| Contents |
Part I. Essays. Liszt, Italy, and the republic of imagination / Anna Harwell Celenza -- Heine, Liszt, and the song of the future / Susan Youens -- The battle against instrumental virtuosity in the early nineteenth century / Dana Gooley -- Prophet and populace in Liszt's "Beethoven" cantatas / Ryan Minor -- "Just two words. Enormous success" Liszt's 1838 Vienna concerts / Christopher H. Gibbs -- Liszt, Wagner, and unfolding form: Orpheus and the genesis of Tristan und Isolde / Rainer Kleinertz -- Publishing paraphrases and creating collectors: Friedrich Hofmeister, Franz Liszt, and the technology of popularity / James Deaville -- Part II. Biographical documents. Liszt on the artist in society / Introduced and translated by Ralph P. Locke -- The first biography: Joseph d'Ortigue on Franz Liszt at age twenty-three / Introduced and edited by Benjamin Walton ; translated by Vincent Giroud -- Ludwig Rellstab's biographical sketch of Liszt / Introduced and translated by Allan Keiler -- From the biographer's workshop: Lina Ramann's questionnaires to Liszt / Introduced and annotated by Rena Charnin Mueller ; translated by Susan Hohl -- Part III. Criticism and reception. Fetis's review of the transcendental etudes / Introduced and translated by Peter Bloom -- Heinrich Heine on Liszt / Selected and introduced by Rainer Kleinertz ; translated by Susan Gillespie -- "Even his critics must concede": press accounds of Liszt at the Bonn Beethoven festival / Selected, introduced, and translated by Jose Antonio Bowen -- Defending Liszt: Felix Draeseke on the symphonic poems / Introduced and edited by James Deaville ; translated by Susan Hohl -- Part IV. Reflections on Franz Liszt -- A mirror to the nineteenth century: reflections on Franz Liszt / Leon Botstein. |
| Abstract |
No nineteenth-century composer had more diverse ties to his contemporary world than Franz Liszt (1811-1886). At various points in his life he made his home in Vienna, Paris, Weimar, Rome, and Budapest. In his roles as keyboard virtuoso, conductor, master teacher, and abbe, he reinvented the concert experience, advanced a progressive agenda for symphonic and dramatic music, rethought the possibilities of church music and the oratorio, and transmitted the foundations of modern pianism. The essays brought together in this book advance our understanding of the composer with fresh perspectives and an emphasis on historical contexts. Rainer Kleinertz examines Wagner's enthusiasm for the symphonic poem Orpheus; Christopher Gibbs discusses Liszt's pathbreaking Viennese concerts of 1838; Dana Gooley assesses Liszt against the backdrop of antivirtuosity polemics; Ryan Minor investigates two cantatas written in honor of Beethoven; Anna Celenza offers new insights about Liszt's experience of Italy; Susan Youens shows how Liszt's songs engage with the modernity of Heinrich Heine's poems; James Deaville looks at how publishers sustained Liszt's popularity; and Leon Botstein explores Liszt's role in the transformation of nineteenth-century preoccupations regarding religion, the nation, and art. Franz Liszt and His World also includes key biographical and critical documents from Liszt's lifetime, which open new windows on how Liszt was viewed by his contemporaries and how he wished to be viewed by posterity. Introductions to and commentaries on these documents are provided by Peter Bloom, Jose Bowen, James Deaville, Allan Keiler, Rainer Kleinertz, Ralph Locke, Rena Charnin Mueller, and Benjamin Walton. |
