Symphonic poem. This concept appeared in the art of music in 1854: Hungarian composer Franz Liszt defined "symphonic poem" for his orchestral work "Tasso", originally conceived as an overture. With this definition, he wanted to emphasize that Tasso is not just a software musical composition. It is extremely closely connected with poetry by its content. Liszt later wrote twelve more symphonic poems. The most famous among them is the Preludes. Based on her poem French poet- Lamartine's romance "Preludes" (more precisely, "Preludes"), in which all human life is viewed as a series of episodes - "preludes" leading to death.
Liszt's work also developed a form most characteristic of a symphonic poem: free, but with clear features of sonata- symphonic cycle, if it is performed without a break between parts - the site. In the diverse episodes of the symphonic poem, there is a similarity with the main sections of the sonata form: the main and side parties exposition, development and reprise. And at the same time, individual episodes of the poem can be perceived as parts of a symphony.
After Liszt, many composers turned to the genre he created. The classic of Czech music Bedřich Smetana has a cycle of symphonic poems, united by the common title "My Motherland". Loved this genre German composer Richard Strauss. Widely known are his Don Juan, Don Quixote, Till Ulenspiegel's Merry Tricks. The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote the symphonic poem "Kalevala", based on literary source, lies the Finnish folk epic. Russian composers preferred to give other definitions to their orchestral works of this type: fantasy overture, symphonic ballad, overture, symphonic picture.
The genre of the symphonic picture, common in Russian music, has some differences. Its programming is not related to the plot, but draws a landscape, portrait, genre or battle scene. Everyone is probably familiar with such symphonic paintings as "Sadko" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "In Central Asia" by Borodin, "Baba Yaga", "Kikimora" and "Magic Lake" by Lyadov. Another variety of this genre - symphonic fantasy - also loved by Russian composers, is distinguished by greater freedom of construction, often by the presence of fantastic elements in the program.
Symphony. Among the numerous musical genres, one of the most honorable places belongs to the symphony. Always, from the moment of its inception to the present day, it sensitively reflected its time: the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven, Berlioz and Mahler, Prokofiev and Shostakovich are reflections on the era, on man, on the ways of the world and life on earth. Symphony as an independent musical genre arose relatively recently: some two and a half centuries ago. However, in this historically short period, it has come a long way.
The word symphonia in translation from Greek means just consonance. In ancient Greece, this was the name given to a pleasant combination of sounds. Later, they began to designate either the orchestra or the introduction to the dance suite. At the beginning of the 18th century, this term replaced the current concept of overture. The first symphonies in the present sense appeared in the center of Europe in the second half of the 18th century. And the place and time of her birth are not accidental. Having originated simultaneously in different parts of Europe, in the bowels of the old, previously established musical forms - a dance suite and opera overture, the symphony was finally formed in the countries of the German language - site. in Italy national art was the opera. In pre-revolutionary France, already saturated with an atmosphere of free thought and rebellion, other arts came to the fore. Such as literature, painting and theater - more specific, directly and intelligibly expressing new ideas that disturb the world. When, a few decades later, it came to music, the song "Carmagnola" and "La Marseillaise" entered the ranks of the revolutionary troops as a full-fledged fighter.
The symphony is still the most complex of all types of music not related to other arts.- required other conditions for its formation, for a full-fledged perception: it required reflection, generalization - work calm and concentrated. It is no coincidence that the center of philosophical thought, which reflected the social shifts in Europe at the end of the 18th century, turned out to be precisely in Germany, far from social storms. At the same time, rich traditions developed in Germany and Austria. instrumental music. This is where the symphony came from. It originated in the work of Czech and Austrian composers, and the final form. acquired in the work of Haydn in order to flourish with Mozart and Beethoven. This classical symphony (Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven entered the history of music as "Viennese classics", since most of their work is associated with this city) developed as a cycle of four parts, which embodied different sides human life.
First movement of the symphony- fast, active, sometimes preceded by a slow introduction. It is written in sonata form.
The second part- slow - usually pensive, elegiac or pastoral, that is, dedicated to peaceful pictures of nature, calm rest or dreams. There are second parts and mournful, concentrated, deep.
Third movement of the symphony- a minuet, and later, with Beethoven, and a scherzo. This is a game, fun, live pictures folk life, a fascinating round dance ...
