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Wagner's Tannhäüser, Der fliegende H olldnder, Das Liebesmahl
der Apostel, and Eine Faust Overture, Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini,
the Symphonic Fanlastique, Harold en Italie, Roméo et Juliette,
La Damnation de Faust, and L'Enfance du Christ-the last two
conducted by the composer-Schumann's Genoveva, Paradise and
the Peri, the music to Manfred and to Faust, Weber's Euryanthe,
Schubert's Alfonso und Estrella, Raff's' Konig Alfred, Cornelius's
Der Barbier von Baghdad and many more. It was Liszt's habit
to recommend novelties to the public by explanatory articles
or essays, which were written in French (some for the Journal
des débats and the Gazette musicale of Paris) and translated for
the journals of Weimar and Leipzig-thus his two masterpieces
of sympathetic criticism, the essays Lo/zengrin et Tannhauser a
Weimar and Harold en Italie, found many readers and proved
very effective. They are now included, together with articles
on Schumann and Schubert, and the elaborate and rather highfiown
essays on Chopin and Des Bohémiens et de leur musique en
H ongrie (the latter certainly, and the former probably, written
in collaboration with Madame de Wittgenstein), in his Gesammrlle
Schriften (6 vols., Leipzig). The compositions belonging
to the period of his residence at Weimar comprise two pianoforte
concertos, in E flat and in A, the “ Todtentanz, ” the “ Concerto
pathétique ” for two pianos, the solo sonata “ An Robert
Schumann, ” sundry “ Etudes, ” fifteen “Rhapsodies Hongroises, "
twelve orchestral “ Poemes symphoniques, ” “ Eine Faust
Symphonie, ” and “ Eine Symphonie zu Dante's ' Divina Cornmedia,
” the “ 13th Psalm ” for tenor solo, chorus and orchestra,
the choruses to Herder's dramatic scenes “ Prometheus, ” and
the “ Missa solennis ” known as the “ Graner Fest' Messe.”
Liszt retired to Rome in 1861, and joined the Franciscan order
in 186 5.1 From 1869 onwards Abbé Liszt divided his time
between Rome and Weimar, where during the summer months
he received pupils-gratis as formerly-and, from 1876 up to his
death at Bayreuth on the 31st of Tuly 1886, he also taught for
several months every year at the Hungarian Conservatoire of
Budapest.
About Liszt's pianoforte, technique in general it may be said
that it derives its efficiency from the teaching of Czerny, who
brought up his pupil on Mozart, a little Bach and Beethoven, a
good deal of Clementi and Hummel, and a good deal of his
(L'zerny's) own work. Classicism in the shape of solid, respectable
Hummel on the one hand, and Carl Czerny, a trifle fiippant,
perhaps, and inclined to appeal to the gallery, on the other,
these gave the musical parentage of young Liszt. Then appears
the Parisian lncroyable and grand seigneur- “ Monsieur Lits, ”
as the Parisians called him. Later, we find him imitating
Paganini and Chopin, and at the same time making a really
passionate and deep study of Beethoven, Weber, Schubert,
Berlioz. Thus gradually was formed the master of style whose
command of the instrument was supreme, andwho played
like an inspired poet. Liszt's strange musical nature was long in
maturing its fruits. At the pianoforte his achievements culminate
in the two books of studies, twice rewritten, and finally published
in 18 52 as Etudes d'execution transcend ante, the Etudes de concert
and the Paganini Studies; the two concertos and the Todtcn/anz,
the Sonata in B minor, the Hungarian Rhapsodies and
the fine transcriptions of Beethoven's symphonies (the 9th for
two pianofortes as well as solo), and of Berlioz's Symphonie
fafzttzstique, and the symphony, Harold en Italie. In his orchestral
pieces of Liszt appears-next to Berlioz»-as the most conspicuous
and most thorough-going representative of programme music,
i.t'. instrumental music expressly contrived to illustrate in detail
some poem or some succession of ideas or pictures. It was
Liszt's aim to bring about a direct alliance or amalgamation of
instrumental music with poetry. To effect this he made use of
the means of musical expression for purposes of illustration,
and relied on points of support outside the pale of music proper.
