Liszt and the Symphonic Poem

Franz Liszt was preoccupied with a fundamental but difficult question: what is the content of music? His answer lay in his symphonic poems a group of orchestral pieces intended to depict a variety of subjects drawn from literature visual art and drama. Today the symphonic poems are usually seen as alternatives to the symphony post-Beethoven. Analysts stress their symphonic logic thereby neglecting their ''extramusical'' subject matter. This book takes a different approach: it returns these influential pieces to their original performance context in the theatre arguing that the symphonic poem is as much a dramatic as a symphonic genre. This is evidenced in new analyses of the music that examines the theatricality of these pieces and their depiction of voices mise-en-scne gesture and action. Simultaneously the book repositions Liszt''s legacy within theatre history arguing that his contributions should be placed alongside those of Mendelssohn Berlioz and Wagner.