Franz (Franz) Liszt is one of the most brilliant pianists and composers of the 19th century. A Hungarian by nationality, he was born on October 22, 1811 in Raiding (Hungarian Doboryan), near Odenburg, in Austria-Hungary (now this village is located in Austria). Already at the age of 9, a wonderful boy aroused surprise and delight in the local society with the development of performing techniques and the original and inspirational nature of his improvisations. With the help of local magnates, he received an excellent musical education in Vienna, under the guidance of the famous pianist Czerny and composer Salieri. In 1823, Liszt, as a virtuoso and improviser, visited Vienna, Munich, Paris, London and some other capitals and big cities, giving concerts everywhere with extraordinary success. In 1824, Liszt wrote the operetta Don Sancho, which was a great success on the stage of the Paris Opera. In 1826 he studied counterpoint under Anton Reich. Around the same time, the deep religiosity of the young man almost destroyed his brilliant future: in a fit of religious passion, Liszt decided to devote himself to theology, and only the urgent requests of his father rejected him from this plan.
Franz Liszt, photo 1843
After the death of his father (1827), Liszt settled in Paris as a music teacher and composer. Impressions of the July Revolution (July 27, 1830), religious and church movements associated with it (Saint-Simonism, Lamennais theories) and a united protest against stereotyped classicism in the literary and musical sphere (Georges Sand, Victor Hugo, Berlioz) expanded the horizons of the young composer and determined the direction of his further development. No less profound and beneficial influence on Liszt's musical development was the game Paganini who gave concerts in Paris in 1831.
Franz Liszt. The best
In 1838, Liszt appeared on the stage in Vienna already in the full splendor of his brilliant originality, as the founder of a new era in the field of piano playing and the creator of a new musical style. The colossal success that accompanied him on all his travels from 1838 to 1847 and made the concert performer a triumph was due not only to surprise at his amazing technique that overcomes all difficulties, but also to the nobility, depth and grace that penetrated his own creations and exemplary performance of other people's works.
Showered with awards and honors, honorary diplomas and court appointments, Liszt settled in Weimar in 1848 and here, among gifted students and followers, promoted his musical ideas as a teacher, conductor, writer and composer. In 1861 Liszt moved to Rome. From 1876 he was chairman of the Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest, living alternately here in Rome and Weimar. He died on 31 July 1886 in Bayreuth.
The greatest romantic composer, pianist of phenomenal talent and conductor, musical and public figure of inexhaustible energy and teacher who brought up numerous students, music writer, Franz Liszt made a huge contribution to world culture. Different countries can be proud that his name is inseparable from their culture: Hungary - the birthplace of Liszt, France, where he spent his youth and became a great artist, Switzerland and Italy, where he felt with special force not a virtuoso, but before the whole artist, Germany, which is associated with the central, most fruitful period of his work. The nature of its activity changed, but its educational orientation. And as a conductor, and as a pianist, and as a music critic, Liszt tirelessly promoted the best works of world music, trying to introduce them to the widest audience, and also to make known the work of innovative composers.
Liszt lived not just a long (75 years), but an unusually intense creative life. The genres to which he addressed are very diverse. His legacy includes opera and oratorios, including spiritual ones, symphonies and symphonic poems, many piano compositions, choirs and solo songs, and the total number of compositions exceeds 1200.
Liszt's childhood years passed in Doboryan, one of the Hungarian estates of the princes Esterhazy, where the father of the future composer served as a caretaker of the sheepfold. Franz Liszt grew up as a child prodigy. Exceptional musical abilities, manifested at a very early age, he inherited from his father, who became his first teacher. At the age of 9, Liszt already gave his first solo concert, which played a decisive role in his fate: several wealthy Hungarian magnates decided to sponsor the education of a brilliant child in one of the European cultural centers. At the end of 1820, his father took him to Vienna.
In Vienna, Liszt's piano teacher was the famous teacher Carl Czerny, a student of Beethoven, who studied with him for free for a year and a half, and in composition, the 70-year-old Antonio Salieri, Beethoven's teacher. Liszt met with Beethoven himself, who was present at one of his concerts. Beethoven, who guessed a brilliant talent in a child, went up to the piano and kissed him in front of everyone (Liszt was proud of this all his life).
Parisian period (1823 - 35)
Dreaming of studying at the famous Paris Conservatory, Liszt moved to the capital of France with his father. However, he, as a foreigner, was denied admission. The young man had to be content with private lessons. He began studying with the renowned Italian composer and opera conductor Ferdinando Paer and the conservatory professor Antonin Reicha.
Very soon the name of Liszt, thanks to his numerous concert performances in different cities and countries, became widely known. His opera Don Sancho, or the Castle of Love, written under the direction of Paer (the largest of Liszt's early compositions), was staged at the Grand Opera, the largest theater in Paris.
In August 1827, Liszt suffered a heavy grief - while relaxing at sea (in Boulogne), his father suddenly died. Now he had to earn a living by teaching. And then a new blow awaited Liszt, this time on the love front. Among the distinguished students of the fashionable pianist was the 17-year-old Countess Caroline de Saint-Cric. A tender feeling arose between the young people, but the count refused the musician from the house and hurried to marry his daughter to an aristocrat. Liszt fell ill, stopped performing in concerts, plunged into religion and was even ready to renounce the world. A rumor about his death spread throughout Paris, and an obituary was even placed in one of the newspapers. The July Revolution of 1830 “cured” the young man. Like Berlioz, who arranged the Marseillaise "for all who have a voice, heart and blood in their veins," Liszt conceives the Revolutionary Symphony. He intended to use three famous melodies in the symphony - the Hussite heroic song of the 15th century, the Protestant chant "The Lord is our stronghold" and "La Marseillaise". The symphony was never written, although the composer partially used its material in other compositions.
The stormy atmosphere of romantic Paris captures Liszt. He is fond of theater, literature, philosophy, including the Christian socialism of Abbé Lamennais, often communicates with Hugo, George Sand, Lamartine, and all these impressions are later reflected in his piano and symphonic program compositions.
