Liszt, the Klindworths, and Austro-Hungarian Affairs

[...]

Readers hardly need reminding of the identity of die schöne Agnes or lovely Agnes, as her intimates dubbed her.⁵ Born in Bremen on 19 October 1825, only daughter of a Danish actress, Brigitta Bartels (1786-1864) and Göttingen-born Georg von Klindworth (1798-1882) Agnes was reared to become the loyal secretary and skilful collaborator of her father, Europe's most notorious secret agent from the early 1820s to his death.⁶ His secret reports to his many crowned and elected clients lie unpublished in many European archives. As a testimony to Klindworth's devotion to the views of his protector from 1830, Prince Clemens Metternich, and therefore to Austria, the Haus- Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Vienna, houses large holdings of his secret reports. Their perusal reveals the true paternity of many of Liszt's political passages in letters. For instance, without mention of their provenance, Liszt quotes practically verbatim to Princess Carolyne dozens and dozens of extracts from Georg Klindworth's regular reports to the Austrian Foreign Minister.⁷

Parallel texts

The earliest example yet found of a parallel Klindworth/Liszt text dates from May 1859. It comes from the "Belgian Reports", named for their point of origin, the Austrian Legation in Brussels, through attaché Baron Carl Alexander Hügel to Foreign Minister Count Johann Bernhard von Rechberg until Autumn 1866, then to Count Friedrich Beust.

Since 16 July 1858, Agnes had maintained a necessary silence by direct correspondence to Liszt: her letters addressed to him in care of third parties in Weimar risked being intercepted, Liszt had warned.⁸ Henceforth he had written to her only when out of town. So, from Löwenberg on 1 May 1859, on the eve of Napoleon III's Italian campaign against Austria, he wrote: "Bronsart is staying here with me until he goes to join his father's regiment, for he has an irresistible urge to enjoy a little whiff of gunpowder... If you have any interesting news send me word... until the 7th write to Löwenberg." From Breslau on 11 May Liszt replied: "Your anecdote about Mr. Lenor[mant]'s conversation with Pius IX could not be more amusing, ...I completely agree... L[ouis] N[apoleon] is doing no more than putting into effect his platform from the Napoleonic Ideas, published about twenty years ago."⁹ Agnes must have sent him the copy even before her father's report of 4 May reached Austria, for on 6 May, without his "guaranteeing its authenticity," Liszt passed on the anecdote to Princess Marie von Sayn-Wittgenstein, (1837-1920) staying with her mother in Munich where she was to meet her suitor, Prince Constantin von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, aide-de-camp to the Austrian Emperor.¹⁰

The quasi-conformity of Liszt's copy to Georg Klindworth's text leaps to the eyes. (See Autographs a-b)

Translation of Klindworth's text:

The Pope's Opinion on Louis Napoleon

Mr. Lenormant of the Institut, known for his inexhaustible erudition, went to Rome some time ago, to introduce his son to the Pope and have him blessed by His Holiness. He was given a perfect reception by the Holy Father who, after the blessing, spoke to him for a long time about France and especially about the Emperor of the French.

"What is your opinion, Sir," asked Pius IX, "of Louis Napoleon's faith?" "Your Holiness," replied Mr. Lenormant, "it is extremely difficult for a Catholic to judge the faith of another!" "You are right," continued the Pope, "but all the same, I would nonetheless like to know your thoughts."

Mr. Lenormant, quite embarrassed by the Holy Father's persistence, got out of it by saying that the Pope himself could form some idea of the religious feelings of this sovereign when he told Him that Emperor Napoleon wore around his neck in the same medallion, a relic of the Holy Virgin and an amulet which had belonged to Mohammed, which the Sultan had given him shortly before the Crimean War.

"My goodness. What superstition!" cried the Pope. Thereupon they spoke of other matters, and Mr. Lenormant was dismissed. The Pope accompanied him as far as the door which He closed, then suddenly He opened it again, and said to Mr. Lenormant:

"I think that this man is definitely the evil beast of the Apocalypse!"

