Liszt and Christus: Reactionary Romanticism
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LISZT AND CHRISTUS: REACTIONARY ROMANTICISM A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Robert Pegg May 2020 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Maurice Wright, Advisory Chair, Music Studies Dr. Michael Klein, Music Studies Dr. Paul Rardin, Choral Activities Dr. Christine Anderson, Voice and Opera, external member © Copyright 2020 by Robert Pegg All Rights Reserved € ii ABSTRACT This dissertation seeks to examine the historical context of Franz Lizt’s oratorio Christus and explore its obscurity. Chapter 1 makes note of the much greater familiarity of other choral works of the Romantic period, and observes critics’ and scholars’ recognition (or lack thereof) of Liszt’s religiosity. Chapter 2 discusses Liszt’s father Adam, his religious and musical experiences, and his influence on the young Franz. Chapter 3 explores Liszt’s early adulthood in Paris, particularly with respect to his intellectual growth. Special attention is given to François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand and the Abbé Félicité de Lamennais, and the latter’s papal condemnation. After Chapter 4 briefly chronicles Liszt’s artistic achievements in Weimar and its ramifications for the rest of his work, Chapter 5 examines theological trends in the nineteenth century, as exemplified by David Friedrich Strauss, and the Catholic Church’s rejection of such novelties. The writings of Charles Rosen aid in decribing the possible musical ramifications of modern theology. Chapter 6 takes stock of the movements for renewal in Catholic music, especially the work of Prosper Gueranger and his fellow Benedictine monks of Solesmes, France, and of the Society of Saint Cecilia in Germany. Liszt’s interest in these movements, and in the style then in use in the Sistine Chapel, also receive comment. Chapter 7 analyzes Christus itself, and explains it as a synthesis of the styles then in use by Catholic composers of the era. Chapter 8 concludes with musings on the state of Catholic music, suggestions on how that field could be improved, and Christus’s future. iii To Chris, with gratitude. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to Dr. Maurice Wright, my advisor, for seeing me through this work and for his wealth of advice in both the dissertation and the composition. Thanks to Dr. Michael Klein, for the many informative classes I have taken with him and for answering countless questions I had during this process. Thanks to Dr. Paul Rardin, for his contributions to both the dissertation proposal and defense committees. Thanks to Dr. Christine Anderson, for graciously joining the defense committee the very same semester. Thanks to Dr. Cynthia Folio, Dr. Matthew Greenbaum, and Dr. Alexander deVaron, my composition teachers at Temple, from whom I learned much about the craft. Thanks to my parents for their support in every sense of my academics and the rest of my life. Thanks to my brother Christopher for his efforts at keeping me working. They were not wasted. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF EXAMPLES..................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. AN UNKNOWN MASTERPIECE ...............................................................................1 2. A FATHER’S LEGACY .............................................................................................12 3. REACTION, REVOLUTION, RELIGION, AND READING...................................19 4. PARIS, WEIMAR, ROME..........................................................................................42 5. THEOLOGY AND SACRED MUSIC IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY............49 6. THE CATHOLIC MUSICAL REVIVAL: SOLESMES, THE CECILIANS, AND THE SISTINE CHAPEL....................................................................................70 7. CHRISTUS: A STYLISTIC SYNTHESIS ................................................................103 8. EPILOGUE: CATHOLIC MUSIC NOW AND IN THE FUTURE .........................132 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................147 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Selected condemnations in the Syllabus Errorum…….……………....…….....…….61 2. Selected condemnations in Lamentabili Sane….……………………………..…......62 3. Stylistic chart of the movements of Christus………………………………….........130 vii LIST OF EXAMPLES Example Page 1. Inno a Maria Vergine, mm. 254–67, condensed.………………………………..66 2. Witt, Te Deum, mm. 33–39.3.………………………..…..