Letter 1 (June 3, 1866)
Inventory number: NMI 064/IC29
| Commentary |
Transcription / Translation » |
| The "Allertz" who has been charged with this letter is most probably Geheimrat Clement (?) Alertz (1800-1866), formerly physician of Pope Gregory XVI.[1] Liszt's permanent refuge between June 1863 and April 1868 is the monastery of Madonna del Rosario, situated outside Rome on Monte Mario. His retreat in this secluded place has contributed much to the legendary image of the later Liszt. He inhabited here a simple cell of 16 square metres on the ground floor, his only furniture being a bed, a table, a bookshelf and an upright piano (with a low D missing). In this humble abode he received on 11 July 1863 the unexpected visit of Pope Pius IX, accompanied by the prelates Hohenlohe and De Mérode. Liszt played one of his Franciscus-legends, and carried away by his musical enthusiasm the Pope sang Casta diva.[2] Thus the legend; primary sources however describe Liszt's quarters as consisting of three rooms on the first floor (American “second”), in which besides a piano he also had a harmonium at his disposal.[3] Liszt played on both for his visitors; no mention is made of pontifical belcanto. Espérance von Schwartz has more than once visited Liszt on Monte Mario. On one occasion she found him sitting on his chair with his feet drawn up to avoid the cold of the floor. The baroness took care that carpets were put in the room.[4] Though Liszt comments on the young age of Luigi Maria Bilio, Hohenlohe was at the time of his ordination as cardinal just three years his senior. Gustav Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1823-1896) is Liszt's principal protector in Rome; the composer is during several months (1865-1866) his guest in the Vatican[5] and has since 1868 rooms in the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, in this period at the disposal of Hohenlohe. Moreover, Hohenlohe is in 1865 officiating priest in the ceremonies in which Liszt receives the minor orders.[6] On the other hand it was the same Hohenlohe who blocked the annulment of the marriage of Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein, and thereby the intended marriage with Liszt. In this, family interest played a large part: Carolyne's daughter Marie had been married since 1859 with Gustav Adolf's younger brother Konstantin, and she was heiress to an immense fortune.[7] Lucien Bonaparte (1828-1895), Napoleon III's nephew and court chaplain, was ordained cardinal in 1868. In a letter to Agnes Street-Klindworth dated 19 September 1863 Liszt writes: "He is a very sincerely devout prelate, with a broad education and a most subtle and discerning mind. The friendly liking he shows for me, as well as his admiration, which matches mine, for his Cousin, make me very attached to him. They can say and do what they want against the Emperor, he will remain the great man of a great age".[8] Liszt's letter of 8 June 1866 to the same friend contains similar information about the Vatican, Liszt's musical plans and the stay of Cosima and Hans von Bülow in Tribschen. In the same letter he describes his Latin teacher as "a priest of rare distinction of heart and mind, a teacher at Saint Peter's seminary and at the Propaganda [Fide], Don Antonio Solfanelli".[9] Liszt's characterization of his visit to Amsterdam as a "week of intimacy" is curious. The pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow, husband of Liszt's daughter Cosima und pupil and protégé of Liszt and Richard Wagner, had in 1864 been appointed "Vorspieler seiner Majestät"[10] by Wagner's maecenas King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and in 1865 Kapellmeister. The terms "intimacy" (of the family) and "consolidation" (of Bülow's position) should be interpreted in the light of the tumultuous conflicts caused by Wagner's residence in the Bavarian capital. That Cosima and Wagner were lovers (to Liszt's regret) was a public secret since 1865. Of the third of the Bülow children (Isolde) Wagner was in fact the father. Cosima's presence in Amsterdam was intended to effect a reconciliation with her father. Near the end of 1868 a definitive rupture occurred between Cosima and Hans; it has caused a long cooling of the friendship between Liszt and Wagner.[11] |