Georg Klindworth's Report:

Ad No. 40 Bruxelles 4 Mai 1859 [unknown hand] Jugement du Pape sur Louis Napoléon. Bruxelles 4. Mai 1859 [Agnes Street-Klindworth's hand].

Mr. Lenormant de l'Institut, connu pour son inépuisable érudition, était allé ŕ Rome, il y a quelque temps, pour présenter son fils au Pape et pour le faire bénir par Sa Sainteté. Il fut parfaitement recu par le Saint-Pére qui, aprés la bénédiction, lui parla longuement de la France et surtout de l'Empereur des Francais. "Que pensez-vous, Monsieur," demanda Pie IX, de la foi de Louis Napoléon?" "Trés Saint-Pére," répondit Mr. Lenormant "il est fort difficile ŕ un catholique de juger de la foi d'un autre!" "Vous avez raison," reprit le Pape, "mais enfin, malgré cela, je désirerais connaitre Votre opinion lŕ-dessus." Mr. Lenormant, assez embarassé de la persistance du Saint-Pére, s'en tira, en disant "que le pape pouvait Lui-même se faire une idée des sentiments réligieux de ce Souverain quand il Lui aurait dit que l'Empereur Napoléon porte ŕ son cou, dans un même Médaillon, une relique de la Sainte-Vierge et une amulette ayant appartenu ŕ Mahomet que le Sultan Lui a donné peu de temps avant la guerre en Crimée." "Quelle superstition, mon Dieu!" s'est écrié le Saint-Pére. Lŕ-dessus on a parlé d'autre chose, et Mr. Lenormant a été congédié. Le Pape l'a accompagné jusqu'ŕ la porte qu'Il a fermée, puis, tout ŕ coup Il l'a ouverte de nouveau, et a dit ŕ Mr. Lenormant: "Je crois décidément que cet homme est la mauvaise bête de l'Apocalypse!."¹¹

Extract from Liszt's letter to Princess Marie von Sayn-Wittgenstein, 6 May 1859

Il y a quelques semaines Mr Lenormant (de l'institut) etait allé ŕ Rome pour faire bénir son fils par le St Pére. Pie IX le questionne au long sur la France et l'Emp:

"Que pensez-vous de la foi de Louis N.?

"Trés St Pére il est difficile ŕ un catholique de juger de la foi d'un autre catholique. -

"Mais ce nonobstant je desirerais savoir votre opinion -

Mr Lenormant assez embarassé de la persistance de Sa Saintété, s'en tira finalement en disant qu'elle pouvait elle-même juger des sentimens religieux d'un souverain qui porte ŕ son cou dans un même medaillon une relique de la Ste Vierge et une amulette ayant appartenue ŕ Mahomet, laquelle lui a été donné par le Sultan avant la guerre de Crimée.

"Quelle superstition! s'est ecrié le Pape - Puis on parla d'autre chose et Mr Lenormant fut congédié. Le Saint Pére l'accompagna jusqu'ŕ la porte qu'il referma - tout ŕ coup il l'ouvre de nouveau et dit ŕ Mr Lenormant "Je crois décidément que cet homme est la mauvaise bête de l'apocalypse."¹²

Francois Soret's diary entry for 8 July features a further variant version of this anecdote, heard at the table of his former pupil, Carl Alexander, Grand Duke of Weimar. Princess Wittgenstein was said to have brought it back (from Munich).¹³ Georg von Klindworth's reports travelled far and by devious routes!

[...]

Liszt: secret agent?

