We were watching a Medici TV documentary in which Maestro Daniel Barenboim said that Liszt's symphonic poem Les Preludes was about this life being a "prelude" to eternity, and as such was highly spiritual. He went on to say that this noble sentiment from its author did not deter those who followed, i.e., the Nazi's, from using the work in their WWII propaganda machine, as soundtrack for the shelling of Russian targets. A use, it goes without saying, which Liszt would have despised.
I never knew exactly what Les Preludes was alluding to, thus proving that the study of music history is inexhaustible. There is always something more.
Here is what Liszt put on the page of the score, in addition to the notes:
What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown Hymn, the first and solemn note of which is intoned by Death?—Love is the glowing dawn of all existence; but what is the fate where the first delights of happiness are not interrupted by some storm, the mortal blast of which dissipates its fine illusions, the fatal lightning of which consumes its altar; and where is the cruelly wounded soul which, on issuing from one of these tempests, does not endeavour to rest his recollection in the calm serenity of life in the fields? Nevertheless man hardly gives himself up for long to the enjoyment of the beneficent stillness which at first he has shared in Nature's bosom, and when "the trumpet sounds the alarm", he hastens, to the dangerous post, whatever the war may be, which calls him to its ranks, in order at last to recover in the combat full consciousness of himself and entire possession of his energy.[7]
The 19th century rock star Liszt was himself highly spiritual, extremely philanthropic, and was elevated to the office of abbe in the Catholic Church. Religious themes captured his imagination; he often wrote on them:
During this new, quieter phase of his life, when he frequently stayed in simple monastic quarters, Liszt was able to complete his St. Elizabeth oratorio, his two St. Francis legends (in versions for piano as well as orchestra), and started work on The Canticle of the Sun and the Christus oratorio. Of instrumental works, he composed his two Concert Etudes (‘Forest Murmurs’ and ‘Dance of the Gnomes’) and his Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (which is the piano version of the second movement from Two Episodes from Lenau’s ‘Faust’). The Totentanz (Danse macabre), composed earlier for piano and orchestra – a paraphrase of the Gregorian Dies irae – was also premiered and published at this time.
Liszt had long been interested in the reform of Catholic church music; this now became a primary preoccupation, and he would have liked to play a major role in the implementation of that reform. He was encouraged by Pope Pius IX, who paid him a visit at his lodgings, listened to his piano playing and called him “my dear Palestrina.” Liszt made a thorough study of Gregorian chant and the sacred polyphony of the 16th century to which the reformers wished to return. He strove to deepen his knowledge of religion and, after a period of serious preparation, took the four Minor Orders of the Catholic Church which carried some religious duties and qualified him to perform certain smaller liturgical services.
He would have liked to become a choirmaster in the Vatican, but he did not wish to become ordained as a priest, although he always wore a cassock and was addressed as ‘Abbé Liszt.’‘Abbé Liszt’ made his first public appearance in Hungary in August 1865, at the 25-year jubilee festivities of the National Conservatory. He had been instrumental in launching this institution making major monetary donations in 1840 and again in 1846; now he offered his new oratorio, The Legend of St. Elizabeth, as a gift. The work, written on a German text, had originally been intended for performance at the Wartburg (in the Grand Duchy of Weimar) where the Saint, a Hungarian king’s daughter, had lived. In the event, however, the first performance took place at the Redoute in Pest on 15 August 1865, sung in Kornél Ábrányi’s Hungarian translation. Due to the great success, Liszt conducted a second performance and regaled his compatriots with his piano playing at a benefit concert where he was joined on stage by Hans von Bülow and Ede Reményi. (After abandoning his virtuoso career, he only played the piano in public at benefit concerts. He was known for being always ready to help those in need and for supporting worthy artistic causes.)“Franz Liszt”, Mária Eckhardt, The Hungarian Quarterly
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