Letters of Franz Liszt, vol 1, Paris to Rome | Page 9

in Paris.]
(Paris, Beginning of the 30th year.)
It would give us great pleasure, my dear M. Brot, if you would come
and dine with us without ceremony tomorrow, Monday, about 6 o'clock;
I do not promise you a good dinner,--that is not the business of us poor
artists; but the good company you will meet will, I trust, make up for
that. Monsieur Hugo [the poet] and Edgard Quinet [French writer and
philosopher] have promised to come. So do try not to disappoint us, for
we should miss you much. My good mother told me to press you to
come, for she is very fond of you. Till tomorrow then! Kind regards
and thanks.
F. Liszt
I have been at least six times to you without having the pleasure of
seeing you.
61, Rue de Provence.

5. Monsieur Pierre Wolff (Junior), Rue de la Tertasse, Geneva,
Switzerland
[Autograph in the possession of M. Gaston Calmann-Levy in Paris.]
Nous disons: "Il est temps. Executons, c'est l'heure." Alors nous
retournons les yeux--La Mort est la! Ainsi de mes projets.--Quand vous
verrai-je, Espagne, Et Venise et son golfe, et Rome et sa campagne,

Toi, Sicile, que ronge un volcan souterrain, Grece qu'on connait trop,
Sardaigne qu'on ignore, Cites de l'Aquilon, du Couchant, de l'Aurore,
Pyramides du Nil, Cathedrales du Rhin! Qui sait?-- jamais peut-etre!
[We say: "Now it is time. Let's act, for 'tis the hour." Then turn we but
our eyes--lo! death is there! Thus with my plans. When shall I see thee,
Espagna, And Venice with her gulf, and Rome with her Campagna;
Thou, Sicily, whom volcanoes undermine; Greece, whom we know too
well, Sardinia, unknown one, Lands of the north, the west, the rising
sun, Pyramids of the Nile, Cathedrals of the Rhine! Who knows? Never
perchance!]
Earthly life is but a malady of the soul, an excitement which is kept up
by the passions. The natural state of the soul is rest!
Paris, May 2nd [1832]
Here is a whole fortnight that my mind and fingers have been working
like two lost spirits, Homer, the Bible, Plato, Locke, Byron, Hugo,
Lamartine, Chateaubriand, Beethoven, Bach, Hummel, Mozart, Weber,
are all around me. I study them, meditate on them, devour them with
fury; besides this I practice four to five hours of exercises (3rds, 6ths,
8ths, tremolos, repetition of notes, cadences, etc., etc.). Ah! provided I
don't go mad, you will find an artist in me! Yes, an artist such as you
desire, such as is required nowadays!
"And I too am a painter!" cried Michael Angelo the first time he beheld
a chef d'oeuvre...Though insignificant and poor, your friend cannot
leave off repeating those words of the great man ever since Paganini's
last performance. Rene, what a man, what a violin, what an artist!
Heavens! what sufferings, what misery, what tortures in those four
strings!
Here are a few of his characteristics:--
[Figure: Liszt here writes down several tiny excerpts from musical
scores of Paganini's violin music, such as his famous "Caprices"]
As to his expression, his manner of phrasing, his very soul in fact!----
May 8th [1832]
My good friend, it was in a paroxysm of madness that I wrote you the
above lines; a strain of work, wakefulness, and those violent desires
(for which you know me) had set my poor head aflame; I went from
right to left, then from left to right (like a sentinel in the winter,
freezing), singing, declaiming, gesticulating, crying out; in a word, I

was delirious. Today the spiritual and the animal (to use the witty
language of M. de Maistre) are a little more evenly balanced; for the
volcano of the heart is not extinguished, but is working silently.--Until
when?--
Address your letters to Monsieur Reidet, the receiver-general at the port
of Rouen.
A thousand kind messages to the ladies Boissier. I will tell you some
day the reasons which prevented me from starting for Geneva. On this
subject I shall call you in evidence.
Bertini is in London; Madame Malibran is making her round of
Germany; Messemaecker (how is he getting on?) is resting on his
laurels at Brussels; Aguado has the illustrious maestro Rossini in
tow.--Ah--Hi--Oh--Hu!!!

6. To Ferdinand Hiller
[This letter, published by F. Niecks ("F. Chopin, Man and Musician,"
Vol. 1. German by Langhans. Leipzig, Leuckart, 1890), was written by
Liszt and Chopin jointly, and was also signed by Chopin's friend
Franchomme, the violoncellist. The part written by Chopin is indicated
here by parentheses ().--Addressed to the well-known composer and
author, afterwards Director of the Conservatorium and Concert Society
at Cologne (1811-1885).]
This is the twentieth time, at least, that we have tried to meet, first at
my house, then here, with the intention of writing to you, and always
some visit, or some other unforeseen