Read Ebook: Letters of Franz Liszt -- Volume 1 from Paris to Rome: Years of Travel as a Virtuoso by Liszt Franz La Mara Compiler Bache Constance Translator

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Bertini is in London; Madame Malibran is making her round of Germany; Messemaecker is resting on his laurels at Brussels; Aguado has the illustrious maestro Rossini in tow.--Ah--Hi--Oh--Hu!!!

This is the twentieth time, at least, that we have tried to meet, first at my house, then here, with the intention of writing to you, and always some visit, or some other unforeseen hindrance, has occurred. I don't know whether Chopin will be strong enough to make excuses to you; for my part, it seems to me that we have been so unmannerly and impertinent that no excuses are now permissible or possible.

We sympathized most deeply in your bereavement, and more deeply did we wish that we could be with you in order to soften, as far as possible, the grief of your heart.

Madame d'Apponyi was very much vexed with me for not having taken you there before your departure; she hopes that when you come back you will be sure to remember the promise you made me. I will say as much of a certain lady who is not an ambassadress.

F. Liszt

Four months have actually passed, dear Father, since we parted, and I feel very sad at not getting a word from you!--at the same time I do not wish to complain, for it seems to me that you can never doubt my deep and filial affection...Much more, I even know that you have been willing to accept it, and, however humble it may be, to count it for something...What more then can I desire?...

Eugene, whose brotherly friendship becomes dearer to me day by day, has often given me good tidings of you. The last time I saw him he told me confidentially that you were working at a sort of Introduction, or developed Preface to your works.--Although I know perfectly well that my interest counts for nothing in this matter, I may be permitted nevertheless to tell you how glad I am to know that you are occupied with this work. To yourself, first of all, I think you owe it--your name and glory will shine out all the more powerfully for it. And, secondly, for the public it will be a work of art the more , and which will besides have the double advantage of aiding and fixing them in the understanding of your past works, whilst at the same time preparing them for, and initiating them into, your future thoughts.

And, lastly, for us who love you, and who would glory and be proud to be one day called your disciples, we rejoice in it because the world will learn to know you better by this means, and because it will probably be another opportunity for us to show our sympathetic admiration as well as our unalterable devotion for you.

Unless something very unforeseen occurs, I shall come again and beg you to receive me for a few days towards the middle of July; I trust sufficiently to your sincerity to tell me that you would rather not have me if my individuality would trouble or bother you too much.--Before that, I shall have the honor of sending you a little work, to which I have had the audacity to tack a great name--yours.--It is an instrumental De profundis. The plain-song that you like so much is preserved in it with the Faburden. Perhaps this may give you a little pleasure, at any rate, I have done it in remembrance of some hours passed at La Chenaie.

Farewell, dear Father. I don't give you any news of Paris,--you know all that. You know that Ballanche wants to be an Academician, and accepts Salvandy and Dupaty as competitors,--you know the little check of January,--the miserable petty intrigues of court and newspaper and vestry;--in a word, you know how men are wanting in noble and generous sentiments, and how they make the most of their own ignoble ends and interests, to which their words and actions yet give the lie.

Farewell once more, dear Father. Think as often as possible of all the good you have done, and of that which men have a right to expect of you. Think sometimes also of the help and the wealth of affection that you have showered on me in particular, and may the remembrance of this be sweet to you!...

Yours ever, for life--from heart and soul,

F. Liszt

January 14th, 1835

Tomorrow morning I have to leave for two months. If you should be so good as to write to me before my return, please address always, 61, Rue de Provence. My mother will take care that I have your kind letter.

Dear Mother,

Please send me at once, without any delay, the Pianist's Glossary, which you will get at Lemonier's, Rue de l'Echelle.

Simply put it in a cover, and put it in the post , and I shall get it, at latest, by Monday or Tuesday.--

Address to Mr. Hermann Cohen, Grande Rue, No. 8.

