''What One Hears in the Mountains'' Symphonic Poem No.1 - Franz Liszt

Budapest Symphony Orchestra conducted by Árpád Joó.

I - Poco allegro - Poco a poco più di moto - Allegro mosso - Maestoso assai - Alla breve - Allegro con moto - Allegro maestoso, sempre alla breve - Allegro agitato assai - Un poco meno mosso - Andante religioso - Allegro moderato (alla breve) - Allegro moderato - Allegro. Poco a poco più di moto - Allegro animato e brioso - Animato - Più moderato - Andante religioso - Allegro moderato: 0:00

Liszt's "What One Hears in the Mountains" (originally "Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne", also known as Mountain Symphony) was composed between 1848-9, quickly revised in 1850. Since Liszt had little experience composing for orchestral forces at the time, the piece was orchestrated first by August Conrad, then by Joachim Raff in the 1850 revision. However, in 1854, Liszt again completely revised the piece and rescored it by himself. It is the first of his series of symphonic poems, being loosely inspired by the 1831 poem of Victor Hugo.

With this piece, Liszt created a new genre called symphonic poem: an orchestral piece in one movement that attempted to expressed feelings, images or events through purely musical means. While previous pieces involved extramusical elements (such as Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony or Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique), Liszt's conception of programmatic music (which differed considerably from that of many later composers) musical form always took precedence over text painting. He also introduced elements that shaped his symphonic poems; cyclical forms, thematic transformations, episodic structures, harmonic and orchestration innovations. The symphonic poem would flourish through almost a century, before decaying by the end of World War 2.

The poem contrasts the voice of nature and that of humanity, two elements closely reflected in the music. Nature's perfection is contrasted with man's misery. Liszt writes: "The poet hears two voices; one immense, splendid, and full of order, raising to the Lord its joyous hymn of praise — the other hollow, full of pain, swollen by weeping, blasphemies, and curses. One spoke of nature, the other of humanity! Both voices struggle near to each other, cross over, and melt into one another, till finally they die away in a state of holiness."

The work opens with a bass drum roll, joined by muted strings, upon which is built a lengthy introduction. The primary theme of the piece: long, lyric melody in eighth notes, built in a kind of inverse arch shape and moving linearly downward and then turning back on itself, tentatively presented and rather quickly overthrown by a more driving, forceful idea in F sharp major. Long — some might say rambling — developmental passages follow, during which these two themes are presented in any number of ingenious ways (though never simultaneously). The first half ends with a chorale in three-four time (really a thematic transformation of the F sharp major idea) that corresponds to Hugo's "song of the Anchorites."

As the second half begins, the stormy conflict resumes, after which the music continues its inexorable development. Here, however, the initial E flat theme — representing the glories of nature — is clearly the centrepiece, the F-sharp theme now relegated to a supporting role. Several powerfully climactic passages, during which the primary theme is stated in a number of modified ways, bring the work to an affirmative close. Hugo's poem ends with an air of hopelessness; in a move which would have horrified many later composers of program music, Liszt chooses to abandon the poet's ending, instead bringing the work to a close with another version of the Anchorite chorale that ended the first half.

Although the piece deeply influenced an entire generation of composers, it is undeniably too long (considering the rather limited thematic content it employs), and its ending far too overdrawn and bombastic, common criticisms of Liszt's music, which, though often unjustified, contain a great deal of truth in this instance. Most likely for these reasons, the work has never earned a place in the standard orchestral repertory.

To read the poem: https://t.ly/aAvqJ

Picture: "Ruins by the Sea" (1880) by the Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin.

Sources: https://shorturl.at/azILU and https://shorturl.at/vEV02

To check the score: https://t.ly/Npuc-

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