I Am Expecting Next Time The Proofs Of The Two- Piano Arrangements, And You Shall Receive The Two Remaining Piano Arrangements At The Same Time As The Two Last Scores..

- . In the matter of the Handel-Gesellschaft, [Handel Society] the scheme of which you have sent me, pray be assured of my most complete readiness.

The choice of Messrs. Hauptmann, Dehn, Chrysander (Otto Jahn?), as the musical directors proper, I consider thoroughly suitable - as also of Messrs. Gervinus and Breitkopf and Hartel as members of the committee - and, as soon as the pecuniary basis of the undertaking is fixed, I shall not fail to get you some subscriptions, as I did for the Bach- Gesellschaft.

With warm thanks and esteem,

Yours very truly,

F. Liszt

Weymar, May 15th, 1856

If it is possible to you to send me soon the proofs of the five piano arrangements I shall be glad, as they make the comprehension and spread of the scores easier.

153. To Louis Kohler

Dear Friend,

After I had seen about your commission to Dr. Hartel, and he had sent me your Methode, [Systematic method of teaching for pianoforte playing and music, 1857 and 1858.] I delayed writing to you, because the result (favorable, as might be expected) of the little business had been already communicated to you through Hartel, and I wished at the same time to send you somewhat of my wares. Unfortunately, I have been hindered by multifarious occupations from getting through the proofs of my Symphonic Poems quickly; and, besides this, these proofs have taken up a great deal of my time; for although I had not omitted, in the first proofs, to have things altered in the scores many times, yet many things looked different to me in print from what I wished them to be, and I had to try them over again plainly with the orchestra, have them written out again, and ask for fresh proofs. At last the six first numbers have come out, and even if they are very badly done I can no longer do them otherwise or better. No doubt you have already received from Hartel the copy destined for you, and within a short time you will receive the somewhat freely arranged pianoforte edition - for two pianos - of the same things. I tried at first a four-hand arrangement of them, which would be much more practicable for sale, but gave up this mutilation, as I saw that in four-hand pieces the working into one another of the hands stands too much in the way of my tone-picture. The two- piano arrangement sounds passable, if I mistake not. Bulow, Bronsart, Pruckner, etc., have played it several times, and you will assuredly find in Konigsberg a partner (masculine or feminine) who will beguile you into it. I shall be very glad if the things please you somewhat. I have labored too much in order to realize the requisite proportion and harmony, for them to be able to give me any other pleasure if some sympathy, and also some understanding of the spirit of them on the part of my few friends, does not fall to my share. However that may be, tell me, dear friend, quite candidly, without any compliments, what impression the pieces have made on you. The three numbers which will appear next are still longer, worse, and more venturesome. But I cannot let matters rest there, for these nine numbers serve only as Prolegomena [Prologue, preface] to the "Faust" and "Dante" Symphonies. The former is already settled and finished, and the second more than half written out. "Away, away," [Written in English.] with Mazeppa's horse, regardless of the lazy hack that sticks in the mud of old patterns!

Let me soon hear from you how you dispose of your time in Konigsberg. In Frau Knopp you have got an excellent Ortrude. What have you been giving this winter? Do you keep on a good understanding with Marpurg? Is Pabst remaining in K.?

Don't forget also to let me have your Methode (I forget the exact title) through Hartel. Although I have grown too old and too lazy to improve my piano-playing, yet I will get some good out of it for my pupils, amongst whom are two or three really brave, earnest fellows. Beyond that I have very little to tell you of Weymar. Since Berlioz' stay here, which gave occasion for the Litolff cudgel-smashing newspaper rubbish, Carl Formes and Johanna Wagner have been playing here; the latter with well- deserved and extraordinary success in Gluck's "Orpheus" and "Iphigenia in Aulis" (in Wagner's translation and arrangement). This evening the "Sleeping Beauty" (a fairy-tale epic), by Joachim Raff, will be given. According to my opinion, this is Raff's most successful and grateful work.

Farewell, dear friend, and bear in friendly remembrance

Your very sincere and obliged

F. Liszt

Weymar, May 24th, 1856

154. To Louis Kohler

My Very Dear Friend,

At last I have come out of my "Purgatory" - that is to say that I have come to the end of my symphony to Dante's "Divina Commedia." Yesterday I wrote the final bars of the score (which is somewhat smaller in bulk than my "Faust" Symphony, but will take pretty nearly an hour in performance); and today, for rest and refreshment, I can allow myself the pleasure of giving you my friendliest thanks for your friendly letter. The dedication of your work "Systematic Method of Teaching for Pianoforte Playing and Music" (the latter must not be forgotten!) pleases me much, and you will allow me to take a modest revanche [revenge] shortly, in dedicating one of my latest works to you. Probably Schlesinger will bring out several books of my songs next winter, in which you will perhaps find much that is in sympathy with your ideas of the melody of speech. Hence I wish that you would not refuse me the pleasure of using your name in connection with them, and of letting it precede them, as an interpretation, as it were, of the intention of the songs.

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