I Will Willingly Discharge The Copyist's Fee,
And The Orchestral Parts I Will Bring With Me Together With The
Score, So That The Rehearsals May Begin As Soon As The Performers
Taking Part In It Are Assigned To Me.
I confidently hope that we shall have a very fine performance,
without trouble and worry, and one in which musicians as well as
audience will find pleasure and edification.
The length of the
Mass will also fulfill the required dimensions, and yesterday I
hunted out a couple of "cuts," which could be made, if necessary,
without any essential harm to the work. You know, dear Singer,
that I am a special virtuoso in the matter of making cuts, in
which no one else can easily approach me! -
I am simply not disposed, in spite of much prudent advice, to cut
my Mass and myself altogether, all the less so as my friends and
countrymen have on this occasion shown themselves so kind and
good to me. I therefore owe it to them to give them active proof
that their confidence and sympathy in me are not wholly
undeserved - and with God's help this shall be irrefragably
proved!
For the rest I want to keep very quiet and private this time in
Pest. Composers of my sort write, it is true, plenty of drum and
trumpet parts, but by no means require the too common flourish of
trumpets and drums, because they are striving after a higher aim,
which is not to be attained by publicity.
"Auf baldiges Wiedersehen," ["To a speedy meeting"] dear friend -
I leave here by the 9th August at latest. Meanwhile best thanks
for your letter, - and
Ever yours,
F. Liszt
July 28th, 1856.
158. To Joachim Raff
[Raff (1822-82) lived, as is well known, for some years in Weimar
(first of all as Liszt's secretary), and at that time joined the
Liszt tendencies as a composer, afterwards going other ways.]
Dear Sir and Friend,
It is very pleasant to me to find from your letter that you have
taken aright the recognition in my article on the "Sleeping
Beauty," and see unequivocally in its attitude a fresh proof of
the high estimation in which I hold your artistic powers, as well
as of my readiness to be of use to you as far as my insight and
loyalty in Art matters will permit me. In this first discussion
of a work so much thought of and so widespread, it was most
important that I should draw the attention of Art-fellowship to
your entire works and higher endeavors during the past six years.
You will still give me the opportunity, I hope, later on, of
spreading much deserved praise and of placing more in the shade
any chance differences in our views. If I have not placed you
this time so completely as I should have wished among the musical
fellowship of the time, like a Peter Schlemihl,[The man without a
shadow - German fable.] this was partly in consequence of your own
oft-repeated advice that "one should not exclusively praise men
and works if one wishes to be useful to them."[Neue Zeitschrift
fur Musik.
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