Liszt: “A Faust Symphony”: Yes, it is Mahlerian, even anticipates Schoenberg
The other day, I mentioned Franz Liszt’s “A Faust Symphony” in reviewing an opera (Gounod’s) about Geothe’s play.
The work, in C Minor, comprises three long movements. The first movement main theme is essentially twelve-tone, although there is an underlying tonal center.
The three movements are called “Faust”, “Gretchen” (A-flat), and “Mephistopheles”. The finale tends to recapitulate much of the material from the first movement, and then adds a tremendous coda for male chorus (it is often performed with a gay men’s chorus). The final conclusion, in C Major, is colossal, with the organ and percussion joining in for one final shout. The work (1857) certainly anticipates the later symphonies of Mahler to follow 35 years later.
I have a (London)CD with the Chicago Symphony and Georg Solti, who says it took him some time to warm up to the work. He says that the slow movement must be played with an absolute legato, with string technique almost unprecedented at the time of composition.
The performance here is on DG, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Boston Symphony and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
(Posted: Sunday, June 7, 2020 at 2 PM EDT)