Life of Chopin
by Franz Liszt
- Pages
- about 180
- Category
- History
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3.3 h at 250 wpm
From the opening
Without your consent or knowledge, I have ventured to dedicate this
translation to you!
As the countryman of Chopin, and filled with the same earnest patriotism
which distinguished him; as an impassioned and perfect Pianist, capable,
of reproducing his difficult compositions in all the subtle tenderness,
fire, energy, melancholy, despair, caprice, hope, delicacy and
startling vigor which they imperiously exact; as thorough master of
the complicated instrument to which he devoted his best powers; as
an erudite and experienced possessor of that abstruse and difficult
science, music; as a composer of true, deep, and highly original
genius,--this dedication is justly made to you!
Even though I may have wounded your characteristically haughty,
shrinking, and Sclavic susceptibilities in rendering so public a tribute
to your artistic skill, forgive me! The high moral worth and manly
rectitude which distinguish you, and which alone render even the most
sublime genius truly illustrious in the eyes of woman, almost force
these inadequate and imperfect words from the heart of the translator.
To a people, always prompt in its recognition of genius, and ready to
sympathize in the joys and woes of a truly great artist, this work
will be one of exceeding interest. It is a short, glowing, and generous
sketch, from the hand of Franz Liszt, (who, considered in the double
light of composer and performer, has no living equal,) of the original
and romantic Chopin; the most ethereal, subtle, and delicate among our
modern tone-poets. It is a rare thing for a great artist to write on
art, to leave the passionate worlds of sounds or colors for the colder
realm of words; rarer still for him to abdicate, even temporarily, his
own throne, to stand patiently and hold aloft the blazing torch of his
own genius, to illume the gloomy grave of another: yet this has Liszt
done through love for Chopin.
A short sample. Read the whole book
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