The final- this is the result of the whole cycle, the conclusion from everything that was shown, thought out, felt in the previous parts. Often the final is life-affirming, solemn, victorious or festive.
With a general scheme, the symphonies of different composers are very different. So, if Haydn's symphonies are mostly cloudless, joyful, and only in very few of the 104 works of this genre that he created appear serious or sad tones, then Mozart's symphonies are much more individual, sometimes perceived as the forerunners of romantic art - site. Beethoven's symphonies are full of images of struggle. They fully reflected the time - the era of the Great french revolution, lofty, civic ideas inspired by her. Beethoven's symphonies are monumental works, in terms of depth of content, breadth and power of generalization are not inferior to opera, drama, novel. They are distinguished by deep drama, heroism, pathos. The last of Beethoven's symphonies, the Ninth, includes a choir singing the rapturous and majestic anthem "Embrace, millions" to the verses of Schiller's ode "To Joy". The composer paints here a grandiose picture of a free, joyful humanity, which strives for universal brotherhood.
At the same time as Beethoven, in the same Vienna, lived another wonderful Austrian composer, Franz Schubert. His symphonies sound like lyrical poems, like deeply personal, intimate statements. with Schubert in European music, a new trend came to the symphony genre - romanticism. Representatives of musical romanticism in the symphony are Schumann, Mendelssohn, Berlioz. Hector Berlioz, an outstanding French composer, was the first to create program symphony , writing for her a poetic program in the form of a short story about the artist's life.
The symphony in Russia is primarily Tchaikovsky. His symphonic compositions are exciting, exciting stories about a person's struggle for life, for happiness. But this is also Borodin: his symphonies are distinguished by their epic breadth, power, and truly Russian scope. These are Rachmaninov, Scriabin and Glazunov, who created eight symphonies - beautiful, bright, balanced. The symphonies of D. Shostakovich embody the 20th century with its storms, tragedies and accomplishments. They reflect the events of our history and images of people - the composer's contemporaries, building, struggling, searching, suffering and victorious. S. Prokofiev's symphonies are distinguished by epic wisdom, deep drama, pure and bright lyrics, and sharp jokes.
Any symphony is a whole world. The world of the artist who created it. The world of time that gave birth to it. Listening to classical symphonies, we become spiritually richer, we join the treasures of human genius, equal in value to Shakespeare's tragedies, Tolstoy's novels, Pushkin's poems, Raphael's paintings.
Among domestic authors symphonies by N. Myaskovsky, A. Khachaturian, T. Khrennikov, V. Salmanov, R. Shchedrin, B. Tishchenko, B. Tchaikovsky, A. Terteryan, G. Kancheli, A. Schnittke.
Scherzo. The Italian word scherzo in translation is a joke. It has long been inculcated in music to denote its character - lively, cheerful, playful. Beethoven introduced the name scherzo for one of the middle parts of the symphony instead of the previously traditional minuet - site. And in the middle of the 19th century, composers began to call independent plays that way, and not only playful, but sometimes dramatic or sinister. So, Chopin's scherzos are widely known - piano pieces, distinguished by the richness of images, variety of content.
The features of idealistic abstraction, rhetoric, outwardly oratorical pathos break through. At the same time, the fundamental significance of Liszt's symphonic work is great: consistently pursuing his idea of "renovating music through its connection with poetry", he achieved remarkable artistic perfection in a number of compositions.
Programming underlies the vast majority of Liszt's symphonic works. The chosen plot suggested new means of expression, inspired bold searches in the field of form and orchestration, which Liszt always marked with brilliant sonority and brilliance. The composer usually clearly distinguished the three main groups of the orchestra - strings, woodwinds and brass - and inventively used solo voices. In tutti, the orchestra sounds harmonious and balanced, and at the moments of climax, like Wagner, he often used powerful brass unisons against the background of string figurations.
Liszt entered the history of music as the creator of a new romantic genre- " symphonic poem": for the first time he named nine works completed by 1854 and published in 1856-1857; four more poems were later written.
Liszt's symphonic poems are major program works in free single-movement form. (Only the last symphonic poem - From the Cradle to the Grave (1882) - is divided into three small parts that go without interruption.), where different principles of shaping are often combined (sonata, variation, rondo); sometimes this one-partness "absorbs" the elements of a four-part symphonic cycle. emergence this genre was prepared by the whole course of development of romantic symphonism.
