning to Paris, Franz was confronted by some, to him hitherto un- known, responsibilities of practical life. His father's illness and subsequent death had en- tailed upon him expenses which not only ex- hausted what little money had been saved by the economy of Adam Liszt, but even left Franz in debt. Though he was at first rather at a loss to see how to meet his obligations, he finally made up his mind to sell his grand piano- forte ; and although his creditors offered to grant him any time he might require for pay- ment, so great was his sense of honor and duty, that he would not alter his decision to part with his dear instrument in order to meet the liabili- ties incurred through his father's unexpected and untimely death. Having sold his piano and paid everybody, he 88 Franz Liszt. started for Paris, where he was warmly wel- comed by his father's old and devoted friend, Erard, and by the latter's family, with whom he stayed until his mother's arrival. Madame Liszt was living in Vienna with her relations when she received her son's letter in- forming her of Adam Liszt's death. Although overcome with grief at the news of her hus- band's demise, she could not resist an inward outburst of joy and relief at the prospect of soon again being in the company of her beloved Franz. Having settled her little affairs, she hurried to Paris. In spite of the grief mother and son could not help feeling at their recent bereavement, their meeting after three years' separation was a sweet and happy moment for both. Having spent a few days longer at the house of the hos- pitable and friendly Erard family, Madame Liszt and her son Franz removed to a modest apartment in the Rue Montholon. Franz now took upon his youthful shoulders the care of supplying the wants of their daily existence. The news of Adam Liszt's death had been received with sympathetic regret in Parisian society ; the difficulties that death was likely to Becomes a Teacher. 89 bring into Franz's path were quite foreseen, and excited the warmest sympathy and interest among his aristocratic patrons. As soon as his intention of giving lessons became known, pu- pils of both sexes were entrusted to him by every class of society ; his fame as a virtuoso had excited such extraordinary confidence in him, that no one ever took exception to his extreme youth as a teacher. Peter Wolf, from Geneva, the Belgian Louis Messmekers, the young Countesses Montesquieu and de St. Cricq, the daughters of Lord Granville, who was at the time English Ambassador in Paris, and many other distinguished persons, were among his pupils. His success in this new capacity proved Franz Liszt to be gifted with a remarkable talent for tuition. From that time Franz re- garded France as a second fatherland. After his father's death he was left perfect freedom in arranging his mode of life ; his mother refrained from interfering in all that did not relate to household affairs ; and yet, with his artistic nature, he had no idea of the necessity of a suit- able division of one's time for attending to one's various duties or occupations. His father's ex- perience and guidance ^were sadly missed now. The division of the day was now merely acci- 90 Franz Liszt. dental, depending solely upon his humor at the time. One day he would practise on the piano ; the next day he would neglect to do so ; some- times he would study in the morning, at other times he would do so in the evening, just as he felt inclined. His time was not better divided for his lessons, which would often be short to-day and long to-morrow, just to suit his con- venience or whim. He was also most unpunc- tual, arriving sometimes too early and other times too late ; sometimes, also, he would not even put in an appearance. His want of method and order was also noticeable in the way he took his meals. He would often come home late at night without having tasted any solid food all day, and, whilst waiting for his food to be ready, he would take a glass of spirits or a glass of wine, by way of staying the faintness arising from his long and voluntary fast. All these irregularities proceeded at first from circumstances, but could not have a favorable influence upon either his bodily health or his habits. Indeed, he himself often deplored in after life the fact of his having been left so early in life sole master of arranging his time as he thought fit, and sole judge of what course he was to follow. Aristocratic Pupils. 91 First among the ladies of the French aristoc- racy who entrusted the musical education of their children to the youthful master was the Countess de Saint-Cricq, wife of Count de Saint- Cricq, then Minister of the Interior, and a man of the world and a thorough aristocrat, imbued with all the traditions and prejudices of the old nobility. Devoted to the Legitimists, he was one of the most ardent, though not ablest, sup- porters of Charles X. The duties of his depart- ment so fully pre-occupied him, that he never interfered in his family and household affairs, whose direction he left undisputed to the Count- ess, his wife. As soon as Liszt made known his intention of giving private lessons on the pianoforte, Ma- dame de Saint-Cricq, who had often heard the young virtuoso, and fully appreciated his won- derful talent, decided to engage him to give lessons to the youngest of her children, her daughter Caroline, then scarcely seventeen years old. Slender in form, pure and beautiful as an angel, Caroline w r as, at the same time, talented, and although deeply religious, of a lively dispo- sition ; her mind was sesthetic, and she w r as especially fond of music. 92 Franz Liszt. Under the eyes of the Countess, the lessons were given day after day, and week after week. Gradually the noble manner of the youth won the good will of Madame de Saint-Cricq, who eventually grew quite fond of his conversation, and would follow with visible interest his re- marks, and the expression of his sentiments and ideas. She also watched with maternal pride the remarkable progress of her daughter under the intelligent and sympathetic guidance of her youthful teacher. Indeed, Caroline seemed to accept with joy the suggestions of the latter, to follow the flight of his fancy, take unfeigned pleasure in his conversation, and read his artistic conceptions and allusions, as it were, in his very eyes. Madame de Saint-Cricq could not, with her intelligent and quick womanly perception, fail to notice the growing affection which was begin- ning to spring between her daughter and young Liszt, bat, feeling assured of the nobleness and purity of their feelings, she refrained from dis- turbing them, and tenderly watched the first emotions of those two youthful hearts. But the protection which that noble lady accorded to the timid manifestations of the pla- tonic love the two young people felt for one Death of Madame de Saint-Cricq. 93 another was not to be of long duration. Ma- dame de Saint-Cricq, who had all her life been in delicate health, fell suddenly and seriously ill, and despite the best medical advice that could be had, and the tenderest nursing from her dearly- beloved daughter, she gradually sank. Before dying, she informed her husband of the mutual affection which she had ascertained to be growing between her daughter Caroline and young Franz Liszt, and concluded by expressing the wish that if the young lady really loved her tutor, Count de Saint-Cricq should allow the match to take place, in order to secure Caro- line's happiness. The Count listened in silence to his w T ife's last recommendation, though he did not attach much importance to it. From the beginning of Madame de Saint - Cricq's illness until a few weeks after the funeral, Caroline's lessons were interrupted ; in the meantime Liszt called at Count de Saint- Cricq's only to inquire after the patient's health, and when the fatal issue was made known, he called upon the Count in order to tender him his respectful and sincere expressions of condolence. Caroline's father received the young artist with kindness, and informed him of his desire to see his daughter resume her lessons. 94 Franz Liszt. The sudden death of the lady he had learned to love and revere as a benefactress made a profound impression on the sensitive and feeling mind of Liszt. The loss of his father had taught him the dreadful meaning of that word " death ; " a word which previously had for him but a vague and ill-defined significance. He could sympathize with Caroline in her bereave- ment, having himself witnessed the agony of his surest, nearest, and dearest friend and pro- tector but a few months before. When he found himself in the presence of his unfortunate pupil, clad in deep mourning, and whose red eyes and pale and sorrowful countenance bore witness to her poignant despair, Franz was seized with inexpressible grief, and, unable to control his feelings, burst out in tears. The similarity of his pupil's position with his own increased, if possible, the feelings of tender affection she had awakened in his soul. When studying together, the memory of their dear dead was ever present to their minds, and formed the chief topic of their conversations. When the lesson was over, Caroline, whose education was accomplished, would acquaint her young friend and master with the gems of lit- erature, and disclose to his, in that respect, His Dismissal as Tutor. 95 uncultured mind, unknown horizons. Thus, day by day, what at first was but mere acci- dental sympathy ripened into deep, though innocent love. Each time Franz's visits were prolonged far beyond the time of an ordinary lesson, until one day Caroline and himself were so absorbed in their conversation that midnight struck while they were still talking. Franz having neglected to tip the hall-porter, whose sleep he had to disturb in order to reach the street, the angry Cerberus reported the matter to Count de Saint-Cricq, and even exaggerated the lateness of the hour of Franz's departure. The next time the latter came to give his lesson, the irascible concierge informed him that the Count wished to speak to him. Quite un- suspecting, Liszt called on his pupil's father, who, after reproaching him with the indiscretion he had been guilty of, courteously informed him that, for the young lady's sake, the lessons must now cease. Franz was thunderstruck. He now fully realized the gross breach of social propriety he had committed, and understood how hopeless it would be for him to try to reverse the Count's decision. He, however, ob- tained permission to call once more on the young Countess, in order to offer personal apology and take leave of her. 96 Franz Liszt. Thus vanished Franz's first dream of love* Heart-broken, he left Count de Saint-Cricq's hotel, and called on his way home at the church of Saint Vincent de Paul. Never before had he experienced such harrowing anguish : he felt annihilated. Ten years later, in his " Gesammelte Schrif ten," he related this memorable incident and his sub- sequent visit to the church : — "A female form," he wrote, "chaste and pure as the alabaster of holy vessels, was the sacrifice my despondent soul offered to the God of the Christians. Renunciation of all things earthly was indeed the motto of that, to me, dreadful day." In spite of himself, and as years rolled by, Liszt never could forget the sweet lady-love of his youth ; he always carried her in his heart like the hallowed image of a Madonna. This was also a cruel separation for the lofty- minded and sensitive Caroline, but her aristo- cratic pride forbade her to display too openly her feelings. In her silent grief, and having lost the person she loved best after her mother, she made up her mind to enter a convent. She, however, had to give way before the determined opposition of the Count, and in obedience to his wishes married, a few months afterwards, Decides to join the Church. 97 Monsieur d'Artigan, a country nobleman who devoted all his attention to sport and to agri- cultural pursuits on his large estate near Pau. Though Caroline was the wife of another, Liszt's image never faded from her mind, and she always preserved for him the tender and pris- tine affection of the days when she was his pupil. Madame Liszt did all in her power to soothe the grief and calm the despair of her son. But all her motherly ingenuity and devotion could devise failed to restore normal equilibrium to Franz's ardent and impulsive nature. Liszt now shunned the world ; for days and weeks he would stay at home, prostrated and indifferent to all but his own grief ; he neglected his piano, and buried himself, as it were, in religious meditation. As of yore, his religious mania manifested itself with renewed intensity. Un- able at last to control any longer his inward yearning for the Church, he informed his mother of his intention to become a monk. In vain did Madame Liszt point out to him that he was her only help and protector — that having achieved success in music, he must devote himself to his art; Franz remained unshakable in his resolu- tion. In his religious outburst he seemed to 98 Franz Liszt. forget the first duty of a son : obedience and respect for his parent's wishes. In despair, Ma- dame Liszt had recourse to a stratagem : she laid the whole case before Franz's spiritual ad- viser, and besought that worthy priest to use his moral authority to alter her son's decision. When Franz next saw his confessor, that ec- clesiastic pointed out to the young man how wrong it was for him to act against his mother's wishes, and entreated him to devote himself entirely to his mother's comfort and the pursuit of an art for which God seemed to have specially gifted him. Unable to meet such, unanswerable arguments, Franz gave up his project, and re- sumed his lessons. About this time Liszt made the acquaintance of Christian Urhan — an eminent and cultured artist, whose original and mysterious being, combining aesthetic tastes with religious enthu- siasm, exercised a powerful attraction over Franz — and soon became intimate with him. Urhan was born at Mont j ore, near Aix-la-Cha- pelle, in 1790 ; having, in his youth, had the good fortune of attracting the attention of the Empress Josephine, she gave him the means of perfecting his musical education in Paris under the tuition of Jean Francois Lesueur, celebrated Finds a Neio Friend. 99 composer and maitre-de-chapelle to Napoleon. At the time of his intercourse with Franz Liszt, Urhan played the viola at the Paris Opera House, and the organ at the church of Saint Vincent de Paul. But his instrument of prede- lection was the " viola d' amour," an instrument exceedingly difficult of handling, and which Urhan was the only person in Paris competent to play. The complete harmony of tastes exist- ing between Franz and his new acquaintance soon ripened into friendship. Whenever free, they used to meet and devote their leisure to the composition and rendering of sacred music. Not that Liszt had given up secular music, for his bread and his mother's were dependent on it, but the contact with the outer world necessi- tated by his public performances had of late become loathsome to him, as will be judged from the following extract from a letter written by him to a friend many years later : " Poverty, that old mediator between man and evil, tore me from my solitude and medita- tion, and often brought me before a public on whom not only my own but my mother's exist- ence depended. Young, and with my mind overstrained, I painfully suffered under contact with external things which my vocation as a 100 Franz Liszt. musician brought with it, and which wounded me all the more intensely that my heart was entirely rilled with the mystical feelings of love and religion. " His youthful frame was unable to withstand the combined emotions caused by his father's sudden death and his separation from " his dear Caroline. " The irregular kind of life he now led contributed to weaken his constitution, already sapped by his grief and religious as- pirations. He fell ill. Though increased in intensity, the symptoms of this crisis seemed but a relapse of the one he had suffered from in his childish years. Moved by a sentiment of duty to his mother, he went on with his lessons, dra^cring himself along, and often breaking down from sheer weakness. His strength went on declining, until, at last, he was quite unable to leave the house. For months he was laid up between life and death ; indeed, his body had wasted so rapidly that the doctors were afraid that consumption would creep on — a disease which, in his exhausted state of health, must have ended fatally. The few friends who visited him used to say with dismay that he was " but the ghost of his former self." Eventually, he became of a sullen Recovers from his Sickness. 101 disposition, and refused to see anyone. Many months had elapsed since he had last appeared in a salon, and the report of his death was widely spread. At the beginning of the winter of 1828, obituary notices of him even appeared in the press. The young man's portrait was exhibited in many shops in Paris, with the following inscription : " Franz Liszt, born at Raiding, October 22, 1811 ; died in Paris, 1828." But the intelligent treatment of the doctors, as also the devoted attention of Madame Liszt, helped by the strong constitution of the pa- tient, at last overcame the disease. The crisis being over, the exhaustion diminished, and as strength returned to Franz, slowly, it is true, so did his activity and love of life. His con- valescent state lasted until the Revolution of July, 1830. XII. Period of Convalescence. — Chateaubriand's " Atala and Rene." — Religious doubts. — Sudden thirst for knowl- edge. — Worldly dispositions. — Play and Opera. — Ital- ian music. — "Marion Delorme " and Rossini's "Wil- helm Tell." — Feels a repugnance for concert giving. — Beethoven's concerto in E-flat major. — Beethoven's mu- sic in Paris. — Liszt's error. — Liszt's fantasia on the Tyrolienne from Auber's opera u La Fiancee." During this period of convalescence and for the first time in his life, Franz Liszt experienced a craving for general knowledge, and devoted his forced leisure to reading. Foremost among his favorite books were the works of Chateau- briand, the dauntless champion of Catholi- cism against the growing spread of infidelity. " Rene," that fantastic and bitterly poetic ro- mance, wherein the author of the " Genie du Christianisme " expressed in beautifully clear language the morbid impressions and dreams of his own youth, had a special attraction for Franz. The latter part of the work, wherein the author delineates the eventual conquest of passion by religion, deeply moved the young (102) His Tldrstfor Knowledge. 103 Hungarian by recalling to him the love-sorrows he himself had so recently endured. The read- ing of " Rene " awoke in Liszt's mind the first religious doubts and worldly feelings he ever ex- perienced. Until then, he had always accepted the tenets of the Church with childish simplicity — no shadow of scepticism had yet disturbed his pristine belief. Those doubts, were, however, only temporary, and the result of a healthy reaction against his blind belief ; his heart remained pure and unaltered in its religious feelings. Now burst within him a sudden and un- controllable thirst for knowledge. His mind clamored for learning ; but as he lacked the fundamental principles of education, having previously been left in ignorance of all that did not relate to his art, his self-acquired knowledge was not subjected to regular development. In his anxiety to read, he would go from one book to another without any plan or method. Thus the most contradictory works found their way into his hands. Lamennais's, Voltaire's, Lamar- tine's, Montaigne's, Rousseau's, Chateaubriand's, Sainte-Beuve's, etc., etc., were heaped up pell- mell on his table, without any regard for the particular subject they treated of. 104 Franz Liszt. The various impressions made upon his mind by the variety of works, secular and religious, serious and frivolous, which he read, affected his moods and habits, which then became still more changeable and irregular. Worldly im- pressions now secured easier access to his heart. His religious mania seemed indeed to vanish. He no longer spent his time in churches, but frequented theatres and places of amusement with the same passion which he formerly used to display in his visits to places of worship. Victor Hugo's celebrated drama entitled " Mar- ion Delorme," which w r as then performed at the Porte Saint Martin Theatre, so delighted him that whenever it was played he was to be seen in the pit of his favorite theatre. In the winter of 1829-30, Rossini's " Wilhelm Tell " was given for the first time ; Liszt, who was present at the performance,' could find no words wherewith to express his enthusiasm both for the noble work of the opera and its plan. From that time dates the insuperable repug- nance Franz now experienced for playing in pub- lic, a repugnance which often led him to decline engagements, notwithstanding the fact that his mother and himself were still quite dependent on his earnings. Many years after, he thus Expression of His Feelings. 