Editing Franz Liszt (section)

== Life ==
=== Early life ===
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| perrow            = 2
| total_width       = 320
| image1            = Adam Liszt.jpg
| image2            = Maria Anna Lager.jpg
| footer            = Franz Liszt's father [[Adam Liszt]] (left), and mother Anna Liszt (right)
}}

Franz Liszt was born to Anna Liszt (née Maria Anna Lager){{sfn|Walker|1987|p=xviii}} and [[Adam Liszt]] on 22 October 1811, in the village of [[Raiding, Austria|Doborján]] ({{Langx|de|Raiding}}) in [[Sopron County]], in the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Kingdom of Hungary]], [[Austrian Empire]].{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=15}}{{refn|His [[Liszthaus Raiding|birthplace]] is now a museum. Throughout his life, he claimed to be [[Magyar people|Magyar]], rather than German, and referred to Hungary as his homeland. When later in his life he gave charity concerts in Hungary, he sometimes appeared wearing national dress.{{harv|Walker|1987|p=48}}|group=n}} Liszt's father was a land steward in the service of [[Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy|Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy]];{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=15}} a keen amateur musician, he played the piano, cello, guitar and flute,{{sfn|Ramann|1882|p=7}}{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=16}} and knew [[Haydn]] and [[Johann Nepomuk Hummel|Hummel]] personally.{{sfn|Ramann|1882|pp=8-9}} A renowned [[child prodigy]], Franz began to improvise at the piano from before the age of five, and his father diligently encouraged his progress.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=16}} Franz also found exposure to music through attending Mass, as well as travelling [[Romani people|Romani]] bands that toured the Hungarian countryside.{{sfn|Ramann|1882|pp=21-23}} His first public concert was in [[Sopron]] in 1820 at the age of nine; its success led to further appearances in [[Pressburg]] and for Prince Nikolaus' court in [[Eisenstadt]]. The publicity led to a group of wealthy sponsors offering to finance Franz's musical education in Vienna.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=16-17}}

There, Liszt received piano lessons from [[Carl Czerny]], who in his own youth had been a student of Beethoven and Hummel. Czerny, already extremely busy, had only grudgingly agreed to hear Liszt play, and had initially refused to entertain the idea of regular lessons. Being so impressed by the initial audition, however, Czerny taught Liszt regularly, free of charge, for the next eighteen months, at which point he felt he had nothing more to teach.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=18-19,23}} Liszt remained grateful to his former teacher,{{sfn|Ramann|1882|p=60}} later dedicating to him the ''[[Transcendental Études]]'' on their 1830 republication.{{sfn|Sitwell|1967|p=57}} Liszt also received lessons in composition from [[Antonio Salieri]], the accomplished music director of the Viennese court who had previously taught [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] and [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2002}}{{sfn|Bertagnolli|2021}} Like Czerny, Salieri was highly impressed by Liszt's improvisation and sight-reading abilities.{{sfn|Bertagnolli|2021}}

Liszt's public debut in Vienna on 1 December 1822 was a great success.{{sfn|Ramann|1882|pp=67-69}} He was greeted in Austrian and Hungarian aristocratic circles and met Beethoven and [[Schubert]].{{sfn|Sitwell|1967|pp=10-11}} To build on his son's success, Adam Liszt decided to take the family to Paris, the centre of the artistic world.{{sfn|Whitelaw|2021}} At Liszt's final Viennese concert on 13 April 1823, Beethoven was reputed to have walked onstage and kissed Liszt on the forehead, to signify a kind of artistic christening. There is debate, however, on the extent to which this story is apocryphal.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§1}}{{sfn|Walker|1970|p=20}} The family briefly returned to Hungary, and Liszt played a concert in traditional Hungarian dress, in order to emphasise his roots, in May 1823.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§1}}

