The Death of Franz Liszt: Based on the Unpublished Diary of His Pupil Lina Schmalhausen

by Alan Walker (Editor), Lina Schmalhausen (Author)

New
Hardcover
2002
$48.66

If only I do not die here. After falling ill during a visit to Bayreuth, Franz Liszt uttered this melancholy refrain throughout his final days, which were spent in rented rooms in a house opposite Wahnfried, the home of his daughter Cosima and his deceased son-in-law Richard Wagner. Attended by incompetent doctors and ignored and treated coldly by his daughter, the great composer endured needless pain and indignity, according to a knowledgeable eyewitness. Lina Schmalhausen, his student, caregiver, and close companion, recorded in her diary a graphic description of her teacher's illness and death. Alan Walker here presents this never-before-published account of Liszt's demise in the summer of 1886.Walker, whose three-volume biography of Liszt was praised as without rival by Time, states that no one who is remotely interested in the life and work of Franz Liszt can remain unaffected by the diary. Schmalhausen's tale of neglect, family indifference, and medical malpractice was considered so explosive at the time of its writing that it was kept from public view. The twenty-two-year-old Schmalhausen was regarded with suspicion by many in the composer's inner circle, as well as by other confidants, and a sanitized and inaccurate depiction of Liszt's death made its way into the history books. For this volume, Walker has overseen the translation and thoroughly annotated the eighty-one-page handwritten diary, and added a selection of illustrations. A prologue contains important background information on Liszt himself and on Lina Schmalhausen's diary. An epilogue discusses the funeral and ensuing controversies over disposition of the composer's remains.

Synopsis

If only I do not die here. After falling ill during a visit to Bayreuth, Franz Liszt uttered this melancholy refrain throughout his final days, which were spent in rented rooms in a house opposite Wahnfried, the home of his daughter Cosima and his deceased son-in-law Richard Wagner. Attended by incompetent doctors and ignored and treated coldly by his daughter, the great composer endured needless pain and indignity, according to a knowledgeable eyewitness. Lina Schmalhausen, his student, caregiver, and close companion, recorded in her diary a graphic description of her teacher's illness and death. Alan Walker here presents this never-before-published account of Liszt's demise in the summer of 1886.Walker, whose three-volume biography of Liszt was praised as without rival by Time, states that no one who is remotely interested in the life and work of Franz Liszt can remain unaffected by the diary. Schmalhausen's tale of neglect, family indifference, and medical malpractice was considered so explosive at the time of its writing that it was kept from public view. The twenty-two-year-old Schmalhausen was regarded with suspicion by many in the composer's inner circle, as well as by other confidants, and a sanitized and inaccurate depiction of Liszt's death made its way into the history books. For this volume, Walker has overseen the translation and thoroughly annotated the eighty-one-page handwritten diary, and added a selection of illustrations. A prologue contains important background information on Liszt himself and on Lina Schmalhausen's diary. An epilogue discusses the funeral and ensuing controversies over disposition of the composer's remains.

$48.66

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Edition: illustrated edition
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 22 Nov 2002
ISBN 10: 0801440769
ISBN 13: 9780801440762

Media Reviews

The Death of Franz Liszt brings you into the closest possible proximity to this much idolized pianist, thanks to a detailed diary kept by his pupil and caregiver, one Lina Schmalhausen. The closer you get to Liszt, the more you admire him as a singular example of one whose talent and fame spawned generosity and wisdom in a world ruled by self-serving pettiness. -David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 2, 2003
A macabre little classic. -Alex Ross. The New Yorker, June 3, 2003
No one knows more about Franz Liszt than Alan Walker, and this short work is an informative addendum to his three-volume critical biography, published between 1983 and 1997. The diary translated here not only sheds new light on Liszt's final weeks but, aided by Walker's copious commentary, adds a final act to the drama of Liszt's relationship with Wagner, that most exhausting of sons-in-law. What Liszt's former pupil Lina Schmalhausen reported from the ailing composer's bedside alters radically the 'official' story of his demise. -Malcolm Bowie, Times Literary Supplement, October 31, 2003
Significant sections of this volume have been prepared by musicologist-writer Alan Walker. There are of great value, as they reflect on, elucidate, and augment Schmalhausen's account. Walker is a superb writer, and his English sections flow with polished elegance; moreover, translations of Schmalhausen's German have been expertly done, so that these, too, make for fascinating but easy reading. -David Mulbury, American Record Guide, Jan-Feb, 2003.
'The Death of Franz Liszt' is a remarkable book. It makes chilly, gloomy reading, and it scalds the reputations of a number of people treated respectful (too respectfully, according to the author) by history. . . . 'The Death of Franz Liszt' is a horrifying account of the dying Liszt tortured by medical incompetence, a vindictive, witchlike daughter and generally unfeeling and uncaring associates. Liszt is pictured mostly alone, denied food and companionship, scolded for complaining or asking for such necessities as help using the chamber pot. . . . A haunting and horrible book that, alas, is impossible to put down. Read it at you own peril. -Robert Jones, Charleston Post and Courier, August 2003.
This bizarre, sad story is thoroughly engrossing in its immediacy. It is enhanced by Walker's fascinating introduction and epilogue, his helpful annotations, and some extraordinary, if decidedly eerie, documentary photographs. -Pamela Margles, Whole Note, September 1-October 7 2003
Never could we know the circumstances of a great musician's final days and death as we can here. Intimate and appalling, Schmalhausen's daily, sometimes hourly, details of Liszt's demise and of those who participated in it - students, family, and servants - are framed by a prodigious combination of prologue and epilogue and accompanied throughout with revelatory annotations by today's most eminent Liszt scholar, Alan Walker. At last, in the light of thorough research, we can access the people and circumstances of a primary source which has remained unpublished until now. -Frank Cooper, President (1985-89), American Liszt Society
Lina Schmalhausen's diary provides a remarkably intimate view of the last days of Franz Liszt. It's essential -and fascinating -reading for anyone interested in the life and times of this amazing man, and particularly so for those who have enjoyed Alan Walker's extraordinarily detailed Liszt biography, to which it adds a perfect coda. -Gary Graffman, President/Director, The Curtis Institute of Music

Author Bio

Alan Walker is Professor Emeritus of Music at McMaster University, Canada, and author of numerous books, including The Death of Franz Liszt Based on the Unpublished Diary of His Pupil Lina Schmalhausen; Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847 (volume 1); The Weimar Years, 1848-1861 (volume 2); and The Final Years, 1861-1886 (volume 3), all from Cornell, and Hans Von Bulow: A Life and Times. He has been awarded the Music Teachers National Association 2010 Achievement Award, the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize, and the medal Pro Cultura Hungarica, presented by the President of Hungary.