Perhaps the greatest source of wonder in Liszt's life was that he composed anything at all, let alone anything of lasting greatness.Translated by Henry Pleasants, Baltimore: Penguin Books Ltd., 1963, p.109-110. What a remarkable man! After a life incomparably rich and active, full of excitement, passion, and pleasure, he returns at the age of sixty-two and plays the most difficult music with the ease and strength and freshness of a youth…. It suffices to observe that he has not lost it but has rather added to it in clarity and moderation. And his technique, his virtuosity? I hesitate to speak if it. His playing was free, poetic, replete with imaginative shadings, and, at the same time, characterizes by noble, artistic repose.I carry a deep sadness of the heart which must now and then break out in sound.As quoted From the letter to Louis de Ronchaud dated 20 September 1837. I do not know a district more manifestly blessed by heaven I've never seen another where the charms of a life of love would seem more natural and start it with these words: "On the shores of Lake Como." When you write the story of two happy lovers, place them on the shores of Lake Como.As quoted in Alan Walker, Franz Liszt : The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847 (1987).Life is so short, every moment is so precious and yet, we live as if life will never end. Wasting time is one of the worst faults of the world.As quoted in Joseph Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music: An Introduction to Perceptive Listening (1963).
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