On the one hand, there was a tendency towards the unity of the multi-part cycle, its unification by cross-cutting themes, the merging of parts (Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony, Schumann's symphony in d-moll and others). On the other hand, the predecessor of the symphonic poem was the programmatic concert overture, freely interpreting sonata form(Mendelssohn's overtures, and earlier - "Leonore" No. 2 and "Coriolanus" by Beethoven). Emphasizing this relationship, Liszt called many of his future symphonic poems in the first versions concert overtures. Prepared the birth of a new genre and large single-movement works for piano, devoid of a detailed program - fantasies, ballads, etc. (Schubert, Schumann, Chopin).
The circle of images embodied by Liszt in symphonic poems is very wide. He was inspired world literature of all ages and peoples - from the ancient myth (“Orpheus”, “Prometheus”), English and German tragedies XVII-XVIII centuries (“Hamlet” by Shakespeare, “Tasso” by Goethe) to the poems of French and Hungarian contemporaries (“What is heard on the mountain” and “Mazeppa” by Hugo, “Preludes” by Lamartine, “To Franz Liszt” by Vörösmarty). As in piano work, Liszt in his poems often embodied the images of painting ("Battle of the Huns" based on the painting German artist Kaulbach, "From the Cradle to the Grave" based on a drawing by the Hungarian artist Zichy), etc.
But among the motley variety of plots, the attraction to the heroic theme clearly emerges. Liszt was attracted by plots depicting strong in spirit people, pictures of great popular movements, battles and victories. He embodied in his music the image ancient hero Prometheus, who became a symbol of courage and unbending will. Like the romantic poets different countries(Byron, Hugo, Slovatsky), Liszt was worried about the fate of the young Mazepa - a man who overcame unheard of suffering and achieved great fame (Such attention to Mazepa's youth (according to legend, he was tied to the rump of a horse that ran across the steppe for many days and nights), and not to the historical fate of the hetman of Ukraine - a traitor to the motherland - is typical, unlike Pushkin, for foreign romantics.). In "Hamlet", "Tasso", "Preludes" the composer glorified life feat man, his eternal impulses towards light, happiness, freedom; in "Hungary" he sang the glorious past of his country, its heroic struggle for liberation; "Lament for Heroes" dedicated to the revolutionary fighters who fell for the freedom of their homeland; in the “Battle of the Huns” he painted a picture of a gigantic clash of peoples (the battle of the Christian army with the hordes of Attila in 451).
The sheet is uniquely suited to literary works, which formed the basis of the program of the symphonic poem. Like Berlioz, he usually prefaces the score with a detailed presentation of the plot (often very extensive, including both the history of the origin of the idea and abstract philosophical reasoning); sometimes - excerpts from a poem and very rarely limited to only a general heading ("Hamlet", "Festive bells"). But, unlike Berlioz, Liszt interprets detailed program in a generalized way, not conveying the consistent development of the plot by the music. He usually aims to create a bright, prominent image. central hero and focus all the attention of the listener on his experiences. This central image is also interpreted not in a concrete everyday, but in a generalized elevated way, as a carrier of a great philosophical idea.
In the best symphonic poems, Liszt managed to create memorable musical images and show them in various life situations. And the more multifaceted the circumstances in which the hero fights and under the influence of which different aspects of his character are revealed are outlined, the brighter his appearance is revealed, the richer the content of the work as a whole.
The characteristics of these living conditions are created by a number of musical expressive means. Big role plays a generalization through the genre: Liszt uses certain, historically established genres of march, chorale, minuet, pastoral and others, which contribute to concretization musical images and make them easier to understand. Often he uses visual techniques to create pictures of storms, battles, races, etc.
Headship central image gives rise to the principle of monothematism - the whole work is based on the modification of one leading theme. This is how many are built. heroic poems Liszt ("Tasso", "Preludes", "Mazeppa".) Monothematism is further development variational principle: instead of a gradual disclosure of the possibilities of the topic, a direct comparison is given of its far-off, often contrasting variants. Thanks to this, a single and at the same time multifaceted, changeable image of the hero is created. The transformation of the main theme is perceived as showing various aspects of his character - as changes that arise as a result of certain life circumstances. Depending on the specific situation in which the hero acts, the structure of his theme also changes.
