[The Death of Franz Liszt Based on the Unpublished Diary of His Pupil Lina Schmalhausen] [Author: x] [November, 2002]

by Lina Schmalhausen

"If only I do not die here." After falling ill during a visit to Bayreuth, Franz Liszt uttered this melancholy refrain throughout his final days, which were spent in rented rooms in a house opposite Wahnfried, the home of his daughter Cosima and his deceased son-in-law Richard Wagner. Attended by incompetent doctors and ignored and treated coldly by his daughter, the great composer endured needless pain and indignity, according to a knowledgeable eyewitness. Lina Schmalhausen, his student, caregiver, and close companion, recorded in her diary a graphic description of her teacher's illness and death. Alan Walker here presents this never-before-published account of Liszt's demise in the summer of 1886.Walker, whose three-volume biography of Liszt was praised as "without rival" by Time, states that "no one who is remotely interested in the life and work of Franz Liszt can remain unaffected by the diary." Schmalhausen's tale of neglect, family indifference, and medical malpractice was considered so explosive at the time of its writing that it was kept from public view. The twenty-two-year-old Schmalhausen was regarded with suspicion by many in the composer's inner circle, as well as by other confidants, and a sanitized and inaccurate depiction of Liszt's death made its way into the history books.For this volume, Walker has overseen the translation and thoroughly annotated the eighty-one-page handwritten diary, and added a selection of illustrations. A prologue contains important background information on Liszt himself and on Lina Schmalhausen's diary. An epilogue discusses the funeral and ensuing controversies over disposition of the composer's remains.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published December 1, 2002

Reviews

[Boris · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of Alan Walker's superb and unsurpassed Liszt scholarship, dealing with the very melancholy subject of Liszt's final days of life and final illness and death.

As always, it provides a wealth of detail about the circumstances and those people in the Liszt orbit. As always with Walker's books, I get all manner of surprising detail and further background information. If a book has to have a villain, in this case it's Cosima Liszt Wagner. She all but killed her father through neglect and medical malpractice and seems to have absorbed the worst qualities of her late husband, Richard Wagner.

Liszt is probably the greatest performing musician who has ever lived (a sentiment expressed many times by some of the greatest musicians of his day) and as a consequence of this all manner of myths, legends and calumnies have grown up around him. Alan Walker again sets the historical record straight.

[Andrew Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this whole book in one evening, well I tell a lie, I started it in the evening and just couldn't put it down until the early hours. It was a riveting read.
I have long loved Liszt the man and Liszt's music. He was a brilliant pianist, a first class ground breaking composer and very charitable man. Yes, he had his flaws, but who doesn't?

This book catches Liszt in the last days of his life as seen and recorded by one of his young pupils

Alan Walker is a scholar and biographer of Liszt, I own the three volume biography he wrote and if he's put his name alongside this account of events, then as Liszt devotees we must give this book serious attention.

I will not touch on the subject matter, only to say that a man/artist of such a high degree of talent and wisdom deserved better...

An engaging, moving and gripping read.

[Ashley Svoboda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very well put together, and it was cool to be able to read through the thoughts of someone who knew Liszt personally. That said, it is worth noting (and this is mentioned in the prologue) that if you are an admirer of Liszt, there are some things mentioned in here that are quite shocking to read. I, personally, have been enchanted by his music for the past twenty years, and I reached a point halfway through where I had to stop reading because I wasn't prepared for how devastating it was going to be. It took me a few days to process before I could finally continue on and finish the book. Overall, though, it was a good read.

[Mark Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with such insight and care. The story itself, beyond sad.

[The Literary Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horrifying and terribly sad, even the greats can be subjected to elder neglect/contempt. Rings true.