CONFERENCE ABOUT THE LISZT MANUSCRIPTS

Our museum and research center organized a special conference on 14 March in the Chamber Hall of the Old Music Academy about the newly disclosed Liszt manuscripts. On this special event seven musicologists presented their lectures about the background and origin of these invaluable documents. The conference was also an excellent oppurtinity for the Research Center of the Museum to present itself as the home of common thoughts and ideas. The researcher colleagues of the Liszt Research Center have already given presentations in 2015 on the conference dedicated to the bicentenary of the birth of Mihály Mosonyi. One of our most important goals as a research center is to collect the individual works of our musicologist colleagues and be recognised in Hungary and worldwide for our results as a team.

The scores previously thought to be lost were originally published by the Táborszky and Parsch Company and when Kálmán Nádor purchased the Táborszky music shop in 1895, the manuscripts became his property. The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music purchased these manuscripts thanks to the financial support of the Ministry of Human Capacities. All seven manuscripts have some connections to Hungary and their historical significance is inestimable. The autographs are handwritten versions of already known and published works, and now that they are available studies will continue. The main aspect of the research is how existing viewpoints about these works will change following further studies conducted on the newly discovered manuscripts. Almost all the newly found compositions can be tied to Hungary as they are connected to Hungarian themes or Hungarian poetry. This manuscript collection opens new perspectives and gives a chance for researchers and musicologists all over the world to form an even better understanding of Liszt’s works.

The complete text of the lectures will soon be uploaded to the Liszt Museum’s Hungarian website and we are also planning to publish an album with facsimiles of the manuscipts along with the English versions of the lectures.