What Franz Lizst has contributed to the world of music

Made by:Prateek Gupta2011A7PS125G

Intro to Western Music

The Life of Franz Liszt (1811–1886)

• 1811 - born in Raiding south of Vienna (in Hungary).

• 1821 - moves with family to Vienna to advance his career as piano prodigy. Then to Paris.

• 1839 - non-stop touring of European cities – invents the concept of the solo recital and the concept of playing a recital from memory.

• 1848 - retires from touring, orchestral conductor in Weimar.

• 1861 - lives near Rome.• 1869 - alternates

residences in Rome, Weimar, and Budapest

• 1886 - dies in Bayreuth.

The Music of Franz Liszt

• Principal Works includes:– piano music– Orchestral Music, including 2 piano concertos– choral music– opera and songs

• Thematic transformation• the creator of modern piano technique• Hungarian Rhapsody #2

Major Contributions

Contribution to Piano

Liszt’s early career during the Romantic Period (c.1815-27) was a time of innovation and development. New styles of composition gave impetus to the rise of instrumental pianoforte music.Some major works include:•Etudes - an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill.

•Last bars of Franz Liszt's Transcendental Étude No. 2 is as shown in the above picture. This is a study in passages for alternating and overlapping hands.

• Cycles of character pieces including:– Harmonies poétiques et religieuses – (Poetic and Religious

Harmonies) is a cycle of piano pieces.

– Années de pèlerinage (three books) – (Years of Pilgrimage) a set of three suites for solo piano.

– Consolations - a set of six solo piano works composed in either the key of E major or D-flat major.

– Légendes - Legendes are two of Liszt’s finest examples of conjuring up natural imagery at the keyboard, the first with its very delicate imitation of birdsong—of which we are given quite a feast before the sermon begins—and the second with its opportunity to describe a storm at sea. 

– Hungarian Rhapsodies - A set of 19 piano pieces based on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846-1853.

Contribution to Orchestra

Franz Liszt second most remarkable contribution to the field of music was in orchestral music which can still be seen in the form of romantic symphonies and piano arrangements. The major contributions being : symphonic poems (13), program symphonies (Faust, Dante), marches.•Symphonic Poems - The symphonic poems are a series of 13 orchestral works, numbered S.95–107 . •Program Symphonies - The program usually suggests a certain mood or feeling and runs parallel to the spirit of the music.

Contribution to Chorus

•Chorus contributions by Franz Liszt were mainly in the form of Masses, motets, requiems, oratorios (including The Legend of St. Elizabeth and Christus).

Symphonic Poems

• Symphonic Poems is a long orchestral piece connected in some way with something non-musical (a painting, a poem, a time in history).

• As an orchestral composer, Liszt concentrated on the one-movement programmatic piece which resembled an overture, but instead he called a “symphonic poem.”

• The symphonic poems are a series of 13 orchestral works, numbered S.95–107 . These works helped establish the genre of orchestral program music - compositions written to illustrate an extra-musical plan derived from a play, poem, painting or work of nature.

• These poems emphasized their affinity with the art of poetry.

• Use of transformation of themes throughout the work – this theme transforms in character and detail throughout. – many times the themes are also cyclical as well.

• The most popular is Les Preludes, a beautiful free-flowing piece.

• This symphonic poem is linked to Alfonse-Marie de Lamartine's poem of the same title.

Program Symphonies

• Program Symphonies - The program symphonies usually suggests a certain mood or feeling and runs parallel to the spirit of the music.A Symphony to Dante's Divine Comedy, S.109, or simply the "Dante Symphony", is a program symphony composed by Franz Liszt. Written in the high romantic style, it is based on Dante Alighieri's journey through Hell and Purgatory, as depicted in The Divine Comedy.

• Are much longer pieces than the poems.• very highly original in form• tend to use freer versions of standard forms

Thematic Transformation

• Thematic transformation (also known as thematic metamorphosis or thematic development) is a technique of where a leitmotif, or theme, is developed by changing the theme by using Permutation (Transposition or Modulation, Inversion, and Retrograde), Augmentation, Diminution, and Fragmentation.

• A basic theme is reprised throughout a musical work, but it undergoes constant transformations and disguises and is made to appear in several contrasting roles.

• Thematic transformation can accommodate the dramatically charged phrases, highly coloured melodies and atmospheric harmonies favoured by the Romantic composers.

Creator of modern piano techniques

• Franz Liszt made a name for himself not only as an important composer in the Romantic era, but also as one of the greatest pianists who ever lived.

• He had an insane level of technical skill.• Liszt wrote over 1000 piano pieces which is a huge

contribution to the piano repertoire.• He hybridized multiple forms of music both folk and popular

and came up with newer style of piano techniques.• He made transcriptions of several works by Berlioz, including

the Symphonie fantastique.• The symphonic poem was adapted by a number of other

composers.• His chromatic harmonies helped to form Wagner's style after

1854.• The even divisions of the octave, such as with the augmented

triad, had a strong impact on Russian and French composers.• His thematic transformation parallels Wagner's use of

leitmotives and Brahms's developing variation.

Hungarian Rhapsody

• A set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, is a famous set of piano solos , based on Hungarian folk themes , have achieved such widespread popularity.

• Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, S.244/2 , is the second in a set of 19 ,is by far the most famous of the set. Offering the pianist the opportunity to reveal exceptional skill as a virtuoso, it also provides the listener with an immediate and irresistible musical appeal.

• The piece consists of two distinct sections.– The first is the lassan, with its brief but dramatic introduction.– The second section is the friska. It opens quietly but on its

dominant chord, C sharp major, recalling a theme from the lassan. 

• In both the original piano solo form and in the orchestrated version this composition has enjoyed widespread use in animated cartoons. Its themes have also served as the basis of several popular songs.

New German School

• A term introduced in 1859 by Franz Brendel to apply to certain trends in music. Liszt develops a friendship with Wagner upon hearing his operas.Applies to certain trends in German music.

• The term should be understood as denoting the whole period since Beethoven's death. It was common usage to call the period of J. S. Bach and Händel "alt deutsche Schule" ("Old German School"). The subsequent period was that of Viennese masters such as Mozart who had been influenced by the Italian style. Beethoven had redirected interest to the German North again and with this had opened the "Neudeutsche Schule"

• Franz Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the "New German School".

• Used the slogan “music of the future.”– this group believed in more free and not so accurate

interpretations of classic works.• The rival and more conservative group to this movement was

led by Mendelsson and included such members as Johannes Brahms.– this group strictly adhered to the scores of Bach, Mozart, or

Beethoven.