As Regards Myself, I Am Quietly Waiting For The Spring, When I
Shall In All Probability Move On Further - Of
Course not to renew
my occupation of conducting, as it is said I shall do in Munich,
Berlin, or elsewhere
- An occupation I have gladly given up; - but
in order to be able to pursue my work further than I am able to
do in Weymar, which to me is a more important matter.
Remember me most kindly to your wife, and be assured that I
remain ever in truest devotion yours most faithfully,
F. Liszt
Weymar, February 5th, 1860.
234. To Dr. Franz Brendel
[February 1860]
Dear Friend,
Although as a general rule I consider that it is not the business
of the Neue Zeitschrift to go in for polemics, yet it seems to me
that the little notice that Hanslick has put in No. 49 of the
Vienna Presse, Saturday, the 18th February, is of such a kind
that one must not ignore it.
The Presse is a paper with a tremendous circulation in the
monarchy, and Hanslick counts among the leaders of our opponents;
it would therefore be worth while to make an exception by coming
forward on this occasion, unless (which I cannot as yet believe)
your Vienna correspondent has been guilty of the mischievous
conduct which Hanslick so severely reports. This point must first
be made clear - whether in the third (or possibly an earlier)
concert of Herr Boskowitz an exchange of a Schumann for a Liszt
piece occurred. [Instead of the Liszt piece "Au bord d'une
source," which stood on the programme, Boskowitz had played the
"Jagdlied" from Schumann's "Waldscenen," which did not prevent a
correspondent (namely, the correspondent of the Deutsche
Musikzeitung, as the Neue Zeitschrift of 24th February, 1860,
gave out) from loudly carping at the supposed Liszt composition.]
Possibly also your correspondent made use of the expression "The
Vienna Press" in general, and did not refer specially to the
paper Die Presse, [This was actually the case] or was referring
to other remarks of Hanslick's...
This is only the second time for many years past, dear friend,
that I have drawn your attention to notices in the paper. On the
first occasion, when the Augsburger Allgemeine gave that infamous
correspondence about the venality of the Neue Zeitschrift, your
striking answer gave the most convincing proof of what part the
opponents were studying to play! - I hope it will be possible to
despatch Hanslick's notice (which I enclose) in a similar
fashion. But it is necessary to get at the exact truth before
inveighing against them - for Hanslick is no easy opponent, and if
one once attacks him it must be with suitable weapons and without
giving quarter. The words "denunciation proceedings," "Gessler
caps of the party of the future," and especially the concluding
sentence, "As long as Herr Brendel," etc., are a challenge, which
deserves more than a faint-hearted reproof! I would also advise
you to send a duplicate of your reply to the Presse in Vienna, at
the same time as it is published in the Zeitschrift.
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