Liszt and the Keyboard

Author(s): Howard Schott and F. Lioni

Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 118, No. 1617 (Nov., 1977), p. 911
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/959969 .
Accessed: 05/10/2014 01:25
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Musical Times Publications Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The
Musical Times.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 201.234.181.53 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 01:25:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Letters to the Editor

LISZT

AND THE KEYBOARD

At the risk of seemingunappreciative

of Alan
Walker'sinformative
article'Liszt and the Keyboard' (Sept MT, p.717),I mustcorrectinaccuraciesin itconcerning
Liszt'spianos.The instrument
with which he was most intimately
associated
hisconcertcareerfromitsbeginnings
in
throughout
Paris was the Erard grand. Unlike his friend
Chopin, Liszt did not performpubliclyon the
Erardpianoswere
Pleyelin Franceor elsewhere.
also widelyusedin Germany
at thetime,beforethe
of the domesticindustry
after
greatdevelopment
1850. Since Erardsmaintainedan Englishas well
as a Frenchestablishment,
therewas no reasonfor
Liszt to abandonhis preferred
familiarpiano for
Broadwood'sor any otherlocal makeat thetime
ofhisLondondebutin 1824or on hisreturn
visits.
Lisztplayed
Indeed,thoughno longerexclusively,
theErardto thelast,keepingsucha piano in his
in Romewherehe spenthislastwinter.
apartments
His claviorganum,
an Erardgrandcombinedwith
a two-manualand pedal Alexandrereed organ,
now in the Viennamuseum,was ownedby him
totheend.
to statethat'Broadwoods,
It is equallyincorrect
Pleyels and Erards . . . had a restrictedcompass,

and a delicatetonebestsuitedto thesalon'.Along

with other manufacturers
of Liszt's time,their
concertinstruments
also evolvedfroma 6-octave
rangeof C'-f"" in about 1820to add firstg""
then a"", finallyattaininga full seven octaves
of A"-a"" about thetimeof theGreat Exposition
of 1851.(The extension
toc""' camein onlyduring
thelast quarterof thecentury
and is notrequired
for Liszt's music.)As to the 'delicatetone', one
mustbear in mindthattheconcerthalls in which
Lisztand his contemporaries
playedseated a few
hundred at most. It was veryexceptionalfor
in largerauditoriums,
as Liszt
pianiststo perform
and Thalbergdid on occasion on theirErard
grandsin theold ParisOpera.
It was notunfairto describeLisztas a 'smasher
of pianos' whenhe did just thatin publicon the
which Clara Schumann,
same Graf instruments
ever the lady, playedwithno such lethaleffect.
of Liszt playing
The romanticDanhauserportrait
to an imaginedgroup of friends,dated 1840,
shows him seated at a Conrad Graf instrument.
But notverymanyyearslaterLisztmadethefame
of Ignaz and LudwigB6sendorfer's
pianosalmost
when theywere able to withstandhis
overnight
assaultsbetterthanGraf'severhad done. Before
Bosendorfer
jr arrivedon the scene, Viennese
been of much lighter
pianos had traditionally
construction
than English and French contemThe pictureof Liszt playing
poraryinstruments.
concertin Budapestin 1875showshim
at a benefit
at a Bosendorfer
grand. He used this maker's
instruments
as wellas his Chickering
grandduring
hisannualteachingvisitsto theHungariancapital.
In hislastyearsLiszt'sWeimarhouseinstrument
was the Bechsteingrandstillin the Hofgartnerei.
But he also ownedor had regularaccessto pianos
and Bosendorfer.
by Erard,Steinway,Chickering
Unlike the days of his youthfulconcerttours,
to have Erardsship pianos
whenit was necessary
as faras Russiaand Turkey,thelater19thcentury
was distinguished
by a host of excellentpiano

makers.Liszt encouragedthemand took interest

in theirwork,as witnesshis enthusiastic
correspondencewithSteinwayin New York about the
third pedal they had recently
tone-sustaining
broughtto his notice.The wide choice among
first-rate
instruments
at thistimein his lifemade
iteasyforLisztto havemanylovesinthisrespect.
that
Finally,I musttakeissuewiththestatement
'onlywhenthegreatfirmsof Steinwayand Bechinstrusteinproducedtheirpowerfully
reinforced
of
mentsin the 1860sdid theRomanticrepertory
the 1840scome into its own'. Similarstatements
praisingthemoderngrandpiano as thefulfilment
of Bach's instrumental
maybe foundin
yearnings
the writingsof Spitta and his contemporaries.
The revivalof the harpsichord
and clavichordas
wellas theneo-classicorganhave giventhelie to
of the 19thcentury's
such misguidedexpressions
uncriticalfaith in 'progress'.The comparable
revivalofearliertypesofpianois stillin itsinfancy.
and Kenneth
But suchpioneersas RichardBurnett
van Bartholdin thiscountryhave now begunto
re-educateus in respectof the greatRomantic
I, forone,denythatthepiano of
pianorepertory.
entitledto
is necessarily
Regerand Rakhmaninov
be consideredthe ideal mediumfor interpreting
theworksofSchumann
and Chopin.
Oxford

HOWARD

SCHOTT

Alan Walkerwas rightwhenhe wrotein his interestingarticle'Liszt and the Keyboard'that 'the
to Liszt
new LisztEditiondoes a gravedisservice
scholarshipby suppressingthe earlierversions'.
are not
It is indeeda pitythattheseearlierversions
oftheolderBreitkopf
a reprint
given,and therefore
Liszt's
collectededitionis warmlyrecommended.
earlieror alternative
versionsare almost always
and in my
and more difficult
very interesting
opinionsometimessuperiorto the finalversions.
Comparefor instancethe so-called'CampanellaEtude' with its original version,much more
difficult
and much more Paganiniand therefore
more faithfulto the violin caprice and Liszt's
to 'translate'thesecapricesforthepiano.
intentions
Studies,
RegardingLyapunov'sTranscendental
let us not forgetthatSorabjiwrotealso about a
hundred(!) of thesestudies,whichsorelyneed a
modernedition.
to make one observation?
May I be permitted
Wasn't it J. L. Dussek who was the firstpianist
to play withhis face 'en profil'to the public(le
withhis piano
beau Dussek!) and consequently
?
at rightanglesto theplatform
Bleiswijk,Netherlands

BAROQUE

VIOLIN TECHNIQUE

F. LIONI

Readingthe issuesof MT thathave accumulated

duringsixmonths'absenceabroad,I noticea most
welcome 'campaign'among your reviewersto
sortoutthemorefromthelessauthentic
amongthe
of
various claimantsto authenticperformance
Baroque music. One aspect of this, however,
troublesme: the use of a chinreston a Baroque
violin.
As faras we can ascertain,
duringthe 17thand
thechinwasnotcommonwellintothe18thcentury,
lyrestedon theviolinto hold it in position.Thus,
911

This content downloaded from 201.234.181.53 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 01:25:31 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions