Skip to main content

My favorite composers of the 19th century - Liszt, Chopin, Saint Saens, Tchaikovsky, Massenet

5 Music Virtuosos of the 19th century


Franz Liszt ( 1811 - 1886)


Frederic Chopin ( 1810 - 1849)


Pyotr Tchaikovsky ( 1840-1893)


Camille Saint- Saens, ( 1835 - 1921)


Jules Massenet ( 1842 - 1912 )




Since we found this amazing site, http://tchaikovsky-research.net/

which has so many information about not only, Pyotr Tchaikovsky

but many other people who were around him in that generation, I’ve been even more into the 19th century ’s, my favorite composers.

Tchaikovsky seems like really a perfectionist, analyzing music and many other things and people, 

and there are thousands of his private letters which he wrote to a wealthy widow named Nadezdha von Meck who admired him and his music so much.

He might not have imagined that his private letters to her would one day be open to public viewing in the future.

I feel like becoming a gossip woman when I started reading them, 

but it ’s so interesting to know, as he is one of my favorite composers, his view and opinion about other composers especially my favorites, Saint -Saens, Chopin, Liszt, and Massenet.

The funny thing is, he was ranking composers, who in my opinion it’s impossible to rank because they are all at the top level, all geniuses.

Tchaikovsky’s opinions and rankings are very detailed, and something funny. And some of what he says I agree with, some I disagree.

I also noticed that he likes composers who are opposite or at least quite different from his own music, and he has some biased views in favor of or not in favor of, many composers and music.

And this is the same as everyone in the world has biased opinions about many topics.

One thing I noticed is that whichever other composers ( besides Tchaikovsky ) that Nadezdha von Meck likes and compliments, Tchaikovsky was becoming more and more against them and saying bitter things. lol


So far from the letters I’ve read, it seems that Nadezdha von Meck’s favorite music was in the romantic style, and that her favorite composers were Tchaikovslky, Chopin and Liszt.

And she did not like Mozart’s music and Massenet‘s music , whereas Tchaikovsky loved Mozart’s music.

I’m more similar taste to Nadezdha except for her dislike of Massenet’s music.

Also, I don’t dislike Mozart’s music like her and I love several of his music. 

Most of his music sounds very happy music and they make me feel happy and luxury feeling as well.

But compared with Saint- Saens, Tchaikovsky and Chopin, I sometimes feel his emotion a little more shallow, and some of his music sounds more like math and cold.


About Jules Massenet’s music,

His music is mysterious to me, whenever I listen to his music,
for example, his Piano Concerto performed by Aldo Ciccolini, from EMI Classics, it makes me feel so peaceful, happy feeling but the funny thing is I can’t remember any of his music , or hum it or sing it.

Normally I often sing the melodies of my favorite music and songs, but for Massenet I can’t sing his music, it’s just too complicated and mystery.

It’s something unique to me.

I did feel bored for many of his other music though, but I really love his Piano Concerto and many of his other piano music, and love his music piece
“ Meditation “ from his opera “ Thais “.

I agree with Tchaikovsky about Massenet’s music.

It was also funny, Nadehzda had sent Tchaikovsky photographs of many of their generations most famous composers, and he said he liked Massenet’s face. 

He said he really has the looks of an artist.



For looks,

I really think Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Massenet, Chopin had very attractive looks.

For my personal type, 

I love Liszt’s looks. 

Very charismatic !


I really understand why many of his women fans fainted when they saw him perform, and he was like a rock star in his generation. ( same as Chopin )


When the first time I saw his photos ( of when he was young ),

I was like ,

“ Oh, wow ! “ .

His face is unique, not what one might think of as a basic handsome face but something very charming and cool.

Romantic, gentleman.







For face itself, Massenet and Tchaikovsky have the most basic handsome faces. IMO.

Massenet’s eyes are softer than Tchaikovsky‘s, which are more sharp.

Chopin looks cool. 

Unfortunately, because of his frequent struggles with illness throughout his life, he didn’t look healthy in the photo and paintings I saw.

But despite this, I really understand why Chopin and Liszt were the biggest rock stars. Their ages were also only one year difference.



For personalities,

Another thing I was inspired about Liszt is his helpful support to other composers.

