[Publius]

There's a fascinating story about a man named Anton Schindler.

He was Beethoven's factotum, and when Ludwig died, Schindler did everything possible to elevate himself in the eyes of the public. He wanted Beethoven to be known as "Schindler's Beethoven."

Beethoven had purchased "The Collected Works of George Frederick Handel" from the London publishing firm of Salomon. Schindler passed the volumes on to Franz Schubert.

While Beethoven had been old enough to hear Handel in the opera house, Schubert hadn't, so the books were a revelation. Schindler attached himself to Schubert because the current wisdom in Vienna was that Schubert was the next big thing. Schindler wanted Schubert to be remembered as "Schindler's Schubert." But a year after Beethoven died, Schubert died. Schindler ended up as a footnote to history.

If Schindler had been smart, he would have looked up a young pianist in Weimar. With a bit of luck, that pianist would be remembered today as "Schindler's Liszt."

[left that other site]

You should get an Oscar for that story! :-)

[dfwgator]

"Franz Liszt? Never heard of him...wrong number."