Send Me Tidings Of Yourself From Vienna (If Not Sooner), And,
Whatever Rinforzando Of "Murrendo" May Happen, Please Don't Do A
Wrong To The Sentiments Of Sincere Esteem And Cordial Friendship
Invariably Maintained Towards You By
F. Liszt
Weymar, February 21st, 1855.
133. To Louis Kohler
My very dear Friend,
Hans von Bulow will bring you these lines. You must enjoy
yourself in the artist who, above all other active or dying out
virtuosi; is the dearest to me, and who has, so to speak, grown
out of my musical heart. - When Hummel heard me in Paris more than
twenty-five years ago, he said, "Der Bursch ist ein
Eisenfresser." [The fellow is a bravo."] To this title, which was
very flattering to me, Hans von Bulow can with perfect justice
lay claim, and I confess that such an extraordinarily gifted,
thorough-bred musical organism as his has never come before me.
Receive him as an approved and energetic friend, and do all you
can to make his stay in Konigsberg a pleasant one.
Yours in friendship,
F. Liszt
Weymar, March 16th, 1855
The engraving of my Symphonic Poems is in progress, and in the
course of this summer five or six of them will be ready. There is
a good bit of work in it.
At the present time I am exclusively engaged in the composition
of a "Missa Solemnis." You know that I received, from the
Cardinal Primate of Hungary, the commission to write the work for
the consecration of the cathedral at Gran, and to conduct it
there (probably on the 15th of August).
134. To Dr. Franz Brendel
Sunday, March 18th, 1855
A few words in haste, dear friend, for I am over head and ears in
work. First and foremost, my best thanks for your communications,
with the request to continue them, even if I cannot always answer
the different points thoroughly.
I send you herewith the title of "The Captive" [Song, by Berlioz,
for alto voice with orchestra or piano.] - the words must be
written under the notes both in French and German. There can be
no copyright claimed for this Opus in Germany, as it appeared
years ago in Paris. It is to be hoped, however, that Kahnt will
not lose by it, as he has only to bear the cost of printing - and
in any case it is a suitable work for his shop.. - .
To be brief - Panofka's [A well-known teacher of singing and
writer on music (1807-88); collaborator of the Neue Zeitschrift.]
letter, in your last number, must be regarded as a mystification.
In the first few lines a glaring falsehood, founded on facts, is
conspicuous, for the Societe de Ste. Cecile has been in existence
for years, and was formerly [1848-54] conducted by Seghers [Pupil
of Baillot (1801-81)] - not to mention that Berlioz conducted the
Societe Philharmonique, where "many Symphonies were performed,"
for at least a season (of something like four years) - and then as
regards Scudo, [Musical critic and journalist in Paris (1806-64)]
it must appear incredible to see a man like that mentioned with
approval in your paper. It is well known that Scudo has, for
years past, with the unequivocal arrogance of mediocrity, taken
up the position of making the most spiteful and maliciously
foolish opposition, in the revue des Deux Mondes (the
"Grenzboten" only gives a faint impression of it), to our views
of Art, and to those men whom we honor and back up. (I can tell
you more about this by word of mouth.) If Panofka calls that
"persuasion and design," I give him my compliments...on his
silliness. -
Your views on the characteristic motives are right, and for my
part I would maintain them very decidedly against the bornes
attacks which they have to bear - yet I think it is advisable not
to discuss Marx's book ["The Music of the Nineteenth Century,"
1855.] at present.
Yours ever,
F. Liszt
135. To Dr. Franz Brendel
April 1st, 1855
Dear Friend,
The question of criticism through creative and executive artists
must some time come on the tapis, and Schumann affords a
perfectly natural opportunity for it. [Liszt's article on Robert
Schumann, "Gesammelte Schriften," Vol. iv.] By the proofs of the
second article (which I thank you much for having corrected with
the necessary exactitude) you will observe that I have modified
several expressions, and have held them in more just bounds.
Believe me, dear friend, the domain of artists is in the greater
part guilty of our sluggish state of Art, and it is from this
side especially that we must act, in order to bring about
gradually the reform desired and pioneered by you.
Tyszkiewicz's [Count Tyszkiewicz, writer on music, collaborator
of the Neue Zeitschrift.] letter gave me the idea of asking you
to make him a proposal in my name, which cannot be any
inconvenience to him. In one number of Europe artiste he
translated the article on "Fidelio." [By Liszt, "Gesammelte
Schriften," Vol. iii., I.] Should he be disposed to publish
several of my articles in the same paper, I am perfectly ready to
let him have the French originals, [Liszt's articles were, as
already mentioned, written in French and translated into German
by Cornelius.] whereby he would save time and trouble. He has
only to write to me about it; for, after his somewhat capricious
behaviour towards me, I am not particularly inclined to apply to
him direct, before he has written to me. I am in perfect
agreement with his good intentions; it is only a question how far
he is able and willing to carry them out, and how he sets about
it. His "Freischutz-Rodomontade" is a student's joke, to which
one can take quite kindly, but which one cannot hold up as a
heroic feat. If he wishes to be of use to the good cause of
musical progress, he must place and prove himself differently.
For my part I have not the slightest dislike to him, only of
course it seemed rather strange to me that, after he had written
to me several times telling me that he was coming to see me at
Weymar, and had also allowed Wagner to write a letter of
introduction for him, which he sent to me, he should ignore me,
as it were, during his long stay in Leipzig.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 63 of 125
Words from 63293 to 64357
of 127569
