From Poetry to Piano:
Liszt’s Innovative Style in Liebesträume, no. 3
By Ellen S. Christensen
“The inner and poetic sense of things, that ideality which exists in everything, seems to manifest itself pre-eminently in those artistic creations that arouse feelings and ideas within the soul by the beauty of their form.”
– Franz Liszt
The Romantic era in music brought forth a newfound desire to compose and perform music that enticed the emotions of listeners. Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt played virtuously in a way that was previously unimaginable. The energetic arpeggiations and dynamic expression with which he played became monumental in piano performance. Liszt brought back the importance of performing for an enraptured audience rather than a distracted salon. In modernizing the approach to piano performance and composition, Liszt made new developments in the imaginative realization of the emotional content of lieder poetic texts, which became a stylistic trademark of the Romantic era. Upon careful research, one discovers that the structures of Liszt’s compositions were not based on the poetry alone, but rather its form is created to deliver the emotion of the poetry. Liszt’s musical structure in his piano nocturne, Liebesträume, no. 3 in A-flat Major, no longer followed the old Classical form, but was driven by the emotions of the German lieder. This new style is indicative of the advancement towards twentieth century compositions.
Franz Liszt is regarded as one of the most virtuosic pianists and innovative composers of the nineteenth century. But how does one separate the virtuosic from the talented? The virtuoso was one who sets themselves apart from those who came before. The musical virtuoso would thwart the expectations of the audience, and present a performance unlike any other. Music historian, Dana Gooley defines virtuosity as, “shifting borders. The musician, the athlete, and the magician are potentially virtuosos as soon as they cross a limit – the limit of what seems possible, or what the spectator can imagine”[1] Many thought that Liszt had the revolutionary ability to perform evocative concerts in both large and small halls. He varied his concerts from audience to audience depending on the location and size of the venue.[2] Not many of his predecessors had thought so deeply to perform with such intent. Where once, it was normal for audience members to carry on conversations during a performance, now audiences sat on the edges of their seats with rapt attention.
It is important to note, that Liszt’s personal life affected these performances and his compositions. His relationship with the mother of his three children, Marie d’Agoult, was something of great anguish to him. He tried, for years, to strengthen their relationship, but his months of travel and performances kept him from fully committing himself to her. In 1844, three years prior to his move to Weimar, he broke off his relationship with Madame d’Agoult. Now, Liszt could focus on his growing career and his future in Weimar, where he would no longer have the duties and pressures of virtuoso. In Weimar, Liszt would be able to compose at his own leisure and take complete control of his musical life.[3] During Liszt’s final concert series in Kiev, he made the acquaintance of Princess Carolyne of Sayn-Wittgenstein, and soon they fell in love and began planning their future together at Weimar.
During his years in Weimar, Liszt published some of his most reputable works, including his twelve symphonic poems and the Hungarian Rhapsodies. He was finally able to write music, not merely for an audience, but music that reflected his life and emotions. In the fall of 1849, the renowned Frédéric Chopin died prematurely at the age of thirty-nine, which was a great loss for Franz Liszt, who admired Chopin as both a close friend and a source of inspiration for his compositions. Following Chopin’s death, Liszt composed many piano works that reflected the works of Chopin, in both style and titles. The works that are the most reminiscent of Chopin’s work are Liszt’s Études, Ballades, and Liebesträume.[4] These pieces are described as being rich with emotional drama portraying narratives, with and without words. When Liszt wrote Liebesträume, no. 3, in 1850 he was fully committed to his serious romance with the Princess Carolyne, while still grieving the loss of his colleague, Chopin. These two very opposite emotions of love and death are prominent themes in the Liebesträume. As discovered through his nocturnes, Liszt’s works can be interpreted as profoundly autobiographical, in the sense that they conveyed his emotions through poetry.
Some of Liszt’s music was very personal, but he intended for his work to be universal, which is to say that he wrote music to be consumed and enjoyed by the people. Music historians labeled Liszt’s music as “program” music, which was the music of the “radical” Romantic Movement. The “radical” romantic composers, including Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, wrote music to convey specific stories, poems, or political beliefs.[5] Liszt’s piano nocturnes, Liebesträume (German for Dreams of Love) published while he lived in Weimar in 1850, are great examples of program music. The text of Liebesträume, no. 3, “O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst” by poet Ferdinand Freiligrath, talks of a mature love and the death of the significant other. The opening refrain, which returns throughout the poem, is indicative of the expressivity of his piano nocturne:
O love, love as long as you can!
