Undoubtedly, Totentanz has been one of the most famous works by Franz Liszt. Totentanz has been recorded by many pianists and addressed in much of the vast literature about Liszt and his works; however, little research has been focused on this work. Most studies of Totentanz address only the historical background of the piece in relation to the theme based on Dies irae. Currently, there are no specific studies about the solo piano or two piano versions and only one recording was located. Liszt's own piano solo transcription of this famous work is an excellent addition to the concert repertoire. Totentanz consists of six variations that include canonic and fugato sections. The main theme is based on the Gregorian chant Dies irae, a melody that has been used by many other composers, most notably Berlioz in Witches Sabbath of Symphonie fantastique, op. 14 and Rachmaninoff in Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. This study contains five chapters. Chapters I and II provide background information, historical background and influences of Totentanz. Chapter III presents an outline of Liszt's achievement as a transcriber. Liszt revised his own works numerous times from the 1840s and 1850s, including Transcendental Etudes, Paganini Etudes, and piano and orchestra works. Like in the case of Totentanz, transcribed form piano and orchestra into piano solo, Liszt transcribed and paraphrased hundreds of other composers' works as well. Chapter IV discusses and compares the two main versions for solo piano and piano and orchestra. Form and harmonic language in particular the use of tritone in Totentanz is discussed. The adjustment required in transcribing the work for piano solo is discussed in detail, followed by a conclusion.

An understanding of the piano transcription is basic to any proper comprehension of nineteenth-century piano music and performance practice. In this study, the transcription for solo piano is examined in relation to several musical milestones in the mid-nineteenth century, including far-reaching technical developments in the piano, the beginning and growth of the public concert, the birth of the solo piano recital, and the influence of virtuosity as a Romantic ideal. In addition, as Liszt was undoubtedly the greatest transcriber of the nineteenth century, several representative transcriptions of Liszt are analyzed and compared to their original models, including Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade and Auf dem Wasser zu singen, Chopin's Moja pieszczotka ("My Joys"), Wagner's Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, and the quartet from the final act of Verdi's Rigoletto.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 8 août 2023) / Pour de nombreux musiciens, la musique composée par Franz Liszt est absolument fascinante. Pour réaliser une bonne interprétation des œuvres de Liszt, il faut, une excellente technique et des connaissances sur sa vie. Il existe d'innombrables textes écrits sur ce compositeur qui a vécu tout près de 75 ans. D'ailleurs, Liszt a eu une grande influence auprès des musiciens du 19ᵉ siècle. Il y a très peu de thèses ou d'écrits qui vont se concentrer sur tout le cycle Années de Pèlerinage. La composition de ce répertoire de 23 pièces s'échelonne sur tout près de 40 ans de la vie de cet illustre musicien. Cette recherche s'attarde sur les éléments qui ont influencé le compositeur pour écrire chacune des pièces de ce répertoire. Après une brève biographie, le premier chapitre présente ce que Liszt a mis en musique lors de son périple en Suisse. Le second chapitre parle de l'influence des textes religieux. Le troisième chapitre rend compte des influences des tableaux et des sculptures vus surtout en Italie. Le quatrième chapitre, le plus volumineux, démontre l'importance des textes poétiques et philosophiques sur les compositions du pianiste. Le dernier chapitre parle des influences des thèmes folkloriques. En conclusion, cette thèse peut servir de guide pour les interprètes qui désirent jouer ce répertoire. / An enlightened performance of the music of Franz Liszt requires knowledge about his life and his works. There are countless texts written about this composer who lived almost 75 years. There are very few will talk about the entire Années de Pèlerinage cycle. This corpus of 23 pieces spans almost 40 years of the life of this illustrious pianist. This research focuses on the elements that influenced the composer to write each of the pieces in this collection. After a brief biography, the first chapter presents what Liszt set to music during his trip in Switzerland. He said he wanted to express his strongest feelings through music. The second chapter deals with the influence of religious texts. The third chapter gives an account of the influences of the paintings and sculptures seen especially in Italy. The fourth chapter, the most voluminous, displays the importance of the poetic and philosophical texts on the compositions of the pianist. The last chapter talks about the influences of folk themes. Finally, and as a conclusion, the reader will find a guide for the performers who wish to play this repertoire.