Proving with documents that Liszt's letters contain long quasi-verbatim extracts from Georg Klindworth's secret reports is a far cry from saying that Liszt worked as a secret agent. It is also a far cry from discovering the complete picture of his activities as political correspondent. No samples of extracts from Klindworth's reports have yet surfaced in Liszt's published correspondence to political figures such as his son-in-law, Emile Ollivier or his friend Baron Antal Augusz. Liszt could have communicated them verbatim but intermittently to many people, in the course of his travels, as he did to his daughter Cosima and Hans von Bülow in Berlin in the late 1860s. Their active use of this communication is doubtful. Liszt told Agnes: "For the next installment of your political correspondence (of which I passed on a few passages to my daughter and Hans, who were enchanted by it) tell me what is thought of cabinet changes in France and the re-establishment of a liberal regime. In that connection the Emperor is supposed to have said: 'I never intended to take liberties away from France--I merely borrowed them.' (In other words, I shall take the liberty of giving liberty to France when she is mature enough)."²⁸ From time to time Liszt reported his similar verbal communication of her political news, and gave her such innocuous snippets in return.

[...]

Why would Liszt and Princess Carolyne be so interested in reports to Austria? What was Liszt's position regarding Austro-Hungary? Had he espoused the Klindworths' profession for the sake of Austria or Hungary?

Liszt invariably stated for all to hear that he was Hungarian. It is times of crisis which show his sense of national identity. In Spring 1838 from Venice, after the disastrous Danube floods in Hungary, he rushed to give benefit concerts in Vienna. On 2 April he wrote to his friend Count Gustav Neipperg, Austrian military officer in Milan, step-son of Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, Duchess of Parma and former consort of Napoleon I. The hitherto unpublished letter expresses where Liszt's heart lay: "I leave for Vienna in 3 or 4 days. It is really sudden, really unexpected, really absurd perhaps - but never mind, the impulse to give a concert for the benefit of my brave and worthy compatriots in Pesth is irresistible. I absolutely refuse to renounce this three-day-old obsession... I am already very preoccupied with Vienna, and, above all, with Pesth."²⁹ On 4 January 1840, a group of Hungarian magnates bestowed on Liszt a jewelled "sword of honour on a concert stage." The unprecedented accolade provoked mirth throughout Europe. Humbly proud, Liszt proclaimed in print its symbolism of Hungarian national pride, hopes and expectations for him as Hungarian.³⁰ At a time when uniform was mandatory court dress in most German courts, Liszt chose to wear Hungarian costume.³¹ After Marie d'Agoult broke their liaison, Liszt made plans to formally legitimize their three children as Hungarians.³² In 1848, Liszt rejoiced at news of the revolution in Paris. When Austria and Hungary followed suit, he wrote on 24 March to Carolyne: "As for me who has always hated politics, I admit that I no longer know how to keep myself away from them. My compatriots have just made such a decisive, such a Hungarian, and such a unanimous move it is impossible for me to refuse them a tribute of legitimate empathy."³³

Yet he held aloof from active participation in the tragic Hungarian insurrection in 1849 which led to defeat and long repression by Austria. Heinrich Heine with biting public scorn, and Italian nationalist Princess Cristina Belgiojoso, in private bewilderment, both reproached his inaction.³⁴ Liszt ended their relations. In reality Liszt followed European politics avidly. What he hated was death: the wilful taking of God-given life, by the death penalty, war, or crime; lifelong he stood for cooperation, for caritas.³⁵ Liszt's Funerailles, subtitled 1849, mourns the wasteful, brutal deaths of Hungarian patriots. Like many loyal Hungarians, Liszt would have preferred Count István Széchenyi's diplomatic negotiations for Hungary's autonomy to Kossuth's insurrectionary acts. In 1860 he told Agnes: "If they had only followed consistently and faithfully Széchenyi's example and methods, Hungary would certainly be strong and prosperous today; it is too late now to turn back, I fear. This state of affairs may certainly suit others--but those among us who sincerely love their country are grieved about it to the depths of their souls."³⁶

Liszt's mother was Austrian. Many friends and relatives lived there, as had Liszt himself in some critical adolescent years. Did his political sympathies go to Austria? Much was made in some circles during the tension-fraught years of the Hungarian struggle for autonomy just before the Compromise of 1867 of the impropriety of the Hungarian Liszt's socializing with Austrian diplomats. From his youth on, he dined and made music at the Apponyi's, Prince Clemens Metternich's, Prince Richard and Princess Pauline Metternich's, Prince Paul Esterházy's. He even called on Baron Alexander von Bach, Austrian Minister of Internal Affairs from 1849 to 1859, when as an absolute pan-Germanist he had brutally repressed the Hungarians, and later, when he was Austrian ambassador to the Vatican until 1867. Even there Liszt paid him civil New Year's visits, to the horror of patriotic young hotheads such as his pupil Alexander Bertha, who broke with him on this account in 1866.³⁷

[...]

