War of The Romantics - Liszt and His Followers

Liszt and His Followers

The key figure on the Weimar ("New German") side was Franz Liszt. Richard Wagner was frequently invoked by both sides as a hero or an enemy but he personally preferred to keep above the fray. Other notable figures siding with Liszt were the critic Richard Pohl and composers Felix Draeseke, Julius Reubke, Karl Klindworth, Hans von Bülow, William Mason and Peter Cornelius. There were several attempts, centering around Liszt, to create a lasting and formal society. The Neu-Weimar-Verein was one attempt to form a club. It lasted a few years and published minutes of their meetings. The Tonkünstler-Versammlung (Congress of Musical Artists), which first met in Leipzig in June 1859, was a more successful attempt at forming an organization. (See New German School.) It eventually led to the founding in 1861 of the Allgemeine Deutsche Musikverein (ADMV)(q.v.), the 'United German Musical Union', which espoused Liszt's musical enthusiasms.