22 October: Franz Liszt

Born this date in 1811 was Franz Liszt, prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, organist, philanthropist and author.

1. He was born in Hungary to Adam and Anna Liszt. His father was a musician who played the Piano, Violin, cello and Guitar. He knew Haydn, Hummel and Beethoven personally through his work – he was in the service of Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy. Franz began learning to play the piano from his father when he was seven and was composing by the age of eight.
2. The first of his compositions to be published was his Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli, part of an anthology commissioned by Anton Diabelli himself, which included 50 variations on his waltz by 50 different composers. Liszt wasn't named in the credits – he was simply described as "an 11 year old boy, born in Hungary". He was the only child composer to contribute.
3. When his father died, Liszt and his mother moved to a small apartment in Paris, where Liszt gave piano lessons to make ends meet. He was forced to give up his budding career as a touring pianist and work all the hours God sent to earn money. He had to travel across the city to his various students. It was sufficiently stressful that he started smoking and drinking.
4. He never married but he did have relationships with women. He fell in love with one of his pupils, Caroline de Saint-Cricq, but her father disapproved and insisted the relationship ended. After that, Liszt became so ill people thought he was going to die and published his obituary. He was also depressed for a long time, questioned his religious faith and did no composing for some time. Later he had a relationship with the Countess Marie d'Agoult, who left her husband for him. They had three children but when Liszt began touring as a virtuoso again, he spent little time with them, and the couple eventually separated. The Polish Princess, Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein also left her husband for Liszt and they stayed together for 40 years, until Liszt died. They would have married on Liszt's 50^th birthday, but Caroline's ex-husband made sure it didn't happen by petitioning the Pope; he also took away her estate.
5. There was a certain amount of fan-mania surrounding Franz Liszt. He was good looking, described by Hans Christian Andersen as a "slim young man with dark hair hung around his pale face", and had charismatic stage presence, resulting in female fans becoming hysterical – fighting over his gloves and handkerchiefs and ripping them to pieces. The term "Lisztomania" was coined by German poet Heinrich Heine to describe the phenomenon.
6. By his mid forties, he had made so much money that he was able to give away most of his performing fees to charity. He donated to the building of schools and churches, including Cologne Cathedral; he also donated to hospitals and pension funds for musicians. When he found out about the Great Fire of Hamburg, which raged for three days in May 1842 and destroyed much of the city, he gave concerts in aid of those who had lost their homes. He also gave piano lessons for free.
7. He is known for writing difficult piano music, but he also wrote for orchestra, and for other ensembles, invariably including piano. He didn't just write Music, either. He wrote a number of essays which were published in magazines, including a series on On the situation of artists. He even wrote an essay under the pseudonym Emm Prym about his own music, but that was rejected. When asked why he hadn’t written the story of his life, Liszt replied, ‘because I was too busy living it’.
8. He became a monk for a while. Two of his children died within three years of each other, which prompted Liszt to enter a monastery and join the Third Order of Saint Francis.
9. He was a Freemason and the first person to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Königsberg, although he never used the title 'Doctor' in public.
10. He remained fit and active, embarking on occasional concert tours until he fell downstairs in his hotel in 1881. He never quite recovered from the accident and was plagued with health problems and depression for years after that. He died of pneumonia in 1886 at the age of 74.

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