……………………...89 3. Witt, Te Deum, mm. 78–94……………………………………..…………….....90 4. Witt, Te Deum, 197–206……………………………………………….……..…91 5. Via Crucis, “Station III: Jesus fällt zum ersten Mal,” condensed.……..………. 92 6. Missa choralis, “Kyrie,” mm. 55–71.2, condensed…………………....…. 95–96 7. IV: “Hirtengesang an der Krippe”, mm. 25–33, condensed………….....……..106 8. Berlioz, L’enfance du Christ, “L’Adieu des Bergers à la Sainte Famille,” mm. 1–12 (text omitted), condensed…………...….……………….........…….107 9. Beethoven, Symphony No. 6, V, mm. 1–5 (initial chord omitted), condensed.108 10. Rossini, William Tell Overture, mm. 176–80 (pizz. chords omitted), condensed……………………….......................................................................108 11. IX: “Das Wunder,” mm. 239–55 (harp chords omitted), condensed....….........109 12. XI: “Tristis est anima mea,” mm. 22–31.1, condensed………………….....….110 13. XI: “Tristis est anima mea,” mm. 64–68, condensed…………………….……110 14. XI, “Tristis est anima mea,” mm. 126.4–138.1, condensed……………....…...111 15. II: “Pastorale und Verkündigung des Engels,” mm. 115–123.2, condensed.113–14 16. III: “Stabat Mater speciosa,” mm. 109.3–120.2, condensed………………..….115 17. Mendelssohn, Elijah, No. 38, mm. 1–11.2, (text abbreviated), condensed..116–17 18. VIII: “Die Gründung der Kirche,” mm. 1–22.3, condensed (empty measure in original)………………......................................................................................120 viii 19. X: “Der Einzug in Jerusalem,” mm. 300.2–312.2 (harp chord omitted), condensed……………………………………….……..122 20. XII: “Stabat Mater,” mm. 46–52.2, condensed.………………………………..123 21. XII: “Stabat Mater,” 76–80.2, condensed. …………………………………….124 22. XII: “Stabat Mater,” mm. 344.3–351, condensed. …………………………….124 23. XII: “Stabat Mater,” mm. 160–180.1, condensed. ………………………….....125 24. XIII: “O Filii et Filiae,” mm. 1–7.2., condensed. ……………………………...127 25. XIII: “O Filii et Filiae,” mm. 71.3–77, condensed (winds doubling harmonium omitted)…………………………………………………………………………127 ix CHAPTER 1 AN UNKNOWN MASTERPIECE Naxos Music Library’s recording catalogue of Franz Liszt’s works lists six complete recordings of his oratorio Christus. Two of these are different issuings of the same recording. His other sacred choral works share this paucity; we may mention as representative the four recordings of his first oratorio, Die Legende von der Heiligen Elisabeth, two of the Gran Mass, nine of the Missa choralis, four of the Missa quattuor vocum ad aequales, and one of the Cantico del Sol, with the fifteen of the Via Crucis standing as an outlier. Turning to his diabolical works, the contrast in popularity, if number of recordings is a valid means of measurement, could not be more striking. The first Mephisto Waltz, also known as Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke, has twenty-five recordings in its orchestral form and a staggering 144 in its piano form, not including several arrangements by other hands. The second, third, and fourth Mephisto Waltzes have eight, ten, and nine recordings on the piano respectively, and the Mephisto Polka has nine. The Faust Symphony has thirty recordings and the Dante Symphony eighteen, one of each of these being of Liszt’s transcriptions for two pianos.1 When using other choral works of the nineteenth century by composers of comparable stature for comparison, Christus’s obscurity only falls into greater relief. Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust and L’enfance du Christ have, respectively, eighteen 1. “Biography and Discography at Naxos Music Library,” Liszt, Franz, Naxos Music Library, Naxos Digital Services, US Inc., 2020, accessed Oct. 30, 2018. https://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/. This and the following paragraph were originally written in either late 2017 or late 2018. 1 and seventeen complete recordings.2 When considering requiems, the difference is particularly blatant—that of Berlioz has thirty-seven recordings,3 while Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem has no fewer than 104 taking into account only its intended form for orchestra in German.4 Verdi’s Messa da Requiem includes a list of 320 CD’s containing either the complete work or (an) excerpt(s); for our purposes, it will suffice to mention Toscanini alone receives credit for eight complete recordings and four CD’s of excerpts. 5 It would seem most unusual that a work of such large scope by one the most renowned composers of the nineteenth century would be so underrepresented. How do we account for this disparity? What has prevented Christus from achieving greater popular and critical success?