For your wife's amusement and as a piece of French reading I send a copy of my answers to the letters from St. Petersburg and Amsterdam. When you have read them please send both copies to my daughter in Berlin, as an addition to her small collection of my miscellaneous correspondence.
Most cordial greetings.—Yours in all friendship,
F. Liszt
November 11th, 1863
25. To Breitkopf And Hartel
Dear Sirs,
.—. Pray present my kindest thanks to Conzertmeister David for his consent to the N.B. in the Finale of the 8th Symphony. The method of execution, as indicated, was the one important question to me; by the satisfactory solution of this I am now perfectly content, and it is pleasant to me, therefore, to be able to agree to your wish to undertake the publication of the 9 piano-scores forthwith, without asking advice elsewhere. My former request on this subject was meant only to serve as a proof of my sincerest conscientiousness; as soon as you consider it superfluous let it be so.
Your letter also settles the copyist-difficulty. Still, notwithstanding all the model-works that issue from the House of Breitkopf and Hartel, I could scarcely expect that the printers would worry over my bad musical writing, that is rendered even more indistinct by my numerous erasures and corrections—and for this reason I recommended Herr Carl Gotze of Weimar by way of help; he is very quick at deciphering my untidy manuscripts. But of the best copyists it may be said "Better none," to use Beethoven's words in pronouncing his verdict upon Malzel's metronome.
Permit me therefore, dear sirs, to reduce all these preliminaries and details to the simplest form, by giving you absolute power concerning the publication of the 9 Symphonies—provided that the last proofs are sent to me for revision.
While awaiting the Beethoven scores (Quartets, Egmont, and "Christ on the Mount of Olives") I send you my best thanks in advance, and shall hope to send you later a specimen of my small savoir-faire in the matter of Quartet arrangements to look at. If it should meet with your approval I would gladly, next summer, proceed in working out a former pet idea of mine; to make pianoforte transcriptions of Beethoven's Quartets "for the home circle," and, as it were, to make them a link in the Master's catena aurea, between his Sonatas and Symphonies.—No considerations in the way of honorarium need form any hindrance to this project, especially as in such matters not the smallest difficulty has ever arisen in our relations with one another, which have now lasted over 20 years. Besides, the way and manner you accept my proposal offers the best prospect for its realisation, to our mutual satisfaction in tempore opportuno.