Three musicians played a huge role in the development of Liszt's artistic worldview. This Paganini, who was at the zenith of his fame (his playing made an "impression of a supernatural miracle" on Liszt), Chopin, to whom he subsequently dedicated a book (it was the very first monograph on Chopin) and Berlioz. Liszt, who was present at the performance, immediately became an active supporter of the French innovator. Soon he arranged the Fantastic Symphony for piano, having managed to convey all the richness of the orchestral sound. It was his first "piano score", followed by "Harold in Italy" and then all nine of Beethoven's symphonies.
At the end of 1833, Liszt met Countess Marie d'Agout, who wrote novels under the pseudonym Daniel Stern. For the sake of a young musician, she left her husband and children, leaving with him for Switzerland.
Traveling years (1835 - 47)
A new period begins in Liszt's life. For four years (1835-1839) he lives in Switzerland and Italy, teaches at the newly founded Geneva Conservatory, acts as a music writer (together with the Countess d "Agout). He is especially worried about his position as a musician in bourgeois society. Liszt reflects on this in letters, in a series of articles under the characteristic title "On the position of artists and the conditions for their existence in society". Then followed the "Letters of the Bachelor of Music", devoted to issues of programming, the synthesis of arts. His "Album of the Traveler" is born - a collection of piano pieces inspired by nature and the life of Switzerland, which was then revised into "Years of Wanderings" (Volume I) - one of Liszt's significant, innovative works.
At the end of 1839, Liszt parted ways with Countess d "Agu. His "years of wandering" begin. This is the peak of Liszt's pianistic career. Countless tours bring him worldwide fame. In Hungary he is hailed as a national hero. The Hungarian Diet interrupts work to listen to his play At home, Liszt was keenly interested in folk music, listened to the playing of gypsy orchestras, recorded folk songs, studied folklore collections... All this served as the basis for the creation of several notebooks of "Hungarian National Melodies and Rhapsodies", which later turned into popular Hungarian Rhapsodies.
For eight years, List traveled all over Europe, incl. visited Russia three times (in 1842, 1843 and 1847), met Glinka, whom he highly appreciated, promoted him, made transcriptions of the Chernomor March, Nightingale, etc. The reception was enthusiastic.
In Bonn, at the initiative of Liszt, musical celebrations were organized in connection with the opening of a monument to Beethoven. He performed as a pianist, conductor and composer, and all the proceeds from the concert went towards the erection of a monument.
In the autumn of 1847, after a third trip to Russia, where Liszt performed in the cities of Ukraine, he decided to end his concert activity. This was preceded by some circumstances of Liszt's personal life. In Kyiv, he met Princess Caroline Wittgenstein. The daughter of a wealthy Polish landowner, married at the age of 17 to a famous Russian general, she was unhappily married. A few months spent by List in the Ukrainian estate of Wittgenstein led to the birth of a deep feeling. Caroline, following Liszt, left Russia, dreaming of uniting with him forever after the dissolution of her marriage. They settled in Weimar, where Liszt received the post of head of the court chapel.
Weimar period (1847 - 1861)
This is the most fruitful period of Liszt's creative activity, when his most significant creative ideas were finally realized. In Weimar, 12 (out of 13) symphonic poems were created. This is a new genre of romantic program music inspired by poetry, drama or painting: "What is heard on the mountain", "Mazeppa", "Preludes", "Ideals", "Tasso", "Prometheus", "Hamlet", "Battle of the Huns" and etc. At the same time, 2 program symphonies "Faust" and "Dante" appeared, new editions of 2 piano concertos, "Etudes of the highest performing skill" and "Etudes on the whims of Paganini", "Consolations", "Funeral Procession", two volumes "Years of Wanderings", sonata in B minor, 15 Hungarian Rhapsodies (out of 19), songs, Grand Mass and other compositions.
Liszt's educational activities are on an unprecedented scale. Under his direction, 43 operas were staged at the Weimar Theater - from Gluck and Mozart to Verdi and Wagner, and 8 were the first in the world. He performed all the symphonies of Beethoven, various works by Schubert and Berlioz, Schumann and Glinka, and many other composers. For their performance, he wrote explanations and long articles, sometimes together with Karolina, in which he expounded his views on the development of music. In an effort to support contemporary innovative musicians, Liszt organized special "musical weeks" dedicated to the work of a particular composer (Berlioz's week, Wagner's week, etc.). He struggled with dilapidated traditions, routine.
Thanks to Liszt, little Weimar has become one of the cultural centers of Germany. Around him are grouped friends, students - pianists, composers who come to Weimar from all over Europe. One of them, the outstanding conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow, becomes the husband of Liszt's youngest daughter Cosima.
However, the conservative Weimar public did not understand List's innovative aspirations at all. Concerts were poorly attended (the symphony "Harold in Italy" was performed in front of an empty hall). The position of the composer was complicated by the legal disorder of his personal life - Carolina, despite all efforts, did not manage to get a divorce, so Liszt could not legally marry her. His difficult mental state was aggravated by the death of his son and eldest daughter.
The last period of creativity
As in his youth, in the years of disappointment the composer seeks consolation in religion. In the summer of 1863 he settled in a monastery near Rome. Here he is visited by the Pope, they talk about the reform of church music.
Two years later news of General Wittgenstein's death arrives and nothing further prevents the marriage to Caroline, but she refuses the marriage. Soon (in April 1865) Liszt takes the rank of abbot.
The clergy did not interfere with Liszt's active creative activity. In the early 60s, he completed a number of works of spiritual content. The most significant among them is the oratorio "The Legend of Saint Elizabeth", which premiered in Pest. Soon the second oratorio - "Christ" - was completed and the "Hungarian Coronation Mass" was written. From the compositions of secular music in Rome, two widely known piano etudes were created - "The Noise of the Forest" and "Dwarfs' Round Dance", "Spanish Rhapsody", as well as many piano transcriptions.
Liszt divides the last 17 years of his life between Rome, Weimar and Budapest. He is surrounded by universal worship, many musicians come to Weimar, including Borodin, Cui, Glazunov.
