[From a copy, by Mr. Vladimir Stassoff of St. Petersburg, the
original of which is in Russia. The letter in itself is
unimportant, but it is the only one to Liszt's mother which the
editor could get, and gives a fresh proof of the devotion of the
artist to his mother.]
Dear Mother,
Please send me at once, without any delay, the Pianist's
Glossary, which you will get at Lemonier's, Rue de l'Echelle.
Simply put it in a cover, and put it in the post (General
Office), and I shall get it, at latest, by Monday or Tuesday. -
Address to Mr. Hermann Cohen, Grande Rue, No. 8.
[Cohen was a frequently mentioned pupil and favorite of Liszt's
who was born at Hamburg in 1820, much thought of as a pianist in
Paris, and immortalised as "Puzzi" by George Sand ("Lettres d'un
Voyageur"); he followed Liszt to Geneva, and gave lessons there.
In 1850 he entered the order of Carmelites, and, under the name
of Pater Augustin, died in Berlin in January 1871, whither he had
gone with French prisoners.]
I have an immense deal to do this morning, so that I have barely
time to tell you that I love you with all my heart, and that I
rejoice above everything at the prospect of seeing you again
soon - that is to say, in six or eight months.
F. Liszt
You will hear of me from Mr. Pinondel, who passed a day with us.
9. To the Abbe F. de Lamennais, La Chenaie
[Autograph in the possession of Mr. Marshall in London.]
[Paris, May 28th, 1836 - according to the stamp of the post
office]
Dear and venerable Father,
I shall expect you. Whatever sorrow there is in the depth of my
soul, it will be sweet and consoling to me to see you again.
You are so wonderfully good to me! and I should suffer so much by
being so long away from you! -
Au revoir then, once more - in eight days at latest it will be,
will it not? I do nothing else than keep expecting you.
Yours, with the deepest respect and most sincere devotion,
F. Liszt
10. To Mademoiselle Lydie Pavy, of La Glaciere, Lyons
[Autograph in the possession of M. Etienne Charavay in Paris.]
St. Gervais, August 22nd [1836].
Your postscript deserves a punishment, and here it comes dated
from St. Gervais. I do not know whether your charming sister-in-
law, Madame Pavy, will consider this stamp of St. Gervais worthy
to appear in her collection; be that as it may, it gives me no
less a pleasure to converse a little with you who are always so
charming, so versatile, so excellent, and, permit me to say, so
kind to me.
Mademoiselle Merienne, whom I saw only quite lately (for you must
know that during the whole month of July, of glorious memory, I
have barely condescended to go down once or twice to Geneva; I
was living in a little bit of a house on the mountain, whence,
let me say parenthetically, it would have been quite easy for me
to hurl sermons and letters at you); Mademoiselle Merienne (what
shall I say to you after such an enormous parenthesis?), somewhat
like (by way of a new parenthesis) those declaimed discourses of
Plantade or Lhuillier, which put a stop to music whilst
nevertheless admitting that there is such a thing, whether at the
beginning or at the end - Mademoiselle Merienne - au diable
Mademoiselle Merienne!
