LISZT, FRANZ. — Musician, b. at Raiding (Hungary) on 22 Oct. 1811, d. at Bayreuth on 31 July 1886. He displayed very early aptitude for the piano, studying it in Vienna under Carl Czerny; in 1823 he moved to Paris, where his career as a virtuoso began and rapidly developed, soon bringing him triumphant successes.
The period spent in Weimar (1847–61) is especially marked by the production of his major symphonic works, which, together with his piano and instrumental compositions, have achieved the widest renown: the two symphonies Faust and Dante, numerous symphonic poems (Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne from V. BALL, HUGO, Tasso, Les préludes from Lamartine, Orpheus, Prometheus, Mazeppa, etc.), the twelve Transcendental Studies, the collections entitled Années de pèlerinage, six studies based on Paganini, two piano concertos with orchestra, a sonata, rhapsodies, etc. The final creative period coincides with his stay in Rome (1861–70), during which most of his religious works were written; in 1866 Liszt received from Pius IX the dignity and title of Abbé. Besides lesser compositions, mention should be made of the Missa solemnis for the consecration of the church at Gran (1855), the Hungarian Mass for the coronation (1866–67), the Missa choralis for four voices (1862), the Requiem (1868), and the six Psalms. The two religious works of greatest significance are perhaps the two oratorios The Legend of St. Elizabeth (1861–62) and Christus (1859–66), both for soloists, chorus, and orchestra (a third oratorio, Stanislaus [1872–83], remains incomplete).
As is natural, even in his religiously inspired music Liszt’s personality manifests itself in its most typical aspects: the exuberance and grandeur of his temperament prevail throughout the various works, even those of a liturgical character. His interpretation of sacred texts is strongly individualistic, yet at times it reaches original and intense expressions, as, for example, in the Hosanna of the Hungarian Mass. The typical pathos of the artist is evident in the two oratorios, in which the descriptive element is extensively developed. In The Legend of St. Elizabeth the dramatic character seemed so evident as to justify a staged performance; yet the oratorio’s structure is not unified. Even more complex is Christus, a work of vast proportions in which the artist’s personality shows a deeper probing of religious feeling, without renouncing the richest deployment of all vocal and instrumental elements.