There is always danger of failure when an attempt is thus made
1 it is understood that, in point of fact, the Princess Wittgenstein
was determined to rnarry Liszt; and as neither he nor her family
wished their connexion to take this form, Cardinal Hohenlohe
quietly had him ordained.-[ED. E.B.].
to connect instrumental music with conceptions not in themselves
musical, for the order of the ideas that serve as a programme
is apt to interfere with the order which the musical exposition
naturally assumes-and the result in most cases is but an
amalgam of irreconcilable materials. In pieces such as Liszt's
“ Poérnes symphoniques, ” Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne
(1848-1856), afterapoem by Victor Hugo, and Die Ideale (1853-18
57), after a poem by Schiller, the hearer is bewildered by a
series of startling orchestral effects which succeed one another
apparently without rhyme or reason. The music does not conform
to any sufficiently definite musical plan-it is hardly in-telligible
as music without reference to the programme. Liszt's
masterpiece in orchestral. music is the Dante Symphony (1847-1855),
the subject of which was particularly well suited to his
temperament, and offered good chances for the display of his
peculiar powers as a master of instrumental effect. By the side
of it ranks the Faust Symphony (1854-1857), in which the moods
of Goethe's characters-Faust, Gretchen and Mephistophelesare
depicted in three instrumental movements, with a chorus of
male voices, supplying a kind of comment, by way of close.
The method of presentation in both symphonies is by means of
representative themes (Leitrnotif), and their combination and
interaction. Incidents of the poem or the play are illustrated
or alluded to as may be convenient, and the exigencies of musical
form are not infrequently disregarded for the sake of special
effects. Of the twelve Poemes symphoniques, Orphée is the most
consistent from a musical point of view, and is exquisitely scored.
Melodious, effective, readily intelligible, with a dash of the
commonplace, Les Préludes, Tasso, M azeppa and Fest-Kldnge
bid for popularity. In these pieces, as in almost every production
of his, in lieu of melody Liszt offers fragments of melody touching
and beautiful, it may be, or passionate, or tinged with
triviality; in lieu of a rational distribution of centres of harmony
in accordance with some definite plan, he presents clever combinations
of chords and ingenious modulations from point to
point; in lieu of musical logic and consistency of design, he is
content with rhapsodical improvisation. The power of persistence
seems wanting. The musical growth is spoilt, the development
of the themes is stopped, or prevented, by some reference
to extraneous ideas. Everywhere the programme stands in the
way. In much of Liszt's vocal music, particularly in the songs
and choral pieces written to German words, an annoying discrepancy
is felt to exist between the true sound of the words
and the musical accents. The music is generally emotional,
the expression direct and passionate; there is no lack of melodic
charm and originality, yet the total effect is frequently disappointing.
In the choral numbers of the five masses, and in the
oratorios Die Heilige Elisabeth and Christus, the rarity of fugal
polyphony acts as a drawback. Its almost complete absence
in some of these works makes for monotony and produces a sense
of dullness, which may not be inherent in all the details of the
music, but is none the less distinctly present.
Omitting trifles and all publications that have been cancelled,
Ighe following list of compositions may be taken as fairlv compre€1'1SlV@Z*
I
Pianoforte Pieces.—Etudes d'execution transcend ante; Etudes de
concert; Zwei Etuden, Waldesrauschen, Gnomentanz; Ab lrato;
Paganini Studies; Années de Pélerinage, 3 sets; Harmonies poétiques
et religieuses, HO; Consolations, I-6; Ave Maria in E;
Sonata in B minor; Konzert-Solo in E minor; Scherzo und Marsch;
Ballades, I. ll.; Polonaises, I. ll.; Apparitions, I-3; Berceuse;
Valse impromptu; Mazurka brillant; 3 Caprices Valses; Galop
chromatique; Mephisto-Walzer, I., ll., Ill. and Polka; Zwei Legenden,
“ Die Vogelpredigt, " “ Der heilige Franciscus .auf den Wogen
schreitend "; “ Der Weihnachtsbaum, " I-12; Sarabande und
Chaconne (“ Almira ”); Elegies, I., II. and Ill.; La lugubre
Gondola; Dem Andenken Pet6fi's; Mosonyi's Grabgeleit; Romance
oubliée; Valses oubliées, I-3; Liebestraume, I-3 (originally songs);
Hexameron; Rhapsodies Hongroises, 1-18.
Pieces for Two Pianos.-Concerto pathétique (identical with the
Konzert-Solo in E minor); Dante symphony; Faust symphony;
Poémes symphoniques, I-12; Beethoven's 9th symphony.
Pianoforte with Orchestra.-Concertos l. in E flat, II. in A;
Todtentanz; Fantasie ueber Motif aus Beethoven's “ Ruinen von
Athen ”; Fantasie ueber Ungarische National Melodien; Schubert's
Fantasia in C; Weber's Polacca in E.
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