In 1824 a piece Liszt had written at the age of 11&nbsp;– his [[Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli (Liszt)|Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli]] (S. 147)&nbsp;– appeared in {{nowrap|Part II}} of ''[[Vaterländischer Künstlerverein]]'' as his first published composition. This volume, commissioned by [[Anton Diabelli]], includes 50 variations on his waltz by 50 different composers ({{nowrap|Part I}} being taken up by Beethoven's 33 variations on the same theme, which are now separately better known simply as his ''[[Diabelli Variations]]'').{{sfn|de Beer|2008|p=6}}{{sfn|Latham|2002|p=357}} Liszt was the youngest contributor to the project, described in it as "a boy of eleven years old";{{sfn|Ramann|1882|p=62}} Czerny was also a participant.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=23}}

=== Paris ===
[[File:Nîmes,Beaux Arts086,Liszt vers 14-15 ans.jpg|thumb|Liszt in 1826 by {{ill|Jean Vignaud|fr}}]]

Having made significant sums from his concerts, Liszt and his family moved to Paris in 1823, with the hope of his attending the [[Conservatoire de Paris]]. Even with a letter of recommendation from Chancellor [[Klemens von Metternich]], director [[Luigi Cherubini]] refused his entry, however, as the Conservatoire did not accept foreigners. Nevertheless, Liszt studied under [[Anton Reicha]] and [[Ferdinando Paer]], and gave a series of highly successful concerts debuting on 8 March 1824. Paer was involved in the Parisian theatrical and operatic scene, and through his connections Liszt staged his only opera, ''[[Don Sanche]]'', which premiered shortly before his fourteenth birthday. The premiere was warmly received, but the opera only ran for four performances, and is now obscure.{{sfn|Whitelaw|2021}} Accompanied by his father, Liszt toured France and England, where he played for [[George IV|King George IV]].{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=24-26}}

Adam Liszt died suddenly of [[typhoid fever]] in the summer of 1827, and for the next eight years Liszt continued to live in Paris with his mother.{{sfn|Whitelaw|2021}} He gave up touring, and in order to earn money, he gave lessons on piano and composition, often from early morning until late at night. His students were scattered across the city and he had to cover long distances. Because of this, he kept uncertain hours and also took up smoking and drinking, habits he would continue throughout his life.{{sfn|Searle|1995|p=30}}{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=131}} During this period Liszt fell in love with one of his pupils, Caroline de Saint-Cricq, the daughter of [[Charles X of France|Charles X]]'s minister of commerce, [[Pierre de Saint-Cricq]]. Her father, however, insisted that the affair be broken off.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=26-27}}

[[File:Caroline de Saint-Cricq - 1830.png|thumb|Caroline de Saint-Cricq, 1828]]

Liszt fell very ill, to the extent that an obituary notice was printed in a Paris newspaper, and he underwent a long period of religious doubts and introspection. He stopped playing the piano and giving lessons, and developed an intense interest in religion, having many conversations with [[Hugues Felicité Robert de Lamennais|Abbé de Lamennais]] and [[Chrétien Urhan]], a German-born violinist who introduced him to the [[Saint-Simonianism|Saint-Simonists]]. Lamennais dissuaded Liszt from becoming a monk or priest.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=27-28}} Urhan was an early champion of Schubert, inspiring Liszt's own lifelong love of [[Schubert's song cycles|Schubert's songs]]. Much of Urhan's emotive music which moved beyond the [[Classical period (music)|Classical]] paradigm, such as ''Elle et moi, La Salvation angélique'' and ''Les Regrets'', may have helped to develop Liszt's taste and style.{{sfn|Walker|1987|pp=137–138}}