While legally an Austrian citizen of Hungarian nationality, Liszt does not seem to have espoused Georg Klindworth's Austrophilia, or rather his admiration of the political views of his protector, Austrian Chancellor Prince Metternich, for whom he had worked since the early 1830's as the liaison between his employer, the French Foreign Ministry, on issues too delicate for official diplomatic dealings. At the outbreak of the 1848 revolutions, Metternich fled to London. So did the Klindworths, who worked privately for him there, editing a French language newspaper, and serving as liaison with Disraeli. Liszt knew this. Klindworth mediated between Count de Morny, Napoleon III's half-brother and advisor in France and Minister Prince Felix von Schwarzenberg in Vienna, from Napoleon III's coup d'état of 1851 until the Prince's death in 1852, when he lost this contract.⁴⁰ Thus, when Liszt met the Klindworths in the 1850s, while they were politically conservative Orleanists, they were no longer in French or Austrian employ. It was not to aid Austria nor any other country that Liszt fell recklessly in love with Agnes.

Under the name of Agnes Denis-Street, she came to study piano with Liszt in Weimar on an uncertain date between April 1853 and April 1854. She had political motives, employment needs. It has been suggested that she came with a double mission from Russia: to spy on Liszt and the exiles he entertained, starting with the most notorious, the independently wealthy Princess Carolyne, whose fortunes had been sequestered in a bid to force her return and to seduce Liszt in order to alienate him from Carolyne.⁴¹ If so, the biter was bit. Yet, in April 1855, despite having fallen deeply in love with Liszt and he with her, Agnes went to Brussels to assist her father - again, or as always.

Liszt's necessarily cryptic comments in his regular correspondence to her henceforth reveal his knowledge of her activities in her father's employ since her youth and the general lines of their current secret projects. For instance, on 20 June 1855 (the end of the Crimean War), Klindworth was back in the Czar of Russia's pay, Liszt warned: "...practise balance of power in Saint P[etersburg] as short a time as possible, however 'unaffected' one might be by that situation... As for you, it is essential that you stay in Brussels and spend your time reading and writing..."⁴² In Autumn 1855, her father's plans having encountered difficulties, Agnes sought re-employment with Württemberg. (At the end of 1852 the King had dismissed father and daughter.)⁴³ Liszt wrote: "Your idea of Stuttgart strikes me as excellent..." (22 September); "For your return from Stuttgart I would like to invent a proverb: 'Great waistcoats think alike' - and this morning, in honour of H.M. W[ilhelm] I shall wear again the red waistcoat which you claimed was exactly like his" (7 October); "At last there is some good news - and my new talent for fortune-telling by means of red waistcoats did not fail me." (19 October).⁴⁴ From 1855 in constant correspondence Liszt often shows anxiety about the welfare of the woman he loved, interested curiosity about her activities or major events but no eagerness for her to send him regular full political reports.

[...]

I do believe that Liszt himself was politically active, if not "the first diplomat in Europe," as his American student Amy Fay related he had once answered someone who wondered what he would have been had he not been a musician.⁵⁶ He was active for the highest aspiration of his life, his faith, which transcended yet encompassed his love for Carolyne and of his country.

[...]

