“Liszt, the artist and the man,” says Baker, in his “Biographical Dictionary of Musicians,” “is one of the grand figures in the history of music. Generous, kindly and liberal-minded, whole-souled in his devotion to art, superbly equipped as an interpreter of classic and romantic works alike, a composer of original conceptions and daring execution, a conductor of marvellous insight, worshipped as teacher and friend by a host of disciples, reverenced and admired by his fellow-musicians, honored by institutions of learning and by potentates as no artist before or since, his influence, spread by those whom he personally taught and swayed, will probably increase rather than diminish as time goes on.”
It has been said that Liszt passed through six lives in the course of his existence—only three less than a cat. As “petit Litz” he was the precocious child adored of Paris; as a youth, he plunged into the early romanticism which united the devotees of various branches of art in the French capital: next came the episode with the Countess d’Agoult; then his triumphal tours through Europe; settling at Weimar, he became the centre of the modern musical movement in Europe; finally, he revolved in a cycle through Rome, Buda-Pest and Weimar, followed from place to place by a band of devotees.
Liszt’s compositions for the pianoforte may be classified as follows: “Fantasies Dramatiques”; “Années de Pèlerinage”; “Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses”; 147 the Sonata, Concertos, Études, and miscellaneous works; “Rhapsodies Hongroises”; arrangements and transcriptions from Berlioz, Beethoven, Weber, Paganini, Schubert and others.
The Don Juan Fantasie.
Among the “Fantasies Dramatiques,” which are variations on themes from operas, not mere potpourris or transcriptions, but genuine fantasies, and usually based on one or two themes only, the best known is the “Don Juan Fantasie.” It is founded upon the duet, “La ci darem la mano.” Liszt utilizes a passage from the overture as an introduction, then gives the entire duet, varying it, however, not in set form, but with the effect of a brilliant fantasia, and then winds up the whole with a presto on the “Champagne Song.” It is true it no longer is Mozart—but Mozart might be glad if it were. It is even possible that the time will come when “Don Giovanni” will have vanished from the operatic stage, yet be remembered by this brilliant fantasia of Liszt’s. It is one of the great tours de force of pianoforte music, and it is good music as well. Another of the better known “Fantasies Dramatiques” is the one Liszt made from “Norma,” in which occurs a long sustained trill and a melody for the right hand, while the left plays another melody and the accompaniment to the whole. In other words, there is in this passage a trill sustained throughout, two melodies and the accompaniment, all going on at the same time, yet written with such perfect knowledge of pianoforte technique 148 that any virtuoso worthy of the name as used in a modern sense, can compass it.
A work called the “Hexameron” is included in catalogues of Liszt’s compositions, although he only contributed part of it. It is the march from Bellini’s “Puritani” with six variations, written by six pianists and originally played by them on six pianofortes, five of them full grands, while Chopin, whose variation was not of the bravura, kind, sat at a two-stringed semi-grand. Liszt contributed the introduction, the connecting links and the finale of the “Hexameron.”
The “Années de Pèlerinage” were published in three divisions, extending in point of time from 1835 to 1883. They are a series of musical impressions, as the titles indicate—“Au lac de Wallenstadt, Pastoral,” “Au bord d’une source, Sposalizio” (after Raphael’s picture in the Brera), “Il Penseroso” (after Michael Angelo). Many of these are adroit and elegant in the treatment of the pianoforte, and at the same time beautiful as music. The “Harmonies” are partly transcriptions of his own vocal pieces, partly musical illustrations to poems. Among them is the familiar “Cantique d’Amour,” and the “Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude,” of which he himself was very fond. William Mason says that at the Altenburg a copy of it always was lying on the pianoforte, “which Liszt had used so many times when playing for his guests that it became associated with memories of Berlioz, Rubinstein, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Joachim.” When Mr. Mason left Weimar he took this copy with him as a souvenir, still has it, and treasures it all the more for the marks of usage which it bears. The “Consolations,” 149 which, as Edward Dannreuther says, may be taken as corollaries to the “Harmonies,” are tenderly expressive pianoforte pieces.
Giant Strides in Virtuosity.
The Études bear the dates 1827, 1839 and 1852, and as they are in the main progressive editions of the same pieces, they represent the history of pianoforte technique as it developed under Liszt’s own fingers. In their earliest shape when issued in 1827, they were but little different from the classical Études of Czerny and Cramer. In their latest shape they form the extreme of virtuosity. Indeed, these three editions are three giant strides in the development of pianoforte technique. Von Bülow’s coupling of the Étude called “Feux Follets” with the A flat study (No. 10) of Chopin already has been quoted under that composer. He considered it even more difficult. Schumann called the collection “Sturm und Graus Etuden” (Studies of Storm and Dread), and expressed the opinion that there were only ten or twelve pianists living who could play them. In the Étude called “Waldesrauschen” will be found some ingenious double counterpoint. The theme is divided into two portions, a descending and ascending one, which later on appear together, with first one and then the other uppermost. Other titles among the Études are “Paysage,” “Mazeppa” (a tremendous test of endurance), “Vision,” “Chasse-neige,” “Harmonies de Soir” and “Gnomentanz.” Through Liszt’s transcriptions of some of the Paganini pieces in the form of Études, which include the famous “Bell Rondo” from 150 one of the Paganini concertos, this piece, for example, now is far better known as a pianoforte composition than in its original form for violin.