Abstract
Franz Liszt composed over eighty songs in German, French, Italian, Hungarian, Russian, and English. Although most of his songs are set to German poems, the songs in French are among the most significant works, especially those set to poems by Victor Hugo. Liszt-Hugo songs were composed between 1842 and 1844. Throughout his life Liszt read French Romantic literature and was strongly inspired by it. He also had close relationships with several great poets, especially Hugo. Among the seven Liszt-Hugo songs, “Oh! quand je dors” (S. 282), “Comment, disaient-ils” (S. 276), “Enfant, si j’étais roi” (S. 283), and “S’il est un charmant gazon” (S. 284) were revised after fifteen years. This treatise provides biographical information on Franz Liszt and Victor Hugo, and an examination of Liszt’s settings of Hugo poems with regard to text, formal structure, rhythm, texture, melody, and harmony. Two different versions of the four songs mentioned above are compared and Liszt’s development as a song composer over a fifteen-year period is discussed. Three other relatively unknown songs are also investigated: “La tombe et la rose” (S. 285), “Gastibelza” (S. 286), and “Quand tu chantes” (S. 306a).
|
