Les Préludes (Liszt)
Encyclopedia
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
's thirteen symphonic poems
Symphonic Poems (Liszt)
The symphonic poems of Franz Liszt are a series of 13 orchestral works by the Hungarian composer and are numbered S.95–107. The first 12 were composed between 1848 and 1858 ; the last, Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe , followed in 1882...
. Directed by Liszt himself, in April 1856 the score, and in January 1865 the orchestral parts, were published by Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...
, Leipzig. Among Liszt's symphonic poems, Les préludes is the most popular. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a fanfare motiv of the march finale was made the signature tune for the Wehrmachtbericht
Wehrmachtbericht
The Wehrmachtbericht was a daily radio report on the Großdeutscher Rundfunk of Nazi Germany, published by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht regarding the military situation on all fronts of World War II....
radio report and Die Deutsche Wochenschau
Die Deutsche Wochenschau
Die Deutsche Wochenschau is a series of German newsreels from 1940 until the end of World War II.After the invasion of Poland , the Nazis consolidated four separate newsreel production efforts into one...
newsreel.
The full title "Les préludes (d'après Lamartine)" refers to an Ode
Ode
Ode is a type of lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist...
of Alphonse de Lamartine's
Alphonse de Lamartine
Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
Nouvelles méditations poétiques. The published score also includes a preface, which was not written by Lamartine.
- What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death?—Love is the glowing dawn of all existence; but what is the fate where the first delights of happiness are not interrupted by some storm, the mortal blast of which dissipates its fine illusions, the fatal lightning of which consumes its altar; and where is the cruelly wounded soul which, on issuing from one of these tempests, does not endeavour to rest his recollection in the calm serenity of life in the fields? Nevertheless man hardly gives himself up for long to the enjoyment of the beneficent stillness which at first he has shared in Nature's bosom, and when "the trumpet sounds the alarm", he hastens, to the dangerous post, whatever the war may be, which calls him to its ranks, in order at last to recover in the combat full consciousness of himself and entire possession of his energy.
In autumn 1857, in Franz Brendel's Anregungen für Kunst, Leben und Wissenschaft ("Hints for Art, Life and Science"), Felix Draeseke
Felix Draeseke
Felix August Bernhard Draeseke was a composer of the "New German School" admiring Liszt and Richard Wagner. He wrote compositions in most forms including eight operas and stage works, four symphonies, and much vocal and chamber music.-Life:Felix Draeseke was born in the Franconian ducal town of...
published an essay with an analysis of Les préludes. He presumed that the preface was the program after which the work had been composed. The essay was read and approved by Liszt. Notwithstanding this, the preface, only added when the composition was already finished, cannot be regarded as source of Liszt's inspiration while he was composing the work. Also questionable is whether or to which extent he was influenced by the ode by Lamartine. According to Peter Raabe
Peter Raabe
Peter Raabe was a German composer and conductor. Graduated in the Higher Musical School in Berlin and in the universities of Munich and Jena. In 1894-98 Raabe worked in Königsberg and Zwickau. In 1899-1903 he worked in the Dutch Opera-House . In 1907-20 Raabe was the 1st Court Conductor in Weimar...
(1931), Liszt's symphonic poem had nothing at all to do with it. Raabe's position was shared by Emile Haraszti (1953). Both authors claimed, Liszt had taken one of his older works, an overture for an unpublished cycle of male chorus pieces Les quatre élémens, and later added the title "Les préludes", referencing to Lamartine, to it.
Raabe's and Haraszti's view was challenged by Alexander Main (1979) who tried to show that there was a close connection between Liszt's Les préludes and the ode by Lamartine. From this he concluded that Liszt must have composed Les préludes by following the ode as programmatic model, may he even have taken some materials from the abandoned overture to Les quatre élémens. Andrew Bonner (1984), however, in a paper that was read at an annual meeting at Philadelphia of the American Musicological Society
American Musicological Society
The American Musicological Society is a membership-based musicological organization founded in 1934 to advance scholarly research in the various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship; it grew out of a small contingent of the Music Teachers National Association and, more directly,...
, came to the conclusion that Main's view was wrong. Bonner's position was supported by Rena Charnin Mueller (1986). In a published version of his article, Bonner (1986) eventually tried to give additional evidence in favour of his view.
Liszt himself, in a letter to Eduard Liszt of March 26, 1857, still gave another hint with regard to the title "Les préludes". According to this, "Les préludes" was only the prelude to Liszt's own path of composition. Indeed, with the first performance of the work a new genre had been introduced. Les préludes is the earliest example for an orchestral work that was performed as "symphonic poem". In a letter to Franz Brendel of February 20, 1854, Liszt still had called it "a new orchestral work of mine ("Les preludes")". Two days later, in the announcement in the Weimarische Zeitung of February 22, 1854, of the concert on February 23, it was called "Les preludes—symphonische Dichtung". The term "symphonic poem" thus may have been invented at that time.
The chorus pieces
The genesis of Les préludes was a complicated process, ranging from summer 1844 to the publication of the score in 1856. Liszt's starting-point was Les aquilons ("The North-Winds"), a male chorus with piano accompaniment. Les aquilons was composed on July 24, 1844, in MarseilleMarseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
. The genesis is documented in accounts of the contemporary local press.
Liszt had arrived in Marseille on July 23, 1844. He was received by choristers of a German travelling company, who regarded Liszt as their compatriot, and by choristers from Marseille. Directed by one Monsieur Trotebas, they sang several vocal pieces. The choristers then demanded an original chorus piece by Liszt that could be performed at one of his concerts. Joseph Autran
Joseph Autran
-Biography:Autran was born in Marseille.In 1832 he addressed an ode to Alphonse de Lamartine, who was then at Marseille on his way to the East. Lamartine persuaded the young man's father to allow him to follow his poetic instinct, and Autran became Lamartine's faithful disciple from then on.His...