105 related* his feelings in this respect: "When death had rohbed me of my father, and I began to foresee what art might he and what it must be, I felt crushed down, as it were, by all the impossibilities which surrounded me and barred the way which my thoughts indicated as the best. Besides, having no sympathetic word from the lips of any one harmonizing with me in mind, either among the contented leaders of society, or, still less, among artists who, unlike myself, were slumbering in comfortable indiffer- ence, knowing nothing of the aims I had in view, nothing of the powers with which I felt gifted, a bitter disgust came over me against art, such as it appeared to me : vilified, and de- graded to the level of a more or less profitable handicraft, branded as a source of amusement for distinguished society. I felt I would sooner be anything in the world than a musician in the pay of the exalted, patronized and salaried by them like a conjuror or the clever dog Muni to." He could not, however, abstain altogether from playing, if not in public, at least in the gorgeous salons of the Parisian aristocracy ; but now even such select audiences wounded his * ' ; Gesammelte Schriften." 106 Franz Liszt. over-sensitive pride. His programmes were al- ways the cause of this, seeing that he was quite indifferent to the peculiarities of his public, upon whom he was ever anxious to impose his tastes. His favorite masters were Beethoven, Weber, and Hummel, whose magnificent works were too deep and subtle for the superficial taste then prevailing in French society. Although his rendering never failed to elicit unanimous applause, it used to be generally remarked that be deserved no congratulation for the choice of his pieces. He was just turned seventeen years of age when he played, before a select audience, Beet- hoven's Concerto in E-flat major ; considering the present state of modern music, such a performance on the part of a virtuoso would scarcely deserve special remark, but under the Restoration it was quite an artistic feat. W. von Lenz, a Russian Councillor of Legation, very prettily relates the impression it made upon him when, a stranger in Paris, he read in gigantic letters on the bright green (the then fashionable color) playbill, the announcement of an extra concert to be given by M. Liszt at the " Conservatoire Royal de Musique," and at which the young musician would play the Concerto in Beethoven not Appreciated in Paris. 107 E-fiat. Von Lenz was just about to call on the pianist Kalkbrenner to arrange for lessons, but having judged from the bills that the artist who ventured to execute in public any of Beethoven's Concertos for the pianoforte must indeed possess complete mastery over his instrument, he there and then drove to Liszt's instead of to Kalk- brenner's, as he at first intended. In Paris, as anywhere else, Beethoven was scarcely more than a name ; few, indeed, were the artists who were acquainted with and ap- preciated the importance of his works. How misunderstood he was by some of the most eminent artists of the day appears from the fact that when A. F. Habeneck, director of the " Concerts spirituels," being anxious to intro- duce to the public one of the great maestro' 's productions, tried the symphony in D-sharp, Rudolph Kreutzer, then first violinist of the French Royal Opera (the same musician to whom Beethoven had dedicated the sonata called after him "Kreutzer Sonata"), put his hands to his ears, saying to Habeneck : " For Heaven's sake, dear friend, spare us such bar- barous bungling!" It is, therefore, no wonder that the public stood away from the German master. Liszt was the first virtuoso who had the cour- 108 Franz Liszt. age to acquaint his patrons with Beethoven's harmonies and melodies. But, in order to secure applause for the master's works, he fell into the error of adorning or rather disfiguring tliem by adding to them musical ornaments of his own invention, which thus made his execution an adaptation rather than a faithful rendering. His craving for popularity was then such that it never occurred to him that such an expedient was unworthy of his reputation as a pianist, and unfair to the genius of the great master, whose works he distorted under the plea of suit- ing them to the tastes of his audience. Not to Beethoven alone, but also to Weber, Hummel, and others did he apply the same treatment : altering their works and adding to them unscru- pulously in order to please the public. There is little to record respecting his ac- tivity, both as a pianist and as a composer, during this period of convalescence. The only production that has survived is his fantasia on the Tyrolienne from Auber's opera, " La Fiancee." It was published in Paris by Trou- penas. Speaking of that work, d'Ortigne, the able French musical critic, says : " ... it dis- plays mock earnestness and Byronic spirit ; it is coquettish and brilliantly written in Herz's style." XIII. Outbreak of the Revolution of July, 1830. — Liszt's enthu- siasm. — Awakening energy. — Plan of a" Symphonie Revolutionnaire." — Liszt's defective knowledge. — Labors. — Influence of the Saint Simonians on his personal and artistic development. — Religious mania. — Artistic change of direction. — Paganini in Paris. — His influence on Liszt. Liszt was quite strong again when the Revolu- tion broke out which put an end to the rule of the Bourbons in France, and raised to the throne the Duke of Orleans, the gallant soldier .of Jemappes and Valmy. France had then reached the climax of her mental development ; but amidst the signs of French intellectual activity, the presages of the great upheaval awaiting French society must have been clearly discern- ible to any observer. The booming of the cannon and the sound of the tocsin calling the people to arms roused Franz's hot Hungarian blood. But for his moth- er's interference, he would have rushed to the barricades and fought for the supreme cause of humanity, for God's oppressed and suffering (109) 110 Franz Liszt. creatures, for nations' rights and freedom, and, if need had been, died in fighting the battle of the sovereignty of the people against the divine right of kings. His impulses were all Magyar, — warm-hearted, high-mined, and enthusiastic. The old and hoary General de Lafayette, the hero of the American independence, who was also now the defender of the people's rights, appeared in Franz's eyes like the genius of Liberty. With his mind bent upon such thoughts, Liszt set about composing a grand " Symphonie Hevolutionnaire." He took as model Beetho- ven's " Battle of Yittoria." He divided his theme into three melodies : one was of Slavonic origin — it was an adaptation of a Hussite song of the fifteenth century ; the other was a fan- tasia on the German anthem, " Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott ; " the third and last was taken from the "Marseillaise." Heroism, deeply-seated religious belief, and impulse for freedom — such were, in Liszt's mind, the champions who should secure the victory of the people and foster peace and good will among nations. This symphony, however never was completed, and its sketch is unfortunately lost, so that there is no oppor- tunity of now judging of its technical worth. Realizes His Want of Knowledge. Ill Franz's morbid feelings had now completely vanished ; the excitement of the Revolution had quite altered the bent of his mind. When speaking of this period, Madame Liszt often used to remark : " C'est le canon qui l'a gueri ! " His interest in the social struggle that was to secure victory for the French bourgeoisie was daily increasing. Politics formed the topic of all conversations ; thus, when hearing day after day the best-gifted men in Paris — savants, poets, artistes, etc. — ably discussing the turn of events, Liszt frankly admitted his sad defi- ciency in all matters that did not relate to his art. The want of study began to make itself grievously felt in Franz's endeavors to grasp the true requirements of the people — the real meaning of progressive culture and social happi- ness. Until then he had devoted all his powers and energy to the study of music ; he had, it is true, learned various modern languages, but his knowledge of them was not based upon the scientific rules of grammar, having all, except German, been picked up when travelling about. Of history, geography, statistics, and other exact sciences, he knew absolutely nothing. With his eminently excitable nature, a chance word or expression overheard in conversation 112 Franz Liszt. would often suffice to carry him through a heap of books, and that often also without any satis- factory result as far as his mental faculties were concerned. D'Ortigne thus relates * how Liszt read with insatiable eagerness the works of bis great contemporaries : " He would anxiously grasp and devour them, and, as it were, read out the very heart of the writer. He would peruse a dictionary in the same insatiable and restless manner as he would a poet. For four consecu- tive hours he would study Boiste and Lamartine with penetrating spirit and searching toil .... History, statistics, philosophy, poetry — he tried them all ; and though not thoroughly and sys- tematically, yet in such a manner as to grasp all their essential points. His craving for knowledge knew no bounds. Music, painting, sculpture, the politics of the day, the polemics of the press and the debates of the parliament- ary tribune, literature, and science, the discus- sions of philosophers and the oratory of the pulpit — he felt equal attraction for all . . . ." The celebrated politico-religious sect of Saint- Sim on ians were now beginning to attract gen- eral notice ; the growing interest felt in them aroused the youthful curiosity of the virtuoso, * Guzdlt Mnsiccrfe de Paris (1834). Liszt and the Saint- Simonians. 113 who requested his friend M. Barrault, himself a chief of the Saint-Simonians, to introduce him to that famous sect. The ideas held by the fol- lowers of Father Enfantin respecting the founda- tion of the kingdom of God on earth disposed ' Liszt enthusiastically in their favor from the very first ; but their views of art, and the posi- tion and mission they assigned to it, captivated him so much that he soon became one of the most assiduous visitors at their meetings, and even, at one time, entertained the idea of becom- ing one of their members. The Saint-Simonians regarded artists in the light of priests, agents of the Government, who, by the loftiness and the depth of their thoughts, of their harmonies, of their pictures or sculptures, should awaken, foster, and mould in the breasts of the people lasting sympathies for all that is beautiful, noble and good. The religious direction of the Saint-Simonians, as also their opinion of art and artists, thus brought Franz's feelings into play, and supplied the foundation of his own views of art : that the latter is no human production, but an emanation from the Deity Itself, to Which it leads back in due course, became for Liszt a fundamental maxim. Although his newly-born conception of art did 114 Franz Liszt. not become thoroughly clear and intelligible until two years later (from his intimate inter- course with the Abbe de Lamennais), the eccen- tricities of the Saint-Simonians at least imparted shape to his thoughts on the subject. The idea of the artist acting as a medium between God and the world now assumed tangible shape in his mind as being the outcome of an everlasting law. All his life Franz has indeed been a real priest of art : selfish aims never marred his actions ; he never withdrew his artistic services from a noble cause, or his aid from suffering humanity. Several of Liszt's biographers having wrongly asserted that he joined the Saint-Simonians, the eminent artist wrote in 1844, the following statement in answer to the allegation : "It is quite correct that I had the honor of being the intimate friend of several adherents of Saint- Simonism, that I visited their assemblies and listened to their sermons, but I never w T ore their famous blue coat, and still less their later uniform. I never belonged, either officially or not, to the sect, and never did them any service. Heine and several others, though compromised and compromising, were in the same case." Paganini. 115 The taunts at Liszt's Saint-Simonism, con- tained in Heme's writings, and which materially contributed to develop erroneous impressions, were rather the outpourings of momentary ill- humor and personal vexation against the artist than the expression of the writer's real opinions. About this time (1831) there appeared in Paris an art phenomenon such as had never been seen or heard before : Nicolo Paganini, the musical wizard whose wand was his bow, and whose wondrous performances were to win for him the title of King of virtuosi. On the 9th of March, 1831, the strange, gaunt Italian with demoniac glance stood in the Paris Opera House before a public composed of the flower of the aristocracy and the elite of artists and amateurs. The audience seemed spell-bound by the magic performance. Liszt, who was present, could scarcely refrain fiom expressing his admiration for the matchless musician whose playing was impelling his emula- tion with kindling fire, and giving form to the artistic ideal which the study of the doctrines of the Saint-Simonians had awakened in his mind.. " . . . . The form should not sound, but the spirit speak ! Then only does the virtuoso become the high-priest of art, in whose mouth 116 Franz Liszt. dead letters assume life and meaning, and whose lips reveal the secrets of art to the sons of men . . . . The Saint-Simonians had theoretically revealed to Liszt the intimate connection which exists between religion, art, and the whole world ; Paganini's playing was, indeed, the practice of that theory. With unlimited hope and inde- scribable eagerness Liszt now resumed his piano- forte practice. He ceased altogether to appear in public as a pianist, and, for a time, led the life of a recluse, his mother being the only witness of his persevering efforts to still improve his power of execution, and reach on his instru- ment the perfection possessed by Pagan ini over his violin. To play on a single note was of course out of question. That was not Liszt's object, although he might indeed have aston- ished the world by playing with only one finger, for he had so drilled each of his fingers that they each and all possessed such rapidity, inde- pendence, and firmness as no other pianist ever possessed before. By dint of labor, industry, and inventiveness, Liszt increased the beauty - and breadth of sound of his instrument to a marvellous degree, and, at the same time, dealt * Liszt's " Gesammelte Schriflen." Studies Paganini s Work. 117 a fatal blow to the modern pianoforte music of his day. When the famous violinist first published his twenty-four " Capricci per Violino Solo, Com- posti e Dedicati Agli Artisti," Liszt eagerly procured them, and at once set about trying the sounds ; their study enabled him to add to the riches of pianoforte music. He transferred the " Capricci " to the piano ; # but his fine feeling of the individuality of instruments precluded his transferring them note by note, a method by which the character of the original must have suffered without any compensating advan- tage to the piano score ; although before Liszt's innovation that method, faithful to the notes, but without any regard to the character of the instrument, was the only one known. Franz followed up this first success with other minor transfers, among them his " Grande Fantaisie sur la Clochette de Paganini," which latter closes the list of his small but valuable produc- tions imitated from Paganini. A few years later — in 1841, the very year of Paganini's death — Liszt wrote an essay on the Italian violinist and his work. This essay in * " Bravourstudien nach Paganini's Capricen, fur Piano- forte." 118 Franz Liszt. which Paganini's wonderful attainments are justly and impartially praised, although dedi- cated to the King of virtuosi, makes no attempt to conceal the deep and thorough antipathy felt hy Liszt's noble and generous nature to the Italian's narrow selfishness. XIV. Berlioz. — His influence on Liszt. — Fetis. — Chopin. — Liszt's enthusiasm and love for the Polish musician. — His u Life of Chopin." — Abbe de Lamennais. — His in- fluence on Liszt. — Democratic tendencies. In Rome, in 1830, Liszt made the acquaintance of young Berlioz, who had been sent thither after having obtained the scholarship known as " Prix de Rome." They used to meet at the Villa Medici and at the Cafe Greco in the company of Mendelssohn and other distin- guished artists, with whom they founded a club known under the facetious name of " Soci- ete cle 1' Indifference en Matiere Universelle." (The Association of Universal Indifference.) The time used to be pleasantly spent in excur- sions to Subiaco, Alatri, II Monte Cassino, etc. ; and the works of Beethoven, Schiller, Goethe, Haydn, and Mozart used to furnish the subjects of their conversations. Such was the origin of the close and unbroken friendship which until Berlioz's death existed between him and his Hungarian colleague. After Berlioz's marriage with Miss Harriet Smithson, an English actress, (119) 120 Franz Liszt. the young men became still more intimate ; and Liszt, who was then living in the Rue de Prov- ence, often used to visit his friend ; the even- ings used to be devoted to music, and the matchless pianist would perform some of Beet- hoven's sonatas in the dark, so as to increase the impression produced. Berlioz's affection for Liszt was such that when adverse criticisms appeared in the press about his friend he warmly took up his defence in Le Correspondent, La Revue Europeenne, Le Courrler d'Europe, and other papers for which the French artist was then writing. When the fickle Parisians tried to oppose Thalberg to his rival, Berlioz grew quite wild, and used to assert that Liszt was the greatest pianist of past, present, and future times ; a pro- ceeding which the Hungarian fully reciprocated. On the 9th of December, 1832, Hector Berlioz who had just returned from Rome, where, as before stated, he had been sent by the French Government, conducted personally the perform- ance of his famous " Symphonie fantastique," entitled " Episode de la Vie d'un Artiste," des- tined to produce such a revolution in modern musical composition. It was indeed a great musical event, and Liszt, with all the leading Liszt and Berlioz. 121 musicians in Paris, was present in the Conserva- toire Hall, where the performance took place. Liszt was carried away by the wonderful effects exhibited in that remarkable composition, which gained for Berlioz a genuine triumph. In his enthusiasm Liszt went to him after the performance and warmly congratulated the young Frenchman on the success he had just achieved. The young Hungarian was indeed so fasci- nated by the charms of the " Symphonie fantas- tique" that on the very night of the concert he transferred the whole score to the piano. The influence of Berlioz's music affected the musical compositions of Liszt in a two-fold direction : as regards the technicalities, and as regards the principles of art. His marvellous instrumental and " harmonious " power, as also his keen dramatic perception, produced the greatest excitement on Liszt's mind, and left a lasting impression on his subsequent pro- ductions. Next to Berlioz, Francois Joseph Fetis, a musical critic of the greatest merit, and author of a remarkable " Dictionary of Music and Musi- cians," exercised also a great influence on Liszt's mind, although that influence was rather limited to the sphere of theory, and did not extend to 122 Franz Liszt. that of practice. The hypotheses which he set up concerning the future development of harmo- nious progress and connection of sounds afforded great aid to the yet theoretically unproved bold- ness of the new combinations of sounds. At the lecture which he delivered in Paris in the winter of 1832, on the Philosophy of Music, and which were published in the Revue Musicale Beige, he was the first to express the opinion that " the final aim both of tone and harmony must consist in an increased approximation of all tones and of all keys, and, as a matter of course, also of all harmonious progress." In 1831, a young Polish artist, Frederick Chopin, had appeared in Paris on his way to England. Having been prevailed upon to play before the Parisian public, he had given a first concert in the " Salle Pleyel," toward the close of the year 1831, before a select audience, com- posed of the elite of the artistic world in Paris. The subject of this performance was his famous Concerto in E-flat, besides which he also rendered a few mazurkas and nocturnes. The delightfully poetical playing of the young Pole secured for him the warmest reception. But, as Liszt himself relates # in recalling this * " Notice biographique sur Frederic Chopin et etude de son CEuvre," par Franz Liszt; Paris, 1852. Liszt and Chopin. 