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The symphonic poems of the Hungarian composer
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 ...
are a series of 13 orchestral works, numbered S.95–107. The first 12 were composed between 1848 and 1858 (though some use material conceived earlier); the last, ''Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe'' (''From the Cradle to the Grave''), followed in 1882. These works helped establish the genre of orchestral
program music Program music or programmatic music is a type of instrumental art music that attempts to musically render an extramusical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience through the piece's title, or in the form of program not ...
—compositions written to illustrate an extra-musical plan derived from a play, poem, painting or work of nature. They inspired the
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 of
Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( ; ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded ...
,
Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...
,
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
and others. Liszt's intent, according to musicologist Hugh MacDonald, was for these single-movement works "to display the traditional logic of symphonic thought." In other words, Liszt wanted these works to display a complexity in their interplay of themes similar to that usually reserved for the opening
movement Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...
of the Classical
symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...
; this principal self-contained section was normally considered the most important in the larger whole of the symphony in terms of academic achievement and musical architecture. At the same time, Liszt wanted to incorporate the abilities of program music to inspire listeners to imagine scenes, images, or moods. To capture these dramatic and evocative qualities while achieving the scale of an opening movement, he combined elements of
overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...
and symphony in a modified sonata design. The composition of the symphonic poems proved daunting. They underwent a continual process of creative experimentation that included many stages of composition, rehearsal and revision to reach a balance of musical form. Aware that the public appreciated instrumental music with context, Liszt provided written prefaces for nine of his symphonic poems. However, Liszt's view of the symphonic poem tended to be evocative, using music to create a general mood or atmosphere rather than to illustrate a narrative or describe something literally. In this regard, Liszt authority
Humphrey Searle Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Sch ...
suggests that he may have been closer to his contemporary
Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...
than to many who would follow him in writing symphonic poems.


