He can settle everything about the form and equipment "al suo commodo" (as people say here).
Still the Psalms should be published in the same form, and should Kahnt decide upon retaining the form of the Prometheus score (as he writes to me) I shall be quite content and satisfied. The day after tomorrow I shall send him the instrumentation of the 23rd and 137th Psalms together with the score of the 13th. The latter is one of those I have worked out most fully, and contains two fugue movements and a couple of passages which were written with tears of blood. Were any one of my more recent works likely to be performed at a concert with orchestra and chorus, I would recommend this Psalm. Its poetic subject welled up plenteously out of my soul; and besides I feel as if the musical form did not roam about beyond the given tradition. It requires a lyrical tenor; while singing he must be able to pray, to sigh and lament, to become exalted, pacified and biblically inspired.—Orchestra and chorus, too, have great demands made upon them. Superficial or ordinarily careful study would not suffice…
Pardon me, dear friend, for having troubled you to such an extent with marginal comments to my manuscripts. I will only add that I should be glad to see the short Choral Psalm for men's voices ("The Heavens declare the glory of God") printed in time for the Easter's sale, in score-form from the copy I left Kahnt before I went away;—and now to return to the Articles in the Neue Zeitschrift, I feel specially grateful, in the first place, for the communications concerning the Hungarian orchestra in Breslau.
To hear again of my Ex-Chamber-Virtuoso Josy in so friendly a way pleased me extremely, and I beg you to send my sincerest thanks to the author of the article for having so carefully studied my Rhapsodies and the less well-known book (not to speak of the erroneous interpretation it has had to endure at other hands!) on "Hungarian Gipsy Music"; at the same time will you beg him to accept the enclosed photograph of my humble self, in return for the one he gave Josy?
[An extremely musical gipsy boy of this name was presented to Liszt in Paris in 1844 by Count Sandor Teleki. Liszt's endeavors to train the boy as an artist failed, however, owing to the impossibility of accustoming the child of nature to engage in earnest study, as Liszt himself relates in "Die Zigeuner und ihre Musik in Ungarn" [The Gipsies and their Music in Hungary] (Ges. Schriften, Bd, vi.)]
In your next let me have some account of the position and work of this worthy Breslau correspondent, for I have not before met with anything from his pen in the Neue Zeitschrift. I herewith send you a second photograph of my present abode, "Madonna del Rosario," as the first one went astray, but to prevent a like accident in the post I shall register this letter.
Bulow's searches into and out of the subject are splendid, and his farewell words in memory of Fischl show the noblest beat of heart. When are the articles on Offenbach, etc., from the same intellectual region, to appear?…I am curious also to see what news there will be of the Berlin Orchestral concerts, instituted and conducted by Bulow.
You mention cursorily some new programme-form concerning which "you rather flatter yourself." Tell me more about this and send me a few of the programmes.
From Pohl I lately received a very cordial letter which I answered forthwith. His Vorschlag zur Gute, etc., in the N. Z. I have not yet read, and this is the case with many other articles in the last numbers, which, however, I mean ere long to overtake. In spite of my retirement and seclusion I am still very much disturbed by visitors, duties of politeness, musical proteges— and wearisome, mostly useless correspondence and obligations. Among other things the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society has invited me, during the Lent season, to direct two of their concerts, giving performances of my own compositions. The letter certainly reads somewhat more rationally than that of the Cologne Cathedral Committee (of which, I told you); but the good folks can nevertheless not refrain from referring to the trash about "my former triumphs, unrivalled mastery as a pianist," etc., and this is utterly sickening to me—like so much stale, lukewarm champagne. Committee gentlemen and others should verily feel somewhat ashamed of their inane platitudes, in thus unwarrantably speaking to my discredit by reminding me of a standpoint I occupied years ago and have long since passed.—Only one Musical Association can boast of forming an honorable exception to this since my departure from Germany, namely the Society "Zelus pro Domo Dei," in Amsterdam, which, in consequence of the approval and performance of my Gran Mass last week, has conferred on me their diploma by appointing me an honorary member, in addition to a very kind letter written in a becoming tone.
The diploma is headed: "Roomsch Catholiek Kerkmusiek Collegie," and the Society was founded in 1691.