, whom Liszt had visited after his arrival, handed the poem Les aquilons to him. In the afternoon of July 24 Liszt composed the piece. Directed by Trotebas, the work was performed on August 6 at Liszt's forth concert in Marseille. The accompaniment was on two pianos played by Liszt himself and one Monsieur Darboville, a young artist of Marseille, who afterwards joined Liszt on parts of his voyage towards Spain and Portugal.
Besides Les aquilons, Autran gave three further poems to Liszt. They were La terre ("The Earth"), Les flots ("The Floods") and Les astres ("The stars"). Liszt composed also the additional pieces. As series, La terre, Les aquilons, Les flots and Les astres formed a cycle Les quatre élémens ("The Four Elements"). The title of the cycle was an allusion to the old Greek elements earth, air, water and fire.
In the scholarly literature about Liszt there is a consensus that La terre and Les flots were composed in spring 1845 during Liszt's tour through Spain and Portugal. However, the precise dates are still not clear. The four pieces Les quatre élémens were never published, and the only performance was that on August 6, 1844, of Les Aquilons. The manuscripts are preserved in the Goethe- und Schiller-Archiv in Weimar. Their catalogue numbers are S9, S10, S11a, S11b and S12. S12 is the manuscript of Les aquilons.
With regard to the manuscripts of La terre, S9, and Les flots, S10, Haraszti gave dates "Lisbon and Malaga, April 1845" and "Valencia, Easter Sunday 1845". The same dates will be found in Müller-Reuter's Konzertführer. Müller-Reuter was relying on descriptions of the manuscripts by Aloys Obrist. The dates are however problematic ones, since Liszt's stay in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
was from January 15 to February 25, 1845. He then travelled up the east coast of Spain. From a letter to Lambert Massart of March 8, 1845, it is known that on this day he was in Malaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
. On Easter Monday, March 24, Liszt arrived in Valencia. After concerts in Valencia, he on April 2 left for Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
where he gave further concerts. He then returned to Marseille, arriving on April 22 or 23. In Marseille he met Autran again.
While the difference between Easter Sunday and Monday is very small, the difference between February or the beginning of March and April is considerably larger. A comparison of Haraszti's description of the manuscripts with those by other authors shows that Bonner restricted himself to mentioning the names of the places and the year 1845 as date. Mueller, on the other hand, did not mention any places. According to her description, La terre, S9, was in two different parts written on different music papers. Only to the part with ff. 9–14, Mueller added the date "Avril 45" ("April 1845"). Les flots was written on the same music paper as the last mentioned part of La terre. However, in this case Mueller gave neither a place nor a date.
Concerning the manuscript of Les astres, S11a and S11b, the source situation is even worse. In this case, neither a place nor a date is available. Haraszti, at one place of his essay, gave April 14, 1845, as date. At another place, however, he wrote that the piece might possibly have been composed in May 1845, after Liszt had returned to Marseille. While it is most commonly presumed that Les astres was indeed composed around that time, it is only an assumption, since no reliable sources have been found.
It might be expected that Liszt, when meeting Autran in Marseille again, spoke in some words about the works that he had composed after the poems. However, it was only in a letter to Autran of August 7, 1852, when Liszt reminded of the four texts that Autran had entrusted him in Marseille. Liszt assured, he had a long time ago already finished the composition. Taking this literally, it was the first time when Autran received information concerning the whereabouts of his former poems. The poems themselves were only published in 1856.
Beginning of the collaboration
In his letter to Autran of August 7, 1852, Liszt wrote, he had orchestrated the four chorus pieces. While doing it, the idea had come to him to join a rather long overture to them. Writing this, Liszt did not tell that the orchestration of the chorus pieces had not been done by him himself but by August Conradi. The overture was orchestrated by Joachim Raff
Joachim Raff
Joseph Joachim Raff was a German-Swiss composer, teacher and pianist.-Biography:Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitment into the military of that southwestern German state that had to fight for Napoleon in...
.
Liszt's relation with Raff commenced on June 19, 1845, in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, where Raff attended a concert given by Liszt. Liszt invited Raff to go together with him to Germany, and in summer 1845 Raff helped Liszt with services in connection with a festival in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
where a Beethoven statue was unveiled. Since then, Liszt tried to persuade Raff to permanently join him. Together with a letter of May 3, 1847, he sent money to Raff, reminding of Raff's services in Bonn. He invited Raff to join him at end of January 1848 in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
. Raff's answer has not survived, but from Liszt's letter of February 8, 1848, it is known that Raff must have criticized Liszt with regard to his works. Raff must also have given hints that he could lead Liszt to a better composition style. Liszt, who had felt insulted, preferred to choose August Conradi for the kinds of help he had hoped to get from Raff.
At end of May or in the beginning of June 1849, Raff in a letter to Liszt asked whether his opera König Alfred might be performed in Weimar. After Liszt had ordered and received the score from the publisher Kistner, Leipzig, he wrote a friendly letter to Raff on July 8, 1949. He praised the opera and especially Raff's brilliant instrumentation. Liszt also wrote that events of the past might remain events of the past. In any case, he would keep taking the duty to facilitate Raff's path, which was full of obstacles. As reaction, Raff wrote an apologizing letter to Liszt and offered his services. In a letter of August 1, 1849, Liszt accepted the excuse and also the offered services. For the moment, however, Liszt had already made different arrangements. With the hint concerning the different arrangements, Conradi was meant. At end of summer 1849 Conradi left Weimar for an appointment as Kapellmeister at Stettin. The season in Stettin was opened on October 21 with a production of Egmont.
