Published on Franz Liszt Group, on May 16, 2021. If you want to know how the Story Behind series started, I give details in “Story Behind” Series #1″.
(Foreword: this quote is not from Liszt. I give the details further.)
Original post:
I love you sometimes foolishly and at these moments I do not understand that I could not, would not, and should not be so absorbing a thought for you as you are for me…
Franz Liszt
Hello friends, here is a new “story behind” post.
A few days ago, a picture by the same photographer, Julien Ganz, was posted, also taken when Liszt was visiting Brussels, Belgium. This one was taken later than the previous one, in May 1882. Last time I forgot to remind Liszt fell down the stairs of his home in Weimar in July 1881. His close circle of friends and pupils reported that “he suddenly became older.” In his final years Liszt continued to travel a lot despite his increasing health issues. The two series of pictures taken by Julien Ganz were in May 1881 and in May 1882. This picture is part of the 82 series. Comparing the two, we can really see the signs of him getting older and more tired. He stopped in Brussels during one of his trips between Rome, Budapest, and Weimar.
As for the quote, guess what? It is not from Liszt! It was written in May 1833 by Marie d’Agoult to Liszt. Alan Walker talks about it in the first volume of his Liszt biography. It is published in “Correspondance de Liszt et de la Comtesse d’Agoult,” edited by Daniel Ollivier, in volume 1. It was before they were living together, they were writing passionate love letters to each other. They lived together between 1835 to 1839. During this time, three children were born: Blandine, Cosima and Daniel. Then Liszt’s call for touring Europe became bigger than their love, and the relation ended.