One of the most prolific composers of the 19th century, though not really remembered for his choral or orchestral music, was Franz Liszt. His reputation was based very much on his virtuosic wizardry, which mightily impressed the ladies whose company he liked to keep in his earlier years. He brought a lot of other composers’ music to his audiences through his many transcriptions of their works, including Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique and Beethoven’s Symphonies. The music he wrote and played in public was substantially virtuosic, and many pieces, especially his Transcendental Studies, had this aspect as their main attraction - display pieces designed to impress. Other works are published in groups including Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Travel) of which there were three collections, two in countries – Switzerland, Italy and then the 3rd Year. These incorporate a variety of styles. The 3rd year is remarkable as it contains some of Liszt’s late music which is at times harmonically closer to the music of the first decade of the 20th century, almost losing sense of key altogether, and more introspective than virtuosic. A divide was noticeable between the traditionalists (Brahms & co.) and the modernists (Wagner and Liszt) in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Wagner was much admired by Liszt and, as I’ve referred to before, one can hear the advancement of chromaticism away from the classical sense. This eventually led to the breakdown of tonality altogether in the ‘12-note’ music of Schönberg…sequences of melody using all 12 notes of the chromatic scale without being concerned about the discordant outcome. Liszt also developed new structural ideas through his ‘thematic metamorphosis’ (I will use the word ‘transformation’), whereby he would set out themes or small musical ideas and develop them by changing their nature within a single movement. His 2nd piano concerto is an example of this, and he adopted it also in some of his one-movement orchestral works. Towering above all of this is the work I want to concentrate on this week:

Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor. A very great work, and that’s an order! I suggest you sit back and listen to it and don’t think too much. There is a fine performance played by on Krystian Zimerman on YouTube with a score to follow….if you can! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeKMMDxrsBE It is about 30 minutes long and quite indigestible to begin with, so better to read my comments after listening in the hope that they might connect with what you hear. It is in one continuous movement and is really more a sonata movement, but in the middle it has its slow section which also serves as an entire slow movement. He dedicated it to Schumann, though Schumann was unable to appreciate it as his mental health had deteriorated by that time. Schumann’s wife, solo pianist and composer Clara, hated it and had some difficulty having to thank Liszt. It is technically very difficult and seemingly bewildering, but behind all the chromaticism and virtuosity lies something of a Classical Sonata structure through its organisation of keys. I am going to explain Classical Sonata structure here (Mozart, Haydn etc.) in the most simplistic way, briefly, just as a guide. Of course, composers put their own stamp on it. Very basic Sonata Form (It evolved from very simple beginnings, not from outer space). Section 1 Exposition: 2 parts known as ‘subjects’ but better thought of as ‘groups’ as there is often more than one melody within a group. 1st subject (group) in the main key of the piece. 2nd subject (group) follows with a change to a ‘related’ key (e.g. C to ‘Dominant’ G or relative minor A minor…same key signature). The most inventive composers dipped in and out of other keys as well along the way, but these are bare bones. Section 2 (optional but usual) Development. Using ideas more freely from the Exposition, and occasionally introducing something new. Section 3 Recapitulation. Repeat of the Exposition but adjusted so that the 2nd Group stays in the tonic key and ended therefore in the key in which it started. (I mentioned in an earlier blog that key structure was the basis of all classical composition). There were other bits added such as ‘codas’ (finishing off sections), slow introductions etc., but the basic scaffolding of first movements was more or less as I have written above. Bewildering as it may seem when you listen to it, but Liszt’s Sonata followed this structure, though loosely and with considerable and extended freedom and wandering inside the sections. Not all academics agree about where the Development and Recapitualtion sections end or begin, but it’s not really the point and it doesn’t matter. You don’t need to notice or even listen out for it – I am just saying the structure is there in a very extended way, and that, for what it’s worth, my rough view is that this below here is Liszt’s basic scaffolding around his structure: Exposition: 1st ‘subject’ (group) of 3 thematic ideas B minor (well, it doesn’t actually start in B minor but it very soon gets there!). 2nd group in D major (‘relative’ major) 3’43” on the video. Development: Essentially the slow movement with some new significant thematic material, all combined with earlier writing, and subject to transformation. Recapitulation: Not everyone agrees where this ‘starts’, but , as I see it, it actually starts (18’49” on video) with the opening descending scales, and then quickly slips into a B flat minor fugue before eventually finding its way back to B minor*. 2nd group changed to B major (22’59”… was D major in Exposition). The whole work ends with a similar minor-ish scale with which it all began, and then chords of B major. *In Classical terms B flat minor is quite a long way away from B minor, but Liszt would not be too concerned about that. Any pop singer would find them very closely related as an awful lot of pop music slides up a semitone at some point, and a lot more crudely than Liszt!) Even the most wayward of composers has to be aware of structure and not just wandering off, no matter how much they discard tradition. Within this loose, but not disorganised, structure Liszt uses his method of thematic transformation. After the introductory descending scales which are developed extensively later in various places and ways, two rather abrupt thematic ideas are laid out at the beginning and then also altered, developed and combined as if all were in battle with each other. Both of these rather ugly figures, but more the second of them (bar 14) in the left hand, are later transformed into something of great beauty, and in the slow section this second one is marked ‘dolcissimo con intimo sentimento’ (13’18” on video). You will notice this if you listen a couple of times – it has touching and expressive harmony. The 2nd subject (group) with its more grandiose theme comes later in D major, and near the very end forms the grand climax of the whole work (in B major). It all takes a bit of getting used to! A short diversion. Liszt and Chopin were close friends for a period, though Chopin eventually moved away, regarding Liszt’s excesses as vulgar. More about Chopin in a future blog but listen to his Nocturne in E flat Op.9 No.2, close your eyes and imagine you were listening to a soprano aria in Verdi’s La Traviata. Chopin was influenced by Italian opera aria – Rossini, Bellini etc. (earlier than Verdi), not just the melody but also the um-cha-cha left hand accompaniments. Chopin also wrote clusters of notes as decoration which evolved from the cadenzas which coloratura soloists sang in Italian opera. Liszt used such coloratura clusters in his music in a similar way and you can hear them in the more reflective moments of his Sonata. However, most of the time it is fast-moving, harmonically complex, chromatic and virtuosic, but not virtuosic for display purposes as in much of his other music….it’s just very difficult! I repeat that more than anything else I have written in previous blogs, I would advise you simply to listen to it, enjoy it and use any bits of what I have said as background. I had to teach it (I could never remotely play it) as an A-level set work some decades ago, and it took me a good while to get my brain round it. Maddeningly I have lost my teaching notes– but they would probably be embarrassing anyway. I am not sure that I have done it justice here, but it seems to me to stand out as one of the most inspired works in the history of piano composition, a towering masterpiece, and the pinnacle of Liszt’s piano music. It extended the concept of the Sonata as developed through Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, and looks forward harmonically. It had a profound effect on Wagner’s writing. I have just listened through it again to check my thoughts above. If one can become emotional witnessing some outstanding sporting achievement, then I’m quite sure you can feel the same about this extraordinary work. Astonishing and brilliant in every way - I’d forgotten how much. Thought for the Week Last week there was a bit of fun with the Royal Choral Society’s home-grown Hallelujah Chorus on YouTube, set up by the Royal Albert Hall ‘Royal Albert Home’ project on their website. It was a welcome diversion, but here in England and abroad we continue to think and concentrate on those in all our choirs and beyond working on the ‘front line’, and those who have been unwell or maybe lost loved ones. Also those who are confined and unable to get access to outdoor space. Next week: Mozart. Did I hear a sigh of relief? Richard