On September 25, 1849, Raff met Liszt in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. It was negotiated that Raff would join Liszt on December 1 in Weimar. In a letter of November 20, 1849, however, Liszt invited Raff to join him in Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen is a municipality in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 11 km southwest of Stadthagen, and 13 km southeast of Minden.Bad Eilsen is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Eilsen....
instead. Raff left Hamburg on November 21. During the night he arrived in Bad Eilsen. Since then he was appointed as Liszt's secretary and assistant. He had to receive an annual salary of 600 Thaler, to be paid by the Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein, Liszt's mistress.
Raff in Weimar
Liszt's collaboration with Raff turned out as a problematic one. In October 1853, after four years of services, Raff wrote in a letter to Doris Genast, his bride:
- He [Liszt] should finally understand that nothing is gained in serious matters by that easy geniality, which merely momentarily dazzles and at best enables the conquest of empty-headed women. He should finally turn over a new leaf and devote himself steadfastly and seriously to those studies from which alone he can expect to become a true artist. You know how much I esteem him as pianist and as piano composer in technical respect, and one must render him the praise that in this respect he has achieved everything possible. But he is not satisfied with that, he has the ambition of becoming renowned as aesthetician and composer, which he can never attain ... I have never mentioned him in any of the articles signed by me when it has been a matter of artistic significance for the presence ... I am necessitated to regard him as a nothing in all more elevated matters—and I am accustomed to it.
Already in December 1849 in Bad Eilsen and afterwards in Weimar it was Raff's impression that Liszt was much too much influenced by Princess Wittgenstein, who praised everything he wrote as sublime and divine. Raff tried to lead Liszt to a direction that—according to Raff's view—was a better one, and there were moments when Liszt seemed to be grateful for it. During the stay in Bad Eilsen he took Raff's position and defended him against attacks of Princess Wittgenstein. In a letter to Raff of December 30, 1850, he even promised to follow Raff's friendly and very just advice with regard to his compositions. However, from Raff's perspective, not much actually changed.
As further part of Raff's problems with Liszt, he was with right convinced that his own musical talents were very strong. For several times Liszt had assured, he would support Raff in the development of an own career. In this respect there was a good chance in 1851, after Raff had on March 9 successfully premiered his opera König Alfred. It was by this time when in his letters to Liszt he changed the address, taking "Lieber Freund" ("Dear friend"), instead of a prior formal one. The change indicates that Raff wished to be viewed no longer as assistant, but as colleague. He knew that in 1851 a position in Weimar would become vacant. It was due to a planned retirement of Hyppolyte Chelard, until then Hofkapellmeister in Weimar. The former position of Chelard was then overtaken by Liszt, and a position as second Kapellmeister was free. For the free position, however, not Raff, but Johann Götze was taken.
Liszt suggested further projects, among them a doctoral dissertation to be written by Raff, who afterwards should be appointed as librarian. However, Liszt changed his mind, and Raff, due to the services he had to fulfil for Liszt, found no time for finishing his own projects. In August 1853 Raff hoped he would be appointed as second Kapellemeister in succession of Ignaz Lachner in München, but nothing came of it. In moments of despair Raff feared that it was his fate, for all of his life working in the shadow of Liszt, without any chance of an own career. His salary in Weimar had been drastically shortened and after this was hardly sufficient even for his daily expenses at that place. As soon as he left without new appointment, his situation would become hopeless.
In 1854 Raff published his book Die Wagnerfrage. With his critical view regarding parts of Wagner's
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
style and ideology he made enemies in the circle at Weimar. Two years later there was a further éclat, in connection with a Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
article in the journal Signale für die musikalische Welt. Although in both cases Raff was defended by Liszt, his decision was made. On May 24, 1856, he directed a performance of his Dornröschen ("Sleeping Beauty"). Shortly afterwards he left Weimar, travelling to Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, where Doris Genast, his bride, was member of the Court theatre company.
In Wiesbaden, where on August 28, 1856, the opera König Alfred was performed, Raff received friendly letters of Liszt, whom he visited in spring 1857 in Weimar. Liszt was very desperate because of the many enemies he had made with his works. He tried to persuade Raff to write a book about the symphonic poems, but it was in vain. Raff's visit in Weimar may have been the reason for which further scores of Liszt's works in Raff's hand exist. Among them are Die Hunnenschlacht, Die Ideale and Hamlet, all of them composed 1857 or later. On February 15, 1859, Raff married his bride. Since then he developed to one of the most successful and respected composers of his time.
The overture
Andrew Bonner, in his attempt to give a detailed history of Les préludes based on the surviving sources, assumed that already in 1845 Liszt had sketched an overture for the cycle Les quatres éléments. Bonner also presumed that Liszt had by that time made a short-score draft. Since of the music sources, as presumed by Bonner, nothing has come to light, his actual source was a different one. It is a 1883 collection of essays, entitled Franz Liszt, Studien und Erinnerungen by Richard Pohl. According to Pohl, Liszt began Les préludes in 1845 in MarseilleMarseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
and finished it in 1850 in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
. Bonner did not tell that Pohl also wrote: that Les préludes was premiered in March 1854.
The date of the first performance, as stated by Pohl, is wrong, since Les préludes was premiered not in March, but in February 1854. It is also clear that Les préludes was not finished in 1850. Bonner himself in his essay shows it from sources. While it is true that, in a sense, Les préludes was begun in Marseille, there are no sources, pointing to the year 1845. Liszt had one year earlier composed Les aquilons, as first step towards the cycle Les quatre élémens of which later Les préludes evolved. In this sense he had indeed begun Les préludes in Marseille. However, it was not in 1845, but in 1844. After this, Bonner's opinion that there were no real grounds for doubting that Liszt started the overture as early as 1845, can hardly be shared. Pohl's book is no reliable source.
