Liszt Letters in the Library of Congress

The correspondence of Franz Liszt is voluminous. It has been estimated that some 6,000 letters have been published, with a similar number unpublished. Given his career as concert artist, composer, conductor and teacher, it is difficult to comprehend how he found the time for correspondence. Yet he did and, thankfully, considerable insight may be gained from this as to his relationships, compositional methods'especially with regard to publication of his works'philosophical thoughts, attitudes to literature, to other composers, other artists indifferent spheres, even, though more rarely, his approach to politics and, equally important, his religious leanings. The Library of Congress collections comprise nearly 300 items, including letters dating from 1829 to shortly before his death, the vast majority of which have not previously appeared in print, while those which have been published are sometimes incomplete or incorrectly dated. This publication presents one of the most wide-ranging sources of first-hand information on the composer not yet made public.