Liszt: Faust Symphony

 

Prelude

For this fourth Works Series entry of Franz Liszt's symphonic poems, I will be covering the composer's efforts into the genre of tone poems: From the Cradle to the Grave and A Faust Symphony. While I have inserted older cover art above and below, this blog post is actually my listening of the fourth volume (of seven) from EMI / Warner's 2011 box set of Liszt's orchestral and concertante music with Kurt Masur and the Gewandhaus Orchestra performing. Thoughtfully, this set arranges Liszt's symphonic poems in catalog order, so I will be covering them in that way as well.

Liszt's last symphonic poem, if going by catalog numbering, is almost disarming in its short length and concise content. I greatly approve that From the Cradle to the Grave is broken into three short movements, breaking up Liszt's episodes into bite-sized chunks for the listener. He also does more with the orchestra, where the opening Cradle is scored for upper string only, alongside harp and flutes.

The idea of The Grave as a Cradle for a Future Life is a creative one, where Liszt brings back some of the scoring from the first movement into the final one. The middle movement is typically Liszt-ian, where the musical argument utilizes full orchestra for Man's Eternal Struggle during our waking hours.

Suffice to say, this is a Liszt I could get behind. However, since we are at the end of his symphonic poems, my hopes for his orchestral music at least lay in a comfortable spot in my mind.

Liszt's A Faust Symphony could be considered a tone poem, but on a much larger scale. Set in three characterized movement portraits, each individual movement could be considered a separate symphonic poem as well, especially as each movement times just as long as a single Liszt-ian tone poem.

The Faust movement is the heftiest piece of music, with many motives presented to the listener. The motives are adeptly contrasted from one another, particularly the opening chromatic idea, which moves in angular leaps in an ambiguously psychological manner. This is just one such idea which is interwoven throughout the work, most creatively by Liszt. There is also a more ardent theme, a nervy theme, and a victorious one too, some simply built from one another. Anyone afraid they will have trouble following Liszt's musical themes need not be feared, for Liszt repeats and repeats, sequences and sequences, and then further overlaps motives atop each other.

While the Gretchen movement begins confusedly, similar to the opening of the symphony, an oboe and viola winsomely present her song. This is a rare moment where Liszt pares back the orchestra for any length of time, eventually shared with other instruments. I have never been a huge fan of late-Romantic sweetness, thus I have struggled with the movement over the years, but here Masur is more direct than any other recording I know, making the movement come off more successful than those who really pore over the many ardent lines with a tug and pull approach.

Mephistopheles is given a wicked little Scherzo in the manner of Berlioz. The placement of a Scherzo here also gives the work structure, especially after following a slow-tempoed movement. What follows the Scherzo is largely a retread of the Faust movement with one nod to Gretchen's theme. Faust's many motives are all given again, sometimes as before, but sometimes bringing Beelzebub into the picture throughout instrumental mockings of Faust's themes.

Most famously, Liszt adds a short Coda to the work following the portraiture proceedings. Essentially the Chorus Mysticus and a tenor soloist provide the moral of the parable in musical short form. If I have been on board with Masur's fleet, to-the-point approach to A Faust Symphony, here I find he is simply too hasty, not allowing the listener to savor this abrupt and unusual musical change from the composer.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, Liszt's two program symphonies have not been easy works for me to get my mind around in the past. Surprisingly, Bernstein, Solti, and Barenboim have done little for me in this music. I like that Kurt Masur is not over-sentimental in this music, yet is quick to punchily take on epic moments opposite lovingly applying texturally small chamber-like moments, often turning on a dime between the two. Better yet, he strips Liszt's gangling symphony down to its essentials, rarely poring over or luxuriating over endless individual moments. If timings are any clue, Masur brings in A Faust Symphony at just over 60 minutes, whereas Bernstein is prolonged to 76 minutes.

I really enjoy the singing of the Leipzig Radio Choir, where they are appreciably virile sounding, despite Masur's impatient tempo. I am not familiar with tenor Klaus König, although he does just fine in his small role. One can hear the balances of the recording when the vocal enter, which could use a closer perspective from the soloist, who sounds just a little too far-flung from the strings. The Gewandhaus Orchestra's playing is excellent, although those aforementioned chamber-quality areas are not the sweetest sounding, mainly due to EMI's rather bright sonics, where the low end could definitely use a boost, and the sound can come off rather strident.

 

 
Work Series
Vol. 4 from Liszt Orchestral Works on Warner


Works
Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe, S 107 (13.30)
Faust Symphony, S 108 (61.34)

Performers
Gewandhaus Orchestra
Kurt Masur, conductor

Label: EMI / Warner
Year: 1977-80; 2011
Total Timing: 75.07

 

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