Instead of conducting my Symphonic Poems, rather give
lectures at home of the safe passport of Riehl's "Haus-Musik,"
and take well to heart the warning,
"Ruckkehr zum Mass." ["A returning within bounds." A footnote by
Liszt follows: "Dabei wird naturlich das Mass der
Mittelmassigkeit als einzig massgebend verstanden." ("By this is
of course understood the bounds of mediocrity as the one
limitation.") A play on the words, "Mass," "Massigkeit," and
"Massgebend."]
On this road alone can you soon attain a conductor's post, and
the "esteem" due to you as a music director, both from musicians
and people of rank.
For the rest you would entirely misconstrue my good advice if you
thought you could see in it only a pretext for not keeping my
former promise of coming to see you at Stettin. I shall most
certainly come to you on the first opportunity, and shall be
delighted to spend a couple of days with such excellent friends.
But first of all I must stop in Weymar for a while, in order to
finish some works begun, and to forget altogether my lengthy
illness in Zurich.
I had some glorious days with Wagner; and "Rheingold" and the
"Walkure" are incredibly wonderful works.
To my great sorrow, I only saw your brother Carl [A musician, a
friend of Wagner's.] a couple of times in the early days of my
stay in Zurich. I will tell you vaud voce how this happened, so
entirely against my wish and expectation, through a provoking
over-sensitiveness on the part of your brother. I am sure you
don't need any assurance that I did not give occasion in any way
to this. But for the future I must quietly wait till Carl thinks
better and more justly of it.
Farewell, dear friend, and let me soon hear from you again.
Yours in all friendship,
F. Liszt
Bronsart is going shortly to Paris, where he will stay some time.
Cornelius is working at a comic opera [This would be the Barber
of Baghdad. - Translator's note.] in the Bernhard's-Hutle. Raff is
to finish his "Samson" for Darmstadt. Tausig is giving concerts
in Warsaw. Pruckner will spend the winter in Vienna and appear at
several concerts. Damrosch composed lately an Overture and Entre-
acte music to the "Maid of Orleans." Stor plunges himself into
the duties of a general music director. Thus much have I learned
of our Neu-Weymar-Verein.
169. To Professor L. A. Zellner in Vienna
[General Secretary of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde ("Society
of Lovers of Music") in Vienna; composer and writer on music.]
To my letter of yesterday I have still to add a postscript, my
dear friend, concerning the information in your new
Abonnement,[The Blatter fur Musik, Theater, and Kunst ("Pages of
Music, theater, and Art"), edited by Z.] in which I was struck
with the name of Bertini among the classics, which does not
seem to me suitable.
