Ong, Michelle Rizza C.

FAA 2
4MUS1-ME

Franz Liszt’s Les Préludes

“after Lamartine”
Symphonic Poem No. 3

Franz Liszt

Liszt was Born on October 22, 1811 in Raiding, Hungary and died on July 31, 1886 in Bayreuth,
Germany. He performed phenomenal techniques on the piano and was known as the greatest
pianist of his time. Liszt was amazed by the great violinist Niccolò Paganini and aspired to become
the “Paganini of the Piano.” He retired from being a concert pianist and dedicated himself to
composition.

Liszt’s Music

Liszt invented the symphonic poem or tone poem, a one-movement orchestral work based to some
degree on literary or pictorial ideas. The title itself infers the unification of tone and poetic idea.
The symphonic poem is introduced with a program and Liszt’s were mostly of literary source.

Les Préludes

Les Préludes, Liszt’s most popular symphonic poem, was completed during the year 1851,
although it started many years earlier. Its first performance was on February 23, 1854 and Liszt
himself conducted the Weimar Court Orchestra. The piece is dedicated to Princess Carolyne Sayn-
Wittgenstein. The score was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1856.

Instrumentation

• Three flutes • Four horns • Harp

• Two oboes • Two trumpets • Bass drum
• Two clarinets • Three trombones • Cymbals
• Two bassoons and tuba • Snare drum
• Timpani • Strings
About the Work

Les Préludes is titled after a 375-line ode written by the French poet Alphonse de Lamartine, the
fifteenth and longest in his set of Nouvelles Méditations Poétiques. Regardless of Liszt having
subtitled his work “After Lamartine,” ‘it was long believed that the music had nothing to do with
the poem.’ The basis behind this lies with the creation of the music initially composed as an
overture to The Four Elements (Les Quatre Élémens), a set of four pieces for male chorus, whose
texts were written by the poet Joseph Autran.

In 1844, Liszt met Autran and composed the first chorus in Marseilles. The rest of the choruses
were composed later and may not have been staged in his lifetime. In 1848, August Conradi,
Liszt’s collaborator, orchestrated the accompaniments; In a letter, Liszt wrote to Autran informing
the poet of his intention of attaching the set with ‘a rather long overture.’ In 1850, a Liszt overture
titled The Four Elements was orchestrated by Joachim Raff, however, Liszt had grown dissatisfied
with the texts, considered the feebleness of Autran’s poetry, and decided against their publication
or performance.

Liszt reworked as he was not totally satisfied with the overture and needed to associate his music
with a literary work so that he could reorganize them in a convincing way. Liszt desired for a new
literary source but after failing to interest Victor Hugo in offering him a text, he decided to turn to
his friend Lamartine. By 1851, Liszt was pertaining to a Meditation Symphony, based on
Lamartine, which was presumably Les Préludes.

Comparison between Lamartine and Liszt’s Les Préludes

Lamartine’s poem is divided into four major sections and it deals with love, destiny, war, and the
countryside respectively. The sections are separated by three transitions. An introduction is
found and a conclusion which eventually recalls the introduction.

The form of Liszt’s composition is based from that of the poem. It has four main sections each
manifesting different moods. Most sections start with a new transformation of the opening melody
and are separated by transitions. The entire work is preceded by an introduction and finishes with
a coda that calls back the introduction.

Analysis

Les Préludes’ structure is in free form and it begins with a slow introduction presenting the
principal theme. Much of the music grows from the transformation of this original melody. The
introduction develops and acquires a bold and majestic character, before it heads to a smooth
flowing passage (love section). The first section, love, is resembled by a sweet and melancholic
treatment of the main theme played by the violin and cello. Liszt expressed a soft lyricism and
“dolce” is heard repeatedly. The second section – harsh destiny, is depicted by a stormy allegro,
same as that of the poem. As it epitomizes the tempests of life, its mood grows dark and becomes
increasingly agitated. When the storm is banished, a beautiful rural melody is heard. The third
section, pastoral countryside, is represented by the harp and horns, and marks the appearance of a
new melodic idea. The tranquil music represents solace and comfort in nature. The trumpet call
leads to the fourth section, war, which is signified by a march. The coda recalls the introduction
and is brilliant and heroic. It portrays triumph and signifies the poet’s farewell salute.

The poem had references to instruments such as the lyre, harp, and lute; he highlighted the harp in
various passages and included the trumpet call which was inspired from a line in the poem. The
three-note motive heard at the beginning of the piece was used by Liszt in his other works as well
as Cesar Franck, who used it later in his Symphony in D Minor.

Thematic transformation

Liszt established a technique called “thematic transformation” or “transformation of themes.”

Composer Humphrey Searle provides a description of this process:

A basic theme recurs throughout a work, but it undergoes constant transformations

and disguises, and is made to appear in several contrasting roles; it may be in
augmentation or diminution, or in a different rhythm, or even with different
harmonies; but it will always serve the structural purpose of unity within variety. The
technique was of supreme importance to Liszt, interested as he was in the ‘cyclic’
forms and the problem of rolling together several movements into one.

In Liszt’s compositions such as the symphonic poems and other orchestral works, contrasting
moods are often unified by means of thematic transformation. Les Préludes is deemed to be a good
example of this technique.

Program

A reason why Liszt’s work has been mistakenly perceived by researchers of being
unconnected to Lamartine’s poem is because of the short program note which was loosely
connected to the poem and was written together with its publication five years later. The 375-line
ode was too long to be printed in the score. As the music was unfamiliar, the listener needed some
kind of preparation. The program thus serves as a guide, conveys the poetic atmosphere, and
provides an explanation for the title.
 “What is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown song, the first solemn note of
which is sounded by Death? The enchanted dawn of every existence is heralded by Love,
yet in whose destiny are not the first throbs of happiness interpreted by storms whose
violent blasts dissipate his fond illusions, consuming his altar with fatal fire? And where
is to be found the cruelly bruised soul, that having become the sport of one of the tempests
does not seek oblivion in the sweet quiet of rural life? Nevertheless, man seldom resigns
himself to the beneficent calm which at first chained him to Nature’s bosom. No sooner
does the trumpet sound the alarm than he runs to the post of danger, be the war what it
may that summons him to its ranks. For there he will find again in the struggle complete
self-realization and the full possession of his forces.”

References
Johns, K. T. (1986). A structural analysis of the relationship between programme, harmony, and form in
the symphonic poems of Franz Liszt. Research Online, 69-90.

Kamien, R. (2008). Music: An Aprreciation. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kramer, J. D. (1988). Listen to the Music A Self-Guided Tour Through the Orchestral Repertoire. New
York: Schirmer Books.

Main, A. (1979, April). Liszt after Lamartine: 'Les Preludes'. Music & Letters, 60(2), 133-148. Retrieved
from https://www.jstor.org/stable/734752

Predota, G. (2019, February 23). Liszt: Les Preludes Premiered Today in 1854. Retrieved from Interlude:
http://www.interlude.hk/front/liszt-les-preludes-premiered-today-1854/

Rodda, R. E. (n.d.). Les Preludes: About the Work. Retrieved from The Kennedy Center:
http://www.kennedy-center.org/artist/composition/3924

Schrammek, B. (n.d.). Franz List Still An Unrecognized Genius? Retrieved from Treasures of Broadcast
Great moments of opera and concert in Leipzig and Dresden: http://rundfunkschaetze.de

Stein, L. (1979). Structure & Style The Study and Analysis of Musical Forms. New Jersey: Summy-Birchard
Music.

Walker, A. (1970). Franz Liszt: The Man and His Music. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company.