Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Franz Liszt’s extraordinary career reflects his complex biography (see chronology,
below):
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Hungarian heritage, Viennese training (through Salieri and Czerny), French
literary Romanticism (through Princess Caroline Sayn-Wittgenstein)
Born the son of a minor official at the Esterhazy Court
Trained by Salieri (theory and counterpoint)
Trained by Czerny (pupil of Beethoven) on piano
1822—debut at age 11
1825—Liszt moves to Paris after the death of his father. Over the next six years,
Liszt takes on piano students (many the children of wealthy families), falls in
love, suffers a nervous breakdown, and regroups.
1832—meets Paganini
1833—meets Marie d’Agoult. He lived with her from 1835-39. They had three
children, of which Cosima (who later married Hans von Bülow and then Richard
Wagner) was the second child.
1842-47—Liszt’s popularity as a pianist sweeps over Europe. He is idolized as a
pianist. Women reputedly fought over his gloves and handkerchiefs as souvenirs
of his concerts.
1847—meets Caroline Sayn-Wittgenstein. It was under her influence that Liszt
retired from the concert stage as a pianist and took up composition and
conducting
1848—retired from the concert stage as a pianist
1848-61—Music Director at Weimar
1861—moved to Rome at took minor orders in the Catholic Church
Major Works:
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13 symphonic (tone) poems, including Les Preludes, Orpheus, Hamlet
2 symphonies—Faust, Dante.
100s of piano works, including
1. Sonata in B Minor
2. Transcendental etudes
3. Années de pélerinage
4. numerous transcriptions
3 piano concertos
4 masses
Symphonic works:
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Faust Symphony. Liszt’s choice of Faust as a subject reflects his own questing
personality. Many consider it is masterpiece, at least in the orchestral genre. The
symphony uses Liszt’s principle of thematic metamorphosis. The main theme is
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based on the augmented triad, which was one of Liszt’s favorite chord structures.
It appears in a sequence of descending half-steps, forming a twelve-tone row! He
composed the first three movements in 1854, and each is named for one of the
protagonists in Goethe’s play; in succession, they are:
1. Faust—an introduction and Allegro in sonata form.
2. Gretchen—slow movement, in an ABA form
3. Mephistopheles—a scherzo in three-part design with an additional
development and coda, added later, for tenor solo, chorus and orchestra.
The text is taken the final words of Goethe’s Faust, Part II.
Tone Poems. Liszt composed 13 tone poems with titles such as Les Préludes,
Hamlet, Orpheus, Prometheus, Die Ideal, Hunnenschlacht, and Mazeppa. He uses
thematic transformation in many of these works, especially Les Préludes. Liszt
was following Berlioz’s example. Liszt called these works “tone poems” rather
than “symphonic poems” because they were relatively short and because they
were not dramatic and narrative, but rather imaginative portrayals of the ideas
reflected in the literary works (poems, plays, novels) from which they derived
inspiration and to which the titles referred.
Piano Music
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Sonata in B Minor—Liszt’s most important piano work. It was composed in 1853.
It is cast in one continuous movement, based on four themes which are developed
in three large sections which correspond to three movements of a classical sonata
form.
Annés de pélerinage
Transcendental Études
Hungarian Rhapsodies (19 in all, some later orchestrated)
Transcriptions of orchestral works, opera excepts, songs, Bach organ fugues. The
transcriptions of Beethoven symphonies helped popularize these works. The
transcription of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique is the way that Schumann
actually learned the Berlioz score! Liszt’s transcriptions of Schubert songs
became well-known concert pieces, especially Der Erlkönig. Late piano works
like Nuages gris point toward tonal techniques of the 20th century. The
transcriptions of, or imitations of Paganini’s music demonstrates Liszt’s
indebtedness to the great Italian virtuoso. Liszt transcribed some of Paganini’s
unaccompanied violin etudes as well as La Campanella from Paganini’s Violin
Concerto No. 2.
Liszt’s life, with parallel events
1811
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1813
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1817
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1819
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Liszt born in Hungary
Oct 10—Verdi born in La Roncole
Oct 16-19—Battle of the Nations
Weber becomes Kapellmeister in Dresden
Pub. Of Schopenhauer’s Die Welt als Wille und Verstellung (Will and
Representation)
1821
 Premiere of Der Freischütz
 Liszt family moves to Vienna; Liszt plays first public concert
1823-32
 Liszt begins his years of pilgrimage
1824
 Premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth
 Liszt concretizes throughout Europe
1826
 Death of C.M. von Weber
1827
 Death of Beethoven
 Liszt, tired of concertizing, wants to become a priest
1828
 Death of Schubert
1831
 Liszt hears Paganini
1832
 Death of Goethe in Weimar
1833
 Birth of Brahms in Hamburg
 Liszt meets Chopin and Berlioz
 Liszt meets Countess Marie d’Agoult
1835
 D’Agoult leaves husband
1837
 Liszt near height of concert career
1840
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Liszt plays first solo recital
1842
 Liszt appointed Kapelmeister in Weimar
1847
 Death of Mendelssohn
 Liszt Meets Carolyne Sayn-Wittengenstein; begins to compose most of
compositions that established his reputation as a major composer; accepts invitation
from Maria Pavlovna of Russia to become musical director in Weimar
1848
 Publication of Communist Manifesto
 Fall of the “July” Monarchy in Paris
1849
 Hopes of the Italian patriots collapse; phrase “Viva Victor Emanuele Re d’Italia”
coined
1850
 Premiere of Lohengrin under Liszt at Weimar
1851
 Premiere of Rigoletto in Venice, likely composed at instigation of Strepponi
1856-57
 Heine dies in Paris
 Cosima married Hans von Bülow
1858-61
 Birth of Puccini
 Birth of Mahler
 Death of Schopenhauer
 Liszt settles in Rome, becomes Abbé
1862-65
 Birth of Debussy
 Bismarck become Prime Minister
 Ludwig II ascends to Throne of Bavaria
 Birth of Isolde von Bülow, first child of Cosima and Richard Wagner (1862)
1866-70
 Austro-Hungarian War
 Rossini and Berlioz die in Paris
 Franco-Prussian War
 French defeated
 Birth of Eva and Siegfried, the 2nd and third children of Cosima and Wagner. They
were married in 1870.
1871-76
 German Empire proclaimed
 Verdi’s Aida premiered in Cairo
 Verdi composes Requiem (1874)
 Completion of Bayreuth in 1876. Liszt is invited to attend opening performances.
1886
 Liszt dies in Bayreuth