The earliest sources for attempts of orchestrating the chorus pieces Les quatre élémens are written in Conradi's hand. They are contained in two bound volumes with catalogue numbers B20 and B21. While Conradi took the verso sides, the recto sides were left free for Liszt's revisions. B21 contains an earlier version, and B20 a reworking based on Liszt's suggestions. Either the earlier or the later version was by Conradi dated with "14.4.48" (April 14, 1848). The date shows that in spring 1848 Liszt and Conradi were occupied with an orchestration of the chorus pieces. Liszt's statement in his letter to Autran of August 7, 1852, while orchestrating the chorus pieces, the idea had come to him to add an overture, can be confirmed. In B20, on a page, separating the pieces La terre and Les flots, Liszt wrote an inventory of planned works. The first two entries are "Les quatre éléments ouverture" and "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne". The precise date at which Liszt wrote the inventory cannot be determined, but it must have been in spring 1848 or later.
In December 1849 Joachim Raff wrote a lengthy letter to Kunigunde Heinrich, including an account of the first month of his stay with Liszt in Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen is a municipality in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 11 km southwest of Stadthagen, and 13 km southeast of Minden.Bad Eilsen is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Eilsen....
. According to this, it was Liszt's plan to silently prepare himself for a career as composer. After two or three years he wanted to come forward in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Concerning Raff's services in Bad Eilsen, he had translated an article by Liszt about John Field
John Field (composer)
John Field was an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi...
and made a neat copy of Liszt's first piano concerto. He had also instrumented parts of the concert overtures "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne" and "Die 4 Elemente" ("The four Elements"). Of the instrumented parts he had made neat copies.
As Bonner's main discovery, he was able to show that a score in Raff's hand of the Overture to Les quatre élémens survives. In the middle of one of Liszt's sketchbooks, catalogue number N3, he found a four-page correction in Liszt's hand, headed with "4 Elements Seite 25" ("Four Elements page 25"). The passage in N3 corresponds exactly to the music on p. 25–26 of an orchestral score with catalogue number A3c. Score A3c was by Raabe listed as earliest score in an unknown hand of Les préludes. He did not recognize Raff's hand, since Raff's handwriting radically changed during the time of his stay in Weimar. To this comes that on the cover of the first bifolium of A3c Liszt wrote the title "Les préludes".
Liszt did not date his correction in sketchbook N3, but the missing date can be estimated from other sources. The majority of sketchbook N3 consists of a short-score draft of the overture and choruses to Herder's
Johann Gottfried Herder
Johann Gottfried von Herder was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the periods of Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Weimar Classicism.-Biography:...
Der enfesselte Prometheus. In a list of Liszt's future projects near the end of Raff's letter to Kunigunde Heinrich of December 1849 from Bad Eilsen the Prometheus music is not mentioned. It must have been a new project, which was started after Liszt and Raff had in the beginning of January 1850 arrived in Weimar. The draft was orchestrated by Raff who also made a neat copy. This version of the Prometheus music was performed on August 24, 1850, in Weimar.
Since the content of sketchbook N3 was merely destined to be orchestrated by Raff, it appears to be plausible enough that Liszt's correction to the Overture Les quatre élémens was written in 1850 during the genesis of the Prometheus music. Liszt's corrections are already incorporated in score A3c. The score that Liszt corrected, thus was not score A3c, but the first score that Raff had begun in Bad Eilsen. According to Raabe, from score A3c orchestral parts were drawn, which Raabe found in Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
. There may have been a trial performance of the overture, but no sources with regard to this are available. The first score by Raff and the parts mentioned by Raabe are lost.
Early mentioning of the title "Les préludes"
An early mentioning of the title "Les préludes" can be found in the so-called "Tasso" Sketchbook, catalogue number N5, a sketchbook that was used by Liszt since November 1845. After about two dozens of prior entries Liszt noted titles of the French poems "Les djins", "Les haleines", "Les préludes" and "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne". There is no date, nor any hint for which purpose Liszt noted the titles. From the sequence of his prior entries it may be guessed that the titles were noted around end of 1845 or the beginning of 1846.Two of the poems were taken by the Belgian composer César Franck
César Franck
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
as program for symphonic works. They are "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne", composed about 1845–47, and "Les djins", composed 1884. Although Franck did not publish his "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne", it is almost sure that Liszt knew it when he was in fall 1849 composing an early version his symphonic poem with the same title. In the letter of November 20, 1849, in which he invited Raff to join him in Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen is a municipality in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 11 km southwest of Stadthagen, and 13 km southeast of Minden.Bad Eilsen is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Eilsen....
, he wrote, Raff should bring some interesting scores and some of Chopin's
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
works. He then wrote:
- Perhaps Schubert will give you the still not printed manuscripts of Franck as well. Among them, there is probably a movement of a four-handed symphony (or overture), in which I am particularly interested.
In his answer of November 21, 1849, Raff assured that Liszt would get the requested manuscripts. On the same day together with Schubert he left Hamburg, travelling to Bad Eilsen. From Liszt's letter to François-Joseph Fétis
François-Joseph Fétis
François-Joseph Fétis was a Belgian musicologist, composer, critic and teacher. He was one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century, and his enormous compilation of biographical data in the Biographie universelle des musiciens remains an important source of information today...
of October 22, 1849, it is known that at this time he was in Bad Eilsen occupied with drafts for his Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne
Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne
Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne , sometimes referred to as 'Bergsymphonie', is the first of thirteen symphonic poems by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt...
. After Raff had arrived in Bad Eilsen he orchestrated the drafts. It can hardly be imagined that it was a different score of Franck, instead of "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne", that Liszt wanted to get.
There is a further parallel between Liszt and Franck. In another one of Liszt's sketchbooks, catalogue number N4, Andrew Bonner found a short sketch, entitled "Les djins". Bonner assumed that the sketch was from the early 1850s, but this was nothing more than a guess. The sketchbook is largely devoted to a sketch of the first act of the opera Sardanapal, which Liszt may have begun in 1847. In December 1849, in Bad Eilsen, he planned to complete the opera, but the project was never finished. Also contained in N4 are sketches for Symphonic Poems such as Festklänge, Die Ideale and Hamlet, as well as sketches for Liszt's Symphonies after Faust and Dante. Since Hamlet was composed in 1858, the sketchbook was used by Liszt during large parts of the 1850s as well.
