Liszt, Adam

Childhood and Youth

Adam Liszt was born on December 16, 1776 in the village of Nemešvöldi ^[1] (now Edelstal , Austria ) near Presburg (now Bratislava , Slovakia ) ^{[Comm 2]} . He was the second son of George Adam List and the first of his three wives Barbara Slezakova (Shlesak). Probably, it was Adam’s father who “Hungarized” the spelling of his last name List (which could be of both German and Slavic origin) in Liszt , since in the original spelling it was read by the local Hungarian population as “Lisht” ^[2] . Adam's family was considered Hungarian, although he did not speak Hungarian ^[3] .

Until the age of 13, Adam attended high school in the village of Kittze , where his father was a teacher ^[4] . Georg Liszt also gave his young son the first lessons in music ^[5] . In 1790, Adam left the house and enrolled in the Royal Catholic Grammar School in Presburg ^[4] , where he studied for five years. In the same years he received a musical education from ^{[4] [5]} . After graduating from high school in 1795, Adam entered the monastery of the Franciscan Order in Malacky , and then to another in Tiernau . By virtue of his “inconsistent and changeable nature,” he left the monastery on July 27, 1797, returned to his native land and enrolled at Presburg University , where he studied philosophy during the first semester of the school year 1797–98 ^{[2] [5] [6]} . During a short university study, he also worked as a cellist in an orchestra and bass in a choir ^[7] .

Prince Esterhazy

Due to financial difficulties, he was forced to leave training and from January 1, 1798 began to serve with Prince in the Forchtenau estate ^{[5] [8]} . This year turned out to be very difficult for Adam: at first his mother died, shortly afterwards, his father quarreled with the school authorities and lost his teacher's place. The young man had to take care of the financial support of his 11 brothers and sisters. Thanks to the good attitude towards Adam from Prince Esterhazy, he managed to get a place for his father on the princely shepherd in Marz ^[8] .

After two years in Forchtenau, Adam was transferred to a new position in Kapuvar , however, having stayed there only a couple of months, he was forced to ask for his transfer due to lack of knowledge of Hungarian. He applied for service in Eisenstadt , where the main residence of the princes of Esterhazy was located at that time ^[8] . Adam attached to his petition dedicated to Prince Te Deum for the choir and 16 instruments of his own composition and a letter stating that he studied music at the Royal Gymnasium and the University of Presburg ^[8] and played the cello, piano and flute ^[9] .

Only in 1805, after numerous repeated petitions, the request was granted, and Adam Liszt was transferred to Eisenstadt in a low economic position ^[10] - but there he was able to devote his free time to music ^{[5] [11]} . He played in orchestras under the direction of Gummel and Cherubini (according to some sources, also Haydn ^[1] ), and on September 13, 1807 he was a member of the orchestra, which performed under the direction of Beethoven himself. Suddenly in 1809, Liszt was transferred to the position of quartermaster at a shepherd in the village of Raiding . It was a step up the career ladder, but Adam was very worried about the cessation of his studies in music and fell into a deep depression ^{[11] [12]} .

Since Adam List became over time one of the trusted employees of Prince Miklos Esterhazy, he entrusted him with one of his largest agricultural enterprises. Under Adam’s management there were herds of sheep, numbering more than 50,000 heads , as well as managing the prince’s staff and accounting ^[13] . Many years later, in his letter, Franz Liszt wrote that his father “supervised the 30,000 sheep of Prince Esterhazy” ^[10] .

The marriage and birth of a son

In the summer of 1810 he went to Mattersdorf , where his father served as manager of the shepherd prince Esterhazy. That was accused of embezzlement and, probably, Adam, being the good accountant, hoped to help. It is not known whether he managed to somehow help his father, but during this trip Adam List met a 22-year-old girl named Maria Anna Lager - his future wife and mother of their only child, the famous composer Franz Liszt ^[14] .

