--Berlioz characterizes the Great Virtuoso in a Letter.--Liszt
erases his Life as a Virtuoso, and becomes Chapel-Master and Court
Conductor at Weimar.--Avowed Belief in the New School of Music, and
Production of Works of this School.--Wagner's Testimony to Liszt's
Assistance.--Liszt's Resignation of his Weimar Post after Ten
Years.--His Subsequent Life.--He takes Holy Orders.--Liszt as a Virtuoso
and Composer.--Entitled to be placed among tire most Remarkable Men of
his Age.

I.

There are but few names in music more interesting than that of Franz
Liszt, the spoiled favorite of Europe for more than half a century, and
without question the greatest piano-forte virtuoso that ever lived. His
life has passed through the sunniest regions of fortune and success,
and from his cradle upward the gods have showered on him their richest
gifts. His career as an artist and musician has been most remarkable,
his personal life full of romance, and his connection with some of
the most vital changes in music which have occurred during the century
interesting and significant. From his first appearance in public, at the
age of twelve, his genius was acknowledged with enthusiasm throughout
the whole republic of art, from Beethoven down to the obscurest
_dilletante_, and it may be asserted that the history of music knows
no instance of success approaching that achieved by the performances
of this great player in every capital of Europe, from Madrid to St.
Petersburg. When he wearied of the fame of the virtuoso, and became
a composer, not only for the piano-forte, but for the orchestra, his
invincible energy soon overcame all difficulties in his path, and he has
lived to see himself accepted as one of the greatest of living musical
thinkers and writers.

The life of Liszt is so crowded with important incidents that it is
difficult to condense into the brief limits of a sketch any fairly
adequate statement of his career. He was born October 22, 1811, in the
village of Raiding, in Hungary, and it is said that his father Adam
Liszt, who was in the service of the Prince Esterhazy, was firmly
convinced that the child would become distinguished on account of the
appearance of a remarkable comet during the year. Adam Liszt himself was
a fine pianist, gifted indeed with a talent which might have made him
eminent had he pursued it. All his ambition and hope, however, centered
in his son, in whom musical genius quickly declared itself; and the
f