This dissertation is a study of Liszt's formative years in Paris, with a particular focus on three of his mentors: the priest Félicité Lamennais, the poet-statesman Alphonse de Lamartine, and the musician and mystic Chrétien Urhan. Of all the important figures Liszt encountered during this period, Lamennais, Lamartine and Urhan stand apart in their pursuit of a prophetic mission, whether in religion, politics, art, or a combination thereof. I contend that their influence--more than any other--shaped Liszt's fundamental identity as a liberal Catholic artist, dedicated to social and artistic progress driven by faith. I begin with an introductory chapter on important developments in Paris before and during Liszt's time in the city. The instability of the French Revolution resulted in a dynamic society in which new political, religious, and artistic movements could form and interact. Republican values continued to seek a foothold in the oppressive climates of the Restoration and July monarchies. Similarly, the Church--reinstated by Napoleon but still greatly diminished in power--struggled for relevance in an increasingly indifferent society, leading many Catholics to embrace liberal causes. Finally, the emergence of a new generation of Romantic artists dedicated to leading society forward emerged as an unexpected legacy of the Enlightenment. Each of the three central chapters of this dissertation focuses on one of the figures listed above, and on their impact on Liszt's life and music. Lamennais' radical political and religious message encouraged Liszt to express similar views in word and in music. Lamartine's innovative religious poetry prompted Liszt to seek an equivalent in music. Finally, Urhan's seamless merging of sacred and secular music inspired Liszt to adopt a similar approach in his own compositions. In the final chapter, I trace the continued impact of these figures in Liszt's life and work. Ultimately, I argue that the groundwork for Liszt's most celebrated artistic innovations had already been laid in the early 1830s, and that many of his later works are only comprehensible within the framework of the political, religious, and artistic education he received in his youth.

Franz Liszt, who was the greatest virtuoso pianist in the nineteenth-century, was also a productive composer. But his tremendous technique brought the misunderstanding that his compositions were just flashy and superficial, thus creating an obstacle for appreciating his music. The purpose of this study is to encourage an understanding of the value of Liszt's music, especially his Schubert Lieder transcriptions. The study starts with an introduction, which states the revival of the art of transcription, gives the muscial background of Liszt and describes the instruments that were available to him. Then follows a discussion about his experimentation with the conventional piano techniques and how he applied them to the song transcriptions. Two transcriptions "Hark, Hark, the Lark" and "Der Lindenbaum" are analyzed in detail to show the transcriptive procedure and the relation between the poetry and the musical expression. A conclusion summarizes the study.

"Liszt's music, unlike that of Mozart, projects the man. With rare immediacy, it gives away the character of the composer. ... " (Brendel 1986, 3) The purpose of this study is to examine Liszt's song genre from an historical and stylistic standpoint as a reflection of Liszt's ongoing personality and style development. this end the following will be presented: - an overview of Liszt's life circumstances which reflect his personality development - a chronological classification ofLiszt's song genre - the songs viewed historically as a reflection of the man - characteristics in the revisions of the songs which reveal Liszt's ongoing developing style - a study of the development ofLiszt's harmonic and tonal language as agents of colour and textual imagery. Liszt's song oeuvre will be studied in relation to the man himself in order to revtal his motives, his values, the experiences that moved him, and the ways in which he reproduced them in music. / Department of Musicology / M.Mus.

