Franz Liszt’s Christus by David Friddle

One need think merely of challenges of this work have undoubt- Wittgenstein to help him prepare the [Liszt’s] Christus to know a edly contributed to the limited number text; in the end, however, he himself work whose effect has still to of public performances and recordings. selected passages from the , the dawn. Perhaps the day has al- With the approaching centennial of Catholic liturgy and various medieval most come when contact will Liszt’s birth in 2011, there exists an ex- hymns to assemble the libretto.3 be re-established with its tone, cellent opportunity to reintroduce this Four years later, during rehearsals of its intentions, for our time is neglected masterpiece to scholars and Berlioz’s L’En- again seeking God; this search performers.2 fance du Christ, characterizes it better than do Liszt wrote to the the most outstanding technical Genesis of Christus Princess Car- achievements.1 From its inception Liszt conceived of olyne, “As soon Christus as an overview of the life of as my Elisabeth Arnold Schönberg, depicted in musical tableaux. He is finished, we Arts & Ideas first spoke of his idea to Wagner in July must compose rnold Schönberg wrote these 1853 and, as befits a three-hour work, Christus, along words in 1911. Much of his Christus had a long gestational period. the lines that we essay is highly critical of Indeed, Liszt’s first obstacle was find- have set for this Liszt’s innovative composi- ing a suitable text. Liszt considered work.”4 Living in tions; his insights about the oratorio inviting the poet Georg Herwegh, Peter Rome, Liszt was Franz Liszt Christus, however, were both accurate Cornelius, and Princess Carolyne Sayn- besieged by so- and prescient. Far and away the largest example of its genre, Christus is an expansive work requiring not only large instrumental and vocal forces; it requires a conductor who is knowl- edgeable about Liszt’s musical lan- guage and rhetoric. The formidable

David Friddle is a doctoral candi- date in conducting at the Uni- versity of Miami. This article is based on a research paper pres- entation made at the ACDA Na- tional Convention in Los Angeles in February 2005.

