Reflections on LisztIn a series of lively essays that tell us much not only about the phenomenon that was Franz Liszt but also about the musical and cultural life of nineteenth-century Europe, Alan Walker muses on aspects of Liszt's life and work that he was unable to explore in his acclaimed three-volume biography of the great composer and pianist. Topics include Liszt's contributions to the Lied, the lifelong impact of his encounter with Beethoven, his influence on students who became famous in their own right, his accomplishments in transcribing and editing the works of other composers, and his innovative piano technique. One chapter is devoted to the Sonata in B Minor, perhaps Liszt's single most celebrated composition. Walker draws heavily on Liszt's astonishingly large personal correspondence with other composers, critics, pianists, and prominent public figures. All the essays reveal Walker's broad and deep knowledge of Liszt and Romantic music generally and, in some cases, his impatience with contemporary performance practice. |
From inside the book
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... once reminded us, “If you would be dull, tell all.”My Liszt biography spanned more than 1, 600 pages; even so, in consequence of Voltaire's injunction, it remained highly compressed. Such was the variety of Liszt's life and work, in ...
... once visited Liszt in his hotel room in Marienbad and found the master at his desk, engrossed in the composition of a new work. After bidding Kellermann welcome, he went on composing, chatting to him in the friendliest manner, all the ...
... once thought finished, driven by discontent, even after it had been published. Liszt destroyed neither his sketches nor those early versions of works he replaced by later ones. He saved everything, although as a result of his itinerant ...
Alan Walker. 7 pupil, Frederic Lamond, once called Liszt “the good Samaritan of music.” It is a fitting epithet with which we are unable to disagree. 1. WFL, vols. 1–3. 2. Ernest Newman's character assassination of Liszt in his The Man ...
... once that talent has been discovered and seized upon by an adoring public. Biographical sketches of Liszt have claimed that Beethoven was present at the farewell concert of 1823. Schilling's Encyclopedia even adds that Beethoven took ...
Contents
Liszt and the Schubert Song Transcriptions | |
A Study in Declining | |
Three Character Sketches | |
Liszts Sonata in B Minor | |
Liszt and the Lied | |
Liszt as Editor | |
Some Thoughts and Afterthoughts | |
On Music and Musicians | |
An Open Letter to Franz Liszt | |
Sources | |