The composer's ties with his homeland are being strengthened. In 1872, the Hungarian Listov Society arose, celebrations dedicated to the 50th anniversary of List's creative activity were celebrated on an unprecedented scale. He is presented with a golden laurel wreath and a medal stamped on this event, and after a while he receives a tea set from one of the music lovers, 12 cups of which are decorated with the themes of Hungarian Rhapsodies. In 1875, after Liszt's long troubles, the Academy of Music was opened in Budapest (now it bears his name). He becomes its honorary president and teaches the piano class.
The most significant works of the late period (70-80s) include The Third Year of Wanderings, the second and third Mephisto-Waltzes, the Mephisto-Polka, the last Hungarian Rhapsodies (16-19), the 13th symphonic poem "From the Cradle to the Grave"
Liszt's death, like all life, testified to the nobility of his nature. At one time, his daughter Cosima and Wagner, whom he considered his best friend, went into an open scandal. Without waiting for an official divorce from Bülow, Cosima took the children, of whom the last - Isolde - was Wagner's daughter, and left for him. She broke off all relations with her father and did not see him for five years. Now, in July 1886, when Wagner was no longer alive, Cosima asked her father to come to Bayreuth to attend the performances of Tristan and Isolde in order to emphasize Wagner's cause with her authority. On July 31, 1886 Franz Liszt died of pneumonia in Bayreuth.
It is curious that this bureaucratic refusal was sanctioned by the director of the conservatory - Italian L. Cherubini
In October 1861, Liszt, following Caroline, came to Rome to get married on the day of his 50th birthday in the church of San Carlo, where everything was already ready for the festive ceremony. But an unexpected blow awaited him: the night before, a messenger from the church came to Princess Wittgenstein with the news that the wedding should be postponed due to the protest of her relatives. In desperation, she abandoned the fruitless struggle and began to lead a reclusive life, more and more immersed in religion.
Franz Liszt is an outstanding Hungarian musician, known as one of the most famous musical romantics who laid the foundations of an entire school of music called Weimar.
Childhood and youth
Born October 22, 1811 in one of the small Hungarian towns - Doboryan. Ferenc was the only one in the family of a local official and the daughter of a baker. His father loved music and instilled this love in his son from childhood. He himself gave him music lessons.
In the church, the young Liszt studied singing and playing the organ. From the age of eight, the young virtuoso has been performing in concerts before the local nobility. In an effort to develop the talent of his son, the father and son go to the Austrian capital.
In Vienna, Liszt improved his piano playing and studied music theory with outstanding musicians. Each of his public performances was a sensation for the local public. Beethoven admired his brilliant abilities.
At the age of twelve, the boy and his father moved to the capital of France, taking lessons from the best teachers of the capital's conservatory. Money is needed to live in Paris, so the father organizes the boy's concerts. Liszt creates his own repertoire. The opera written by him in 1825 was recognized by the public.
In 1827, Ferenc's father died. The boy was very upset by his death and for a long time did not perform anywhere and did not appear.
mature years
In the thirties, the musician became interested in turbulent revolutionary events and returned to music. He gave concerts, which were a huge success, hatched the idea of a work on the theme of revolutionary events.
Ferenc met prominent musicians and writers. He was engaged in teaching, the best European pianists visited his house. He published articles on the art of music and its problems. In the 1930s and 1940s, he performed a lot on tour in various European countries. In Weimar he was engaged in the organization of musical life, in Switzerland - teaching work.
In the 60s he moved to Rome, where he created several significant religious works. Since 1875 he was the president of the Higher School of Music in Hungary and performed at festivals dedicated to Wagner. In the 60s, having moved to Rome, he focused on spiritual music.
In 1875, Liszt was elected president of the Hungarian Higher School of Music. He performed at the Wagner festivals in Bayreuth. He became seriously ill after performing at one of them. F. Liszt died on July 31, 1986.
The work of Franz Liszt
Being engaged in composing since childhood, Liszt created mainly small pieces of music for his public performances. The opera written by the young composer was staged at the theatre. In the future, he wrote over 640 works of various genres. At the same time, his merit is the creation of the genres of symphonic poem and rhapsody.
Discoveries concerning the structure of musical forms and texture, harmonization and melody of a work have become an integral part of musical education and performing activity. In 1831, inspired by the genius Paganini, he arranged for the piano his caprices of Paganini, combining them into six studies.
In the 30s of the 19th century, Liszt was engaged in journalism, publishing articles on the problems of musical art by its prominent representatives. His books about Chopin, the musical art of the Hungarian gypsies, were very popular. The experience of essays on musical life in the genre of writing, addressed mainly to George Sand, is interesting. She answered them with essays in a magazine.
The composer and conductor received world recognition in the course of his active concert activity. His virtuosity has fascinated outstanding musicians and is a benchmark for pianists of many generations. Music critics note his rich imagination, original view of art, originality and innovation. The instrumental works of the composer are considered an important step in the development of musical architectonics.
famous works
The richness and originality of works of different genres are a remarkable feature of Liszt's work. Almost half of these works are piano transcriptions. In total, he wrote over six hundred works, including 63 orchestral, 13 poems for a symphony orchestra, almost ninety works in the genres of song and romance.
His most famous pieces of music are:
- Hungarian Rhapsodies
- Symphonies "Divina commedia" and "Faust"
- Collection of plays "Years of wandering"
- Etudes of the highest performing skill / Transcendental studies
- Etudes after Paganini's Caprices
- Poetic and Religious Harmonies Consolations Hungarian Historical Portraits Sonata (1850-1853) First Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Oratorios "The Legend of Saint Elizabeth" and "Christ"
- Grand Mass and Hungarian Coronation Mass
Personal life
Despite his simple origin, Liszt stood out for his aristocratic appearance, the delicate features of his pale face. He was consistently popular with women.
In the 1930s, he had an affair with Countess Marie d'Agout. The stormy romantic relationship of young people led to the fact that Marie left her husband's husband and broke with her social environment. The lovers went to Switzerland, then to Italy. From there Liszt went on tour to Paris and Vienna. The couple had a son and two daughters.