(literature and painting, less often philosophy or story; paintings nature). The symphonic poem is characterized by free development musical material, combining various principles of shaping, most often sonata and monothematism with cycles and variation.
The emergence of the symphonic poem as a genre is associated primarily with the name Franz Liszt, who created 12 works of this form in - gg. Some researchers, however, point to an essay related to the city Cesar Franck"What is heard on the mountain" ( fr. Ce qu "on entend sur la montagne ), based on the poem Victor Hugo and preceding the work of Liszt on the same basis; Frank's poem, however, remained unfinished and unpublished, and the composer again turned to this genre much later. Liszt's immediate predecessor is called Felix Mendelssohn, above all his overture "Hebrides" ( -).
After Liszt, many other composers worked in this genre - M. A. Balakirev , H. von Bülow , J. Gershwin , A. K. Glazunov , A. Dvorak , V. S. Kalinnikov , M. Karlovich , S. M. Lyapunov , S. S. Prokofiev , S. V. Rachmaninov , A. G. Rubinstein , C. Saint-Saens , I. Sibelius , A. N. Skryabin , B. Sour cream , Y. Suk , Z. Fibich , S. Frank , P. I. Tchaikovsky , M. K. Chiurlionis , A. Schoenberg , E. Chausson , D. D. Shostakovich , R. Strauss , J. Enescu and others.
Other genres were also influenced by the symphonic poem in their development - symphony , concert , poem , sonata.
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An excerpt characterizing the Symphonic Poem
By ten o'clock, twenty people had already been carried away from the battery; two guns were broken, more and more shells hit the battery and flew, buzzing and whistling, long-range bullets. But the people who were on the battery did not seem to notice this; cheerful conversation and jokes were heard from all sides.- Chinenko! - the soldier shouted at the approaching, whistling grenade. - Not here! To the infantry! - another added with a laugh, noticing that the grenade flew over and hit the ranks of the cover.
- What, friend? - laughed another soldier at the crouching peasant under the flying cannonball.
Several soldiers gathered at the rampart, looking at what was happening ahead.
“And they took off the chain, you see, they went back,” they said, pointing over the shaft.
“Look at your business,” the old non-commissioned officer shouted at them. - They went back, which means there is work back. - And the non-commissioned officer, taking one of the soldiers by the shoulder, pushed him with his knee. Laughter was heard.
- Roll on to the fifth gun! shouted from one side.
“Together, more amicably, in burlatski,” the cheerful cries of those who changed the gun were heard.
“Ay, I almost knocked off our master’s hat,” the red-faced joker laughed at Pierre, showing his teeth. “Oh, clumsy,” he added reproachfully to the ball that had fallen into the wheel and leg of a man.
- Well, you foxes! another laughed at the squirming militiamen who were entering the battery for the wounded.
- Al is not tasty porridge? Ah, crows, swayed! - they shouted at the militia, who hesitated in front of a soldier with a severed leg.
“Something like that, little one,” the peasants mimicked. - They don't like passion.
Pierre noticed how after each shot that hit, after each loss, a general revival flared up more and more.
As from the advancing thundercloud, more and more often, brighter and brighter flashed on the faces of all these people (as if in rebuff to what was happening) lightning bolts of hidden, flaring fire.
Pierre did not look ahead on the battlefield and was not interested in knowing what was happening there: he was completely absorbed in contemplating this, more and more burning fire, which in the same way (he felt) flared up in his soul.
At ten o'clock the infantry soldiers, who were ahead of the battery in the bushes and along the Kamenka River, retreated. From the battery it was visible how they ran back past it, carrying the wounded on their guns. Some general with his retinue entered the mound and, after talking with the colonel, looking angrily at Pierre, went down again, ordering the infantry cover, which was standing behind the battery, to lie down so as to be less exposed to shots. Following this, in the ranks of the infantry, to the right of the battery, a drum was heard, shouts of command, and from the battery it was clear how the ranks of the infantry moved forward.
Pierre looked over the shaft. One face in particular caught his eye. It was an officer who, with a pale young face, was walking backwards, carrying a lowered sword, and looking around uneasily.