123 first appearance of Chopin, "neither admiration, nor the most boisterous enthusiasm and applause could suffice to express the delight which the Hungarian virtuoso felt in the presence of this genius, which revealed a new phase in the poetic feeling and the happiest innovations in the power of giving form to his art. From that concert dates the unchanging and mutual affection the Pole and the Hungarian felt for one another. Chopin was in many respects different from Liszt ; the only common feature was their love of art. Chopin's was a reserved and exclusive nature. On two points only his indifference used to leave him : matters relating to his native land, and those relating to art. When, through Berlioz's innovations, the con- test of the Romanticists against classical formal- ism broke out in 1832, Chopin stood on the side of progress. His perseverance, his firmness, and the clearness of his productions exercised no small influence on Liszt's adhesion to the new musical school. Although a born innovater, Liszt could not altogether free himself from classical discipline ; and the deep admiration he felt for the masterly productions of past geniuses opposed itself at 124 Franz Liszt. times to the enthusiasm the romantic school awakened in him. He went along, pursuing his ideal art, and groping, as it were, his way in the darkness of uncertainty : " To our endeav- ors," he writes,* " to our struggles, just then standing so much in need of certainty, being met as it were at that time by wiseacres who shook their heads at us, rather than by glorious opponents, he t lent us the support of a calm, unshakable conviction, equally armed to resist flagging or allurement." Chopin's serenity, his calm and discreet com- posure, were indeed qualities which largely contributed to tranquilize Liszt's ardent nature, always on* the point of conflagration. Robert Schumann, writing about Liszt in his letters, remarks : " It appears as if the sight of Chopin brought Liszt again to his senses." The influence which Chopin exercised on his Hungarian colleague, as expressed in the latter's performance on the piano, was deep enough, at that time of fervid excitement, to be placed beside that of Paganini, though it displayed itself in a quite opposite manner. The Italian * " Notice biographique sur Frederic Chopin e* etude de son CEuvre," par Franz Liszt ; Paris, 1852. ■J Chopin. Liszt and Chopin. 125 violinist had opened the way to new technicali- ties in pianoforte playing, and had perhaps also awakened the demon of inspiration ; Chopin, on the contrary, made his brother virtuoso feel the sympathy of the beautiful within the limits of subjective lyric sweetness. From Chopin, Liszt ") learned " to express in music the poetry of the / aristocratic salons" as a Polish lady of rank strikingly put it. He was no longer the much/ admired and petted little prodigy, for the favor of the ladies now enabled him to play the part of amoroso. In the society of Chopin and of Ferdinand Hiller, of Cologne, who was warmly attached to the Polish virtuoso, Franz was often seen in the salons of the Polish Countess Plater, of whom it is said that having once been asked her opinion of the three youths, she quickly replied : " Hiller, I would chose as friend, Chopin as husband, and Liszt as a lover." Chopin's style of musical ornamentation was as new as it was strange. Speaking of it in his work on Chopin, Liszt expresses himself in the following manner : " This kind of ornament, the type of which had previously only been found in the fioritur a of the old great school of Italian singing, received from Chopin the unexpected and the manifold that lies beyond the power of the 126 Franz Liszt. human voice ; whereas until then the latter alone had been slavishly copied, with ornaments that had become stereotyped and monotonous. Chopin invented those wondrous harmonious progressions which lent a dignified and serious character to passages which, from the light nature of the subject, lay no claim to any deep significance.' ' Chopin's ornamentation did not unfold the whole scale of Sclavonic sentiment ; it remained within the limits of the Polish national charac- ter. In the mazurkas it resembled the clashing of knightly spurs ; in the waltzes and nocturnes, pliant lianas, into which stole yearning and elegy — the historical grief of the Poles. This no doubt influenced Liszt ; and when in his later progress in all directions he possessed himself of that spontaneity with which the Hun- garian gipsies, that genuinely musical people, created their jiorituras, Chopin's discipline be- came visible, lending artistic beauty and style to Franz's ornamentation. In him, too, it became 'an integral part of art in the broadest sense of the word. \ The book on Chopin was written in 1849, at Weimar. It is a most important contribution to biography, and at the same time a valuable study of Chopin's work. His Religious Doubts. 127 Doubts which could no longer be silenced by prayer and religious practices had gradually crept into Liszt's mind. In his perplexity he requested the Abbe de Lamennais to solve the enigmas that disturbed his restless mind. The priest appealed to the young man's feelings — though momentarily sunk in doubt, and partly confused by the prevailing scepticism, yet deeply religious — bade him halt, and summoned him to pause and reflect. Whilst releasing the voun^ man from the fetters of blind belief, he led him back to faith. Through religion and faith being thus brought into harmony with the prevailing artistic ideas, Liszt, as a virtuoso, was preserved, in his years of moral storms and struggles, from the inner unsteadiness to which so many talented persons of that period fell victims. Lamennais was no longer the defender of Catholicism or the champion of the Restoration. Times had changed since the Breton abbe in his " Essai sur 1' Indifference en Matiere de Religion" endeavored to restore public faith in the principle of authority, thereby causing quite a sensation, and winning from the enthusiastic gratitude of the supporters of the Church the proud surname of " Bossuet Moderne." In 128 Franz Liszt. 1831, he had already, in various articles which lie contributed to the newspaper L'Avenir, placed himself in opposition to the past. In these he had tried his democratic strength, and stood up in the contest as the powerful and gifted advo- cate of Christian brotherhood and freedom, which, when released from its subjection to princes, should unfold itself under the banner of the Church. For the second time in his life, though in different circles of society, Lamennais excited general admiration. His name was on every- body's lips, and his works became the topics of general conversation. The enthusiasm he aroused reached a climax when he published his own defence against the Church, in the famous work entitled " Les Paroles d'un Croyant." That book, which has been called " The Gospel of Democracy/' acted as a firebrand cast into the Catholic Church, for in it Lamennais declared war against the Pope and all the Princes of Europe. It brought upon him the anathema of iRome, and the name of " apostate " from his former co-reli^ionists. Carried away by the dazzling eloquence and the bold and humane ideas of the fiery priest, Liszt succeeded in approaching him and disclos- Liszt and Lamennais. 129 ing to him his moral doubts. The warm, enthu- siastic, and youthful confidence of Liszt at once won for him the interest and sympathy of Abbe de Lamennais, who soon detected the great talents hidden under the eccentric exterior of the young musician. Lamennais became, indeed, an authority to whom Liszt often appealed as a last resource, to decide even private and personal matters, and whom, in his gratitude and vener- ation, he often used to call his u fatherly friend and instructor." Lamennais' s true piety, his democratic princi- ples, his views of life, imbued with the love of freedom and humanity, and which led him boldly and violently to break off with the Church and with his glorious past, found an echo in the generous and impulsive soul of the young artist, and ripened the Christian ideal views of art already awakened by the doctrines of the Saint- Simonians, and which were to give foundation to his artistic career and productions. From the following fragment of an essay, written by Liszt in 1834 for the Gazette Musicale de Paris, it will be seen what were then the longings and aspirations of the young man's ardent soul : — " Gods and kings are no more ; God alone 130 Franz Liszt. remains forever, and the nations of the earth have shaken the yoke. No donbt can therefore be entertained respecting the prospects of art. " In accordance with the law recently voted by the chamber of Deputies, music will at last shortly be taught in schools throughout the breadth and length of France. We therefore congratulate the representatives of the nation on that step, which we gladly regard as a pledge that greater efforts still will soon be made to influence the masses — we mean the ennobling of sacred music' ' After reciting that, when altars existed before which men could fall on their knees, churches were the proper abode of sacred music, he goes on to say : — " But now that altars are shaken to their very foundation, now that religious rites and practices are railed at by sceptics, art- must leave the sanctuary of temples and seek in the broad world a fit stage for its sublime manifestations. " Music must, as of yore, recognize God and the people as its living fountain-head ; it must flow from the former to the latter and vice vers&, so as to ennoble, comfort, and purify man and bless and praise God. " This can only be attained through the ere- His Rhapsody on Music. 131 ation of a new music, which, for want of a better appellation, we would term humanita- rian ; that new style of music must be inspired, strong and effective ; it must partake, in the largest possible proportions, of the characteristics of both the theatre and the church ; in fine, it must be at the same time dramatic and holy, splendid and simple, solemn and serious, fiery, stormy, and calm. " The ' Marseillaise/ which, more than all the mythical accounts of the Hindus, the Chinese, and the Greeks, has shown us the power of music — the ' Marseillaise ' and all the other noble hymns of liberty are the fruitful and sub- lime forerunners of the music I here allude to. " Yes, depend on it, we shall soon, in fields as in forests, in villages as in towns and suburbs, in workshops as in halls of meeting, hear na- tional, moral, political and religious songs, tunes and hymns composed for, to be taught to and sung by the people ; sung by the workmen of cities as by the tillers of the soil, by the boys and girls, the men and the women of the people ! This will indeed be the fiat lux of art ! . Come then, hour of deliverance, when poets and musicians, forgetting ' the public,' will have but one motto : ' God and the people ! ' 132 Franz Liszt. Lamennais's influence on Liszt was many- sided and far-reaching ; it extended much beyond religion and the ideal of art. It made itself felt in connection with the composer's idea of the hierarchy of the Church. Before his acquaint- ance with the author of " Les Paroles d'un Croyant," the young Hungarian had no definite notion of what hierarchy really is ; it was the Breton abbe who explained to him the differ- ence between religion and the Church. Liszt, for the first time in his life, now understood that those two things stand to each other in the relation of contents to form, and though connected, are two essentially different things which in practice may be entirely opposed. The anathema hurled by Rome against Lamen- nais now appeared to Liszt in quite a new light. It roused the young man's sympathies toward his " fatherly friend," whom he now followed in his secession from the Church. The following passage contained in Liszt's work entitled u De la Situation des Artistes/' and which first appeared in 1835 as a contribu- tion to the Gazette Musicale de Paris, clearly shows what was then the state of his mind concerning the Church : " The Roman Catholic Church — solely occu- Declaims Against the Church. 133 pied in murmuring the dead letter of her law, and in feasting away the time of her humiliating decay ; knowing only ban and curse where she should bless and elevate ; destitute of all feeling for the deep yearning which consumes younger generations ; acknowledging neither art nor science ; incapable of anything useful ; possess- ing no remedy for the appeasement of the modern thirst for, and of the tormenting craving after righteousness, freedom and charity — the Catholic Church, such as she has made herself, such as she now stands in ante-rooms and in public places, slapped on both cheeks by peoples and princes — I say so without the slightest reservation — has entirely alienated from herself the esteem and affection of the present genera- tion ; people, life and art keep away from her, and she seems doomed to perish in oblivion." Though brought up from his tenderest years in the midst of aristocratic circles, to whom he was, in a measure, indebted for the wonderful and unheard-of rapidity with which his name became known, Liszt, following the new current of ideas, now experienced a secret antipathy against the nobility and the bourgeoisie ; that feeling was, however, much stronger against the latter than against the former, and was probably 134 Franz Liszt. based upon the obstacles which the middle classes opposed to the diffusion of art, and to the realization of the prevalent ideal of humanity. He, however, always carefully concealed his feelings in that respect ; for, as he wrote some- where : " An artist may have abstract ideas, but he may not become the partisan of a political creed, without rendering his calling impossible. For art, the solution of all opinions, lies in our feeling of the brotherhood of mankind." XV. Appears again in salons and in public — Acknowledged the creator of modern execution on the piano. — Fetis. — "Grandes etudes de Paganiui." — The first partition for the piano. — Victor Hugo. — George Sand. — Her influ- ence on Liszt. — Countess Laprunarede. Liszt now resumed his performances in the salons of the aristocracy : he was frequently seen at the residence of the Austrian Ambas- sador, Count Apponyi, one of his former pro- tectors, whose gifted and accomplished consort accorded him especial patronage — in the salons of the beautiful Polish Countess Plater and of the Duchess de Duras ; he also was a frequent visitor at the houses of his two former pupils, the lovely Duchess of Ranyan, daughter of the Duchess of Duras, and the witty Viscountess de Larochefoucauld, and in many other aristocratic families. He also appeared again in public, and proved himself quite a different artist from what the Parisians had known him. Of his execution, bordering on the wonderful, d'Ortigne (135) 136 Franz Liszt. wrote, in 1834, in the Gazette Musicdle de Paris : — " Our artist sees in all branches of art, and especially in music, a refraction and a reflection of universal ideas, as in God's universe. He is the most poetically complete whole of all the impressions he has received. These impressions, which, according to all appearance, he could not render by means of speech, and express in clear, decided thoughts — these he reproduces on his instrument to an unlimited extent, with unat- tainable power of truth, natural force, energy of sentiment and enchanting grace. Now his art is passive, it is an instrument, an echo : it expresses, it translates ; now it is again active : it speaks, it is the organ which he uses for the unfolding of his ideas. Liszt's execution is thus no mechanical, material exercise, but rather, and in a peculiar sense, a composition, a real creation of art." From 1830 to 1840, Franz Liszt was present at every concert Berlioz gave ; he was then indeed the alter ego, and, as it were, the comple- ment of the great Frenchman. At those concerts he often used to play fantasias of his own and transfers from the various productions of his friend. To that period belong Liszt's transfers Liszt and Berlioz. 137 from the following works of Berlioz : " L'idee fixe," from a melody ; " La marche au supplice " and u Un bal," from the " Symphonique fantas- tique " ; a " Fantaisie S}'mphonique," for piano and orchestra, after the "Chant du Pecheur" and the " Chceur des Brigands." To these must be added the transcription of Franz Schubert's "Die Rose"; the " Apparations " (" Erschei- mungen"), the " Pensees des morts " ("Erinner- ung an die Todten"), which latter fully justify their title and were composed at the instigation of the Abbe* de Lamennais. Lastly must be mentioned, as belonging to that period, the symphony on Victor Hugo's noble and affecting poem entitled " Ce qu'on entend sur la mon- tagne." This was written on Liszt's returning home one evening from visiting the great poet, who had read the original MS. to a small and select circle of literary friends and artists, among whom was the pianist. On the 9th of April, 1835, Liszt gave a public concert at the Hotel de Ville, and, for the first time, he played his already mentioned fantasia on Berlioz's "Chant du Pecheur" and "Chceur des Brigands." In an article headed " Concerts de la Semaine," the Gazette Musieale says that Liszt's playing had so much improved and 138 Franz Liszt. displayed such extraordinary merit that it again caused quite a sensation. With reference to the same concert, d'Ortigne says the bold and new combinations of harmony of the Hungarian displayed the deepest knowledge of his art, and that his instrumentation was profusely rich in coloring, and that it brought out unexpected and magnificent effects by the transposition of the principal themes, and by highly original side-themes taken from them. The progress made in the construction of pianos was not without influence upon the modern style of execution created by Liszt, for, as Fetis the elder remarks : — " The weak sound and the thin strings of the old pianos afforded but miserable resources for coloring of execution : the contrast of loud and soft could only be faintly marked ; and this ex- plains the rarity of nuances in the music of de- menti, Haydn, Mozart, Dussek, and other masters of that period. Toward the end of the eigh- teenth, and the beginning of the nineteenth cen- tury, great improvements were made in the construction of instruments especially in the so-called " grand piano," which gained half an octave in compass, and, in the hands of Broadwood and Erard, reached great perfection. Innovations in Pianoforte Playing. 139 From that time pianoforte music gains in color- ing, the execution becomes more powerful, and from the soft and pithy tones of the instrument was developed the possibility of a connected style of playing, of expressive song.' , As late as the year 1840, pianoforte playing was in general of one single kind ; that is, its chief characteristics were rapidity, lightness, and smoothness of the passages and figures, and, as regarded expression, a soft melody arising from sentiment ; this excluded strongly marked con- trasts of feeling. But with Liszt counterpoint weavings of the voices were treated as har- monious masses ; melody and accompaniments moved with equal power of tone ; single parts disappeared and were merged in the general harmony ; execution rose to the dramatic ; inte- rior emotion and depth of expression reached a point which had never been dreamed of before. It was about this time that Liszt made the acquaintance of the leaders of the romantic school of literature : Jules Sandeau, Victor Hugo, Alfred de Musset, Planche, and George Sand. Franz Liszt had now reached the age when passions ebb in tumultuously. His ardent and romantic nature, his attractive appearance, his 140 Franz Liszt. wonderful success and already world-wide repu- tation, marked him out as a fit victim for the god of love. He was but twenty-three years of age when he met George Sand, that wonderful woman who in " Indiana," "Lelia," "Jacques," " Leone- Leoni," etc., etc., had astounded the world by her matchless talent, at the same time scandal- izing it by the exposition of her audacious social views. She had jnst returned from her famous escapade to Venice in the society of Alfred de Musset, the incidents of which form the subject of several of her works : " Le Secretaire Intime," "Lettres d'un Voyageur," "Elle et Lui." Liszt was soon reckoned among Madame Sand's best friends, and gradually their mutual intimacy led to the formation of a liaison of a still more intimate character, which is said by Heine to have lasted for some years, until the fickle woman left the fiery Hungarian for the meek Pole, Chopin, with whom she travelled in Spain and spent a winter in Majorca. Liszt's intercourse with George Sand quite altered his ideal of love. He was at the age when " images persuade and metaphors con- vince, when tears are proofs, and the conse- quences of enthusiastic rapture are preferred to Another Love Episode. 