Background

According to cultural historian Hannu Salmi, classical music began to gain public prominence in Western Europe in the latter 18th century through the establishment of concerts by musical societies in cities such as
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
and the subsequent press coverage of these events. This was a consequence of the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, according to music critic and historian
Harold C. Schonberg Harold Charles Schonberg (29 November 1915 – 26 July 2003) was an American music critic and author. He is best known for his contributions in ''The New York Times'', where he was chief music critic from 1960 to 1980. In 1971, he became the fi ...
, which brought changes to the early 19th-century lifestyles of the working masses. The lower and middle classes began to take an interest in the arts, which previously had been enjoyed mostly by the clergy and aristocracy. In the 1830s, concert halls were few, and orchestras served mainly in the production of operas—symphonic works were considered far lower in importance. However, the European music scene underwent a transformation in the 1840s. As the role of religion diminished, Salmi asserts, 19th-century culture remained a religious one and the attendance of the arts in historical or similarly impressive surroundings "may still have generated a rapture akin to experiencing the sacred." Schonberg, cultural historian Peter Cay and musicologist
Alan Walker Alan Olav Walker (born 24 August 1997) is a Norwegian DJ and record producer. His songs "Faded (Alan Walker song), Faded", "Sing Me to Sleep", "Alone (Alan Walker song), Alone", "All Falls Down (Alan Walker song), All Falls Down" (with Noah Cy ...
add that, while aristocrats still held private musical events, public concerts grew as institutions for the middle class, which was growing prosperous and could now afford to attend. As interest burgeoned, these concerts were performed at a rapidly increasing number of venues. Programs often ran over three hours, "even if the content was thin: two or more symphonies, two overtures, vocal and instrumental numbers, duets, a concerto." Roughly half of the presented music was vocal in nature. Symphonies by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
,
Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
or
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
usually opened or concluded concerts, and "while these works were revered as models of great music, they were ultimately less popular than the arias and scenes from operas and oratorios that stood prominently in the middle of these concerts."Weber, ''New Grove (2001)'', 6:227. Meanwhile, the future of the symphony genre was coming into doubt. Musicologist Mark Evan Bonds writes, "Even symphonies by
uch Uch (; ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf (; ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexander the Great during his invasion of t ...
well-known composers of the early 19th century as Méhul,
Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...
, Cherubini, Hérold,
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,
Clementi Clementi may refer to: People * Aldo Clementi (1925–2011), Italian composer * Carlo Mazzone-Clementi (1920–2000), Italian actor and mime * Cecil Clementi (1875–1947), British colonial administrator, Governor of Hong Kong and Straits Sett ...
,
Weber Weber may refer to: Places United States * Weber, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Weber City, Virginia, a town * Weber City, Fluvanna County, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Weber County, Utah * Weber Canyon, Utah * Weber R ...
and
Moscheles Moscheles is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Felix Moscheles (1833–1917), English painter, writer, and peace advocate * Gary Moscheles (born 1971), alias of English electronic musician Mike Paradinas * Ignaz Moscheles (1794 ...
were perceived in their own time as standing in the symphonic shadow of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or some combination of the three." While many composers continued to write symphonies during the 1820s and 30s, "there was a growing sense that these works were aesthetically far inferior to Beethoven's.... The real question was not so much whether symphonies could still be written, but whether the genre could continue to flourish and grow as it had over the previous half-century in the hands of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. On this count, there were varying degrees of skepticism but virtually no real optimism."Bonds, ''New Grove (2001)'', 24:837. The crux of the issue, Bonds asserts, "was never really one of style ... but rather of generic conception." Between his
Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...
and Seventh Symphonies, Beethoven had pushed the symphony well beyond the boundaries of entertainment into those of moral, political and philosophical statement. By adding text and voices in his
Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
Symphony, he not only redefined the genre but also called into question whether instrumental music could truly be superior to vocal music. The Ninth, Bonds says, in fact became the catalyst that fueled debate about the symphony genre.
Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...
was the only composer "able to grapple successfully with Beethoven's legacy." However,
Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
,
Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
and
Niels Gade Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day, in the period known as ...
also achieved successes with their symphonies, putting at least a temporary stop to the debate as to whether the genre was dead.Bonds, ''New Grove (2001)'', 24:838. Regardless, composers increasingly turned to the "more compact form" of the
concert overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which were ...
"as a vehicle within which to blend musical, narrative and pictoral ideas"; examples included Mendelssohn's overtures ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
'' (1826) and ''
The Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These isla ...
'' (1830).
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 ...
, a Hungarian composer, had attempted to write a ''Revolutionary Symphony'' as early as 1830; however, his focus for the early part of his adult life was mostly on his performing career. By 1847, Liszt was famous throughout Europe as a virtuoso pianist.Walker, ''Weimar'', 6. "Lisztomania" swept across Europe, the emotional charge of his recitals making them "more like séances than serious musical events", and the reaction of many of his listeners could be characterized as hysterical.Walker, ''Virtuoso'', 289. Musicologist
Alan Walker Alan Olav Walker (born 24 August 1997) is a Norwegian DJ and record producer. His songs "Faded (Alan Walker song), Faded", "Sing Me to Sleep", "Alone (Alan Walker song), Alone", "All Falls Down (Alan Walker song), All Falls Down" (with Noah Cy ...
says, "Liszt was a natural phenomenon, and people were swayed by him.... With his mesmeric personality and long mane of flowing hair, he created a striking stage presence. And there were many witnesses to testify that his playing did indeed raise the mood of an audience to a level of mystical ecstasy." The demands of concert life "reached exponential proportions" and "every public appearance led to demands for a dozen others." Liszt desired to compose music, such as large-scale orchestral works, but lacked the time to do so as a travelling virtuoso. In September 1847, Liszt gave his last public recital as a paid artist and announced his retirement from the concert platform. He settled in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
, where he had been made its honorary
music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
in 1842, to work on his compositions. Weimar was a small town that held many attractions for Liszt. Two of Germany's greatest men of letters,
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
and
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...
, had both lived there. As one of the cultural centers of Germany, Weimar boasted a theater and an orchestra plus its own painters, poets and scientists. The
University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...
was also nearby. Most importantly, the town's patroness was the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the sister of
Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...
. "This triple alliance of court, theater and academia was difficult to resist." The town also received its first railway line in 1848, which gave Liszt relatively quick access from there to the rest of Germany.


