Aspects of death in the music of Franz Liszt : an examination of three representative solo piano works
Date
1997
Authors
Wynd, Korina Annalisa
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Abstract
The representation of death plays an important part in the music of Franz Liszt ( 1811 - 1886). Liszt's encounters with death profoundly shaped his view of life and provided him with much programmatic material for his compositions. 1l1is thesis will examine selected solo piano works by Liszt which were inspired by various aspects of death and which allow the expression of his sentiments on the subject of death.
Through an examination of the role religion played in Liszt's life, the first chapter is designed to establish the root of his attitudes towards death and provide an appropriate context for a discussion on the representation of death in his music. The background and importance of religion in his life is discussed; as well, an overview of Liszt's personal thoughts on the subject of religion and death is given. A summary of Liszt' s various musical techniques for representing death as it relates to religion, that is diabolical and divine depictions of death, is also given.
A discussion of the three piano works chosen for study constitutes the remainder of the thesis. Each of the works is representative of one of Liszt's early, middle, or late compositional periods. Each work offers a different aspect of thought on death, expressed musically, as Liszt matured as a composer and as a man. The connections with death of the 1833 work Harmonies poetiques et religieuses is examined in chapter two through a comparison with the source of its inspiration-a poem by Alphonse-Marie-Louis de Lamartine entitled Pensee des morts. The similarities between Liszt's piano piece and the poem are outlined. As well, an examination of the circumstances of composition of the work reveals a potentially strong influence of Lamennais and the Saint-Simonian movement on Liszt's creative process during the 1830s.
Chapter three investigates the nature of death as a personal loss through a close study of the Weinen. Klagen. Sorgen. Zagen variations. Steeped in grief over the loss of his daughter, Blandine, in 1862, Liszt composed his set of variations based on a basso ostjnato from Bach's cantata of the same title (BWV 12). A discussion of the connection of the work to Blandine's death as well as an examination of the musical representation of grief is provided.
The final chapter examines Liszt' s elegiac works, particularly from the last twenty years, which Liszt felt were of important therapeutic value. These works also reveal a great deal of experimehtation by Liszt with his harmonic Language. A closer examination of his Marche funebre from the third Annees de Pelerinage offers exemplary support of the musical devices Liszt employed, particularly in his late works, to represent death.
Through the examination of the aforementioned piano works, Liszt's thoughts concerning the nature of death become clear. The subject was one that preoccupied him throughout his life and warrants in-depth examination.