''La lugubre gondola'', a piano piece, is one of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

's most important late works, written in 1882.

History

Its genesis is well documented in letters from which we know that Liszt was

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's guest in the Palazzo Vendramin on the Grand Canal in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in late 1882. Liszt may have had a premonition there of Wagner's death which inspired the first version of the work: a piano piece in , written in December 1882 (which remained unpublished until the Rugginenti edition of 2002). This piece was recomposed the next month, in January 1883, and very shortly thereafter arranged for violin or cello and piano. The piano version was published in 1885, with minor changes (this version is today usually called ). This was the only version of this piece published in Liszt's lifetime. Wagner died in Venice on February 13, 1883, and the long funeral procession to

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

began with the funeral gondola to Venice's Santa Lucia railway station. Liszt was by now almost certainly considering the piece to be a Wagner memorial, and in 1885 he returned to the string version and replaced the last three bars with a twenty-bar coda. This was probably done before the publication of the solo version, because the new extended string version does not contain the minor alterations in the published solo version. According to Liszt's correspondence with Lina Ramann, was originally to have been entitled and was to have been dedicated to her. There is an undated manuscript, clearly from the end of Liszt's life, of a starker version of the piece in for piano solo - virtually a new composition. It remained unpublished until 1927, when it was published alongside the other version of the piece, but with the same title. So since 1927, the piece has been known as , and the hitherto unpublished piece is usually called . The opening single melodic line of can be seen to be inspired by Wagner’s unending melodies, and the unresolved diminished sevenths and unfinished phrases are reminiscent of the ''Prelude'' to Wagner's . Liszt then develops this into a more lyrical, romantic line.

Editions

* Venice manuscripts (written 1882 and 1883) published by Rugginenti

ilan Ilan may refer to: Organization *ILAN, Israeli umbrella organization for the treatment of disabled children Given name *Ilan (name), a Hebrew/Israeli name *Ilan Bakhar, a retired Israeli footballer *Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna, a Brazilian footballer ...

in 2002. * Cello version and violin version (written 1883) published by Hardie Press dinburgh * 1885 4/4 piano version 'La lugubre gondola II''and 1880s 6/8 piano version 'La lugubre gondola I''published by Editio Musica Budapest.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lugubregondola, La Compositions by Franz Liszt 1882 compositions Compositions for solo piano Funerary and memorial compositions