The sketch "Les djins" in sketchbook N4 seems to indicate that it was Liszt's plan to compose symphonic works after the four poems, the titles of which he had several years earlier noted in sketchbook N5. A work with title "Les préludes" would have been one of them. However, without additional sources nothing more can be said to it. Since no precise date is available, it is not even clear whether the sketch "Les djins" was written prior to the composition of Les préludes or afterwards.
Lina Ramann, Peter Raabe, Emile Haraszti
The gap between the overture to Les quatre éléments and the symphonic poem Les préludes was by different authors filled with different views. According to Lina Ramann in the second volume of her Franz Liszt als Künstler und Mensch (1894), the composition of the overture had already reached a very advanced state when Liszt became aware of the feebleness of the poems by Autran. Liszt had complained of it against Victor HugoVictor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
, secretly hoping, Hugo would come to his aid. However, Hugo had turned a deaf ear to it, and Liszt had been too proud to ask Hugo for his collaboration. In connection with the concert on February 23, 1854, Liszt remembered the abandoned overture and transformed it in accordance with the ode by Lamartine.
While Ramann was preparing her book, she had sent questionnaires to Liszt, who wrote answers and comments to them. Moreover, she had had colloquies with Liszt himself as well as with Princess Wittgenstein. Two of the questionnaires had been concerning Liszt's instrumental works and the symphonic poems, but these are lost. Of Ramann's colloquies with Liszt and Princess Wittgenstein, many details are to be found in her diaries. However, Les préludes is not mentioned there. The question of Ramann's actual sources thus remains open.
Peter Raabe, without giving a clue for grounds, claimed that Ramann's view was wrong. According to his own view, Liszt had merely exchanged the former title "Les quatre élémens" with the new title "Les préludes". Raabe's sources were manuscript materials to which he had access in Weimar. From his unpublished notes it is known that he had compared the chorus pieces Les quatre élémens with different manuscript scores, among them score A3c. He had found that musical materials in the scores had been taken from the chorus pieces.
From Raabe's perspective, this was proof enough that at an early step the overture and Les préludes had been one and the same. Indeed, Liszt had added the title "Les préludes" to score A3c, so that in so far Raabe's view was right. There is yet a gap in his arguments, since it is not clear, at which time Liszt wrote the title to the score. In accordance with Ramann's view, he may have transformed the work and in connection with this written the new title to the older score as well.
In Emile Haraszti's view it was Princess Wittgenstein who had played a false game with Joseph Autran. Although she knew that the said symphonic work was closely connected with Autran's poems, she persuaded Liszt to take a different title instead. Since, according to Haraszti, Liszt's personality was rather weak, he agreed. Haraszti's sources were the published score of Les préludes and microfilm copies of the chorus pieces. To this came letters by Liszt and Princess Wittgenstein to Autran, and the correspondence of Liszt and Raff, as published by Raff's daughter Helene.
In similar kind as Raabe, Haraszti found that musical materials of Les préludes had been taken from the chorus pieces. Since he knew from Raff's letter to Kunigunde Heinrich from Bad Eilsen that an overture to Les quatre élémens had existed, he assumed that Les préludes had originally been this overture. Concerning the false game of Princess Wittgenstein, Haraszti cited a letter by her to Autran of 1856. Although the said symphonic work had two years earlier already been premiered as "Les préludes", in the letter by the Princess still the title "Les quatre élémens" was to be found. Haraszti's discovery, however, cannot be taken as proof of a false game. While it is true that in the letter by Princess Wittgenstein, as quoted by Haraszti, the title "Les quatre élémens" is mentioned, the Princess had addressed not a symphonic work, but the chorus pieces.
Alexander Main
Alexander Main claimed that Raabe's and Haraszti's views were groundless and mistaken. Since Main himself had had no access to manuscript sources in Weimar, he had sent an enquiry to one Dr. Gerhard Schmid at the Goethe- und Schiller-Archiv. Dr. Schmid in his reply informed Main that a catalogue of Liszt's works by Princess Wittgenstein contained an entry "Ouverture des quatre elements avec choeurs" to which the Princess had added the word "Preludes". In Main's view, evidently this annotation, and this alone, had been taken as definitive proof that the overture to Les quatre éléments and the Symphonic Poem Les préludes were one and the same.Main's argument as such is wrong, since the said annotation is only mentioned in his own essay and nowhere else. The opinion, the overture and Les préludes were one and the same piece of music, hence must have evolved from different sources. However, Main had yet another argument. In Liszt's letter to Raff of June 5, 1851, he had found a mentioning of a "Meditation Symphonie".
- I assume you will have the parts of Tasso and the Meditation Symphony copied by Musikdirektor Götze?
- Both works should be written out in the same format—later I shall have Prometheus, Mazeppa, the 4 Elements etc. all bound together.
In Main's view, the title "Meditation Symphonie" was a reference to Lamartine. Although Main gave no further explanation, the path of his association is clear. The Ode "Les préludes" was part of the Nouvelles méditations poétiques. Since also here the word "Méditation" was to be found, the "Meditation Symphonie" must have been a work after Lamartine. The work must have been Les préludes, since no other work by Liszt can be associated with the Méditations poétiques. Main was confirmed in his view by Theodor Müller-Reuter, who in his Konzertführer (1909) had stated, one of the manuscripts of Les préludes bore the designation "Meditation Symphonie". Since this "Meditation Symphonie" and the Overture to Les quatre éléments were both mentioned by Liszt in his letter to Raff, they must have been two different pieces of music. Main also claimed that by June 1851 Les préludes, the presumed "Meditation Symphonie", existed essentially as it is known from the published score.