Anna came from a German-speaking family from the village of Krems in Lower Austria . She was the ninth child of her baker father and his second wife ^{[12] [14]} . When the girl was only 6 years old, her father died, and after six months - her mother. Anna had to move to Vienna , where for several years she worked as a maid for various owners. She remained in the city during his siege and occupation by Napoleon’s troops, but after her graduation she moved to her brother in Mattersdorf ^[14] .

January 11, 1811 the wedding of Adam and Anna. The wedding took place in the Catholic Church in Unterfrauenheide - a village a couple of kilometers from Riding, in which Adam List lived ^{[12] [14]} . A few weeks after the wedding, Anna became pregnant. There is a legend, allegedly gypsies from the camp located near Ryding that year, guessed that she would give birth to a "great man." October 22, 1811, Anna safely gave birth to a healthy, albeit weak boy. The next day, he was baptized under the Latin name Franciscus in the same church in Unterfrauenheide, where the marriage of his parents took place at the beginning of the year ^{[12] [13]} . The name was chosen in honor of St. Francis of Assisi , in the monasteries of the order of which Adam spent his young years, and in honor of the godfather of the baby, whose name was recorded in the baptismal book in the Latin-Hungarian manner as Zambothy Franciscus ^[15] .

It should be noted here that in his letter to Prince Esterhazy of July 1812, Adam's father George mentions "the four children of his son." At that time, Adam and Anna were married for only 18 months and it is known that they had only one son - the future composer Franz. If the other three children really existed (no other information was found about them other than the mention in the letter), perhaps Anna was Adam's second wife, whose information about her personal life between 1800 and 1810 was extremely stingy ^[14] .

The first five years after the birth of a son were very difficult for Adam and Anna. To begin with, in July 1812, Adam George's father, who had lost his job, once again moved into their small house with the whole family and stayed with them for almost a year ^[16] . Adam himself had problems in the service, since he was accused of excessive use of household firewood. Napoleonic soldiers scouring the surroundings broke into the estate, damaging the fence and trees. Because of the dampness prevailing in the house, the clavier of Adam became unusable, and he had to buy a new one, which cost 550 forints ^[17] (according to other sources - 400 ^[18] ).

In Riding

The house in Riding was very small, besides it did not belong to the Sheets, but was rented from Prince Esterhazy. However, Adam Liszt often arranged chamber concerts there , in which the Prince’s musicians, who came from fifty kilometers of Eisenstadt, sometimes took part. Among them was the bandmaster Johann Fuchs, who replaced Gummel, so that amateur concerts sometimes took on a very professional sound ^{[17] [19]} .

Adam also kept a diary, which became the main source of information about Liszt Jr. In the diary there is such an entry:

We know little about the first lessons that Adam gave to his little son. The music lessons probably began when Franz was five or six years old. Adam taught him the basics of playing the clavier, musical notation and the ability to play “from the sheet”, and most importantly - to improvise ^{[19] [20] [21]} .

A couple of years after the start of classes, Adam realized that his amateurish knowledge was not enough to give his son a serious musical education, which he needed. He understood that only training with the best musicians of his time could develop Franz’s talent, but it was impossible to get such an education in Riding. It was necessary to move to Vienna , which at that time was one of the musical centers of Europe: celebrities such as Beethoven and Schubert lived and worked here ^{[22] [23]} . However, substantial funds were needed to move, and most importantly, to pay for the education of his son, which Adam estimated at 1,500 forints , that is, his salary for 7 years ^[23] . And then he turned for help to his employer, Prince Miklos Esterhazy. Adam’s letter of July 1817 stated:

Adam asked the prince to transfer him to work in Vienna and lend him the amount needed to educate his son. The application was rejected by Esterhazy with the reason that in Vienna he had no vacancies. Then the father of the future composer invited the prince himself to listen to Franz’s play and to be convinced of the latter’s extraordinary talent. The audition took place on September 21, 1819 during one of the prince's hunts, but even after that he did not agree to change his mind. Adam made several similar requests to his employer - in particular, on April 13, 1820, adding information about his son’s illness, but the prince remained adamant ^[23] .

