A Faust Symphony in three character pictures ,
S.108, or simply the "
Faust Symphony", was written by
HungarianHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
composer
Franz LisztFranz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher....
and was inspired by Johann von Goethe's drama,
FaustJohann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play, although more appropriately it should be defined a tragicomedy, despite the very title of the work. It was published in two parts: and ...
. The symphony was premiered in Weimar on September 5, 1857, for the inauguration of a monument to Goethe and Schiller.
The first clue as to the work's structure is in Liszt's title: "A Faust Symphony in Three Character Sketches after Goethe: (1) Faust, (2) Gretchen, (3) Mephistopheles." Liszt does not attempt to tell the story of Goethe's drama.
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A Faust Symphony in three character pictures ,
S.108, or simply the "
Faust Symphony", was written by
HungarianHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
composer
Franz LisztFranz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher....
and was inspired by Johann von Goethe's drama,
FaustJohann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play, although more appropriately it should be defined a tragicomedy, despite the very title of the work. It was published in two parts: and ...
. The symphony was premiered in Weimar on September 5, 1857, for the inauguration of a monument to Goethe and Schiller.
Structure
The first clue as to the work's structure is in Liszt's title: "A Faust Symphony in Three Character Sketches after Goethe: (1) Faust, (2) Gretchen, (3) Mephistopheles." Liszt does not attempt to tell the story of Goethe's drama. Rather, he creates musical portraits of the three main protagonists. By doing so, though this symphony is a multi-movement work and employs a
chorusA choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together is called a choir or chorus...
in its final moments, Liszt adopts the same aesthetic position as in
his symphonic poemsThe symphonic poems of Franz Liszt are a series of 13 orchestral works by the Hungarian composer and are numbered S.95–107. The first 12 were composed between 1848 and 1858 ; the last, Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe , followed in 1882...
. The work is approximately seventy minutes in duration.
- Faust
- This large-scale movement (usually lasting around 30 minutes) is a very loose sonata-form with a short central development and a protracted recapitulation. One might say that this movement represents the very synthesis of the whole symphony, since many of its themes and motives appear throughout the score in various guises, a process of thematic transformation
Thematic transformation is a technique of music composition invented by Franz Liszt. The technique is essentially one of variation. 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...
which Liszt mastered to the highest level during his Weimar years. The basic key of the symphony (C-major) is already rather blurred by the opening theme made up of arpeggioIn music, an arpeggio is Italian for broken chord where the notes are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously. This word comes from the italian word "arpeggiare" , which means "to play on a harp"...
s and augmented fifthAn augmented fifth is a musical interval that spans five scale degrees and consists of eight semitones. The prefix "augmented" identifies it as being one semitone larger than the perfect fifth...
s. This theme evokes the gloomy Faust, a dreamer, in everlasting search for truth and knowledge. Next follows the so-called 'Nostalgia' theme introduced by the oboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
. At the end of a slow crescendo-In music:*Crescendo, a passage of music during which the volume gradually increases, see Dynamics * Crescendo , a Liverpool based electronic pop band*Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, one of Duke Ellington's longer-form compositions...
, there appears a violent Allegro agitato ed appassionato theme, depicting Faust's insatiable appetite for the pleasures of life - this theme establishes a gingery C-minorC minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The harmonic minor raises the B to B.Its key signature consists of three flats .
...
threatened to collapse under the weight of highly chromaticIn music, chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
elements. A melody of the oboe and clarinet represents the hero's 'painful delights'. The last theme is pentatonic and resolute. From all these elements Liszt weaves a musical structure of power and grandeur, in which some critics recognise the composer's self-portrait.
- Gretchen
- This slow movement is in the mellow and affectionate key of A flat major
A major or A-flat major is a major scale based on A-flat, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats .Its relative minor is F minor, and its parallel minor is A-flat minor....