While Main's reasoning may at first sight give an impression as being well argued, it is nevertheless wrong. As opposite to his claim concerning the work's version of June 1851, score A3c, the only one to be taken into consideration, contains quite different music than the published score of Les préludes. Main's quotation from Liszt's letter was taken from the bottom of p. 1163 of Liszt's corresponcence with Raff, as edited by Raff's daughter Helene. In this respect another error occurred. The error could have been avoided, had Main read the entire page of his source.
The cited page of Liszt's correspondence with Raff contains a part of a long letter by Liszt of June 5, 1851. In the part near the top of the page, Liszt wrote that on the next day he would send to Raff scores of "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne" and "Lamento e Trionfo (Tasso Ouverture)", as well as scores of his transcriptions for piano and orchestra of Schubert's
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
Wanderer-Fantasie and Weber's
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
Pollacca brillante. In the scores of "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne" and "Tasso" Liszt had indicated a few corrections. Raff should make neat copies of them or just explicate them to the copyist who should write out orchestral parts.
The next paragraphs of Liszt's letter are filled with angry remarks concerning one "R......". He had written out the scores of the two transcriptions, but the scores were crowded with mistakes. Raff, in Liszt's name, should lecture "R......", who should make better copies of the scores and write out parts. Liszt then returned to matters of Raff. As quoted by Main, he asked whether Raff would have the parts of "Tasso" and the "Meditation Symphony" copied by Götze. A comparison with Liszt's remarks at the top of the page shows that with the term "Meditation Symphony" not an early version of Les préludes, as assumed by Main, but of Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne was meant. Müller-Reuter's claim in the Konzertführer is wrong.
Andrew Bonner
Andrew Bonner investigated three orchestral scores. They have catalogue numbers A3a, A3b and A3c, and are the same scores as described by Raabe in his annotations to Les préludes in his catalogue of Liszt's works. Score A3c is the earliest of them. It is Raff's neat copy, including Liszt's correction in sketchbook N3, of the orchestration of the Overture to Les quatre élémens, which RaffJoachim Raff
Joseph Joachim Raff was a German-Swiss composer, teacher and pianist.-Biography:Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitment into the military of that southwestern German state that had to fight for Napoleon in...
had begun in December 1849 in Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen
Bad Eilsen is a municipality in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 11 km southwest of Stadthagen, and 13 km southeast of Minden.Bad Eilsen is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Eilsen....
.
Score A3a is a heavily revised version of the work. It was in parts written by Liszt, and in parts by Hans von Bronsart. Of the revised version, Raff made a neat copy. This is the first layer of score A3b. A second layer of score A3b, also written by Raff, represents the published version of Les préludes. In comparison with the first layer, only smaller corrections had been made. It may be presumed that the first layer of score A3b is the version of Les préludes, which was performed on February 23, 1854, in Weimar. It is essentially identical with the version of Les préludes as known today.
Bonner tried to show that there was no interim version between scores A3c and A3a. For this purpose he cited a further manuscript source, with catalogue number Z14. It is a fair copy, in Raff's hand, of a thematic catalogue of Liszt's works. In Raff's manuscript title page the year 1853 is included as date, but the date was later crossed out by an editor and changed to 1855. The catalogue contains a page with incipts of early versions of Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne, the later Les préludes, Tasso and Mazeppa. The incipit of the later Les préludes corresponds exactly to the opening of the version in score A3c. Above the incipit Raff left space free for a title, but none was entered.
According to Bonner, the page with the incipits is in the back of Z14. In contrast to this, Mueller wrote that the incipits were on the recto of f.1. Mueller's description, much more detailed than Bonner's, is the more reliable one. According to this, Z14 has three parts, which Mueller designated as parts A, B and C.
Part A is an earlier version of the catalogue. It comprises seven bifolia, each of which was taken for an individual genre. On the first bifolium Raff listed Liszt's symphonic works. At a later step, he incorporated most of the material of part A into parts B and C, the Hauptkatalog. From this Hauptkatalog the 1855 version of a printed catalogue of Liszt's works, as issued by Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...
, was made. While part B of Z14 is the main body of the catalogue, part C, labelled as "Nachträge zum Verzeichnis der Werke von Franz Liszt", comprises two loose bifolia. On f.2 of part C the symphonic poems are listed. Bonner, in his description of the page with the incipits, apparently confused parts A and C.
Part A contains an incipit of the first version of the choral work An die Künstler, which was unsuccessfully performed on October 3, 1853, in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
. In November 1853 Liszt revised the work, and an incipit of this version is contained in part B of Z14. From this it is clear that Raff must have written out part B in November 1853 or later. On the other hand, there is a letter by Raff to Karl Gurckhaus, Raff's contact at the publishing house Kistner, of November 1852. The letter shows that Raff was by this time working on the catalogue. The catalogue as mentioned by Raff in this letter must have been part A of Z14. Since the incipit in part A of the later Les préludes corresponds exactly to the opening of the version in score A3c, until then nothing had changed.
In part A of Z14, the order of the listed symphonic works reflects the order of Raff's orchestrations. Thus the untitled early version of Les préludes was entered as second, and the early version of Tasso as third item. In part C, both items were reversed. This reflects the order of the symphonic poems in the cycle, as published since 1856. The new order does not reflect the order in which the works had been composed or finished. Mazeppa, for example, which had been ready since 1851, was published as No. 6 of the cycle, while Orpheus, originally composed as overture to a performance of Gluck's
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
opera Orpheus und Euridice on February 16, 1854, in Weimar, was published as No. 4.
According to Bonner, the transformation of score A3c to score A3a was made in 1853 or early 1854, and the second layer of score A3b dates from late 1855 or 1856. He had divided Raff's manuscripts into three basic handwriting types and associated these types with time periods. In Bonner's essay, examples from scores A3a, A3b and A3c are reproduced. They show that indeed different types of Raff's handwriting can be recognized. As regards the dates he had attached to the examples, Bonner however admitted that they were only approximate ones. Without further hints from sources, his claim that the transformation of score A3c to score A3a was made in 1853 or early 1854 thus remains a guess.