First concerts

After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which put an end to the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars , Europe entered a period of reaction that lasted until about 1830. In many countries, in particular in Austria and Prussia, public and political life was subjected to significant restrictions, so many found an outlet in music. Wealthy people kept home musicians, some - even entire orchestras. Also, a lot of previously unseen performers appeared - women and children. Among them were very young people, such as the son of a cavalry officer named Brown, who began performing in Vienna in 1815 at the age of four. The performing skills of most of these children were far from perfect, but fashion continued for some time ^[24] .

Adam also began to arrange the performances of his son. Like others, he wanted to make money on Franz’s talent, but unlike most, like Leopold Mozart several decades before, he sought to provide Franz with a long-term musical career ^[25] . In September 1819, the boy played in Baden , a little later in Eisenstadt, and on November 26, 1820, he performed the first big concert in Presburg. As a result of this concert, the local newspaper Pressburger Zeitung published a note - this was the first press release about a new geek; here is its full text ^[26] :

After this speech by Franz, a group of magnates decided to provide financial assistance for the training of a virtuoso and created a foundation for six years ^{[26] [28]} in an annual amount of 600 forints ^[29] . Prince Miklos Esterhazy also finally turned his temper at mercy and granted Adam one-year unpaid leave, however, adding a donation of 200 forints , which was slightly less than Liszt's annual salary. As a result, having sold all of their property, in the spring of 1822 the Liszt family was still able to leave Riding and move to Vienna ^[18] .

In Vienna

On May 8, 1822, the Liszt family arrived in Vienna ^[30] and settled in the outskirts of Mariahilf , because housing in the city center was too expensive for them ^[31] .

Adam first went to his friend Gummel with a request to become Franz’s teacher, but he requested so much for the lessons that she could not afford the List family. Then Adam turned to Beethoven’s student, pianist Karl Czerny - in 1819 he had already heard Franz play and was so amazed at his musical abilities that he agreed to teach him to play the piano if the Liszt family ever moved to Vienna ^{[32] [33]} .

The second teacher found by Adam for his son was 72-year-old Antonio Salieri , who agreed to teach Franz the theory of musical composition free of charge ^{[31] [34]} . Franz had to go to classes on foot, and due to the remoteness of the place of residence of the Sheets, classes with the maestro did not take place daily, but only two or three times a week. Salieri's letter has survived, in which he urges Prince Esterhazy to provide additional financial assistance to the Lists, but, apparently, there was no positive response ^[34] .

While Franz was studying, Adam sought to enlist the support of the Austrian nobility. He turned to the all-powerful Chancellor Clemens von Metternich and received a letter of recommendation from him ^[35] . By order of Metternich, dispatches were also sent from the State Chancellery to the Austrian embassies in London and Paris and to the consulate in Munich with instructions to support the Sheets ^[35] .

Liszt Sr. also organized son's concerts in the Austrian capital. The most important of them took place on April 13, 1823 - Beethoven himself was present at this concert, to which the child prodigy father put considerable effort. The famous composer at that time was already over 50, he was almost completely deaf and apparently did not want to go to the concert, but Adam List managed to somehow convince the old man. Franz performed the concert in G minor Hummel, and with his performance he so impressed Beethoven that, contrary to his usual routine, he went up to Franz and hugged him ^{[27] [36] [37]} .

Adam's task was to give his son a proper musical education. He decided that it would be better to do this in the famous Paris Conservatory , which was led by his friend Eisenstadt Cherubini. After 11 months of training with Czerny and Salieri ^[27] , Adam turned to Prince Esterhazy with a request to extend his vacation, but was refused - as a result, he had to resign from the place where he worked for 22 years ^[38] . Adam List needed to find funds for living in Paris (which was even more expensive than Vienna). Therefore, despite protests from Czerny, who believed that Franz should continue his studies ^[35] , he organized tours for Hungary for his son. The first concert in Pest took place on May 1, 1823 - the success was so great that after the first performance three more took place ^[39] .

