incontestably the greatest interpreter of Bach, Beethoven and
Chopin; and his power as a Beethoven scholar is attested by the
poetically annotated edition of the Sonatas. It is often asserted
that Liszt lacked spontaneous melodic invention. This is a hard
saying unless taken in a relative sense. We may grant that Liszt
was neither a Schubert nor a Mozart, and yet recognize in his
works some extremely haunting melodies. His creative power
was acknowledged by Wagner and in a very practical manner.
In fact, after a comparative study of their works, one is amazed
at the number of melodies which Wagner borrowed from Liszt
and at the generous complaisance of the latter. The reactive
influence of Liszt and Wagner, each upon the other, is an in-
teresting chapter in the development of modern art. Liszt was
undoubtedly encouraged in his revolutionary aims by Wagner’s
fiery courage. Wagner, on his side, owed much to Liszt’s un-
selfish generosity; and with his more powerful constructive gifts
worked up into enduring form motives which, internal evidence
clearly shows, came from Liszt himself.
[Footnote 244: For a most entertaining description of this work
see the Huneker Biography, pp. 64-70.]
Just a few closing words as to Liszt’s specific contributions to
the expansion of musical structure. He was an advanced leader
in the “program school,” being endowed with considerably more
constructive power than Berlioz, who often fell between two
stools: in that while his subject demanded the freest treatment,
he lacked the vigor to break away from the formal routine of his
classic models. In Liszt’s orchestral works, however, the term
“Symphonic Poem”—one of his own invention—is fully justified,
i.e., they aresymphonicin that they have organic unity, al-
though this is not attained by preserving the classic number
and arrangement of themes; and they are alsopoetic, being not
a presentation of abstract tone patterns, but illustrative of some
external idea which shapes the course of the music entirely to
its own needs.[245] The distinguishing quality of the Symphonic
Poem is its unbroken continuity. Although objective points are
reached, and while there are broad lines of demarcation with ref-
erence to the varied moods of the poem to be illustrated, there
areno rigid stops—everything is fused together into a continu-
ous whole. Liszt was an advocate of persistent development,i.e.,
the music going out into space like a straight line instead of re-
turning on itself. Inner evidence shows, however, that although