When Hungary suffered from devastating floods, List decided to go home and help fellow countrymen. However, Marie d'Agout rejected this idea and refused to go. He met a married Catholic princess Wittenstein. Hopes for obtaining permission from the Pope and the Russian Emperor for a divorce did not come true. After the death of his son, List developed depression, religious and mystical feelings.
Liszt and Wittenstein moved to Rome, where he created works of religious content. Liszt's daughter was married to Wagner and organized festivals dedicated to him.
- Liszt repeatedly visited Russia, whose music he was seriously interested in. He corresponded with outstanding Russian composers, published the best fragments of operas by Russian composers.
- Liszt believed that art is a tool for fighting evil and influencing people. According to musicologists, Liszt became the founder of master classes for musicians.
- In 1859, Emperor Franz Joseph knighted Liszt, giving him the full name Franz Ritter von Liszt.
- Franz Liszt had an unusually long hand, which allowed him to perform the most difficult passages.
- The name of F. Liszt was given to the National Hungarian Academy of Music and the Budapest International Airport.
- At his home, Liszt gave free master classes to musicians who came from different countries.
Without Liszt in the world, the whole fate of new music would be different.
V. Stasov
F. Liszt's composing work is inseparable from all other forms of the varied and most intense activity of this true enthusiast in art. A pianist and conductor, music critic and tireless public figure, he was “greedy and sensitive to everything new, fresh, vital; the enemy of everything conventional, walking, routine” (A. Borodin).
F. Liszt was born in the family of Adam Liszt, a shepherd keeper on the estate of Prince Esterhazy, an amateur musician who directed the first piano lessons of his son, who began to perform publicly at the age of 9, and in 1821-22. studied in Vienna with K. Czerny (piano) and A. Salieri (composition). After successful concerts in Vienna and Pest (1823), A. Liszt took his son to Paris, but foreign origin turned out to be an obstacle to entering the conservatory, and Liszt's musical education was supplemented by private lessons in composition from F. Paer and A. Reicha. The young virtuoso conquers Paris and London with his performances, composes a lot (the one-act opera Don Sancho, or the Castle of Love, piano pieces).
The death of his father in 1827, which forced Liszt early to take care of his own existence, brought him face to face with the problem of the humiliating position of the artist in society. The young man's worldview is formed under the influence of the ideas of utopian socialism by A. Saint-Simon, Christian socialism by Abbé F. Lamennay, and French philosophers of the 18th century. and others. The July Revolution of 1830 in Paris gives rise to the idea of the "Revolutionary Symphony" (left unfinished), the uprising of the weavers in Lyon (1834) - the piano piece "Lyon" (with an epigraph - the motto of the rebels "To live, work, or die fighting" ). Liszt's artistic ideals are formed in line with French romanticism, in communication with V. Hugo, O. Balzac, G. Heine, under the influence of the art of N. Paganini, F. Chopin, G. Berlioz. They are formulated in a series of articles "On the position of people of art and on the conditions of their existence in society" (1835) and in "Letters of the Bachelor of Music" (1837-39), written in collaboration with M. d'Agout (later she wrote under the pseudonym Daniel Stern ), with which Liszt undertook a long journey to Switzerland (1835-37), where he taught at the Geneva Conservatory, and to Italy (1837-39).
The "years of wandering" that began in 1835 were continued in intensive tours of numerous breeds of Europe (1839-47). Liszt's arrival in his native Hungary, where he was honored as a national hero, was a real triumph (the proceeds from the concerts were sent to help those affected by the flood that befell the country). Three times (1842, 1843, 1847) Liszt visited Russia, establishing lifelong friendships with Russian musicians, transcribing the Chernomor March from M. Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila, A. Alyabyev's romance The Nightingale, etc. Numerous transcriptions, fantasies, paraphrases, created by Liszt during these years, reflected not only the tastes of the public, but also were evidence of his musical and educational activities. At Liszt's piano concertos, the symphonies of L. Beethoven and the "Fantastic Symphony" by G. Berlioz, overtures to "William Tell" by G. Rossini and "The Magic Shooter" by K. M. Weber, songs by F. Schubert, organ preludes and fugues by J. S. Bach, as well as opera paraphrases and fantasies (on themes from Don Giovanni by W. A. Mozart, operas by V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, G. Meyerbeer, later - G. Verdi), transcriptions of fragments from Wagner operas and etc. The piano in the hands of Liszt becomes a universal instrument capable of recreating all the richness of the sound of opera and symphony scores, the power of the organ and the melodiousness of the human voice.
Meanwhile, the triumphs of the great pianist, who conquered all of Europe with the elemental force of his stormy artistic temperament, brought him less and less true satisfaction. It was increasingly difficult for Liszt to indulge the tastes of the public, for whom his phenomenal virtuosity and outward showiness of performance often obscured the serious intentions of the educator, who sought to "cut fire out of people's hearts." Having given a farewell concert in Elizavetgrad in Ukraine in 1847, Liszt moved to Germany, to quiet Weimar, consecrated by the traditions of Bach, Schiller and Goethe, where he held the position of bandmaster at the princely court, directed the orchestra and the opera house.
The Weimar period (1848-61) - the time of "concentration of thought", as the composer himself called it - is, first of all, a period of intense creativity. Liszt completes and reworks many previously created or begun compositions, and implements new ideas. So from the created in the 30s. "Album traveler" grow "Years of wandering" - cycles of piano pieces (year 1 - Switzerland, 1835-54; year 2 - Italy, 1838-49, with the addition of "Venice and Naples", 1840-59); receive the final finishing Etudes of the highest performing skill ("Etudes of transcendent performance", 1851); "Large studies on the caprices of Paganini" (1851); "Poetic and Religious Harmonies" (10 pieces for pianoforte, 1852). Continuing work on Hungarian tunes (Hungarian National Melodies for Piano, 1840-43; "Hungarian Rhapsodies", 1846), Liszt creates 15 "Hungarian Rhapsodies" (1847-53). The implementation of new ideas leads to the emergence of the central works of Liszt, embodying his ideas in new forms - Sonatas in B minor (1852-53), 12 symphonic poems (1847-57), Faust Symphonies by Goethe (1854-57) and Symphonies to Dante's Divine Comedy (1856). They are adjoined by 2 concertos (1849-56 and 1839-61), "Dance of Death" for piano and orchestra (1838-49), "Mephisto Waltz" (based on "Faust" by N. Lenau, 1860), etc.
