"Liszt, the artist and the man," says Baker, in his "Biographical Dictionary of Musicians," "is one of the grand figures in the history of music. Generous, kindly and liberal-minded, whole-souled in his devotion to art, superbly equipped as an interpreter of classic and romantic works alike, a composer of original conceptions and daring execution, a conductor of marvellous insight, worshipped as teacher and friend by a host of disciples, reverenced and admired by his fellow-musicians, honored by institutions of learning and by potentates as no artist before or since, his influence, spread by those whom he personally taught and swayed, will probably increase rather than diminish as time goes on."
It has been said that Liszt passed through six lives in the course of his existence--only three less than a cat. As "petit Litz" he was the precocious child adored of Paris; as a youth, he plunged into the early romanticism which united the devotees of various branches of art in the French capital: next came the episode with the Countess d'Agoult; then his triumphal tours through Europe; settling at Weimar, he became the centre of the modern musical movement in Europe; finally, he revolved in a cycle through Rome, Buda-Pest and Weimar, followed from place to place by a band of devotees.
Liszt's compositions for the pianoforte may be classified as follows: "Fantasies Dramatiques"; "Années de Pèlerinage"; "Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses"; the Sonata, Concertos, Études, and miscellaneous works; "Rhapsodies Hongroises"; arrangements and transcriptions from Berlioz, Beethoven, Weber, Paganini, Schubert and others.
Among the "Fantasies Dramatiques," which are variations on themes from operas, not mere potpourris or transcriptions, but genuine fantasies, and usually based on one or two themes only, the best known is the "Don Juan Fantasie." It is founded upon the duet, "La ci darem la mano." Liszt utilizes a passage from the overture as an introduction, then gives the entire duet, varying it, however, not in set form, but with the effect of a brilliant fantasia, and then winds up the whole with a presto on the "Champagne Song." It is true it no longer is Mozart--but Mozart might be glad if it were. It is even possible that the time will come when "Don Giovanni" will have vanished from the operatic stage, yet be remembered by this brilliant fantasia of Liszt's. It is one of the great _tours de force_ of pianoforte music, and it is good music as well. Another of the better known "Fantasies Dramatiques" is the one Liszt made from "Norma," in which occurs a long sustained trill and a melody for the right hand, while the left plays another melody and the accompaniment to the whole. In other words, there is in this passage a trill sustained throughout, two melodies and the accompaniment, all going on at the same time, yet written with such perfect knowledge of pianoforte technique that any virtuoso worthy of the name as used in a modern sense, can compass it.