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FRANZ LISZT (1811-1886)

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 782 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FRANZ See also:LISZT (1811-1886)  , Hungarian pianist and composer, was See also:born on the 22nd of See also:October 18,1, at Raiding, in See also:Hungary . His See also:appeal to musicians was made in a threefold capacity, and we have, therefore, to See also:deal with See also:Liszt the unrivalled See also:pianoforte virtuoso (1830-1848); Liszt the conductor of the "See also:music of the future " at See also:Weimar, the teacher of Tausig, Billow and a See also:host of lesser pianists, the eloquent writer on music and musicians, the See also:champion of See also:Berlioz and See also:Wagner (1848-1861); and Liszt the prolific composer, who for. some five-and-See also:thirty years continued to put forth pianoforte pieces, songs, symphonic orchestral pieces, cantatas, masses, See also:psalms and oratorios (1847-1882) . As virtuoso he held his own for the entire See also:period during which he See also:chose to appear in public; but the militant conductor and See also:prophet of Wagner had a hard See also:time of it, and the composer's See also:place is still in dispute . Liszt's See also:father, a clerk to the See also:agent of the Esterhazy estates and an See also:amateur musician of some attainment, was Hungarian by See also:birth and ancestry, his See also:mother an See also:Austrian-See also:German . The boy's gifts attracted the See also:attention of certain Hungarian magnates, who furnished 600 gulden annually for some years to enable him to study music at See also:Vienna and See also:Paris . At Vienna he had lessons in pianoforte playing from Carl See also:Czerny of " Velocity " fame, and from See also:Salieri in See also:harmony and See also:analysis of scores . In his See also:eleventh See also:year he began to See also:play in public there, Wagner's Tannhaicser, Der fiiegende Hollander, Das Liebesmahl der Apostel, and See also:Fine See also:Faust See also:Overture, Berlioz's Benvenuto See also:Cellini, the Symphonic Fantastique, Harold en See also:Italic, Romeo et Juliette, La Damnation de Faust, and L'Enfance du See also:Christ—the last two conducted by the composer—See also:Schumann's Genoveva, See also:Paradise and the See also:Peri, the music to See also:Manfred and to Faust, See also:Weber's Euryanthe, See also:Schubert's Alfonso and Estrella, See also:Raff's See also:Konig See also:Alfred, See also:Cornelius's Der See also:Barbier von Baghdad and many more . It was Liszt's See also:habit to recommend novelties to the public by explanatory articles or essays, which were written in See also:French (some for the See also:Journal See also:des debats and the See also:Gazette musicale of Paris) and translated for the See also:journals of Weimar and See also:Leipzig—thus his two masterpieces of sympathetic See also:criticism, the essays See also:Lohengrin et Tannhduser a Weimar and Harold en Italic, found many readers and proved very effective . They are now included, together with articles on Schumann and Schubert, and the elaborate and rather high-flown essays on See also:Chopin and Des Bohemiens et de leur musique en Hongrie (the latter certainly, and the former probably, written in collaboration with Madame de See also:Wittgenstein), in his Gesammelte Schri ften (6 vols., Leipzig) . The compositions belonging to the period of his See also:residence at Weimar comprise two pianoforte concertos, in E See also:flat and in A, the " Todtentanz," the " See also:Concerto pat hetique " for two pianos, the See also:solo See also:sonata " An See also:Robert Schumann," sundry " Etudes," fifteen " Rhapsodies Hongroises," twelve orchestral " Poemes symphoniques," " Eine Faust Symphonie," and " Eine Symphonic zu See also:Dante's ` Divina See also:Corn-See also:media,' " the " 13th See also:Psalm " for See also:tenor solo, See also:chorus and See also:orchestra, the choruses to See also:Herder's dramatic scenes " See also:Prometheus," and the " Missa solennis " known as the " Graner Fest Messe." Liszt retired to See also:Rome in 1861, and joined the Franciscan See also:order in 1865.1 From 1869 onwards See also:Abbe 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 See also:death at See also:Bayreuth on the 31st of See also:July 1886, he also taught for several months every year at the Hungarian See also:Conservatoire of See also:Budapest . About Liszt's pianoforte, technique in See also:general it may be said that it derives its efficiency from the teaching of Czerny, who brought up his See also:pupil on See also:Mozart, a little See also:Bach and See also:Beethoven, a See also:good deal of See also:Clementi and See also:Hummel, and a good deal of his (Czerny's) own See also:work . Classicism in the shape of solid, respectable Hummel on the one See also:hand, and Carl Czerny, a trifle flippant, perhaps, and inclined to appeal to the See also:gallery, on the other, these gave the musical parentage of See also:young Liszt .