December 2005 • CHORAL JOURNAL 89 cial obligations that made a concentrated nium, Soprano, Mezzo, Alto, , History of the manuscript gift of the Christus manuscript to her; the Having sent you Liszt’s manu- effort to complete Christus difficult; he Baritone, and soloists, an off-stage Liszt’s usual method of composing was unusually careful inscription was to pro- script of Christus last Wednes- even complained about the lack of unin- treble choir with woodwinds, chorus, to first sketch, then make a first draft, and tect her from any possible accusations of day the 6th, I should be very terrupted time to his organ pupil and strings. finally a fair copy for engraving. The au- theft after his death. glad to know whether it has Alexander Gottschalg in April 1863.5 tograph manuscript of Christus consists of Schmalhausen first offered the man- safely reached you. In 1889 you To escape the hectic pace, he moved two parts: the twelve movements for or- uscript for sale to the trustees of the offered to buy it for the sum of into the monastery of the Madonna del chestra and chorus, and Liszt’s piano re- British Museum in 1889. Edward Scott £30, I had not then been able to Rosario outside Rome in June of 1863. duction. On the first folio of the piano replied on their behalf: decide to sell it, but as I am at There he fully devoted himself to com- reduction Liszt wrote, “Aufgefundene present in a little money diffi- position, going so far as to have a Manuscript von Fraülein Schmalhausen, I find on looking at the M.S. culty, I should now take that dampened, upright piano installed in und derselben freundlichst verehrt. F. again that Liszt designedly left it amount which you then offered his monastic cell. Even though he de- Liszt. February, 86.” (This manuscript incomplete when he gave it to for it. I should be very much clared Christus complete in October was found by Miss Schmalhausen and I you because he says the missing obliged & grateful if you would 1866, he subsequently inserted two gave it to her out of gratitude.)6 (no. 6) part was ‘as published in kindly do so.10 previously composed works—Die The manuscript came into the posses- Leipzig.’ But of no. 13 there is no Gründung der Kirche (The Foundation of sion of the via an elliptical trace. The highest price therefore The official purchase date for the man- the Church) and O Filii et Filiæ (O Sons route. Lina Schmalhausen was one of that I can offer you for it is £30.8 uscript, ADD #34,182, is 14 May 1892. It and Daughters)—expanding it to four- Liszt’s many pupils in Weimar and was contains 113 double-sided paper folios teen movements. Even by nineteenth- his primary caretaker during the last Sophie Peters replied on behalf of and bears the dates 1863, 1865, and 1866. century standards the performance days of his life in Bayreuth.7 Chronically Lina Schmalhausen: Liszt used brown ink for the initial nota- forces required for Christus are excep- short of money, she was disliked by other tion and subsequently made extensive tional: double winds with English Weimar pupils; indeed, they accused her Learning from your letter that emendations—phrase marks, articula- Horn, four horns, three trumpets, three of pilfering some of Liszt’s manuscripts the manuscript is incomplete, tions, tempo indications, dynamic mark- trombones and tuba, tympani, bass in order to sell them—a charge that was she quite understands your not ings, etc.—in colored pencils. It is drum, cymbals, and the first use of tu- The first page of the autograph of not without merit. Nevertheless, the laying greater value on it, yet, thought that copyists used the manu- bular bells, harp, organ and harmo- Christus in the British Library characteristically generous Liszt made a as she prizes that manuscript script to prepare the orchestral parts. The very highly, she would not like largest folios are 30 cm wide by 44.5 cm to part with it for the price of 30 high, although there are smaller folios as pounds and begs you to return well. An extant fair copy for the first sec- I. Theil · Part I 1 9 Weihnachtsoratorium · Christmas Oratorio it to her. tion of the oratorio, which includes 1. Einleitung · Introduction „Rorate cæli desuper et nubes pluant justum; aperiatur terra et germinet Salvatorem.“ movements 1–5, is held in the Goethe- (Isaiæ. 45: 8) Franz Liszt In 1892, Lina, desperate for money, Schiller Archiv in Weimar. Although the Fingersätze von / fingerings by Franz Liszt Andante sostenuto 4 6 3 1 2 1 3 2 œ w œ & 4(2 ) Ó Ó j œ b˙ œ Œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ. œ œ > J wrote again. notation is not by Liszt, there are many p p ? 6 3 ( ) ∑ ∑ Ó Œ œ œ 4 2 & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ p

b>˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ ˙. b˙ œ œ œ ˙. œ bœ 6 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ & œ Œ ˙ œ œ œ

sempre legato e p j œ œ Œ œ ˙ œ bœ œ œ j & œ ˙ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ. œ ˙ œ. œ

11 b˙. ˙ œ œ œ > ˙ œ 3 œ ˙. œ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2 ˙ œ ˙ œ & b˙ œ Œ œ nœ œ 1 œ œ œ œ œ Œ

j œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ Œ & œ œ ˙ . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ j œ œ˙ œ œ œ. œ œ

˙ A 16 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ ˙œ œ œ œ ˙ œ bœ b˙ œ & œ œ œ ˙œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ˙ œ œ˙ œ œ œ j œ b>˙ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & ˙ œ œ œ ? œ. œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ BÄRENREITERLISZT URTEXT

21 ˙ ˙ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ ˙ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ Christus & ˙œ. œ œ œ˙ œ ˙œ. œ œ œ ˙. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙. œ œ œ ˙. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙. œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ Œ œ œ. J