In Weimar, Liszt organizes the performance of the best works of opera and symphony classics, the latest compositions. He first staged Lohengrin by R. Wagner, Manfred by J. Byron with music by R. Schumann, conducted symphonies and operas by G. Berlioz, etc. the goal of affirming the new principles of advanced romantic art (the book F. Chopin, 1850; the articles Berlioz and his Harold Symphony, Robert Schumann, R. Wagner's Flying Dutchman, etc.). The same ideas underlay the organization of the "New Weimar Union" and the "General German Musical Union", during the creation of which Liszt relied on the support of prominent musicians grouped around him in Weimar (I. Raff, P. Cornelius, K. Tausig, G. Bulow and others).
However, the philistine inertia and the intrigues of the Weimar court, which increasingly hindered the implementation of List's grandiose plans, forced him to resign. From 1861, Liszt lived for a long time in Rome, where he made an attempt to reform church music, wrote the oratorio "Christ" (1866), and in 1865 received the rank of abbot (partly under the influence of Princess K. Wittgenstein, with whom he became close as early as 1847 G.). Heavy losses also contributed to the mood of disappointment and skepticism - the death of his son Daniel (1860) and daughter Blandina (1862), which continued to grow over the years, the feeling of loneliness and misunderstanding of his artistic and social aspirations. They were reflected in a number of later works - the third "Year of Wanderings" (Rome; plays "Cypresses of Villa d'Este", 1 and 2, 1867-77), piano pieces ("Gray Clouds", 1881; "Funeral Gondola", "Czardas death", 1882), the second (1881) and third (1883) "Mephisto Waltzes", in the last symphonic poem "From the cradle to the grave" (1882).
However, in the 1960s and 1980s Liszt devotes a particularly large amount of strength and energy to the building of Hungarian musical culture. He regularly lives in Pest, performs his works there, including those related to national themes (the oratorio The Legend of Saint Elizabeth, 1862; The Hungarian Coronation Mass, 1867, etc.), contributes to the founding of the Academy of Music in Pest ( he was its first president), writes the piano cycle Hungarian Historical Portraits, 1870-86), the last Hungarian Rhapsodies (16-19), etc. In Weimar, where Liszt returned in 1869, he engaged with numerous students from different countries (A. Siloti, V. Timanova, E. d'Albert, E. Sauer and others). Composers also visit it, in particular Borodin, who left very interesting and vivid memories of Liszt.
Liszt always captured and supported the new and original in art with exceptional sensitivity, contributing to the development of the music of national European schools (Czech, Norwegian, Spanish, etc.), especially highlighting Russian music - the work of M. Glinka, A. Dargomyzhsky, composers of the "Mighty Handful" , performing arts A. and N. Rubinsteinov. For many years, Liszt promoted the work of Wagner.
The pianistic genius of Liszt determined the primacy of piano music, where for the first time his artistic ideas took shape, guided by the idea of the need for active spiritual influence on people. The desire to affirm the educational mission of art, to combine all its types for this, to raise music to the level of philosophy and literature, to synthesize in it the depth of philosophical and poetic content with picturesqueness, was embodied in Liszt's idea of programmability in music. He defined it as "the renewal of music through its internal connection with poetry, as the liberation of artistic content from schematism", leading to the creation of new genres and forms. Listov’s plays from the “Years of Wanderings”, embodying images close to works of literature, painting, sculpture, folk legends (sonata-fantasy “After reading Dante”, “Petrarch’s Sonnets”, “Betrothal” based on a painting by Raphael, “The Thinker” based on a sculpture by Michelangelo, "The Chapel of William Tell", associated with the image of the national hero of Switzerland), or images of nature ("On the Wallenstadt Lake", "At the Spring"), are musical poems of different scales. Liszt himself introduced this name in relation to his large symphonic one-movement program works. Their headings direct the listener to the poems of A. Lamartine (“Preludes”), V. Hugo (“What is heard on the mountain”, “Mazeppa” - there is also a piano study with the same title), F. Schiller (“Ideals”); to the tragedies of W. Shakespeare ("Hamlet"), J. Herder ("Prometheus"), to the ancient myth ("Orpheus"), the painting by W. Kaulbach ("Battle of the Huns"), the drama of I. V. Goethe ("Tasso" , the poem is close to Byron's poem "The Complaint of Tasso").
When choosing sources, Liszt dwells on works containing consonant ideas of the meaning of life, the mysteries of being (“Preludes”, “Faust Symphony”), the tragic fate of the artist and his posthumous glory (“Tasso”, with the subtitle “Complaint and triumph”). He is also attracted by the images of the folk element (“Tarantella” from the cycle “Venice and Naples”, “Spanish Rhapsody” for piano), especially in connection with his native Hungary (“Hungarian Rhapsodies”, symphonic poem “Hungary”). The heroic and heroic-tragic theme of the national liberation struggle of the Hungarian people, the revolution of 1848-49, sounded with extraordinary force in Liszt's work. and her defeats (“Rakoczi March”, “Funeral Procession” for piano; symphonic poem “Lament for Heroes”, etc.).
Liszt went down in the history of music as a bold innovator in the field of musical form, harmony, enriched the sound of the piano and symphony orchestra with new colors, gave interesting examples of solving oratorio genres, a romantic song (“Lorelei” on H. Heine’s art, “Like the Spirit of Laura” on st. V. Hugo, "Three Gypsies" on st. N. Lenau, etc.), organ works. Taking a lot from the cultural traditions of France and Germany, being a national classic of Hungarian music, he had a huge impact on the development of musical culture throughout Europe.