During this period Liszt came into contact with many of the leading authors and artists of his day, including [[Victor Hugo]], [[Alphonse de Lamartine]], [[George Sand]] and [[Alfred de Vigny]]. He composed practically nothing in the years between his father's death and the [[July Revolution|July Revolution of 1830]], which inspired him to sketch a symphony based on the events of the "three glorious days" (this piece was left unfinished, and later reworked as ''[[Héroïde funèbre (Liszt)|Héroïde funèbre]]'').{{sfn|Whitelaw|2021}} Liszt met [[Hector Berlioz]] on 4 December 1830, the day before the premiere of the ''[[Symphonie fantastique]]''. Berlioz's music made a strong impression on Liszt, and the two quickly became friends.{{sfn|Macdonald|2005|loc=§17}}{{sfn|Bloom|1998|p=64}} Liszt also befriended [[Frédéric Chopin]] around this time.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=36}}

[[File:Niccolo Paganini.jpg|thumb|upright|Niccolò Paganini (1828)]]

After attending a concert featuring [[Niccolò Paganini]] in April 1832,{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§5}} Liszt resolved to become as great a virtuoso on the piano as Paganini was on the violin. He dramatically increased his practice, sometimes practising for up to fourteen hours a day, and in 1838 published the six ''Études d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini'' (later revised as ''[[Grandes études de Paganini]]''), aiming to represent Paganini's virtuosity on the keyboard.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=31-32}} The process of Liszt completely redeveloping his technique is often described as a direct result of attending Paganini's concert, but it is likely that he had already begun this work previously, during the period 1828{{endash}}1832.{{sfn|Davison|2006|pp=38-39}}

=== Touring Europe ===
==== Affair with Countess Marie d'Agoult ====
[[File:Marie d’Agoult by Henri Lehmann.jpg|thumb|upright|Marie d'Agoult (1843)]]

In 1833, Liszt began a relationship with the Countess [[Marie d'Agoult]], who was married to a French cavalry officer but living independently.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§6}} In order to escape scandal they moved to [[Geneva]] in 1835;{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§7}} their daughter Blandine was born there on 18 December.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=54-55}} Liszt taught at the newly founded [[Conservatoire de Musique de Genève|Geneva Conservatoire]] and contributed essays for ''[[L'Artiste]]'' and the ''[[Revue et gazette musicale de Paris]]''.{{sfn|Celenza|2021}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§7}}

For the next four years, Liszt and the countess lived together. In 1835 and 1836 they travelled around Switzerland, and from August 1837 until November 1839 they toured Italy. It was these travels that later inspired the composer to write his cycle of piano collections entitled ''[[Années de pèlerinage]]'' (''Years of Pilgrimage'').{{sfn|Jost|2021}}{{sfn|Jost|2020}} Their daughter, [[Cosima Wagner|Cosima]], was born in [[Como]] on 24 December 1837, and their son Daniel on 9 May 1839 in [[Rome]].{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=65,59}}

That autumn relations between them became strained. Liszt heard that plans for a [[Beethoven Monument]] in Bonn were in danger of collapse for lack of funds and pledged his support, raising funds through concerts.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§7}} The countess returned to Paris with the children, while Liszt gave six concerts in Vienna, then toured Hungary.{{sfn|Searle|1995|p=30}} Liszt would later spend holidays with Marie and their children on the island of [[Nonnenwerth]] on the Rhine in the summers of 1841 and 1843. In May 1844, the couple finally separated.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=73,85}}

==== The Ivory Duel ====
[[File:Sigismond Thalberg (by Grevedon).jpeg|thumb|upright|Sigismond Thalberg (1836)]]
Swiss pianist [[Sigismond Thalberg]] moved to Paris in 1835 after several successful years of touring. His concerts there were extremely well received, and Liszt, at the time living in Geneva, received news of them from his friends in Paris. In the autumn of 1836 Liszt published an unfavourable review of several of Thalberg's compositions in the ''Gazette musicale'', calling them "boring" and "mediocre". A published exchange of views ensued between Liszt and Thalberg's supporter, the critic [[François-Joseph Fétis]].{{sfn|Hall-Swadley|Liszt|2012|pp=17-18}}

