the _Saint Elisabeth_.
But the two works are alike in being divided into a series of separate
episodes. While the different episodes in _Saint Elisabeth_ solve the
difficult problem of creating variety and retaining unity, the parts of
_Christus_ are somewhat unrelated. There is something for every taste.
Certain parts are unqualifiedly admirable; others border on the
theatrical; still others are nearly or entirely liturgical, while,
finally, some are picturesque, although there are some almost confusing.
Like Gounod, Liszt was sometimes deceived and attributed to ordinary and
simple sequences of chords a profound significance which escaped the
great majority of his hearers. There are some pages of this sort in
_Christus_.

But there are beautiful and wonderful things in this vast work. If we
regret that the author lingered too long in his imitation of the
_Pifferari_ of the Roman campagna, on the other hand, we are delighted
by the symphonic interlude _Les Bergers a la Creche_. It is very simple,
but in an inimitable simplicity of taste which is the secret of great
artists alone. It is surprising that this interlude does not appear in
the repertoire of all concerts.

The Dante symphony has not established itself in the repertoires as has
the Faust symphony. It was performed for the first time in Paris at a
concert I organized and managed at a time when Liszt's works were
distrusted. Along with the Dante symphony we had the Andante (Gretchen)
from the Faust symphony, the symphonic poem _Fest Kloenge_, a charming
work which is never played now, and still other works. It would be hard
to imagine all the opposition I had to overcome in giving that concert.
There was the hostility of the public, the ill-will of the
Theatre-Italien which rented me its famous hall but which sullenly
opposed a proper announcement of the concert, the insubordination of the
orchestra, the demands of the singers for more pay--they imagined that
Liszt would pay the expenses--and, finally, complete--and expected
failure. My only object was to lay a foundation for the future, nothing
more. In spite of everything I managed to get a creditable performance
of the Dante symphony and I had the pleasure of hearing it for the first
time.

The first part (the Inferno) is wonderfully impressive with its
_Francesca da Rimini_ interlude, in which burn all the fires of Italian
passion. The second part (Purgatory and Paradise) combines the most
intense and p