Letters of Franz Liszt Volume I Part 32

Rubinstein will constantly publish a round fifty of works-- Concertos, Trios, Symphonies, Songs, Light pieces--and which deserve notice.

Laub has left Weymar; Ed. Singer has taken his place in our orchestra. The latter gives great pleasure here, and likes being here also.

Cornelius, Pohl, Raff, Pruckner, Schreiber, and all the new school of new Weymar send you their best remembrances, to which I add a cordial shake hand. [Written thus in English by Liszt]

F. L.

130. To Rosalie Spohr

Pray pardon me, dear artist and friend, that I am so late in expressing the hearty sympathy which your Weymar friends take in the joyful event of your marriage. [To Count Sauerma.] You know well that I am a poor, much-bothered mortal, and can but seldom dispose of my time according to my wishes. Several pressing pieces of work, which I was obliged to get ready by this New Year's Day, have prevented me up to now from giving you a sign of life--and I am employing my first free moment to a.s.sure you that the changing date of the year can bring with it no variation in my sincere, friendly attachment. Remember me most kindly to the papa and sister, and write to me when you can and tell me where you are going to live henceforth. Possibly I might happen to be in your neighborhood, in which case I should hasten to come and see you.

I have but little news to give you of Weymar. That Litolff has been to see me here, and played his two Symphony-Concertos capitally, you doubtless know. Probably he will come back after his journey to Brussels, in the course of next month, when I also expect Berlioz here. Our orchestra now also possesses a very first-rate harpist, Frau Dr. Pohl, with a good double-movement harp of Erard. It seems that poor Erard is no better, and his "cure" at Schlangenbad has not had the desired result. I frequently get very sad tidings of his condition through my daughter.

I thank you warmly for the friendly reception you accorded to Herr Wolf as a Weymarer. I hope he did not inconvenience you by too long visits. His wife brought me some weeks ago the original sketch of your portrait, which is to become my possession.

The Frau Furstin [Princess] and Princess Marie commission me to give you their most friendly greetings and wishes, to which I add once more the expression of my friendly devotion.

A thousand respects and homage.

F. Liszt

January 4th, 1855

131. To Alfred Dorffel in Leipzig

[Writer on music, born 1821; custodian of the musical section of the town library of Leipzig: the University there gave him the degree of Dr. phil. honoris causa.]

Dear Sir,

Allow me to express to you direct my most cordial thanks for the conscientious and careful pains you have taken in regard to my Catalogue. ["Thematic Catalogue of Liszt's Compositions."] I am really quite astonished at the exact.i.tude of your researches, and intend to repeat my warm thanks to you in person in Leipzig, and to discuss with you still more fully the motives which lead me not entirely to agree with your proposal, and only to use a part of your new elaboration of my Catalogue. To avoid diffuseness, I can for today only state a couple of points.

The standpoint of your new arrangement is, if I have rightly understood you, as follows:--There are still being circulated in the music-shops a certain number of copies of my works, especially of the "Studies," "Hungarian Rhapsodies," and several "Fantasiestucke" (under the collective t.i.tle of "Alb.u.m d'un Voyageur"), etc., that I have not included in my Catalogue, which I gave into Dr. Hartel's hands for printing;--and you have taken upon yourself the troublesome task of arranging these different and somewhat numerous works in what would be, under other circ.u.mstances, a most judicious manner.

However gratifying to me this interest of yours in the production of a suitable Catalogue can but be, yet I must declare myself decidedly for the non-acceptance of the portions added by you (with certain exceptions).

1. The Hofmeister edition of the twelve Studies (with a lithograph of a cradle, and the publisher's addition "travail de jeunesse"!) is simply a piracy of the book of Studies which was published at Frankfort when I was thirteen years old. I have long disowned this edition and replaced it by the second, under the t.i.tle "Etudes d'execution transcendante," published by Haslinger in Vienna, Schlesinger in Paris, and Mori and Lavener in London.

