Such Irksomeness Unfortunately Attaches
To All My Works, Not Excepting The Ave Maria, Which I Might
Nevertheless Venture To Recommend To You Next, If You Have Any
Intention Of Performing A Vocal Work Of My Composition.
It was
published by Breitkopf & Hartel (score and parts), and has been
pretty favorably received at various performances of it.
I wrote yesterday to His Royal Highness, and expressed my special
thanks for the kind attention in inviting Herr von Bulow during
my stay at L. I rejoice immensely at the thought of these days,
in which musical matter will by no means be wanting to us.
Meanwhile remember me most kindly to your orchestra, which
preserves so well its high renown, and accept, my dear sir, the
assurance of high esteem with which I remain
Yours in all friendship,
F. Liszt
Weymar, December 24th, 1857
In the early part of April you shall hear when I am coming to
Lowenberg.
192. To Alexander Seroff
My dear Sir,
By what I said in the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik, [1858, No. 1,
in the article "Oulibicheff and Seroff."] on New Year's Day, of
your remarkable articles on Oulibicheff, you will have seen to
what point I take your ideas into consideration, and how closely
we meet in our musical convictions. To the sincere eulogies which
I have had much pleasure in addressing to you in public, it
remains to me to add those which I owe you for the conscientious
work that you have had the kindness to communicate to me by
sending me the pianoforte score of Beethoven's Quartet in C sharp
minor. Without the least exaggeration, I don't think anything of
its kind could have been better done, as much on account of the
intelligent division of the parts between the two pianos, as by
the skill with which you have appropriated to the piano the style
of this Quartet, without forcing or disfiguring anything.
In this latter task there are without doubt some impossibilities
which one cannot fail to recognize, and, whatever effort we may
make, we shall never succeed in rendering on our instrument
either the intensity or the delicacy of the violin bow. In the
same manner the coloring, and the fine nuances of the violin,
viola, and violoncello will always escape us - but in spite of
this it is due to you in justice to recognize that your work
identifies itself as far as possible with the sentiment and
thought of the original, and that you have frequently succeeded
in supplementing the poverty and defects inherent in such an
arrangement.
About six weeks ago I sent your manuscript to Mr. Schott, the
editor, at Mainz, recommending him to publish your arrangement.
Up to the present time I have received no reply, which, however,
seems to me a good sign. As soon as ever I hear his determination
I will let you know. Possibly in the course of the summer you
will find a few weeks' leisure to make a journey into these parts
and to bring us the complete collection of your arrangements of
Beethoven's latter instrumental works.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 179 of 244
Words from 93447 to 93965
of 127569