O love, love as long as you will!
The time will come, the time will come,
When you will stand grieving at the grave.[6]
The hopefulness in the first two lines represent a mature love, but in the last two lines of the refrain, it’s obvious the promise of this love has dissipated with the death of the loved one. Through large arpeggiations in the opening phrases of Liszt’s Liebesträume, the poet’s anguish is audible. The poetry, which served as the basis for Liszt’s Liebesträume, is comprised of a refrain and the first three stanzas of Freiligrath’s poem, and then the repetition of the refrain. The emotion in the poetry is what shaped the form of Liszt’s piano nocturne. The form is as follows:
mm. 1-6
mm. 7-12
mm. 13-24
mm. 25
mm. 26-31
mm. 32-37
mm. 38-49
A
(PAC)
A
(PAC)
B
modal mixture
CADENZA
(B Major)
A’
(IAC)
A’’
HC in C Major
B’
modal mix. into A-flat Major
mm. 50-58
mm. 59-60
mm. 61-66
mm. 67-76
mm. 77-85
Retransition into A
CADENZA
A
(PAC)
A
(PAC)
CODA
The refrain, A, repeats twice in mm. 1-12, the simple melody, is accompanied by grand arpeggiations and harmonic progressions. The A theme returns after the first cadenza, but in a different key, B major. B major does not function within the key of A-flat major, which is representative of the juxtaposing feelings of love and death. Within the return of A, the key changes to C major, and then back to A-flat major again in B’. This severe shift in key signatures is representative of the emotional turmoil the poet finds himself in after the death of his love. The cadenzas in m. 25 and mm. 59-60 represent liebesträume, which is German for “dreams of love.” The first cadenza represents the poet’s ascension into a dream-like state, where he can be with his love once more. Liszt does this through the ascending notes that reach beyond the staff. The second cadenza in mm. 59-60, with its descending motion back onto the staff, represents the “coming-out” of the dream. The poet succumbs to reality in measure 61 with the return of A, and realizes he can only be with his love in his dreams. The poet lost his love and warns others that love is fragile but worth the risk. In the end, the poet is faced with the reality of death, and he sorrowfully urges one last time “O love, love as long as you can!” Liszt’s ability to convey stories through music alone, without words, became the trademark of his success as a composer of the Romantic era. This left a lasting impression on the music world, as composers left behind the early conventions of classical form, opening the doors for more freedom in composing innovative music.
Liszt wrote music that spoke not only to his own emotions, but also to the emotions of others. His music was graspable to listeners, yet complex enough to leave audiences awestruck. “Music was for him a mediator among all the forms of artistic expression, translating them all into the universal language of feeling.”[7] Liszt’s compositions didn’t follow the typical conventions of the phrase model or any specific form. Unlike his classical predecessors, Liszt’s music took its shape in order to convey feelings. Liszt helped pave the way for Franz Brendel’s term Neudeutsche Schule, or New German School. Liszt was determined to write meaningful music, and that meant abandoning the old classical forms, which displeased many classicists. Liebesträume is the epitome of this abandonment of old musical practices.
After Liszt’s years in Weimar, he and Carolyne moved to Rome. The Pope would not grant the Princess her divorce, so their plans to marry were not made possible. Nonetheless, Liszt’s desire to share music and art with an audience prevailed. He sought to give art to the world in order to make others feel. Liszt wrote thirteen years prior to his death: “If possible, let them take me to my last home in the evening; two or three men paid for this will be enough to carry me. I do not wish to trouble others to follow me to the cemetery, when I can no longer serve them in any way.”[8] Liszt was first and foremost a performer. He made it his life’s mission to give to others through his music. Even as he aged and fell ill, he continued to create music. Interestingly, the last word Liszt uttered before dying was “Tristan.” Tristan, of Wagner’s Tristan