141 wearying arguments.' ' The youth was inflamed by the gospel preached in " Indiana/' " Leone- Leoni," etc. ; he believed in it, and sought to live after it. In the glittering salons of the Faubourg Saint- Germain Liszt also met the sparkling, witty, young, and beautiful Countess Adele Laprun- arede {nee De Chelerd), afterward Duchess de Fleury, who sought, in the elegant circles of the aristocratic faubourg, to make up for the ennui she suffered in the country by the side of an already very old Count, her husband. A mutual attraction seems to have sprung up between that young and gifted lady and the dashing musician. Liszt was invited to give soirees at the Count's, who was so pleased with his winning manners, appearance, and talent that he un- suspiciously invited the young virtuoso to come and spend the winter months at his cha- teau of Marlioz, delightfully situated between the Alps and Geneva. The charm, life, and gaiety of the elegant Countess could not fail to captivate the heart of the musician. The intimacy ripened into a liaison, and for a whole winter the love of his hostess detained Liszt a prisoner in her fortress-like castle. On his 142 Franz Liszt. return to Paris Franz kept up an assiduous cor- respondence with the fair Countess. These were, as Liszt jestingly remarks in his " Gesam- melte Schriften," his " first practice in the lofty French style." This liaison does not appear to have been known to his biographers, who, except- ing L. Ramann, do not breathe a single word of it. The Frenchman, d'Ortigne, seems to have detected the true cause of Liszt's absence from Paris ; at least, his words, " People suspected a new passion behind his disappearance," leave us to guess as much. XVI. The Countess d'Agoult. — Her parents. — Youth. — Liaison with Liszt. In the following winter, that of 1833-1834, the salons opened again, and the youth, whose nature had, in the meantime, become still more fiery and amiably eccentric, began again to be worshipped and admired. Then, for the first time, one of the handsomest and most fashion- able ladies of Parisian aristocracy invited the virtuoso to her parties. Liszt was in the bloom of youth and of rising fame when he made the acquaintance of the woman to whom his life was to be linked for ten long years. She was in every respect a remarkable woman, and, as it were, one of Nature's jewels. Her physical charms were only equalled by her mental gifts. Name, wealth, beauty, and talent, she seemed singled cut for the highest achieve- ments. Indeed, under the pseudonym of " Daniel Stern " she made to herself an enviable name in French literature. From her last contribution, (143) 144 Franz Liszt. " Mes souvenirs " (personal recollections), pub- lished in Paris in 1877, a few months after her death, are borrowed the following facts respecting her family and early life. Her father, Alexandre Victor Francois Vis- count de Flavigny, was born in Geneva, on the 11th of September, 1770, and was the sole heir of one of the most distinguished families of the French nobility. When but a boy of tender years he entered the King's service on the 12th of May, 1782 ; though only twelve years of age, he obtained his commission as sub-lieutenant in the regiment of " Colonel-General " of the royal French infantry. When the Revolution broke out, the young officer followed his regiment to Coblentz, there to join the " Army of the Princes." Prince Louis de la Tremoille, having been instructed by the English Government to raise in Germany a regiment, destined to increase the army of the Prince of Conde, promoted the Vicomte de Flavigny to the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel, and directed him to organize the regi- ment. For that purpose the young Colonel came to Francfort-on-the-Main in 1797. In the course of his negotiations he made the acquaint- ance of the wealthy banker, Simon-Moritz Beth- The Viscount Woos the Widow. 145 mann, then head of the renowned banking-house of the Brothers Beth mann, and who was living with his mother and second sister, Marie-Eliza- beth, who, although but eighteen years old, was already left a widow with a child. The young Viscount was in all the flower of his youth when he came to Francfort ; he was soon smitten by the attractions of the young and prepossessing widow, who herself rather encouraged the advances of the brilliant young Colonel. A marriage was decided upon, but it did not meet with the approval of the family. The Bethmanns, proud of their riches, bigoted Protestants, occupying a high and influential position as free citizens of their free city, could scarcely welcome the prospect of a matrimo- nial alliance with a foreigner, and above all a Frenchman, Catholic, of noble descent, an emi- grant, and a soldier ; of good appearance, it is true, and mentally gifted, but who, ruined by the Revolution, did not possess anything beyond his sword and his commission. They therefore resolved to oppose all sorts of obstacles to the objectionable union. Indeed, the fact of the Viscount beino; an emigrant justified their resorting to rigorous measures. Under the pretence of some irregularity in 146 Franz Liszt. his passport, he was requested by the magistrate to quit without delay the territory of Francfort ; but having taken no heed of this order, he was sent to prison. This severity only hastened the denouement. It excited the passion the young widow now felt for the French officer, whom she went to visit in his cell. Having spent a pretty long time with the man of her choice, she returned home, and with a boldness which her former timid ways scarcely warranted : " After this, will you still persist in your oppo- sition to his becoming my husband ?'" she said to her mother and brother. Before such deter- mination her relations had to give way, and the Vicomte de Flavigny having been released, the marriage was celebrated on the 29th of Septem- ber, 1797. The young couple remained in Ger- many until such time as political events enabled the Yicomte to return to France. Although the majority of the emigrants had returned after the 9th of Thermidor, under the Directory, and the last of them after the proclamation of the Peace of Amiens, the Comte and Comtesse de Flavigny stayed abroad until the year 1809. From their union two sons and a daughter were born. The youngest of these children, the future Comtesse d'Agoult, was named Marie-Catherine-Sophie ; Countess oVAgoult. 147 she was born at Francfort-on-the-Main, on Christmas night, in the year 1805. With regard to the date of her birth, the Countess d'Agoult wrote the following lines : — " There reigns in Germany a certain supersti- tion concerning children born on Christmas night, Mitternaehtskinder, as they are called. They are supposed to be of a mysterious nature, more familiar than others with spirits — more subject to dreams and apparitions. I do not know the origin of that German belief, but I must confess it, although such confession may diminish the opinion French wiseacres have of me, I am unable as far as I am concerned, either to scoff at or to reject entirely the pop- ular tradition, according to which there exists a certain relationship between spirits and myself. People will judge of it by what follows : Many a time, in the course of a sorely tried existence, I had warnings in the shape of strange and almost symbolical dreams, the recollection of which* used to pursue me in the most extra- ordinary and incomprehensible manner, and which used to relate exactly to the new and unforeseen events of my life and dispositions of my soul. " Moreover, in the midst of a serious illness, 148 Franz Liszt. during a crisis which might have been fatal, and which terribly perplexed the doctors, the remedy that saved my life was revealed to me in a dream. This was, indeed, an inexplicable reve- lation for a person unacquainted, as I then was, with the most rudimentary notions of medicine ; it must have been that occult power of instinct which the ancients ascribed to the -gods,* and of which modern science must reluctantly accept some few embarrassing; manifestations. . . . " When I recollect the critical and decisive moments of my past life, I feel the invisible presence and help of a propitious genius; no matter what name we call it, whether a voice or a spirit, its beneficial influence stepped between me and the blows of fate, and sometimes con- cealed me, as if in a cloud, from the gaze of my enemies, suddenly imparting new vigor to my courage. . . . Yet, at the period of my life when I felt most religious, I knew neither ecstasy nor visions ; the seraphic world of Swe- denborg has never been known to me. Indeed, though I sometimes allow my imagination to * " .... For the remedies which were suggested to me in my dreams against my fits of blood-spitting and swim- mings in the head . . . . f am indebted solely to the protec- tion and favor of the gods." — " The Thoughts of the Em- peror Marcus Aurelius Antonins," lib. i., cap. xvii. Countess d'Agoult. 149 soar in occult regions, my reason never follows it ; I feel no attraction for either ma^netizer or medium. I do not believe, I scarcely need say, in anything supernatural ; still less do I believe in any suspension or deviation whatever of the normal course of divine laws. But I firmly believe in a mysterious order of infinite nature, which order appears supernatural only because of our ignorance. I acknowledge the existence of laws which escape, and perhaps will ever escape, our investigations ; and which, owing to their affecting but few and over delicate organi- zations, remain for the vulgar a subject of super- stitious surprise, and for pedants an occasion for railing and showing scorn." # Marie de Flavigny was first brought up at home, under the direction of her mother, in Paris and in Touraine, where, on his return to France, her father had bought an estate. She thus learned the rudiments of philosophy, his- tory, natural history, etc. ; and though reared in the midst of a Vendean society, she was left the * In an address, delivered at Belfast in 1874, Mr. Tyndall, while dwelling on this subject, expressed himself in the fol- lowing terms : " We may think over the subject again and again, it eludes all intellectual representation. We stand at length face to face before the Incomprehensible." 150 Franz Liszt. greatest latitude of thought and conception by her German and tolerant mother. The first emotions of her childhood related to the civil wars, and to the agitated Napoleonic period. Like her father, she was brought up in the Catholic religion, and, after her first commu- nion, she entered the Parisian aristocratic con- vent of the Sacre-Cceur. There she became intimate with the daughters of the first families of France : the De Larochejaquelein, De Laroche- foucauld, De Menou, De Vence, etc. During her stay in the educational establishment of the Hue de Varennes,* Mademoiselle de Flavigny was especially noted for her pious dispositions, united to great freedom of judgment in the examination of religious dogmas. She was but seventeen years of age when numerous suitors belonging to the most aristocratic families proposed to her family. Strange to say, the only man who cap- tivated her, the Count Auguste de Legarde, French Ambassador in Spain, was not destined to be her husband. The great difference of age — he was forty-five years old — was alleged by the mother of the young Marie de Flavigny as the cause of her refusal to consent to the union. On the 16th of May, 1827, Marie de Flavigny * The Convent of the Sacred Heart is situated on that street. Countess d'Agoult. 151 was married to the Count Charles d'Agoult, colonel of a horse regiment, aide-de-camp to General Latour-Maubourg, nephew of Viscount d'Agoult, knight of the King's orders, first equerry to Madame la Dauphine, and allied to the oldest and most illustrious French fam- ilies. Her marriage settlement was signed by King Charles X., the Dauphin, Madame Marie- There se, the Dauphine, the Duchess of Berry, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, Marie Amelie, Demoiselle d' Orleans (who became Madame Adelaide at the Court of her brother, Louis Philippe), etc. Had she been a princess of the blood, she could scarcely have wished for more honors. After her marriage, the young Countess d'Agoult became Lady of the Bedchamber to the Duchess d'Angouleme. Until the Revolution of 1830, she lived the brilliant existence of the Court. Her salons were not, however, devoted solely to frivolity. Literature, science, music, politics, furnished in turn topics of conversation. The greatest names of the day met at the Chateau de Croissy, her summer residence, and at the " hotel " of the Quai Malaquais : Alfred de Vigny, Sainte-Beuve, Deschamps, Chopin, Rossini, Meyerbeer, Ingres, K>2 Franz Liszt. Mignet, the Baron d'Eckstein, Henri Heine, Madame de Girardin, and — Franz Liszt. When the latter first frequented the salons of the Countess d'Agoult, she was about nine-and- twenty years old. From her six years' marriage three children had been born. From George Sand's " Lettres d'un Voyageur" is borrowed the following eloquent portrait of the Countess d'Agoult as she was when the muse of French romanticism met her in Geneva, in 1835: — " We visited the church of Saint Nicholas,* in order to hear the finest organ ever made, t " Arabella, | accustomed to sublime realiza- tions, immense and insatiable spirit, haughty and domineering before God and before men alike, sat proudly upon the balustrade, and, casting her melancholy and contemplative glance over the lower nave, waited in jvain for the celestial voices which vibrate in her bosom, but which no human tongue, no instrument made by mortal hands, can cause to sound to her ears. " Her abundant light hair, dishevelled by the * In Freiburg, which they visited subsequently. •j" Built by the famous Swiss maker, Mooser. X An English name which is applied to the Countess d'Agoult by George Sand in her letters. George Sand and Countess d'Agoidt. 153 rain, fell in soft locks upon her white hand, and her eyes, reflecting the finest hue of the firma- ment seemed to be wondering over the power of God's creature, after each sigh from the huge instrument. ' That is not what I expected/ said she to me simply, and seemingly unaware of the ambition of her remark. " ' How exacting you are,' I replied ; ' the other day on the mountain you did not think the glacier sufficiently white ! Its mighty ridges, which seemed cut in the flanks of Paros, its sharp and lofty peaks, by the side of which we looked like dwarfs, did not appear to you worthy of your proud glance. For you the roaring voice of torrents is dull and monot- onous ; the lofty firs do no more impress you than the humble rushes growing on the shores ; you measure the heavens and the earth ; you wish for the palm-trees of Arabia Felix on the brow of Mont Blanc, and for the Nile crocodiles in the foaming waters of the Eeichenbach ; you would even wish to see Cleopatra's galleys sailing swiftly on the still and motionless waves of the Mer de Glace. What star do } 7 ou then come from, you who despise the world we live in ? You would now wish that gruff old man,* * Mooser. 154 Franz Liszt. who looks at you in complete surprise, to have found in his brain even more power than God Himself, to gratify you.' ,! Such was the woman who, captivated by the youth and talent of the Hungarian virtuoso, abandoned for him husband and child, and, sac- rificing position, reputation and fortune to her passion, was for ten years the faithful com- panion of his travels all over Europe. In 1840, under the pseudonym of "Daniel Stern," Madame d'Agoult turned her attention to literature. After various attempts, she wrote for La Presse an article which caused quite a sensation, and stamped her as a clever and im- partial art critic. This article, which appeared in 1841, was a criticism upon the magnificent paintings with which, after a labor of four years, Paul Delaroche adorned the famous ceil- ings of the then new semicircular' hall of the Paris School of Fine Arts. Another article, pointing out the purity of design and outline in Ingres' portrait of Cherubini, was the means of establishing the reputation of that artist, who out of gratitude then became, and afterward, through esteem and sympathy, ever remained, the fervent admirer and friend of " Daniel Stern." Countess d'Agoidt. 155 Besides many critical contributions on music, painting and sculpture, the Countess tried her hand at political economy and philosophy. In 1845, just about the time she broke off her liaison with Liszt, Madame d'Agoult entered the arena of politics. Two remarkable essays of hers, one on Madame Bettina d'Arnim, the other on Henri Heine, appeared in the Revue des deux Mondes ; but the ideas expressed in these essays being opposed to those held by Monsieur Buloz, the proprietor of that period- ical, she ceased to contribute to it, and became one of the most active contributors to the Revue Independante, a review far better suited to the display of her talent. For that review she wrote successively various studies upon the political and intellectual state of Germany ; " Nelida," a novel full of passion and superbly written, wherein " Daniel Stern " relates some of the leading episodes of her own life. Then followed studies upon Count von Platen ; Haller- mund, the father of German political poetry ; the American philosopher and Unitarian min- ister, Emerson ; and an essay upon the first General States of the Kingdom of Prussia. She then published one of her literary monuments, " Essai sur la liberte considered comme principe 156 Franz Liszt. et fin de l'activite humaine." * In this, she nobly says : — " I knew full well, or rather I felt, how misled are doctors who proclaim happiness as the ultimate aim of man, and theologians who pretend that such selfish happiness resides in the improgressive perpetuity of an inactive pos- session of God, from which possession half man- kind must be forever deprived. Indifferent to the attraction of a reward opposed to my nature and to the ideal of justice God Himself has placed within my breast, I was anxious to dis- cover another object for our sufferings and actions, another aim for life. I searched, with inexpressible detachment from all that brings joy or hope to the hearts of men ; my researches were patient and protracted, and from my impas- sioned meditation two books resulted simulta- neously : a psychological study, a novel t that brought calm to my agitated soul ; and an essay of moral philosophy that restored peace to my disturbed mind." \ As with George Sand, the Revolution of 1848 had a beneficial influence on the mental state * " Essay on Liberty, considered as the source and aim of human activity." f'Nelida." \ Extract from the " Essay on Liberty." Countess d'Agoult. 157 of the Countess d'Agoult. The excitement it caused her made her forget momentarily the grief brought about by her separation from the man she had loved. Enthusiasm laid hold of her ; she felt she must play a part in the great political drama, and she took the pen, as others did a gun, and went deep into the fray. In her studies, meditations, literary labors, and assiduous intercourse she followed the steps of the boldest thinkers of that agitated period. Lamartine and Lamennais were frequent visitors in her salons. About this time she made the acquaintance of the author * of the famous " Essays," which Thomas Carlyle called " the soliloquy of a true soul." She also used to receive the illustrious exiles which the crushing of the various European risings brought to France after the Revolution of 1848 : Klapka, Montanelli, and Daniel Manin, the heroic de- fender of Venice. She had scarcely completed her " Histoire de la Revolution de 1848," when, as a diversion to her political delusions ( like Madame George Sand, the sympathies of the Countess d'Agoult were rather socialistic), she turned her attention to the history of a past period, the events of * Emerson. 158 Franz Liszt. which sympathized with her ideal conceptions ; she wrote " Jeanne d'Arc " for the Revue de Paris. From 1856 to 1858 she went to Italy, and resided in Florence. Returning to France toward the close of 1858, the antipathy she felt toward the Imperial Government decided her again to go abroad. She started for Nice, where she spent a few months, and in the spring she took the road to Turin, where she assisted at the enthusiastic reception of her play of "Jeanne d'Arc," which, translated by M. Ernest Rossi, was performed by the Dondini troupe at the Gerbino Theatre. This residence in Turin restored serenity to the Countess's soul, and brought her unexpected intellectual pleasures. There she made the acquaintance of the leading savants and politi- cians of Italy : Santa-Rosa, Count Cavour, Rat- tazzi, De Filippi, Mamiani, Pallavicino, Poerio, Visconti Yenosta, Mauro-Macchi, etc. She was also the frequent guest of King Victor Emman- uel, who became quite fond of her, and treated her with the greatest kindness. She wrote for Le Siecle in her " Lettres d'ltalie," a portrait of "II Re Galantuomo" which is considered the best ever penned. Countess d'Agoult. 