The ranks of infantry soldiers disappeared into the smoke, their long-drawn cry and frequent firing of guns were heard. A few minutes later, crowds of wounded and stretchers passed from there. Shells began to hit the battery even more often. Several people lay uncleaned. Near the cannons, the soldiers moved busier and more lively. No one paid any attention to Pierre anymore. Once or twice he was angrily shouted at for being on the road. The senior officer, with a frown on his face, moved with large, quick steps from one gun to another. The young officer, flushed even more, commanded the soldiers even more diligently. Soldiers fired, turned, loaded and did their job with intense panache. They bounced along the way, as if on springs.
Liszt's symphonic poems are one of the brightest pages of European romantic music, an area of indefatigable creative searches, amazing updates in the field of thematics, form, orchestration, and interaction with various national origins. In the poems, the composer's characteristic desire for synthesis with other arts, for the creation program works. Images of ancient myths (“Prometheus” and “Orpheus”), images of masterpieces of world literature (“Tasso” according to Goethe, “Mazeppa” and “What is heard on the mountain” according to Hugo, “Hamlet” according to Shakespeare, “Ideals” according to Schiller, “ Preludes" according to Lamartine), images visual arts(“The Battle of the Huns” according to Kaulbach, “From the Cradle to the Grave” according to Zichy), and finally, the images of the homeland (“Hungary”, “Lament for the Heroes”) all this found expression in Liszt's symphonic opuses. With all the variety of plots and characters, the main themes that the composer embodies here, the greatness of man and his deeds, the passionate desire for freedom and happiness, the indispensable triumph of goodness and justice, the healing effect of art, contributing to the improvement of mankind, stand out in relief.
Amazes with the beauty of sounding symphonic poem No. 1 "What is heard on the mountain", originally called the "Mountain Symphony". Liszt here was inspired by the poem of the same name by Victor Hugo. The program of the poem is based on the romantic idea of contrasting majestic nature with human sorrows and suffering. What is heard in the mountains on the coast of Brittany? The noise of the wind from the frosty heights, the roar of the ocean waves crashing against the rocks, the shepherd's melodies from the green meadows at the foot of the rocks...and the cry of suffering humanity. And you can hear all this in music.
Hero symphonic poem No. 2 "Tasso"- the great Italian Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso (1544-1595), whose epic poem "The Liberated Jerusalem" inspired many over the centuries, including Goethe. At the age of 35, the poet ended up in a lunatic asylum and at the same time in prison, having got there because of court intrigues. The legend called love the reason for the imprisonment - the poet's impudent, destroying all class barriers love for the sister of Duke Alphonse Eleanor d "Este. Seven years later, having left the dungeon thanks to the intercession of the Pope, Tasso - already a completely broken person - was proclaimed the greatest poet of Italy and awarded laurel wreath, previously awarded only once to the great Petrarch. However, death came earlier, and only the coffin of the poet was crowned with laurels at a solemn ceremony in the Roman Capitol. leaves their graves," Liszt wrote in the program for this dramatic poem, depicting all the twists and turns of the poet's life - from prison and memories of love to well-deserved fame.
Symphonic poem No. 3 - "Preludes". Its name and program are borrowed by the composer from the poem of the same name by the French poet Lamartine. However, Liszt deviated significantly from the main idea of the poem, dedicated to reflections on frailty. human existence. He created music full of heroic, life-affirming pathos. The pictures of life are embodied by Liszt in a series of bright, colorful episodes filled with genre and pictorial details (march, pastoral, storm, battle, trumpet signals, shepherd tunes). They are compared according to the principle of contrast and at the same time are closely related to each other: throughout the entire poem, Liszt masterfully transforms the leading theme, applying the principle of monothematism characteristic of him.