On September 20, Sheets left Pest in the direction of the French capital. Thanks to Metternich’s letter, in all the major cities through which their path lay, Adam managed to organize Franz concerts, which were held with unchanged success: in Munich, Augsburg , Stuttgart and Strasbourg ^{[38] [40]} .

In Paris

On December 11, 1823, the Sheets came to Paris, whose population at that time was about 750,000 , while in Vienna it was three times less ^[41] . They rented four rooms at the Angleterre Hotel, two of which looked onto the street, and two into the courtyard. Accommodation was very expensive: the cost of the rooms was 120 francs per month, additionally it was necessary to pay 65 francs for heating and maintenance, meals cost 14 francs per day - a total of 605 francs per month ^{[42] [43]} .

The next day, Adam and Franz went to the rector of the Conservatory Luigi Cherubini , whom Adam had known from Eisenstadt. He believed that a visit was a simple formality and, given his son’s abilities, it would not be difficult for him to become a student of this prestigious institution. However, Adam was mistaken - as it turned out, in France during the Restoration it was strictly forbidden to study at the conservatory of foreign students. Even Metternich’s letter had no effect ^{[36] [44] [45]} . The conservatory, like other educational institutions founded during the revolution - the Polytechnic and the Higher Normal Schools - was considered a breeding ground for freethinking and tightly controlled ^[27] .

Adam had to look for and hire private teachers for his son: they were Italian Ferdinando Paer , who taught instrumentation , and Czech Antonin Reich , responsible for teaching Franz harmony and counterpoint . The lessons were not systematic, it would be more correct to call them “mentoring”, since two famous musicians only helped the young colleague on specific issues ^{[46] [47]} .

To pay for the family’s stay and to educate his son, Adam, who had lost his job and patronage of the Austrian nobility, had the only, already worked out method: his son’s concerts. Franz was very well received by Parisian high-class salons: he spoke with the Marquis de Loriston , the Duchess de Berry and even with the heir to the throne, the future King Louis Philippe in Palais Royal ^[48] . It is known that from December 1823 to March 1824, Franz spoke 38 times. At the same time, it was a very expensive pleasure for the audience - an entrance ticket cost 100-150 francs ^[49] .

После выступления перед французской элитой, 7 марта 1824 года Франц впервые в Париже выступил перед широкой публикой — на сцене знаменитого в то время Итальянского театра ^[48] . За первым выступлением последовали другие. Адаму удалось за короткое время сделать из имени своего сына нечто вроде «торговой марки» — весь Париж знал его как Le petit Litz ^{[Комм 4]} . В городе развернулось то, что через несколько десятилетий Генрих Гейне назвал листоманией — чудо-ребёнок почти ежедневно давал концерты, о нём наперебой писали газеты, его портрет был помещён в Лувре , а тысячи литографических копий продавались на улицах ^[50] .

При этом Адаму удалось добиться ещё одного очень важного педагогического результата: сделать так, чтобы внезапный успех не вскружил 13-летнему сыну голову ^[47] .

В турне по Европе

Адам решил закрепить парижский успех гастролями по европейским городам, первым из которых должен был стать Лондон , куда Листы прибыли 1 мая 1824 года. За время пребывания в Париже Адам подружился с Себастьяном Эраром — совладельцем одной из ведущих фирм по производству фортепьяно ^{[Комм 5]} . Себастьян был не только успешным бизнесменом, но и ценителем музыки — на время пребывания в Париже он предоставил Францу рояль для репетиций. Лондонский офис фирмы Érard Frères также выступил организатором первых лондонских гастролей ^[49] .