159 In 1860 she returned to Paris, which she scarcely ever left afterward. She then resumed her literary labors. Dante and Goethe, the faith- ful companions of her life, the bold and poetic thinkers who, in her hours of anguish, had poured balm on her soul, furnished the subject of her next work, " Dialogues sur Dante et Goethe." She now threw open her salons as of yore, but the society that now filled them was more intel- lectual than mundane. Without foregoing any of her political, religious, or philosophical con- victions, she received the chief representatives of all political and philosophical schools, think- ers of all parties. " Prince Jerome Napoleon, Littre, Penan, Havet, Berthelot, used to meet there, on neutral ground, with the ardent Catholic Duke of Valmy ; in those salons Counts de Flavigny and de Viel Castel bowed to such literary stars as Nisard, Edouard Thierry, Emile de Girardin, Nefltzer, the proprietor of the newspaper Le Temps, Dollfus, Frank ; to poets like Ponsard, to musicians like the Englishman, Alfred Holmes, the author of the beautiful symphony entitled ' Joan of Arc' ' In 1862 she wrote, under the title of " Flor- 160 Franz Liszt. ence and Turin/' studies on art and politics; she also wrote an esteemed " History of the Republic of the Confederate States of the Low Countries." She also composed some capital pieces of poetry. The Countess d'Agoult died in Paris on the 5th of March, 1876, from the effects of pleurisy. XVII. Momentary interruption in Liszt's intimacy with the Coun- tess d'Agoult. — Renewed intercourse. — Elopement to Basle. — Judicial Separation. In" the midst of the Countess's passion for Liszt, her daughter fell seriously ill, so ill indeed that the doctors despaired of her life. In her mater- nal anguish, Madame d'Agoult suddenly ceased all intercourse with the musician. For days and weeks she forgot the outward world, and sitting night and day by the sick bed of her child, she seemed to have but one thought : to save her. However, in spite of her tender and intelligent care, the disease proved fatal and killed the child. The Countess's grief at the sight of the corpse of her dear little one was indeed heart-rending. She was annihilated, as it were, By that loss. She refused her food, and declined to see any- one. Eventually she became so weak, through the blow she had received, that she in turn fell ill, and for some time her life was in danger. When Liszt again saw the Countess, after her (161) 162 Franz Liszt. recovery, he was particularly struck by a sorrow- ful countenance, which lent additional charm to her handsome features. But grief disappeared, whereas the former passion broke forth with still more violence than heretofore. Afraid of the probable conse- quences of their intercourse, Liszt resolved to leave Paris and begin travelling. Pointing out to the Countess that the concert-season was over in Paris, and that he must now travel abroad, so as to maintain his reputation, he informed her of his intention to leave her. He hoped that with the image of her dead child still present to her mind, she would gladly accept this opportunity of severing the ties that bound her to him. He was mistaken. She opposed his wish, and would not hear of separation. Surprised and fearful for the 'future, Liszt betook himself to a lodging in the suburbs of Paris, in order to conceal as much as possible a liaison which, if publicly known, must have had disastrous consequences for both. Here the Countess visited him regularly; here he quietly pursued his studies : reading, writing, and com- posing, although his mind was full of appre- hension. Countess cTAgoult. 163 The catastrophe which he so sedulously avoided came at last. The Countess had formed a plan, and the hour of its execution was near at hand. She was weary of her role as a femme du monde ; weary of being the " Corinne " of the Quai Malaquais ; weary of the cold politeness and bitter irony of the Count, her husband, who was now suspect- ing the truth of his wife's dishonor. She was craving for liberty, and weary of the restraint her position as a wife and a lady imposed upon her. Her intention was to give up her husband, child, position, public esteem and fortune, and leave Paris with Liszt and become anew a wife and a mother in some other part of the world. She allowed herself to be carried beyond the paths of honor and duty by her ardent and romantic imagination. Although deeply enamored with the Countess, Liszt felt it was his duty to oppose it stren- uously. He pointed out to her all the fearful consequences of such a rash step : the slur inflicted on herself and child, the scandal it would cause, the unenviable position , he would himself be thus compelled to assume, and which would perhaps bring ruin and discredit to both. 164 Franz Liszt. He even sought to influence the Countess by the authority and weight of the opinion of others. He first persuaded her mother, the Countess de Flavigny, to interfere between him and her daughter. She having; failed to alter Madame d'Agoult's resolution, he begged her confessor, the venerable Abbe Deguerry, cure of the Church of the Madeleine (afterward shot by the insur- gents of the Commune), to intervene, and lastly an old and respected gentleman, for many years solicitor to the Count's family. Lamennais himself seems to have appealed to the Countess, and pointed out to her the folly of her resolution. All to no purpose. Neither the gentle exhortations of her spiritual adviser, nor the fiery eloquence of Lamennais, nor indeed the calm reproaches of the family solicitor, nor the tears and entreaties of her mother, could bring: the Countess to her senses. 'Her delusion was incurable ! Many people are of opinion that after this Liszt oug;ht to have broken with the Countess. He did not. His passion was also too strong, and he submitted to what he called " his fate." Indeed, far from breaking with the Countess, Liszt followed her to Basle, where her mother had at last prevailed upon her to go for some Countess d'Agoult. 165 time, in the hope that the journey would cause a diversion to her state of mind and bring calm to her soul. One day the Countess, eluding her mother's vigilance, took her trunks to the hotel where Liszt had taken up his quarters. Heart-broken, Madame de Flavigny now re- turned to Paris. Although Liszt's connection with the Countess had long been known in society, so long as it was not made glaring and did not infringe the laws of propriety, nobody felt the need of denouncing it. But this open scandal let loose the threatening storm. For the sake of his honor and that of his daughter, Count d'Agoult instituted proceedings against his wife, and obtained a judicial separation. This ill-disguised elopement also called forth general indignation against the young and imprudent Hungarian, and the word " abduc- tion " was mercilessly hurled at Liszt's head. He was tabooed, and with him the Countess. In after years, however, when facts became better known, and when society got wind of his former earnest endeavors to deter the Countess from carrying out her foolish intentions — when it was ascertained that he had honorably taken upon himself all the consequences of his impru- 166 Franz Liszt. dent step — his later proceedings were univer- sally called "correct." Count d'Agoult himself, as well as Count de Flavigny — the Countess's brother — could not refrain from altering their opinion, and publicly saying, " Liszt is a man of honor ; he has now behaved like a gentleman." XVIII. Liszt and the Countess remove to Geneva. — Liszt's writ- ings. — Liszt's letters. — Life in Geneva. — Musical com- positions. — Berlioz's concert. — Visit to George Sand at Nohant. — Disagreement between her and the Countess. — Travels through Europe. — Liszt's children. After Madame de Flavigny's departure for Paris, Liszt and the Countess left Basle for Geneva, where they stayed until the close of the year 1836. In the spring of that year, and before the entreaties of his friends, Liszt came to Paris in order to perform at a concert given by Berlioz : that was his only absence from Geneva during his residence there. For five years Liszt travelled through Switzer- land and Italy in the company of the Countess. Though leading now a life in strong contrast with his Parisian habits, Liszt was not idle. He devoted his time to study, writing, and com- position. In 1835 he contributed to the Gazette musi- cale de Paris a series of articles entitled "De la Situation des Artistes," a bitter and powerful (167) 168 Franz Liszt. satire against the parsimony of the Government of Louis Philippe toward art, and particularly music. From 1835 to 1837, he wrote succes- sively various essays on " People's Editions of important Works," " Meyerbeer's Huguenots," and a criticism of " Thalberg's Compositions." It was also during that period that he carried on his polemics with Fetis concerning Thalberg and his music. During his period of travels with the Countess d'Agoult Liszt also contributed, under the name of " Lettres d'un Bachelier-es-Musique," a series of essays and criticisms to the Gazette musicale de Paris, then edited by Schlesinger. These letters contain valuable information respecting his life at the time they were written. They also form a valuable contribution to musical history concerning artistic events and contem- porary musicians. They were -written from various places — Paris, Geneva, Nohant, Bella- gio, Venice, and other cities, and addressed to George Sand, the Major Adolphe Pictet, Henri Heine, Louis de Eonchaud (to whom the Coun- tess d'Agoult dedicated her " Memoirs "), Hector Berlioz, etc. Speaking of the prevalent mania of making one's self the subject of conversation, and in Letter to Heine. 169 an answer to certain malicious and indiscreet remarks made about himself, Liszt says, in a letter written to Heine, in 1838 : — " To speak frankly, I regard the publishing of one's thoughts, impressions, and feelings through the medium of the press as one of the greatest evils of our time. Among artists there prevails the greatly mistaken opinion that one should judge the other, not merely in his works, but also in his personality. In thus dissecting each other before the public, we often act with great brutality, and in most cases unjustly, respecting a side of our existence, the disclosure of which, however questionable it may be, should be spared us, at least during our lifetime. This mania for making anatomical and psycholocjical speeches for the gratification of public curiosity is, from the vanity of individuals, becoming quite the custom. No one has any longer any right to complain, for nobody spares anybody ; and besides, it cannot be denied that the major- ity of us are not averse to publicity, whether in praise or in blame — it airs our names with the public, at least for a day or two. To these, however, I declare I do not belong." The following letter written by Liszt to his friend George Sand, in 1835, during his stay in 170 Franz Liszt. Geneva, is interesting in many respects, both as a description of his lifejthere, and as affording an opportunity of judging of Liszt's degree of culture at the time, and knowing what were his views of art generally and of his confreres at the time : — " To Geobge Sand. " Geneva, November 23, 1835. " Having no claim to a place in the columns of the Revue des deux Mondes, I make use of those of the Gazette musicale, which, unfortu- nately, I must weary with my poor prose in order to recall myself to your recollection, dear George. " On my return hither, from a long excursion in the mountains, I found your brotherly epistle,* for which I herewith thank you a thousand times, although some expressions in it seem to imply that you will not be able to be with us so soon as promised. And yet how willingly would I entice you hither, strangest and most fantastical of all travellers — hither to this side of the cloud-girted Jura, which, in the fading twilight, seems to rise like a gloomy spectre between me and my dearest friends. . . . Yet, what could I * A letter addressed to him by George Sand, " Sur Lav- ater et une maison deserte," and which was published in the JRevue dt>a deux 3Iondes. Letter to George Sa?id. 171 say to induce your curiosity to conquer your laziness ? " In my Alpine wanderings I have been un- able to reach the snow-covered treasures of nature. The wallwort, the anemone, the hart's- tongue, with which you so fondly converse, on account of the lovely secrets which they whisper to your ear, whilst concealing them from ours, do not venture to cling to the smooth walls of my white house. " The musical republic which your soaring, lively fancy has created, has been for me, thank God, until now, a subject of ivishes and hoj)es, threatened with the mild laws of intimidation, and not yet with exile and imprisonment. As regards myself, I must blush for shame and confusion at the earthly dust which my feet raise in the prosaic road along which I wander, when I think of your proud anticipations — your beautiful dreams of the social working of art to which my existence is devoted — and contrast them with the gloomy discouragement that often assails me at the sight of reality ; when comparing my fruitless efforts with my ardent aspirations ; the nothingness of the "pro- duction with the infinity of the thought; the wonders wrought, in old times, by the three- 172 Franz Liszt. times holy lyre, with the degraded and barren position to which people seem anxious to confine it in the present day." Speaking of Geneva, " the Protestant Rome/' Liszt in the same letter says : — "It so happened that I arrived just on the eve of the centennial celebration of the Calvin- istic Reformation festival, which lasts three whole days. The first is devoted to young peo- ple by the paternal authorities of the Canton. How my heart throbbed when I saw them swarming about the garden like a cloud of locusts! They laughed, ran, jumped, turned somersaults, and did their utmost to practically criticise the fasts of the Catholics by devouring a quantity of little cheeses {yacherbis) and tarts. " The second day, a peculiarly religious holi- day, is solemnized in Saint Peter's Church (the cathedral). This temple, consecrated to the prince of the Apostles, was the metropolitan church until August, 1535, when the preacher, Farel, first announced the Reformation. . . . " At the time when Geneva was still ortho- dox, the cathedral contained twenty-four altars; numerous pictures, statues, and bas-reliefs adorned the walls. . . . Letter to George Sand. 173 " The walls are now deprived of their orna- ments ; the carvings and bas-reliefs were muti- lated by the bands of the Reformers ; the antique Gothic facade has given place to a modern gable front, a miserable and puny imita- tion of the Pantheon — an abortive memorial of the dying power of faith in the eighteenth century ! My blood ran cold as I stepped in that plundered church, whither the remembrance of Calvin's work, and also the fragment of one of Handel's oratorios, had led me. " Places for the singers of both sexes were erected in that part of the choir which was formerly enclosed by a gilded grating — in that consecrated place which used to be strictly closed against all who were not immediately connected with the celebration of the divine mysteries — the place where, in olden times, the priest, standing in front of the flower-crowned altar, used to hurl high the clouds of incense, calling down the redeeming God. It is certain that the Lord descends the most readily to the altar of a pure, chaste, and pious soul, as He Himself testifies • it is true that the rarest and costliest incense is nothing in His eyes compared to the light of an innocent, honest face ; but whoever has been present at a Reformation 174 Franz Liszt. Jubilee will feel obliged to confess that these ladies and gentlemen of the Protestant Sacred Musical Society, the majority of whom protested with such fanatic zeal against the laws of time and harmony, could offer only a scanty compen- sation for the grandeur, solemness, and infinitely mysterious depths of the Catholic rites. " . . . . You would have laughed indeed, had you seen the monstrously large bill # on which our names appeared in big letters, and which, for several days, attracted large groups of loafers, anxiously inquiring what right we had for demanding five francs, while, from time immemorial, for three francs, and even less, they had procured the whole dose of harmony they require to spend a pleasant evening, without fear of nightmare and bad dreams. "...'. Behind a railing hung with white, and adorned with wreaths of flowers, resembling an altar on the day of the first communion, were seen, on a terrace-like platform, a host of violins, oboes, bassoons, and counterbasses, which executed the favorite overture to 'La Dame Blanche,' while a monstrous crystal chan- delier, as if to the tune, let fall at measured * Announcing a concert given in favor of the poor of Geneva and the Italian refugees, by Prince Belgiojoso and Franz Liszt. Letter to George Sand. 175 intervals large drops of oil on the white and pink hats of the elegant Genevese ladies. Here- upon, Prince Belgiojoso, so highly esteemed and spoiled in the salons of Parisian society, sang, with perfect taste, some of Bellini's composi- tions, the lovely Schubert's serenade, and an Italian romance, ' L'Addio,' which he had him- self composed in honor of the charming Countess de Miramont. His pure, soft, vibrating voice, his free and simple method, attracted general attention. Tremendous and enthusiastic ap- plause greeted him when he left the piano. And now, in Geneva, people only speak of the high-born artist, who has expressed liberal ideas in liberal works, and who, without disclaiming the crown inherited from his ancestors, finds his glory in subordinating it to that plebian diadem which society bestowed upon nobility of mind and of talent. 2?F SfP 3jp 3^T -*r ;^C " . . . . Come to us, then, and that as soon as possible. 6 Puzzi ' * has already bought a pipe of peace in your honor. Your garret is pre- pared and ready for your reception, and my piano with the mother-of-pearl keys, having remained untouched for the last three months, * The nickname of young Hermann, one of Liszt's favor- ite pupils. 176 Franz Liszt. is now impatiently waiting for you, before setting about filling the neighboring; mountains with its deep and confused echo. " Farewell, until we meet again, " Franz Liszt." Liszt's unfavorable opinion of the Genevese public was probably due, in a measure, to the cold indifference they displayed toward him. The concerts he gave daring his stay in .Geneva were, as a rule, very thinly attended. It is, however, quite possible that the fact of Liszt's liaison with the Countess d'Agoult, and the public scandal that followed it, were the sole reasons that induced the over scrupulous Gen- evese to hold aloof from the great virtuoso. Such, at least, was Liszt's own opinion. Some- body having one day remarked before him that Geneva was the only city of Europe that did not display enthusiasm for Liszt's talent, and having suggested that the apathy shown by her citizens proceeded probably from their deficient musical taste, the Hungarian artist calmly and bluntly remarked : " Say rather that it is my scandalous life, as they term it, that deters them from coming to my concerts." During his residence in Geneva, Liszt made Tlie Genevese and Liszt. 