Inventing the symphonic poem

Liszt desired to expand single-movement works beyond the concert overture form. As he himself said, "New wine demands new bottles," and as Alan Walker points out, the "language of music was changing; it seemed pointless to Liszt to contain it in forms that were almost 100 years old." The music of overtures is to inspire listeners to imagine scenes, images, or moods; Liszt intended to combine those programmatic qualities with a scale and musical complexity normally reserved for the opening movement of Classical symphonies.Spencer, P., 1233. The opening movement, with its interplay of contrasting themes under
sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...
, was normally considered the most important part of the symphony. To achieve his objectives, he needed a more flexible method of developing musical themes than sonata form would allow, but one that would preserve the overall unity of a musical composition.Searle, ''New Grove'' (1980), 11:41.Searle, ''Works'', 61. Liszt found his method through two compositional practices, which he used in his
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. The first practice was
cyclic form Cyclic form is a technique of musical construction, involving multiple sections or movements, in which a theme, melody, or thematic material occurs in more than one movement as a unifying device. Sometimes a theme may occur at the beginning and ...
, a procedure established by Beethoven in which certain movements are not only linked but actually reflect one another's content. Liszt took Beethoven's practice one step further, combining separate movements into a single-movement cyclic structure.Searle, "Orchestral Works", 281. Many of Liszt's mature works follow this pattern, of which ''
Les préludes LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental ...
'' is one of the best-known examples. The second practice was
thematic transformation Thematic transformation (also known as thematic metamorphosis or thematic development) is a musical technique in which a leitmotif, or theme, is developed by changing the theme by using permutation ( transposition or modulation, inversion, and ret ...
, a type of variation in which one theme is changed, not into a related or subsidiary theme but into something new, separate and independent. Thematic transformation, like cyclic form, was nothing new in itself; it had already been used by Mozart and Haydn.MacDonald, ''New Grove'' (1980), 19:117. In the final movement of his Ninth Symphony, Beethoven had transformed the theme of the "Ode to Joy" into a Turkish march.Walker, ''Weimar'', 310. Weber and Berlioz had also transformed themes, and Schubert used thematic transformation to bind together the movements of his ''
Wanderer Fantasy The Fantasie in C major, Op. 15 ( D. 760), popularly known as the ''Wanderer Fantasy'', is a four-movement fantasy for solo piano composed by Franz Schubert in 1822. It is widely considered Schubert's most technically demanding composition for th ...
'', a work that had a tremendous influence on Liszt. However, Liszt perfected the creation of significantly longer formal structures solely through thematic transformation, not only in the symphonic poems but in other works such as his Second Piano Concerto and his Piano Sonata in B minor. In fact, when a work had to be shortened, Liszt tended to cut sections of conventional musical development and preserve sections of thematic transformation. Between 1845 and 1847, Belgian-French composer
César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...
wrote an orchestral piece based on
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
's poem ''Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne''. The work exhibits characteristics of a symphonic poem, and some musicologists, such as
Norman Demuth Norman Demuth (15 July 1898 – 21 April 1968) was an English composer and musicologist, remembered largely for his biographies of French composers. Biography Early life Demuth was born in Croydon, Surrey, at 91 St James' Road. On leaving Repto ...
and
Julien Tiersot Julien Tiersot (5 July 1857 in Bourg-en-Bresse (Rhône-Alpes) – 10 August 1936 in Paris), was a French musicologist, composer and a pioneer in ethnomusicology. Biography Tiersot was first keenly interested in popular French music, on which h ...
, consider it the first of its genre, preceding Liszt's compositions. However, Franck did not publish or perform his piece; neither did he set about defining the genre. Liszt's determination to explore and promote the symphonic poem gained him recognition as the genre's inventor. Until he coined the term "symphonic poem", Liszt introduced several of these new orchestral works as overtures; in fact, some of the poems were initially overtures or preludes for other works, only later being expanded or rewritten past the confines of the overture form. The first version of ''
Tasso TASSO (Two Arm Spectrometer SOlenoid) was a particle detector at the PETRA particle accelerator at the German national laboratory DESY. The TASSO collaboration is best known for having discovered the gluon, the mediator of the strong interaction an ...
'', Liszt stated, was an incidental overture for
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
's 1790 drama ''
Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
'', performed for the Weimar Goethe Centenary Festival. ''
Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...
'' was first performed in Weimar on 16 February 1854 as a prelude to
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...
's
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
''
Orfeo ed Euridice (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...
''. Likewise, ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'' started out in 1858 as a prelude to the
Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
tragedy. Liszt first used the term "Symphonische Dichtung" (symphonic poem) in public at a concert in Weimar on 23 February 1854 to describe ''Les préludes''. Later he used the term "poèmes symphoniques" in a letter to
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 ...
to describe ''Les préludes'' and ''Orpheus''.