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| However, there were other things to occupy Liszt and the Bülows in Amsterdam. Conductor Herman (H.J.J.) van Bree (1836-1885) had organized a small Liszt-festival. In the first concert on 25 April Van Bree conducted in the Zaal van het Park a programme including Liszt's 13. Psalm (LW13, for tenor, choir and orchestra) and Liszt's arrangement for piano and orchestra of Schubert's Wandererfantasie, with Von Bülow as soloist. In a letter to Princess Carolyne Liszt reports: "The hall was packed. The Psalm went splendidly, and since the applause continued during several minutes, I mounted the stage to render thanks. There I was presented with a very beautiful and solid silver laurel wreath, with the following inscription in Dutch: "Art, through her admirers, to her hero, held, Franz Liszt. Amsterdam".[12] The hostile review in the music journal Caecilia[13] is evidence of the controversial nature of Liszt's neudeutsch vision on sacred music. In the next issue, a highly detailed and laudatory study of the Psalm by the influential composer and conductor Richard Hol filled more than seven columns. To this the still anonymous reviewer replied, and the highly partial editors considered it prudent to add: "though it received a moderately warm applause, the composition made no more than a fleeting impression, and in discussion afterward it became quite clear that the audience had been momentarily overpowered by the mass of sound rather than being touched in the heart or transported into a religious mood".[14] |  Amsterdamsche Courant, April 24, 1866 |
On April 27 Von Bülow performs Beethoven's piano concerto nr. 4 and the Rhapsodie espagnole by Liszt (a premiere); violinist August Wilhelmj plays works by Paganini, Bach and others; the second Liszt work included is Les Préludes.[15] On Sunday morning April 29 the church of Moses and Aron is the location of a performance of the "Gran" Mass (Missa solemnis) ("very good performance of the Mass, conducted by Van Bree")[16] by the choir Zelus pro domo Dei and an orchestra organized by the young Henri Viotta (1848-1933), a student of Richard Hol. "Viotta had taken his seat at the first desk of the celli and Liszt was so pleased with the conception and arrangement of this performance, that he played himself the harp part on the piano. There was among many young people - especially musically educated roman catholics - considerable enthusiasm for this movement; in this Liszt's suggestive personality was of course a not negligible factor."[17] Two other "ardent partisans of the music of the future" are Mr and Mrs Heckmann, "excellent and charming people, who have shown me the warmest hospitality in Amsterdam".[18] Also present is Agnes Street-Klindworth, professional secret agent and some years before Liszt's secret lover.[19] The following day Liszt concludes his visit to Holland with a visit to Queen Sophie in The Hague. The Queen speaks of Napoleon III, "in whom it pleases her to discern an extraordinary core of goodness and sweetness".[20] Pianist, conductor and composer Giovanni Sgambati (1841-1914) got into contact with Liszt in 1862 and was his principle Italian pupil. The Sala Dante contained 27 large canvasses (the Galeria) with scenes from the Divina Commedia. The other works by Liszt mentioned in this letter are: Eine Symphonie zu Dantes Divina Commedia (1855-56), the oratorio Die Legende von der heiligen Elisabeth (first performance in Pest in 1865, see also letter 3), and the oratorio Christus which he completed on the First of October 1866. A section from this work ("Christmas Oratorio") was performed with Sgambati conducting in the Sala Dante on the Sixth of July 1867. The work got its final shape only afterwards, and the first integral performance took place in Weimar on May 29 1873.[21] |
