To his very affectionate friend,
F. Liszt
Weymar, July 31st, 1854
For the translation of your opera I again recommend Cornelius,
but you will have to pass some weeks here to hasten the work.
118. To Dr. Franz Brendel
You would have greatly deceived yourself, dear friend, if you had
attributed any sort of personal aim to my last intimation
regarding the conduct of the critical part of your paper. By no
means could that be the case, and I think I even said to you in
the course of conversation that, so long as my set of articles on
various operas, which provisionally closes with the "Flying
Dutchman", is going on in the Neue Zeitschrift, it seems to me
more becoming not to bespeak any other musical productions of
mine. None the less do I consider it desirable and quite in the
interest of our cause that, for the future, the more important
productions, especially the works of R. Schumann, Hiller, Gade,
etc., should be brought into consideration more fully and oftener
than has been the case of late years. The bookseller's views, as
regards the sending or non-sending of works, appear to me
unimportant and even injurious for the higher position which your
paper maintains. -
I send you herewith Cornelius's article on the Prize Symphony and
the "Girondistes" Overture. It is very nicely written, and will
probably suit you. If possible put it into your next number.
I cannot now undertake the discussion about the Schumann
collective writings, as I am prevented by musical work for a long
time. Still, if I write later on a couple of articles on the
work, that need not prevent you from bringing out very soon one
or more articles discussing the same work. There is much to take
in and to bring out in it, which one critic alone is scarcely
capable of conceiving. The best plan of all would be if you
yourself will undertake the discussion of the Schumann writings.
Should you, however, not have time for it, then Pohl would be the
best man for this work. His predilection for Schumann, and his
familiarity with Schumann's views, qualify him thoroughly for
this.
My articles on the "Flying Dutchman" must not wait so long as you
propose to me in your letter. I wish explicity that the two
articles on the "Weisse Dame" and "Alfonso and Estrella" should
appear as soon as possible, and immediately afterwards the
"Flying Dutchman", so that by the end of September this series of
twelve opera discussions may have all appeared in the Neue
Zeitschrift.
At the same time with the proofs of the article on the "Weisse
Dame" you will receive the "Alfonso and Estrella" article, and,
as soon as these are out, the "Flying Dutchman", which must be
published in September - for various reasons, which cannot well be
explained in a letter.