Conclusion
While Bonner's arguments in favour of his date for the transformation of score A3c to score A3a are only in parts convincing, there are additional aspects of his sources from which a precise hypothesis can be drawn. Looking at Liszt's situation in 1853, he had in the beginning of October directed the music festival in KarlsruheKarlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
where the choral work An die Künstler was performed. In the company of Joseph Joachim, Hans von Bülow, Eduard Reményi, Richard Pohl and Dionys Pruckner, he then travelled to Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, where Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
was waiting for him. Together with Wagner and Princess Wittgenstein, Liszt travelled from Basel to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. On October 30, 1853, he was back in Weimar, where on that day he directed a performance of Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer.
Score A3a was in parts written by Hans von Bronsart. He thus had until then joined the circle at Weimar and had won Liszt's confidence. Bronsart is nowhere mentioned as member of the group around Liszt that attended the music festival in Karlsruhe and met Wagner in Basel. Taking this as hint, Bronsart most likely joined the circle around Liszt not earlier than in November 1853. November 1853 thus can be taken as an earliest date for the revision of score A3c to score A3a.
According to Bonner's description, score A3a was written in great haste. This indicates that there must have been a fixed date at which the revised score was to be finished. At first sight, this date may be presumed as February 23, 1854, when Les préludes was premiered. Liszt would have wished to perform a new orchestral work of his own, and for this reason he together with Bronsart revised the former overture to Les quatre élémens. However, in this case there was no need for haste, since Liszt could as well have taken Mazeppa instead. Mazeppa was ready since 1851 and only premiered on April 16, 1854. Liszt could also have taken Festklänge, of which he had made a complete draft on August 11, 1853, in Karlsbad
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately west of Prague . It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370...
.
In February 1854, two further fixed dates were of importance for Liszt. As one of them, there was the birthday of Grand Duchess Maria Palowna on February 16. Every year as part of this event an opera was performed. In 1854 it was Gluck's Orpheus und Euridice, for which Liszt composed the above mentioned overture and music to be played at the opera's end. In the second half of January 1854 Raff was occupied with this score. Raff thus was not free, and this may have been the reason for which Liszt chose Bronsart as assistant for the transformation of score A3c to score A3a of Les préludes.
Another fixed date was February 8, birthday of Princess Wittgenstein. Since it was she who strongly wished that Liszt might turn out as great composer and demanded masterworks of him, it might have been Liszt's idea, to give to her a couple of orchestral scores as birthday gift. He would have taken the ode Les préludes by Lamartine as program of one of the works because he knew that the Princess liked Lamartine and the Méditations poétiques.
The above hypothesis has much resemblance with Lina Ramanns view. Since Liszt had in his youth been strongly attached to Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
, it was a matter of politeness to visit him in October 1853 during the stay in Paris. The feebleness of the poems by Autran, as stated by Ramann, may be regarded as a matter of taste. Autran, however, had until 1854 not published them. Thus it may have been he himself who found that they were not among his strongest ones. Had Liszt performed or published the former overture with title "Les quatre élémens d'après Autran", the title would have been senseless since there was no work Les quatre élémens by Autran. It may have been this reason for which to the incipit on f.1 of the catalogue Z14 no title was entered.
The preface
Theodor Müller-Reuter, in his Konzertführer, published four different versions of the preface of Les préludes. The earliest version was in March 1854 written by Princess Wittgenstein. In a letter to Liszt of March 31, 1854, she wrote:- I have finished the five prefaces—Montagne, Préludes, Mazeppa, Orpheus, and Prometheus. They are short, and they bring together some quotations that please me!
After the Princess had written prefaces of Tasso and Héroide funèbre as well, the seven prefaces were printed in a brochure. At latest in the beginning of June 1854 the brochure was distributed among Liszt's friends.
While the Princess had in the letter to Liszt assured her prefaces were short, the opposite is true. The preface of Les préludes comprises voluminous reflections of her own, into which some lines of quotations from the ode by Lamartine are incorporated. It was then drastically shortened and in April 1856 in this version published as part of the score. Of the former quotations only a single one survived. It is the sentence, "the trumpet sounds the alarm". Besides the title "Les préludes", solely this was overtaken from Lamartine.
A further version of the preface was written for the occasion of a performance of Les préludes on December 6, 1855, in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. This version was signed by one Albert Hahn. Müller-Reuther assumed that it was written under Liszt's influence, and Haraszti guessed that also this version was written by the Princess. In any case, Liszt must have agreed to it since he himself directed the performance.
In the 1855 version of the preface a connection with the ode by Lamartine is as main part reduced to a reference to the sentence, "What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death?" According to this version of the preface, Liszt had found it in the ode by Lamartine. However, the sentence was overtaken from the beginning of the March 1854 version, while the ode does not contain it. It was actually written not by Lamartine, but by Princess Wittgenstein.
As further part of the 1855 version, the author tried to explain the contents of Les préludes. Following this interpretation, the work has four movements and an introduction. The main musical motif, as being introduced in the beginning after two pizzicato strikes of the string quartet, was intended to give the impression of man as unsolvable problem of the world. The Andante maestoso, to which the work returns in the end, shows man after the battle. In parts of the middle sections Liszt follows ideas by Lamartine. He then takes refuge in rural solitude. After some time he no longer can stand the peaceful living with a woman in an idyllic environment. He thus leaves and returns to the fight. Since the Andante maestoso is already played shortly after the work's beginning, the plot may have been meant with sense that after a period of struggles a person remembers parts of his life.