. Following the introduction on the fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s and clarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet...
s, we are given the pure oboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
's melody figurated by the violaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
's tender decorations, which expresses Gretchen's virginal innocence. A dialogue between clarinet and violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
s describes her naively plucking the petals of a flower, in a game of 'he loves me, he loves me not'. She is obsessed by Faust, and therefore we may hear Faust's themes being introduced progressively into the music, until his and Gretchen's themes form a passionate love duet. This draws the second movement to a peaceful and short recapitulationThe word recapitulation can mean:*A summary* Recapitulation , a section of musical sonata form where the exposition is repeated in an altered form and the development is concluded...
.
- An alternative interpretation of the Gretchen movement is that, as Lawrence Kramer writes, "What we have been calling Gretchen's music is really Faust's." The entire Gretchen movement could be seen as representing her from the perspective of Faust. Consequently, the listener really learns more about Faust than about Gretchen. In Goethe's drama, she is a complex heroine. In Liszt's symphony, she is innocent and one-dimensional—a simplification that could arguably exist exclusively in Faust's imagination. The listener becomes aware of this masquerade when the "Gretchen" mask Faust is wearing slips with the appearance of the Faustian themes in bars 44 through 51 and bar 111 to the end of the movement.
- Mephistopheles
- The third movement is the most outstanding in the entire symphony. Some critics suggest that, like Gretchen, Mephistopheles can be seen as an abstraction—in this case, one of the destructive aspects of Faust's character, with Faust mocking his humanity by taking on Mephistopheles' character. Regardless of which interpretation a listener chooses, since Mephistopheles, Satan, the Spirit of Negation, is not capable of creating his own themes, he takes all of Faust's themes from the first movement and mutilates them into ironic and diabolical distortions. Here Liszt's mastery of thematic metamorphosis shows itself in its full power - therefore we may understand this movement as a modified recapitulation
The word recapitulation can mean:*A summary* Recapitulation , a section of musical sonata form where the exposition is repeated in an altered form and the development is concluded...
of the first one. The music is pushed to the very verge of atonalityAtonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used and the notes of the chromatic scale...
by use of high chromaticismIn music, chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
, rhythmic leaps and fantastic scherzo-like sections. A modified version of Faust's second and third themes then creates an infernal fugue. Mephistopheles is, however, powerless when faced with Gretchen's innocence, so her theme remains intact. It even pushes the Spirit of Negation away towards the end of the work.
- It is here that the two versions of the Faust Symphony merit different interpretations. Liszt's original version of 1854 ended with a last fleeting reference to Gretchen and an optimistic peoration in C major, based on the most majestic of themes from the opening movement. Some critics suggest this conclusion remains within the persona of Faust and his imagination. When Liszt rethought the piece three years later, he added a 'Chorus mysticus', tranquil and positive. The male chorus sings the words from Goethe's Faust:
| |
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-
-
- Alles Vergängliche
- ist nur ein Gleichnis;
- das Unzulängliche,
- hier wird's Ereignis;
- das Unbeschreibliche,
- hier ist es getan;
- das Ewigweibliche
- zieht uns hinan.
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- Everything transitory
- is only an approximation;
- what could be achieved
- here comes to pass;
- what no-one could describe,
- is here accomplished;
- the Eternal Feminine
- draws us aloft.
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- The tenor soloist then rises above the murmur of the chorus and starts to sing the last two lines of the text, emphasizing the power of salvation through the Eternal Feminine. The symphony ends in a glorious blaze of the choir and orchestra, backed up by held chords on the organ. With this direct association to the the final scene of Goethe's drama we escape Faust's imaginings and hear another voice commenting on his striving and redemption.
Instrumentation
The work is scored for an orchestral complement of piccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, two fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, two oboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, two bassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 1800s, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature...
s, four French horns, three trumpetThe trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC...
s, three tromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, tubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, timpaniTimpani are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper, and more recently, constructed of more lightweight fiberglass. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick...
, cymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, triangleThe triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel in modern instruments, bent into a triangle shape. Usually held by a string at the top curve.- Shaping :...
, organThe organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet...
, harpA harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. As many other non-percussion instruments, it can also be used as a percussion instrument. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar;...