BA 768oa © 2006 by Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel

Klavierauszug Vocal Score

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90 CHORAL JOURNAL • December 2005 December 2005 • CHORAL JOURNAL 91 corrections and additions, including re- when the first score was published. Not down to us is really what Liszt intended. Table 1. Symmetrical ordering, by topic, of movements in Christus12 hearsal letters—in his distinctive hand- even the copy of the Christmas portion Such a claim is not as far-fetched as it writing. This copy was prepared for the of Christus in the Goethe- und Schiller- might first appear. There are multiple performance of the Christmas portion in Archiv helps to unravel the conundrum errors in the score: the omission of a Rome (1867), and revised for publication because, with the exception of a few natural sign that would cause a trans- in 1871. It includes a second version of corrections and the addition of re- posing instrument to play a concert E- “Hirtengesang an der Krippe” that is hearsal letters, there are few clues as to sharp against a concert E, to give but THE INCARNATION EARTHLY MINISTRY THE ATONEMENT transposed up one whole tone. how Liszt transformed the manuscript one example. There are also many in- Angelic Hymn Earthly Glory Earthly Glory Angelic Hymn into the first printed edition. stances where articulations are applied Prophecy Eschatology Editorial methodology Minus a fair copy of the entire score in to every brass part except the Tuba; and 12345678 91011121314 Like Beethoven, Liszt was a deliber- Liszt’s hand, or corrected galleys or since in the printed scores the Tuba ate composer. There are many sections proofs, there is no way to reconcile the shares a staff with the Bass Trombone, in the manuscript that are either crossed manuscript to the 1872 Schuberth edi- an editor must decide if the staccato out in colored pencil or pasted over tion, the production of which Liszt over- mark over the Bass Trombone also ap- with another piece of manuscript paper. saw. Researchers cannot accurately plies to the Tuba; in some instances, Large portions of various movements determine whether markings in the Liszt provides the Tuba with its own memoir, August Göllerich states that 10. Der Einzug in Liszt did not set out to create a narra- that are crossed out in the manuscript manuscript were inadvertently omitted separate mark; in others it is clear that Liszt gave C.F. Kahnt an errata sheet for “Hosanna, benedictus” tion of the life of Jesus; rather, he se- appear in the first edition, however, from the score and overlooked by Liszt one articulation sign is meant for the Christus in June 1886; Liszt intended that (Matthew 21: 9) lected fourteen scenes from the life of published in 1872 by J. Schuberth & Co. in the proofing process, or if he himself paired instruments on a single staff. theese corrections be published with the III. Passion und Auferstehung Jesus and composed for each what are, of Leipzig and New York; there are also deleted them. It is impossible to clarify Years of research have yet to uncover Kahnt score in the front matter;11 unfor- 11. “Tristis est anima mea” in effect, descriptive tone poems. As in numerous performance indications in how or why the many crossed-out sec- a verifiable printer’s copy of the manu- tunately this document is also lost. (Mark 14: 34–36) the “Pastorale und Verkündigung des the manuscript that do not appear in tions in the manuscript found their way script or even the corrected printer’s In a score as large and complex as 12. “Stabat mater dolorosa” Engels,” where a soprano soloist, fol- any published edition. into the printed scores, or to resolve the plates—either from Schuberth or from Christus, there are literally hundreds of 13. “O Filii et Filiæ” (Oster-Hymne) lowed by the women of the chorus, an- Consequently, there is no way to de- differences between the underlaid text C.F. Kahnt, which published the second pieces of information on every page. 14. “Resurrexit” “Christus vincit” nounces the nativity to the shepherds. termine the editorial process that Liszt and the libretto in the front matter. Fi- edition. The orchestral parts from the Overlooking mistakes is commonplace in The English Horn introduces a pastoral used between the time that the manu- nally, there is no way to state unequivo- 1873 performances in Weimar and music publishing and composers do not script was completed and the time cally that the printed score that has come Budapest are presumed lost. In his Liszt always find errors in engraving. Conse- quently, more than a few mistakes passed into the printed scores undetected.

Structural and Descriptive Analysis of Christus Liszt distributed the fourteen move- ments into three parts:

I. Weihnachts-oratorium 1. Einleitung “Rorate cœli” ( 45: 8) segueing into 2. Pastorale und Verkündigung des Engels “Angelus Domini” (Luke 2: 10–14) 3. Stabat mater speciosa (Hymne) 4. Hirtengesang an der Krippe 5. Die heiligen drei Könige (Marsch) “Et ecce stella” (Matthew 2: 9) II.Nach Epiphania 6. Die Seligpreisungen “Beati pau- peres spiritu” (Matthew 5: 3–10) 7. Das Gebet: “Pater noster” (Matthew 6: 9–13) 8. Die Gründung der Kirche “Tu es Petrus” (Matthew 16: 18) 9. Das Wunder “Et ecce motus mag- nus” (Matthew 8: 24–26)

