be lost, were it only to have rare defenders! A somewhat more precise impression can be gained from Liszt's letter to the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, of 18 August 1858, regarding a stipend of 1,000 thaler offered by the latter to support Liszt's activities. In order to fulfill its task of progress, the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik has not spared its editor either in efforts or sacrifices. By the fact that it represents, in a talented and conscientious manner, the opinions and sympathies of my friends and myself, it is in the most advanced, and consequently the most perilous, position of our musical situation; therefore our adversaries lose no opportunity of raising difficulties for it. Our opinions and sympathies will be sustained, I doubt not, by their worth and conviction; but if Your Highness condescends to come to our aid, we shall be both proud and happy – and it is by spreading our ideas through the Press that we can best strengthen our position. According to a document of 1858, written by Brendel and signed by Liszt, the 1,000 thaler stipend should be spent in part on "enlightening public opinion", for example with the help of the daily press, with regard to "modern tasks of musical art", i.e. for the purpose of permanent propaganda in favour of Liszt and his friends. Contemporary reactions Consequences of the Tonkünstler-Versammlung Richard Pohl reviewed the Tonkünstler-Versammlung in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, extensively praising Liszt and his works. In spite of Pohl's review, the question whether the musical part of the Tonkünstler-Versammlung was a victory or at least a success for Liszt remains open. Wagner, had already taken a sceptical point of view regarding such events two years earlier, writing in a letter to Hans von Bülow, . Go to the devil, all of you, with your sow music festivals and musical horse-races: you let the one side throw flowers, and the other side throw mud at yourselves! Doing such things, where not even genuinely good performances can be obtained, what can possibly come from it? Nothing pure but much dirt! And for this, venturing the last rest of an entirely shattered health, – and at Liszt's age and with his experiences of the world! After the Tonkünstler-Versammlung in Leipzig some of Liszt's letters show him in a bitter mood. An example is the letter to Weitzmann of 4 February 1860, stating that Liszt