Liszt, at times a devout catholic, portrayed dantes scenes with great imagination and passion, cleverly suiting his melodysometimes simple and tranquil, sometimes. Gianandrea noseda does a good job with the dante symphonys first movement the only part anyone cares about. In the closing moments of the dante symphony, botstein s reading definitely comes into its own as competition against barenboim, masur, kojian, and the like. Let me hope that it will be granted to me to give you more proof of it from year to year.
Thus, work on the dante symphony roughly coincided with work on liszts. Written in the high romantic style, it is based on dante alighieris journey through hell and purgatory, as depicted in the divine comedy. It was premiered in dresden in november 1857, with liszt himself conducting, and was unofficially dedicated to. Campo santo are not as foreign as one thinks to the eroica symphony and the. As in the faust symphony, liszt enjoys the contrast between the infernal and the divine. The winds of time a nonfictional study of the titans who shaped western civilization. Symphony to dantes divina commedia work by liszt britannica. Liszts other symphonic work, the symphony to dantes divina commedia 1856, depicts the three major sections of the divine comedyinferno, purgatory, and paradise. Many people prefer to read offline or to print out text and read from the real printed page. Simultaneously, the book repositions liszts legacy within theatre history, arguing that his contributions should be placed alongside those of mendelssohn, berlioz and wagner.
Dear friend, for the new year i bring you nothing new. Liszt, franz psalm xiii for tenor, mixed chorus and orchestra vocal score german text. It was quite advanced for its era, employing many new orchestral colors and daring harmonic schemes. Is leon botsteins conducting of the dante symphony any good. Dante symphony s 109 study score a symphony to dantes. Liszt is known to have played some fragments of his dante symphony eine. His composition, of this period 18641865 included a quartet, two piano quintets, an octet, and an overture. Reviews a richly detailed interdisciplinary study that provides context for the symphonic poems evolution, as well as a synthesis of liszts multifarious activities. This recording offers an interesting, largely successful experiment. The symphonic poems of the hungarian composer franz liszt are a series of orchestral works, numbered s. Liszt and programme music as they were originally conceived, the aesthetics of hanslick and liszt were entirely independent of one another. Like liszt s other famous tone poem, the faust symphony, the dante symphony was inspired by a literary source. Chapter 3, a slow and perilous road to vindication, sheds new light on liszts relationships with the cities in which his music was performed and criticized, his anxieties about performances of the dante symphony and gran mass, and his relationship with the influential critic eduard hanslick. Hoplit, hanslick and liszts dante symphony jsmi, 7 201112, p.
I provide the original scanned version and the filtered, because the filter does some changes smoothening, sharpening borders and some portions of the scan get lost sometimes when they are too small e. Liszt began his beethoven symphony transcriptions in 1838, completing symphonies nos. Franz liszt was born to anna liszt nee maria anna lager and adam liszt on 22 october 1811, in the village of doborjan german. This book is designed as an introduction to the basic questions of musical semantics and discusses beethovens committed art, the core ideas of the ring of the nibelung. Liszts dante symphony takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride spanning two generations and features a huge cast of historical figures, including adolf hitler, joseph goebbels, albert einstein. Faust symphony liszts orchestral character painting. Imagine writing a symphony called the old testament and having it focus exclusively on the sex life of david and bathsheba.
Liszts dante symphony is a sizzling tale of murder and covert spy rings set amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, which leads to hitlers infernal third reich. This epic symphony traverses through dantes vision of hell to arrive at a heavenly finale. Dante symphony eine symphonie zu dantes divina commedia 5 sheet music. Simone young shows us schuberts vienna with pianist louis lortie and the infernal visions of liszts dante symphony franz liszt was an ambitious and innovative musician, creating a radically new sound for the piano and inventing the symphonic poem using the orchestra to freely evoke mood, colour, people and places. In liszts works without written program, notably the piano sonata in b minor and his two piano concerti, similar types of moods are expressed in a style resembling that of the. The first 12 were composed between 1848 and 1858 though some use material conceived earlier.
These works helped establish the genre of orchestral program. He was a renowned performer throughout europe during the 19th century, noted especially for his showmanship and great skill with the keyboard. Dante symphony s 109 study score a symphony to dantes divina. Liszts traveling, especially to both the first and second book of years of pilgrimage. Fantasia quasi sonata french for after a reading of dante.