92 CHORAL JOURNAL • December 2005 December 2005 • CHORAL JOURNAL 93 melody in 12/8 time that creates an ap- for the entire movement. An expansive Except for the brief passages in “Das tures—a private theater that is unique to third definition—“an interlude during propriately idyllic mood. “Hirtengesang work of more than thirty minutes, it rep- Wunder” and “Tristis est anima mea” each individual and draws on his life ex- a scene when all the performers on an der Krippe” continues the musical at- resents Liszt’s personal association with where Liszt identifies the baritone periences and psychological makeup. stage freeze in position and then re- mosphere, beginning with the pipe-like grief and conflict. It is highly dramatic, soloist in the score as Christus, there are As applied to Christus, the term sume action as before” is inaccurate. calls of the woodwinds; indeed the filled with imaginative textual painting no characters. The soloists do not por- tableaux is both fitting and misleading. Liszt’s music is anything but static; in- strings do not enter until m. 73. “Die and some of the most sensuous choral tray specific individuals as much as In the sense that Liszt illustrates one deed, from his fluid orchestrations to heiligen drei Könige” is a stately march writing of the entire Romantic era. An they give voice to more universal emo- particular scene from the life of Jesus, his thematic transformation to his keen that begins with dotted figures and offstage chorus of women or boys (Liszt tional responses to the mood and text. the term—traditionally defined as “a sense of dramatic pacing, the scenes are open fifths; the middle section changes specifies either), singing the Easter So, when the mezzo-soprano sings the vivid or graphic description or a strik- free-flowing musical poetry. to a more lyrical, pious character when hymn “O Filii et Filiæ,” announces the beginning of “Stabat mater dolorosa,” ing incidental scene, as of a picturesque Until Christus no oratorio contained the Magi encounter baby Jesus. resurrection. A victorious conclusion for Liszt permits the listener to assign one group of people”—is appropriate. A movements for orchestra alone. In “Das Wunder,” Liszt creates an ex- orchestra, chorus and full organ based of the historical women in the Passion tremely effective storm scene that sug- on the Latin hymn “Christus vincit” story—Mary, Martha, or Mary Magda- gests the tossing about of the boat concludes the oratorio. lene—to her voice or to simply identify containing Jesus and his disciples. After with the singer as a kind of everyman— an extended exposition, the men of the Comparison of Christus a person like ourselves who reacts vis- chorus shout for help; nonplussed, Jesus to Earlier cerally to scenes of horror and despair. quietly calms the menacing weather. Traditionally oratorio was narrative- Liszt dispenses with recitative entirely. “Der Einzug in Jerusalem” depicts the based and contained all the elements of Since he is not relating a narrative per se, festival that surrounded the triumphant un-staged : soloists portraying there is no need to propel the plot for- entry into Jerusalem, complete with full characters, choruses that either punctu- ward, as had traditional recitative. It is chorus and all six soloists singing ate the unfolding plot or stand inde- not hyperbole to suggest that Liszt in- “Hosanna.” The highly chromatic, tor- pendent of the surrounding action, and vented the precursor of the film score. In turous harmonies of “Tristis est anima recitative. Depending on the composer, place of traditional narration, Liszt cre- mea” create a mood of anguish and fear, the orchestra can be merely an accom- ates a sequence of aural images that in- appropriate for the scene of Jesus in panimental appendage or a full-fledged vite the listener to conjure his or her own Gethsemane. The longest movement, partner in the dramatic action. Liszt personal story—his own moving pic- “Stabat mater dolorosa,” is a companion broke with this tradition and created a to the third movement “Stabat mater work—one he called his “musical last speciosa;” in fact, some of the text is will and testament”—that drew upon identical. In “Stabat mater dolorosa,” older models while significantly Liszt uses the Latin hymn of the same branching off into new musical, formal, name as the melodic and harmonic basis and dramatic spheres.

