Chapter 15 - Patronage

Summary

Few surprises in the history of nineteenth-century music are more dramatic than that of Franz Liszt’s sudden move to Weimar in 1848. The decision to exchange an immensely successful career as a virtuoso pianist for the life of a Kapellmeister baffled many of Liszt’s contemporaries. Although he had held an honorary position as ‘Kapellmeister Extraordinaire’ in Weimar since 1842, he had spent no more than several days at a time in residence. Few understood the motives behind Liszt’s sudden decision to move to Weimar permanently, but hindsight reveals they were well-calculated. Liszt was no longer flourishing psychologically. As a soloist, he had spent the last decade engaged in a series of gruelling, trans-continental concert tours that required him to interact directly with thousands of fans. ‘I have spent the past six months living a life of shabby squabbles and virtually sterile endeavours’, Liszt wrote to his friend, George Sand. ‘I have willingly laid my artist’s heart open to all the bruises of an active public life.’¹ Simply put, Liszt was worn out, and he imagined that a move to Weimar would enable him to escape the emotional labour² he had been forced to engage in for years as a touring musician.