Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1974 The volutE ion of Whole-Tone Sound in Liszt's Original Piano Works. Harold Adams Thompson Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Thompson, Harold Adams, "The vE olution of Whole-Tone Sound in Liszt's Original Piano Works." (1974). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 2767. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/2767 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. 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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 75-14,290 THOMPSON, Harold Adams, 1925- THE EVOLUTION OF WHOLE-TONE SOUND IN LISZT'S ORIGINAL PIANO WORKS. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1974 Music Xerox University Microfiims , Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 © 1975 HAROLD ADAMS THOMPSON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE EVOLUTION OF WHOLE-TONE SOUND IN LISZT'S ORIGINAL PIANO WORKS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The School of Music by Harold Adams Thompson B.S.A., University of Georgia, 1947 B.F.A., University of Georgia, 1949 M. Mus., University of Michigan, 1952 December, 1974 Margaret ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • r* f < Scores of friends have assisted me in various ways in the prep­ aration of this study. I shall enumerate only a few of them. A special note of gratitude goes to Dr. Kenneth B. Klaus, Chairman of my Super­ visory Committee. Without his constant, unfailing support, this study would have never been written at all. If I had not attended his classes, it would never have emerged in its present form. But this is not to hold him altogether responsible for the ideas appearing in the study. Besides projecting penetrating insights of his own, he possesses a unique ability to inspire independent thinking; therefore, while he may or may not agree with some of the ideas brought forth in this study, they would not have emerged if I had never known him. Dr. Jack Guerry, erstwhile member of my committee, patiently listened to me read through Liszt's piano works. His commentary during the reading sessions, a wellspring of stimulating insights, will always stand as a source of inspiration to me. His definitive performance of the Dante Sonata revealed to me a whole new world. I am grateful to Dr. Wallace McKenzie for placing at my disposal the manuscript of George Rochberg's forthcoming study, on Webern. Mrs. Mary Jane Kahao, Librarian, Louisiana State University Library, worked diligently and successfully to procure numerous items (scores, manu­ scripts, articles, out-of-print books) used in the preparation for this study. We became good friends during the search, and I am richer iii iv for it. Dr. Martha Webster Simpson, a friend of long standing, translated Per traurige MUnch (Appendix II, pp. 296-98) for this study,.. In addition, she helped me with my own translations, many of which appear scattered throughout the main body of the text. She also translated several articles for me that do not appear in the study. I am deeply indebted to her for all of her efforts. And to Mrs. Brenda Payne who typed the manuscript I owe a very special debt of gratitude. Her sense of humor turned an otherwise wearisome task into a pleasurable one. Her infallible memory averted disaster on more than one occasion. A note of appreciation also goes to Mrs. Betsy Cornelius for her assistance in preparing the manuscript. Minor professors do not often get into acknowledgment sections. Dr. Gresdna Doty, Department of Speech and Drama, Louisiana State Uni­ versity, a top scholar in her field, is responsible for one thing in this study— the absence of the passive voice except in the quotes. Professor W. Thomas West, Head, Department of Music, Mississippi State University, has stood by me a number of years now. He is another friend except for whom these pages would have never been written. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION........................................ 1 Liszt's Creative Approach Liszt in the Mainstream History of the Study Aesthetical Background of Liszt's Creative Approach General Theoretical Boundaries of Liszt's Approach Whole-Tone Sound— An Illustrative Idea Critical Evaluations of Liszt's Creative Approach Liszt's Creative Approach in His Original Piano Works Unique Circumstances Surrounding the Late Works The Study Plan Two Reference Points Rotating Mediants Liszt's Whole-Tone Experiment II. MEDIANT RELATIONSHIPS............................... 41 Beethoven— The Forest-King Schubert— The Tone-Poet Liszt's Rotating Mediants Summary PHASE I. THE EVOLUTION OF WHOLE-TONE SOUND IN LISZT'S ORIGINAL PIANO WORKS III. WHOLE-TONE SOUND IN A DIATONIC CONTEXT: NASCENCY TO MATURITY................................. 133 Grand Galop Chromatique (1838) Sequential Dominants Harmonic Environment Heroischer Marsch in ungarischem Styl (1840) Overall Design The i - tvil - tvi - V Progression Tertian Chains Hungarian Rhapsody VII (1847, new edition 1853) Harmonic Environment The Whole-Tone Passage Hungarian Rhapsody IX (1848) Etude de Concert No. 3 (Un sospiro) (c. 1848) The Main Theme Tertian Chains v vi Dante Sonata (1849) The Opening Sequence Rotating Mediants The Diminished Seventh Chord in Whole-Tone Progressions The Augmented Triad in a Whole-Tone Progression Summary of the First Phase of Liszt's Whole-Tone Experiment The Evolution of Whole-Tone Shapes IV. METABOLONS........................................ 207 Sonata in b minor (1852-53) and Vallee d'Obermann (rev. 1855) Fundrailles (October, 1849) Aux Cyprfes de la Villa d'Este I (1869 or 1877) Ballade No. 1 in D-flat (1845-48) and Csdrdds Obstind (1884) Summary PHASE II. THE EVOLUTION OF WHOLE-TONE SOUND IN LISZT'S ORIGINAL PIANO WORKS V. THE WHOLE-TONE SCALE AS AN INDEPENDENT COMPOSITIONAL DEVICE: INTEGRATION OF EQUIDISTANT ASSOCIATIONS......... 231 Per traurige Monch (October, 1860) The Text The Music Sursum corda (1877) Premifere Valse oublide (1881) From the Cradle to the Grave (1881) Mephisto Waltz No. 3 (1883) Final Integration of Equidistant Associations Unstern Bagatelle sans tonalitd VI. GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION........................ 278 APPENDIXES I. Heroischer Marsch in ungarischem S t y l ................... 285 II. The Sad Monk......................................... 296 III. U n B t e m ......................................... 299 IV. Bagatelle sans tonality.................... 303 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................. 311 VITA........................................................ 315 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Example Page 1. Liszt, Dante Sonata (rev. 1849), abstract of measures 213-36 . ........................................... 29 2. Liszt, Unstern, basic set................... 31 3. Beethoven's system of keys . ..................... 51 4. Beethoven, Sonata in D major, Opus 10, No. 3, opening theme................. 58 5. Beethoven, Sonata in D major, Opus 10, No. 3, opening theme of the Finale....................................58 6. Beethoven, Sonata in D major, Opus 10, No. 3, opening theme of the Largo e m e s t o .............. 59 7. Beethoven, Sonata in D major, Opus 10, No.