Ebba Simone’s Reviews > Great Masters: Liszt - His Life & Music > Status Update
Ebba Simone
is 80% done
"We do have Liszt’s letter of reply, which clearly shows his anger at the situation and his sympathy for von Bülow. The divorce proceedings left Hans von Bülow, in his own words, morally, spiritually, and artistically bankrupt. He was granted a divorce on July 18, 1870. He paid all the legal costs himself, despite the fact that he was the injured party." That is very unusual. Especially considering that time period.
— May 18, 2023 04:38AM
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Ebba Simone’s Previous Updates
Ebba Simone
is 99% done
"Liszt had told his biographer Lina Ramann: 'I carry a deep
sadness of the heart which must now and then break out in sound'
(Ramann II, 470)."
— May 28, 2023 07:20AM
sadness of the heart which must now and then break out in sound'
(Ramann II, 470)."
Ebba Simone
is 80% done
"Then one day, Hans von Bülow picked up his newspaper and read that Richard Wagner and his girlfriend, Cosima von Bülow, were vacationing together in Italy. Von Bülow was devastated; five years of anger, self-
deception, self-loathing, denial, and rationalizations were
swept aside in a single moment."
— May 18, 2023 04:29AM
deception, self-loathing, denial, and rationalizations were
swept aside in a single moment."
Ebba Simone
is 80% done
"Filled with despair over the future of his career, Wagner prayed for a miracle. In May 1864, Wagner received a letter from the rich and probably insane eighteen-year-old King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The king invited Wagner to come to Munich and spend the rest of his life free from material care."
— May 18, 2023 04:18AM
Ebba Simone
is 67% done
While Mendelssohn and Schumann wrote more traditional music when they grew older, Liszt in the words of Alan Walker, “never lost his
revolutionary fervor,” even as he grew older.
"Liszt was a true modernist. His essential philosophies, that music and poetry were one and that nothing must hinder the musical-poetic expressive impulse, became the root beliefs of 'modernist' composers for the next fifty years."
— May 18, 2023 03:06AM
revolutionary fervor,” even as he grew older.
"Liszt was a true modernist. His essential philosophies, that music and poetry were one and that nothing must hinder the musical-poetic expressive impulse, became the root beliefs of 'modernist' composers for the next fifty years."
Ebba Simone
is 67% done
Poor Liszt! His daughter Blandine died in 1962 and his son Daniel in 1859.
I'm at "Lecture Seven: Rome" now.
— May 18, 2023 02:55AM
I'm at "Lecture Seven: Rome" now.
Ebba Simone
is 67% done
"Anything connected with Goethe is dangerous for me to handle."
Liszt composed his Faust Symphony - over 300 pages of score - in 2 months between August and October of 1854 in Weimar.
— Apr 29, 2023 10:15AM
Liszt composed his Faust Symphony - over 300 pages of score - in 2 months between August and October of 1854 in Weimar.
Ebba Simone
is 62% done
Liszt was a very good friend. "He revived the career of his old friend Hector Berlioz at a time when Berlioz had fallen into near obscurity. Liszt
performed and celebrated Berlioz’s music at every opportunity and
devoted a number of week long festivals to his work." <3
— Apr 25, 2023 10:54AM
performed and celebrated Berlioz’s music at every opportunity and
devoted a number of week long festivals to his work." <3
Ebba Simone
is 61% done
3 months after the performance of Tannhäuser in Weimar, Liszt hid Wagner from the authorities (at no small risk
to himself) after the failed Dresden Insurrection. Wagner had played an active role in the Insurrection and was wanted for high treason. A few days later, Liszt single-handedly managed to spirit Wagner out of Germany and into “exile” in Switzerland. Wagner was not able to return to Germany for 11 years.
— Apr 25, 2023 10:50AM
to himself) after the failed Dresden Insurrection. Wagner had played an active role in the Insurrection and was wanted for high treason. A few days later, Liszt single-handedly managed to spirit Wagner out of Germany and into “exile” in Switzerland. Wagner was not able to return to Germany for 11 years.
Ebba Simone
is 60% done
Richard Wagner wrote that on hearing Liszt’s conducting of "Tannhäuser", he recognized his “second self”; Wagner believed that Liszt felt when he performed the music what Wagner had meant to say when he wrote it.
"(...) without Liszt’s encouragement, support, and money, Richard Wagner's spectacular career might never have gotten off the ground.")
— Apr 25, 2023 10:44AM
"(...) without Liszt’s encouragement, support, and money, Richard Wagner's spectacular career might never have gotten off the ground.")
Ebba Simone
is 60% done
"As an example of one of Liszt’s first orchestral works, we turn briefly
to Totentanz, a strange and wonderful piece that is half symphonic
poem and half piano concerto. (...) The piece was likely inspired by a set of fifty-four woodcuts entitled Der Totentanz (The Dance of Death) by the Renaissance artist Hans Holbein."
— Apr 19, 2023 12:13PM
to Totentanz, a strange and wonderful piece that is half symphonic
poem and half piano concerto. (...) The piece was likely inspired by a set of fifty-four woodcuts entitled Der Totentanz (The Dance of Death) by the Renaissance artist Hans Holbein."