Liszt heard Thalberg perform for the first time at the Paris Conservatoire in February 1837, and to settle the disagreement the two pianists each arranged a performance for the public to compare them the following month. Liszt performed his own ''Grande fantaisie sur des motifs de Niobe'' and Weber's ''[[Konzertstück in F minor (Weber)|Konzertstück in F minor]]''. This was considered to be inconclusive, so the two agreed to perform at the same concert for comparison on 31 March, at the salon of the [[Cristina Trivulzio Belgiojoso|Princess of Belgiojoso]], in aid of Italian refugees. Thalberg opened with his ''Fantasia on Rossini's "Moses"'', then Liszt performed his ''Niobe'' fantasy.{{sfn|Hall-Swadley|Liszt|2012|p=18}}

The result of this "duel" is disputed. Critic [[Jules Janin]]'s report in ''[[Journal des débats]]'' asserted that there was no clear winner: "Two victors and no vanquished; it is fitting to say with the poet '{{lang|la|et adhuc sub judice lis est}}". Belgiojoso declined to declare a winner, famously concluding that "Thalberg is the first pianist in the world{{snd}}Liszt is unique."{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§7}} The biographer [[Alan Walker (musicologist)|Alan Walker]], however, believes that "Liszt received the ovation of the evening and all doubts about his supremacy were dispelled. As for Thalberg, his humiliation was complete. He virtually disappeared from the concert platform after this date."{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=40}}

==== Lisztomania ====
{{further|Lisztomania}}
[[File:Franz-liszt-in-hungarian-costume-watercolour-by-josef-friehuber-1838.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Watercolour of Liszt (1838) by [[Josef Kriehuber]] ]]
After his separation from Marie, Liszt continued to tour Europe. His concerts in Berlin in the winter of 1841{{endash}}1842 marked the start of a period of immense public enthusiasm and popularity for his performances, dubbed "[[Lisztomania]]" by [[Heinrich Heine]] in 1844.{{sfn|Pesce|Eckhardt|Mueller|2023|loc=§1.iii}} In a fashion that has been described as similar to "the mass hysteria associated with revivalist meetings or 20th-century rock stars", women fought over his cigar stubs and coffee dregs,{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§8}} and his silk handkerchiefs and velvet gloves, which they ripped to shreds as souvenirs.{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=289}} This atmosphere was fuelled in great part by the artist's mesmeric personality and stage presence: he was regarded as handsome,{{sfn|Hensher|2016}}{{sfn|Burton-Hill|2016}} and Heine wrote of his showmanship during concerts: "How powerful, how shattering was his mere physical appearance".{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=289}}{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|p=73}}

It is estimated that Liszt appeared in public well over one thousand times during this eight-year period.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§8}} Moreover, his great fame as a pianist, which he would continue to enjoy long after he had officially retired from the concert stage, was based mainly on his accomplishments during this time.{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=285}}

Adding to his reputation was that Liszt gave away much of the proceeds of his work to charity and humanitarian causes. He donated large sums to the building fund of [[Cologne Cathedral]] and [[St. Stephen's Basilica]] in [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]], and made private donations to public services such as hospitals and schools, as well as charitable organizations such as the Leipzig Musicians Pension Fund. After the [[Great Fire of Hamburg]] in May 1842, he gave concerts in aid of those left homeless.{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=290}}

During a tour of Ukraine in 1847, Liszt played in [[Kiev]], where he met the Polish Princess [[Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein]]. For some time he had been considering retiring from the life of a travelling virtuoso to concentrate on composition, and at this point he made the decision to take up a court position in [[Weimar]]. Having known Liszt for only a few weeks, Carolyne resolved to join him there.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=55-56}} After a tour of Turkey and Russia that summer,{{sfn|Predota|2019}} Liszt gave the final paid concert of his career at [[Elizabetgrad]] in September,{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=55}} then spent the winter with the princess at her estate in Woronińce.{{sfn|Searle|1995|p=31}} By retiring from the concert platform at the age of 35, while still at the height of his powers, Liszt succeeded in keeping the legend of his playing untarnished.{{sfn|Walker|1987|p=442}}