AT symphonic poem No. 4 "Orpheus" conceived as an overture to opera of the same name Gluck, the mythical legend about the sweet-voiced singer was embodied in a generalized philosophical plan. Orpheus for Liszt becomes a collective symbol of art. This is one of Liszt's most lapidary, capacious works. The poem is multi-themed, but all the themes are intonationally interconnected, flowing one into another. The long-lasting “G” sound of the French horns is replaced by the harp strumming - this, obviously, is the image of the kifared Orpheus, who listens to the world. The magical sound of these sounds at the French horns sets you in a sublime mood, introduces you into a poetic atmosphere. Main party in winds and strings of diatonic type, it gravitates towards epic breadth, although it does not reach it. This is an image of the universe, which the artist seeks to cognize, an objectified, impersonal reality. The unextended connecting theme that replaces it symbolizes the artist's quest. With a descending, drooping melodic figure, Liszt depicts the image of music-Eurydice, which Orpheus is looking for. In an effort to give this theme a special timbre warmth and clarity, Liszt entrusts the theme to the solo violin, and then to the solo cello. The composer's programmatic intention here is transparent and clear: the ideal is unattainable, Eurydice is only a mirage, which is impossible to keep. Art is doomed to eternal searches without accomplishments.
Symphonic Poem No. 5 "Prometheus" dedicated to the legendary sufferer and humanist who has stirred the imagination for centuries creative elite humanity. The poem arose as an overture to the drama of the famous German poet Gottfried Herder. “Suffering (misfortune) and glory (bliss)! Thus can be expressed in a condensed form the main idea of this all-too-true story, and in this form it becomes like a storm, like a flashing lightning. Grief conquered by the stubbornness of invincible energy - this is what constitutes in this case the essence of the musical content.
Symphonic poem No. 6 "Mazepa", is devoted historical personality in the fate of which the antithesis of suffering and triumph, beloved by the romantics, was clearly revealed. Hugo's poem is published in full as a program in the score. Liszt was inspired primarily by the main, first part of the poem, full of colorful pictures, terrible details, a sense of the horror of death - in comparison with the triumph of the unbroken hero, welcomed by the whole people: "He rushes, he flies, he falls, And he rises as a king!"
Software concept Symphonic Poem No. 7 "Festive Sounds" not related to historical events or literary plots. It is known that the composer sang here his union (i.e. wedding) with Princess Caroline Wittgenstein and could not do without portrait characteristics himself and his girlfriend.
Symphonic Poem No. 8 "Lament for Heroes" created on the basis of the "Revolutionary Symphony" (1830), dedicated to the French Revolution, which was not completed by the young Liszt. Bitter laments and glorification of the revolutionary struggle, world sorrow and social protest sound in this dramatic poem, unusual in form, where a terrible drum roll and execution scenes in the middle are replaced by one of the best lyrical themes in the composer's work. The general artistic connection of this work with one of the most popular piano pieces Liszt - "The Funeral Procession", created as a musical monument to the tragically dead heroes of the revolution that took place in his native Hungary. The appearance of this work bears the stamp of the tragic disappointment of a romantic artist, and it is connected primarily with the defeat of the revolution that swept through the countries central Europe in 1848-49.
Symphonic Poem No. 9 "Hungary" often called orchestral ` Hungarian Rhapsody`. It arose in response to a poem dedicated to Liszt by the Hungarian poet Vereshmarty. With this poem, Vörösmarty welcomed a decade and a half ago, in January 1840, the arrival in his homeland of a young, not yet 30 years old, but already world-famous pianist. Liszt's tours then acquired the character of a national celebration. He was awarded the title of honorary citizen of the city of Pest; after the concert in National theater, where Liszt performed in Hungarian national costume, on behalf of the nation, he was presented with a "saber of honor". These impressions were reflected in the composer's compositions on national themes that arose at the same time - "The Heroic March in the Hungarian Style" and "Hungarian National Melodies and Rhapsodies". Many years later, Liszt borrowed three themes from there for the symphonic poem "Hungary": two heroic, marching and one in the spirit of incendiary folk dance chardash.
Symphonic Poem No. 10 "Hamlet"- the most recent poem of the Weimar period, placed, however, when published under number ten. Like many of Liszt's other symphonic poems, it arose from an overture intended to stage a Shakespearean tragedy. All the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedy are captured in music - both Hamlet, and Ophelia, etc.
The software prototype of the battle symphonic poem No. 11 - "Battle of the Huns" quite unusual. He is pictorial. Written in 1834-1835 by a fashionable historical painter Wilhelm von Kaulbach painted a fresco of the same name on the main staircase of the new Berlin Museum. The painting depicts a bloody battle that raged all day and left only a few wounded on the ground. It continues in heaven, where in the center of one group is a mighty Hun in a helmet with a raised sword, and another group is overshadowed by a flying angel with a cross. Liszt was fascinated by the deeply humanistic meaning of the artist's creation: the triumph of Christian love and mercy over pagan savagery and bloodthirstiness.