Composition process

Particularly striking in his symphonic poems is Liszt's approach to
musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...
.Walker, ''Weimar'', 308. As purely musical structures, they do not follow a strict presentation and development of musical themes as they would under sonata form. Instead, they follow a loose episodic pattern, in which motifs—recurring melodies associated with a subject—are thematically transformed in a manner similar to that later made famous by
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 ...
.MacDonald, ''New Grove'' (1980), 18:429. Recapitulations, where themes are normally restated after they are combined and contrasted in development, are foreshortened, while codas, where pieces of music generally wind to a close, are greatly enlarged to a size and scope that can affect the listener's concept of the themes.Walker, ''Weimar'', 309. Themes shuffle into new and unexpected patterns of order, and three- or four-movement structures roll into one in a continual process of creative experimentation.Walker, ''Weimar'', 304. Part of this creative experimentation was a trial-and-error approach. Liszt constructed compositions with varying sections of music not necessarily having distinct beginnings and ends.Mueller, 329, 331f. He sketched sections, sometimes without fully completing them, on a small number of staves with some indication of the orchestration.Walker, ''Weimar'', 199. After an assistant—
August Conradi August Conradi (27 June 1821 – 26 May 1873) was a German organist and composer. Life Born in Berlin, Conradi was originally intended by his father to study theology. Instead, he was enrolled at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. There he ...
from 1848 to 1849,
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. ...
from 1850 to 1853—had realized Liszt's ideas and provided a score of an acceptable standard, Liszt would then make further revisions;Searle, ''Music'', 69. he moved sections to form different structural relationships, and modified connective materials or composed them anew, completing the piece of music. The score was copied, then tried out in rehearsals with the Weimarian Court orchestra and further changes made in the light of practical experience.Walker, ''New Grove'' (2001), 14:772. Many years later, Liszt reminisced how his compositional development hinged on hearing an orchestra perform his works: "I needed to hear them in order to get an idea of them." He added that it was much more for this reason, and not simply for securing a public for his own works, that he promoted them in Weimar and elsewhere. After many such stages of composition, rehearsal and revision, Liszt might reach a version where the musical form seemed balanced and he was satisfied. However, it was his habit to write modifications to already printed scores. From his perspective, his compositions remained "works in progress" as he continued to reshape, rework, or add and subtract material. In some instances, a composition could exist in four or five versions simultaneously. ''Tasso'', based on the life of sixteenth-century Italian
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
,
Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
, is a perfect example of both Liszt's working method and his achievements based on restless experimentation. The 1849 version following a conventional overture layout, divided into a slow section ("Lament") and a fast one ("Triumph"). Even with this division, the entire work was actually a set of variations on a single melody—a folk hymn sung to Liszt by a gondolier in Venice in the late 1830s.Searle, "Orchestral Works", 287. Among the most significant revisions Liszt made was the addition of a middle section in the vein of a
minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form tha ...
. The theme of the minuet was, again, a variant of the gondolier's folk hymn, thus becoming another example of thematic transformation. Calmer than either of the outer sections, it was intended to depict Tasso's more stable years in the employment of the Este family in
Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...
.Searle, "Orchestral Works", 288. In a margin note, Liszt informs the conductor that the orchestra "assumes a dual role" in this section; strings play a self-contained piece based on the original version of the gondolier's hymn while woodwinds play another based on the variation used in the minuet. This was very much in the manner of Italian composer Pietro Raimondi, whose
contrapuntal In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous Part (music), musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and Pitch contour, melodic contour. The term ...
mastery was such that he had written three oratorios—''Joseph'', ''Potiphar'' and ''Jacob''—which could be performed either individually or together. Liszt made a study of Raimondi's work but the Italian composer died before Liszt could meet him personally. While the minuet section was probably added to act as a musical bridge between the opening lament and final triumphal sections,Searle, ''New Grove'' (1980), 11:42. it along with other modifications "rendered the 'Tasso Overture' an overture no longer". The piece became "far too long and developed" to be considered an overture and was redesignated a symphonic poem.