E. Tsareva
Liszt is a classic of Hungarian music. Its connections with other national cultures. Creative appearance, social and aesthetic views of Liszt. Programming is the leading principle of his creativity
Liszt - the greatest composer of the 19th century, a brilliant innovator pianist and conductor, an outstanding musical and public figure - is the national pride of the Hungarian people. But the fate of Liszt was such that he left his homeland early, spent many years in France and Germany, only visiting Hungary on short visits, and only towards the end of his life lived in it for a long time. This determined the complexity of Liszt's artistic image, his close ties with French and German culture, from which he took a lot, but to whom he gave a lot with his vigorous creative activity. Neither the history of the musical life of Paris in the 1930s nor the history of German music in the mid-19th century would be complete without the name of Liszt. However, he belongs to the Hungarian culture, and his contribution to the history of the development of his native country is enormous.
Liszt himself said that, having spent his youth in France, he used to consider it his homeland: “Here lies the ashes of my father, here, at the sacred grave, my first grief has found its refuge. How could I not feel like a son of a country where I suffered so much and loved so much? How could I imagine that I was born in another country? That other blood flows in my veins, that my loved ones live somewhere else? Having learned in 1838 about the terrible disaster - the flood that befell Hungary, he felt deeply shocked: "These experiences and feelings revealed to me the meaning of the word" homeland "."
Liszt was proud of his people, his homeland, and constantly emphasized that he was a Hungarian. “Of all living artists,” he said in 1847, “I am the only one who proudly dares to point to his proud homeland. While others vegetated in shallow pools, I was always sailing forward on the full-flowing sea of a great nation. I firmly believe in my guiding star; the purpose of my life is that Hungary may someday proudly point to me.” And he repeats the same a quarter of a century later: “Let me be allowed to admit that, despite my regrettable ignorance of the Hungarian language, I remain a Magyar from cradle to grave in body and soul and, in accordance with this most serious way, I strive to support and develop Hungarian musical culture”.
Throughout his career, Liszt turned to the Hungarian theme. In 1840, he wrote the Heroic March in the Hungarian Style, then the cantata Hungary, the famous Funeral Procession (in honor of the fallen heroes) and, finally, several notebooks of Hungarian National Melodies and Rhapsodies (twenty-one pieces in total) . In the central period - the 1850s, three symphonic poems were created associated with the images of the homeland ("Lament for the Heroes", "Hungary", "Battle of the Huns") and fifteen Hungarian rhapsodies, which are free arrangements of folk tunes. Hungarian themes are also heard in Liszt's spiritual works, written specifically for Hungary - "Grand Mass", "Legend of St. Elizabeth", "Hungarian Coronation Mass". Even more often he refers to the Hungarian theme in the 70-80s in his songs, piano pieces, arrangements and fantasies on the themes of the works of Hungarian composers.
But these Hungarian works, numerous in themselves (their number reaches one hundred and thirty), are not isolated in Liszt's work. Other works, especially heroic ones, have common features with them, separate specific turns and similar principles of development. There is no sharp line between the Hungarian and "foreign" works of Liszt - they are written in the same style and enriched with the achievements of European classical and romantic art. That is why Liszt was the first composer to bring Hungarian music to the wide world arena.
However, not only the fate of the motherland worried him.
Liszt is the brightest representative of romanticism in music. Ardent, enthusiastic, emotionally unstable, passionately seeking, he, like other romantic composers, went through many trials: his creative path was complex and contradictory. Liszt lived in difficult times and, like Berlioz and Wagner, did not escape hesitation and doubt, his political views were vague and confused, he was fond of idealistic philosophy, sometimes even sought consolation in religion. “Our age is sick, and we are sick with it,” Liszt answered the reproaches of the changeability of his views. But the progressive nature of his work and social activities, the extraordinary moral nobility of his appearance as an artist and a person remained unchanged throughout his long life.
“To be the embodiment of moral purity and humanity, having acquired this at the cost of deprivation, painful sacrifices, to serve as a target for ridicule and envy - this is the usual lot of true masters of art,” wrote the twenty-four-year-old Liszt. And that's how he always was. Intense searches and hard struggle, titanic work and perseverance in overcoming obstacles accompanied him all his life.
Thoughts about the high social purpose of music inspired Liszt's work. He strove to make his works accessible to the widest range of listeners, and this explains his stubborn attraction to programming. Back in 1837, Liszt succinctly substantiates the need for programming in music and the basic principles that he will adhere to throughout his work: “For some artists, their work is their life ... Especially a musician inspired by nature, but not copying it, expresses in sounds the innermost secrets of his fate. He thinks in them, embodies feelings, speaks, but his language is more arbitrary and indefinite than any other, and, like beautiful golden clouds that take on at sunset any form given to them by the fantasy of a lonely wanderer, it lends itself too easily to the most varied interpretations. Therefore, it is by no means useless and in any case not funny - as they often like to say - if a composer outlines a sketch of his work in a few lines and, without falling into petty details and details, expresses the idea that served him as the basis for the composition. Then criticism will be free to praise or blame the more or less successful embodiment of this idea.
Liszt's turn to programming was a progressive phenomenon, due to the whole direction of his creative aspirations. Liszt wanted to speak through his art not with a narrow circle of connoisseurs, but with the masses of listeners, to excite millions of people with his music. True, Liszt's programming is contradictory: in an effort to embody great thoughts and feelings, he often fell into abstraction, into vague philosophizing, and thereby involuntarily limited the scope of his works. But the best of them overcome this abstract uncertainty and vagueness of the program: the musical images created by Liszt are concrete, intelligible, the themes are expressive and embossed, the form is clear.
Based on the principles of programming, asserting the ideological content of art with his creative activity, Liszt unusually enriched the expressive resources of music, chronologically ahead of even Wagner in this respect. With his colorful finds, Liszt expanded the scope of melody; at the same time, he can rightfully be considered one of the most daring innovators of the 19th century in the field of harmony. Liszt is also the creator of a new genre of "symphonic poem" and a method of musical development called "monothematism". Finally, his achievements in the field of piano technique and texture are especially significant, for Liszt was a brilliant pianist, the equal of whom history has not known.
The musical legacy he left behind is enormous, but not all works are equal. The leading areas in Liszt's work are the piano and symphony - here his innovative ideological and artistic aspirations were in full force. Of undoubted value are Liszt's vocal compositions, among which songs stand out; he showed little interest in opera and chamber instrumental music.