My top favorite music is Saint-Saen’s " Danse Macabre " and according to information I‘ve read about it, when Saint-Saens first performed this music, it was not a hit with the audience because the music is unique and weird and it was not familiar with many people.

However, Liszt absolutely loved it.

Amazing thing is Liszt soon rushed home and played the entire Danse Macabre on his piano from memory, after having heard it only once !

He then transcribed all the different instrument parts of the music for the piano.

Liszt then started playing it in his concert tours. Liszt was already a rock star who had tons of fans, so from that point people were getting familiar with the music and getting to loving Saint-Saen’s Danse Macabre and , as a result it got a big success.

In his letters, Tchaikovsky also wrote that he loved Danse Macabre and was very impressed with it.

Since the first time I listened to Danse Macabre, I became crazy for the music, and started listening to it hundreds of times for a while.

This music blew everything away, I don’t know why, but I really love this kind of music.

Maybe it fit with my personality , I looove every part of it and the sounds that Saint- Saens is able to get from the orchestra, from beginning to the end.

It gives me passion and strong energy like I was plugged in to an electric energy current. 

I love it because it’s unique, very powerful, bourgeois , almost like dramatic music from another dimension.

Liszt was soon composing music in the same vein as Danse Macabre, and there are several famous Liszt compositions in the style, such as Totentanz.

Liszt considered Saint Saens as a great friend and as a musical ally.

I also love Mascarade Walz which was composed by the Armenian composer Katchaturian.

Liszt sounds like he was a very social , beloved, charming person, a giving person ( helping others ), makes people happy.

In the same occupation , usually people have jealousy to their rivals and are careless to their rivals and just only compete with them, 

but Liszt sounds like he was amazingly caring and in fact helped promote many of his favorite composer’s music , for example, Chopin, Saint - Saens, and almost as if he became like a fan of many of these composers.

Super fans will always try to promote their favorite star, but in the same occupation (?) , it’s something unusual to me.

I really feel he has high frequency level, like a messenger of a god.

Liszt and Chopin are the best legendary pianists with amazing skill and technique.

Any kids who have ever learned piano playing know that Liszt and Chopin are at the highest level to play, it’s not easy to get to that level.

Canpanella was my first time to listen to Liszt’ music when I was a teenager, soon I loved it and it‘s still my favorite of his music.

Liszt lived a long life and eventually composed an immense amount of music.

I think he has many emotional, dramatic, colorful, creative music , but there are also a few which are just color and maybe not so emotional, not so imaginative music as well.


Tchaikovsky seems to have had an issue with Liszt music and his personality, saying that Liszt was complimenting everyone, he felt the complimenting was too much and that Liszt was being dishonest of his true feelings.

But.. how does he know Liszt was not honest just because he didn’t say any negative thing to others ??

Maybe that is exactly how Liszt felt, and he was just expressing his honest positive feelings. 

But for whatever reason, Tchaikovslky had issues with Liszt music and personality.

I used to actually feel like these genius composers are not real to me , same as with people who lived thousands years ago, but in actuality their generation is less than 200 years ago, so it really was not so long ago.

I wonder before Mozart’s and Bach’s generations, what kind of music people were listening to?

And were dancing with ??

I can’t imagine a generation where there were no music like Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens , how boring is that ? (IMO)

It seems to me that Tchaikovsky was like unconsciously doing the law of attraction in his life especially for getting creative ideas, attracting financial freedom, and also using his strong emotions to influence his musical universe to whatever he strongly desired.

He was a very successful composer while he was alive and after he passed away his music is still one of the most popular, and timeless. 

He sounds very emotional, and imaginative, so when thinking about how the Law of Attraction works, it seems that the universe could easily catch his desired emotion. 

Just my thought.

On the other hand, when it comes to success, Carmen’s composer George Bizet’s life sounds like he had a more difficult time in this regard.

He was rarely successful while he was alive, but after he passed away, his Carmen became famous.

I don’t get why audience didn’t like Carmen in the beginning.

Bizet sounds like he used all his energy to make it, and after he knew audience had little reaction for the music, he got really depressed and he died soon after that.

Tchaikovsky’s analysis was right Carmen is the most legendary music in opera in a long time.

It's getting long post, so I will finish now.