177 the acquaintance of several Swiss notabilities, among others Major Pictet, an officer of the Federal army, son of the astronomer, Marc Auguste Pictet, and himself a writer of no mean talent and an ardent student of the philosopher Schelling. Major Pictet met George Sand at Liszt's house, and was ever after one of ,the most faithful admirers of both. The eminent historian and economist Simonde de Sismondi, the botanist A. P. de Candolle, the orientalist Alphonse Denis and Jean Jacques Fazy, a Swiss politician, were also frequent visitors at Lizst's house. Liszt also came in contact with some of the most distinguished members of European society, who from lime to time used to visit Geneva. Among such, the intellectual and witty Countess Potocka, herself a remarkably talented musician, and a lady of high standing in Parisian society, took a great interest in the young Hungarian. It was during George Sand's visit to the Countess d'Agoult that Liszt composed his " Rondo fantastique," on a song by Manuel Garcia. This he entitled " El Contrabandista," and dedicated to George Sand. When it was finished, he played it to the latter in the twi- light of an evening. As Madame Sand relates 178 Franz Liszt. it herself : " Carried away by the melody, excited by the perfume of a Havanna, lulled by the ebb and now of the beautiful lake lying before her, she was quite moved by the poetic charm pervading the piece. Having retired to her apartment, she wrote all night, as was her custom at Nohant, and the next day read to the Countess and to Liszt a lyrical story, under the title of " Le Contrabandier," into which she had worked up the images which Liszt's music had awakened in her — " the poetical translation of a piece of music," as Jules Janin called it, when relating the incident in the Gazette musicale de Paris. During his wanderings through Switzerland Liszt composed a great many works, principally songs and pianoforte pieces. These were pub- lished in 1842 in Vienna, in three volumes, under the general title of u Album d'un Voy- ageur, Compositions pour le Piano." Foremost among these are " Lyon," " Au Lac de Wallen- stadt," " Les Cloches de G ." A glance at these musical gems suffices to indicate how pow- erful was the influence of Nature on Liszt's genius. They bear, indeed, the stamp of Nature deeply impressed upon them. They speak of Liszt's deep feeling for Nature, whose silent Letter to George Sand. 179 creations, intimate emotions, ferments and storms were, to his mind, but an echo of his own inward feelings and impressions. The greater part of Liszt's compositions bear a motto, a word, a line, pointing to a thought and a mood. His enemies and detractors seized this opportunity to renew their attacks, denounc- ing vehemently what they termed a ridiculous mania. In answer to those criticisms Liszt wrote the following to George Sand : — " Considering that the musician's language, more than any other, lends itself to undecided and arbitrary interpretations, it is not useless, and, above all, not ridiculous, as they are pleased to term it, on the part of a composer to give, in a few words, a psijcldcal sketch of his work, expressive of the idea that served as ground- work to the composition." As already arranged, George Sand came with her children, Solange and Maurice, to Geneva, there to spend the summer with the Countess and Liszt. In the following October Liszt and the Countess decided to start for Italy : but Berlioz having requested his friend to come to a concert which he was on the point of giving in Paris, Liszt resolved to put off his departure for the south and to send the Countess to George 180 Franz Liszt. Sand's estate at Nohant during his stay in Paris. Being of a naturally haughty temper, the Countess d'Agoult could not long agree with the too frank authoress of " Indiana," and, life in common becoming intolerable, a rupture fol- lowed. . Being informed of this, Liszt hurried back to Nohant, and after unsuccessfully endeav- oring to mend matters, he came to the conclu- sion that the tempers of the two women were incompatible, and, not without inward grief, he decided to break off with his friend for the sake of the Countess. Never after did Liszt visit Nohant. Being now anxious to carry out his projected concert tour, Liszt, accompanied by the Countess d'Agoult, arrived in Milan in the autumn of 1837. Though only intending to make a short stay in the Italian city, the warmth of the reception accorded him by the Milanese altered his plans, and he settled down in Milan for a considerable time, his residence there being only interrupted by a journey to Vienna, where his admirable talent aroused the wildest enthu- siasm. Subsequently he visited Venice and Rome, in which city he resided several months. In the winter of 1839 Liszt again visited Vienna. There he achieved the most brilliant Liszt's Children. 181 success. People went fairly- mad over him, and however sympathetic the w r elcome extended to him in the various cities of Europe previous to and since this visit, it is a fact that none could compare with the ovations he received at the hands of the excitable Viennese. On leaving Austria Liszt went to London, where, strange to say, he met with a comparatively cold reception. In the year 1841 he visited Denmark, and, on his return, Hamburg, Leipzig, Frankfort, Coblenz, Cologne, Brussels, and Liege. His performances won for him fresh laurels, espe- cially in the last-mentioned city, where he achieved quite a triumph. In 1842 the great virtuoso visited Weimar and Berlin, after which he spent a few months in Paris, there to rest himself previous to under- taking through Russia a concert tour, which he had contemplated for many years. From his liaison with the Countess three chil- dren had been born : a boy and two daughters ; the boy died when but an infant ; as for the girls, Blandine, the eldest, became the wife of Monsieur Emile Ollivier, a French literary man and statesman, head of the famous Cabinet of the 2nd of January, 1870, under whose Govern- 182 Franz Liszt. ment the Empire- declared war against Prussia. Madame Emile Ollivier died in 1862. Her sister Cosima was the wife of Hans von Biilow, afterward of the then unknown Richard Wag- ner. Both his daughters were accomplished ladies, and, like their father, of gentle and kind disposition. Madame Cosima Wagner, who has lost her second husband, alone survives her father. XIX. Separates from the Countess. — Travels alone. — Friend- ship between Wagner and himself. — Performs the ' k Tann- hauser." — Renewed fits of mysticism. — His marriage with the Princess Wittgenstein. — Enters in Holy Orders. — Liszt and the late Emperor Napoleon. — The Hunga- rian title. Although Liszt originally intended to travel to Kussia in the company of Madame d'Agoult, he left her in Paris with her children to the care of his mother, lest the fatigues of such a long journey might impair the Countess's already declining health. Some people have said that this step was taken by Liszt because of Madame d'Agoult's passionate temper, which rendered life unbearable to him. Be it as it may, he performed alone his journey through Russia, where his name was already quite popular. In St. Petersburg his first concert realized the enor- mous sum of fifty thousand francs (£ 2,000). In Moscow the population was so eager to hear him that, instead of playing but once as he originally intended, he had to give six concerts (25, 27, 29 April ; 2, 5, and 12 May, 1843). On (183) 184 Franz Liszt. his return he met with an enthusiastic reception in Bavaria, where he gave concerts in Munich and in Augsburg. Having again visited Berlin and Dresden, Liszt settled in Weimar, receiving from the Grand Duke the appointment of first Grand- Ducal Kappel-meister. He did not, however, reside long; in Weimar, for toward the end of 1844, and during the whole of 1845, longing for more success, he went successively to Spain and Portugal. Having learned that a statue raised by sub- scription among the various princes of Germany was about to be erected to the memory of Beet- hoven, he came purposely to Bonn in order to organize a festival to celebrate the event. To that end he composed a cantata, which was sung on the opening day of the festival, and, in his enthusiasm for the memory of the great master, he nearly ruined himself by paying the heavy expenses arising from the organization of the festival.* " To be ruined," says Fetis, "was not to Liszt a matter of great moment, but the ingratitude and injustice he reaped from his noble devotion and generous efforts to clo honor * In his Letters, Berlioz says that Liszt paid above 60,000 francs out of his own pocket toward the expenses of the 14 Bonn festival." At Weimar. 185 to the memory of one of Germany's greatest children made a deep impression on his mind. The envy of his detractors, spurred on by their own mediocrity, could not forgive him his legitimate successes. For the first time in his life, seeing himself basely misunderstood and almost ruined, Liszt gave way to despondency. But his energetic and strong will soon gathered again self-confidence, and through new and still more brilliant triumphs he was soon avenged." In 1846, 1847, and 1848, Liszt visited succes- sively France, Holland, Bohemia, Hungary, Russia, and Constantinople. The events of 1848 and 1849 put a stop to his excursions, and brought him back to Weimar, where he resumed his functions as first Kappel- meister to the Grand-Duke, and which he only left for a short time on each occasion. Hence- forth Liszt devoted his energy to making Weimar the first musical city in Germany. Full of admiration for the compositions of Wagner, whom he had known in Paris, Liszt undertook to perform in the Weimar Opera House nearly all the productions of his son-in-law ; he thus became the exponent of the bold innovations of the author of " Tannhauser " and "Lohengrin," and powerfully contributed to gain adherents to 186 Franz Liszt. the new musical theories. Indeed, it is not, perhaps, rash to assume that but for Liszt's devoted efforts, Wagner's name as a composer would scarcely enjoy the celebrity which the rendering of his masterpieces has acquired for him. In a work published in 1851, Wagner says, with regard to his friendship with Liszt, and the aid he derived from it : " Again * I was thoroughly disheartened from undertaking any new artistic scheme. Only recently I had had proofs of the impossibilit}^ of making my art intelligible to the public, and all this deterred me from beginning new dramatic works. Indeed, I thought that everything was at an end with my artistic creativeness. From this state of mental dejection I was raised by a friend. By most evident and undeniable proofs he made me feel that I was not deserted, but,- on the con- trary, understood deeply by those even who were otherwise most distant from me ; in this way he gave me back my full artistic confidence. " This wonderful friend Franz Liszt has been to me. I must enter a little more deeply into * After the Revolution of 1849, Wagner, sentenced to death for participation in the outbreak, had been obliged to leave Germany. Wagner and Liszt. 187 the character of this friendship, which to many has seemed paradoxical : indeed, I have been compelled to appear repellant and hostile on so many sides, that I almost feel a want of dis- closing all that relates to this sympathetic intercourse. " I met Liszt for the first time during my earliest stay in Paris, and at a period when I had renounced the hope, nay, even the wish of a Parisian reputation, and, indeed, was in a state of internal revolt against the artistic life I found there. At our meeting Liszt appeared to me the most perfect contrast to my own being and situation. In the midst of this Par- isian society, to 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 work to him, and, therefore, the reception I met with on his part was altogether of a superficial kind, as was in- deed quite natural in a man to whom every day the most divergent impressions claimed access. But I was not in a mood to look with unpreju- 188 Franz Liszt. diced eyes for the natural cause of his behaviour, which, friendly and obliging in itself, could not but hurt me in that 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 reported to Liszt, just at the time when the performance of 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 touched at recollecting 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 be- tween himself and a fellow-creature ; perhaps he also felt an infinitely tender misgiving of having hurt me unconsciously. He who knows the terrible selfishness and insensibility in our social life, and especially in the relations of modern artists to each other, cannot but be struck with wonder, nay, delight, by the treat- ment I received from this extraordinary man. Liszt and Wagner. 189 " Liszt soon afterwards witnessed a perform- ance of 'Rienzi' at Dresden, on which he had almost to insist, and after that I heard from all the different corners of the world, where he had been on his artistic excursions, how he had everywhere expressed his delight with my music, and, indeed, had — I would rather believe unintentionally — canvassed people's opin- ions in my favor. u This happened at a time when it became more and more evident that my dramatic works would have no outward success. But just when the case seemed desperate, Liszt succeeded by his own energy in opening a hopeful refuge to my art. He ceased his wanderings, settled down in the small and modest Weimar, and took up the conductor's baton, after having been at home so long in the splendor of the greatest cities of Europe. At Weimar I saw him for the last time, when I rested a few days in Thuringia, not yet certain whether my threatening prosecu- tion would compel me to continue my flight from Germany. The very day when my per- sonal danger became a certainty, I saw Liszt conducting a rehearsal of my ' Tannhaiiser,' and was astonished at recognizing my second self in his achievement. What I had felt in inventing 190 Franz Liszt. the music, he felt in performing it ; what I wanted to express in writing it down, he pro- claimed 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 longed and sought for always in the wrong place. "At the end of my last stay at Paris, when ill, broken-down and despairing, I sat brooding over my fate, my eye fell on the score of my i Lohengrin,' totally forgotten by me. Suddenly I felt something like compassion that this music should never sound from off the death-pale paper. I wrote two lines to Liszt ; his answer was the news that preparations for the performance were beino* made on the largest scale 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 under- standing 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 impres- sion of the work in a manner the convincing eloquence and overpowering efficacy of which Takes Holy Orders. 191 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. ' " Since his installation at Weimar, Liszt had undertaken frequent journeys to Rome and to Paris. Indeed, in 1861, there was a rumor of his intended marriage with the Princess Witt- genstein ; and people said that the object of his visits to Eome was to obtain the Pope's consent to this union. However that may be, during a visit which the musician paid to Rome in 1864, being unable to resist any longer the intense mysticism which of late years again assailed him, he suddenly made up his mind to enter Holy Orders. On the 25th of April, 1865, and with the Pope's dispensation, he was subjected to the ceremony of the tonsure by his friend, then Archbishop and afterward Cardinal of Hohenlohe, in the chapel of the Vatican. Since then the Abbe Liszt had not given up his career as a composer, but he devoted his time to writing sacred music ; he also continued to teach the secrets of his wonderful execution to the numerous pupils who flocked to him from all countries ; the best of these, Tausig, who seemed destined to continue the traditions of 192 Franz Liszt. the master, unfortunately died a few years ago. Although Liszt had of course abandoned his career as a virtuoso, he still from time to time gave concerts for the beneft of Catholic institu- tions and charities. In 1866, during a visit to Paris, Liszt, wear- ing an abbe's coat, himself conducted the per- formance of one of his own compositions, his " Missa Solemnis," in the church of Saint Eus- tache. Last February, during his stay in Paris, he also conducted the performance of his cele- brated "Gran Mass" in the same church, a performance which fully maintained the claims of the Hungarian as one of the most powerful composers and the best pianist of our day. The fact of his having entered in Holy Orders has been denied in various quarters. The emi- nent musical critic, Fetis, seems to have great misgivings regarding the truth of it ; after pointing out Liszt's well-known eccentricity and craving for popularity, Fetis hints that it may only have been a rumor spread by Liszt or his friends to keep his name before the public. Be it as it may, it is just possible that Liszt was not ordained priest or even deacon, and that he was indebted for his title of abbe (which in the Catholic hierarchy is a mere title of courtesy) Honors Conferred. 193 to the favor of Pope Pius IX., with whom Liszt used to be on excellent terms, and who used to call him " his dear Palestriua." In 1862 the Grand-Duke of Saxe-Weimar appointed Liszt to the office of Court Chamber- lain, and the Grand-Duchess had a lovely resi- dence built and furnished for him within the grounds of the castle at Weimar. In recognition of the numerous services Liszt rendered to art, the late Emperor Napoleon appointed him to be a Commandeur of the Legion of Honor, of which order the eminent musician had been a knight since the 27th April, 1845. In 1871 the Hungarian Cabinet created him a noble of Hungary, with a yearly pension of 15,000 francs ($3000). In 1875 he was appointed Director of the Academy of Music of Buda- 'Pesth. In addition to these honors, Liszt was a member of nearly all the European orders of chivalry. XX. Liszt's musical works. — Liszt as a litterateur. — Liszt's biographers and critics. — Last visit of Liszt to London. Most appropriately, Liszt has been called the " Paganini of the piano." Indeed, like the great Italian virtuoso, his instrument seemed to pos- sess no secret for him, and so completely did he master difficulties which to others, and not among the least talented, seemed ^insuperable, that his execution may be said to have consisted but of a series of tours de force. Like Paganini also, though unlike most great artists, Liszt's was a most successful career, both as a virtuoso and as a composer. Unlike Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner, and scores of other eminent musicians, fortune smiled upon the fascinating and sympathetic Hungarian from the time of his earliest debut, and it seems as if nature and providential circumstances concurred to secure fame and success for him. Liszt was not only the most wonderful pianist that ever lived, he was also a most talented composer ; indeed, many of his works bear the (194) Liszt's Musical Works. 195 impress of deep musical genius, notwithstanding the fact that in some of his pianoforte pieces he was often taunted with writing themes of such enormous difficulty that no one but himself could render them satisfactorily. As a church composer, Liszt rose to supreme eminence in his oratorio entitled " Christus Oratorium," and in his '^Legend of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary." Liszt's "transcriptions" for the piano are all of them incomparable masterpieces. Among this class of Liszt's productions the most important are : Schubert's " Ave Maria," Berlioz's " Over- ture to King Lear," Mademoiselle Louise Ber- tin's " La Esmeralda," and Rossini's " Les soirees musicales." Among his own composi- tions may be mentioned as the most remarkable : " Mazeppa ;" a number of divinely sweet melo- dies entitled " Consolations ; " " Hungaria ; " " Heroide funebre," his cantata written for the occasion of the unveiling of Beethoven's statue at Bonn ; and above all, his " Prometheus," the appearance of which sent a thrill of admiration throughout the musical world. Among his sacred compositions may be noticed several Masses, performed in great pomp in the churches of France and Hungary ; the most important of which are the so-called " Gran 196 Franz Liszt. Mass" (Graner Messe) and the "Coronation Mass." In 1870 Liszt composed a cantata destined to be sung at the fetes organized in Germany in connection with the celebration of the hundreth anniversary of Beethoven's birth. The pen was as familiar to Liszt as the key- board. Besides numerous contributions to musi- cal papers and reviews, Liszt wrote a number of works, among which may be cited as most important : " Polemique sur Thalberg " (Thal- berg controversy) ; the letter to Madame George Sand, and the series entitled " De la Situation des Artistes ; " a critical essay on the " Tann- haiiser" and the " Lohengrin " of Richard Wa<$- ner ; a pamphlet entitled "De la Fondation Goethe a Weimar " (tlie Goethe Institute at Weimar) ; his biographical and critical study on Frederic Chopin and his music ; and last, though not least, a most interesting contribution to musical literature, " Des Bohemiens et de leur Musique en Hongrie." Although a Hungarian, Liszt wrote all his works in French, and elegant French, too ; indeed, French may be said to have been his mother-tongue, for he spoke it with the greatest purity and without the slightest ac- cent, whereas he was but imperfectly acquainted Literary Productions. 