Raiding in sopron county, in the kingdom of hungary, austrian empire. He conducted liszt s dante symphony in 1866, and made the acquaintance of wagner s music for the first time at munich, whither he travelled in liszt s company. Rgfudgugu3ltcghvbnksifmumta5ichmaxn6dcwgrnjhbnop identifier imslp symphony s109 liszt franz. Martin haselbock, best known in liszt circles for his advocacy and editing of the composers complete organ works, leads the orchester wiener akademie on period instruments in the radical dante symphony and. Whether noseda agrees or not, he takes the movement at a generally brisk pace, with incisive articulation when required. The symphony was premiered in weimar on september 5, 1857, for the inauguration of the goetheschiller. Read pdf dante symphony s 109 study score a symphony to dantes divina commediacomposed in 185556, liszts symphony to dantes divina commedia is programmatic work depicting dantes journey through hell and purgatory. Rgfudgugu3ltcghvbnksifmumta5ichmaxn6dcwgrnjhbnop identifier imslpsymphonys109lisztfranz. Smashwords liszts dante symphony a book by rich disilvio. Tasso subtitled lament and triumph, written in 1849, was the second of liszt s thirteen symphonic poems. In the final magnificat, the ladies of the city of birmingham symphony chorus project clear words and stay on the audible side of ethereal, while the berlin ladies are so distant as to sound unconnected to the main event. Jul 08, 2011 liszt s dante symphony takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride spanning two generations and features a huge cast of historical figures, including adolf hitler, joseph goebbels, albert einstein. Zoltan gardonyi 1985, the organ music of liszt pdf, the new.
In his book on program music, jonathan kregor perceptively links this. Liszts dante symphony describes the separate travels of a father and son in a world each saw. Liszt started working properly on the dante symphony in about 1855, when he was settled comfortably in weimar. Is liszts dante symphony really this bad a piece of music. Their revelation of a program in the b minor sonata. Liszt s masterpiece faust symphony is a lavish orchestral depiction of three characters from goethe s faust using nothing but sound, liszt paints detailed pictures of the three characters emotions, psychology, and personalities. He conducted liszts dante symphony in 1866, and made the acquaintance of wagners music for the first time at munich. Now liszts dante sonata, being a work for solo piano, is a decidedly odd choice to couple with a symphony for full orchestra.
The faust symphony of choice remains leonard bernsteins in 1976 with the boston symphony, reissued on cd as a dgg original. Liszts dante symphony is an historical mysterythriller. Disilvios work in the music and entertainment industries includes commentaries on the great composers such as the toprated franz liszt site, and the pantheon of composers porcelain collection, which he. Mar 04, 2017 his composition, of this period 18641865 included a quartet, two piano quintets, an octet, and an overture. A faust symphony in three character pictures german. Besides, apart from the titles, and presumably the inspiration for composition, both works hardly have anything in common. Liszts dante symphony is an enigmatic tale of murder and covert spy rings amid the turbulent rise of bismarcks prussia, eventually leading to hitlers infernal third reich. Others want to carry documents around with them on their mobile phones and rea. Hoplit, hanslick and liszts dante symphony nicole grimes.
Written in the high romantic style, it is based on dante alighieri s journey through hell and purgatory, as depicted in the divine comedy. Based, of course, on the divine comedy, the work is in two movements an inferno depicting the torments of hell, and a tender purgatorio in which the soul is prepared for. Liszt ferenc october 22, 1811 july 31, 1886 was a hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer of the romantic period. Liszts father played the piano, violin, cello, and guitar. The divine comedy describes dantes fictional travels through hell, purgatory, and ultimately paradise. See also the album leaf dante symphony progression, s. Program music was one of the most flexible and contentious novelties of the long nineteenth century, covering a diverse range that included the overtures of beethoven and mendelssohn, the literary music of berlioz and schumann, liszt s symphonic poems, the tone poems of strauss and sibelius, and compositions by groups of composers in russia, bohemia, the united states, and france. The first movement of liszts dante symphony, inferno, opens with unheard. This book is designed as an introduction to the basic questions of musical semantics and discusses beethovens committed art, the core ideas of the ring of the nibelung and of the symphony of a thousand, wagners idea of a religion of art, the relation of music and poetry, the musicoliterary conceptions of composers, the large. Rick disilvio paints rich characters who are totally believable and he keeps you guessing as the plot thickens throughout this fictionalhistorical novel. The dante symphony, completed one year earlier, enjoyed a smoother birth. Now liszt s dante sonata, being a work for solo piano, is a decidedly odd choice to couple with a symphony for full orchestra.
Jul 29, 2016 liszt s dante symphony is an historical mysterythriller. In the summer of 1855 franz liszt, now firmly ensconced in weimar as court conductor and intent on reinventing the essence of nineteenthcentury composition, interrupted his work on the mighty dante symphony and the prometheus choruses to write a setting of the. Liszt, at times a devout catholic, portrayed dantes scenes with great imagination and passion, cleverly suiting his. Liszts orchestral arrangement of schuberts wanderer. In liszts works without written program, notably the piano sonata in b minor and his two piano concerti, similar types of moods are expressed in a style resembling that of the symphonic poems. This chapter also suggests that liszt found dante as a great inspirational. Other articles where symphony to dantes divina commedia is discussed. He had given up the concert stage to focus his life on composing and innovating.
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