Then appears the Parisian Incroyable and See also:

grand seigneur— " See also:Monsieur Lits," as the Parisians called him . Later, we find him imitating See also: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 See also:master of See also:style—whose command of the See also:instrument was supreme, and who played like an inspired poet . Liszt's See also:strange musical nature was See also:long in maturing its fruits . At the pianoforte his achievements culminate in the two books of studies, twice rewritten, and finally published in 1852 as Etudes d'See also:execution transcendante, the Etudes de See also:concert and the Paganini Studies; the two concertos and the Todtentanz, the Sonata in B See also: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 Symphonic fantastique, and the See also:symphony, Harold en Italic . In his orchestral pieces of Liszt appears—next to Berlioz—as the most conspicuous and most thorough-going representative of See also:programme music, i.e. instrumental music expressly contrived to illustrate in detail some poem or some See also:succession of ideas or pictures . It was Liszt's aim to bring about a See also:direct See also:alliance or amalgamation of instrumental music with See also:poetry . To effect this he made use of the means of musical expression for .purposes of See also:illustration, and relied on points of support outside the See also:pale of music proper . There is always danger of failure when an See also:attempt is thus made It is understood that, in point of fact, the Princess Wittgenstein was determined to marry Liszt; and as neither he nor her See also:family wished their connexion to take this See also:form, See also:Cardinal See also:Hohenlohe quietly had him ordained.—[En . E.B.].to connect instrumental music with conceptions not in themselves musical, for the order of the ideas that serve as a programme is See also:apt to interfere with the order which the musical exposition naturally assumes—and the result in most cases is but an See also:amalgam of irreconcilable materials . In pieces such as Liszt's " Poemes symphoniques," Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne (1848-1856), after a poem by See also:Victor See also:Hugo, and See also:Die Ideale (1853-1857), after a poem by See also:Schiller, the hearer is bewildered by a See also:series of startling orchestral effects which succeed one another apparently without See also:rhyme or See also:reason . The music does not See also:con-form to any sufficiently definite musical See also:plan—it is hardly intelligible as music without reference to the programme .

Liszt's masterpiece in orchestral music is the Dante Symphony (1847-18J5), the subject of which was particularly well suited to his temperament, and offered good chances for the display of his See also:

peculiar See also:powers as a master of instrumental effect . By the See also:side of it ranks the Faust Symphony (1854-1857), in which the moods of See also:Goethe's characters—Faust, Gretchen and See also:Mephistopheles—are depicted in three instrumental movements, with a chorus of male voices, supplying a See also:kind of comment, by way of See also:close . The method of presentation in both symphonies is by means of representative themes (Leitmotif), and their See also: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 unfrequently disregarded for the See also:sake of See also:special effects . Of the twelve Poemes symphoniques, Orphee is the most consistent from a musical point of view, and is exquisitely scored . Melodious, effective, readily intelligible, with a dash of the See also:commonplace, See also:Les Preludes, See also:Tasso, Mazeppa and Fest-Klange bid for popularity . In these pieces, as in almost every See also:production of his, in lieu of See also:melody Liszt offers fragments of melody—touching and beautiful, it may be, or passionate, or tinged with triviality; in lieu of a rational See also:distribution of centres of harmony in accordance with some definite plan, he presents See also:clever combinations of chords and ingenious modulations from point to point; in lieu of musical See also:logic and consistency of See also:design, he is content with rhapsodical improvisation . The See also: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 See also:felt to exist between the true See also:sound of the words and the musical accents . The music is generally emotional, the expression direct and passionate; there is no lack of melodic See also:charm and originality, yet the See also:total effect is frequently disappointing .