Popular posts from this blog

Who was The Mysterious Masked Messenger who visited Mozart ?

Perhaps the most mysterious legend about Mozart is that of the " Masked Messenger ". This mysterious masked messenger is also known historically as the "Man in Gray" , "The Mysterious Messenger" , "The Gray Messenger". The story of the masked messenger was featured prominently in the movie “ Amadeus ".           Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart How much of this story is true ? When Mozart died in the early morning hours of December 5, 1791, he left his final masterpiece, the Requiem , unfinished. A few months later, a completed score of the Requiem was delivered to its anonymous commissioner. How was the Requiem completed and how would Mozart have completed it had he lived? These mysteries have tantalized musicians for over two centuries. Mozart received the commission to compose the Requiem from the “ Mysterious Messenger" in the summer of 1791.  The Messenger paid half the commission in advance,

Health tips from an extra-terrestrial named Bashar - from a planet called Essassani

photo credit: skyseeker Mt. Fuji via photopin (license)    Today,  I would like to write about health tips from an extra-terrestrial being named Bashar who is from the Essassani Planet .     He is channeled by Darryl Anka. Planet earth used to have beautiful clear air, but since a long time ago the air has been polluted everywhere.    and the cause of most illnesses comes from the poison in the environment we are in, with the polluted air. Nowadays, it's hard to find places where there is beautiful clean air. and in this unfavorable environment, he is suggesting how to live healthy.   Health tips 1.  Clear Oxygen  According to Bashar,  the air after storms and typhoons have gone away, is the most clean ( purified ) and is good for our bodies. However when there is an overdose of artificial oxygen by using tools such as oxygen tanks , this can cause a lack of water, and will weaken cells.   So clean natural water needs to be used in a balanced amo

Sweet Food which does not get fat - Warabi mochi

I recently love eating this sweet food that Japanese call " Warabi mochi " which is made of 0 calories food psyllium in my coffee break time.   It's sweet food but I use Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener instead of sugar when I make it. Lakanto Monk Fruit sweetener is 0 calorie s and 0 glycemic and very similar taste as normal sugar. It is said it's derived from monk fruit, which looks like a small green gourd native to regions of China and Thailand.  It's not artificial so it is not bad for health so I feel comfortable eating it. Warabi mochi is a food which is normally made of Kinako ( soybean flour) & sugar & warabi powder and it's one of my favorite foods. However it's high calorie foods so if I eat a lot, it's easy to gain weight.   Because Warabi mochi flour is Starch and has sugar in it and is high calorie.  So I was not eating it. and then recently I found the recipe of diet Warabi Mochi which is made of Psyllium

Beauty skin care, Ninon de L'Enclos ‘s Secret of her young skin

Besides extra virgin olive oil, I’ve been doing a mixture of another great natural formula since two weeks ago. This information came from Ray who happened to find about Ninon de L’Enclos ’s amazing story concerning her youthful skin. According to the article, Ninon de L’ Enclos is known as a famous French beauty from the late 1600s. She kept her youthful skin until 85 years old when she passed away. Even in to her 80’s she was attracting many young men who fell hopelessly in love with her. She never published her secret of her youthful skin until the end , only telling her special friends about her secret formula. There is no photo of her, but seeing her painting in other websites, she looks in her 30’s when she was 85. According to the article, her face was as smooth and free of winkles in her 80’S as it had been at 20. She hated wrinkles and successfully kept her skin youthful , using her special secret formula. This information blew me away, and immediately

Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin’s friendship Part 1

Frederyk Chopin   I’m a long time fan of Chopin’s music since when I was a teenager. Started loving his music from hearing his Polonaise , then Noctunes , Etudes … Frederyk Chopin I was using one of Chopin’s Nocturnes as my background music for my answering machine when I was in my 20s. In Japan, many of his music is famous and used in many TV dramas, commercials, movies, and mostly wealthy bourgeois family scenes. My image of many of Chopin ’s music that I’ve listened to is of a cozy, bourgeois world. From almost all his music I’ve ever heard, I often pictured an elegant, wealthy family’s world or a story about a family who are living in a luxury antique style house. Many of Mozart ’s music reminds me of a social life in an older generation, a story about bourgeois world in a gorgeous luxury palace. For Liszt ’s music, his music is very variety, ranging from an image of a sweet passionate love story for couples, all the way to nightmare horror story type of mu