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Symphonic Poem No. 12 "Ideals" inspired by the poem of the same name by Schiller: "The ideal - there is nothing more desirable, and there is nothing more unattainable. Only he will find the way to it, who creates slowly and never destroys"...
During the summer of 1881, the composer, overwhelmed by thoughts of impending death, writes his last symphonic poem No. 13 "From the cradle to the grave", inspired by the pen drawings "From the Cradle to the Coffin", given to him by the famous Hungarian artist Mihaly Zichy. http://s017.radikal.ru/i403/1110/71/363fe132803b.jpg At the request of Princess Wittgenstein, the word "coffin" was replaced by "grave", and finally the poem was called "From the cradle to the grave." The music of Liszt's last poem is sad and bright...
Two episodes from Lenau's "Faust" - "Night Procession" and "Dance in a Village Tavern (Mephisto Waltz)". The images of Faust and Mephistopheles worried Liszt throughout his creative life. Lenau is dominated by Mephistopheles, the spirit of denial and destruction, endowed with an unbending will and the unrestrained power of passions. The triumph of evil is undoubted: such a Mephistopheles easily subjugates Faust - a confused man, now seized with delight, now plunged into the abyss of despair, unable to control either his feelings or life circumstances. Initial section"Night Procession" is built on a sharp contrast. His first theme, mournful and gloomy, is a description of Faust's state of mind. The hero is opposed by the serene spring nature: in the transparent sound of strings, woodwinds, horns, one can hear the trills of a nightingale, the rustle of trees, the murmur of streams. The distant ringing of the bell heralds the central episode - the actual procession. Liszt based it on the theme of the Catholic chant "Pange lingua gloriosi" ("Sing, language"), the text of which is attributed to Thomas Aquinas. More instruments enter, the procession approaches, then fades into the distance. Silence reigns again. And, like an explosion of despair, it sounds initial theme: "sobbing violently", according to the author's note, the motifs of violins, flutes and oboes fall down. They fade into dull basses string group, thus framing the whole work with a picture of the hero’s soul, which for Liszt is more important than picturesque sketches. The mephisto waltz forms a sharp contrast to the first episode. This is a real waltz poem - swift, exciting, completely devoid of slow tempos. Two images are masterfully compared: a real everyday dance with comic effects and fantastic dance. The first embodies the playing of village musicians, and a full symphony orchestra imitates the sound of a peasant ensemble. Musicians prepare for a long time, tune in, gather their courage. Finally, the violas and cellos confidently perform a rural, rude, sharply accented theme, according to the author's remark. The fun grows, all the new dancers swirl in a violent dance. Then, tired, they stop. Cellos in an unusually high register begin new topic(author's note "gently, lovingly") - languid, sensual, chromatic, not fitting into a clear dance pattern. It was Mephistopheles; his theme is completed by the fading sound of the violin solo. An even more impetuous fantastic episode begins. And when the village dance returns, the diabolical melody does not allow it to turn around, distorts its motives - they obey the will of Mephistopheles, become just as broken, chromatized. Now the devil himself is in charge. The dance turns into a frantic bacchanalia, the three-part meter is replaced by a two-part one, "the movement of the waltz turns into some kind of wild chardash, full of fire and unbridled passion." At the climax, the dance breaks off, and the fantastic episode is repeated once more; greatly reduced, it ends with the peaceful voices of nature (flute solo cadenza, harp glissando). But the last word remains behind Mephistopheles: the frenzied dance explodes again, menacingly triumphant, the diabolical motive is repeatedly affirmed in the basses of the orchestra. Suddenly everything subsides, disappears into the distance; only the fading rustle of the timpani and pizzicato of cellos and double basses remains. After the glissando of the harp, Liszt inscribed the final line from Lenau: "And, raging, the sea of passion swallows them up."