Phoenix-squares

In the choral See also:

numbers of the five masses, and in the oratorios Die Heilige Elisabeth and Christus, the rarity of fugal polyphony acts as a See also:drawback . Its almost See also:complete See also:absence in some of these See also: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 See also:present . Omitting trifles and all publications that have been cancelled, the following See also:list of compositions may be taken as fairly comprehensive — , Pianoforte Pieces.—Etudes d'execution transcendante; Etudes de concert; Zwei Etuden, Waldesrauschen, Gnomentanz; Ab Irato; Paganini Studies; Annees de Pelerinage, 3 sets; Harmonies poetiques at religieuses, 1-10; Consolations, 1-6; See also:Ave Maria in E; Sonata in B minor; Konzert-Solo in E minor; See also:Scherzo and Marsch; Ballades, I . II.; Polonaises, I . II.; See also:Apparitions, 1-3; See also:Berceuse; Valse See also:impromptu; See also:Mazurka brillant; 3 Caprices Valses; Galop chromatique; Mephisto-Walzer, I.,II.,III. and See also:Polka; Zwei Legenden, " Die Vogelpredigt," " Der heilige Franciscus auf den Wogen schreitend "; " Der Weihnachtsbaum," 1-12; Sarabande and See also:Chaconne (" Almira ") ; Elegies, I., II. and III.; La lugubre Gondola; Dem Andenken See also:Petofi's; Mosonyi's Grabgeleit; See also:Romance oubliee; Valses oubliees, 1-3; Liebestraume, I-3 (originally songs); Hexameron; Rhapsodies Hongroises, 1-18 . Pieces for Two Pianos.—Concerto pathetique (identical with the Konzert-Solo in E minor); Dante symphony; Faust symphony; Poemes symphoniques, 1-12 ; Beethoven's 9th symphony . Pianoforte with Orchestra.—Concertos I. in E flat, II. in A; Todtentanz; Fantasie ueber Motif aus Beethoven's " Ruinen von Athen "; Fantasie ueber Ungarische See also:National Melodien; Schubert's See also:Fantasia in C; Weber's See also:Polacca in E . 16 782 Fantaisies de Concert for Piano Solo.--See also:Don Juan; Norma; Sonnambula; f I'uritani; See also:Lucia, I., II.; Lucrezia, I., II.; La Juive; Robert le Diable; Les See also:Huguenots; Le Prophchtc, 1-4 . Paraphrases, See also:Auber, Tarantella di bravura (See also:Masaniello) ; See also:Verdi, Rigoletto, Ernani, II Trovatore; Mendelssohn, " Hochzcitsmarsch and Elfenreigen "; See also:Gounod, Valse de Faust, Les Adieux de Romeo et Juliette; Tschaikowsky, See also:Polonaise; Dargomiyski, Tarantelle; Cui, Tarantella; See also:Saint-Saens, Danse See also:macabre; Schubert, Soirees de See also:Vienne, Valses caprices, 1-9 . Transcriptions.—Beethoven's Nine Symphonies; Berlioz's " Symphonic fantastique," " Harold en Italic "; See also:Benediction et Scrment (13envenuto Cellini) ; Danse des Sylphes (Damnation de Faust) ; Weber's overtures, Her Freischiitz, Euryanthe, See also:Oberon, See also:Jubilee; Beethoven's and Hummel's Septets; Schubert's Divertissement a la Hongroise; Beethoven's Concertos in C minor, G and E flat (orchestra for a second piano); Wagner's See also:Tannhauser overture, See also:march, romance, chorus of pilgrims; Lohengrin, Festzug and Brautlied, Elsa's Brautgang, Elsa's Traum, Lohengrin's Verweiss an Elsa; Fliegender Hollander, Spinnlied; See also:Rienzi, Gebet; Rheingold, Walhalla See also:Meistersinger, " Am stillen See also:Herd "; See also:Tristan, Isolde's Liebestod; Chopin's six Chants Polonais; See also:Meyerbeer's Schillermarsch ; Bach's six See also:organ Preludes and Fugues; Prelude and See also:Fugue in G minor; Beethoven, See also:Adelaide; 6 See also:miscellaneous and 6 Geistliche Liedcr; Liederkrcis; See also:Rossini's Les Soirees musicales; Schubert, 59 songs; Schumann, 13 songs; Mendelssohn, 8 songs; Robert See also:Franz, 13 songs . Organ Pieces.—Missa See also:pro organo; Fantasia and Fugue, " Ad nos, ad salutarem undam "; B-A-C-H Fugue; See also:Variations on Bach's Basso continuo, " Weinen, Klagen "; Bach's Introduction and Fugue, " Ich hatte viel Bekummerniss "; Bach's Choral Fugue, " Lob and Ehre "; See also:Nicolai's Kirchliche Festouvertiire, Ein feste See also:Burg "; See also:Allegri's See also:Miserere; Mozart's Ave Verum; See also:Arcadelt's Ave Maria; See also:Lasso's See also:Regina Coeli . Orchestral Pieces.—Eine Symphonic zu Dante's " Divina Corn-media "; Eine Faust Symphonic; Poemes symphoniqucs: I .

" Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne "; 2 . Tasso; 3 . Les Preludes; 4 . Orphee; 5 . Promethce; 6 . Mazeppa; 7 . Fest-Klange; 8 . HeroIde funebre; 9 . Hungaria; to . See also:

Hamlet; 11 . Ilunnenschlacht; 12 . Die Ideate; Zwei Episoden aus See also:Lenau's Faust: I .

Der nachtliche See also:

Zug, II . Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke; See also:Marches, See also:Rakoczy, Goethe, Huldigung, Vom Fels zum See also:Moor " (for a military See also:band); Ungarischer, Heroischer and Sturmmarsch; Le Triomphe funebre du Tassc; " Von der \Viege bis zum Grab "; six Hungarian rhapsodies; four marches; four songs, and Die Allmacht, by Schubert . Vocal Music.—Oratorios: " Die Legende von der Heiligen Elisabeth," " Christus," " See also:Stanislaus " (unfinished) . Masses: Missa solennis for the inauguration of the See also:cathedral at Gran; Ungarische Kr6nungs-messe; Missa choralis (with organ); Missa and See also:Requiem for male voices (with organ); Psalms, 13, 137, 23 and 18; 12 Kirchen-Chor-Gesfinge (with organ) . Cantatas: Prometheus-chore; " Beethoven See also:Cantata "; " An die Kunstler "; Die Glocken des Strassburger i\lunsters; 12 Chore See also:fur Mannergesang; Songs, 8 books; Scena, Jeanne d'Arc au bfcher . Melodramatic Pieces for Declamation, with Pianoforte See also:Accompaniment.—Leonore (See also:Burger); Der traurige Monch (Lenau); Des todten Dichter's Liebe (See also:Jokai); Der blinde See also:Sanger (See also:Tolstoy) . See also:Editions, See also:Text and Variants.—Beethoven's Sonatas; Weber's Concertsttick and Sonatas; Schubert Fantasia, 4 Sonatas, Impromptus, Valses and Moments musicaux . See also L . Ramaun, Fr . Liszt als K2instler and Mensch (188o–1894) ; E . Dannreuther, See also:Oxford Mist. of Music,vol. vi.(1905) . (E .

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