Franz Liszt [pp. 55-63]

FRANZ LISZT.
vanity, self-pity, and absurdity, and saddest when they are most
absurd, we shall understand why his music speaks to us so often
of grandiose fancies and so rarely of lofty aspiration, so often of
vexation and struggle and so rarely of calm delight.
Liszt also has been classed among the writers of Programme
Music. That place, perhaps, may suit him if we call the compositions of the Berlioz school "Panorama Music"; but between
the French and the Hungarian master there is an important difference of method. Liszt never attempted to make music represent language, or even definite thoughts; he seldom used it as
an illustration of any particular words or actions; at most he
wished it to call up in the listener the state of mind which was his
when he wrote it. The series of compositions for the orchestra
to which he gave the name of Symphonic Poems are the best
examples of his plan. These are all based upon a text-a poem,
a poetic extract, a painting, a biography-but the musician employs it only as an inspiration for himself and a general hint for
his audience. It is not at all a guide to the contents of the composition. It is sometimes a help to enjoyment, but the music,
whose value is absolute and complete in itself, can always do
without it. I say sometimes a help to enjoyment; the Tasso, for
instance, is made more interesting by the prefatory lines which tell
us that it symbolizes the sufferings and triumph of the poet, and
that it is founded upon a song in which the Venetian gondoliers
celebrate his memory; on the other hand, I am by no means sure
that the magnificent movement of Les Prdludes derives any
additional effect from the fragment of Lamartine by which it
was suggested. The text, with Liszt, is only the point of departure. The idea which he proceeds to follow out is not literary,
but purely musical, and he treats it by a purely musical method,
with all the art of the classical symphonist. There is no thought
of'forcing his musical theme into correspondence with the
changes of the poet's fancies; the object is only to develop
its own beauty and suggestiveness. Thus it is that the Symphonic Poems are distinguished by a simplicity and unity in
which the parallel works of Berlioz are lacking. They are not
all beautiful, for Liszt's imagination sometimes led him a strange
road; but when they are charming their charm is complete and
continuous, while the most striking music of the Programme
school, exhibiting snips and patches of unrelated melody, too
often reminds us of a crazy-quilt.
Liszt therefore differs from Berlioz essentially in the manner
of looking at his subject-perhaps it would be better to say of
I 886.]
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