U UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: I, , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in It is entitled: Student Signature: This work and its defense approved by: Committee Chair: Approval of the electronic document: I have reviewed the Thesis/Dissertation in its final electronic format and certify that it is an accurate copy of the document reviewed and approved by the committee. Committee Chair signature: A New Perspective on the Italian Songs of Franz Liszt: an Italian Perspective The Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS in the Performance Studies Division of the College-Conservatory of Music 2009 by Randall A. Umstead B.M., Oklahoma Baptist University, 2001 M.M. University of Cincinnati, 2003 ABSTRACT This document addresses a gap in the scholarly study of Franz Liszt. It argues that Liszt is currently viewed primarily as a composer who exhibits German traits. His works, therefore, that fit the German stereotype, i.e. orchestral and piano works, receive the bulk of academic attention. This document argues that while this contemporary view is largely valid, Liszt's Italian songs do not fit the German view. The modern view of Liszt is analyzed, as well as the implications of this view. Evidence is reviewed that supports the notion of a strong Italian character to the vocal writing in Liszt's Italian songs, including historical evidence, similarity to the works of bel canto composers, and how the changes between his first and second verses of the Petrarch Sonnets reflect a change from an Italian character in the first versions to a more German character in the revisions. ii February 26, 2009 Copyright © 2009 Randall Allan Umstead iii In completing such a lengthy process there are countless people who deserve my thanks. The first and most important person in this process is Prof. Kenneth Griffiths, my document advisor. Without his patience, guidance, and encouragement, I would have given up this project long ago. I also wish to thank the other members of my committee, Profs. Mary Henderson-Stucky and Barbara Paver. The commitment of time and the encouragement will never be forgotten. iv CONTENTS CHAPTER I Introduction to the problem of liszt ............................................................ 1 CHAPTER II BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .................................................................... 5 CHAPTER III COMMON HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF LISZT ................. 8 CHAPTER IV IMPACT OF COMMON HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONS ........... 18 CHAPTER V HISTORICAL SUPPORT FOR AN ITALIAN PERSPECTIVE............. 31 CHAPTER VI COMPARISON OF LISZT‘S ITALIAN SONGS TO BEL CANTO STYLE .................................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER VII COMPARISON OF LISZT'S FIRST AND SECOND VERSIONS OF TRE SONETTI DI PETRARCA ................................................................................ 61 CHAPTER VIII CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 72 WORKS CITED ............................................................................................................ 75 v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM OF LISZT Franz Liszt is studied by musicologists and theorists, admired by performers as a virtuoso, and he serves as a source of great fascination for those interested in the gossip- column side of music history. One would be inclined to think that little could still be left to discover about Liszt, and that same doubt could be expressed about a countless number of other figures in music history. He lived during a time close enough to our own that many primary sources not only exist, but exist in a form easily accessible and understandable to many scholars. In addition to being widely acknowledged as one of the greatest pianists in history, he was also a noted composer, conductor and teacher. History remembers Liszt primarily for his piano and orchestra compositions, but he also wrote for other genres: oratorios, concerti, choral music, chamber music, a one act opera, and songs. This document will examine a very narrow aspect of Liszt‘s large output: four of Liszt‘s high voice, Italian songs, Angiolin dal biondo crin and Tre sonetti di Petrarca.1 The details surrounding the composition of these songs are sketchy, at best. While most biographers and historians place the compositional dates in an 1838-1839 1 There is a fourth, Italian language song, La perla, which was written in 1868 in Rome. That date places it at least 25 years later than 'Angiolin' and the Petrach sonnets. In addition, this song reveals different influences that do not fit within the scope of this project, therefore it has been omitted from this document. 