Les préludes
Franz Liszt (1811-86)
Franz Liszt’s Les préludes, the third of his thirteen symphonic poems, was premiered at Weimar in 1854. As an innovation, Liszt claimed to base his symphonic music on literature. He declared that Les préludes derived from Alphonse de Lamartine’s long poem of the same name. With a little intellectual contortion one might discern a link between Liszt’s music and Lamartine’s account of life as a series of symbolic ‘preludes’ leading to death. Conversely, one might not. Liszt conceived the work originally as an overture to a set of choruses that he had composed about eight years earlier: settings of poems by Joseph Autrans. This was before he had read the poems by Lamartine. What a muddle.
Maybe the work has no connections with any literature after all. Some believe the title refers to the new style of composition that Liszt was developing at that time, Les préludes being the precursor of (or prelude to) musical wonders to come. Remarks Liszt made lend support to this theory, and the rhapsodic structure of the symphonic poem is certainly part of its innovatory character.
Les préludes has enjoyed enduring popularity although its pictorial or narrative associations are not especially novel. Felix Mendelssohn’s ‘Hebrides Overture’ of 1830 and Hector Berlioz’s ‘Harold in Italy’ of 1834 are ‘tone poems’ in a sense, ‘tone poem’ being synonymous with ‘symphonic poem’. Both predate Les préludes by many years. Liszt’s music continues to exert its magic through a generous flow of melody and an almost improvisatory structure. Those wishing to trace ‘sonata form’ or other evidence of traditional musical form will be frustrated. Melodies come and go. Their connections with each other are not spelled out conventionally; more, they seem to tell a story, but we are not sure what that story is. We hear music depicting a storm and, elsewhere, a rousing march. We also hear music that might be familiar, and that’s probably because extracts from Les préludes have been used often in films and on TV.
Franz Liszt (1811-86)
Franz Liszt’s Les préludes, the third of his thirteen symphonic poems, was premiered at Weimar in 1854. As an innovation, Liszt claimed to base his symphonic music on literature. He declared that Les préludes derived from Alphonse de Lamartine’s long poem of the same name. With a little intellectual contortion one might discern a link between Liszt’s music and Lamartine’s account of life as a series of symbolic ‘preludes’ leading to death. Conversely, one might not. Liszt conceived the work originally as an overture to a set of choruses that he had composed about eight years earlier: settings of poems by Joseph Autrans. This was before he had read the poems by Lamartine. What a muddle.
Maybe the work has no connections with any literature after all. Some believe the title refers to the new style of composition that Liszt was developing at that time, Les préludes being the precursor of (or prelude to) musical wonders to come. Remarks Liszt made lend support to this theory, and the rhapsodic structure of the symphonic poem is certainly part of its innovatory character.
Les préludes has enjoyed enduring popularity although its pictorial or narrative associations are not especially novel. Felix Mendelssohn’s ‘Hebrides Overture’ of 1830 and Hector Berlioz’s ‘Harold in Italy’ of 1834 are ‘tone poems’ in a sense, ‘tone poem’ being synonymous with ‘symphonic poem’. Both predate Les préludes by many years. Liszt’s music continues to exert its magic through a generous flow of melody and an almost improvisatory structure. Those wishing to trace ‘sonata form’ or other evidence of traditional musical form will be frustrated. Melodies come and go. Their connections with each other are not spelled out conventionally; more, they seem to tell a story, but we are not sure what that story is. We hear music depicting a storm and, elsewhere, a rousing march. We also hear music that might be familiar, and that’s probably because extracts from Les préludes have been used often in films and on TV.