Franz Liszt

1811 - 1886

Liszt was born in a village near

Sopron, Hungary,

(now Raiding, Austria).

Antonio Salieri taught him the

technique of composition and

fostered the young Liszt's

musical taste.

Were the seeds of Heavy Metal

planted by Franz Liszt?

That question may sound a bit

far-fetched, but one should listen

closely to some of Liszt's

pioneering compositions-- filled

with brutal moans & groans.

Liszt brought to music unprecedented

emotional and psychological impact

that previously never existed, paving the

way for Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Puccini and

many others that followed. Though

Beethoven previously touched upon a

heavier style with the Coriolan Overture, or

Mozart with Don Giovanni, they never

delved as deep into the brutal dark side of

mankind, nor into the darkest and most

demonic realms of evil as did Liszt.

Franz Liszt was a diehard Catholic.

Moreover, one look at how he

conducted his life, giving free

lessons, free concerts as

fundraisers, helping aspiring artists,

and writing celestial oratorios and

masses, we instantly and quite

assuredly know that Franz Liszt

was an angel not Mephistopheles.

Henceforth, Liszt was certainly not a devil

worshipper, as some foolishly suspected, as he

simply revealed all facets of the human

experience. His era was one of great instability,

revolutions, war and death. To turn a deaf ear,

and close one's eyes, to this aspect of life is, after

all, pure ignorance. That a novelist can write

about the evil side of mankind, like Shakespeare

did in "Hamlet", Goethe did in "Faust" or Dante

did in his "Divine Comedy", Liszt felt the same

freedom as a composer.

http://www.d-vista.com/OTHER/franzliszt.html

Liszt composed Hamlet in the 1850's

well over a hundred years before Led

Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, or Jimi

Hendrix.

Liszt's Hamlet: Liszt's symphonic poem

ingeniously portrays the various psychological

mood swings that plague Hamlet throughout

Shakespeare's intense play.

Liszt's Dante Symphony,

Totentanz, Prometheus and

many others also contain

advanced sound scapes that

make Liszt look like a modern

time traveler stuck in an ancient

civilization.

http://www.music-scores.com/liszt/composer.php