197 with Magyar, and, though knowing German, spoke it with difficulty. All the works of Liszt have been translated into German and into Magyar, some of them even into Italian. As might well he expected of so fascinating a subject, an endless number of Liszt biographies have been published at various times, both in France and Germany. Among these may be mentioned, " Aufenthalt in Ungarn," by S. Yon Hitter, the fourth volume of Ludwig Nohl's series entitled " Musiker Biographien," Leipzig, 1882 ; "Franz Liszt," by T. E. P. Miiller, Erlan- gen, 1883 ; W. von Lenz's " Die grossen Piano- forte-Virtuosen unserer Zeit," Berlin, 1872 ; G. H. Schilling's " Franz Liszt. Sein Leben und Wirken aus nachster Beschauung," Stuttgardt, 1844 ; La Mara's (a pseudonym) " Musikalische Studienkopfe," Leipzig, 1868 ; and L. Eamann's " Franz Liszt's als Ktinstler und Mensch," Leipzig, 1880. Several works wherein some acts of Liszt's private life are scathingly denounced appeared some years ago in Paris. The most bitter of them, under the title of " Souvenirs d'une Cosaque," was published in 1874 under the 198 Franz Liszt. pseudonym of Robert Franz. It appears that that psuedonym covers the name of a Russian Countess, Madame Olga de Janina, who, while receiving; lessons from Liszt during his residence in Rome, is said to have been much more inti- mately connected with Liszt than is usual between pupil and teacher. Those allegations have, however, been denied in another work, entitled " Souvenirs d'un Pianiste," which ap- peared also in Paris in 1874. In the spring of 1886, after spending a few weeks in Paris, where he met with a most hearty reception, the Abbe Liszt, notwithstand- ing his great age, allowed himself to be induced to visit London once more. Nearly half a century had elapsed since his last visit to this country — a visit which indeed, owing- to the coolness, amounting almost to indifference, with which he was received, could not have left a very favorable impression on the musician's mind. Now, however, the wel- come accorded to the eminent Abbe by all classes of society, from the Queen herself down to her humblest subject, was, indeed, most enthusiastic. Her Majesty requested the Abbe's attendance at Windsor, and treated him with the Enthusiastic Reception. 199 greatest distinction.* At the recital given in Liszt's honor at St. James's Hall, the Hungarian artist was received with a regular storm of applause, and during the few days he spent in England he everywhere met with a perfect ovation. This was not merely as an homage paid to his superb talent, but also as the hearty tribute of the admiration felt by the people of this country for one whose life has been spent in unostentatiously doing good to his fellow crea- tures, and powerfully contributing to the prog- ress of the noble art of music. It may also be regarded as the apology of the people for the slight inflicted by former generations. * A short time ago, the Queen graciously commanded that a bust of herself by the Royal Academician, M. Boehm, should be sent to the Abbe as a royal acknowledgment of his talents. XXL Death of Liszt. The Abbe Franz Liszt died of acute pneumonia at midnight on Sunday, August 1st, 1886, in the house of his friend, Herr Frohlich, near Wagner's Villa, Wahnfried, at the age of seventy- five. As was his wont every summer, Liszt was in Bayreuth, superintending the production of one of Wagner's masterpieces, when death overtook him. For some time back the great musician's health had been declining : he had lost his cheer- fulness, dropsical swellings had appeared in his legs — always a dangerous symptom with elderly people — and the strain put upon his nervous system by the fatigue and excitement of his last visit to London and to Paris seems to have brought about symptoms of brain-softening. Through intelligent and devoted care, however, the alarming symptoms gradually disappeared, and it was hoped by his friends that his pow- (200) Beginning of the End. 201 erful constitution would conquer the disease, and his precious life be prolonged. He seemed, indeed, to have completely re- covered, and on June 4th he was strong enough to be present at the wedding of his grand-daugh- ter, Damila von Billow, with Dr. Tode : a rather curious coincidence that, a few days before his death, his grand-daughter should assume as a wife a name so similar to that (Tod) which in German means death itself. His normal happy expression had returned to his face, and he felt indeed so well that, after the wedding, and with his doctor's authorization, it was decided that he should go to Luxemburg, there to spend a few weeks in the company of his friend, the artist Munckasy and his amiable wife. The evenings being fresh, he unfortu- nately took cold, and, despite the advice of his friends, had the imprudence to travel back to Bayreuth, anxious as he was to be present at the performance of Wagner's play. This was too much for his already shaken health, and inflammation of the lungs followed. Even this might have had no fatal result, had not Liszt, feeling his condition slightly improved, insisted upon attending the performance of " Tristan und Isolde," which took place on Sunday, the 202 Franz Liszt. 25th of July, although his doctor had this time warned him, and his friends and attend- ants, of the serious consequences which might follow the slightest imprudence on his part. Notwithstanding such sound advice, Liszt requested to be carried in an arm-chair into his daughter's box. The auditorium being, for the purpose of the play, quite dark at the time, the ailing Abbe* was saved the trying ordeal of a public welcome, seeing that the spectators were thus unaware of his presence. During the whole performance he was in a nervous and tearful state, and took quite a melancholy view of his situation — a rather unusual thing for him to do. He was taken home in a very weak state ; and, on the Tuesday following, unmistakable symptoms of an acute attack of pneumonia set in. He then lost strength rapidly, 'and on the Friday became delirious. It was now evident that the poor Abbe was doomed ; and on Sun- day, the 1st of August, the doctors having given up their patient, the last sacraments were admin- istered to him. Consciousness seemed to return for a short time ; but the Abbe never completely rallied, and, shortly before midnight, he peace- fully passed away in the presence of his daugh- Death of Liszt. 203 ter Cosima (the widow of Richard Wagner), and of his two doctors, having almost completed his seventy-fifth year. The news of Liszt's death was received with the deepest concern in all the capitals of Europe. In England, especially, the press was unani- mous in deploring the loss thus inflicted upon the musical world ; and in paying a sincere tribute of regret to the memory of the departed musician. Painful though the intelligence of the Abbe's demise must have been to many it is nevertheless gratifying to know that the hearty welcome accorded him on the occasion of his last visit to London entirely removed from his mind the unfavorable impression made on him by the coolness — amounting to indiffer- ence — of his previous reception, more than forty years ago. The respect and admiration generally felt for Liszt was such that, as soon as the news of his death became known, telegrams conveying expressions of condolence reached Frau Wagner from the most exalted personages throughout the world. Her Majesty the Queen, who never fails to express her admiration for either virtue or talent, graciously commanded a beautiful laurel wreath to be deposited on the Abba's 204 Franz Liszt. coffin, as a tribute of her regard for the deceased musician. At Adenburg, in Hungary, a meeting has just been held, at which it has been decided to erect a bronze statue to the late Abbe. Prince Paul Esterhazy, the son of Liszt's former patron, has been elected chairman of the committee ap- pointed to receive subscriptions. Under the auspices of the Grand-Duke of Saxe-Weimar a fund is about to be founded in memory of Liszt, in view of providing deserv- ing musical pupils of either sex with free schol- arships. The managing board of. that fund will reside in the house which Liszt so long occupied in the little capital of the duchy. Though for nearly the last thirty years of his life it had been Liszt's ambition to exchange his unique reputation as a pianist for the title of composer, it is highly probable that he will only live in men's memory as a wonderful executant, whose chief claim to the gratitude of posterity will have been his incomparable rendering of Wagner's compositions, by which he enabled the public to become acquainted which one of the greatest maestros, if not the greatest, of our century. Not that it would be safe to assert that, but for Liszt as his apostle, the prophet Conclusion. 205 Wagner would never have risen to fame ; though, without contesting Wagner's infinite superiority as a composer over Liszt, few will deny the enormous influence exercised by the latter in pointing out to the world the existence of a new musical genius, chiefly when we bear in mind the obstinate ill-will and indifference with which Wagner's productions were at first generally received, even in his own country. Whether the new manner inaugurated by Liszt in his compositions will survive his name, it is not within my province to say. Competent judges in after years will have to decide of the exact merits of such works as his pianoforte concertos, his Sonata in B minor, and other productions of considerable length : " Mazeppa," and his sacred pieces — " Christus " and "St. Elizabeth," for instance. We are too near to the artist to judge his work with impartiality. The final verdict rests with posterity. Though it may be premature now to judge Liszt as an artist, his contemporaries are the best judges of his worth as a man. It is not, therefore, unsafe to assert that, as regards noble- ness of nature and kindliness of disposition, no man ever surpassed the late Abbe Liszt. Char- itable he was, almost to a fault ; and numerous 206 Franz Liszt. indeed are the anecdotes of struggling musicians who owe him a debt of gratitude for having helped them in their hour of need. Indeed, he was a philanthropist in the broadest accepta- tion of the word, and for the last quarter of a century he always cheerfully gave his gratuitous assistance to every work of charity that was carried out, either in Rome, Vienna, Buda-Pesth, or Paris. His talent for wonderful successes at one time aroused much jealousy against him ; but it is said that he never made an enemy, an assertion which will be readily believed when we take into consideration his exquisite benevo- lence and genial temper. His qualities of head and heart endeared him to all who were fortu- nate enough to be admitted to his society. Whatever may have been his faults, they were so much outweighed by the noble sides of his generous nature, that he will be generally re- membered only for the good he did either to art or to his fellow-creatures. APPENDIX LISZT AS A LITTERATEUR BY T. CARLAW MARTIN. I. It was not surprising that Liszt's early associ- ations with the chiefs of the Parisian romanti- cists should stimulate his active mind in the direction of literary production. His epistolary efforts had probably made him aware of his own facility and power in other than musical compo- sition, there being probably more than jest in his assertion that his correspondence with the Countess d'Ortigue was an exercise in the lofty French style. Of such exercises Liszt had had no lack, and he had already done some casual literary work in connection with Schlesinger's " Gazette Musicale de Paris," in the foundation of which he had taken an active part. During his retirement with the Countess d'Agoult at • (207) 208 Franz Liszt. Geneva in 1835, however, he began to turn his attention more seriously to literature. In that year there appeared in the Gazette a character- istic series of essays by him, in which, amid the faulty exuberance of youthful rhetoric, there were to be found many signs of acute intelli- gence and practical power. Under the title, " De la Situation des Artistes," he appeared as the champion of his class, pointing out how im- portant an element the social recognition of artists was in the furtherance of art, and how beneficial in its turn was the reaction of art upon society. In part it was a philippic against Louis Philippe, and an impetuous attack upon all who with him hindered art, not omitting the sham artists and ignorant press critics of the day. The low state of musical criticism was a point upon which he both felt and wrote strongly, urging the necessity of a philosophic criticism, and arguing that for this work the productive artist was alone qualified. Unhappily for the latter theory, it is not given to many productive artists to possess the versatility of Schumann, Berlioz, or of Liszt himself. The criticisms of artists upon their art are often not less unstable and unsatisfactory than those of more ignorant critics; and, as a rule, it is less difficult for the Liszt as a Litterateur. 209 critic to acquire the technical basis of criticism, than for the technician to cultivate and exercise impartially the critical faculty. But as regards the necessity of a higher criticism no exception could be taken to Liszt's position, and the second part of his contention was so far right, that this higher criticism has come in no small decree as the result of the impulse given by profes- sional musicians. After examining the chief musical institutions then existing in France, and pointing out their defects, he set forth his scheme for the development of music : — The foundation of an assembly to be held every five years for religious, dramatic, and symphonic music ; introduction of musical in- struction into the people's schools ; improvement in choral sinoins; in churches ; general assem- blies of philharmonic societies; lyrical theatre, concert, and chamber performances after a spe- cial plan ; a school of musical progress with branches everywhere ; a chair of musical philos- ophy and history ; a cheap edition of the most important works new and old. The prospectus is open to criticism in the details of many of the proposals ; but a large portion of it either has been or is in a fair way to be accomplished, and as the manifesto of a 210 Franz Liszt. youth of twenty-four, it proves, in a striking degree, Liszt's thoroughness and far-sightedness. In musical circles it naturally created a wide- spread antagonism by no means impersonal in its hostility ; only here and there men like Chopin and Berlioz hailed the essays with acclamation. The essays " On the Position of Artists" were by no means the sole literary productions dating from this period. The twelve "Lettres d'une Bachelieres Musique," addressed to his friends George Sand, Heine, Berlioz, and others, were contributed to the Gazette during his travels with the Countess d'Agoult ; and amongst his detached papers were essays on " Popular Editions of Important Works," " Meyerbeer's Huguenots and the Criticism of Thalberg's Compositions." From the commencement the strongly-marked personality and many-sided culture of Liszt had made themselves felt in a style, with respect to which the charges of affectation and exas;- geration were the least offensive. Exaggeration there could scarcely fail to be with a writer of Liszt's ardent temperament and fertile imagina- tion, but there is more evidence of an unbridled spontaneity than of affectation. In some re- Liszt as a Litterateur. 211 pects it might be possible to trace analogies between Liszt's literary style and his musical style. A kindred affluence characterizes each. Every idea is a theme for variation — a subject for fantasy. Across the central motive of his sentences, his paragraphs, his chapters, he throws an elaborate embroidery of subsidiary imaginative work. He does not hesitate to repeat an idea in new words, as one transposes a musical phrase into a new key. He modu- lates in metaphors with no less boldness than in harmonies, and not infrequently passes from metaphor to metaphor without even the sem- blance of modulation. He will return to the same thought or to the same fact again and again as the starting-point for a new excursus. He is a confirmed digressionist ; it is this per- petual return to the key of the tonic which keeps up the appearance of unity. In point of copiousness of style, the metaphor which Dante uses of Virgil — " quella fonte che spande di parlar si largo fiurae " — is not inap- plicable to Liszt. Ideas are almost redundant with him ; he is opulent in images ; his sen- tences often take on a richness little in accord- ance with the sobriety of modern prose. If the fact were unknown, it would not be difficult to 212 Franz Liszt. infer that his education in style dates from the days of George Sand. It is throughout of the idealist type. He wrote prose with the afflatus of the poet, and had the poetic tendency to elevate abstractions into existences. With him it was not beauty, but Beauty ; not sorrow, but Sorrow ; not genius, but Genius — the thing, and something over and above the thing, the sugges- tion of a presence. Tried by the paring stand- ards of modern literary criticism, which do not encourage a writer to seek elevation at the risk of making himself ridiculous, there are undoubt- edly faults to be found. His style is too com- monly wanting in precision, in condensation, in matter-of-factness. It has the exaggerated phrasing of commonplaces, the confusion of vagueness with sublimity, the elaborate mystical utterances in which emotional writers find satis- faction. But for the most part these faults are on the side of greatness — the unprofitable pro- ducts of a rank luxuriance, not of an enfeebled and infertile soil. His excursions into the vague are not often excursions into the inane. If his ideas are at times wanting in definition, it is to be remembered that it is only a point of light which casts a sharply defined shadow; the shadow cast by a large luminous surface is Liszt as a Litterateur. 213 ringed about with penumbrae, fining off toward the light. It is the compensation of small minds to have about their thoughts no vague- ness or mystery. Although, as an artist, Liszt magnified his office, not the least noteworthy feature of his writing is the absence of what may be termed professionalism. He dealt in the current coin of speech, not in trade tokens. His criticisms are in form less those of a technical musician than of a poet, a painter, an impressionist writer. He preferred in dealing with a piece of music to treat of it on the pictorial side. Sound trans- lated itself with him, not into so much indefinite pleasurable emotion merely, and still less into the short-hand of musical terms ; the heightened feeling takes immediate concrete form. Sound is light, is form, is color, is a complete sensuous dream, with moving pageants, with dances and intelligible song, with mourners and bacchanals, lovers and fighters, defeat and victory. The emotions excited by music take the line of the least resistance, and scarcely second to Liszt's musical faculty was his gift as a seer of visions, dreamer of dreams. It was inevitable that he should feel the attraction of the Wagnerian principle of a great art synthesis. 214 Franz Liszt. These qualities of Liszt's writing are clearly marked in the life of Chopin, issued by him in 1852. The subject was one upon which no one could write with equal knowledge. No common tie drew the Hungarian and the Pole together in amity ; no two natures were ever better formed to appreciate each other's finest quali- ties, to tolerate each other's weaknesses. Liszt's mind was of wider range, more imperious in its ardor, more definite in its loves and hates. But in the matter of artistic opinion, Chopin did not yield to him in the strength of his convic- tions, and when Liszt was fighting the battle of musical progress, he found in his friend " the support of calm and unalterable conviction," as well as " the efficacious assistance which the creation of meritorious works brings to a strug- gling cause, when it can claim them as its own." To Liszt the limitations of Chopin's work were only an evidence of the wise reticence which limits utterance to perfect expressions, and he practically expands in his defence Prosper Meri- mee's dictum that the artist who engraved cer- tain Greek medals is the equal of the sculptor of a colossus. He was one of the first to recognize that Chopin's productions, though not of the class " des ceuvres de longue haleine," were Liszt as a Litterateur. 