,and stringThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
s. A tenor soloist and male TTB choir are also employed.
Composition
Hector Berlioz Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande Messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation...
, who wrote his own version of Faust and became the eventual dedicatee of Liszt's Faust Symphony, introduced Liszt to Goethe's Faust in the 1830 through the French translation of Gérard de NervalGérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.- Biography :...
. Although sketches exist from the 1840s, he was hesitant about composing this work. He commented wryly to one correspondent, "The worst Jesuit is dearer to me than the whole of your Goethe." In an 1869 letter, Liszt makes a revealing comparison between Faust and Manfred:
In my youth I passionately admired Manfred and valued him much more than Faust, who, between you and me, in spite of his marvellous prestige in poetry, seemed to me a decidedly bourgeois character. For that reason he becomes more varied, more complete, richer, more communicative ... (than Manfred) ... Faust's personality scatters and dissipates itself; he takes no action, lets himself be driven, hesitates, experiments, loses his way, considers, bargains, and is interested in his own little happiness. Manfred could certainly not have thought of putting up with the bad company of Mephistopheles, and if he had loved Marguerite he would have been able to kill her, but never abandon her in a cowardly manner like Faust.
Despite Liszt's apparent antipathy toward the character of Faust, his residency in WeimarWeimar is a city in Germany mostly known for its cultural heritage. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
surrounded him with Goethe and the Faust legend at practically every turn. He had barely served out his first year as Kapellmeister when Grand Duke Carl Alexander decreed that the city would celebrate the centennial of Goethe's birth on August 28, 1849. During this celebration Liszt conducted, among other things, excerpts from Robert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic...
's Scenes from Goethe's FaustWritten between 1844 and 1853, Szenen aus Goethes Faust has been described as the height of composer Robert Schumann's accomplishments in the realm of dramatic music....
for orchestra and choir. After the centennial remembrance, he helped in the creation of a Goethe Foundation; this culminated in the publication of Liszt's brochure De la foundation-Goethe à Weimar. In the summer of 1850 Gérard de Nerval himself stayed as Liszt's guest. There was much talk about Faust and the topic would spill over into their subsequent correspondence
The performance of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust in 1852, conducted by the composer, encouraged Liszt further, though he still hesitated, writing Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein, "Anything having to do with Goethe is dangerous for me to handle." However, the final catalyst for the symphony came in a two-month period between August and October 1854. This period coincided with a visit to Weimar by EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
novelist Mary Ann (Marian) Evans, better known by her pen nameA pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
George EliotMary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist. She was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
. Her consort George Henry LewesGeorge Henry Lewes was an English philosopher and critic of literature and theatre. He became part of the mid-Victorian ferment of ideas which encouraged discussion of Darwinism, positivism, and religious skepticism...
was gathering information for his biography of Goethe. During visits to Liszt's residence, the Altenberg, Lewes and Eliot had several discussions with both him and Princess Carolyne about Goethe and his place in German literature. Once Liszt began work, it was all-consuming, with his writing the work in a white heat of inspiration.
The symphony was revised three years after it was completed. Additional parts for heavy brass were added, as was a Chorus Mysticus to the finale; in the latter, words from Faust Part II are sung by a male chorus and a tenor soloist to music from the middle movement. Other minor changes were made but much of the original score remained unchanged. In 1880, Liszt added some ten bars to the second movement.
Performance history
After its premiere under Liszt's baton, the symphony was given its second performance under Hans von BülowHans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era...
in 1861, the year the score was published. Thereafter, apart from one or two sporadic performances, the symphony was neglected for roughly 50 years. Lack of interest was so great that the orchestral parts were not published until 1874. Felix WeingartnerPaul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
became the work's first modern interpreter but he stood practically alone in his advocacy of the score until modern times, when Thomas BeechamSir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH was a British conductor and impresario. From the early twentieth century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to Neville Cardus, was the first British conductor to have a regular international career.From...
and Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, among others, began championing the piece.
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