=== Weimar ===
[[File:Barabas-liszt.jpg|thumb|upright|Franz Liszt, portrait by Hungarian painter [[Miklós Barabás]], 1847]]

In July 1848 Liszt settled in Weimar, where he had been appointed the honorary title of "[[Kapellmeister]] Extraordinaire" six years previously. He acted as the official court kapellmeister at the expense of [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859)|Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia]] until 1859,{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=101,115-117}} jointly with [[Hippolyte André Jean Baptiste Chélard]] until his retirement in 1852.{{sfn|Cormac|2021b}} During this period Liszt acted as conductor at court concerts and on special occasions at the theatre, arranged several festivals celebrating the work of Berlioz and Wagner, and produced the premiere of ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]''.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=36,119}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§12}} He gave lessons to a number of pianists, including the great virtuoso [[Hans von Bülow]], who married Liszt's daughter Cosima in 1857 (she would later marry Wagner).{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=77,92}} Liszt's work during this period made Weimar a nexus for modern music.{{sfn|Cormac|2021b}}

As kapellmeister Liszt was required to submit every programme to the court [[Intendant]] for prior approval. This did not cause large problems until the appointment of [[Franz von Dingelstedt]] in 1857, who reduced the number of music productions, rejected Liszt's choices of repertoire, and even organised a demonstration against Liszt's 1858 premiere of {{lang|de|[[Der Barbier von Bagdad]]}}.{{sfn|Cormac|2021b}}{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=68}} Faced with this opposition, Liszt resigned in 1858.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=68}}

At first, after arriving in Weimar, Princess Carolyne lived apart from Liszt, in order to avoid suspicions of impropriety. She wished eventually to marry Liszt, but since her husband, Russian military officer Prince Nicholas von Sayn-Wittgenstein, was still alive, she had to convince the Roman Catholic authorities that her marriage to him had been invalid. Her appeal to the Archbishop of [[St Petersburg]] for an [[annulment]], lodged before leaving Russia, was ultimately unsuccessful, and the couple abandoned pretence and began to live together in the autumn of 1848.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|p=113}}

Nicholas was aware that the couple's marriage had effectively ended, and Carolyne and Nicholas reached an agreement to annul in 1850 whereby the prince would receive some of Carolyne's estates. However, this arrangement was struck down in 1851 by the [[consistory court]] of [[Zhytomyr]].{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=143-144}} Throughout the decade the couple would continue to negotiate through the complex situation.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=142-175}}

==== The New German School and the War of the Romantics ====
{{main|New German School|War of the Romantics}}
In 1859 [[Franz Brendel]] coined the name "[[New German School]]" in his publication {{lang|de|[[Neue Zeitschrift für Musik]]}}, to refer to the musicians associated with Liszt while he was in Weimar. The most prominent members other than Liszt were Wagner, though he rejected the label, and Berlioz. The group also included [[Peter Cornelius]], Hans von Bülow and [[Joachim Raff]]. The School was a loose confederation of progressive composers, mainly grouped together as a challenge to supposed conservatives such as Mendelssohn and [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], and so the term is considered to be of limited use in describing a particular movement or set of unified principles.{{sfn|Warrack|2002}} What commonalities the composers had were around the development of [[programmatic music]], harmonic experimentation, wide-ranging modulation and formal innovations such as the use of [[leitmotif]]s and [[thematic transformation]].{{sfn|Grey|2001}}{{sfn|Deaville|2021}}

The disagreements between the two factions is often described as the "[[War of the Romantics]]". The "war" was largely carried out through articles, essays and reviews. Each side claimed [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] as its predecessor. A number of festivals were arranged to showcase the music of the New German School, notably in Leipzig in 1859 and Weimar in 1861. The [[Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein]], intrinsically linked to the School, was founded at this time, with Liszt becoming its honorary president in 1873. However, as most of Liszt's work from the 1860s and 1870s received little attention, and Brendel and Berlioz died in the late 1860s, the focus of the progressive movement in music moved to [[Bayreuth]] with Wagner in the 1870s, who definitively moved on from the School and the {{lang|de|Neue Zeitschrift}}.{{sfn|Deaville|2021}}