В течение трёх летних месяцев продолжались концерты в Англии, во время которых Франц давал многочисленные выступления как в частных салонах, так и публично. В конце июля он в течение двух часов выступал в Виндзорском замке перед королём Георгом IV . Вместе с успехами сына росли и финансовые запросы Адама — так, за концерт в Манчестере он запросил и получил гонорар в размере 100 фунтов стерлингов (примерно 40 000 фунтов стерлингов по современному курсу) ^[49] .

В начале осени Листы вернулись в Париж. Франц принялся впервые самостоятельно сочинять музыку, в то время как Адам продолжал организовывать для сына выступления в парижских салонах. Всё это время Адам оставался в переписке с первым музыкальным учителем сына Карлом Черни — и благодаря этим письмам известно о раннем периоде жизни Франца Листа ^[51] .

1825 год ознаменовался многочисленными выступлениями в парижских салонах и при королевском дворе ^[52] . Весной того же года Адам вторично отправился со своим сыном в Англию — в Лондон и Манчестер. Франц снова выступал перед Георгом IV. На обратном пути в Париж Листы остановились для отдыха в курортном городке Булонь-сюр-Мер на севере Франции. Но и здесь Адам показал свою деловую хватку — он организовал концерт сына перед отдыхающими, что не только полностью окупило расходы, но и принесло 600 франков прибыли ^[53] .

В начале 1826 года Адам организовал для сына обширное турне по французской провинции. С января по июнь Листы объехали Бордо , Тулузу , Монпелье , Ним , Марсель , Лион и Дижон — за это время Франц дал 24 концерта. Во втором полугодии последовали несколько выступлений в Швейцарии (в Женеве и Люцерне ), а вслед за ними — ещё три в Дижоне ^[51] .

1827 год также начался с гастролей — в январе Франц дважды играл в Безансоне , после чего состоялось третье турне по Англии, где Листы оставались до конца июня ^[54] .

Death

В 1820-х годах переезды из города в город осуществлялись на почтовых дилижансах , что было очень утомительно и отнимало много часов, а порой и дней. Так, путь от Парижа до Кале занимал целых 30 часов, а до Бордо — от шестидесяти (через Ангулем ) до девяноста шести часов (через Лимож ) ^[54] .

Длительные переезды на тряских экипажах подорвали хрупкое здоровье Франца Листа. Чтобы поправить его, Адам с сыном, как и за год до этого, остановились в Булонь-сюр-Мер. Однако во время пребывания на курорте вдруг занемог Адам ^[55] (по другим данным, именно его болезнь и явилась причиной поездки на курорт ^[56] ). Как бы то ни было, Адам Лист скоропостижно скончался в Булонь-сюр-Мер 28 августа 1827 года и был погребён на местном кладбище ^[55] .

Францу Листу в момент смерти отца было лишь 15 лет ^[57] .

• Яков Мильштейн. Ф. Лист. — Москва: Государственное музыкальное издательство, 1956. — Т. I. — 531 с. — 8000 экз.
• Leon Botstein. A Mirror to the Nineteenth Century: Reflections on Franz Liszt // Franz Liszt and His World / Editors: Christopher H. Gibbs, Dana Gooley. — Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. — 608 p. — ISBN 9781400828616 .
• Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi. Les musiciens célèbres : Franz Liszt . — Paris: Henri Laurens, 1905. — 123 p.
• Miroslav Demko. Franz Liszt: compositeur slovaque . — Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme, 2003. — 107 p. — ISBN 9782825117897 .
• Oliver Hilmes. Franz Liszt: Musician, Celebrity, Superstar . - Yale University Press, 2016 .-- 384 p. - ISBN 9780300219463 .
• Bruno Moysan. Liszt (1811-1886) . - Jean-Paul Gisserot, 1999 .-- 127 p. - ISBN 9782877474467 .
• Alan Walker. Franz Liszt: The virtuoso years, 1811-1847 . - Cornell University Press, 1987 .-- 512 p. - ISBN 9780801494215 .