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 method analogous to that which Wagner made in the opera. The two composers were actuated by similar impulses at about the same time without explicitly deriving direction from each other. We may doubt, however, whether Liszt would have made the significant advance he did if he had not felt the stimulus of Wagner's style and caught the spirit of his revolution.

While other prominent groups in Germany were conservative in tendency, the Weimar circle became noted for its radicalism. Here began several lines of progress which ultimately gave character to the succeeding period, with its tendency to reconstruct the whole fabric of musical style.

Franz Liszt

The early, pianistic career of Franz Liszt (d. 1886) has already been sketched (see sec. 201). It is supposed that one of the influences that diverted him into other paths was his passionate attachment to the Princess von Sayn-Wittgenstein of Russia, whom he met in 1846-7, and who exerted herself to turn him to larger efforts than those of a popular virtuoso. He had been connected with the Weimar court as a visiting artist since 1843. From 1849 he was court-choirmaster in residence, with every facility. The most striking feature of his incumbency was the series of operatic and orchestral performances under his direction. These included, among others, Wagner's Tannhauser in 1849, his Lohengrin in 1850, Raff's König Alfred and Rubinstein's Das verlorene Paradies in 1851, Berlioz' Benvenuto Cellini in 1852, Wagner's ''Der fliegende Holländer in 1853, Schubert's Alfonso ed Estrella and Rubinstein's Die sibirischen Jäger in 1854, Schumann's Genoveva, Lassen's Landgraf Ludwigs Brautfahrt in 1857, Cornelius' Der Barbier von Bagdad'' in 1858, besides large orchestral works by Berlioz, Schumann, Raff and others. His fame as a conductor led to his directing many festivals in 1852-9, as at Ballenstedt, Carlsruhe, Vienna, Magdeburg, Aix and Leipsic. His advocacy of Wagner and Berlioz aroused widespread discussion, with a ranging of critics and composers into parties throughout Germany. In the war of ideas the Neue Zeitschrift at Leipsic became the leading organ of the 'New-German' spirit. Of special importance in this movement were Liszt's own 'symphonic poems,' including Tasso (1849), Prometheus (1850), Orpheus, Les Préludes and Mazeppa (all 1854), Die Ideale, the