Themes, images of Liszt's creativity. Its significance in the history of Hungarian and world musical art
Liszt's musical legacy is rich and varied. He lived by the interests of his time and strove to respond creatively to the actual demands of reality. Hence - the heroic warehouse of music, its inherent drama, fiery energy, sublime pathos. The traits of idealism inherent in Liszt's worldview, however, affected a number of works, giving rise to a certain indefiniteness of expression, vagueness or abstractness of content. But in his best works these negative moments are overcome - in them, to use Cui's expression, "genuine life boils."
Liszt's sharply individual style melted many creative influences. The heroism and powerful drama of Beethoven, along with the violent romanticism and colorfulness of Berlioz, the demonism and brilliant virtuosity of Paganini, had a decisive influence on the formation of artistic tastes and aesthetic views of the young Liszt. His further creative evolution proceeded under the sign of romanticism. The composer avidly absorbed life, literary, artistic and actually musical impressions.
An unusual biography contributed to the fact that various national traditions were combined in Liszt's music. From the French romantic school, he took bright contrasts in the juxtaposition of images, their picturesqueness; from Italian opera music of the 19th century (Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi) - emotional passion and sensual bliss of cantilena, intense vocal recitation; from the German school - the deepening and expansion of the means of expressiveness of harmony, experimentation in the field of form. It must be added to what has been said that in the mature period of his work, List also experienced the influence of young national schools, primarily Russian, whose achievements he studied with close attention.
All this was organically fused in the artistic style of Liszt, which is inherent in the national-Hungarian structure of music. It has certain spheres of images; Among them, five main groups can be distinguished:
1) The heroic images of a brightly major, invocative character are marked by great originality. They are characterized by a proudly chivalrous warehouse, brilliance and brilliance of presentation, light sound of copper. Elastic melody, dotted rhythm is "organized" by a marching gait. This is how a brave hero appears in Liszt's mind, fighting for happiness and freedom. The musical origins of these images are in the heroic themes of Beethoven, partly Weber, but most importantly, it is here, in this area, that the influence of the Hungarian national melody is most clearly seen.
Among the images of solemn processions, there are also more improvisational, minor themes, perceived as a story or a ballad about the glorious past of the country. The juxtaposition of minor - parallel major and the widespread use of melismatics emphasize the richness of sound and variety of color.
2) Tragic images are a kind of parallel to the heroic ones. Such are Liszt's favorite mourning processions or lamentation songs (the so-called "trenody"), whose music is inspired by the tragic events of the people's liberation struggle in Hungary or the death of its major political and public figures. The marching rhythm here becomes sharper, becomes more nervous, jerky, and often instead of
arises
(for example, the second theme from the first movement of the Second Piano Concerto). We recall Beethoven's funeral marches and their prototypes in the music of the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century (see, for example, Gossek's famous Funeral March). But Liszt is dominated by the sound of trombones, deep, "low" basses, funeral bells. As the Hungarian musicologist Bence Szabolczy notes, “these works tremble with a gloomy passion, which we find only in the last poems of Vörösmarty and in the last paintings of the painter Laszlo Paal.”
The national-Hungarian origins of such images are indisputable. To see this, it is enough to turn to the orchestral poem "Lament for the Heroes" ("Heroi" de funebre", 1854) or the popular piano piece "The Funeral Procession" ("Funerailles", 1849). Already the first, slowly unfolding theme of the "Funeral Procession "Contains a characteristic turn of an enlarged second, which gives a special gloom to the mourning march. The astringency of the sound (harmonic major) is preserved in the subsequent mournful lyrical cantilena. And, as often with Liszt, mourning images are transformed into heroic ones - to a powerful popular movement, death calls for a new struggle national hero.
3) Another emotional and semantic sphere is associated with images that convey feelings of doubt, an anxious state of mind. This complex set of thoughts and feelings among the romantics was associated with the idea of Goethe's Faust (compare with Berlioz, Wagner) or Byron's Manfred (compare with Schumann, Tchaikovsky). Shakespeare's Hamlet was often included in the circle of these images (compare with Tchaikovsky, with Liszt's own poem). The embodiment of such images required new expressive means, especially in the field of harmony: Liszt often uses increased and decreased intervals, chromatisms, even out-of-tonal harmonies, fourth combinations, bold modulations. “Some kind of feverish, tormenting impatience burns in this world of harmony,” Sabolci points out. These are the opening phrases of both piano sonatas or the Faust Symphony.
Franz Liszt is one of the greatest pianists of the 19th century. An internationally recognized representative of the genre of romanticism in music, a virtuoso performer, teacher and creator of the Weimar School. The life story of the musician Franz Liszt began in the city of Doboryan, in Hungary. A talented guy was born in the family of an official and a housewife. Father Adam List was in the service of Prince Esterhazy. Adam spent his childhood in the prince's orchestra. As a teenager, Liszt played the cello.
Anna-Maria List was born in Krems an der Donau. At the age of 9, the woman became an orphan. This was the reason for moving to Vienna. The famous musician's parents got married in January 1811. In October of the same year, Ferenc was born. The guy was the only child in the family.
Adam List took care of the development of musical talent in his son, so from an early age he began to take lessons. In the church, Ferenc studied singing and playing the organ. The first performance of the young musician took place at the age of 8. The father forced the child to play the piano in the houses of noble nobles.
Creativity must be developed. So Adam Liszt thought, the poet and his son went to Vienna, where the best music teachers lived. A piano was added to the organ, the basics of playing on which Ferenc learned from Karl Czerny. The father of a talented musician managed to negotiate free lessons.
The great teacher was not delighted with the child, as the boy seemed physically weak. Thanks to cooperation with Czerny List received a unique gift - versatility. Theoretical classes were conducted by Antonio Salieri, who was amazed every time by the talent of the young artist.
Like his father, Ferenc was in awe of the eminent maestro. Therefore, when, after the next concert, at which Liszt performed, the musician came up and kissed the guy as a sign of respect, Ferenc was delighted. The young man remembered this event until the end of his days.
