Faust Symphony Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein, "Anything having to do with Goethe is dangerous for me to handle." However, the final catalyst for the symphony came in a two-month period between August and October 1854. This period coincided with a visit to Weimar by English novelist Mary Ann (Marian) Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot. Her consort George Henry Lewes was gathering information for his biography of Goethe. During visits to Liszt's residence, the Altenburg, Lewes and Eliot had several discussions with both him and Princess Carolyne about Goethe and his place in German literature. Once Liszt began writing,
Mary Evans Wilson Mary Evans Wilson Mary Evans Wilson (1866-1928) was one of Boston's leading civil rights activists. She was a founding member of the Boston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the founder of the Women's Service Club. Mary P. Evans was born in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1866. She was the eighth of nine children of Henry Evans, an undertaker and cabinetmaker, and Henrietta Leary Evans. She graduated from Oberlin College. Evans came from a family of activists. In 1858, her father was one of a group of men who were arrested for attempting to free