1 window, the specifics beyond that time frame are lacking. Liszt did not assist us; he provided two different reports of the time and circumstance of these compositions. To compound matters, he gave these varying accounts to the same biographer! In one telling, Liszt reported that Angiolin dal biondo crin was his first song and was written for his daughter Blandine, but he later reported that Die Loreley and Mignon were first.2 With that caveat, what follows are the facts we do know. The first versions of these songs were written at some point in the years 1838-42 while Liszt and his mistress, Countess Marie d‘Agoult, were sojourning in Italy. Even though the sonnets were greatly revised for low voice in 1883, as well as a low-voice transposition in 1865, the first version that Liszt originally published sometime between 1842 and 1846 is the version used in most modern performances. The problem with these songs only begins with pinning down their dates. Even though they have been performed more regularly in recent years, their discussion in scholarly settings is surprisingly scarce. Liszt‘s songs, in general, receive far less attention and critical study than his other works. Certainly some disparity is understandable considering the historical importance of his orchestral and piano pieces, but even within the discussion of his songs these Italian pieces are hardly mentioned. Some of the older books on Liszt, (such as the biography by Huneker, which devotes 3 of 442 pages to his songs), make only one passing reference to the Italian songs.3 Searle‘s 2 Alan Walker, Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1989), 502. 3 James Huneker, Franz Liszt (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1911), 165-7. 2 book, The Music of Liszt, dedicates a few more pages to Liszt‘s songs, but not many.4 The biography by Norman Seroff hardly mentions Liszt‘s song output, only devoting material on two pages, one sentence per page, and passing references at that.5 Contemporary biographies pay more attention to Liszt‘s songs, but not significantly more consideration to his Italian songs. Alan Walker, a leading Liszt scholar, has written a biography, breaking up Liszt‘s life into three volumes. These three volumes total 1600 pages, yet only 20 pages or so are devoted to Liszt‘s songs. Walker acknowledges this omission in his subsequent book, Reflections on Liszt, a book written because in his 1600 page tome he still desired to, ―pursue certain topics that had to be glossed over in the course of publishing my three-volume life of Franz Liszt.‖6 In Ben Arnold‘s collection of articles entitled The Liszt Companion, chapter 15 is devoted to Liszt‘s ‗Songs and Melodramas.‘ This chapter addresses the absence of Liszt‘s songs from the literature. ―While his songs are frequently mentioned in Lisztian studies, no book-length study about them has ever been written in English and serious studies of his songs rarely appear in general histories of song. As late as 1991 Michael Saffle [in Franz Liszt: A Guide to Research] wrote: ‗No comparable portion of Liszt‘s compositional output has received less attention from scholars than his songs and recitations for solo voice, some of which 4 Humphrey Searle, The Music of Liszt (New York: Dover Publications, 1966), 29, 30-32, 49. 5 Victor Seroff, Franz Liszt (New York, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970), 59, 100. 6 Alan Walker, Reflections on Liszt (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995), xii. 3 rank among the finest works of their kind.‖7,8 This 35 page article devotes most of its attention to his German lieder; the only mention of the Petrarch sonnets is to demonstrate the author‘s view that Liszt‘s song revisions often made the songs worse rather than improving upon them. This pervasive neglect begs the question why? It is the contention of this document that a misunderstanding of these particular songs has lead to the limited attention they receive from scholars and performers. 7 Ben Arnold, "Songs and Melodramas," in The Liszt Companion, ed. Arnold, Ben (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002), 403. 8 Michael Saffle, Franz Liszt: A Guide to Research (New York: Garland, 1991), 307. 4 CHAPTER II BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Though Liszt was of Hungarian birth, he grew up in a portion of Hungary that was German speaking.9 Liszt‘s musical skill became apparent at a very young age, and through his father‘s arrangement he became a piano pupil of Carl Czerny in Vienna in 1821 at 10 years of age.10 Liszt, with his father‘s help, went on to perform in many European cities, including Vienna and London, followed by tours of France and Switzerland, all of which occurred by the age of 16. During Liszt‘s time in France, that tongue became his preferred language. His father died in 1827, leaving him the sole support for his mother and sister. This traumatic event caused a massive shift in career planning, and as many do, he resorted to teaching to keep the family afloat. In 1828, he fell in love with Caroline de Saint-Cricq, a pupil. The failure of this relationship, due to the disapproval of her parents and the death of his father, contributed to Liszt‘s nervous breakdown in 1829.