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 ...

composed his Prometheus in 1850, numbering it No. 5 in his cycle of

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

s when he revised it in 1855. The work is based on the

Greek myth Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancien ...

detailing the Titan

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

' theft of fire from the gods and is numbered S.99 in the Searle catalogue.

Overview

Composition

In 1850, Franz Liszt composed an overture and eight choruses with orchestra accompaniment for

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...

's ''Der entfesselte Prometheus'' (''Prometheus Unbound''), a mythological work of thirteen scenes meant as a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

's ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' () is an ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ante quem of 424 BC. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus, ...

''. This was to be performed for the Herder Festival scheduled for August of that year in Weimar.Shulstad, 209. Liszt gave indications for the orchestration, and from these notes Liszt's helper

Joachim Raff Joseph Joachim Raff (27 May 182224 or 25 June 1882) was a German-Swiss composer, pedagogue and pianist.James Deaville'Raff, (Joseph) Joachim' in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) Biography Raff was born in Lachen, Switzerland, Lachen in Switzerland. ...

produced a score which was used in the first performance. This concert commemorated the unveiling of a monument to Herder on 24 August 1850. In 1855 Liszt revised both the overture and the choruses, added new instruments, mainly woodwinds, which resulted in the expansion of the overture to a symphonic poem and the choruses to a concert stage work. The symphonic poem was first performed on 18 October 1855.

Description

The work that was composed to illustrate the imprisonment, pain, hope, and the final triumph of Prometheus turned out to be incomprehensible to the contemporary public because of the many dissonances in the music. The choral parts ended too soon and were unusable, but the overture acquired its own life as a symphonic poem thanks to many performances of it by conductor

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...

. For the performance of the revised choruses, Weimar critic Richard Pohl condensed Herder's work into prologues to be read before each chorus. Unlike Herder's

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

text, Pohl's prologues develop Prometheus' character, emphasizing both his sufferings and his turbulent relationship with

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

. They also create an intensity not present in Herder's drama, which carries over into the symphonic poem, from the furious opening (marked ''Allegro energico ed adagio assai'') to the principal musical material (marked ''Allegro molto appassionato'').Shulstad, 209–10.

Transcriptions

As with the other symphonic poems written during the Weimar period, ''Prometheus'' was also transcribed for piano four-hands and two pianos. Additionally, the organist and composer Jean Guillou has transcribed ''Prometheus'' for organ solo.

Discography

*''Prometheus, the myth in music'' :

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

directed by

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...

, :label SONY Classical, SK 53978-2 :live recording from 4 October 1994. *''Liszt, Symphonic Poems'' :the symphonic orchestra of Polskie Radio, directed by Michael Hálasz :label

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

8.550487 :recorded 2–6 April 1991 *''Liszt, A Faust Symphony, A Dante Symphony, Les Preludes, Prometheus'', (2CD) :

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

directed by Sir

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-servi ...

:label Decca, 466751 :recorded 13 June 1977

Bibliography

* ed. Hamilton, Kenneth, '' The Cambridge Companion to Liszt'' (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). (paperback). ** Shulstad, Reeves, "Liszt's symphonic poems and symphonies" * ed. Walker, Alan, ''Franz Liszt: The man and His Music'' (New York: Taplinger Publkishing Company, 1970). SBN 8008-2990-5 ** Searle, Humphrey, "The Orchestral Works" * Walker, Alan, ''Franz Liszt, Volume 2: The Weimar Years, 1848–1861'' (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1989).

Additional sources

*Müller-Reuter, Theodor. Lexikon der deutschen Konzertliteratur. Leipzig: C.F. Kahnt, 1909 *Raff, Helene. "Franz Liszt und Joachim Raff im Spiegel ihrer Briefe." Die Musik. 1901–1902 *Paul Allen Bertagnolli. "From overture to symphonic poem, from melodrama to choral cantata: studies of the sources for Franz Liszt’s ''Prometheus'' and his ''Chöre zu Herder's Entfesseltem Prometheus''" (Ph.D. Dissertation, Washington University, 1998).

External links

*
musicwithease.com
Cantata, "Prometheus", by Liszt.

includes history.
LisztWorks
list of orchestral compositions.

Notes

{{Authority control Symphonic poems by Franz Liszt 1855 compositions