Last years Liszt a few months before his death. Photo by Nadar Liszt fell down the stairs of a Hotel in Weimar on July 2, 1881. Though friends and colleagues had noticed swelling in his feet and legs when he had arrived in Weimar the previous month (an indication of possible congestive heart failure), he had been in good health up to that point and was still fit and active. He was left immobilized for eight weeks after the accident and never fully recovered from it. A number of ailments manifested—dropsy, asthma, insomnia, a cataract of the left eye and heart disease. The last-mentioned eventually contributed to Liszts death. He became increasingly plagued by feelings of desolation, despair and preoccupation with death—feelings which he expressed in his works from this period. As he told Lina Ramann, I carry a deep sadness of the heart which must now and then break out in sound.[27] He died in Bayreuth, Germany, on July 31, 1886, at the age of 74, officially as a result of pneumonia, which he may have contracted during the Bayreuth Festival hosted by his daughter Cosima. Questions have been posed as to whether medical malpractice played a part in his death.[28] He was buried on August 3, 1886, in the municipal cemetery of Bayreuth in accordance with his wishes.[29] Composer Camille Saint-Saëns, an old friend, whom Liszt had once called the greatest organist in the world, dedicated his Symphony No. 3 Organ Symphony to Liszt; it had premiered in London only a few weeks before his death.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 11:51:54 +0000