=== Rome ===
[[File:Liszt-1870.jpg|thumb|upright|Liszt, photo (mirror-imaged) by Franz Hanfstaengl, June 1870]]

After a visit to Rome and an audience with [[Pope Pius IX]] in 1860, Carolyne finally secured an annulment.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|p=181}} It was planned that she and Liszt would marry in Rome, on 22 October 1861, Liszt's 50th birthday. Liszt arrived in Rome on 21 October, but a Vatican official had arrived the previous day in order to stop the marriage. This was a result of the machinations of [[Gustav Adolf, Cardinal Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst|Cardinal Hohenlohe]], who wanted to protect a complex inheritance agreement brokered by [[Alexander II of Russia|Tsar Alexander II]]. Carolyne subsequently gave up all attempts to marry Liszt, even after her husband's death in 1864;{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§20}}{{sfn|Sitwell|1967|p=224}} she became a recluse, working for the rest of her life on a long work critical of the Catholic Church.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=71-72}}

The 1860s were a period of great sadness in Liszt's private life. On 13 December 1859, he lost his 20-year-old son Daniel to an unknown illness.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|p=177}} On 11 September 1862 his 26-year-old daughter Blandine also died, having contracted [[sepsis]] after surgery on a breast growth which developed shortly after giving birth to a son she named in memory of Daniel.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|p=189}} In letters to friends, Liszt announced that he would retreat to a solitary living.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=191-192}}

He moved to the monastery {{lang|it|Madonna del Rosario}}, just outside Rome, where on 20 June 1863 he took up quarters in a small, spartan apartment.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=191-192}} He had a piano in his cell, and he continued to compose.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=74}} He had already joined the [[Third Order of Saint Francis]] previously, on 23 June 1857.{{sfn|Burger|1986|loc=209}} On 25 April 1865 he received the [[tonsure]] at the hands of Cardinal Hohenlohe, who had previously worked against Carolyne's efforts to secure an annulment; the two men became close friends.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|pp=181,197}}{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=79}} On 31 July 1865 Liszt received the four minor orders of [[Ostiarius|porter]], [[lector]], [[exorcist]] and [[acolyte]]. After this ordination he was often called "{{lang|fr|[[Abbé]]}} Liszt". On 14 August 1879, he was made an honorary [[canon (priest)|canon]] of [[Albano Laziale|Albano]].{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§21}}

In 1867 Liszt was commissioned to write a piece for the coronation ceremony of [[Franz Joseph]] and [[Elisabeth of Bavaria]], and he travelled to [[Budapest]] to conduct it.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=80}} The ''Hungarian Coronation Mass'' was performed on 8 June 1867, at the coronation ceremony in the [[Matthias Church]] by [[Buda Castle]] in a six-section form. After the first performance, the Offertory was added and, two years later, the Gradual.{{sfn|Fend|Noiray|2005|p=542}}

=== "Tripartite existence" ===
[[File:Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem 2013-ban felújított homlokzata.JPG|thumb|[[Franz Liszt Academy of Music|Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music]] in [[Budapest]] ]]

[[Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Grand Duke Charles Alexander]] had been attempting to arrange Liszt's return to Weimar ever since he had left, and in January 1869 Liszt agreed to a residency to give masterclasses in piano playing.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=82}}{{sfn|Baker|2005|p=86}} He was based in the Hofgärtnerei (court gardener's house), where he taught for the next seventeen years.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=83}} From 1872 until the end of his life, Liszt made regular journeys between Rome, Weimar and Budapest, continuing what he called his {{lang|fr|vie trifurquée}} ("[[tripartite (theology)|tripartite]] existence").{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=87}} It is estimated that he travelled at least 4,000 miles a year during this period in his life – an exceptional figure given his advancing age and the rigors of road and rail in the 1870s.{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§24}}

