Introduction

This chapter is about Franz Liszt, and points out that, although "the discussions of so-called critical musicologists" are important – discussions of subjects such as "Liszt and gender, or Liszt and class, or Liszt and the field of cultural production" – also need "a return to fact-based research". One of most relentlessly mentioned, praised, and ridiculed aspects of Liszt's musical legacy is virtuosity, especially Liszt's own performative virtuosity. Although Liszt's life and music are inextricably linked, much more attention has been paid to his life and much less, overall, to his music. Liszt's faith and his knowledge of sacred musical practices are often overlooked or ignored today by critics concerned primarily with race, class, gender, and other social concerns. It was his Catholic faith that shaped a great deal of his output, especially his programmatic works and his later compositions of many kinds.