Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist, organist and composer.

Quotes

• Brahms' Variations are better than mine, but mine were written before his.
  • As quoted in Arthur Friedheim and Alexander Siloti, Remembering Franz Liszt (1961) p.138

• Sorrowful and great is the artist's destiny.
  • As quoted in Joseph Machlis, The Enjoyment of Music: An Introduction to Perceptive Listening (1963) Page 107

Unsourced

• Any chord can follow any chord.
  • also attributed to Max Reger

• Génie oblige! (Genius obliges!)
  • one of Liszt's life-mottos

• When the Tsar speaks everyone should remain silent.
  • When asked by Nicholas I why he suddenly stopped playing the piano during the final concert of his first Russian tour. Quite a suicidal move in the Russian Empire of the 1840s!

• "le piano concentre et résume en lui l'art tout entier..."