Acknowledgements

It is a pleasure to thank here: President Jean Duchesne, Belgian Liszt Society, at whose "Journées Internationales Franz Liszt," Liége, 29-31 July 1994, a French language version concerning Belgium was first presented. (That article appeared in the Bulletin de la Societé Liégoise de Musicologie, 87 (December 1994); Dr Klára Hamburger, secretary of the Franz Liszt Society, 1993, who kindly invited me to the International Liszt Conference in Budapest, 16-18 March 1996, to present the pertinent Austro-Hungarian aspects; Director Dr Gerhard Rill and Dr. Christiane Thomas, Haus- Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Vienna, for permission to reproduce the Klindworth papers housed there; Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., for permission to use Liszt's letter to Marie von Sayn-Wittgenstein; Director Joachim Golz and Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin Frau Evelyn Liepsch, Goethe/Schiller Archiv, Weimar, for permissions to reproduce extracts from Liszt's autographs; Director Dr Oswald Bill, Musikabteilung, Landes- und Hochschulbibliothek, Darmstadt, for permission to publish Liszt's autograph letters to Agnes Street-Klindworth; the National Széchényi Library, Budapest, for permission to use Liszt's autograph letter to Agnes of 28 May 1860; J. Rigbie Turner, Curator of the Mary Cary Flagler Collection, Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, for permission to use Liszt's unpublished letter to Count Neipperg. ß

Notes

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5 * Braun-Wiesbaden, Prince Karl. Der Dia- manten Herzog: Ein deutscher Prinzenspiegel (Berlin, A. Hofmann, 1881), p. 60-61. Hereafter: BDH.

6 * For detailed accounts of the main lines of Georg and Agnes Klindworth's careers see Alfred Stern: "Georg Klindworth. Ein politischer Geheimagent des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts," Bibliographie zur deutschen Geschichte, 1927; Historische Vierteljahrschrift (Dresden, W & B v. Baensch Stiftung, 1931), pp. 430-458; 695-696. Hereafter: SGK; Fritz Heymann: "Liszt, Lasalle und die schöne Agnes. Nach unbekannten Akten und Briefen," Vossische Zeitung, 104 (5 May 1929). Alan Walker's chapter, "Liebestraum," in Franz Liszt, the Weimar Years, 1848-1861. Rev. Ed. (Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1991), pp. 209-24; Pauline Pocknell: "Liszt, les Klindworth, et les 'rapports belges'" Bulletin de la Société Liégeoise de Musicologie 87 (December 1994) pp. 18-31, hereafter: PLK.

7 * Many of Klindworth's reports to Austria, 1859-69, lie in the "Belgien Berichte," Korrespondenz Klindworth 1859-1869. Call no. PA XXII, Vienna, Haus- Hof- und Staatsarchiv. Hereafter: A-WHHsa.

8 * "Do not write to me until you hear from me again..." wrote Liszt (D-DS, letter of 16 July 1858: LB III, p. 112, Salzburg, 8 October 1858).

9 * LB III, p. 117 & 118; pp. 119-120.

10 * Franz Liszt: The Letters of Franz Liszt to Marie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. Ed. Howard E. Hugo (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1953) 6 May 1859, p. 105. Hereafter: LMSW.

11 * A-WHHsa, PA XXII, Carton 19. Spelling and punctuation in all autograph texts by Klindworth, Liszt, and Hügel have been transcribed exactly as written.

12 * Autograph housed in the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Call no. AM 16, Box 2.

13 * Francois Soret; Un Genevois ŕ la Cour de Weimar: journal inédit de Frédéric Soret (1795-1865). Preface Paul Hazard (Paris, 1932), p. 272-273.

[...]

18 * Klindworth's report: "Menées de Kossuth ŕ Turin et ŕ Paris et son entrevue secréte avec l'Empereur Napoleon," 12 and 15 October 1860: A-WHHsa, PA XXII, Box 21.

19 * Liszt's autograph letter to Carolyne, 27 October 1860, D-WRgs, GSA 59/81. La Mara published the same text with variants: LB V, p. 81. Acknowledgement of its receipt to Agnes: LB III, p. 137, 16 November 1860.

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21 * Klindworth: "Varsovie et les nouvelles dispositions et démarches de l'Empereur des Francais dans la Question Italienne." 2 November 1860, A-WHHsa, PA XXII, Box 21.