Raff's role

When Liszt started writing symphonic poems, "he had very little experience in handling an orchestra ... his knowledge of the technique of instrumentation was defective and he had as yet composed hardly anything for the orchestra." For these reasons he relied first on his assistants
August Conradi August Conradi (27 June 1821 – 26 May 1873) was a German organist and composer. Life Born in Berlin, Conradi was originally intended by his father to study theology. Instead, he was enrolled at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. There he ...
and
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. ...
to fill the gaps in his knowledge and find his "orchestral voice". Raff, "a gifted composer with an imaginative grasp of the orchestra", offered close assistance to Liszt. Also helpful were the virtuosi present at that time in the Weimarian Court orchestra, such as trombonist Moritz Nabich, harpist Jeanne Pohl, concertmaster
Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...
and violinist Edmund Singer. " isztmixed daily with these musicians, and their discussions must have been filled with 'shop talk.'" Both Singer and cellist Bernhard Cossmann were widely experienced orchestral players who probably knew the different instrumental effects a string section could produce—knowledge that Liszt would have found invaluable, and about which he might have had many discussions with the two men.Walker, Weimar, 316–317. With such a range of talent from which to learn, Liszt may have actually mastered orchestration reasonably quickly. By 1853, he felt he no longer needed Raff's assistance and their professional association ended in 1856.Walker, ''Weimar'', 202. Also, in 1854 Liszt received a specially designed instrument called a "piano-organ" from the firm of Alexandre and fils in Paris. This huge instrument, a combination of
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
and
organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...
, was basically a one-piece orchestra that contained three keyboards, eight registers, a pedal board and a set of pipes that reproduced the sounds of all the wind instruments. With it, Liszt could try out various instrumental combinations at his leisure as a further aid for his orchestration. While Raff was able to offer "practical suggestions n orchestrationwhich were of great value to Liszt", there may have been "a basic misunderstanding" of the nature of their collaboration. Liszt wanted to learn more about instrumentation and acknowledged Raff's greater expertise in this area. Hence, he gave Raff piano sketches to orchestrate, just as he had done earlier with Conradi—"so that he might rehearse them, reflect on them, and then, as his confidence in the orchestra grew, change them."Walker, ''Weimar'', 203. Raff disagreed, having the impression that Liszt wanted him on equal terms as a full collaborator. While attending an 1850 rehearsal of ''Prometheus'', he told Bernhard Cossmann, who sat next to him, "Listen to the instrumentation. It is by me." Raff continued making such claims about his role in Liszt's compositional process. Some of these accounts, published posthumously by ''Die Musik'' in 1902 and 1903, suggest that he was an equal collaborator with Liszt. Raff's assertions were supported by Joachim, who had been active in Weimar at approximately the same time as Raff. Walker writes that Joachim later recalled to Raff's widow "that he had seen Raff 'produce full orchestral scores from piano sketches.'" Joachim also told Raff's biographer
Andreas Moser Andreas Moser (29 November 1859 – 7 October 1925) was a German musician, music pedagogue and musicologist. Early life and education Born in Zemun, Syrmia, Austrian Empire, Moser was the son of a winegrower and smoker from Upper Austria. As ...
that "the E-flat-major Piano Concerto was orchestrated from beginning to end by Raff."As quoted by Walker, ''Weimar'', 203. Raff's and Joachim's statements effectively questioned the authorship of Liszt's orchestral music, especially the symphonic poems. This speculation was debased when composer and Liszt scholar
Peter Raabe Peter Raabe (27 November 1872 – 12 April 1945) was a German people, German composer and Conductor (music), conductor. Biography Raabe graduated from 3 schools: the Higher Musical School in Berlin; and the universities of Munich University, M ...
carefully compared all sketches then known of Liszt's orchestral works with the published versions of the same works.Walker, ''Weimar'', 205. Raabe demonstrated that, regardless of the position with first drafts, or of how much assistance Liszt may have received from Raff or Conradi at that point, every note of the final versions represents Liszt's intentions.


Programmatic content

Liszt provided written prefaces for nine of his symphonic poems. His doing so, Alan Walker states, "was a reflection of the historical position in which he found himself."Walker, ''Weimar'', 306. Liszt was aware these musical works would be experienced not just by select connoisseurs, as might have been the case in previous generations, but also by the general public. In addition, he knew about the public's fondness for attaching stories to instrumental music, regardless of their source, their relevance to a musical composition or whether the composer had actually sanctioned them. Therefore, in a pre-emptive gesture, Liszt provided context before others could invent one to take its place. Liszt may have also felt that since many of these works were written in new forms, some sort of verbal or written explanation would be welcome to explain their shape.Searle, "Orchestral Works", 283. These prefaces have proven atypical in a couple of ways. For one, they do not spell out a specific, step-by-step scenario that the music would follow but rather a general context. Some of them, in fact, are little more than autobiographical asides on what inspired Liszt to compose a piece or what feelings he was trying to inspire through it. While these insights could prove "both useful and interesting" in themselves, Walker admits, will they aid listeners to "pictorialize the music that follows?" For Liszt, Walker concludes, the "pictorialization of a detailed program is simply not an issue." Moreover, Liszt wrote these prefaces long after he had composed the music. This was the complete opposite of other composers, who wrote their music to fit a pre-existing program. For both these reasons, Walker suggests, Liszt's prefaces could be called "programmes about music" with equal logic or validity. He adds that the prefaces might not have entirely been of Liszt's idea or doing, since evidence exists that his then-companion Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein helped shape or create them. Overall, Walker concludes, "Posterity may have overestimated the importance of extra-musical thought in Liszt's symphonic poems. We would not want to be without his prefaces, of course, nor any other that he made about the origins of his music; but we should not follow them slavishly, for the simple reason that the symphonic poems do not follow them slavishly either."Walker, ''Weimar'', 307. Hugh MacDonald concurs that Liszt "held an idealized view of the symphonic poem" as being evocative rather than representational. "He only rarely achieved in his symphonic poems the directness and subtle timing that narrative requires," MacDonald explains; he generally focused more on expressing poetic ideas by setting a mood or atmosphere, refraining on the whole from narrative description or pictorial realism.