Conductor Arpad Joo (Hung. Árpád Joó) was born in Budapest on June 8, 1948, comes from an ancient Hungarian family, a child prodigy. Even in his childhood, he was noticed by Zoltan Kodai and fell under his patronage, he studied at the Budapest Academy of Music. Franz Liszt at Pala Kadosi and Josef Gat. In 1962 he won the Liszt and Bartók Piano Competition in Budapest. Then he studied conducting at the Juilliard School and at Indiana University, studied with Igor Markevich in Monte Carlo. In 1973-1977. chief conductor Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, 1977-1984. - Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, 1988-1990. - Symphony Orchestra of the Spanish Radio and Television. Performed with the London symphony orchestra. He has worked as a guest conductor with the European Community Orchestra. Recording by conductor full cycle The writings of Kodály and Bartók became an event not only in Hungary. In 1985, on the 100th anniversary of Liszt's death, he recorded with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra a complete collection of his symphonic poems, for which he received the coveted "Grand Prix du Disque" in Paris, directly from the hands of the French Minister of Culture Léotard. Why did the French like Liszt performed by the Budapesters and Arpad Joo so much? Probably, softness and plasticity of interpretation. There are no usual stunning "special effects" and artificial external pathos, but there are heartfelt melodies.
Listen:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfhf7_mUccY
Ferenc Liszt - Symphonic Poems Complete
Budapest Symphony Orchestra / Arpad Joo
Recorded Budapest 1984/5 DDD
1987 "Grand Prix Du Disque", Paris, France
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
CD1
Symphonic Poem #1. What is heard on the mountain ("Mountain Symphony") (after Hugo, 1847-1857) (30:34)
Symphonic Poem No. 2. Tasso. Complaint and Triumph (by Goethe, 1849-1856) (21:31)
Symphonic Poem No. 3. Preludes (after Lamartine, 1850-1856) (15:52)
CD2
Symphonic Poem No. 4. Orpheus (as introduction and conclusion to Gluck's Orpheus, 1856)(11:36)
Symphonic Poem No. 5. Prometheus (according to Herder, 1850-1855) (13:29)
Symphonic Poem No. 6. Mazeppa (by Hugo, 1851-1856) (15:54)
Symphonic Poem No. 7. Festive Sounds (Caroline Wittgenstein, 1853-1861) (19:47)
CD3
Symphonic Poem No. 8. Lament for Heroes (based on the first movement of the "Revolutionary Symphony", 1830-1857) (24:12)
Symphonic Poem No. 9. Hungary (response to a patriotic poem by Vörösmarty, 1839-1857) (22:22)
Symphonic Poem No. 10. Hamlet (after Shakespeare, 1858-1861)(14:35)
CD4
Symphonic Poem No. 11. Battle of the Huns (after a fresco by Kaulbach, 1857-1861) (13:58)
Symphonic Poem No. 12. Ideals (according to Schiller, 1857-1858)(26:55)
Symphonic Poem No. 13. From the cradle to the grave (according to the drawing by M. Zichy, 1881-1883)
I. Cradle (6:31) / II. Struggle for existence (3:14) / III. Grave (7:38)
CD5
Two episodes from "Faust" Lenau (1857-1866)
I. Night procession (15:15)
II. Dance in a Village Tavern (Mephisto Waltz No. 1) (11:54)
Mephisto Waltz No. 2 (1880-1881) (11:41)
Appeal and Hungarian Anthem (1873) (10:13)
Ewa Kwiatkowska () updated audio link:
Are potrekovo
http://files.mail.ru/973FB84356324B3886DFA2E0A4CF6F9B
G. Krauklis `F. Liszt Symphonic Poems`
Moscow, 1974, 144p.
The book is a popular science essay on Liszt's symphonic poems.
CONTENT
Program symphonism of F. Liszt and his symphonic poems 5
"What is heard on the mountain" ("Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne") 30
"Tasso. Complaint and triumph” (“Tasso. Lamento e trionfo”) 43
"Preludes" ("Les Préludes") 53
Orpheus 62
Prometheus 71
"Mazeppa" ("Mazeppa") 77
"Festive Sounds" ("Fest-Klänge") 85
"Lament for Heroes" ("Héroїde funèbre") 93
"Hungaria" 99
"Hamlet" 107
"Battle of the Huns" ("Hunnenschlacht") 114
"Ideals" ("Die Ideale") 122
Notes 135
Applications 140
References 141
