Liszt as Critic: Virtuosity, Aesthetics, and the Artist in Liszt’s Weimar Prose (1848-1861) A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Department of Musicology Allan Keiler, Advisor In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Elizabeth Perten August 2014 The signed version of this form is on file in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. This dissertation, directed and approved by Elizabeth Perten’s Committee, has been accepted and approved by the Faculty of Brandeis University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of: DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Eric Chasalow, Dean Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Committee: Allan Keiler, Department of Music Eric Chafe, Department of Music Dana Gooley, Department of Music, Brown University Copyright by Elizabeth Perten 2014 Acknowledgements This dissertation is the product of several different avenues of love and support. I would like to acknowledge and thank so many people who have helped me on the long, winding path to my dissertation’s completion. Firstly, thank you to my advisor, Allan Keiler, for all of his guidance throughout the past six years and through the dissertation process especially. His comments and edits were consistently thought-provoking and valuable to the enrichment of each chapter. From Professor Keiler’s fantastic seminars to our enjoyable dissertation meetings, I know that I have greatly benefited from spending the past few years under his guidance. I would also like to recognize the other two members of my dissertation committee, Eric Chafe and Dana Gooley. Professor Chafe has not only provided me with a wonderful outlet for my academic frustrations during my tenure at Brandeis (not to mention the delicious cups of coffee and licorice products we happily shared), but also provided essential feedback on my dissertation and has been a truly reliable support system for me over the years. Dana Gooley was perhaps the epitome of an outside reader – his detailed notes were instrumental in the revisions of my draft into its final product and his endorsement of my project is greatly appreciated. I am grateful for the time and effort all three of these men have put into reading and commenting upon my dissertation. James Deaville and Hilary Poriss both proved to be fantastic mentors and friends to me throughout this process. Both were selfless in their guidance and are such wonderful role models for me, not only as scholars, but as people too. At our meetings both in the States and in Germany, Jim’s suggestions proved to be absolutely indispensable to my work in every stage of this dissertation writing process. He is a wonderful and thoughtful person and has a salacious sense of humor! Hilary was vital to my being granted a 10-month DAAD Research Grant. She iv has also happily provided feedback on my post-doctoral and job applications, as well as other research abstracts…and read a chapter of my dissertation as well! I was always surprised at the time and effort she so willingly put into editing and commenting on my work. And she always seems so happy! Hilary, to me, is really a model of a successful academic who is able to continue producing important scholastic work, while having time for her family, and also time to selflessly help others. I appreciate both of their support more than they could possibly know. I am enormously grateful for a special group of friends, without whom I would have been miserable and could not have completed this project in a timely fashion. These friends provided fun social distractions and academic inspiration. Several also functioned as a soundboard for my ideas – some which were certainly better than others – and provided valuable feedback, especially during some of my intellectual lulls this past year. To Paula Musegades – I could not have asked for a better partner and friend with whom to go through the crazy process of earning a doctorate. To Erin Jerome – you were my first friend at Brandeis and have proved to be a beacon of support, enjoyment, and realism throughout the past six years. To Jessica Fulkerson – I always felt so much better about life and my work after our weekly coffee dates. To Alison DeSimone – our friendship is so special to me and it’s so wonderful to know that we are (and continue to be) each other’s biggest fans. To Casey Clevenger – as I have already told you, except for the funding, you were clearly the most wonderful thing to come out of my Mellon Dissertation Year Fellowship. You were indispensable in making this past year academically fruitful. I can’t wait to celebrate your defense next year! Mark Kagan and Cheryl Nalbach have both proved crucial in my successful journey through Brandeis’ Musicology doctoral program. Their friendly faces, kind words, and speedy assistance are not forgotten. I would also like to thank Sabine von Mering for her help with some v of my more prickly German translations and for all of the grants and travel opportunities she has granted me throughout the years through Brandeis’ Center for German and European Studies. I am equally as grateful for funding provided to me by the Mellon Foundation, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Brandeis University, and the Maurice E. Gordon Fellowship, in addition to travel grants from the Brandeis Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Women’s and Gender Studies program, and the American Musicological Society. Without this support to undergo my archival research as well as to then present my findings at various academic conferences, my dissertation would have suffered and my academic experiences would be sorely limited. I know how fortunate I am to have had so much additional (and unexpected!) financial assistance to complete my dissertation and I am grateful for the support of so many people and organizations that were able to make it so. Finally, I turn to my family. I am not even sure where to begin or how to put my feelings and thankfulness and love into words. Your endless excitement, encouragement, assurance, and love have carried me through this process. To know that I have such a special family waiting for me in New York is not only comforting, but equally as motivating. Every trip home is full of laughter, warmth, and nurtures my soul and spirit. It’s why I always have trouble leaving! Thank you to my siblings Ari, Rachel, and Amy, both as a group and as individuals. To my parents, Iris and Herb, I thank you for always believing in me and supporting me and providing me with a life-changing undergraduate education at Barnard College which started me on the path to study music and eventually, to earning my doctorate in Musicology. I love you all so much! vi ABSTRACT Liszt as Critic: Virtuosity, Aesthetics, and the Artist in Liszt’s Weimar Prose (1848-1861) A dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Brandeis University Waltham, MA By Elizabeth Perten ` In this dissertation, I explore Liszt’s significance as author and music critic through an analysis of four of his series of character portraits from his Weimar period (1848-1861). In these writings, Liszt not only contributes to the mid-century debate over musical aesthetics on the side of the musical progressives (the New Germans), but he also effectively continues to promote his own musical values and aesthetics to his audience, many ideas of which he had introduced in earlier prose works. Through examination of Liszt’s essays on John Field, Clara Schumann, Robert Franz, and Pauline Viardot-Garcia, I illustrate how Liszt strives to achieve the overarching goal of his prose works: to educate the musical public (both contemporary and in the future) to recognize, support, and promote “true” musical artists and artistry. By deconstructing the talents of these well-known musical figures in his character portraits, Liszt explains to his reader why this specific artist should be venerated. Liszt is seldom viewed in music history as an influential writer, nor is the content of his literary works frequently examined in scholarship. Through my analysis of Liszt’s character portraits I will demonstrate his importance as a music critic, thus acknowledging Liszt’s significance in each facet of his life, of which his role as author is of integral importance. vii Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv Abstract vii Introduction 1 Chapter One: “On John Field’s Nocturnes” 23 Chapter Two: “Clara Schumann” 66 Chapter Three: “Robert Franz” 113 Chapter Four: “Pauline Viardot-Garcia” 154 Conclusion 202 Bibliography 206 viii A Note to Readers All translations in this dissertation are my own unless otherwise noted. The exception lies with the Field chapter in which all translations are done by Schuberth, unless stated. In the Viardot, Schumann, and Franz chapters, paragraph numbers refer to the essay as it is was published in the 1881 Ramann edition. The edits Ramann makes are inconsequential to the content of these works, but her separation of the portrait into several (more) paragraphs helps me (and the reader as well) to more clearly refer to specific elements of the prose in my analyses. The same logic applies to the Field chapter, wherein paragraph numbers refer to the Schuberth edition. ix Introduction My dissertation examines the significance of Franz Liszt (1811-1886) as a music critic and author during his Weimar period (1848-1861). Musicological scholarship tends to approach Liszt from three perspectives: as the touring virtuoso of the 1830s and 1840s, as the creator of the symphonic poem in the 1850s, or as the contemplative composer of his later years.