Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"If only I do not die here." After falling ill during a visit to Bayreuth, Franz Liszt uttered this melancholy refrain throughout his final days, which were spent in rented rooms in a house opposite Wahnfried, the home of his daughter Cosima and his deceased son-in-law Richard Wagner. Attended by incompetent doctors and ignored and treated coldly by his daughter, the great composer endured needless pain and indignity, according to a knowledgeable eyewitness. Lina Schmalhausen, his student, caregiver, and close companion, recorded in her diary a graphic description of her teacher's illness and death. Alan Walker here presents this never-before-published account of Liszt's demise in the summer of 1886.Walker, whose three-volume biography of Liszt was praised as "without rival" by Time, states that "no one who is remotely interested in the life and work of Franz Liszt can remain unaffected by the diary." Schmalhausen's tale of neglect, family indifference, and medical malpractice was considered so explosive at the time of its writing that it was kept from public view. The twenty-two-year-old Schmalhausen was regarded with suspicion by many in the composer's inner circle, as well as by other confidants, and a sanitized and inaccurate depiction of Liszt's death made its way into the history books. For this volume, Walker has overseen the translation and thoroughly annotated the eighty-one-page handwritten diary, and added a selection of illustrations. A prologue contains important background information on Liszt himself and on Lina Schmalhausen's diary. An epilogue discusses the funeral and ensuing controversies over disposition of the composer's remains.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Illustrations (p. vii)
• Preface (p. ix)
• Acknowledgments (p. xiii)
• Prologue: The Background (p. 1)
• Liszt's Last Days: The Diary of Lina Schmalhausen
• Thursday, July 22 (p. 31)
• Friday, July 23 (p. 49)
• Saturday, July 24 (p. 59)
• Sunday, July 25 (p. 69)
• Monday, July 26 (p. 79)
• Tuesday, July 27 (p. 97)
• Wednesday, July 28 (p. 105)
• Thursday, July 29 (p. 109)
• Friday, July 30 (p. 123)
• Saturday, July 31 (p. 131)
• Sunday, August 1 (p. 137)
• Monday, August 2 (p. 145)
• Tuesday, August 3 (p. 149)
• Epilogue: Liszt's Funeral (p. 151)
• Sources (p. 195)
• Index (p. 199)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Walker, author of a highly regarded, three-volume biography of Liszt and winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize, here offers a slender but remarkable addition to the scholarship on the great Hungarian composer. While combing the Goethe and Schiller Archives in Weimar, along with the papers of Liszt biographer Lina Ramann, he ran across the diary of Lina Schmalhausen, a student of Liszt who became a devoted caregiver to her elderly master when he fell ill in Bayreuth in July 1886. Carefully translated and copiously annotated here by Walker, the diary convincingly debunks the sanitized version of Liszt's death, which had the composer passing away peacefully from pneumonia, surrounded by loving relatives. In fact, Liszt was ignored by his cold daughter Cosima (who had fallen out with her father after marrying Richard Wagner) and attended by incompetent doctors. Schmalhausen's account makes for riveting, at times horrifying reading, and Walker is to be commended for bringing it to light. Recommended for all music collections.-Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Walker's three-volume Franz Liszt (CH, Sep'83, Dec'89, 1997) is the standard biography of the composer. The present book, not quite volume 4, is a fascinating addendum. Schmalhausen was a Liszt pupil of questionable ability, yet at the end of Liszt's life she served him with utter devotion as nurse and helper. This elaborate account of Liszt's last days remained unknown until very recently. According to Walker, Schmalhausen's reporting was careful and accurate, although her opinions were obviously biased. Walker essentially rewrote the dairy to make it accessible and readable (the extent of the rewriting is not apparent, but for all but a very few scholars this will not be important). Walker contributes 70 pages of additional material plus generous annotations; much of this information seems new. The book represents the state of the art in Liszt scholarship and should be consulted by anyone interested in 19th-century European music. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Libraries supporting classical music curricula at all levels. B. J. Murray University of Alabama

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Alan Walker is Professor Emeritus of Music at McMaster University, Canada, and author of numerous books