Dear Sirs,
In order justly to decide the question of plagiarism between Messrs. Altschul and Joseffy, [Both were pupils of Liszt; the former is now in Buda-Pest, the latter in New York.] one would need first of all to compare the manuscripts of the two disputants. Altschul was kind enough last winter to play me his version in thirds and sixths of Chopin's "Valse" (in D-flat major); the other, questionable, version by Joseffy I do not know. If you think it advisable to send me both versions I am quite ready to let you have my opinion on the subject. Meanwhile I will only remark that the multifarious forms of passages in thirds and sixths—upwards, downwards, to the right, to the left, or crossing, split up, etc., etc.—admit of a variety of forms of transcription in thirds and sixths of the Chopin Valse, and hence Herr Joseffy might quite innocently, in his love of sport as a virtuoso, have shot down his own bird even within Herr Altschul's range.
But whether two birds existed must be proved by the "corpus delicti."
With highest esteem I remain, dear sirs,
Most truly yours,
F. Liszt
Buda-Pest, November 22nd, 1871. (Palatingasse 20.)
P.S.—Herewith is my yearly contribution to the "Bach-
Gesellschaft."—
Allow me to reply, later on, to your kind inquiry in regard to a pianoforte piece.
114. To Madame A. Rubinstein in St. Petersburg