He writes the ugliest music extant.

—Dramatic and Musical Review, 1843

Composition indeed!—decomposition is the proper word for such hateful fungi, which choke up and poison the fertile plains of harmony, threatening the world with drought.

—Musical World, 1855

Liszt’s orchestral music is an insult to art. It is gaudy music harlotry, savage and incoherent bellowings.

—Boston Gazette, 1872

References:

• “adoring fans”
• “ugliest music”
• “hateful fungi”
• “insult to art”