Very Honored, Dear Friend,
Among the recollections of my long artistic life one of the dearest to me is that of your kind sympathy. I cherish sincere gratitude for it, of which I should be glad to give you a proof. Allow me, to begin with, to dedicate to you the Symphonic Poem I have just written, which was suggested by a drawing by Michel Zichy entitled "From the cradle to the grave."—The score is short enough, and, it seems to me, free from superfluous repetition.
Lassen has spoken to you about the performance of your Quentin Durward at Weimar. The Grand Duke desires it to take place; his Theater-Intendant, Baron von Loen, was preparing for it, and the singers are certain to take great pains and show all alacrity in performing their several parts well.
To my own regret, in which his Royal Highness shares, as well as his theater company and the audience, the performance has to be adjourned; for the German translation is not forthcoming, and some dawdling on the part of your publisher throws obstacles in the way. Let him soon turn over a new leaf. As for the German translation, I particularly recommend to you my friend Richard Pohl (who is living at Baden-Baden, where he is editor-in-chief of the local newspaper of that charming place). Pohl is distinguished by great musical intelligence and cleverness in translating, of both of which he has given proof in Berlioz's Beatrice and Bennedict and Saint-Saens' Samson.
Lassen and Baron Loen will continue to correspond with you concerning the mise-en-scene of Quentin Durward at Weimar. Small towns have but small successes to offer. You are entitled by right to both large and small ones. Accept them.—
I do not scruple to ask a favor of you, my dear friend. The decoration of the Order of Leopold arrived at a time when I was ill in bed. It was accompanied by a few complimentary lines from the Secretary of the Foreign Office, Baron de Lambermont, as well as by the official document which was to be signed by me. It would have been my most agreeably imperative duty to have thanked Baron de L., and to have expressed my lively feelings of gratitude for this royal favor. This I could not immediately do, owing to the state of my health, which did not allow of my writing, and still renders that occupation very difficult. Add to this that a good deal of disorder had got into my household; several letters and manuscripts have been mislaid, and, notwithstanding all my endeavors, I have not been able to find Baron de L.'s lines again or the document they enclosed. I therefore beg you, dear and highly esteemed friend, to present my apologies to the Baron, and to ask him to send me a duplicate of the document I have to sign. My address from 22nd September to 2nd October will be: Bayreuth (Bavaria); after that, Via and Hotel Alibert, Rome.
Yours, in high esteem and cordial friendship,
F. Liszt
Weimar, September 19th, 188l
282. To Francois Auguste Gevaert