F. Liszt
165. To Johann Von Herbeck
Very Dear Friend,
My sincere thanks for your letter; gladly would I follow your very kind and "unselfish" request. To say "nay" to my friends always comes hard to me. But how can I act otherwise in face of the negativings of critics? And why should I not prefer abiding my time in peace alone?
Now-a-days an artist is reckoning without his host if he places honest faith in the public. For people now-a-days hear and judge only by reading the newspapers.
I mean to take advantage of this in so far that the leading and favorite papers of Vienna, Pest, Leipzig, Berlin, Paris, London, etc.—which abhor my humble compositions and have declared them worthless and objectionable—shall be relieved of all further outward trouble concerning them. What is the good of performances to people who only care to read newspapers?
Hence, dear good friend, let the "Gran Mass" [Herbeck, however, did have them performed.] and the "Glocken" ["Die Glocken des Strassburger Munsters"—"The Bells of Strassburg Cathedral">[ remain unperformed in Vienna, where (in Easter week) you shall receive a visit from yours most warmly and gratefully,
F. Liszt
Budapest, March 3rd, 1875
166. To Eduard Von Liszt