Reception

Liszt composed his symphonic poems during a period of great debate among musicians in central Europe and Germany, known as the
War of the Romantics The "War of the Romantics" is a term used by some music historians to describe the schism among prominent musicians in the second half of the 19th century. Musical structure, the limits of chromatic harmony, and program music versus absolute mu ...
. While Beethoven's work was admired universally, conservatives that included
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
and members of the
Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...
considered it unsurpassable.Walker, ''Weimar'', 357. Liberals such as Liszt, Wagner and others of the
New German School The New German School (, ) is a term introduced in 1859 by Franz Brendel, editor of the ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'', to describe certain trends in German music. Although the term has frequently been used in essays and books about music histo ...
saw Beethoven's innovations as a beginning in music, not an end. In this climate, Liszt had emerged as a lightning-rod for the avant-garde. Even with the innovative music being written by Wagner and Berlioz, it was Liszt, Walker says, "who was making all the noise and attracting the most attention" through his musical compositions, polemic writings, conducting and teaching.Walker, ''Weimar'', 336.The hostility between these two groups was such that, when Bülow was invited to Leipzig to give a piano recital in 1857, he was asked to drop Liszt's B minor piano sonata from his program. "People have heard that you play the things of Liszt,"
Ferdinand David Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...
wrote to Bülow. "Show them you that you understand no less the work of the older masters." Bülow was incensed, not only for the requested change but that David had considered Liszt's work unworthy of being called a sonata (Walker, ''Weimar'', 348).
Aware of the potential for controversy, Liszt wrote, "The
barometer A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...
is hardly set on praise for me at the moment. I expect quite a hard downpour of rain when the symphonic poems appear." Joseph Joachim, who in his time in Weimar had found Liszt's workshop rehearsals and the trial-and-error process practiced in them to be wearisome, was dismayed at what he considered their lack of creativity. Vienna music critic
Eduard Hanslick Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the '' Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. Hi ...
found even the term "Sinfonische Dichtung" contradictory and offensive; he wrote against them with vehemence after he had heard only one, ''
Les préludes LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental ...
''. Surgeon
Theodor Billroth Christian Albert Theodor Billroth (26 April 18296 February 1894) was a German surgeon and amateur musician. As a surgeon, he is generally regarded as the founding father of modern abdominal surgery. As a musician, he was a close friend and conf ...
, who was also a musical friend of Brahms, wrote of them, "This morning rahmsand Kirchner played the ''Symphonic Poems'' (sic) of Liszt on two pianos ... music of hell, and can't even be called music—toilet paper music! I finally vetoed Liszt on medical grounds and we purged ourselves with Brahms's iano arrangement of theG Major String Sextet." Wagner was more receptive; he agreed with the idea of the unity of the arts that Liszt espoused and wrote as much in his "Open Letter on Liszt's Symphonic Poems". Walker considers this letter seminal in the War of the Romantics:
It is filled with penetrating observations about the true nature of "
programme music Program music or programmatic music is a type of instrumental art music that attempts to musically render an extramusical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience through the piece's title, or in the form of program not ...
", about the mysterious relationship between "form" and "content" and about the historical links that bind the symphonic poem to the classical symphony.... The symphonic poems, Wagner assured his readers, were first and foremost music. Their importance for history ... lay in the fact that Liszt had discovered a way of creating his material from the potential essence of the other arts.... Wagner's central observations are so accurate ... that we can only assume that there had been a number of discussions between iszt and Wagneras to what exactly a "symphonic poem" really was.
Such was the controversy over these works that two points were overlooked by the critics. First, Liszt's own attitude toward program music was derived from Beethoven's ''Pastoral'' Symphony, and he would have likely argued that his music, like the ''Pastoral'', was "more the expression of feeling than painting." Second, more conservative composers such as
Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
and Brahms had also written program music. Mendelssohn's ''The Hebrides'' Overture could be considered a musical seascape based on autobiographical experience but indistinguishable in musical intent from Liszt's symphonic poems. By titling the first of his Op. 10 Ballades as "Edward", Brahms nominated it as the musical counterpart of its old Scottish saga and namesake. This was not the only time Brahms would write program music.Walker, ''Weimar'', 359–60. Liszt's new works did not find guaranteed success in their audiences, especially in cities where listeners were accustomed to more conservative music programming. While Liszt had "a solid success" with ''Prometheus'' and ''Orpheus'' in 1855 when he conducted in Brunswick, the climate for ''Les Préludes'' and ''Tasso'' that December in Berlin was cooler. His performance of ''Mazeppa'' two years later in Leipzig was almost stopped due to hissing from the audience.Walker, ''Weimar'', 296. A similar incident occurred when
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 ...
conducted ''Die Ideale'' in Berlin in 1859; after the performance, the conductor turned on the audience and ordered the demonstrators to leave, "as it is not customary to hiss in this hall."Walker, ''Weimar'', 297. Matters improved somewhat in the following decades, thanks to the efforts of Liszt disciples such as Bülow, Karl Tausig,
Leopold Damrosch Leopold Damrosch (October 22, 1832 – February 15, 1885) was a German American orchestral Conducting, conductor, composer, violinist, and teacher. He was the patriarch of the Damrosch family, which includes Frank Damrosch and Walter Damrosch. ...
and Karl Klindworth. Nevertheless, audiences at the time found the compositions puzzling.Walker, ''Weimar'', 301. The audiences may have been challenged by the works' complexity, which have also caused problems for musicians. Written in new forms, the symphonic poems used unorthodox time signatures, producing an unusual
beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...
at times. The irregular rhythm proved difficult to play and sounded erratic to listeners. Compared to the mellower
harmonies In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
of Mozart's or Haydn's symphonies, or many operatic arias of the time, the symphonic poem's advanced harmonies could produce harsh or awkward music. Due to its use of unusual
key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the cl ...
s, the symphonic poem had many sharp and flat notes, more than a standard musical work. The greater number of notes posed a challenge to musicians, who have to vary the pitch of the notes in accordance with the score. The quick fluctuations in the speed of the music were another factor in the symphonic poem's complexity. The constant use of chamber-music textures, which are produced by having single players perform extended solo passages or having small groups play ensemble passages, put a stress on the orchestra; the mistakes of the solo artist or small groups would not be "covered up" by the mass sound of the orchestra and were obvious to everyone.Walker, ''Weimar'', 270. These aspects of the symphonic poem demanded players to have superior caliber, perfect intonation, keen ears and knowledge of the roles of their orchestra members. The complexity of the symphonic poems may have been one reason that Liszt urged other conductors to "hold aloof" from the works until they were prepared to deal with the challenges. Most orchestras of small towns at that time were not capable of meeting the demands of this music. Contemporary orchestras also faced another challenge when playing Liszt's symphonic poems for the first time. Liszt kept his works on manuscripts, distributing them to the orchestra on his tour. Some parts of the manuscripts were so heavily corrected that players found it difficult to decipher them, let alone play them well. The symphonic poems were considered such a financial risk that orchestral parts for many of them were not published until the 1880s.


