Mephisto waltz

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The Mephisto Waltzes are four virtuoso pieces for piano solo by Franz Liszt . The first one, which is regularly played in concert and is commonly called the “Mephisto Waltz”, achieved particular fame. The Mephisto waltzes are easy to recognize due to their diabolical atmosphere.

  • The Mephisto Waltz No. 1 was written between 1856–1861 and is dedicated to Carl Tausig (Liszt's favorite piano student, who died in 1870 at the age of 29). Liszt later (1857–1861) used the waltz under the title Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke as the second movement in his orchestral work Two Episodes from Lenau's Faust . He depicts an episode about Faust as described in the version by Nikolaus Lenau (in his other Faust pieces Liszt is based on Goethe's Faust ). Faust and Mephisto enter a village tavern where a wedding celebration is taking place. Mephisto takes a farmer's violin, tunes it (which is represented by the accumulating fifths at the beginning) and then plays a wild dance. After a one-time repetition, there is a slow interlude with a new topic: Faust tries to seduce a woman and after some solicitation he moves into the forest with her. The song of a nightingale can be heard, and the music flows more and more rousing towards a climax in which many see the first portrayal of an orgasm in classical music: Faust spends a passionate night with the woman.
  • The Mephisto Waltz No. 2 (1878–1881) followed the first almost twenty years later and uses - similar to the first waltz - an advanced tonal language. Liszt again orchestrated the piece (1880–1881) after the solo version was completed. It is dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns .
  • Mephisto's waltz No. 3 takes the harmonic experiments even further. Composed in 1883 can be found here on fourths built chords and more ominous passages from descending minor - triads whose fundamental tones apart a semitone. This makes the piece part of Liszt's late, experimental style (while No. 2 still marks the way there). Liszt seems to have planned an orchestral version, but could not possibly make it for health reasons. This waltz is dedicated to the pianist and composer Marie Jaëll . In 1883 a version for piano four hands was created and there seems to have been an orchestral version by Alfred Reisenauer .
  • The Mephisto Waltz No. 4 remained unfinished. Liszt worked on the piece in 1885. In 1956 a version appeared in which passages in the corner parts were added and the incomplete slow middle part left out. Leslie Howard completed the middle section in 1978 on the basis of Liszt's manuscripts with a minimum of additions and included it in his complete recording of Liszt's solo work for piano.
  • The Bagatelle without key (Bagatelle sans tonalité) from 1885 was now called the Fourth Mephisto Waltz (without key) .
  • Liszt also wrote a Mephisto Polka (1882–1883), but this is not related to the waltz.

Audio sample "Mephisto Waltz No. 1"

Speaker Icon.svg Mephisto Waltz No. 1   

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://perso.orange.fr/jc.ingelaere/jaell/oeuvresp.htm

Web links