22 * Liszt to Carolyne, 8 November 1860, D-WRgs, GSA 59/81, 1; LB V, p. 89. .

[...]

24 * D-WRgs, GSA 59/81, 1; LB V, p. 102, text modified by La Mara.

25 * LB V, pp. 108-109, 18 December 1860; p. 146, 27 March; p. 158, 20 April; LB III, p. 150, 1 May.

26 * For Liszt's detailed accounts to Carolyne of his hectic social life in Paris see LB V, p. 164-181. For his departure for Brussels, see his note to Agnes of 8 June: PLK, 28-29.

27 * Hügel to Rechberg, A-WHHsa, PA XXII, Box. 22: a document never before printed in its entirety or in its original French. Dr. Egon Corti already published extracts in Leopold I of Belgium: Secret Pages of European History. Trans. Joseph McCabe. (London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1925), pp. 275-277 & n. 1. Translated into French from the original German edition of 1823, Hügel's text is no longer in his own words in French but is a translation of a translation in Leopold 1er, oracle politique de l'Europe (Bruxelles, A. Dewit, 1926).

28 * LB III, p. 140, [2 December 1860].

29 * US-NYpm Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. Mary Cary Flagler Collection.

30 * WFL I, pp. 320; 322-323.

31 * Pauline Pocknell: "Franz Liszt and Joseph Maria Lefebvre: A Correspondence 1841-1848," Part II. Liszt Saeculum 55 (1995), Letter XVI & p. 19 n.3.

32 * Jacques Vier: Franz Liszt: l'artiste - le clerc (Paris: Le Cédre, 1960). Letter to Lambert Massart, 17 May 1845, pp. 84-85.

33 * LB IV, p. 29.

34 * For Heine: Alan Walker: Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years 1848-1861. Rev. Ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989), p. 70; For Belgiojoso: Daniel Ollivier, Ed., Autour de Mme d'Agoult et de Liszt: Alfred de Vigny, Emile Ollivier, Princesse de Belgiojoso (Paris, Grasset, 1941). Letter of 15 January 1849, pp. 203-204.

35 * Fanny Lewald recounts Liszt's violently emotional outburst in Weimar in 1848 against the sentiments expressed in the "Marseillaise." Liszt shouted that the guillotine and bloodshed would not bring peace to the world and happiness to mankind; that Christianity's teaching of love must finally be taken seriously. To call to arms was a crime, an atrocity: Zwölf Bilder auf dem Leben. Erinnerungen (Berlin, Otto Janke, 1888), p. 341-343.

36 * LB III, p.126, 25 July 1860.

37 * A[lexander] de Bertha: "Franz Liszt: Etude Musico-psychologique." Mercure musical et S.I.M. III (15 Sept. to 15 Nov. 1907) pp. 1053-55.

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40 * See LB III, p. 95, 13 August 1857; p. 201, 13 June 1868. Maurice Parturier, Morny et son temps (Paris, 1969), pp. 93-94.

41 * Agnes came to Weimar after Eduard Lassen's first visit in March 1853; before Spring 1854, when she was already Cornelius's pupil for harmony (LB III, p. 65. 25 February 1856); Carl Maria Cornelius: Peter Cornelius, der Wort-und Tondichter. I. Von Mainz bis Wien. (Regensburg, 1925). I. p. 179-180. Without giving documentation (are such contracts documented?) Victor Seroff's suggestions about her private agenda there cannot be entirely discounted given her corroborating actions (see Franz Liszt: An Illustrated Biography, New York, 1966, p. 108). For news of her move to Brussels to work for her father see D-DS, 4 May 1855.

42 * For Liszt's advice about the Russian contract see LB III, p. 30.

43 * Otto von Bismarck: Die Gesammelten Werke. I. Auflage. II. Gedanken und Erinnerungen. Anhang: Aus Bismarck's Briefwechsel. (Stuttgart, J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung, 1901), I, p. 237;

44 * LB III, p. 47, 48, 49.

[...]

56 * Amy Fay: Music Study in Germany (New York, Dover, 1965) p. 233.