It will have at least the
same circulation as the "Goethe Foundation," and I will send you
by right one of the first copies.
Kind regards to Wagner, about whom I have written a great deal
lately without writing to him; and believe me yours very
sincerely,
F. Liszt
Eilsen (Buckeburg), June 25th, 1851.
76. To Rosalie Spohr in Brunswick
[niece of Louis Spohr, and an incomparable harpist, - "The most
ideal representative of her beautiful instrument," according to
Bulow; after her marriage with Count Sauerma she retired from
public life and now lives in Berlin.]
After your amiable authorization to do so, Mademoiselle, I have
had your concert announced at Eilsen for Tuesday next, July 8th,
and you may rest assured that the best society of Buckeburg and
of the Badegaste [visitors who go for the baths] will be present.
The price of the tickets has been fixed for 1 florin, which is
the maximum customary in this country. With regard to the
programme, I await your reply, in which I shall be glad if you
will tell me the four or five pieces you will choose, amongst
which will be, I hope, Parish Alvars' Fantaisie on motives from
"Oberon" and the "Danse des Fees."
A distinguished amateur, Monsieur Lindemann of Hanover, has
promised me to play one or two violoncello solos, and the rest of
the programme will be easily made.
As to your route, you had better take the Schnellzug [express]
next Monday, which starts about 11 in the morning from Brunswick,
and brings you to Buckeburg in less than three hours. From here
it will only take you thirty-five minutes to get to Eilsen. The
most simple plan for you would be not to write to me beforehand
even, but to improvise your programme according to your fancy
here. Only let me beg you not to arrive later than Monday
evening, so that the public may be free from anxiety, and to set
my responsibility perfectly at rest in a corner of your harp-
case.
May I beg you, Mademoiselle, to remember me affectionately to
your father? and be assured of the pleasure it will be to see
you, hear you, and admire you anew, to your sincere and devoted
servant,
F. Liszt
Eilsen, July 3rd, 1851
I beg you once more not to be later than next Monday, July 7th,
in coming to Eilsen.
77. To Rosalie Spohr
I am deeply sensible of your charming lines, Mademoiselle, the
impression of which is the completion for me of the harmonious
vibrations of your beautiful talent, - vibrations which are still
resounding in the woods and in your auditors at Eilsen. While
expressing to you my sincere thanks I should reproach myself were
I to forget the piquant and substantial present that your father
has sent me, and I beg you to tell him that we have done all
honor to the savory product of Brunswick industry. The Buckeburg
industry having a certain reputation in petto in the matter of
chocolate, the Princess, who sends her best regards to you and
your family, wishes me to send you a sample, which you will
receive by tomorrow's post. The chocolate, in its quality of a
sedative tonic, will, moreover, not come amiss in the intervals
of your study.
May I beg you, Mademoiselle, to give my affectionate compliments
to your parents as well as to the clever drawing-historiographer
[The younger sister of the addressee, Ida Spohr, at that time
sixteen years old, who was a most gifted creature, both in
poetry, painting, and music. She died young, at the age of
twenty-four] whom you know? and receive once more the best wishes
of yours most truly,
F. Liszt
Eilsen, July 22nd, 1851
78. To Breitkopf and Hartel
Allow me, my dear Mr. Hartel, to make known to you, as a kind of
curiosity, a very long piece I composed last winter on the
chorale "Ad Nos" from the "Prophete." If by chance you should
think well to publish this long Prelude, followed by an equally
long Fugue, I could not be otherwise than much obliged to you;
and I shall take advantage of the circumstance to acquit myself,
in all reverence and friendship, of a dedication to Meyerbeer,
which it has long been my intention to do; and it was only for
want of finding among my works something which would suit him in
some respect, that I have been obliged to defer it till now. I
should be delighted therefore if you would help me to fill up
this gap in the recognition I owe to Meyerbeer; but I dare not
press you too much for fear you may think that my Fugue has more
advantage in remaining unknown to the public in so far that it is
in manuscript, than if it had to submit to the same fate after
having been published by your care.
In accordance with your obliging promise, I waited from week to
week for the preface that Mr. Wagner has added to his three opera
poems. I should be glad to know how soon you expect to bring them
out, and beg you to be so good as to send me immediately three
copies.
Believe me, my dear Mr. Hartel,
Yours affectionately and most truly,
F. Liszt
Weymar, December 1st, 1851
P.S. - Would it perhaps do to bring out my Fugue on the "Prophete"
as No. 4 of my "Illustrations du Prophete"? That was at least my
first intention. [It was published in that form by Breitkopf and
Hartel.] In the same parcel you will find the piano score of the
"Prophete," which I am very much obliged to you for having lent
me.
79. To Louis Kohler in Konigsberg
[An important piano teacher and writer on music, and composer of
valuable instructive works (1820-86).]
Dear Sir,
