plainchant melodies in the workshop of franz liszt
TRANSCRIPT
2. PRESENTATION June 12, 2020
PLAINCHANT MELODIES
IN THE WORKSHOP OF
FRANZ LISZT
Ágnes Watzatka
Franz Karl Prassl
Klaus Aringer
Michael Heinemann
WORK AND RESULTS
1. Research work in Weimar
(July 2019)
a) Liszt’s books about church music
plainchant, liturgy;
b) Liszt’s sketchbooks: original musical
manuscripts and notes;
c) Liszt’s unpublished correspondence.
2. Interimal Evaluation Exam in
November 2019.
WORK AND RESULTS
3. Conferences
a) Halle (2 August 2019)
J. F. Kloss und sein Manual
für Kirchenmusik
b) Szeged (10 October 2019)
The Hymn Pange lingua and
Liszt’s Interpretation of Lenau’s Night Procession
c) Budapest (11 October 2019)
A Patriotic Mass? Franz Liszt’s
Hungarian Coronation Mass
PLANS
1. Conference
CANTUS PLANUS
in Telč, Czech Republic
planned 15 – 19 July 2020
postponed to 2021
2. Conference of the Hungarian
Musicological Society in Budapest
9 – 10 October
Dumont’s and Liszt’s Credo
PLAINCHANT MELODIES IN THE
WORKSHOP OF FRANZ LISZT
• Part I. Plainchant sources and practice in the 19th century.
• Part II. Plainchant in different works of Liszt ̶
piano works, orchestral works, vocal music.
• Part III. Conclusions. Liszt’s methods of integrating plainchant; the role of plainchant in the output of Liszt.
II. PLAINCHANT IN DIFFERENT
WORKS OF LISZT
1. FAUX-BOURDONS
IN LISZT’S PIANO MUSIC
1.1. De profundis –
psaume instrumental
(1834 – 1835)
DE PROFUNDIS − PSAUME INTSRUMENTAL
De profundis: Psalm 130/129; penitential psalm,
in France sung at the end of the masses celebrated for the dead.
The Instumental Psalm: an incomplete piano concerto, composed in 1834−1835.
Finished, published and recorded in 1990 by three different authors. We use the score of Jay Rosenblatt.
THE FAUX-BOURDON DE PROFUNDIS
Novel eucologue en musique
(1851)
compiled by
Abbé Charles Roquefeuil
and Félix Clément
PLAN OF THE WORK (1)
1. EXPOSITION
Theme 1a–b 1–129 d Theme 2 130–161 d
Psalm 162–187 F Psalm Psalm 188–230 f# Minore
2. EXPOSITION
Theme 1a–b 231–271 f#
Psalm 272–280 F# (Lines 1–2)
Theme 1a/Psalm 281–304 F# Fragments
Theme 2/1a–b 304–383 F#
Cadenza Psalm 384–404 Ab Andante
Psalm 405–425 Ab Polonaise Theme 1a–b 426–457 Ab
Coda Psalm 458–508 Ab Polonaise
PLAN OF THE WORK (2)
DEVELOPMENT Theme a. 509–556 C#
(Scherzo) Theme b. 557–585 A
Theme a. 586–627 c#
Theme b. 628–647 bb
Theme a. 648–672 C#
Theme b. 673–705 Db
Transition 706–746 ~
RECAPITULATION Theme 1. 747–757 d Theme 2. 758–789 d
Psalm 790–799 d Fragment
Transition 800–821 d
Coda Psalm 822–900 D March
1.) Psalmody with
the full orchestra
Irregular metric division
– imitating the vocal
psalmody
2.) Psalmody on the piano.
Minore
3.) Psalmody turns to regular
metric units: Andante
4.) Modified harmonies: Polonaise
5.) Extreme
opposition
to the Psalm
intonation:
March
MUSICAL PROGRAMME
LISZT ABOUT THE MUSICAL PROGRAMME:
(Lettre d’un Bachelier ès musique…, 1837)
1.) The work of certain artists is
the reflection of their thoughts and feelings,
moreover, their life itself.
2.) The artist may or has to point to the
CONTENT of his music.
CORRESPONDENCE
Liszt’s letter to the Abbé Félicité de Lamennais,
14 January 1835 :
I shall have the honour of sending you a little
work, to which I have had the audacity to tack a great
name – yours. – It is an instrumental De Profundis.
The plain-song that you like so much is preserved in it
with the Fauxbourdon. Perhaps this may give you a
little pleasure; at any rate, I have done it in
remembrance of some hours passed (I should say
lived) at La Chênaye.
Félicité de Lamennais (1782 – 1854)
Catholic priest and
political theorist,
forerunner of liberal
and social Catholicism.
He stood for
a Catholic Church
independent from
secular power and
supporting the poor.
A new revelation for Liszt:
„Words of a Believer” (1834)
… your latest pages
have transported me,
overpowered me, torn
me to pieces with
sadness and hope! ...
My God, they are
sublime!... Sublime,
prophetic, divine!...
What genius, what
generosity of heart!
The teaching of Lamennais
(Words of a Believer)
VII
God has made neither small nor great, neither masters nor slaves, neither kings nor subjects; he has made all men equal.
XXXVI
Young soldier, whither goest thou?
I go to combat for God…, I go to combat for justice...
I go to ... deliver my brethren form oppression, to break their chains...
I go to combat that all may have in heaven a God, and on earth a country.
May thy arms be blessed ... young soldier!
La Chênaye:
home of Lamennais
in Brittany (Bretagne)
Liszt as a disciple:
enjoyed silence and nature
attended daily teachings with other disciples
went on private walks with the Abbé
played the piano and composed in the salon
Levels of significance
1. The Christian faith of father Lamennais:
reverence to God – fight for social justice
2. The change in Liszt’s faith:
traditional faith – the new faith of Lamennais
Why the Psalm of the dead? Biography?
BIOGRAPHY
Adam Liszt,
father of Franz Liszt:
16 December 1776 –
28 August 1827
Liszt went to La Chênaye
on the 15th of September, 1834
Levels of significance (2)
1. The Christian faith of father Lamennais:
reverence to God – fight for social justice
2. The change in Liszt’s faith:
traditional faith – the new faith of Lamennais
3. Adam Liszt – childhood, childly faith
Félicité de Lamennais – adulthood, new faith
The Instrumental Psalm:
the reflection of Liszt’s thoughts and feelings,
moreover, his life itself.
Thank you
for your
attention!