Franz Liszt: The Faust Symphony

Franz Liszt was an amazing composer, teacher and pianist. Some may refer to him as the first rock star for his provocative escapades. The piece by Franz Liszt began while he was distracting himself from lose; twenty years in the making, the Faust symphony is an exhibition of his extraordinary talent. Through his genius, he created a masterpiece that paints a picture in the mind of the listener of the three characters of Goethe’s Faust. To understand Franz Liszt’s A Faust Symphony in Three Character Pictures his history, the history of Goethe’s Faust, and the symphony’s movements must be explored.
Franz Liszt, born in Raiding, Hungary in the year 1811 and died in Bayreuth, Germany in the year 1886, was an excitedly taught to play the piano …show more content…
Goethe’s Faust, the symphony’s muse, was written based off of the print The History of Dr. Johann Faust circa 1580 about a German legend of an alchemist, astrologer, physician, doctor of philosophy, magician and blasphemer in league with the devil named Johann Georg Faust (1466-1541). His life was shrouded in mystery but his death more-so. Faust is reported to have died during an alchemic explosion but his body was so extremely disfigured that some would embellish that the damage was the devil collecting his debt. Goethe’s Faust, however, is a tragic play about a learned German scholar, Faust, who is tempted by the Devil, Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles is attempting to win a bet with God through the temptation and corruption of Faust, who represents the “everyman”. Mephistopheles manipulates Faust with Faust’s love of a woman, Gretchen. In the end, Mephistopheles loses his bet as Faust and Gretchen are …show more content…
Through his mastery of music, Liszt shows Faust irritated after searching for knowledge that is beyond his grasp. Faust’s torment is shown through the progression of passion, peace and wanting found in his movement. This is corrupted by the distorted mimicry of Mephistopheles at the very end of which serenity is found in the male chorus when Mephistopheles loses his wager. In the Gretchen movement, her angelic serenity is shown with the violins. All of this combines to tell the character of these three individuals even without knowing their story one can appreciate their

Show More

Related Documents: Franz Liszt: The Faust Symphony

Essay on Themes Of Romantic Literature And Art