Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo (Liszt)

Franz Liszt composed his Tasso, Lamento e trionfo (Tasso, Lament and Triumph) in 1849, revising it in 1850-51 and again in 1854. It is numbered No. 2 in his cycle of 12 symphonic poems written during his Weimar period. [Searle, 287.]

Overview

Composition

Liszt's first sketch for this work is dated August 1, 1849Searle, 287.] . He had heard the principal theme for "Tasso" in Venice, Italy several years earlier, however, using it in the 1840 version of his piano piece "Chant do Goldolier" in "Venezia e Napoli". [Shulstad, 207-8.] Liszt completed the 1849 verion of "Tasso" as an overture in two sections, giving it to August Conradi to orchestrate. This version was performed in Weimar, Germany on the centennary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's birth as an overture to his drama "Torquato Tasso". Liszt later corrected Conradi's score and had Joachim Raff produce a new score in 1850-51. Liszt then revised this score extensively, adding a central section. This version was performed on April 19, 1854 in Weimar, conducted by Liszt.Searle, 287.]

Program

Goethe's portrayal of Tasso focuses primarily with his position as court poet of the d'Esty family in Ferrara within the political intrigues of court life. Liszt, however, was more drawn to the poet's inner conflicts and the seven years he spent in St. Anna's Hospital, an insane asylum. It was actually the suffering and eventually triumphant Tasso that inspired Liszt's imagination. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=42:35226~T1 allmusic.com] ] In his preface to "Tasso", Liszt refers not only to Goethe but also to Lord Byron's poem on Tasso, even admitting to being influenced by the latter.Searle, 287.] He adds:

Tasso loved and suffered at Ferrara, he was avenged at Rome, and even today lives in the popular songs of Venice. These three moments are inseprable from his immortal fame. To reproduce them in music, we first conjured up the great shade as he wanders through the lagoons of Venice even today; then his countenance appeared to us, lofty and melancholy, as he gazes at the festivities at Ferrara, where he created his masterworks ; and finally we followed him to Rome, the Eternal City, which crowned him with fame and thus pays him tribute both as martyr and as poet. [Quoted in Searle, 287.]

tructure

The 1849 version following a conventional overture layout, divided into a slow section ("Lament") and a fast one ("Triumph"). Even with this division, the entire work was actually a set of variations on a single melody—a folk hymn sung to Liszt by a gondolier in Venice in the late 1830s. Among the most significant revisions Liszt made was the addition of a middle section in the vein of a minuet. Calmer than either of the outer sections, it was intended to depict Tasso's more stable years in the employment of the d'Esty family in Ferrara. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=42:35226~T1 allmusic.com] ] In a margin note Liszt informs the conductor that the orchestra "assumnes a dual role" in this section, with strings playing one self-contained piece while woodwinds play another. This was very much in the manner of Italian composer Pietro Raimondi, whose contrapuntal mastery was such that he had written three oratorios—titled "Joseph", "Potiphar" and "Jacob"—which could be performed either invidually or combined. Liszt made a study of Raimondi's work but the Italian composer died before Liszt could meet him personally. [Walker, 317, 319.]

Tonality

The Romantics considered alienation, particularly self- and social alienation, as a prominent characteristic of artistic genius. Both these forms of alienation are present in Byron's poem and according to some critics may have influenced Liszt's tonal and formal plan of "Tasso", as well. The secondary theme is in E major, a relatively distant major key of a raised third in a minor-key piece. He would use this same raised-third relationship, possibly with a similar intent effectively, in both "Prometheus" and the "Faust" symphony. Tonal expectations continue to be undermined with the central minuet, written in F major and tonally distant from the work's tonic, adding to a sense of disassociation. [Shulstad, 208.]

Bibliography

* ed. Hamilton, Kenneth, "The Cambridge Companion to Liszt" (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). ISBN 0-521-64462-3 (paperback).
** Shulstad, Reeves, "Liszt's symphonic poems and symphonies"
* ed. Walker, Alan, "Franz Liszt: The man and His Music" (New York: Taplinger Publkishing Company, 1970). SBN 8008-2990-5
** Searle, Humphrey, "The Orchestral Works"
* Walker, Alan, "Franz Liszt, Volume 2: The Weimar Years, 1848-1861" (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1989). ISBN 0-394-52540-X

References

External links

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