This investigation sought to compare the transcription techniques of two pianist-composers, Godowsky and Liszt, using three Schubert lieder as examples. The lieder were "Das Wandern" from Die Schöne Müllerin, "Gute Nacht" from Winterreise, and "Liebesbotschaft" from Schwanengesang. They were compared using four criteria: tonality, counterpoint, timbral effects, and harmony. Liszt, following a practice common in the nineteenth century, was primarily concerned with bringing new music into the home of the domestic pianist. The piano transcription was the most widely used and successful medium for accomplishing this. Liszt also frequently transcribed pieces of a particular composer in order to promulgate them by featuring them in his recitals. The Schubert lieder fall into this category. Liszt did not drastically alter the original in these compositions. Indeed, in the cases of "Liebesbotschaft" and "Das Wandern," very little alteration beyond the incorporation of the melody into the piano accompaniment, occurs.Godowsky, in contrast, viewed the transcription as a vehicle for composing a new piece. He intended to improve upon the original by adding his own inspiration to it. Godowsky was particularly ingenious in adding counterpoint, often chromatic, to the original. Examples of Godowsky's use of counterpoint can be found in "Das Wandern" and "Gute Nacht." While Liszt strove to remain faithful to Schubert's intentions, Godowsky exercised his ingenuity at will, being only loosely concerned with the texture and atmosphere of the lieder. "Gute Nacht" and "Liebesbotschaft" are two examples that show how far afield Godowsky could stray from the original by the addition of chromatic voicing and counterpoint. Godowsky*s compositions can be viewed as perhaps the final statement on the possibilities of piano writing in the traditional sense. As such these works deserve to be investigated and performed.

"Liszt's music, unlike that of Mozart, projects the man. With rare immediacy, it gives away the character of the composer. ... " (Brendel 1986, 3) The purpose of this study is to examine Liszt's song genre from an historical and stylistic standpoint as a reflection of Liszt's ongoing personality and style development. this end the following will be presented: - an overview of Liszt's life circumstances which reflect his personality development - a chronological classification ofLiszt's song genre - the songs viewed historically as a reflection of the man - characteristics in the revisions of the songs which reveal Liszt's ongoing developing style - a study of the development ofLiszt's harmonic and tonal language as agents of colour and textual imagery. Liszt's song oeuvre will be studied in relation to the man himself in order to revtal his motives, his values, the experiences that moved him, and the ways in which he reproduced them in music. / Department of Musicology / M.Mus.

This study examines Liszt's use of the style hongrois in his Swiss book of Années de pèlerinage to reference certain sentiments he had experienced. The event that brought Liszt to Switzerland is discussed in Chapter 1 in order to establish an understanding of the personal difficulties facing Liszt during the period when the Swiss book took shape. Based on Jonathan Bellman's research of the style hongrois, Chapter 2 examines the Swiss pieces that exhibit musical gestures characteristic of this style. Bellman also introduced a second, metaphoric meaning of the style hongrois, which is discussed in Chapter 3 along with Liszt's accounts from his book Des Bohémien as well as the literary quotations that are included in the Swiss book. Together, the biographical facts, the accounts from Des Bohémien, and the literary quotations show that Liszt was using the style hongrois to substantiate the autobiographical significance of the Swiss book.

Franz Liszt composed his Two Episodes from Lenau's Faust between 1856 and 1861. The composer intended to portray two emotionally contrasting scenes from Lenau's Faust in a set for orchestra, the first being The Night Procession and the second The Dance in the Village Inn. Liszt created a duet version of the orchestral set, and also a solo piano version of The Dance in the Village Inn, known as the Mephisto Waltz No. 1. The set was not performed together due to the immense popularity of The Dance in the Village Inn but also due to an unfortunate publication history resulting in the pieces being published separately by Schuberth publishers, published years apart from each other. As a result The Night Procession is largely forgotten today and The Dance in the Village Inn is interpreted as a single work outside of its context in a set. In this dissertation the works are examined from within its context in a set. Background information includes information on Liszt's student Robert Freund (1852-1936), and a solo piano transcription of the orchestral alternative ending to The Dance in the Village Inn. A comparison between Liszt's orchestral, solo and duet versions of the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 and the Liszt-Busoni Mephisto Waltz No. 1 is also made.