Not everything was so smooth in the biography of Franz Liszt. At the age of 12, the musician went to conquer Paris. The young man wanted to enter the Paris Conservatory, but due to the fact that Ferenc was not French, he was refused. Father and son did not want to leave France. To earn a living, Ferenc gave concerts.
The music lessons continued. Liszt visited the teachers of the Paris Conservatory, including Antonin Reich, Ferdinando Paer. Hard times are coming for Ferenc. Adam List died when his son was 16 years old. This shock affected the morale of the musician. For almost 3 years, the younger List was depressed.
Music
Father Adam Liszt developed the musical talent of the composer from childhood, so it is not surprising that Ferenc began to compose works at a young age, including etudes. When the teenager was 14 years old, Liszt began to create the opera Don Sancho, or the Castle of Love. This work inspired many, so it was presented on the stage of the Grand Opera in 1825.
After the death of his father, the musician faced the world one on one. Just at this time, the July Revolution began. Life was in full swing around, speeches about justice were heard everywhere. The idea of creating a "Revolutionary Symphony" arose in the composer's head. Concert after concert, new friends appeared, among whom were Hector Berlioz and.
The violinist inspired Ferenc, so for a while the musician abandoned concerts and returned to improving his technique. This period of Liszt's life includes an arrangement of Paganini's caprices. In the music world, this work is still recognized as brilliant and unique.
Ferenc understands that the vocation lies not only in the creation of music, but also in pedagogy. Until the end of his life, Liszt teaches young talents art. The work of the composer was influenced by creativity.
In those years, there were rumors that Chopin was skeptical of Liszt's work. But after meeting in Paris, Fryderyk admitted that Ferenc is a virtuoso and a performing artist. The musician was friends with Alfred de Musset.
In Switzerland, Franz Liszt began work on a collection of plays, Years of Wanderings. Creativity was not the only hobby of the musician. Liszt was invited to teach at the Geneva Conservatory. Concerts in Paris were not popular due to the fact that the inhabitants of the city were carried away by the music of Sigismund Thalberg.
Soon Ferenc organized a solo concert, excluding the participation of other musicians in the event. This decision had an impact on people's perception of performances. Now the Italians and the inhabitants of Europe clearly distinguished between salon and concert events.
The dream to visit Hungary did not leave the Liszt family alone for a long time, so the musician went on a big trip. Ferenc was solemnly welcomed in Hungary and Austria. The inhabitants of these countries could hear live the performance of a musician known all over the world. After one of the concerts, recognition was shown by Liszt's longtime rival Sigismund Thalberg.
Franz Liszt combined his travels with concerts. For 6 years, the musician visited Russia, traveled around Europe, met with the inhabitants of Turkey, Portugal and Spain. Russian music at some point absorbed Ferenc. The result of the hobby was a collection of excerpts from Russian operas.
In 1865, the subject of Liszt's work changed. This is due to the fact that the man took a minor tonsure as an acolyte. From now on, the work of Ferenc passed into the category of sacred music. Later, the composer presented the oratorios The Legend of St. Elizabeth, Christ, Psalms, the Hungarian Coronation Mass and the Rekiem.
After 10 years, Liszt decides to move to Hungary. In Pest, the musician is invited to the post of president of the Higher School of Music. Among the students of Ferenc were Karl Tausig, Emil von Sauer, Sophie Menter, Moritz Rosenthal. During this period, the musician will create Forgotten Waltzes and Rhapsodies for Piano, complete the cycle of Hungarian Historical Portraits.
Personal life
Shortly after his father's death, Franz Liszt met Countess Marie d'Agout. In those years, the girl treated contemporary art with unprecedented love. In addition, Marie wrote books, but published works under the pseudonym Daniel Stern. George Sand considered d'Agout to be a role model.
The romance between the married lady and the musician swirled rapidly. And after some time, Marie left her husband, and with him the usual society. With Ferenc, the girl went to Switzerland. Young people never got married officially. In this peculiar marriage, three children were born: the daughters of Blandina and Cosima, the son of Daniel.
Blandine Liszt later entered into an alliance with the French politician Émile Olivier. The girl died at the age of 27. On account of Cosima there were two marriages. The first time Liszt's daughter married the pianist Hans Bülow, later she left the man for. The musician's only son, Daniel, died suddenly at the age of 20 due to tuberculosis. This was a major shock to my father.
The happiness of Marie and Ferenc ended after the musician met the wife of Nikolai Petrovich Wittgenstein Caroline. This momentous event took place in 1847. Love at first sight made family people commit a crime: drop everything and run away.
Due to the religiosity of Carolina, permission was required from the Pope and the Russian Emperor for a new marriage. Ferenc went to Europe for this. Years passed, but it was not possible to get what they wanted. Then Wittgenstein and List decided to go to Rome.
Death
In 1886 Franz Liszt participated in the festival. The weather was bad, so the musician caught a cold. The pianist did not receive proper treatment. This led to complications - pneumonia. Gradually, Liszt lost physical strength, and the disease affected other organs, including the heart.
Soon, Ferenc was diagnosed with severe swelling of the legs, which prevented the musician from moving freely. Liszt could not manage without outside help. July 19, 1886 was the last concert of the great creator. After 12 years, Ferenc's relatives announced the death of the musician. Death overtook Liszt in the arms of a valet in a hotel.
Tomb of Franz Liszt The author of "Hungarian Rhapsody" became the hero of the painting "Dreams of Love" after his death. The two-part feature film tells about the musician's journey to Russia. The main theme of the plot was the acquaintance with her beloved Caroline Wittgenstein. In the official photo for the film, Franz Liszt appears as a mysterious character with two sides of his personality - black and white.
Artworks
- 1835 - 1854 - "Years of wandering"
- 1838, 1851 - Etudes after the caprices of Paganini
- 1840 - 1847 - "Hungarian Rhapsodies"
- 1850 - "Prometheus"
- 1850 - 1854 - Lament for Heroes
- 1854 - "Orpheus"
- 1857 - 1862 - "The Legend of St. Elizabeth"
- 1858 - "Hamlet"
- 1870 - 1886 - "Hungarian historical portraits"
- 1881 - 1882 - "From the cradle to the grave"
