8 - Biographical and Musicological Tensions: The Man Liszt, 1934

Summary

IN 1934, Newman published a sensational biography of Franz Liszt. For all intents and purposes it was an exercise in character assassination, even though Newman refused to admit it. During the 1910s and 1920s Newman had written favourably on Liszt, but by the 1930s his position had changed completely. The book's critical reception was devastating and caused Newman a crisis in confidence: he temporarily abandoned volume 2 of the Life of Richard Wagner and never wrote another musical biography. Although The Man Liszt remains a bête noir of Liszt literature, an overview of its genesis, intent and reception illustrates the ethics, scope and financial imperatives of musical biography in the 1930s. It also demonstrates the low esteem in which psychobiography was held by scholars, especially musicologists, in the 1930s and 1940s.

Genesis of The Man Liszt

Newman's first article on Liszt, ‘A Study of Liszt’, published in 1900, gives no hint of the author's grievances with the composer. Newman wrote favourably of Liszt's ‘thoroughly musical imagination’, his ‘stupendous charity and generosity’ and ‘unparalleled’ musicianship. Similarly, in an article in the Nation of 28 October 1911, Newman wrote appreciatively of Liszt as man and musician, arguing that ignorance and neglect of his music stood in the way of a sound knowledge of the composer in England, though Newman was not convinced of Liszt's dexterity with musical form. However, in a separate series of articles published in the Musical Times in late 1911, Newman was mildly critical of Liszt. Called simply ‘Franz Liszt’, the articles were written to mark the centenary of Liszt's birth and the fiftieth anniversary of the German Musical Association. The first article comprised a short biographical sketch of Liszt and an analysis of some of the composer's early songs. The second article dealt with Liszt's influence on later composers such as Wagner and Strauss, while the third article concentrated on issues concerning aesthetics and form. Although each article was severely critical of some of Liszt's works, Newman nevertheless gave high praise to some of Liszt's other compositions, which are discussed below. Newman's dislike of Liszt's personality is not immediately apparent in these articles: that would come later.