Prometheus (Liszt)
Prometheus is a symphonic poem by Franz Liszt . The work is based on the Greek myth of Prometheus and was composed between 1850 and 1855.
History of origin
For the inauguration of a statue in Weimar on the 106th birthday of Johann Gottfried Herder , Liszt composed a cantata with an overture and eight choral pieces in 1850 . They are a setting of Herder's dramatic poem The Unleashed Prometheus , which in turn was intended as a sequel to Aeschylus ' tragedy The Fettered Prometheus . Herder was general superintendent of the Lutheran town church in Weimar from 1776 to 1788 . Liszt wrote his Prometheus first in sketch form and gave instructions for the instrumentation . His assistant Joachim Raff , who had already orchestrated Liszt's first symphonic poem, the mountain symphony Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne , was responsible for the implementation, which was then performed at the world premiere in Weimar.
In the following years Liszt revised the score and referred to the overture with the then new term symphonic poem . The composer conducted the first performance in this form in October 1855 in Braunschweig . He then sent the score to the Breitkopf & Härtel publishing house in Leipzig , which published it in May 1856. The work is dedicated to Liszt's partner Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein .
Impact history
Liszt's Prometheus was meant to illustrate the pains of captivity, the hope and the final triumph of the ancient hero. In the foreword to the orchestral score, Liszt writes: A deep pain that triumphs through defiant perseverance forms the musical character of this model. The numerous dissonances that pervade the work from the beginning, however, made it incomprehensible to the contemporary audience. The choral parts soon fell out of use, while the overture gained a certain fame thanks to the numerous performances under the direction of Hans von Bülow . The music critic Richard Pohl , who has lived in Weimar since 1854, shortened Herder's allegorical text and emphasized the drama in Prometheus' character, the lack of which Liszt himself had noticed.
Meanwhile, leading music critics were extremely hostile to Liszt's Prometheus . After a performance in Vienna , Eduard Hanslick described the work as unmusik .
Liszt's Prometheus was transcribed several times over the years . The composer himself wrote a version for piano four hands , the French organist Jean Guillou a version for organ.
Individual evidence
- ↑ From Liszt's preface: ... as little as it (ie the text) corresponds to our existing dramatic requirements.
- ^ Eduard Hanslick: Complete writings: essays and reviews. ( Online partial view )
- ↑ Sound sample (played by Guillou himself)
literature
- Paul A. Bertagnolli: Prometheus in Music. Representations of the Myth in the Romantic Era. Ashgate, Aldershot 2007, ISBN 978-0-7546-5468-1 ( partial online view )
Web links
- F. Liszt: Symphonic poems for large orchestra . Score, Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1856.
- Version for piano four hands