''Totentanz'' (): Paraphrase on ''Dies irae'', S.126, is the name of a work for solo

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

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

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 ...

notable for being based on the Gregorian

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive for ...

melody '' Dies irae'' as well as for stylistic innovations. It was first planned in 1838, completed and published in 1849, and revised in 1853 and 1859.

Obsession with death

Some of the titles of Liszt’s pieces, such as ''Totentanz'', '' Funérailles'', '' La lugubre gondola'' and '' Pensée des morts'', show the composer's fascination with death. In the young Liszt we can already observe manifestations of his obsession with death, with religion, and with heaven and hell. According to

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 ...

, Liszt frequented Parisian "hospitals, gambling casinos and asylums" in the early 1830s, and he even went down into prison dungeons in order to see those condemned to die.

Sources of inspiration

In the Romantic age, due to a fascination with everything

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

, the aspect of fantastic or grotesquely macabre

irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

often replaced the original moral intent. A musical example of such irony can be found in the last movement of the ''

Symphonie fantastique ' (''Fantastic Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Opus number, Op. 14, is a program music, programmatic symphony written by Hector Berlioz in 1830. The first performance was at the Paris Conservatoire on 5 December ...

'' by

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'' ...

which quotes the medieval (Gregorian) '' Dies Irae'' (

Day of Judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

) melody in a shockingly modernistic manner. In 1830 Liszt attended the first performance of the symphony and was struck by its powerful originality. Liszt's ''Totentanz'' (Dance of Death), a set of variations for piano and orchestra, also paraphrases the ''Dies Irae'' plainsong. Another source of inspiration for the young Liszt was the famous

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

"Triumph of Death" by

Francesco Traini Francesco Traini was an Italian painter who was documented as working from 1321 to ''ca'' 1365 in Pisa and Bologna. He appears to have been a follower of Andrea Orcagna to judge by only one work known to be by Traini: in 1345 he signed and dat ...

(at Liszt's time attributed to Andrea Orcagna and today also to Buonamico Buffalmacco) in the Campo Santo,

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. Liszt had eloped to Italy with his mistress, the Countess d’Agoult, and in 1838 he visited Pisa. Only ten years later, Liszt's first sketches materialized into a complete version of his ''Totentanz''. Revisions followed in 1853 and 1859, and its final form was first performed at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

on 15 April 1865 by Liszt's student

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 whom the work is dedicated.

Stylistic innovations

Since it is based on Gregorian material, Liszt's ''Totentanz'' contains Medieval sounding passages with canonic

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

, but by far the most innovative aspect of the scoring is the shockingly modernistic, even

percussive A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, nature of the piano part. The opening comes surprisingly close to the introduction in Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, a work composed almost a hundred years later. This may be no coincidence since Bartók frequently performed Liszt's ''Totentanz''. Other modernistic features are the

toccata Toccata (from Italian ''toccare'', literally, "to touch", with "toccata" being the action of touching) is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virt ...

like sections where the pianist's repeated notes beat with diabolic intensity and special sound effects in the orchestra—for example, the ''

col legno In music for bowed string instruments, , or more precisely ; ), is an instruction to strike the string with the stick of the bow across the strings. History The earliest known use of in Western music is to be found in a piece entitled "Hark ...

'' in the strings sound like shuddering or clanking bones. Richard Pohl (an early biographer) notes, "Every variation discloses some new character—the earnest man, the flighty youth, the scornful doubter, the prayerful monk, the daring soldier, the tender maiden, the playful child."

Extant versions

Like most Liszt pieces, a number of versions exist. Next to Liszt's first version of the ''Totentanz'' a second '' De Profundis'' version was prepared from Liszt's manuscript sources by

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

(1919). The standard version is the final and third version of the piece (1859). Liszt also wrote versions for two pianos (S.652) and solo piano (S.525). Edited by Emil von Sauer, the original edition for two pianos, however, merely incorporated the solo part of Liszt's rendering for piano and orchestra, with a transcription of the orchestral accompaniment in the second piano. Dr. Andrey Kasparov has since re-imagined this setting as a work for piano duo. It shows to great effect the breadth of the ''Totentanz'', when distributed evenly between two performers. Stephen Tharp has transcribed the work for solo organ.

Notable performers

Besides the performances by

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

and

, performances of historic significance include those of the Liszt student José Vianna da Motta (1945 – Port Nat S IPL 108), as well as György Cziffra (EMI 74012 2),

Claudio Arrau Claudio Arrau León (; February 6, 1903June 9, 1991) was a Chilean and American pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque music, baroque to 20th-century classical music, 20th-century composers, especially B ...

, Jorge Bolet (Decca), Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1961 – Arkadia HP 507.1; 1962 – Memoria 999-001), Michel Béroff (EMI Classics), Byron Janis (RCA),

Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (; ; born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argerich gave her debut concert at the age of eight before receiving further piano training in Europe. At an early age, she won sev ...

, Krystian Zimerman (Deutsche Grammophon), Arnaldo Cohen (Naxos and BIS), Raymond Lewenthal, and Enrico Pace at the Second International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in 1989.

Notes

External links

*
Live Recording of Ivan Drenikov – Sofia 1985
{{Authority control Concertante works by Franz Liszt 1849 compositions Music based on art Death in music Compositions in D minor