524 LISZT LITCHFIELD received with extraordinary enthusiasm, and was presented by the inhabitants with a sword of honor and the rights of citizenship. In 1839 an effort was made to raise by subscription a sum sufficient to erect a monument to Beetho- ven in Bonn, his birthplace. At the end of six months only 600 francs had been sub- scribed, when Liszt contributed the whole amount (about 60,000 francs) necessary for the completion of the monument, and it was inau- gurated in August, 1845. From 1838 to 1847 his career was a succession of triumphs. In the latter year he retired to a small village in Germany, with the intention of devoting him- self to a higher order of composition than the fantasias and other pianoforte pieces which he had previously produced. About this time he accepted an offer from the duke of Weimar to assume the post of conductor of the court con- certs and the opera at Weimar. In this posi- tion he made Weimar one of the chief musical centres of Europe, and helped to introduce to notice several of the rising composers of Ger- many, notably Richard Wagner. With char- acteristic generosity he also afforded gratuitous instruction to young pianists, for whos benefit he gave private performances. During this period he produced his most important musical compositions. His FaustsympJionie mit Chor, Granermesse, Kronungsmesse, and his oratorios Die Heilige Elisabeth and Christus, created a great sensation and gave rise to much criticism and discussion. In 1861 he went to Rome and became a great favorite of the pope. In 1865 he took ecclesiastical orders; and since that time he has been known as the abb6 Liszt, and has devoted himself principally to the compo- sition of church music. In 1870 he acted as leader of the Beethoven festival at Weimar, and afterward gave concerts for charitable and re- ligions objects in Munich, Vienna, Pesth, and other cities. In 1871 he suddenly offered for sale his villa at Rome, and took up his resi- dence in Pesth ; and in 1874, the 50th year of his artistic career, he gave to the museum of Pesth his valuable collection of curiosities and works of art. As a performer Liszt stands at the head of what has been called the " prodi- gious" school, excelling in the production of difficult and novel effects. His fingering is firm, vigorous, and wonderfully flexible ; but he labors under the imputation, not altogether unfounded, of sacrificing grace to strength, and of a desire to astonish rather than to charm by his playing. Bach, Handel, Beethoven, and the older composers have, however, had no more eloquent interpreter, notwithstanding he cannot always avoid substituting his own ideas for theirs. He has been an active contributor to musical literature, and is the author of a "Life of Chopin" (1852; English translation by Martha Walker Cook, 1863), of a work on "The Gypsies and their Music " (Paris, 1859), and of numerous articles in the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik. His Theoretische und praTctische Musik, in 3 vols., is announced for publication in 1875. He has been one of the most prolific composers of this generation. His works number several hundred, and belong to almost every department of the art. During the earlier parts of his career he was more conspicuous as an arranger of the ideas of others than as an original composer. He has made fantasies and improvisations on nearly all the popular Italian and German operas, and has transcribed for the piano a great number of German songs. His compositions for or- chestra are numerous, and display boldness of treatment and variety of instrumental effect rather than originality or beauty of thought. LITCHFIELD, the N. W. county of Connecti- cut, bordering on New York and Massachu- setts; area, 885 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870 48,727. It is watered by the Honsatonic, Naugatuck, and Farmington rivers, with their branches, which supply extensive water power. The surface is uneven, in some parts mountainous, and the soil is good. Iron ore abounds, and is extensively manufactured. The Housatonic, the Naugatuck, and the Connecticut Western railroads pass through it. The chief produc- tions in 1870 were 6,822 bushels of wheat, 50,444 of rye, 236,900 of Indian corn, 257,606 of oats, 27,561 of buckwheat, 319,497 of pota- toes, 1,048,569 Ibs. of tobacco, 51,759 of wool, 1,617,850 of butter, 1,307,396 of cheese, and 109,415 tons of hay. There were 6,076 horses, 22,514 milch cows, 6,482 working oxen, 17,477 other cattle, 17,824 sheep, and 7,232 swine. Of the numerous manufacturing establish- ments, the principal were 14 of agricultural implements, 9 of brass, brass ware, pins, &c., 41 of carriages, 3 of cotton goods, 10 of cut- lery and edge tools, 12 of hardware, 2 of hats and caps, 20 of iron, 4 of machinery, 1 of needles, 6 of paper, 2 of plated ware, 1 of silk goods, 17 of tin, copper, and sheet-iron ware, 9 of woollen goods, 1 of worsted goods, 11 tanneries, 6 currying establishments, 81 flour mills, and 30 saw mills. Capital, Litchfield. LITCHFIELD, the shire town of Litchfield co., Connecticut, situated between the Naugatuck river on the east and the Shepaug on the west, 30 m. W. of Hartford ; pop. in 1870, 3,113. It contains five post villages, viz. : Bantam Falls, East Litchfield (on the Naugatuck railroad), Litchfield, Milton, and Northfield. The village of Litchfield is near the centre of the town, at the terminus of the Shepaug railroad, and oc- cupies an elevated site noted for the beauty of its view. It is built chiefly on two streets, shaded with ancient elms and crossing each other at right angles ; near the intersection of these are two parks, in the E. one of which a monument to the memory of citizens of the town who fell in the civil war has been erect- ed. The village contains the court house, jail, a national and a savings bank, three hotels, several schools, a private lunatic asylum, two weekly newspapers, and four churches. It was the seat of a celebrated law school, es- tablished in 1784 and discontinued in 1838, and