For the occasion of a performance of Les préludes on April 30, 1860, in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
a fourth version of the preface was made. This version was probably written by Hans von Bülow
Hans von Bülow
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
who directed the performance. It is rather short and contains no reference to Lamartine at all. According to this version, Les préludes illustrates the development of a man from his early youth to maturity. There is no doubt that Liszt himself was to be identified with that man. Thus, in this interpretation, Les préludes can be taken as part of a sketched musical autobiography.
The central statement of all different versions of the preface is one and the same. It is the supposition that a man cannot live without taking part in dangerous battles, not asking for reasons, and may he even lose and eventually die. While this for itself would have been merely an opinion or conviction of Liszt, the reference to Lamartine is an attempt of posing it as everybody's fate. In Lamartine's ode Les préludes, however, the said supposition is not contained.
Form
The musical form of Les préludes comprises the following parts:- Introduction (mm.1–34)
- Andante maestoso (mm.35–46)
- Main part I (mm.47–108)
- Storm (mm.109–181)
- Main part II (mm.182–344)
- March (mm.345–405)
- Main part I (mm.47–108)
- Andante maestoso (mm.406–416)
- Andante maestoso (mm.35–46)
- Coda (mm.417–420)
The introduction has the purpose of preparing the basic meter, 4/4 time, the basic key, C Major, and one of the two main themes of Les préludes. In the beginning the strings play two pizzicato strikes of the tone C. The strikes are placed on the third beats of mm.1 and 2. Thus the usually accentuated first beats cannot be heard. It is only in m.8 when on the first beat of a bar a chord is played. There is a similar development in mm.10ff, until with the beginning of the Andante maestoso stability of the meter is reached.
The first harmony, in m.4f, is the C Major triad with added sixth A. It can be heard as subdominant
Subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
of G, since in mm.1–9 the tone F, which would have pointed to C as tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
, is strictly avoided. The first harmony can as well be heard as A Minor triad with seventh G. This would be the subdominant parallel
Subdominant parallel
In music theory, the subdominant parallel is the relative to the subdominant and is thus considered to have or fulfill the function of the subdominant. The term is derived from German theory and the writings of Hugo Riemann....
of G. The second harmony is the triad of A Minor, and in m.9 there is a stop on the triad of A Major. The work could have been continued with a cadence
Cadence (music)
In Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
via D Major triad with seventh C to the tonic of G, but Liszt took a continuation in D Minor instead. In mm.17f a form of the dominant
Dominant (music)
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
of D Minor is through alteration transformed to a form of the minor subdominant of C. Only since then the tonality becomes more and more distinct. At the end of the introduction, in mm.30ff, the development arrives at the dominant of C.
In m.3 one of the main motifs of Les préludes (C-B-E) is introduced. Already during the introduction the motif is frequently repeated in different forms. It is, however, the head of a melody, which in its entire form is for the first time played in mm.47ff. The melody was overtaken from the chorus piece Les astres, where it is sung with words, "Hommes épars sur le globe qui roule" ("Solitary men on the rolling globe").
Arrangements
In the beginning of 1859 Les préludes was successfully performed in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Karl Klauser, New York, made a piano arrangement, which in 1863 was submitted to Liszt. In a letter to Franz Brendel
Franz Brendel
Not to be confused with composer Franz Brendel .Karl Franz Brendel was a German music critic, journalist and musicologist....
of September 7, 1863, Liszt wrote,Les préludes in Klauser's arrangement was a hackneyed piece, but he had played it through again, to touch up the closing movement of Klauser's arrangement and give it new figuration.
From Liszt's description it is not clear, exactly what he had done. A comparison of the piano arrangement with the orchestral score, however, shows differences regarding the closing Andante maestoso. With exception of the percussion instruments, which take part only in the closing Andante maestoso, the orchestral setting is the same as that of the Andante maestoso from the beginning. The closing part of the piano arrangement has an accompaniment with new figuration instead. There is a further difference regarding the final bars. Les préludes harmonically ends with a sequence of tonic, subdominant and tonic, in religious music usually being understood as equivalent for "Amen". The last chord of the orchestral score is a quaver, followed by breaks. In contrast to this, the corresponding chord of the piano arrangement is a minim, and two further bars, filled with chords of the C major triad, are added.
Liszt sent Klauser's revised arrangement to the music publisher Julius Schuberth, Leipzig, who had a branch establishment in New York and could publish it in America. In Germany, due to the legal situation of that time, Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...
as original publishers of Les préludes owned all rights on all kinds of arrangements. For this reason, in 1865 or 1866 Klauser's arrangement was published not by Schuberth but by Breitkopf & Härtel.
Besides Klauser's arrangement there were further piano arrangements by August Stradal
August Stradal
August Stradal was a Bohemian pianist and music teacher. A student of Anton Bruckner, he made solo piano arrangements of that composer's symphonies 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8. His pianistic credentials included studies with both Theodor Leschetizky and Franz Liszt...
and Carl Tausig
Carl Tausig
Carl Tausig was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer.-Life:Tausig was born in Warsaw to Jewish parents and received his first piano lessons from his father, pianist and composer Aloys Tausig, a student of Sigismond Thalberg. His father introduced him to Franz Liszt in Weimar at the...
. In newer times Matthew Cameron prepared his own piano arrangement of Les préludes. Liszt himself published his own arrangements for two pianos and for piano duet. There were also arrangements for harmonium and piano by A. Reinhard and for military orchestra by L. Helfer.
Flash Gordon
Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
used the music as part of the orchestral music for its three Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon (serial)
Flash Gordon is a 1936 science fiction film serial. Told in 13 installments, it was the first screen adventure for the comic-strip character Flash Gordon, and tells the story of his first visit to the planet Mongo and his encounter with the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. Buster Crabbe, Jean...
adventure serials, starring Buster Crabbe
Buster Crabbe
Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
, in 1936, 1938, and 1940. This was an example of classical music popularized by motion pictures, leading to greater interest in Liszt's famous symphonic poem.