Legacy

With the exception of ''Les préludes'', none of the symphonic poems have entered the standard repertoire, though critics suggest that the best of them—''
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 ...
'', ''Hamlet'' and ''
Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...
''—are worth further listening. Musicologist Hugh MacDonald writes, "Unequal in scope and achievement though they are, they looked forward at times to more modern developments and sowed the seeds of a rich crop of music in the two succeeding generations." Speaking of the genre itself, MacDonald adds that, although the symphonic poem is related to opera in its aesthetics, it effectively supplanted opera and sung music by becoming "the most sophisticated development of programme music in the history of the genre."MacDonald, ''New Grove'' (1980), 18:428. Liszt authority
Humphrey Searle Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Sch ...
essentially concurs with MacDonald, writing that Liszt "wished to expound philosophical and humanistic ideas which were of the greatest importance to him."Searle, ''Music'', 77. These ideas were not only connected with Liszt's personal problems as an artist, but they also coincided with explicit problems being addressed by writers and painters of the era. In developing the symphonic poem, Liszt "satisfied three of the principal aspirations of 19th century music: to relate music to the world outside, to integrate multi-movement forms ... and to elevate instrumental programme music to a level higher than that of opera, the genre previously regarded as the highest mode of musical expression." In fulfilling these needs, the symphonic poems played a major role, widening the scope and expressive power of the advanced music of its time. According to music historian
Alan Walker Alan Olav Walker (born 24 August 1997) is a Norwegian DJ and record producer. His songs "Faded (Alan Walker song), Faded", "Sing Me to Sleep", "Alone (Alan Walker song), Alone", "All Falls Down (Alan Walker song), All Falls Down" (with Noah Cy ...
, "Their historical importance is undeniable; both
Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
and
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
were influenced by them, and adapted and developed the genre in their own way. For all their faults, these pieces offer many examples of the pioneering spirit for which Liszt is celebrated."