Liszt's time in Budapest was the result of efforts from the Hungarian government in attracting him to work there.{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=87}} The plan of the foundation of the [[Franz Liszt Academy of Music|Royal Academy of Music]] was agreed upon by the Hungarian Parliament in 1873, and in March 1875 Liszt was nominated its president.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|p=262}} The academy was officially opened on 14 November 1875 with Liszt's colleague [[Ferenc Erkel]] as director and [[Kornél Ábrányi]] and [[Robert Volkmann]] on the staff.{{sfn|Liszt Museum|n.d.}} Liszt himself only arrived to deliver lessons in March 1876.{{sfn|Hilmes|2016|p=263}} From 1881 when in Budapest he would stay in an apartment in the Academy, where he taught pupils in much the same way as he did in Weimar.{{sfn|Pesce|2014|p=50}} In 1925, the institution was renamed in honour of Liszt.{{sfn|Hooker|2021}}

=== Final years ===
[[File:Franz Liszt by Nadar, March 1886.png|thumb|upright|left|Liszt in March 1886, four months before his death, photographed by [[Nadar]] ]]

Liszt fell down a flight of stairs at the Hofgärtnerei in July 1881, and remained bedridden for several weeks after this accident.{{sfn|Baker|2005|p=87}} He had been in good health up to that point,{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=94}} but a number of ailments subsequently manifested, such as a [[cataract]] in the left eye, dental issues and fatigue.{{sfn|Schmalhausen|2002|pp=14,16}}{{sfn|Walker|1973|p=94}} Since around 1877 he had become increasingly plagued by feelings of desolation, despair and preoccupation with death—feelings that he expressed in his [[Late works of Franz Liszt|works from this period]].{{sfn|Baker|2005|pp=87,90}} As he told [[Lina Ramann]], "I carry a deep sadness of the heart which must now and then break out in sound."{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§25}}

On 13 January 1886, while [[Claude Debussy]] was staying at the [[Villa Medici]] in Rome, Liszt met him there with [[Paul Vidal]] and [[Ernest Hébert]], director of the French Academy. Liszt played "[[Au bord d'une source]]" from ''[[Années de pèlerinage]]'', as well as his arrangement of [[Ave Maria (Schubert)|Schubert's ''Ave Maria'']] for the musicians. Debussy in later years described Liszt's pedalling as "like a form of breathing."{{sfn|Walker|1997|pp=475–476}}

Liszt travelled to [[Bayreuth]] in the summer of 1886. This was in order to support his daughter Cosima, who was running the [[Bayreuth Festival|festival]] but struggling to generate sufficient interest.{{sfn|Schmalhausen|2002|pp=2,192}} The festival was dedicated to the works of her husband Richard Wagner, and had opened ten years previously; Wagner had died in 1883.{{sfn|Millington|Deathridge|Dahlhaus|Bailey|2009|loc=§6, §8}} Already frail, in his final week of life Liszt's health deteriorated further, as he experienced a fever, cough and delirium.{{sfn|Walker|1973|pp=96-97}} 

He died during the festival, near midnight on 31 July 1886, at the age of 74{{mdash}}officially as a result of [[pneumonia]], which he had contracted prior to arriving in Bayreuth, although the true cause of death may have been a [[heart attack]].{{sfn|Schmalhausen|2002|pp=1,15}}{{sfn|Eckhardt|Mueller|Walker|2001|loc=§27}} He was buried on 3 August 1886, in the {{ill|municipal cemetery of Bayreuth|de|Stadtfriedhof Bayreuth}}, according to Cosima's wishes; despite controversy over this as his final resting place, Liszt's body was never moved.{{sfn|Schmalhausen|2002|pp=151,166,181}}