I have an immense deal to do this morning, so that I have barely time to tell you that I love you with all my heart, and that I rejoice above everything at the prospect of seeing you again soon--that is to say, in six or eight months.

F. Liszt

You will hear of me from Mr. Pinondel, who passed a day with us.

Dear and venerable Father,

I shall expect you. Whatever sorrow there is in the depth of my soul, it will be sweet and consoling to me to see you again.

You are so wonderfully good to me! and I should suffer so much by being so long away from you!--

Au revoir then, once more--in eight days at latest it will be, will it not? I do nothing else than keep expecting you.

Yours, with the deepest respect and most sincere devotion,

F. Liszt

St. Gervais, August 22nd .

Your postscript deserves a punishment, and here it comes dated from St. Gervais. I do not know whether your charming sister-in- law, Madame Pavy, will consider this stamp of St. Gervais worthy to appear in her collection; be that as it may, it gives me no less a pleasure to converse a little with you who are always so charming, so versatile, so excellent, and, permit me to say, so kind to me.

Mademoiselle Merienne, whom I saw only quite lately ; Mademoiselle Merienne , somewhat like those declaimed discourses of Plantade or Lhuillier, which put a stop to music whilst nevertheless admitting that there is such a thing, whether at the beginning or at the end--Mademoiselle Merienne--au diable Mademoiselle Merienne! You guess by this time that she gave me tidings of you, that she is a delightful and enchanting person, that she makes admirable portraits, and that mine, amongst others, has been a wonderful success. Etc., etc., and always etc...

And yet I do wish to talk to you about this good Mademoiselle Merienne, for she said a heap of charming things to me for your sake, which will certainly not astonish you. But how to set about it after all this preamble of parentheses? Ah, I have it!--In three or four weeks I shall come and knock at your door.--And then? Well, then we will chatter away at our ease. So much the worse for you if you are not satisfied with my cunning stratagem. Now let us talk business; yes, seriously, let us talk business!

Has your brother returned from his journey? And is he well? And has no accident happened to him on the way? You are surprised, perhaps, at my anxiety; but by-and-bye you will understand it without difficulty, when I have explained to you how terribly interested I am in the fact of his journey being safely accomplished.

Just imagine that at this moment I have only 200 fr. in my purse , and that it is M. Pavy who is to be my financial Providence, considering that it is to him that my mother has confided my little quarterly income of a thousand francs. Now at this point I must entrust you with a little secret, which at present is only known to two individuals, Messrs. Paccard and Roger , and which I beg you to make known as quickly as possible to your brother. It concerns a little scrap of paper , for a thousand francs, by which Messrs. Paccard and Roger are authorized by my signature, which is at the bottom, to demand the above sum of a thousand francs from M. Pavy, junior, living at La Glaciere at Lyons, after the 22nd of August, 1836.

A thousand pardons for troubling you with these details, but I should never have had the courage to write direct to your brother, on account of my profound ignorance in money matters.

You tell me that you passed part of the fine season in the country--why did not you arrange so as to tour for a little among the mountains of Switzerland? I should have had such pleasure in doing the honors, and Mademoiselle Merienne also...but don't let us speak any more of Mademoiselle Merienne , for fear of again falling into inextricable parentheses.

Au revoir then; in five weeks at latest I shall come and warm myself at your "glacier."

F. Liszt

My friend Louis de Ronchaud writes me word that he has had the honor of seeing you, dear Father, and that you were kind enough to give him a message of affectionate remembrance for me. I am very happy to know that you continue to keep this precious and friendly feeling for me, of which you have already given me so many proofs, and which I shall endeavour always to deserve as far as is in my power.

I am still not very far advanced in my Italian journey. The beauty of these parts, the necessity of writing with some little continuance, and also, if all be said, some altogether unexpected successes, have kept me in Milan and the neighborhood much longer than I had foreseen. As regards musical matters, the presence of Rossini, whom I frequently see, gives a certain impetus to this country. I have been singularly well received here, so I shall probably pass the greater part of the winter here, and shall not start for Venice till towards the beginning of March. Thence I shall go to Florence and Rome, where I expect I shall stay a good long time.

