1811 - Franz Liszt was born on October 22 in the village of Doborján in
Sopron County, in the Kingdom of Hungary, in the Austrian Empire.
Liszt's father played the piano, violin, cello and guitar. He had been
in the service of Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy and knew Joseph Haydn,
Johann Hummel and Ludwig van Beethoven personally.
1818 - Franz's father starts teaching him the piano. He plays his first concert
in November of 1820. Some wealthy men offer to sponsor his education
in Vienna. There Liszt received piano lessons from Carl Czerny, and
lessons in composition from Ferdinando Paer and Antonio Salieri
1822 - Liszt's public debut in Vienna on 1 December 1822, was a great success.
He was greeted in Austrian and Hungarian aristocratic circles and also
met Beethoven and Franz Schubert.
1823 - Liszt and his father visit Paris and Liszt's fame grows. They tour several
countries and Liszt begins composing. Liszt's father makes a deal with
progressive piano maker Sébastien Érard for Liszt to only play his pianos.
1824 - Liszt's first composition to be published, his Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli,
appeared in Part II of Vaterländischer Künstlerverein. This anthology,
commissioned by Anton Diabelli, includes 50 variations on his waltz by
50 different composers (Part II), Part I being taken up by Beethoven's 33
variations on the same theme.
1827 - 1833 - Liszt's father dies and he moves to Paris with his mother where he teaches
music to provide for them. After an aristocrat ends Liszt's plans to marry
his daughter, Liszt falls very ill and struggles with pessimism. He reads
widely and meets many intellectuals who influence his thinking both
philosophically and musically, including Victor Hugo, Heinrich Heine,
Hector Berlioz, Niccolò Paganini, the Abbé de Lamennais, who acted as his
spiritual father, and also Chrétien Urhan, a German-born violinist who
introduced him to the Saint-Simonists. He also formed a friendship with
Frédéric Chopin, who influenced the development of Liszt's poetic and
romantic side.
1833 - 1839 - Liszt began his relationship with the Countess Marie d'Agoult who
leaves her husband and family for Liszt. They live in Italy and
Switzerland and have a son and two daughters, one of whom,
Cosima, will become the wife of pianist and conductor Hans von Bulow
and, later, composer Richard Wagner.
1839 - Liszt, 28, begins nine years of intensive touring. Lisztomania begins. Liszt
plays over 1,000 concerts in eight years (on average, about one every three days).
1844 - After five years of only seeing each other on holidays, Liszt and the Countess
separate.
1847 - In February 1847, Liszt, now 36, played in Kiev. There he met the married
the most significant people in the rest of his life. She persuaded him to
concentrate on composition, which meant giving up his career as a traveling
virtuoso. Liszt plays his last concert for pay in September. He is now very
wealthy.
Between 1848 and his death, Liszt's life is full and varied. In composing, he begins
writing influential orchestra music including inventing the symphonic poem genre.
In his final decade he returns to solo piano music but in a much different style which
anticipates 20th century piano music. He also teaches music and plays many
benefit concerts for various causes.
In 1847 Liszt had begun a romantic affair with Princess Caroline. She left her
1886 - Liszt died in Bayreuth, Germany, on 31 July 1886, at the age of 74,
as a result of pneumonia.
In 1847 Liszt had begun a romantic affair with Princess Caroline. She left her
husband for Liszt and they tried to get her marriage annulled for several years, but
ultimately failed. The Princess entered a nunnery and Liszt became an abbot in
the Catholic Church. .
1886 - Liszt died in Bayreuth, Germany, on 31 July 1886, at the age of 74,
as a result of pneumonia.
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