94 CHORAL JOURNAL • December 2005 December 2005 • CHORAL JOURNAL 95 Unpublished Corrections of the oratorio at the festival • letter S (m. 531)—addition of a fer- and Abridgments performance in Pest on Sunday, mata in the first beat above the Table 2. Comparison of Abridgements in Christus The score held by the National 9 November 1873.) oboe part. Széchényi Library in Budapest—the Schuberth 1872/4 edition, with plate Hans Richter conducted what has al- “Die heiligen drei Könige,” No. V: Liszt’s 1873 Performance Cuts Richter’s Score Liszt’s Own Kahnt Score number 4934 contains an inscription on ways been considered the first complete • seventeenth measure after letter I the second folio in Liszt’s hand. performance of Christus in Budapest; (m. 204)—natural was inserted Liszt attended rehearsals and the per- before the Vn. I part. 1. “Einleitung, Pastorale” third bar 2. “Einleitung, Pastorale” letter Hans Richter, in dankbares Er- formance. In Richter’s score there are after letter F to the fourth bar R to letter S inenung seiner meister haften several significant corrections in Liszt’s “Stabat mater dolorosa,” No. XII: after letter Q Direction dieser Oratorium, bei hand that have never been incorporated • ninth bar after letter A (m. 39)— der Fest Aufführung in Pest am into a published edition: “4 Viertal” ([Conduct in] four 3. “Stabat mater speciosa” one bar Sontag 9ter November 1873. beats) is written above the clar- before letter E to letter T “Einleitung,” No. I: inets. Liszt had already marked ergebenit F. Liszt • second bar after letter F (m. 111)— that section “Alla breve taktieren” 19ter Nov: 73, Pest. marked “Bis,” indicating that he (Conduct by the half note). 4. “Hirtengesang an der Krippe” 4. “Hirtengesang an der Krippe” wanted this bar repeated; letter E to letter I letter C to letter G (Hans Richter, in grateful mem- • twelfth bar after letter Q (mm. 349– In the first performance of all three ory of your masterful direction 351)—changes in the flute parts; portions of Christus—which Liszt con- 5. “Die heiligen drei Könige” fifth 5. “Die heiligen drei Könige” bar before letter C to the third twelfth bar after letter B j j w w w bar after letter F to letter F 349 œ œ œ œ œ ˙ 349 w w w # ## n˙ nn# ˙ # # n˙ nn# & # n ‰ŒJ Ó ‰J & # # n 9. “Das Wunder” seventh bar after letter K to the second bar after 348–351. Franz Liszt, Christus, “I. Einleitung,” mm. letter O

11. “Tristis est anima mea” second 11. “Tristis est anima mea” fifth bar bar of letter to the eleventh bar after letter D to letter G of letter G

12. “Stabat mater dolorosa” a.from the last bar before letter T to the ninth bar of letter Y b.last bar before letter Dd to the second bar before letter Ii

ducted—substantial cuts were made. hand) contains a second set of cuts in He also left a legacy of harmonic and These abridgements were subsequently Liszt’s hand. Moreover, Liszt owned a formal innovations within these mas- published as part of the front matter in C.F. Kahnt score of Christus that, until terworks. Shortly after he arrived in the 1874 Schuberth edition bearing the recently, was held in the Liszt Musica Rome—where both Christus and Die plate number 5211 (the remainder of the Academy. This third score contains yet Legende von der heiligen Elisabeth were oratorio is identical to the 1872 edition, another distinct set of abridgments. composed—Liszt wrote that “After which bears the plate number 4934); this having, as far as I could, solved the edition is the only source of Liszt’s cuts. Conclusion greater part of the Symphonic problem Traditionally the November 1873 per- Liszt attached extraordinary impor- set me in Germany, I mean now to un- formance in Budapest, at which Hans tance to his oratorios—Christus, Die Leg- dertake the Oratorio problem…” Richter presided, has been said to be the ende von der heiligen Elisabeth, and St. adding that “…to me it is the one object first performance with no cuts. Interest- Stanislaus—and other religious music— in art…to which I must sacrifice every- ingly, however, the Richter score in the such as the Missa solennis, Ungarische thing else.”13 National Széchényi Library (wherein the Krönungsmesse, Missa Choralis, Via crucis There have been limited perform- above corrections were noted in Liszt’s and the Cantico del Sol di San Francesco. ances of Christus in the 20th century;