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| [1] | EMD p. 52, 57 (he accompanied Pius IX during his flight in 1848); GRE p. 17, 228; SCHL p. 163; HEY p. 159; EMG p. xviii. See also BHZ p. 317. |
| [2] |
WALF p. 55, 56, with reference to FLB Bd. 3 p. 161 (= FLA p. 360; "premier étage" confused with "first floor"), to Liszt's letter to Franz Brendel of July 18, 1863 (FLB Bd. 2 p. 46), and to the Allgemeine Zeitung of Juli 22 1863. According to the remarkably well-informed reporter Liszt played something on the harmonium and afterwards on what Liszt called his "Arbeits-Pianino"; the Pope only uttered pious words and a jocular allusion to the notorious Mortara affair. See also RL p. 88. |
| [3] |
Descriptions of Liszt's quarters in FLBA p. 25, 26 (W. von Csapó) and SCHL p. 71, 72. |
| [4] |
RL p. 120 |
| [5] |
WALF p. 89 |
| [6] |
WALF p. 86 |
| [7] |
WALW p. xix, 521; WALF p.28-29 |
| [8] |
FLA nr. 118 (p. 219, 361) "C'est un prélat d'une très sincère piété, d'une instruction étendue, et d'un esprit des plus fins et judicieux. La sympathie bienveillante qu'il me temoigne, ainsi que son admiration à l'unisson de la mienne pour son Cousin m'attachent beaucoup à lui. On aura beau faire et dire contre l'empereur, il restera le grand homme d'une grande époque." |
| [9] |
FLA nr. 133, p. 249, 370: "[...] un prêtre d'une rare distinction de coeur et d'intelligence, professeur au Seminaire de St Pierre et à la Propagande, Don Antonio Solfanelli". |
| [10] |
FLB Bd. 6 p. 52 |
| [11] |
NEW p. 529-535. |
| [12] |
"Il y avait foule. Le Psaume marcha à merveille, et comme les applaudissements se prolongaient durant quelques minutes, je montai sur l'estrade pour remercier. Là, on me remit une très belle et massive couronne de laurier en argent, avec cet inscription en hollandais: ‘L'art, par ceux qui l'honorent, à son héros, Held Franz Liszt. Amsterdam.'" (FLB Bd. 6 letter 109, p. 116). Review of this concert in AC, May 2 1866 ("Kunst"). The silver wreath was stolen in 1875 in Budapest, see WALF p. 292 n. 10. Liszt probably stayed in Hôtel du Doelen (Brack's Doelenhotel), deciphered by La Mara as hôtel Docleu. Images of this hotel ca 1860 and of the Zaal van het Park may be found in the Amsterdam City Archive. |
| [13] |
CAE 23 nr. 9, p. 92-93 |
| [14] |
CAE 23 nr. 13, p. 138. The editors who cloaked themselves in anonimity were Simon van Baalen and J.R. Smalt (SCHE p. 14). |
| [15] |
Review of this concert in AC, 3 May 1866 ("Kunst"). |
| [16] |
"[...] très bonne exécution de la Messe, sous la direction de Van Brée." (FLB Bd. 6 p. 116) Liszt wrote in the score: "Exécuté selon mon coeur" (see BOTG p. 345, with image). Liszt had been made an honorary member of this choir in 1863, after an earlier performance of the Gran Mass; see FLB Bd. 2 nr. 24 (11 Nov. 1863) and BOTG p. 345. |
| [17] |
BOTL p. 100 |
| [18] |
"[...] excellentes et charmantes gens, qui m'ont fait la plus cordiale hospitalité à Amsterdam, et prennent vivement parti pour la musique de l'avenir." (FLB Bd. 6 nr. 109, p. 116). According to La Mara these are the German violinist Robert Heckmann (1848-1891) and his wife, pianist Marie Heckmann-Hertwig. Heckmann is known principally from the string quartet he created; in 1879 he performed Grieg's quartet in the presence of Liszt and reported his enthusiastic reaction to Grieg (KOR p. 26). BOTG speaks of the "Hekmann family". In a reply to a letter from Heckmann Liszt has expressed his appreciation for Hol's move to the defense (FLB Bd. 8 nr. 149, p. 187). |
| [19] |
FLBA nr. 132, n. 1, p. 248-249 |
| [20] |
"La Reine de Hollande m'a parlé de l'Empereur Napoléon, auquel elle se plaît à reconnaître un fond extraordinaire de bonté et de douceur." FLB Bd. 6 (nr. 110, 1 May 1866) |
| [21] |
FLB Bd. 2 nr. 47, p. 94; WALF p. 255-256 |
