Virtuoso pianinst Franz Liszt contribution to the world of romantic music

1. What Franz Lizst has contributed
to the world of music
Made by:
Prateek Gupta
2011A7PS125G
Intro to Western Music

2. The Life of Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
• 1811 - born in Raiding south of
Vienna (in Hungary).
• 1821 - moves with family to
Vienna to advance his career
as piano prodigy. Then to
Paris.
• 1839 - non-stop touring of
European cities – invents the
concept of the solo recital and
the concept of playing a recital
from memory.
• 1848 - retires from touring,
orchestral conductor in
Weimar.
• 1861 - lives near Rome.
• 1869 - alternates residences in
Rome, Weimar, and Budapest
• 1886 - dies in Bayreuth.

3. The Music of Franz Liszt
Liszt brought to music unprecedented emotional and psychological
impact that previously never existed.
He exploited the tonal and technical resources of the piano, like using
unconventional tones, chromaticism, remote modulation, dissonances,
repeated notes, fast arpeggios, scale played by octaves and chords
simultaneously played by both hands.
• Chromaticity is a technique of introducing the primary pitches and
chords with pitches of chromatic scale at intervals. Chromatic scale
has structure of only semitones.
• Modulation refers to the act or process of changing from
one key tone to another.
• Dissonance refers to unstability in music. dissonance is a
combination of notes that sound harsh or unpleasant to most
people.
• Arpeggios is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played
or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out
simultaneously.

4. • Principal Works includes:
– piano music
– Orchestral Music, including 2 piano concertos
– choral music
– opera and songs
• Thematic transformation
• the creator of modern piano technique
• Hungarian Rhapsody #2
Major Contributions

5. Contribution to Piano
Liszt’s early career during the Romantic Period (c.1815-27) was a time of
innovation and development. New styles of composition gave impetus to the
rise of instrumental pianoforte music.
Some major works include:
• Etudes - an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of
considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for
perfecting a particular musical skill.
• Last bars of Franz Liszt's Transcendental Étude No. 2 is as shown in the
above picture. This is a study in passages for alternating and overlapping
hands.

6. • Cycles of character pieces including:
– Harmonies poétiques et religieuses – (Poetic and Religious Harmonies)
is a cycle of piano pieces.
– Années de pèlerinage (three books) – (Years of Pilgrimage) a set of
three suites for solo piano.
– Consolations - a set of six solo piano works composed in either
the key of E major or D-flat major.
– Légendes - Legendes are two of Liszt’s finest examples of conjuring up
natural imagery at the keyboard, the first with its very delicate
imitation of birdsong—of which we are given quite a feast before the
sermon begins—and the second with its opportunity to describe a
storm at sea.
– Hungarian Rhapsodies - A set of 19 piano pieces based
on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846-1853.

7. Contribution to Orchestra
Franz Liszt second most remarkable contribution to the field of music was in
orchestral music which can still be seen in the form of romantic symphonies
and piano arrangements.
The major contributions being : symphonic poems (13), program symphonies
(Faust, Dante), marches.
• Symphonic Poems - The symphonic poems are a series of 13
orchestral works, numbered S.95–107 .
• Program Symphonies - The program usually suggests a certain mood or
feeling and runs parallel to the spirit of the music.
Contribution to Chorus
• Chorus contributions by Franz Liszt were mainly in the form of Masses,
motets, requiems, oratorios (including The Legend of St. Elizabeth and
Christus).

8. Symphonic Poems
• Symphonic Poems is a long orchestral piece connected in some
way with something non-musical (a painting, a poem, a time in
history).
• As an orchestral composer, Liszt concentrated on the one-
movement programmatic piece which resembled an overture, but
instead he called a ―symphonic poem.‖
• The symphonic poems are a series of 13 orchestral works,
numbered S.95–107 . These works helped establish the genre of
orchestral program music - compositions written to illustrate an
extra-musical plan derived from a play, poem, painting or work of
nature.
• These poems emphasized their affinity with the art of poetry.
• Use of transformation of themes throughout the work – this theme
transforms in character and detail throughout.
– many times the themes are also cyclical as well.
• The most popular is Les Preludes, a beautiful free-flowing piece.
• This symphonic poem is linked to Alfonse-Marie de Lamartine's
poem of the same title.

9. Program Symphonies
• Program Symphonies - The program symphonies usually
suggests a certain mood or feeling and runs parallel to the spirit of
the music.A Symphony to Dante's Divine Comedy, S.109, or simply
the "Dante Symphony", is a program symphony composed
by Franz Liszt. Written in the high romantic style, it is based
on Dante Alighieri's journey through Hell and Purgatory, as
depicted in The Divine Comedy.
• Are much longer pieces than the poems.
• very highly original in form
• tend to use freer versions of standard forms

10. Thematic Transformation
• Thematic transformation (also known as thematic
metamorphosis or thematic development) is a technique of where
a leitmotif, or theme, is developed by changing the theme by
using Permutation (Transposition or Modulation, Inversion,
and Retrograde), Augmentation, Diminution, and Fragmentation.
• A basic theme is reprised throughout a musical work, but it
undergoes constant transformations and disguises and is made to
appear in several contrasting roles.
• Thematic transformation can accommodate the dramatically
charged phrases, highly coloured melodies and atmospheric
harmonies favoured by the Romantic composers.

11. Creator of modern piano techniques
• Franz Liszt made a name for himself not only as an important
composer in the Romantic era, but also as one of the greatest
pianists who ever lived.
• He had an insane level of technical skill.
• Liszt wrote over 1000 piano pieces which is a huge
contribution to the piano repertoire.
• He hybridized multiple forms of music both folk and popular and
came up with newer style of piano techniques.
• He made transcriptions of several works by Berlioz, including
the Symphonie fantastique.
• The symphonic poem was adapted by a number of other
composers.
• His chromatic harmonies helped to form Wagner's style after 1854.
• The even divisions of the octave, such as with the augmented
triad, had a strong impact on Russian and French composers.
• His thematic transformation parallels Wagner's use of leitmotives
and Brahms's developing variation.

12. Hungarian Rhapsody
• A set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, is a
famous set of piano solos , based on Hungarian folk themes , have
achieved such widespread popularity.
• Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, S.244/2 , is the second in a set of
19 ,is by far the most famous of the set. Offering the pianist the
opportunity to reveal exceptional skill as a virtuoso, it also provides
the listener with an immediate and irresistible musical appeal.
• The piece consists of two distinct sections.
– The first is the lassan, with its brief but dramatic introduction.
– The second section is the friska. It opens quietly but on its dominant
chord, C sharp major, recalling a theme from the lassan.
• In both the original piano solo form and in the orchestrated
version this composition has enjoyed widespread use in animated
cartoons. Its themes have also served as the basis of several
popular songs.

13. New German School
• A term introduced in 1859 by Franz Brendel to apply to certain
trends in music. Liszt develops a friendship with Wagner upon
hearing his operas.Applies to certain trends in German music.
• The term should be understood as denoting the whole period since
Beethoven's death. It was common usage to call the period of J. S.
Bach and Händel "alt deutsche Schule" ("Old German School").
The subsequent period was that of Viennese masters such
as Mozart who had been influenced by the Italian style. Beethoven
had redirected interest to the German North again and with this
had opened the "Neudeutsche Schule"
• Franz Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the
"New German School".
• Used the slogan ―music of the future.‖
– this group believed in more free and not so accurate
interpretations of classic works.
• The rival and more conservative group to this movement was led
by Mendelsson and included such members as Johannes Brahms.
– this group strictly adhered to the scores of Bach, Mozart, or
Beethoven.