I envy you immensely about Patikarius [Hungarian gipsy
orchestras] and Ketskemety. [Hungarian gipsy orchestras] This
class of music is for me a sort of opium, of which I am sometimes
sorely in need. If you should by chance see Kertbeny, who has now
obtained a logis honoraire, please tell him that my book on the
Gipsies and Gipsy Music is already almost entirely translated by
Cornelius, and that I will send it to him by the autumn. But beg
him at the same time not to write tome, as it is impossible for
me to start a detailed correspondence with K.
I sent the pianoforte arrangement (with the voices) yesterday to
Herr von Augusz, with the request that he would present them,
when he had an opportunity, to His Eminence Cardinal Scitowsky.
The Mass [Liszt's Graner Messe.] will not take up an excessively
long time, either in performance or studying. But it is
indispensable that I should conduct the general rehearsal as well
as the performance myself; for the work cannot be ranked amongst
those in which ordinary singing, playing, and arrangement will
suffice, although it offers but small difficulties. It is a
matter of some not usual trifles in the way of accent, devotion,
inspiration, etc.
When are you coming back, dear Singer? Only bring home with you
an orderly packet of manuscripts, that is to say to Weymar, where
I hope that you will feel yourself more and more at home.
The members of our Club who are still here send you the most
friendly greetings by me, to which I add a cordial "auf baldiges
Wiedersehen" ["May we soon meet again!"].
Yours ever,
F. Liszt
August 1st, 1855
P.S. - Joachim is going to make a walking tour in Tyrol. I hope he
will come and see us on his return. Berlioz proposes to give some
concerts in Vienna and Prague next December. I shall probably
postpone my journey to Wagner (at Zurich) until November. I shall
remain here for the next few months, in order to write several
things in readiness for the winter.
142. To Bernhard Cossmann In Baden-Baden
Wilhelmsthal, August 15th, 1855
Here am I really on the road to Baden-Baden, dear friend; but
that does not advance matters at all, and in spite of myself I
must resign myself to remain en route. Tomorrow morning I return
to Weymar, where I have promised to meet my two daughters, as
well as Mr. Daniel [Liszt's son], who has pretty well
distinguished himself at the general competition. After passing
ten days or so with me the girls will take up their abode with
Madame de Bulow at Berlin, who is good enough to take charge of
them, and Daniel will return to Paris to continue his studies
there. I was hoping also to be able to spend a week or two there-
-but that cannot possibly be arranged, and on reflection I was
obliged to limit myself to conducting the Princess W[ittgenstein]
as far as Eisenach, whence she has continued her journey to Paris
with her daughter (with the special view of seeing the exhibition
of pictures there); and for my exhibition I shall content myself
with that to the north, which I can enjoy from the windows of my
room! - This picturesque solemnity is almost up to the height of
the musical solemnities of Baden which you describe to me in such
bright and lively colors, but with this difference, that at
Wilhelmsthal we are very much favored by the element of damp,
whereas at Baden the artists who give concerts are drained dry.
At Weymar all the world is out of doors, and the town is pretty
full of nothing, offering to the curiosity of travelers only the
trenches and practical circumvallations in honor of gas-lighting
which they are going to start in October. Singer is bathing in
the Danube (at Ofen), and tells me he shall be back by the roth
of September; Raff is promenading amid the rose and myrtle
shrubberies of his "Sleeping Beauty" at Wiesbaden; Stor is
returning with his pockets full of new nuances which he has
discovered at Ilmenau, where he has composed (as a pendant to my
Symphonic Poem) "Ce qu'on entend dans la vallee"! ["What is heard
in the valley." Liszt's work bears the title "Ce qu'on entend sur
la montagne" ("What is heard on the mountain.")] Preller
[Friedrich Preller, the celebrated painter of the Odyssey
pictures] has found beautiful trees in the Duchy of Oldenburg
which serve him as a recovery of the "Recovery" [Or a "recreation
of the Recreation." I do not know which is meant. The original is
"qui lui servent d'Erholung von der 'Erholung.'" - Translator's
note.]; Martha Sabinin [A pupil of Liszt's, a Russian] is
haunting the "Venusberg" in the neighborhood of Eisenach in
company with Mademoiselle de Hopfgarten; Bronsart [Hans von
Bronsart, Liszt's pupil, now General-Intendant at Weimar] is gone
to a sort of family congress at Konigsberg; and Hoffman [Hoffmann
von Fallersleben, the well-known poet] is running through Holland
and Belgium to make a scientific survey of them; whilst Nabich is
trying to gain the ears of England, Scotland, and Ireland with
his trombone!
I, for my part, am in the midst of finishing the 13th Psalm (for
tenor solo, chorus, and orchestra), "How long wilt Thou forget
me, O Lord?" which you will hear this winter; and I shall not
leave Weymar till November to go and pay a few days' visit to
Wagner at Zurich. Don't altogether forget me, my dear Cossmann,
in the midst of your solemnities - - [The end of the letter was
lost.]
143. To August Kiel, Court Conductor in Detmold
[Autograph (without address) in the possession of M. Alfred
Bovet, of Valentigney.
