No nineteenth-century composer had more diverse ties to his contemporary world than Franz Liszt (1811-1886). At various points in his life he made his home in Vienna, Paris, Weimar, Rome, and Budapest. In his roles as keyboard virtuoso, conductor, master teacher, and abb, he reinvented the concert experience, advanced a progressive agenda for symphonic and dramatic music, rethought the possibilities of church music and the oratorio, and transmitted the foundations of modern pianism.

The essays brought together in Franz Liszt and His World advance our understanding of the composer with fresh perspectives and an emphasis on historical contexts. Rainer Kleinertz examines Wagners enthusiasm for Liszts symphonic poem Orpheus; Christopher Gibbs discusses Liszts pathbreaking Viennese concerts of 1838; Dana Gooley assesses Liszt against the backdrop of antivirtuosity polemics; Ryan Minor investigates two cantatas written in honor of Beethoven; Anna Celenza offers new insights about Liszts experience of Italy; Susan Youens shows how Liszts songs engage with the modernity of Heinrich Heines poems; James Deaville looks at how publishers sustained Liszts popularity; and Leon Botstein explores Liszts role in the transformation of nineteenth-century preoccupations regarding religion, the nation, and art.

Franz Liszt and His World also includes key biographical and critical documents from Liszts lifetime, which open new windows on how Liszt was viewed by his contemporaries and how he wished to be viewed by posterity. Introductions to and commentaries on these documents are provided by Peter Bloom, Jos Bowen, James Deaville, Allan Keiler, Rainer Kleinertz, Ralph Locke, Rena Charnin Mueller, and BenjaminWalton.