Franz Liszt’s dangerous love

  Franz Liszt was quite tall in his generation, standing 6 feet 2 inches tall , long blonde hair , piercing sharp eyes, pianist' long narrow and delicate hands and fingers. His body build was very slender. People who knew him described his personality as full of charm, charisma, and very knowledgeable.  And he loved brainy women. He was the consummate artist. It seems that Liszt loved dangerous love , which thrilled him and gave him excitement rather than a stable, peaceful , safe love. Franz Liszt While reading about his biography, I was wondering why he fell in love with two princesses who were already married. Marie D’Agoult He seems to have had a lot of love affairs in his life, someone found out that he had at least 26 serious relationships in his life ( besides countless other affairs ) but the only ladies he thought about marriage was with these two princesses , Marie D’Agoult and Carolyne Sayn Wittgenstein ? Charlotte Von Hagn L

My favorite ways of Law of Attraction Part 3 - Successful Wishing - Pierre Franckh

Pierre Franckh’s books “ Successful Wishing “ are another of my favorite books.     There are series, 1 to 6 , and are not published in English , but I did find them in a Japanese book store,  translated by a Japanese translator.   Pierre Franckh is a German actor ( Movies & TV) from 1959 – 2003, and is also a movie director and a writer.  Since 1996, he published many books and became a best selling author.  Franckh wrote based on his personal experiences from when he was a child . I love the way how he writes , it’s very easy to read and direct to the point, very clear how to do it with step by step instruction. Also importance of finding what you truly want.    Many people are actually not realizing what they really want and then when they get what they wanted,  still not feeling satisfied. Pierre said that before making your wishes and order to universe, it’s important to clear up what you really want and ask to yourself, why you w

Organic foods and healthy living “ You are what you eat ? “

We‘ve been enjoying organic foods since a month ago.   Because we care for our health and also organic foods taste more delicious than normal vegetables.   Recently, I really feel the famous quote  “ You are what you eat . “   is true.   Although healthy life comes from balance between mind, body, skin care, good night sleep and activities besides food life .   Health is a treasure.   Also I realized that “ good blood circulation ” is one of the most important key to keep healthy and look young skin.   After being amazed to see Styx’s ageless Tommy Shaw on TV, I started searching about “ secret of youth “.  He looks so much younger than his age.  Also, there was an interview with Styx on CNN in the morning about a week ago and they talked about what they think are the keys to longevity and a healthy life. http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/04/23/exp-kyra-phillips-age-against-the-machine.cnn  

”The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” - Albert Einstein 

Originally we were all creative because all children are creative. While growing up, many children lose their creativity by seeing, reading, hearing what many grown ups do and teach. According to a book called " Goal " by Brian Tracy, "Fully 95% of children tested between the ages of three and five are rated as highly creative. Of the same children tested again as teenagers, only about 5% rated  as highly creative. What happened to them in the interim ?   As they went through school, they were taught that if you want to get along, you follow the crowd. They learned not to question or challenge the teacher or to suggest unusual ideas. In their attempts to be liked and accepted by their peers, they allowed their creativity to die down, like a fire without fuel.  " "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once they grows up."  -  Pablo Picasso But if we don't use creativity, we lose it. It means that the more we use cre

Charm of Kenichi Hagiwara - Shoken

From Japanese Movie " Ame no Amsterdam (Rain in Amsterdam)" I've been into the late 1960s to 1970s generation since several years ago. I don't know why but I'm very interested in older generation's people, trends, lifestyle, scenery, habit, TV drama, music, films, etc..   and not so interested in new things much.  There are many new discoveries through checking out old stuff while reading and watching it, which I didn't know before. and about several months ago, I happened to find a youtube video of  a famous Japanese actor called Kenichi Hagiwara who was my favorite actor in 1970s when I was a kid. His nickname is Shoken and he is also a singer of Rock/blues music.                      Shoken( 18 years old) singing ”Legend of Emerald” Shoken was one of the super stars in Japan mainly from the late 60s generation to early 80s. When he was 15 years old,   he joined an amateur music group band called The Tempters as a vocalist.   A