Marie von Thurn und Taxis

From Memoirs of a Princess, Marie von Thurn und Taxis

Liszt

WE had barely arrived in Sagrado when Mamma received a telegram from Princess Wittgenstein telling her that Liszt intended to travel from Vienna to Rome and suggesting that Mamma invite him to break his journey at our house. Of course my mother was only too pleased, and so it happened that the great man arrived, on May 5, 1869, with a young pianist from Saxony whom he was taking with him to Italy. He spent a few days in Sagrado, which he seemed to like very much ; he was extremely agreeable and good-natured and once, to please Mamma, he forced me to play piano-duets with him. I was in despair. I was always miserable when I had to perform my tricks, playing Valses mélancholiques, Moments musicaux, Pluies de perles or similar inanities for our visitors, but this time I nearly died of fright. Liszt amused himself by introducing variations while we were playing, and this threw me into terrible confusion. Then he terminated the final cadenza by flicking the tip of my nose with his long, nimble fingers—which I considered an unforgivable insult to the dignity of my thirteen years, and I began to detest Liszt notwithstanding his surprising good-naturedness.

One evening he actually sat down at the piano and played dance-music for us! Another time Madame da Mosto, his pretty compatriot, came to supper and afterwards he played one of his Hungarian Rhapsodies for her, which made an unforgettable impression on me. Then he played on our poor little Pleyel piano the improvisation on Viennese themes he had played for Napoleon III : the piano never quite recovered from having been subjected to the lion's claw for several days.

One afternoon the young man from Saxony was practising a sonata by Beethoven in the little white boudoir ; I was listening devoutly in the drawing-room. Suddenly the door next to the piano opened and Liszt appeared on the threshold—his tall, black-garbed figure very erect, his silver-white hair flowing, his long arms raised. He remained motionless in this hieratical attitude, indicating the mood of a majestic passage—how I regret that I no longer remember which it was! He appeared to me like the high priest of his august art, and from that day I began, though still vaguely, to realize what the essence of music could be. I can still see the great magician with his magnificent head, his fine, grave features, his upraised arms, and the passionately intense expression of the young virtuoso whose playing seemed to flow from this mute invocation.

It is sad that I was still too young to enjoy the wonderful music he made for us and that he wasted his time by playing an overture by Mercadante with me. And that I had even felt cross with him.

Translated and compiled by Nora Wydenbruck
London : Hogarth Press, 1959, pages 71-2.

Thurn und Taxis, Marie, Princess, 1855-1934. Title Erinnerungen an Rainer Maria Rilke [von] Marie von Thurn und Taxis-Hohenlohe. Publisher Frankfurt a. M.] : Insel Verlag, [1966] Description 120 p. 19 cm. Series Insel-Bücherei, Nr. 888 Language German

Thurn und Taxis, Marie, Princess, 1855-1934 Uniform Title [ Erinnerungen an Rainer Maria Rilke] Title Memoirs of a princess; reminiscences. Translated and compiled by Nora Wydenbruck Publisher London, Hogarth Press, 1959 Description 224 p. illus. 21 cm Language English Contents Early memories.--Diaries and sketches.--Memories of Rainer Marie Rilke

Thurn und Taxis, Marie (zu Hohenlohe) F�rstin von, 1855-1934. Title Memoirs of a princess; the reminiscences of Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis, translated and compiled by Nora Wydenbruck. Publisher London, Hogarth Press, 1959. Description 224 p. ports. 21cm. Language English Contents Early memories.- Diaries and sketches.- Memories of Rainer Marie [sic] Rilke.

Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926. Uniform Title [ Correspondence. English] Title The letters of Rainer Maria Rilke and Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis. Translated and introduced by Nora Wydenbruck. Publisher Norfolk, Conn. New Directions [1958] Description x, 294 p. 23 cm. Language English Note The present ed. is a translation of the letters edited by Ernst Zinn and published in 1951 under title: Briefwechsel [zwischen] Rainer Maria Rilke und Marie von Thurn und Taxis. "Dr. Theodor Haemmerli to Marie Taxis": p. 267-269.

Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926. Uniform Title [ Correspondence. English] Title The letters of Rainer Maria Rilke and Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis. Translated and introduced by Nora Wydenbruck. Publisher Norfolk, Conn. New Directions [1958] Description x, 294 p. 23 cm. Language English Note The present ed. is a translation of the letters edited by Ernst Zinn and published in 1951 under title: Briefwechsel [zwischen] Rainer Maria Rilke und Marie von Thurn und Taxis. "Dr. Theodor Haemmerli to Marie Taxis": p. 267-269.

Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926. Title Briefwechsel [zwischen] Rainer Maria Rilke und Marie von Thurn und Taxis. [Besorgt durch Ernst Zinn] Publisher Zürich : Niehans & Rokitansky, [c1951] Description 2 v. (xxxvii, 1034 p.) illus. 19 cm. Language German

Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926. Title Rainer Maria Rilke und Marie von Thurn und Taxis, Briefwechsel. [Besorgt durch Ernst Zinn. Mit einem Geleitwort von Rudolf Kassner] Publisher Z�rich, Niehans & Rokitansky [1951] Description 2 v. Language German

Thurn und Taxis, Marie, Princess, 1855-1934. Title Erinnerungen an Rainer Maria Rilke / F�rstin Marie von Thurn und Taxis-Hohenlohe. Publisher M�nchen : R. Oldenbourg ; Z�rich : Corona, c1937. Description 101 p., [1] leaf of plates : port. ; 22 cm. Series Schriften der Corona ;1 Language German Note "Deutsche Ausgabe besorgt von Georg H. Blokesch. Mit einem Lichtdruck nach einer Zeichnung der Verfasserin."

Thurn und Taxis, Marie, Princess, 1855-1934 Title Souvenirs sur Rainer Maria Rilke / publi�s par Maurice Betz Publisher Paris : /b �mile-Paul, 1936 Description 216 p. ; 19 cm Language French Note At head of title: Princesse de la Tour et Taxis

Thurn und Taxis, Marie, Princess, 1855-1934. Title Erinnerungen an Rainer Maria Rilke. Publisher München [etc.] : R. Oldenbourg, [c1933] Description 101 p. port. 21 cm. Series Schriften der corona.I Language German Note At head of title: Fürstin Marie von Thurn und Taxis-Hohenlohe. "Zweite Auflage."

Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926. Uniform Title [ Correspondence. English] Title The letters of Rainer Maria Rilke and Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis. Translated and introduced by Nora Wydenbruck. Publisher Norfolk, Conn. New Directions [1958] Description x, 294 p. 23 cm. Language English Note The present ed. is a translation of the letters edited by Ernst Zinn and published in 1951 under title: Briefwechsel [zwischen] Rainer Maria Rilke und Marie von Thurn und Taxis. "Dr. Theodor Haemmerli to Marie Taxis": p. 267-269. Subject Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875-1926. Correspondence. Selections.