96 CHORAL JOURNAL • December 2005 December 2005 • CHORAL JOURNAL 97 4. Paul Munson, “The Oratorios of Franz consequently Liszt’s last musical will remarkable attitude about the fate of Notes Liszt.” PhD diss., Univ of Michigan, and testament has never acquired the his largest work demonstrates both his 1. Schoenberg, Arts and Ideas, ed. Leonard 1996, p. 64. audience it deserves. After the comple- great maturity and an awareness of the Stein (London: Faber & Faber, 1975), p. 5. “The Christus Oratorio progresses only tion of Christus Liszt wrote, “When and vicissitudes of the musical world in 445. slowly on account of the many inter- where [Christus] will ever be heard is of which he lived. Embraced by audi- 2. To this end, I am preparing a new, critical ruptions that I had to endure this win- no importance to me. The writing of ences, Christus was uniformly rejected edition of Christus. Supported by a ter.” Ibid. my compositions is for me an artistic by the critics who regularly railed grant from the Theodore Presser Foun- 6. A similar inscription to Fraülein Schmal- necessity and the fact that they are against his music, his aesthetic, and his dation and the University of Miami hausen is found on the title page of the written is enough for me…”14 Liszt’s vision of the future. Frost School of Music, I traveled to Lon- Fifteenth Hungarian Rhapsody for don to study the autograph manuscript Piano. in the British Library; to Weimar where 7. For a chilling account of Liszt’s death at I researched Christus at the Goethe- the hands of his daughter Cosima Wag- Schiller Archiv and the Anna Amalia ner, and the ministrations of Lina Bibliotek; to the Sächsisches Staatarchiv Schmalhausen to the failing Liszt, see in Leipzig to investigate the archive of Alan Walker, The Death of Franz Liszt: C.F. Kahnt, one of Liszt’s publishers; Based on the Unpublished Diary of His and, finally, to Budapest to work in the Pupil Lina Schmalhausen, (Cornell: Liszt Museum and the National Cornell University Press, 2002). Széchényi Library. My discoveries have 8. Previously unpublished letter from Ed- been surprising, enigmatic, frustrating, ward Scott on behalf of the Trustees of satisfying. And the history of Christus as the British Museum, dated 14 Decem- revealed in my investigative research is ber 1889, British Library “Correspon- a fascinating and compelling narrative. dence Relating to Purchases, Etc., 3. Alan Walker, Franz Liszt: The Final Years 1889–91, Folio 132. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996), p. 9. Previously unpublished letter from So- 255. phie Peters (for Lina Schmalhausen) to the Trustees of the British Museum, dated 18 December 1889, British Li- brary “Correspondence Relating to Purchases, Etc., 1889–91, Folio 149. 10. Previously unpublished letter from Lina Schmalhausen to the Trustees of the British Museum, dated 9 April 1892, British Library “Correspondence Relat- ing to Purchases, Etc., 1889–91, Folio 86. 11. Paul Munson, e-mail message to author, 23 March 2004. 12. Munson. 1996, p. 79. 13. Patrick Kavanaugh. The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 97. 14. Hermann Wilske. 1998. Program notes for Franz Liszt’s Christus. Henriette Bonde- Hansen, soprano; Iris Vermillion, mezzo-soprano/alto; Michael Schade, tenor; Andreas Schmidt, bass; Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart; Krakauer Kammerchor; Radio-Sinfonieorche/ ster Stuttgart; Helmut Rilling, conduc- tor. Hänssler Classic 98.121. Three com- pact discs.

98 CHORAL JOURNAL • December 2005 December 2005 • CHORAL JOURNAL 99