Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years, 1848-1861
The middle volume of what many people call the finest musical biography ever written about anyone.
Alan Walker covers the years in which Liszt gave up the touring virtuoso’s life, settled at Weimar, conducted, taught, and wrote the symphonic poems. It is the central volume of a three-part life regularly named among the best biographies in any field, and the scholarship carries its considerable length easily.
Recommended by 1 Person
Tyler Cowen
Alan Walker, Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years, 1848-1861. Walker’s three-volume biography of Liszt is one of the very best biographies, ever. I like it better than most of what you hear people talk about on Twitter in the way of biography. You do need some familiarity with the music of Liszt to grasp these books, but it suffices to listen along while you read, you do not have to be an expert.
Source · January 2025
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