215 epoch-making in respect of musical style, and he points out that amongst other things we owe to him the extension of chords struck together in arpeggio or en baiterie, a new system of chromatic involutions and sinuosities, an unap- proached beauty in instrumental fioriture in the charming groups of notes that sing about the melodic figure, an undreamt-of serious value given to unimpressive themes by the originality of harmonic progressions a subtler if not a more profound inspiration. But apart from these things, Liszt saw in Chopin the representative of a national music. In Liszt's opinion, the national genius was not so much to be sought for in a collection of the melodies indigenous to a country, as in the results of national influ- ences upon some musician of the first order. In the works of such a composer, he argued, the peculiar and predominant traits of the national genius will be found more completely developed, more poetically true than in the crude, incorrect, uncertain, vague and tremulous sketches of the uncultured people. Chopin, accordingly, was of special interest to him as ranking among the first musicians who have thus individualized in themselves the poetic sense of an entire nation — as having accomplished, with respect 216 Franz Liszt. to Poland, what Liszt himself has in no small measure accomplished for Hungary. In this regard, if no other, Chopin and Liszt maintain in their respective achievements the alliance of their ancient friendship. A large portion of the book may be said to be written in exposition of the national character of Chopin's music. In dealing with the Polonaises, Liszt brings a sympathetic insight and pictorial power which throws a flood of light, not upon them alone, but upon the life and character of the nation whose tradition they express. A certain reservation in faith has, however, to be made, in that the light is something more than the garish light of common day; the poetic tendency to the exaltation of a theme is charac- teristically present. Upon the historic fabric there flash lights of many colors, and the Polish court-life takes on an oriental , splendor ; the figures that pass across the scene become heroic in stature and in mood. The chapter is a strik- ing illustration of Liszt's power as an artist in words. He passes in review, with an obvious delight in the massing of rich effects, the details of the Veronese groups which present them- selves to his imagination as he listens to the music — the brocades of gold, velvets, damasked Liszt as a Litterateur. 2YJ satins, silvery, soft, and flexible sables, hanging sleeves thrown back upon the shoulders, em- bossed sabres, boots yellow as gold or red with trampled blood, sashes with long, undulat- ing fringes, close chemisettes, pearl-embroidered stomacners, head-dresses glittering with rubies or leafy with emeralds, slippers rich with amber, gloves fragrant with the luxurious attar of the harems. Gradually he builds up his scene — the flowing chain of stately dancers, rainbow-hued like an immense serpent with glittering rings, moving now in a long, undulating line, and now wreathed in brilliant coils. The air is misty with color, and through it sound the challenges of new guides through the changing labyrinth of the dance, the murmur of many voices, the sweep of heavy dresses, the clink of golden chains and of the jewelled swords that drag upon the floor. The ideal view of Polish chivalry has never been presented in more glow- ing colors ; the poetry of the Polonaise has never been so lovingly and lavishly elucidated. He claims that Chopin has embodied in his compositions of this class all the phases of which the theme is susceptible — the tradition of splendor, the more recent memory of suffer- ing and wrong. A similarly picturesque treat- 218 Franz Liszt. merit is accorded to the Mazurkas, in which a whole world of gaiety, coquetry, and passion takes the place of the stateliuess and virility of the Polonaise. The unity of mass is broken up, and the individual emerges ; chivalry be- comes gallantry, and the woman takes a new importance as the inspiration of the dance and its music. The thin veil with which the for- malities of rhythmic motion conceal feeling is drawn aside, revealing the palpitating life below. It is not merely a question of gallants gay and ladies fair; the real dancers are the passions, and it is for these that the music sounds. For the light feet and lithe, bright forms, the rhythmic time-beat suffices ; but within the formal limit, Chopin has echoed the heart's cries and laughter, and it is these which Liszt interprets for the duller ear. A digres- sion at this point upon Polish women exhibits Liszt in a characteristic aspect, and he expends upon them a wealth of analytic power which has no sigrns of undue ascetic coldness. If the hand was the hand of an incipient Abbe, the voice was the voice of a poet, speaking with a poet's fervor and passion, and with a subjection to the witchery of the incomparable Polish women which included failings and virtues Liszt as a Litterateur. 219 alike within its scope. The lyric enthusiasm of the writer is infectious, and as in the previous chapter, life seemed only worth living from the point of view of the Polonaise, so now the Mazurka usurps its place as a supreme object of existence. The feeling is, of course, due to the width of the horizon upon which Liszt habitually looked. He tended to regard compar- atively unimportant things in their larger rela- tions, and saw in the dances, as in .the mirrors before which the dancers pass, the reflection of the comedy, the shadow of the tragedy, of human life. In dealing with the character of Chopin, Liszt showed no inconsiderable psychologic in- sight. So far from being content with merely external treatment, he was always seeking to reconstruct the man from within. The task was not an easy one, for, as Liszt himself pointed out, Chopin had the characteristic Sclav reticence. His easy candor and familiarity by no means implied confidence or frankness, and behind a courteous, tranquil, and even joyous manner the real man of many moods lay hid. Not the less successfully, however, has Liszt indicated all that it is necessary to know of Chopin to comprehend the personality which 220 Franz Liszt lies behind his work. In some sense the vol- ume is the canonization of a man of genius by a man of genius. To Liszt Chopin stands always as the ideal artist, giving himself without reser- vation to his art alone, and standing, as it were, behind his art, pure in aspiration, flawless in honor, a meet priest in the House Beautiful. It is to be regretted that when he comes to treat of Chopin's mode of playing he puts the subject aside on the ground that the analysis would cause him too great pain. The omission is a serious one, though he has given in place of critical treatment an exceedingly interesting sketch of a gathering in Chopin's room. In the dim light about the Pleyel piano are gath- ered Heine, Meyerbeer, Adolphe Nourrit, Hil- ler, Eugene Delacroix, Niemcevicz, Mickiewicz, George Sand and Liszt — an audience to which any composer might have confided his finest inspirations. Of each of these the writer briefly recalls some characteristic, dwelling chiefly, how- ever, upon Heine and George Sand, to both of whom the genius of Chopin and that of his biographer allied themselves on different sides. The matter is always interesting, often valuable, but the elaborate frame lacks the portrait. If any man by his words could have enabled us to Liszt as a Litterateur. 221 hear, as well as see, in imagination him whom Heine called " the Raphael of the piano," it was Liszt. The group stands amid the shadows of the dim room and listens — we with them ; but there comes no sound from the closed instrument. At the same time the silence in this special regard is redeemed by utterances which enable the sympathetic reader to feel in some measure a personal contact with the composer. What- ever charges may be made against the work on the score of its want of method, its not infre- quent diffuseness, and its occasional omissions and inaccuracies, Liszt has done for Chopin what has perhaps never been done with equal knowledge for any composer. He has placed the key to Chopin's music within easy reach of of all who wish access to its secret. II. Equally imposing in style and of more general interest, though less known, is Liszt's book on the Gipsies. Hungary is in some sense the Cygany paradise. Possibly some subtle sym- pathy derived from the past when the Magyars too were wanderers and strangers in Europe, drew Magyars and Cygany together ; but, at any rate, the Hungarians have been the only nation in Europe who have not considered the gipsies more or less outside the pale of humanity. The Bohemians have played and sung in Hun- gary the wild melodies of their race, as freely as the rhapsodists are said to have sung in Greece the Homeric poems. In -palace and peasant's hut alike their strains have been wel- come, and Liszt shared the popular feeling in no ordinary degree. His imagination was kin- dled in earliest youth at Raiding, by their wild- ness and mystery ; the copper visages haunted him, and he was fascinated by their dancing airs and amorous songs, their lithe and provok- ing dances, their sudden arrivals and furtive (222) Liszt as a Litterateur. 223 flights. On liis return to Hungary he renewed his early impressions, seeking out the gipsies in their haunts, sleeping with them in the open air, playing with their children, conversing with their leaders, and listening to their music by the glow of camp fires. The composer's popu- larity was soon established, and on the occasion of his second return they gave an elaborate fete in his honor, the orchestra performing in an oak-wood illuminated, when the night closed in, by a dozen symmetrically disposed tar-barrels which sent their flames straight up like cylinders of red iron. At Moscow, at Kiow, in Little Russia, at Bucharest, at Jassy, in Spain and elsewhere, Liszt extended his knowledge of gipsy life, and these experiences he has narrated with considerable power and in his elaborate pictorial style. There is no side of gipsy life on which Liszt has not touched ; and though the work is lacking in condensation and cold scientific accuracy, it is a study with some pre- tension to completeness. Its interest is greatest in connection with Liszt's own compositions. While with most nations there has been a crystallization of national traditions into an epic form suited to the genius of the country, the gipsies have had 224 Franz Liszt. no tradition and no epic of the normal type. Justifying his new use of the word by a Hege- lian commentary, Liszt argued that the gipsy epic would be found in a collection of their scattered musical fragments, co-ordinated so as to give them reciprocal value. He therefore proceeded at once to give practical effect to his conception. He carefully collected their melo- dies, preserving their unwonted intervals, their multiform luxuriance of rhythm, and the decora- tive habit of treating melody which made the Bohemian virtuosi masters of musical arabesque. The instruments which were of chief import- ance in their music were the violin and the zymbala ; and though the piano could not repro- duce the mordant sonority of these, it was clearly the instrument best fitted to reproduce the orchestra of the nomads. Then came the task of selection and arrangement, -the revision and recasting of the musical fragments, and as the admirable results, the Hungarian Rhapsodies were produced. The term Rhapsody was ap- plied to them to express the epic aspect, and the term Hungarian employed in place of gipsy, because the Magyars have practically adopted the gipsies as their national musicians. By lAszt as a Litterateur. 225 way of giving the clue to these compositions, and indicating their epic value, Liszt commenced a preface which has swollen to a portly volume. By the time it appeared, the popularity of the Rhapsodies was already assured, and Liszt's claim to be the musical representative of the nation fully established. But for their proper appreciation the commentary is still desirable and necessary. If Liszt had been Bohemian, instead of having Magyar blood in his veins, he could scarcely have been more fitted for a task of this kind. In his descriptions of their music it is not difficult to recognize certain dominant characteristics of his own, altogether apart from the conscious imitation of the Rhap- sodies. He points out that the true Bohemian artist is he who only takes a motive of song or of dance as a text for a discourse, and who never loses sight of it during a sempiternal improvisation. The artist who wins admiration is he who enriches his subject with such a profusion of appoggiaturas, tremolos, scales, ar- peggios, diatonic and chromatic passage-work, groups, and grupetti of notes, that the initial theme scarcely shows under the luxury of em- broideries. With this fioriture Liszt deals ten- 226 Franz Liszt. derly, multiplying appreciative figures. They are butterflies, they resemble the leaps of a dan- seuse, they are bouquets of notes, starry atoms dispersed in the air like a luminous pollen, a fragrant rain, a foam snowy and glistening, the fall of a necklace of pearls in an opal .vase, and the like. It is the Cygan in Liszt which speaks here with characteristic orientalism. The sections dealing with Bohemian musi- cians and music are almost necessarily the most interesting of the volume. Apart from the musical relation, however, so admirable a study as that of the attempt to subject the Bohemian youth Jozy to the civilizing influences of ordi- nary musical tuition has distinct literary value, and even the more diffuse chapters of the book have their redeeming suggestiveness. Thus the section on the Jews was an excrescence which might, for all it concerns the gipsies have been fittingly cut away ; but it is impossible not to recognize the touches of a hand of more than usual power. Upon many points which he has taken up — like those of the gipsies in European art, the origin of the gipsies, and the historic notices — much more might, of course, have been said which Liszt has omitted. But- the Liszt as a Litterateur. 227 chief merit of the book is, after all, not so much a matter of antiquarian fulness and exactness as its indirect exhibition of the personality of the author. Here again the picturesque figure of Liszt starts from the page. LISZT'S CHIEF COMPOSITIONS. I. Orchestral. Original. — 1. Dante Symphony. 2. Faust Symphony. 3. Two Episodes from Lenaus' Faust. 4. Twelve Sym- phonic Poems — Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne, Tasso, Les Preludes, Orpheus, Prometheus, Mazeppa, Festkliinge, Heroi'de funebre, Hungaria, Hamlet, Hunnenschlacht, Die Ideale. 5. Schiller and Goethe Fest-Vorspiel. 6. Goethe Fest-Marsch. 7. Huldigungs-Marsch. 8. Patriotic March. 9. Kiinstler Fest-Zug. 10. Gaudeamus Igitur. Arrange- ments. — 11. Four Schubert Marches. 12. Five Schubert Songs. 13. Six Hungarian Rhapsodies. 14. Three Hun- garian Marches, etc. II. Pianoforte and Orchestra. Original. — 1. Concerto in E-flat. 2. Concerto in A. 3. Todten-Tanz. Arrangements. — 4. Fantasia on " Ruins of Athens." 5. Fantasia on Hungarian -Melodies. 6. Schubert's Fantasia in C. 7. Weber's Polonaise. III. Pianoforte. Original. — 1. Etudes d'execution transcendante — Pre- ludio, Paysage, Mazeppa, FeuxFollet, Vision, Eroica, Wilde Jagd, Recordanza, Harmonies du Soir, Chasse-neige. 2. Harmonies Poetiques et religieuses — Invocation, Ave Maria, Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude, Pensee des Morts, Pater Noster, Hymne de l'enfant a son reveil, Funerailles, Miserere, Andante lagrimoso, Cantique d' Amour. 3. An- (228) Chief Comioositions. 229 nees de Pelerinage — Chapelle de Guillaume Tell, Au lac de Wallenstadt, Pastoral, Au bord d'une Source, Orage, Val- lee d'Obermann, Eglogue, Le Mai du Pays, Les Cloches de Geneve, II Sposalizio, II Penseroso, Canzonetta de Sal- vator Rosa, Tre Sonetti del Petrarca, Apres une lecture de Dante. 4. Six Consolations. 5. Two Ballades. 6. Son- ata in B-minor. 7. Two Polonaises. 8. Feuilles d' Album. 9. Two Elegies. 10. Legendes — St. Francois d'Assise, St. Francois de Paul. 11. Three Nocturnes. Arrange- ments. — 1. Grande Etudes de Paganini. 2. Six Organ Preludes and Fugues (Bach) . 3. Three Schubert Marches. 4. Soirees de Vienne-Valse-Caprices after Schubert. 5. Bunte Reihe von Ferdinand David. Transcriptions, etc. — 1. From Operas — La Fiancee, Masaniello, La Juive, Son- nambula, Norma, Puritani, Benvenuto Cellini, Don Sebas- tian, Lucia di Lammermoor, Lucrezia Borgia, Faust, Reine de Saba, Romeo et Juliette, Robert le Diable, Les Hugue- nots, Le Prophete, L'Africaine, Szep Jlonka, Don Gio- vanni, Konig Alfred, I Lombardi, Trovatore, Ernani, Rigoletto, Don Carlos, Rienzi, Der Fliegende Hollander, Tannhauser, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Meistersinger, Ringdes Niebelungen, etc. Rhapsodies. — 1. Fifteen Hun- garian Rhapsodies. 2. Four Hungarian Marches, etc. Partitions di Piano. — 1. Beethoven's Septet, nine Sym- phonies. 2. Hummel's Septet. 3. Berlioz's Fantastique, Harold, Dance of Sylphs, La Damnation de Faust. 4. Overtures — Les Francs-Juges, King Lear, William Tell, Der Freischutz, Oberon, Jubilee, Tannhauser. Transcrip- tions of Vocal Pieces. — 1. Lieder — Dessauer, 3 ; Franz, 13 ; Lassen, 2 ; Mendelssohn, 9 ; Schubert, 57 ; Schumann, 14 ; Weber, 2. 2. Chopin's Six Chants Polonais. 3. Beethoven's Lieder, 6 ; Geistliche Lieder, 6 ; Adelaide ; Liederkreis, 3 ; Hungarian Melodies, 5 Nos. ; etc. 230 Franz Liszt. IV. Organ. 1. Andante religiose 2. Introduction Fugue and Mag- nificat from Dante Symphony. 3. Ora pro nobis. 4. Fan- tasie and Fugue on u Le Prophete." 5. Chopin Preludes. 6. Bach Introduction and Fugue, etc. V. Vocal. Oratorios. — 1. Christus. 2. St. Elizabeth. Masses, Psalms, etc. — 1. Missa Solennis (Graner) in D. 2. Hungarian in E-flat. 2. Mass in C-minor. 4. Missa Choralis in A-minor. 5. Requiem. 6. Neun Kirchenchor- Gesange, etc. Cantatas, etc. — 1. Zur Sacular-Feier Beethovens. 2. Cho- ruses to Herder's Prometheus. 3. Goethe Fest- Album. 4. Wartburg Lieder. 5. The Bells of Strasburg. 6. St. Cecilia. For Men's Voices. — Vereinslied, Standchen, Wir Sind nicht Mumien, Geharnichte Lieder, Soldatenlied, Die Alten Sagen Saatengrun, der Gang um Mitternacht, Festlied, Gottes ist der Orient, Das Diistre, Meer, Unter alien Wip- feln, Rheinweinlied, Studentlied, Reiterlied, An die Kiinstler, Fest-Chor, Festgesang, Das Lied der Begeisterung, Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland ? Weimar's Volkslied. For Single Voice and Pianoforte. — Mignon's Lied, Es war ein Konig, Der die vom Himmel bist, Freudvoll und Leidvoll, Wir nie Sein Brod, Ueber alien Gipfeln ist Ruh, Der Fischerknabe, Der Hirt, Der Alpenjager, Die Lorelei, Am Rhein, Vergiftet sind mein Lieder, Du bist wie eine Blume, Anfangs wollt' ich, Morgens steh ich auf, Ein Fichtenbaum, Comment disaient-ils, Quand je dors, S'il est un charmant gazon, Enfant si j'etais Roi, Es Rauschen die Winde, Wo weilt er, Nimm' einen Strahl, Schwebe blaues Chief Compositions. 231 auge, Die Vatergruft, Angiolin dal biondo crin, Kling leise,„ E.s muss ein Wunderbares Sein, Mutter Gottes Straiisslein, Lasst mich ruhen, Wie Singt die Lerche, In Liebeslust, Ich mochte hingehen, Nonnemverth, Jugendgliick, Wieder mocht, ich dir begegnen, Blume and Duft, Ich liebe dich, Die Stille Wassorrose. Ich Scheide, Die drei Zigeuner, Lebe "Wo hi, Was Liebe Sei, Die todte Nachtigall, Bist du, Gebet, Einst, An Edlitam, Und Sprich, Die Fischerstochter, Sei Still, Der Glucklichte, Ihr Glocken von Marling, II m'aimait taut, Hohe Liebe, Gestorben war ich, O lieb', Three Son- nets of Petrarch, Die Macht der Musik, Jeanne d'Arc au bucher, Ave Maris Stella. VI. Literary Works. 1. De la Fondation — Goethe at Weimar (1851). 2. Lohengrin et Tanhauser (1851). 3. Life of Chopin (1852). 4. Music of the Gipsies (1861). 5. Field's Nocturnes (1859). 6. Robert Franz (1872). 7. Verschiedene Auf- satzein der "Gazette Musicale" de Paris, und in der Neuen Zeitschrift fur Musik. 8. Schumann's Musikalische Hans- und Leben's-Re^eln. LISZT'S PRINCIPAL PUPILS. Hans von Bulow, Miningen. * Carl Tausig. * Franz Bendel. Hans von Bronsart, Hanover. Carl Klind worth, Moscow. Alexander Winterberger, St. Petersburg. Julius Keubke. * Theodore Ratzenberger. * Robert Pflughaupt. Frederick Altschul. * Nicholas Neilissoff. Carl Baermann, Munich. Dionys Pruckner, Stuttgart. Ferdinand Schreiber. Louis Rothfeld. J. SlPASS BUDAFEST. George Leitert. Julius Richter. Louis Jungmann, Weimar. William Mason, New York. Max Pinner, New York. Jules Zarembsky, Brussels. G. Sgambati, Rome. Carlo Lippi, Rome. Siegfried Langaard, Denmark. Carl Pohlig. Arthur Friedheim. L. Marek, Limberg. * Deceaseu. (232) Principal Piqrils. 233 F. Reuss, Baden-Baden. Berthrand Roth, Frankfort. kollerman. Carl Stasny. Joseph Wieniawsky. Ingeborg Stark-Bronsart. Sophie Menter-Popper. Sophie Pflughaupt. Aline Hundt. Pauline Fichtner-Erdmannsdoerfer. Ahrenda Blume. Anna Mehlig. Vera Timanoff, Russia. Martha Remmert. Sara Magnus Heinze. Dora Peterson. Ilonka Ravacz, Hungary. Cecilia Gaul, America. Marie Breidenstein, Erfurt. Amy Fay, America. James Tracy, America. I 30 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWBD MUSIC LIBRARY This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. MAR 2 5 1976 i I. [ /t *i ' LD21A-I0m-10,'74(S1945L) General Library UniTersirjr of California DATE DUE Music juiorary University of California at Berkeley