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Book Size: 8 1/2 x 11 * * * * * * * From the introductory. THERE is magic sound in the very name of Liszt, and the atmosphere which once surrounded the prodigy lingers about his name after the man has long since left the earth. The vast majority of musicians and music lovers of the present day have no personal recollection of Liszt's appearance and much less of his playing, and yet his name alone is sufficient to give many a sensation of intensified expectancy. This is all the more remarkable, because the world has been anything but unanimous in proclaiming Liszt a great composer; on the contrary, far too much indifference and reluctance have been shown towards his compositions. Is it possible then, that through some transcendental power the fascination of his marvellous interpretations, which were supposed to die with the hour, has survived several generations of mankind and is still mysteriously transmitted from one to another? So much having been wonderful about the living Liszt, one is tempted to believe that the wonders were not exhausted with his life, but still follow his name wherever it is mentioned. Admiration, however, must be based on fact, if it is to last, and it seems that the time has come to let the light of Liszt's works dissipate the haze of a more or less mysterious admiration surrounding his name. We -- that is, the musical world at large -- know too little of Liszt's compositions and consequently may frequently have passed a superficial and therefore unjust judgment upon his creative powers. When Liszt at the height of his career as a virtuoso suddenly decided to withdraw from the concert field and accepted the position as court conductor for special services (in ausserordentlichen Diensten) to the Grand Duke of Saxe Weimar, even his friends and admirers felt at first inclined to take this surprising step for the momentary whim of a spoiled artist. And when, some years after, he again surprised the world by turning out Symphonic Poems, the fraternity of composers was certainly disposed to sneer at the intruder. This animosity against the composer Liszt has not yet subsided, and many a base sentence has been passed on his works by men who had enjoyed the moral as well as the material support of the great musical benefactor of Weimar.

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