List of works

In chronological order from the beginning date of composition, the symphonic poems are as follows (the published numbering differs as shown):Saffle, "Orchestral Works", 238, 273, 275fn. * No. 8 '' Héroïde funèbre'' (1830–1856) * No. 9 '' Hungaria'' (1830–1857) * No. 6 ''
Mazeppa Mazepa or Mazeppa is the surname of Ivan Mazepa, a Ukrainian hetman made famous worldwide by a poem by Lord Byron. It may refer to: Artistic works Poems * Mazeppa (poem), "Mazeppa" (poem) (1819), a dramatic poem by Lord Byron * "Mazeppa", a poem b ...
'', after Hugo (1838–1854) * No. 2 '' Tasso: lamento e trionfo'', after Byron (1840–1854) * No. 3 ''
Les préludes LES or Les may refer to: People * Les (given name) * Les (surname) * L.E.S. (producer), hip hop producer Space flight * Launch Entry Suit, worn by Space Shuttle crews * Launch escape system, for spacecraft emergencies * Lincoln Experimental ...
'', after Lamartine (c1845–1854) * No. 1 '' Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne'', after Hugo (1845?–1854) * No. 5 ''
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 ...
'' (1850–1855) * No. 7 '' Festklänge'' (1853–1854) * No. 4 ''
Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...
'' (1854) * No. 12 ''
Die Ideale ' ("The Ideals"), S. 106, is a symphonic poem composed by Franz Liszt in 1856–1857 and published in 1858 as No. 12. It was first performed on 5 September 1857. Die Ideale was composed for the unveiling of a Goethe and Schiller Johann Chris ...
'', after Schiller (1857–1858) * No. 11 '' Hunnenschlacht'', after Kaulbach (1857–1861) * No. 10 ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'', after Shakespeare (1858–1861) * No. 13 '' Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe,'' after Mihály Zichy (1881–1883)


Related works

Liszt's ''
Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
'' and ''
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
'' symphonies share the same aesthetic stance as the symphonic poems; though they are multi-movement works that employ a chorus, their compositional methods and aims are alike. ''Two Episodes from Lenau's Faust'' should also be considered with the symphonic poems. The first, "Der nächtliche Zug", is closely descriptive of Faust as he watches a passing procession of pilgrims by night. The second, "Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke", which is also known as the First Mephisto Waltz, tells of
Mephistopheles Mephistopheles ( , ), also known as Mephostophilis or Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore, originating as the chief devil in the Faust legend. He has since become a stock character appearing in Mephistopheles in the arts and popular ...
seizing a
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
at a village dance.


See also

* List of symphonic poems


Notes


References


Bibliography

* Bonds, Mark Evan, "Symphony: II. 19th century," ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition'' (London: Macmillan, 2001). . * Cay, Peter, ''Schnitzler's Century: The Making of Middle-class Culture 1815-1914'' (New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002). . * * Larue, Jan and Eugene K. Wolf, ed. Stanley Sadie, "Symphony: I. 18th century," ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition'' (London: Macmillan, 2001), 29 vols. . * MacDonald, Hugh, ed Stanley Sadie, "Symphonic Poem", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, First Edition'' (London: Macmillan, 1980), 20 vols. * MacDonald, Hugh, ed Stanley Sadie, "Symphonic Poem", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition'' (London: Macmillan, 2001), 29 vols. . * Mueller, Rena Charin, ''Liszt's "Tasso" Sketchbook: Studies in Sources and Revisions'', Ph. D. dissertation, New York University 1986. * Murray, Michael, ''French Masters of the Organ: Saint-Saëns, Franck, Widor, Vierne, Dupré, Langlais, Messiaen'' (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1998). . * Saffle, Michael, "Orchestral Works", Chapter 10 in ''The Liszt Companion'', ed. Ben Arnold (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002). * Salmi, Hannu, ''19th Century Europe: A Cultural History'' (Cambridge, UK and Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2008). * Schonberg, Harold C., ''The Great Conductors'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967). Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-19821. * Searle, Humphrey, ed Stanley Sadie, "Liszt, Franz", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, First Edition'' (London: Macmillan, 1980), 20 vols. * Searle, Humphrey, ed. Alan Walker, "The Orchestral Works", ''Franz Liszt: The Man and His Music'' (New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1970). SBN 8008-2990-5 * Searle, Humphrey, ''The Music of Liszt'', 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Dover, 1966). Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-27581. * Shulstad, Reeves, ed. Kenneth Hamilton, "Liszt's symphonic poems and symphonies", '' The Cambridge Companion to Liszt'' (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). (paperback). * Spencer, Piers, ed. Alison Latham, "Symphonic poem one-poem, ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). * Swafford, Jan, ''Johannes Brahms: A Biography'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997). . * Trevitt, John and Marie Fauquet, ed. Stanley Sadie, "Franck, César(-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert)" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition'' (London: Macmillan, 2001), 29 vols. . * Ulrich, Homer, ''Symphonic Music: Its Evolution since the Renaissance'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 1952). . * Walker, Alan, ed Stanley Sadie, "Liszt, Franz", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001). * Walker, Alan, ''Franz Liszt'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf). **''Volume 1: The Virtuoso Years, 1811–1847'' (1983) **''Volume 2: The Weimar Years, 1848–1861'' (1989) * Watson, Derek, ''Liszt'', London, JM Dent, 1989, pp. 348–351. * Weber, William, ed. Stanley Sadie, "Concert," ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd ed. (London: Macmillan, 2001). .


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