The ‘Faust’ or ’Lucifer’ Sonata? On Liszt’s idea of programme music as exemplified by his Piano Sonata in B minor

• Authors: Leszek Polony
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

PL

The musicological tradition places Liszt’s Sonata in B minor within the sphere of compositions inspired by the Faustian myth. Its musical material, its structure and its narrative exhibit certain similarities to the ‘Faust’ Symphony. Yet there has appeared a different and, one may say, a rival interpretation of Sonata in B minor. What is more, it is well-documented from both a musical and a historical point of view. It has been presented by Hungarian pianist and musicologist Tibor Szasz. He proposes the thesis that the Sonata in B minor has been in fact inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost, with its three protagonists: Adam, Satan and Christ. He finds their illustrations and even some key elements of the plot in the Sonata’s narrative. But yet Milton’s Paradise Lost and Goethe’s Faust are both stories of the Fall and Salvation, of the cosmic struggle between good and evil. The triads of their protagonists - Adam and Eve, Satan, and Christ; Faust, Mephisto and Gretchen - are homological. Thus both interpretations of the Sonata, the Goethean and the Miltonian, or, in other words, the Faustian and the Luciferian, are parallel and complementary rather than rival. It is also highly probable that both have had their impact on the genesis of the Sonata in B minor.

Keywords

PL

Franz Liszt; Piano Sonata in B minor; programme music; Tibor Szasz; Marta Grabocz; John Milton; Paradise Lost; Johann Wolfgang Goethe; Faust

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Interdisciplinary Studies in Musicology
• Year: 2014
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 17-28

Dates

published

2018-10-17

Contributors

author

Leszek Polony

• Polish musicologist, music critic, publisher, born on 31 January 1946 in Kraków. In 1970 he graduated in theory of music from the Cracovian State Higher School of Music (now Music Academy), where he became a member of staff; during the years 1991-93 he served as prorector, and from 1993 as professor at the Music Academy. During 1995-2013 he headed the Chair of Theory of Music and Education of Aural Skills, and was awarded the title of professor in 2004. From 1991 until 2001 (except for the years 1994-95) he was Editor-in-Chief of Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne [Polish Music Publishers], and from 1995 also director; after the publishing house became a limited company he became its Chairman and Editor-in-Chief. He is a member of ZKP [Polish Composers’ Union] (member of the Executive Board 1983-85 and 1987-88) and Polska Izba Książki [Polish Chamber of Books] (head of Regional Department in Kraków 1998-2001). His areas of interest include: philosophy of music and history of aesthetic thought on music; music of the romantic and modernist periods; Polish twentieth century music, piano music and the performance art of outstanding pianists. He has authored some 70 articles and dissertations on music, as well as the following books: W kręgu muzycznej wyobraźni [‘Musical Imagination’] (1980), Poetyka muzyczna Mieczysława Karłowicza [‘Music Poetics of Mieczysław Karłowicz’] (1986), Polski kształt sporu o istotę muzyki [‘Debating the Essence of Music the Polish Way’] (1991), Hermeneutyka i muzyka [‘Hermeneutics and Music’] (2003), Kilar. Żywioł i modlitwa [‘Kilar. An Elemental Force and a Prayer’] (2005), Symbol i muzyka [‘Symbol and Music’] (2011).