But this second edition has now been annulled several years ago, and Haslinger has, by my desire, put aside my copyright and plates, and bound himself by contract not to publish any more copies of this work henceforth. After a complete agreement with him I set to work and produced a third edition of my twelve Studies (very materially improved and transformed), and begged Messrs. Hartel to publish it with the note "seule edition authentique, revue par l'auteur, etc.," which they did.

Consequently I recognize only the Hartel edition of the twelve Studies as the SOLE LEGITIMATE ONE, which I also clearly express by a note in the Catalogue, and I therefore wish that the Catalogue should make no mention of the earlier ones. I think I have found the simplest means of making my views and intentions clear by the addition of the sign (+).

2. It is the same case with the Paganini "Etudes" and the "Rhapsodies Hongroises;" and after settling matters with Haslinger I completely gained the legal right to disavow the earlier editions of these works, and to protest against eventual piracy of them, as I am once more in possession both of the copyright and the entire engraving plates.

These circ.u.mstances will explain to you the reappearance (in a very much altered conception and form) of many of my compositions, on which I, as piano player and piano composer, am obliged to lay some stress, as they form, to a certain extent, the expression of a closed period of my artist-individuality.

In literature the production of very much altered, increased, and improved editions is no uncommon thing. In works both important and trivial, alterations, additions, varying divisions of periods, etc., are a common experience of an author. In the domain of music such a thing is more minute and more difficult-- and therefore it is seldom done. None the less do I consider it very profitable to correct one's mistakes as far as possible, and to make use of the experiences one gains by the editions of the works themselves. I, for my part, have striven to do this; and, if I have not succeeded, it at least testifies to my earnest endeavour.

3. In the "Annees de Pelerinage" (Schott, Mainz) several of the pieces are again taken from the "Alb.u.m d'un Voyageur." The Alb.u.m brought out by Haslinger must not be quoted in the Catalogue, because the work has not been carried out according to its original plan, and Haslinger has given me back, in this case also, the copyright and plates.

As the natural consequence of what I have said I beg you therefore, dear sir, not to undertake any alteration in the disposition and arrangement of my Catalogue, and only to add the various enlargements and improvements, for which I have to thank your overlooking and corrections, as I have now given them and marked them.--

The t.i.tle of the Catalogue might sound better thus in German:--

F. Liszt

"Thematischer Catalog." ["Thematic Catalogue"]

And the letters of the headings "Etudes--Harmonies--Annees de Pelerinage--Ungarische Rhapsodien--Fantaisies on Airs from Operas, etc.," must be rather large, and these headings separated from the special t.i.tle of the works.

I cannot agree with the admission of a supplementary Opus- number,--but it is of consequence to me that the Catalogue should come out speedily, in order to get as clear a survey as possible of my works up to the present time (which, however, are by no means sufficient for me).

Accept once more my best thanks, dear Sir, as also the a.s.surance of high esteem of

Yours most truly,

F. Liszt

January 17th, 1855.

P.S.--I take the liberty of keeping your edition of the Catalogue here meanwhile, as it cannot be used for the arrangement of the Hartel edition.

132. To Anton Rubinstein

Your fugue of this morning, my dear Rubinstein, is very little to my taste, and I much prefer to it the Preludes that you wrote at an earlier date in this same room, which, to my great surprise, I found empty when I came to fetch you for the Berlioz rehearsal.

Is it a fact that this music works on your nerves? And, after the specimen you had of it the other time at the Court, did the resolution to hear more of it seem to you too hard to take? Or have you taken amiss some words I said to you, which, I give you my word, were nothing but a purely friendly proceeding on my part? Whatever it may be, I don't want any explanations in writing, and only send you these few lines to intimate that your nocturnal flight was not a very agreeable surprise to me, and that you would have done better in every way to hear the "Fuite en Egypte" and the "Fantaisie sur la Tempete" of Shakespeare.

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 friends.h.i.+p 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 t.i.tle, 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 friends.h.i.+p,

F. Liszt