Héroïde funèbre (Liszt)

Héroïde Funèbre (German: action hero ) is a symphonic poem of Franz Liszt. The orchestral work was intermittently 1849-1857. Approximate playing time is 26 minutes.

Work history

Liszt planned in 1830, inspired by unrest in Paris to compose a multi-movement symphony revolution. However, he noted only a first draft done. 1849, with the eruption of revolution in Hungary, he concretized his plan: The symphony in five movements and should be used patriotic themes such as the Rákóczi -Marsch and the Marseillaise. Liszt commissioned in 1851 Joachim Raff is completed with the instrumentation of the fragment, of which only the first sentence, the hero action. Whether Raff the instrumentation actually anfertigte, however, is questionable, as it came to disagreements between him and Liszt. Raff had certainly share in the Weimar early version of the work, however, composed 1854-1856 final version came very likely only by Liszt, Liszt as from 1854 the instrumentation of the orchestra itself already well mastered, he thus on the support of Joseph Joachim Raff and August Conradi was no longer dependent.

The premiere took place in Wroclaw on 10 November 1857.

Music

The heroic action is not based on a direct program. Rather, it 's about to set to music the pervasive pain and sorrow over (war) Fallen. The piece can be viewed as a funeral march in the form of a symphony set, mainly because of the fact that he was actually intended as part of a symphony. In the overall course of the march and repeated increases with each time until Héroïde Funèbre reaches its climax, the supposed victory. However, the work flows from a softly held, marked by deep sadness final part to symbolize the negation of the hero cult and the glorification of war.

What is striking is the use of percussion instruments such as the bell and the tom-toms. Harmonious takes Liszt in this work already partially the language of his late works ahead.

Sources and Literature

• Franz Liszt, Franz Rudolf Jung: Franz Liszt in his letters. Atheneum, 1988, ISBN 3-610-08470-7, pp. 120, 134
• Arthur Hahn: Franz Liszt's symphonic poems, Schlesingersche book and music shop.
• Andreas Rücker: Hero epic and grief expressivity in Franz Liszt's Symphonic poem ' Héroïde funebre ', 2nd ed Heidelberg 2012
• Haren mountain, cultural guides concert. Meyers Lexikon Verlag, Mannheim 2006, ISBN 978-3-411-76161-6.

• Symphonic Poem
• Work of Franz Liszt