Franz Liszt’s Oratorio 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 Bible, 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, Jesus 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, Tenor, 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 Bass 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 British Library 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 œ ˙ A 16 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ˙ œ ˙œ ˙œ œ œ˙ œ bœ ˙ œ b˙ 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 Bärenreiter _ www.baerenreiter.comBärenreiter 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.