Liszt in Esztergom – a Festival in his Memory
Liszt in Esztergom – a Festival in his Memory

Summary/Abstract: “It is a quarter to 3. The last Amen of the Mass has just been pronounced... and I am coming to kiss your hands... while telling you that everything went according to your wishes, and that God blessed me. My Mass began at 1.30. As I had estimated, the whole work lasts only 45 to 50 minutes at most, watch in hand. The performance was perfect, even admirable in several places – without the least little hitch... In all, we were more than 130 singers and players. Unless I am greatly mistaken, the general impression produced by the work is beyond what I could have flattered myself I would obtain... For the moment, I want only to thank and bless you for having inspired me with good thoughts and helped me to work for God!” So wrote Liszt from Esztergom on 31 August 1856 in a letter to Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein in Weimar. He was describing the performance of his Gran Mass during the ceremony of the consecration of the Cathedral – the occasion for which the work had been commissioned by the Primate of Hungary, archbishop János Scitovsky. Gran is the German name for Esztergom, and in Hungary the work is referred to by its Hungarian name: Esztergomi Mise.

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