D. has no doubt talked to you of our stay at Nohant last summer. I think that he got rid there of a good many old prejudices about me. It was a sweet satisfaction to me to learn through him how good and indulgent you have been towards me on several occasions, even so far as to contradict and defend me warmly against him and against others who knew me still less. I had charged our secret friend to defend me in his turn from a slight wrong which I had, only apparently, committed, but even "apparently" is too much, and I think I have entirely justified myself with regard to it. I don't know whether in his noble carelessness he will have thought of it. However that may be, I shall always count on your paternal affection more than all the rest.

What can I say to you of Italy that you do not know, and that you have not said in such manner as to cause despair for ever to the makers of observations!--It is always the same status quo, the excellent and perfectly happy government that you know.--I am hoping and longing ardently for your next book , which I shall read with my whole heart and soul, as I have read all that you have written for four years. I shall owe you just so many more good and noble emotions. Will they remain for ever sterile? Will my life be for ever tainted with this idle uselessness which weighs upon me? Will the hour of devotion and of manly action never come? Am I condemned without respite to this trade of a Merry Andrew and to amuse in drawing-rooms?

Whatever may be my poor and humble destiny, do not ever doubt my heart. Do not ever doubt the deep respect and unalterable devotion with which you have inspired me.

Yours for ever,

F. Liszt

Como, December 18th, 1837

I thank you much, gentlemen, for the obliging letter that you have written me. Up to the present time I have had none but the most pleasant business relations with Mr. Hofmeister, who has the kindness to publish the greater part of my works in Germany. As I do not know very much of the laws which regulate literary and musical proprietorship in Saxony, I had spoken to him about the Beethoven Symphonies, of which I have undertaken the arrangement, or, more correctly speaking, the pianoforte score. To tell the truth, this work has, nevertheless, cost me some trouble; whether I am right or wrong, I think it sufficiently different from, not to say superior to, those of the same kind which have hitherto appeared. The recent publication of the same Symphonies, arranged by Mr. Kalkbrenner, makes me anxious that mine should not remain any longer in a portfolio. I intend also to finger them carefully, which, in addition to the indication of the different instruments , will most certainly make this edition much more complete. If, then, as I imagine, it is impossible for Mr. Hofmeister to publish them, I shall be very grateful if you will undertake it. The reputation of your house is European, and I perfectly remember having had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Raymond Hartel in Paris. It will be a pleasure to me to conclude this little business with you, at the rate of eight francs a page. Up to the present time I have only finished three Symphonies , but I could promise to let you have the others successively, according as you might wish, or I could limit my work to the four most important Symphonies , namely, the Pastoral, C minor, A major, and the Eroica. I think those are the ones which are most effective on the piano.

I start tomorrow for Vienna, where I expect to remain till the end of April. Please address to me to the care of Mr. Tobias Haslinger till the 25th of April, and after that to Mr. Ricordi, Milan, who has undertaken to forward me all my letters while I am in Italy. My compliments and affectionate thanks.

F. Liszt

My dear Monsieur Schumann,

I shall not attempt to tell you how grateful and touched I am by your friendly letter. Mademoiselle Wieck, whom I have been so happy as to meet here, will express to you, better than I can, all the sympathy, all the admiring affection I have for you. I have been such a nomad latterly that the pieces you were kind enough to address to me at Milan only reached me on the eve of my departure from Venice about a fortnight ago; and since then we have been talking so much of you, day and night, that it hardly occurred to me to write to you. Today, however, to my great astonishment, I get a fresh token of your friendly remembrance, and I certainly will not delay thanking you many times for it, so I have just left a charming party of very pretty women in order to write these few lines to you. But the truth is you need hardly thank me for this little sacrifice, for it is a great pleasure to me to be able to have a little chat with you.

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