Adam Liszt

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Ádám Liszt (December 16, 1776 — August 28, 1827), was Franz Liszt's father and an amateur pianist and cellist.

He was born in Edelstal as the second child of Georg Liszt and Georg's first wife, Barbara Schlesak (Barbara Slezáková). They lived in Malacky, Slovakia, then under Hungrian rule.

As a teenager, he played cello in the Eszterházy summer orchestra under the direction of Joseph Haydn. After graduating the Catholic Gymnasium (high school) in Pressburg, Adam entered the Franciscan Order, but two years later by his petition in 1797 was released from the order. Adam still kept close relationship to the order which, probably, gave him the inspiration to name his son Franz.

An attempt by Adam to continue as a student of philosophy at the University of Pressburg ended due to financial reasons. He had to look for a job, and in 1798 became a clerk at the Esterhazy estate in Forchtenau (today's Forchtenstein). After two years, Adam was transferred to Kapuvár where he was missing the musical atmosphere at Eisenstadt. He started to compose music and dedicate it to the Prince in order to be transferred back to the Western part of Sopron county. Only in 1805 did he finally succeed in getting a job at the court in Eisenstadt. The years in Eisenstadt were his happy years. In his spare time he played cello in the orchestra led by Johann Nepomuk Hummel, the successor of Haydn, and had the opportunity to work with many musicians who came to Eisenstadt to perform, including Cherubini and Beethoven. This happy time ended when in 1809 Adam was transferred to the Esterházy estate of Raiding as an overseer of the herd of about 50,000 sheep. Raiding, only in 30 miles from Eisenstadt, was a rather provincial place.

While visiting his father in Mattersburg in the summer of 1810, Adam met Anna Lager who had recently moved from Vienna to Mattersburg. Their marriage took place in the parish of Unterfrauenhaid on January 11, 1811.

The only child of the couple, Franz Liszt, was born on October 22, 1811.

At his house in Raiding, Adam staged chamber concerts. While Franz was 5 and his musical genius revealed itself, Adam started to teach him music. Franz' parents stayed close with their son throughout in Vienna and Paris.

Ádám died in Boulogne-sur-Mer at the age of 50 when Franz was just 15 years old.