of the 19th century; for he worked and won fame as a pianoforte
virtuoso—probably the greatest the world has known—as a pro-
lific composer for pianoforte, orchestra and voice, as a teacher,
conductor and man of letters, and withal spent a large part
of his time, strength and fortune in helping young artists and
in producing works which otherwise might never have seen the
light. His life is of constant and varied interest, so spectacular
at times that it seems like a fairy tale.[242] As a mere boy he
began to receive adulation for his precocity; at the height of
his career he was loaded with honors and wealth; in his old age
he was a favorite with everyone of distinction and influence in
France, Germany, England and Italy. Nevertheless he preserved,
throughout, the integrity of his character and the nobility of his
disposition. Whatever may be the final estimate of his powers
as a creative artist, as a man he has earned nothing but eu-
logy;[243] for seldom has any one been freer from the faults of
vanity, petty jealousy and envy which so often mar the artis-
tic temperament. Liszt’s generous encouragement and financial
support of Wagner in the struggling days of his unpopularity
have never been surpassed in the brotherhood of art.
[Footnote 242: The best biographies in English are the one by
Huneker and that in Vol. 2 of Grove’s Dictionary.]
[Footnote 243: For a lively description of his influence as a pi-
anoforte teacher seeMusic Study in Germanyby Amy Fay.]
Liszt is akin to Berlioz in many respects; we feel the same natu-
ral tendency to derive musical inspiration from external sources,
poetic, pictorial or from the realm of Nature. Purely as a mu-
sician, however, Liszt was far greater, with a wider vocabulary
and more power in thematic development. His work also is some-
what uneven; moments of real beauty alternating with passages
which are trivial, bombastic or mere lifeless padding. When
we bear in mind Liszt’s unparalleled versatility, his output in
quantity and variety is so amazing—there being well over 1,000
works of about every kind—that it is unfair to expect the style
to be as finely wrought as the original conception is noble. A
serious and unbiased study of his best compositions will con-
vince one that Liszt is entitled to high rank as a musician of
genuine poetic inspiration. The average music-lover is prone to
dwell upon him as the composer ofLes Préludes, theHungarian
Rhapsodies, and as the somewhat flashy transcriber of operatic
potpourris, such as theRigoletto Fantasie. ButLes Préludes,